Letter 1066: I know you value people for their character, not their rank.

I know that you cultivate a regard not for fortunes but for merits. Romanus, my intimate friend, even now serves the duties of the court, being an administrator of the sacred treasury, but he has refined the instruments of his integrity for every employment of public office. For this reason his rank is one he shares in common with very many, his honesty one he holds equally with few. This I thought worth mentioning, so that by you too he may be appraised according to the manner of his life and not according to his grade of service. Make trial of him in matters of the greatest importance, make trial in offices both serious and relaxed: you will find the man's loyalty discreet, his scrupulousness open, his prudence unconstrained, his modesty generous. For him I therefore wish this to be done, so that the credit of my testimony may shine clear, and that a friend of polished integrity may come to you.