Complete Works XVIII: Against Celsus I-IV (Lommatzsch)

in the tenth year of his reign. On the front, however, stands an excellent letter from Theodorus Gazinus—who is commonly called Theodorus Gaza—a Constantinopolitan, to Persona. Since this letter may be considered unpublished due to the extreme rarity of this edition, it will perhaps not be unpleasant for the reader if it is reproduced here:

When, in recent days, I was occupied in my mind, as I often am, with those Latin men who seemed to know something of Greek, and furthermore with those Greek authors who could be translated into Latin with no small praise, you yourself were the first who occurred to me. You are the only one I have known since my early youth to have imbibed Greek letters in this way—and, what helped most, in Greece itself, and from Greek teachers—so that, were I not aware that you are a Roman citizen, and were I not well acquainted with your close relatives who are leading men of the city, I would easily say you were born in Greece; for your very Greek pronunciation reveals you to be Greek. Why do I say this? I have seen not a few of the sermons of Chrysostom that you rendered into Latin from the Greek, and some of the declamations of Libanius, as if they were preludes to greater things. Shortly thereafter, I saw your Athanasius, whose translation so delighted me that from that time on I felt a good hope that you could also translate Origen Against Celsus. Because this book is most elegant and was written in defense of the Christian faith, Pope Nicholas—though he was a man most eager for new works, and especially for those of the Greeks—sent it at my urging to Constantinople to be purchased and brought to him: