Ep. 3.11.1Est omnīnō Artemidōrī nostrī tam benigna nātūra, ut officia amīcōrum in maius extollat.Our friend Artemidorus has altogether so kind a nature that he exaggerates the services of his friends. Ep. 3.11.1Inde etiam meum meritum ut vērā ita suprā meritum praedicātiōne circumfert.Hence he also spreads abroad my own service, true as it is, with praise beyond its merit. Ep. 3.11.2Equidem, cum essent philosophī ab urbe summōtī, fuī apud illum in suburbānō, et quō notābilius - hoc est, perīculōsius - esset fuī praetor.It is true that, when the philosophers had been banished from the city, I visited him at his house outside Rome, and — which made it more conspicuous, that is, more dangerous — I was praetor at the time. Ep. 3.11.2Pecūniam etiam, quā tunc illī ampliōre opus erat, ut aes aliēnum exsolveret contrāctum ex pulcherrimīs causīs, mussantibus magnīs quibusdam et locuplētibus amīcīs mūtuātus ipse grātuītam dedī.Money too, of which he then needed a rather large sum to pay off a debt contracted for the most honourable reasons, I borrowed myself, while certain great and wealthy friends of his muttered, and gave to him free of interest.
Ep. 3.11.3Atque haec fēcī, cum septem amīcīs meīs aut occīsīs aut relēgātīs, occīsīs Seneciōne Rusticō Helvidiō, relēgātīs Mauricō Gratillā Arriā Fanniā, tot circā mē iactīs fulminibus quasi ambūstus mihi quoque impendēre idem exitium certīs quibusdam notīs augurārer.And I did this when seven of my friends had been either put to death or banished — put to death, Senecio, Rusticus and Helvidius; banished, Mauricus, Gratilla, Arria and Fannia — and when, with so many thunderbolts hurled around me, I was scorched, as it were, and foresaw from certain sure signs that the same destruction hung over me too. Ep. 3.11.4Nōn ideō tamen eximiam glōriam meruisse mē, ut ille praedicat, crēdō, sed tantum effūgisse flāgitium.Yet I do not believe that I have thereby earned outstanding glory, as he proclaims, but merely that I have escaped disgrace. Ep. 3.11.5Nam et C. Musōnium socerum eius, quantum licitum est per aetātem, cum admīrātiōne dīlēxī et Artemidōrum ipsum iam tum, cum in Syriā tribūnus mīlitārem, artā familiāritāte complexus sum, idque prīmum nōn nūllīus indolis dedī specimen, quod virum aut sapientem aut proximum simillimumque sapientī intellegere sum vīsus.For I both loved his father-in-law Gaius Musonius with admiration, as far as my age allowed, and embraced Artemidorus himself in close friendship as far back as when I was serving as a military tribune in Syria, and I first gave this proof of some natural ability, that I seemed to understand a man who was either a sage or very near and very like a sage.
Ep. 3.11.6Nam ex omnibus, quī nunc sē philosophōs vocant, vix ūnum aut alterum inveniēs tantā sincēritāte, tantā vēritāte.For of all who now call themselves philosophers you will find scarcely one or two of such sincerity, such truthfulness. Ep. 3.11.6Mittō, quā patientiā corporis hiemēs iūxtā et aestātēs ferat, ut nūllīs labōribus cēdat, ut nihil in cibō in pōtū voluptātibus tribuat, ut oculōs animumque contineat.I say nothing of the bodily endurance with which he bears winters and summers alike, how he yields to no labours, how he allows nothing to pleasure in food or drink, how he keeps his eyes and his mind in check. Ep. 3.11.7Sunt haec magna, sed in aliō;These things are great, but in another man; Ep. 3.11.7in hōc vērō minima, sī cēterīs virtūtibus comparentur, quibus meruit, ut ā C. Musōniō ex omnibus omnium ōrdinum assectātōribus gener assūmerētur.in him they are very small, if they are compared with his other virtues, by which he earned being chosen by Gaius Musonius as his son-in-law out of all his followers of every rank. Ep. 3.11.8Quae mihi recordantī est quidem iūcundum, quod mē cum apud aliōs tum apud tē tantīs laudibus cumulat;When I recall these things, it is indeed pleasant that he heaps such praises on me, both with others and with you; Ep. 3.11.8vereor tamen nē modum excēdat, quem benignitās eius - illūc enim unde coepī revertor - solet nōn tenēre.yet I fear that he may exceed the measure which his kindness — for I return to where I began — is not accustomed to keep.
Ep. 3.11.9Nam in hōc ūnō interdum vir aliōquī prūdentissimus honestō quidem sed tamen errōre versātur, quod plūris amīcōs suōs quam sunt arbitrātur.For in this one thing alone a man otherwise most sensible sometimes falls into an error, honourable indeed, but an error none the less: he values his friends more highly than they deserve. Ep. 3.11.9Valē.Farewell.