Letter 242: All honors are fleeting, and all positions of power are temporary.

To Poseidonius. Let each of those who happen upon this letter hold whatever opinion he has about what is to be said. But as for me, since I have not at present undertaken to set down a definition of the priesthood, but rather to mark out the road that leads to it, I say this: the man who comes too quickly to this office, before he has submitted to the rule of the ordinances, does not enter upon the stewardship for the good of those who are led; whereas the man who, in the rank of an attendant, has given pledge of the ruling virtues and won a good name in them, comes to the office of the ministry. For the former, attempting to set others in order before he himself has been set in order, falls short of the truth. But the latter, having first been set in order and having gained experience of the matter, will be found fit to set others in order; since the former acts before he has been brought into measure, while the latter, having become a soldier of good repute, will be a still more reputable general as well. And the one, being inexperienced in tactics, thinks himself a captain [taxiarch]; but the other, trained in such exercises, is appointed a tactician.

Ἔκαστος μὲν τῶν ἐντευξομένων τῷδε τῷ γράμματι, ὡς ἔχει δόξης περὶ τοῦ λεχθησομένου, ἐχέτω. Ἐγὼ δὲ δρον μὲν ὑπογράφαι ἱερωσύνης νῦν οὐ διηγνυκώς, τὴν δ' ὁδὸν τὴν ἐπὶ ταύτην φέρουσαν ὁριζόμενος, φημὶ, ὅτι ὁ μὲν ἐπὶ ταύτην θᾶττον ἐλθὼν τὴν ἀρχὴν, πρὶν τῆς τῶν θεσμῶν ἀρχῆς ἀνασχέσθαι, οὐκ ἐπ' ἀγαθῷ τῶν ἀγομένων τὴν οἰκονομίαν μάτεισιν· ὁ δ' ἐν ὁπηδοῦ τάξει ταῖς ἀρχικαῖς ἐγγυησάμενος καὶ εὐδοκιμήσας ἀρεταῖς, εἰς τὴν τῆς λειτουργίας ἔρχεται. Ἐκεῖνος μὲν γὰρ πρὶν [ρυθμισθῆναι] ρυθμίζειν ἄλλους ἐπιχειρῶν, τῆς ἀληθείας διαμαρτάνει. Οὗτος δὲ ρυθμισθεὶς πρότερον, καὶ τοῦ πράγματος ἐν πείρᾳ γεγενημένος, ἐπιτήδειος ἐπὶ τὸ ρυθμίζειν ἄλλους εὑρεθήσεται· ἐπειδήπερ ἐκεῖνος μὲν πρὸ τοῦ ῥοτονῆσθαι· οὗτος δὲ εὐδόκιμος στρατιώτης γενόμενος, εὐδοκιμώτερος ἔσται καὶ στρατηγός. Καὶ ὁ μὲν τῶν τακτικῶν ἄπειρος ὤν, ταξίαρχος εἶναι ἡγεῖται. ὁ δὲ ἐν γυμνασίοις τοιούτοις ἀσκηθείς, τακτικὸς χειροτονεῖται.