Letter 350: Was anyone ever so pleased digging the earth for one purpose only to stumble upon gold, as Jovinus was at seeing you...

To Clematius. (358 AD) Was anyone ever so pleased digging the earth for one purpose only to stumble upon gold, as Jovinus was at seeing you as governor, and you at receiving him? I call your part good fortune, and his virtue — for he ran such a long road to see a friend, while such a prize came to you sitting still. Or rather, his running reveals your virtue too, since a good man would naturally race to such a companion. As for what you will say and do together — imagine me, though absent, seeing and hearing it all: the leaping about, the laughter flowing from both of you, the reminiscences of old times, talk of the present, the exchange of jokes, and stories about me and my affairs — which hold you most of all and from which you can barely tear yourselves away. At home, let Jovinus play as before. But if he carries any of that behavior into the forum, punish him as you would me — for not walking with eyes cast down and trembling beside a man who governs Palestine.

Κληματiῳ. (358) Ἆρ’ ἥσθη τις οὕτω ποτὲ γῆν μὲν ὀρύττων ἐπ’ ἄλλῳ τῳ, χρυσῷ δὲ ἐντυχών, ὡς νῦν σὲ μὲν ἄρχοντα Ἰοβῖνος ὁρῶν, σὺ δὲ 18 Vl γ΄, μδ΄ ωλ). τουτονὶ δεδεγμένος; καλῶ δὴ τὸ μὲν σὸν εὐτυχίαν, τὸ τού- του δὲ ἀρετήν· ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἔδραμε τοσαύτην ὁδὸν τοῦ φίλον ἰδεῖν, σοὶ δὲ ἥκει καθημένῳ πρᾶγμα τοσοῦτον. μᾶλλον δέ, καὶ σὴν ἀρετὴν ὁ τούτου δεικνύει δρόμος, εἵπερ τὸν ἀγα- θὸν εἰκὸς παρὰ τοιοῦτον ἑταῖρον τρέχειν. ἃ δὲ συνόντες ἐρεῖτε καὶ δράσετε, νομίζετε καὶ ἐμὲ τὸν ἀπόντα τὰ μὲν ὁρᾶν, τὰ δὲ ἀκούειν, κινήματά τε καὶ σκιρτήματα γέλωτά τε πολὺν ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων ῥέοντα καὶ μνήμην τῶν ἀρχαίων καὶ περὶ τῶν παρόντων λόγους καὶ σκωμμάτων χάριν καὶ διήγησιν περί τε ἐμοῦ καὶ τῶν ἐμῶν, ὑφ’ ὣν μάλιστα δὴ κατέχεσθε καὶ ὅθεν μόλις ἐκβαίνετε. οἴκοι μὲν οὖν ἐξέστω Ἰοβίνῳ παί- ζειν ἃ πρότερον· εἰ δέ τι τούτων εἰς ἀγορὰν ἐξάγοι, λάμβανε παρ’ αὐτοῦ δίκην ἣν καὶ παρ’ ἐμοῦ, διότι μὴ κύπτων εἰς γῆν καὶ τρέμων ἐβάδιζον μετ’ ἀνδρὸς τὴν Παλαιστίνην ἄγοντος.