Letter 311: I was still delighting in your letter -- which described the clever capture of a bandit with an elaborate escape...

To Clematius. (357) I was still delighting in your letter -- which described the clever capture of a bandit with an elaborate escape plan, the crowd that came for the trial, your eloquent flow, and the applause of the bystanders -- when Asclepiades the physician arrived and plunged me into gloom. He claimed you had done things that only a madman would do. His words convinced those he told, and a great storm arose. When I learned of this, I restrained the governor, calling the doctor a slanderer and demanding that the matter be put to the test. I persuaded Asclepiades that it was wrong to stir up trouble, and I had the support of both Evagrius and the man of greatest judgment -- I mean the admirable Ampelius. So this is how things stand with the governor: he is neither your enemy nor the friend he was before. We prevented the first; the liar set the second in motion. But you -- control your tongue entirely, and put a bridle on your mouth. It is better to live prudently without fear than to act boldly and tremble. Grant your friends only those favors that are consistent with justice, and do not think it fine to resemble the Cyclops -- shouting at random, kicking, and scorning the gods. I am writing this to you despite having resolved to stop corresponding with you, because you do not even know my dearest friends and companions, Eunomius and Eudaemon from Elusa, even though I have spoken to you about them at length and asked you to do something for them. They are both rhetoricians who make their living as advocates. But you could not even be bothered to call them in and tell them you had received a word about them from me. Let this neglect be remedied now, so that I may receive from them a letter unlike the present one -- for this one is full of grief. If you will not grant this, you will teach me to withhold what it is in my own power to give.

Κληματίῳ (357) Ἔτι με τοῖς γράμμασιν ἡδόμενον, ἃ ἐμήνυε λῃστοῦ τινος σύλληψιν κομψὴν ἔχοντος διάδυσιν καὶ ὄχλον ἥκοντα ἐπὶ τὴν κρίσιν καἰ σὴν εὔροιαν καὶ τῶν περιεστηκότων κρότον, τούτοις με εὐφραινόμενον εἰς ἀθυμίαν ἥκων ἐνέ ἄλεν Ἀσκλη- πιάδης ὁ ἰατρός ἔφησε γάρ σε ποιῆσαι ταῦτα ἃ μεμηνότος ἦν, καὶ εἰπὼν ἔπεισεν οὓς ἔπεισε, καὶ πολὺς ἦν ὁ χειμών. ἐγὼ δὲ αἰσθόμενος τὸν μὲν ἄρχοντα κατεῖχον συκοφάντην καλῶν τὸν ἰατρὸν καὶ δεόμενος βάσανον ἀποδοῦναι τῷ πράγ- ματι, τὸν δ’ Ἀσκληπιάδην ἔπ τθον μὴ καλὸν εἶναι μηδὲ τα- ραχὰς ἐμποιεῖν καὶ εἶχον ταὐτά μοι καὶ βουλομένους καὶ λέ- γοντας Εὐάγριόν τε καὶ ᾧ πλεῖστον μέτεστι φρενῶν, Ἀμπέλιον λέγω τὸν καλόν. οὑτωσὶ δή σοι τὰ τοῦ ἄρχοντος κεῖται· οὔτ᾿ ἐχθρὸς ἁνὴρ οὔθ’ οἷος ἔμπροσθεν φίλος. τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἡμεῖς ἐκωλύσαμεν, τὸ δὲ ἐκίνησεν ὁ ψευσάμενος. σὺ δ’ ὅλως κράτει τῆς γλώττης καὶ ἐπέστω τῷ στόματι χαλινός. βἐλ- τιον γὰρ σωφρονοῦντα ζῆν ἀδεῶς ἢ θρασυνόμενον τρέμειν. ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς φίλοις τὰς μετὰ τοῦ δικαίου χάριτας δίδου καὶ μήτοι νόμιζε καλὸν ἐοικέναι τῷ Κύκλωπι <καὶ> α βοᾶν εἰκῆ λακτίζειν καὶ καταφρονεῖν τῶν θεῶν. ταῦτα ἐπιστέλλω σοι λύσας ἐμαυτοῦ δόγμα. τὸ δὲ ἦν καταλῦσαι τὸ πρὸς σὲ γρά- φειν, ὃς τοὺς ἑταίρους μοι καὶ φιλτάτους, Εὔνομόν τε καὶ Εὐδαίμονα, τοὺς ἐξ Ἑλούσης, οὐδὲ οἶσθα. καίτοι πολλά σοι περὶ τοῖν ἀνδροῖν διελέχθην ἀξιῶν αὐτοὺς τυχεῖν τινος ἀγα- θοῦ. ῥήτορες δὲ ἄμφω καὶ ποιοῦνται τὸν βίον ἀπὸ τοῦ συνη- γορεῖν. ἀλλὰ σὺ καὶ τοῦτο ὤκνησας καλέσας εἰπεῖν, ὡς ἄρα περὶ αὐτῶν ἐδέξω παρ’ ἐμοῦ λόγον. ὃ δή σοι παρῶπται, γενέσθω νῦν, ὥστ᾿ ἐμοὶ παρ’ ἐκείνων ἐλθεῖν ἐπιστολὴν οὐ κατὰ τὴν νῦν· ὡς ἣ γε νῦν ὀδυρομένων. εἰ δὲ σὺ ταῦτα οὐ δώσεις, διδάξεις καὶ ἡμᾶς ὧν ἡμεῖς κύριοι μηκέτι δοῦναι.