Letter 232: I have never prayed to hold power myself.

To Andronicus. (360?) I have never prayed to hold power myself. Rather, I have always wished that you should hold office and that the better argument should prevail in your administration, while I live as a private citizen in my own station. But now I think I would not mind taking the governorship of Phoenicia myself -- just for the sake of advancing Parthenius in every way that greatness can be conferred. Or rather, there is no need to seek an office of my own, since yours belongs to me no less than to you who hold it. So see to it that you receive him with the warmest welcome, that you invite him when he is away, that you keep him when he appears, and that you make him more honored among the Phoenicians than before. I would be ashamed if it turned out that Parthenius had done more for me than I for him. What has he done for me, you are eager to hear? He has shown the same respect whether absent or present, and when he could have won favor with the powerful by doing me harm, he threw away their expectations to preserve his obligations to me -- and this despite seeing one of his own relatives take that other road and prosper by it. He rebuked that man and did everything in his power to weaken the plot, and having come here, he put a fitting seal on all that went before, clearing the whole affair of suspicion. At first I was troubled, having no means to repay him. Then I reflected that his wife, children, and property are in Phoenicia, and that Phoenicia is governed by the judgment of Andronicus -- and I was glad to see there was indeed a way to repay the man.

Ἀνδρονίκῳ. (360?) Ἐγὼ γενέσθαι ἐπὶ τῆς ὑμετέρας δυνάμεως οὐδεπώ- ποτε ηὐξάμην, ἀλλ’ ὑμῖν μὲν καὶ ἀρχὰς εἶναι καὶ τὸν κρείττω λόγον ἐν αὐταῖς συνηυξάμην, ἐμαυτῷ δὲ ᾗπερ νῦν βιοῦν ἐν ἰδιώτου χώρᾳ· νῦν δ’ οὐκ ἂν ἀηδῶς μοι δοκῶ τὴν Φοινίκων ἀρχὴν λαβεῖν τοῦ μέγαν ποιῆσαι Παρθένιον πᾶσιν ὅσοις μέ- γεθος γίγνεται, μᾶλλον δέ, οὐδὲν δεῖ ζητεῖν ἀρχὴν τῆς σῆς οὐχ ἧττον ἐμῆς ἢ τοῦ λαβόντος οὔσης. ὅπως οὖν ἡμῖν αὐτὸν ἴδῃς τε ὡς ἥδιστα καὶ ἀπόντα καλῇς καὶ φανέντα κατέχῃς καὶ ποιῇς ἐν Φοίνιξιν ἐντιμότερον ἢ πρίν. αἰσχυνοίμην γὰρ ἄν, εἰ δόξει μᾶλλον εὖ πεποιηκέναι με Παρθένιος ἢ πεπονθέναι. τί οὖν με εὖ πεποίηκεν, ἀκοῦσαι ποθεῖς. αἰδούμενος δια- τετέλεκεν ἀπὼν οὐχ ἧττον ἢ παρὼν καὶ παρὸν αὐτῷ χαρίσασθαι τοῖς δυνατοῖς ἐκ τῶν εἰς ἐμὲ λυπηρῶν τὰς παρ’ ἐκείνων ἐλπί- δας προήκατο τὰ πρὸς ἐμὲ δίκαια τηρῶν καὶ ταῦτα ὁρῶν τινα τῶν οἰκείων αὑτοῦ τὴν ὁδὸν ἐκείνην ἰόντα καὶ εὐδοκιμοῦντα. ὁ δὲ ἐκείνῳ τε ἐπετίμα καὶ δι’ ὅσων ἐξῆν ἀσθενεστέραν ἐποίει τὴν ἐνέδραν καὶ δὴ δεῦρ’ ἥκων ἐπέθηκε τὸ τέλος τοῖς ἔμπρο- σθεν ὅμοιον ἁπάσης καθήρας τὰ πράγματα ὑποψίας. εὐθὺς μὲν οὖν ἠθύμουν ἀπορῶν ἀμοιβῆς, ἔπειτα ἐνθυμηθεὶς ὡς τῷ μὲν ἐν Φοινίκῃ γυνὴ καὶ παῖδες καὶ κτήματα, τῇ δὲ Ἀν- δρονίκου γνώμῃ τὸ ἔθνος διοικεῖται, ἥσθην ἰδὼν ὡς ἔστιν ᾗ ἂν τὸν ἄνδρα ἀμειβοίμην.