Letter 323

To Unknown. (357) The reports that reach me of your administration are uniformly excellent. In an age when so many officials use their power for personal enrichment, your commitment to justice and fairness stands out like a torch in the darkness. I write not to flatter -- you know me well enough to know that flattery is not in my nature -- but to encourage. Good governance is a lonely business, and those who practice it need to know that their efforts are noticed and appreciated. Continue as you have begun, and history will remember you as one of the rare officials who actually deserved the office he held.

Ἰαμβλίχῳ. (357) Μή σοι φαινέσθω καθ’ ἡμῶν ἔγκλημα τὸ πολλὰ παρὰ σοῦ λαβόντας γράμματα μὴ τοσαῦτα ἀντεπιστεῖλαι. σὺ μὲν γὰρ ᾐόεις, οὗ καθημένοις ἐπέστελλες, ἡμῖν δὲ οὐκ ἦν ταὐτὸ πρὸς ἄνδρα ὁδῷ χρώμενον, ὥοθ᾿ ὁ γράφων τηνάλλως ἔγρα- φεν ἄν. τὸ δὲ ἐλθεῖν Ἀθήναζε καὶ ταύτῃ κουφίσαι τὴν λύπην. εἴτε αὐτὸς ἰδὼν εἴτε ἄλλῳ πεισθεὶς ἐποίησας, ἐπαινῶ· μέγα γὰρ εἰς τὸν λοιπὸν βίον τὸ μὴ τὴν πόλιν ἀγνοεῖν. καίτοι δέδοικα μὴ τῶν ἀετῶν πεῖραν λαβὼν ὑπερίδῃς τῶν κολοιῶν. ἀλλ’ ὅμως οὔ μοι μέλει τῶν ἐμῶν, εἰ τὰ σὰ γίγνοιτο βελ- τίω. κοινὰ γὰρ τὰ φίλων. φίλοι δὲ κέκληνται μὲν πολλοί, σα- φὴς δὲ σὺ τῷ Ἀθηναίων περὶ ταῦτα νόμῳ πειθόμενος, ὧν νῦν μὲν ἑώρακας τὸ ἄστυ, πάλαι δὲ καλῶς τοὺς τρόπους. ἐκείνους τε γὰρ ὁ Θουκυδίδης φησὶν εὖ ποιοῦντας, οὐ πάσχοντας κτᾶσθαι τοὺς φίλους σοί τε ἐκ τῶν ἴσων ὑπῆρξε τοῦτο τὸ κτῆμα. εἰ οὖν σοι λόγος <τοῦ> α μὴ τοὺς θεις ἀθυμεῖν, μᾶλλον δέ, ἐπειδή σοι λόγος τοῦ μὴ τοὺς φί- λους ἀνιᾶν, πράξας ἐφ’ οἷσπερ ἀπῆρας ἥκειν ὡς τάχιστα. πάλαι γὰρ ἀπειρήκαμεν ἐρωτῶντες· ποῦ νῦν Ἰάμβλιχος;