Letter 12: You ask whether I still remember you.

To Priscianus. Dionysius did not trample upon his oath, but returns to you with the letter, which indeed he had sworn that he would do. But in calling our city prosperous and happy, the city you were afraid to dwell in, you are playing a joke. For if you truly thought it to be such, why ever, when it was open to you to share in its prosperity, were you unwilling? As for our dangers, if you are ignorant of them, you do us wrong; for it is through negligence that you are ignorant, and that too while being so close a neighbor. But if, knowing them, you call me blessed in the midst of these terrors, then you are the greatest lover of danger. In considering the affairs of Deinias to be your own as well, you think rightly; and I myself am not one of those who treat the affairs of Deinias as no concern of theirs. You will see my zeal in the letters which we shall send as a help to the old man.

**To Priscian** (353) Dionysius did not trample upon his oath — he has returned to you with the letter, just as he swore he would do. But when you call our city "blessed" — a city in which you were afraid to live — you are having your little joke. For if you truly believed it to be such, what possessed you to refuse to share in its blessedness when you had the chance? As for our dangers: if you are unaware of them, you do me wrong, for your ignorance can only come from neglect — and this when you live so close by. But if you know full well and yet congratulate me amid such perils, then you are the most reckless of men. In regarding Dinius's affairs as your own, you show good sense. I myself am certainly not among those who treat Dinius's concerns as someone else's business. You will see the earnestness of my support in the letter I shall send on the old man's behalf.

Πρισκιανῷ. (353) Οὐ κατεπάτησε τὸν ὅρκον ὁ Διονύσιος, ἀλλ’ ἐπανήκει σοι μετὰ τῶν γραμμάτων, ὃ δὴ καὶ ποιήσειν ὤμοσε. τὴν πόλιν δὲ ἡμῶν εὐδαίμονα καλῶν, ἐν ᾗ κατοικεῖν ἔδεισας, παίζεις ἔχων. εἰ γὰρ δὴ ὄντως αὐτὴν ᾤου τοιαύτην, τί παθὼν ἐξὸν κοινωνεῖν τῆς εὐδαιμονίας οὐκ ἠβουλήθης; τοὺς δ’ ἡμετέ- ρους εἰ μὲν ἀγνοεῖς κινδύνους, ἀδικεῖς, ἀμελῶν γὰρ ἀγνοεῖς καὶ ταῦτα οὕτως ὢν πρόσχωρος· εἰ δ’ ἐπιστάμενος μακαρίζεις <με> μετὰ τῶν δεινῶν, φιλοκινδυνότατος εἶ. τὰ Δεινίου πράγματα καὶ σαυτοῦ νομίζων ὀρθῶς φρονεῖς εἰμὶ δ’ οὐδ αὐτὸς τῶν ἀλλότρια τὰ Δεινίου ποιουμένων, ὄψει δὲ τὴν σπουδὴν ἐν τοῖς γράμμασιν, ἃ πέμψομεν εἰς ἐπικουρία· τῷ γέροντι·