Letter 252: Lucianus, a man not blessed in everything, did not dare to approach me himself -- so thoroughly did he condemn what...

To Priscianus (360/61?) Lucianus, the man not in all things fortunate, did not himself dare to approach me, so fully had he condemned himself for the things he had been led to do; but the man dearest both to me and to you, and to whom I would be ashamed not to show favor, Pancratius, who knows how to govern and to speak, and for whom honor came according to his character rather than because of his father's reputation, this Pancratius, I say, urged me to ask pardon in writing, blaming the one man but hoping that you would grant it. And Lucianus stood there in silence, bowing his head toward the ground, and I pitied the man, who by his silence admitted that he had nothing to say. I beg of you, then, or rather, having first said this much, I will then make my plea. When you find Admetus saving his enemy, and so far from doing Themistocles harm that he even helped him to come as quickly as possible to the place for which he had set out, although it was not unclear that in aiding that man he was grieving those who were demanding his surrender, who were the greatest of the Greek cities, yet nonetheless he respected the supplication of his foe more than he feared the danger, do you then, on account of his humanity, set the king of the Molossians among the unfeeling, or do you reckon him admirable for his greatness of soul, and does it seem to you that for this reason he might more fittingly be called blessed than for his rule? Now indeed I beg of you to imitate the things you admire, and to do away with your anger against this man for the sake of his friends, rather than, by keeping it, to grieve those friends. Lucianus did wrong; he himself says so, so that there is no need of an accuser. For why should anyone refute the one who confesses? This, then, is the occasion for pardon: when the man who is among the accused neither denies it and even devours himself in their stead, and when those who wish your interests to be held in good repute join with us in begging, and when you might reasonably neither dishonor us nor seek from this man a penalty greater than that he himself be convinced that he owes the utmost. It would have been very easy for me to extend the letter, but I was afraid that its length might not seem to befit a friend writing to a friend. For with those who stand thus toward one another, even a nod suffices. So there is need not of an addition, but rather of an apology for so much having been said.

Πρισκιανῷ (360/61?) Λουκιανὸς ὁ οὐ πάντα εὐτυχὴς αὐτὸς μὲν οὐκ ἐτόλμησέ μοι προσελθεῖν, οὕτως ὧν προήχθη ποιῆσαι κατεγνώκει, τὸν δὲ ἐμοί τε καὶ σοὶ φίλτατον καὶ ᾧ μὴ χαριζόμενος αἰσχυνοί- μην ἄν, Παγκράτιον τὸν ἄρχειν ἐπιστάμενον καὶ λέγειν καὶ ᾧ τὸ τιμᾶσθαι κατὰ τοὺς τρόπους μᾶλλον ἢ τὴν δόξαν ἐγένετο τοῦ πατρός, οὗτος δὴ ὁ Παγκράτιος ἐκέλευέ με συγγνώμην αἰ- τεῖν ἐν γράμμασι τῷ μὲν μεμφόμενος, σὲ δὲ δώσειν ἐλπίζων. ὃ δὲ Λουκιανὸς εἱστήκει σιγῇ κύπτων εἰς γῆν καὶ ἠλέησα τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὁμολογοῦντα τῷ σιγᾶν μηδὲν ἔχειν εἰπεῖν. δέο- μαι δή σου, μᾶλλον δὲ τοσοῦτον ὑπειπὼν εἶτα δεήσομαι. τὸν Ἄδμητον ὅταν εὑρίσκῃς σώζοντα τὸν ἐχθρὸν καὶ τοσοῦτον ἀπ- έχοντα τοῦ ποιῆσαι τὸν Θεμιστοκλέα κακῶς ὥστε καὶ συμ- πράττειν, ὅπως ἥξει τάχιστα οἷπερ ὥρμητο, καίτοι γε οὐκ ἦν ἄδηλον ὡς ἐν τῷ βοηθεῖν ἐκείνῳ λυπεῖν ἦν τοὺς ἐξαιτοῦν- τὰς, οἱ δὲ ἦσαν αἱ μέγισται Ἑλληνίδων πόλεων, ἀλλ’ ὅμως τὴν ἱκετείαν τοῦ δυσμενοῦς ᾐδέσθη μᾶλλον ἢ τὸν κίνδυνον ἐφοβήθη — πότερον οὖν τῇ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Μολοττῶν εἰς ἀναισθήτους τίθης ἢ θαυμαστὸν ἄγεις τῇ με- γαλοψυχίᾳ καί σοι δοκεῖ διὰ τοῦτο μᾶλλον ἂν εἰκότως ἢ τὴν ἀρχὴν μακαρίζεσθαι νῦν δή σου δέομαι μιμήσασθαι ἃ θαυ- μάζεις καὶ τὴν πρὸς τοῦτον ὀργὴν ἀνελεῖν διὰ τοὺς φίλους ἢ τηροῦντα ταύτην ἀνιᾶσαι τοὺς φίλους. ἠδίκει Λουκιανός, αὐτὸς τοῦτό φησιν, ὥστ’ οὐδὲν δεῖ κατηγόρου. τί γὰρ ἔ τις ἐλέγχοι τόν γε ὁμολογοῦντα; καιρὸς οὖν τῆς συγγνώμης οὗτος τοῦ μὲν ἐν ταῖς αἰτίαις οὔτ’ ἀρνουμένου καὶ κατεσθίοντος ἀντ’ ἐκείνων αὑτόν, τῶν δὲ τὰ σὰ βουλομένων εὐδοκιμεῖν συν- δεομένων ἡμὶν σοῦ τ’ εἰκότως ἂν μήθ’ ἡμᾶς ἀτιμάζοντος δί- κην τε οὐ ζητοῦντος παρὰ τοῦδε μείζω τοῦ πεπεῖσθαι τοῦτο αὐτόν, ὡς ἄρα ὀφείλει τὴν ἐσχάτην. ἦν μοι ῥᾷστον ἐπιτεί- νεῖν τὴν ἐπιστολήν, ἀλλ’ ἔδεισα μὴ οὐ δόξῃ φίλου πρὸς φίλον εἶναι τὸ μῆκος. τοῖς γὰρ οὕτως ἔχουσι πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἀρκεῖ καὶ νεῦσαι. οὔκουν προσθήκης, ἀλλ’ ἀπολογίας μᾶλλον τοῦ τοσαῦτα εἰρῆσθαι.