Letter 191

To Andronicus, a general. (360) No doubt you and your friends often discuss Phoenicia -- one praising the nature of its soil, another the tempering of its seasons, a third the bounty of its sea, including the famous dye [Tyrian purple], which they say was first discovered by accident when a dog, knowing nothing of what it was doing, bit into a murex shell. But I would define this man as the finest thing in Phoenicia, after the temples of the gods. And he himself worships at those temples -- that is the first of his virtues, that he understands the divine. What to rank second and third I cannot say, for all his qualities are equal to one another. But here is the most remarkable thing: sitting on a throne such as yours [a governor's seat], he blended philosophy with governance, and laughed at certain people who consider themselves important and make threats -- laughed more heartily than I think anyone else has, save perhaps at slaves. They could not strip him of his wealth, since he had none. If chained, he would have thought himself in a meadow. To remove him from office was not to deprive him of anything, but to give him back his leisure. I believe he would not even have flinched at execution. He does not shudder at death the way most people do. He knows that for the just, there are no small joys beneath the earth. He comes to you now as a spectator of your deeds, a judge, and -- I would add -- an admirer. If you win his approval, and you will, it will add more to your reputation than what you already have, and what you already have is considerable. For no one will cast a vote against Hierius -- a man who surpasses everyone in his love of philosophy, and surpasses the philosophers themselves by cheerfully dispensing with the beard, the threadbare cloak, and the walking stick [the standard costume of professional philosophers].

Ἀνδρονίκῳ. (360) Ἠ που πολλάκις σοί τε καὶ τοῖς γνωρίμοις ὑπὲρ Φοινί- κης γίγνονται λόγοι τοῦ μὲν τὴν φύσιν τῆς γῆς ὑπερεπαινοῦν- τος, τοῦ δὲ τὴν κρᾶσιν τῶν ὡρῶν, ἑτέρου τῆς θαλάττης τὴν φορὰν τήν τε ἄλλην καὶ ἀφ’ ἧς ἡ βαφή, ἣν μηνυθῆναί φασι τὸ πρῶτον τύχη τινὶ διὰ κυνὸς οὐδὲν εἰδότος ὧν ἔπραττεν. ἀλλ’ ἔγωγε τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον ὁρίζομαι τῶν ἐν Φοινίκῃ τὸ κάλλιστον μετά γε τὰ τῶν θεῶν ἱερά. ταῦτα δὲ αὐτὸς προσ- κυνεῖ καὶ ἔστι τοῦτο τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ καλῶν τὸ πρῶτον, ὅτι τὸ θεῖον ἐπίσταται. δεύτερον καὶ τρίτον οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅ τι θείμην, πάντα γὰρ ἴσα ἀλλήλοις. ἀλλ’ ὅ γε καινότατον, ἐπὶ θρόνου γάρ, οἴου σύ, καθίζων ἀνέμιξε τῷ ἄρχειν τὸ φιλοσοφεῖν τῶν τι δοκούντων εἶναι καὶ ἀπειλούντων τοσοῦτον καταγελάσας ὅσον οὐκ οἶδ᾿ εἴ τις τῶν ἄλλων ἢ τῶν ἀνδραπόδων. τε γὰρ οὐκ εἶχον αὐτὸν ἀφελέσθαι, πῶς γὰρ τά γε οὐκ ὄντα; δεθείς τε ἡγήσαιτ’ ἂν ἐν λειμῶνι διάγειν τό τε τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐκ- βαλεῖν οὐ στερῆσαί τινος ἦν, ἀλλ’ ἀποδοῦναι σχολὴν. οἶμαι δέ, οὐδ’ εἴ τις ἀπέσφαττεν, ἤλγησεν ἄν. οὐ γάρ, ὥσπερ οἱ πολλοί, φρίττει τὸν θάνατον, ἀλλ’ οἶδεν οὔσας τοῖς γε δι- καίοις ὑπὸ γῆς οὐ μικρὰς εὐφροσύνας. ἥκει δή σοι θεα- τής τε ὧν πράττεις καὶ κριτής, προσθείην δ’ ἂν καὶ ἐπαινέ- της. οὗ τὴν ψῆφον ἢν λάβῃς, λήψῃ δέ, πλέον εἰς δόξαν νῦν ὑπάρχοντος ἔξεις καὶ ταῦτα ὄντος οὐκ ὀλίγου τοῦ νῦν οὐδεὶς γὰρ τὴν ἐναντίαν Ἱερίῳ θήσεται τῷ τῶν μὲν ἄλλων διαφέροντι κατὰ τὸν τῆς φιλοσοφίας ἔρωτα, τῶν δ’ αὖ φιλοσοφούντων τῷ χαίρειν ἐᾶν πώγωνα καὶ τρίβωνα καὶ βακτηρίαν.