Letter 363: Have you been seized by the same feeling that has seized us?

To Modestus. (~358/59 AD) Have you been seized by the same feeling that has seized us? As evening approaches — the hour when we used to walk to your house — our feet demand the familiar path, and we grieve that we cannot see you. Perhaps the same happens to you at sunset. I am taught this by your character generally and by the charges you brought against me when I was seeing you off. You said you had been wronged because I missed your company for two days — and those accusations were sweeter to me than honey. When I blamed my illness, which troubles my head, and said I had stayed home out of necessity, you found a second charge: that I had not informed you of it. These are the words of one private citizen to another — yet here it was a governor speaking to a subject. That a man so loved should know how to love no less well than he knows how to judge is no smaller proof of virtue than the judging itself. That you imitate Heracles in your labor and Perseus in your speed — well done. But we beg that your wings not only carry you swiftly beyond the Euphrates, but also bring you back quickly to the Orontes, our river.

Μοδέστῳ. (358/59) Ἀρ’ ὅπερ αὐτοὶ πεπόνθαμεν, τούτῳ καὶ αὐτὸς κατεδχέ- θης; ἡμεῖς ἑσπέρας προσιούσης, ὅτε δὴ βαδίζειν εἰώθαμεν παρὰ σέ, παρὰ μὲν τῶν ποδῶν ἀπαιτούμεθα τὴν ὁδόν, ἰδεῖν δέ <σε> α οὐκ ἔχοντες ἀλγοῦμεν. ἴσως δὴ καὶ αὐτῷ σοι γίγνεται δύντος ἡλίου. διδάσκομαι δὲ τοῦτο τῷ τε ἄλλῳ σου τρόπῳ καὶ ταῖς αἰτίαις αἷς με ᾐτιῶ παραπέμποντά σε. ἔλεγες τοίνυν ἠδικῆσθαι δύ’ ἡμέρας ἐκλιπόντος μου τὴν συνουσίαν, καὶ ἦν ἡδίω μέλιτος τὰ ἐγκλήματά μοι. κατηγοροῦντος δέ μου τοῦ νοσήματος, ὃ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐνοχλεῖ, καὶ φάσκοντος οἴκοι μεῖναι διὰ τὴν ἐκεῖθεν ἀνάγκην δευτέραν ἐξεῦρες αἰτίαν τὸ μὴ τοῦτό σοι μηνύσαι. ταῦτα δὴ τὰ τῶν ἰδιωτῶν πρὸς ἀλλήλους ὁ ἄρχων πρὸς τὸν ἀρχόμενον. τὸ δὲ φιλούμενον οὕτως εἰδέναι φιλεῖν τοῦ δικάζειν, ὥσπερ δικάζεις, οὐ μεῖον εἰς ἀπόδειξιν ἀρετῆς. ὅτι μὲν οὖν τῷ πόνῳ μὲν μιμῇ τὸν Ἡρακλέα, τῷ τάχει δὲ τὸν Περσέα, καλῶς οπιεῖς. ἀλλά σου δεόμεθα τῶν πτερῶν μὴ μόνον ὑπὲρ τὸν Εὐφράτην σε τα- χέως ἄγειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς Ὀρόντην, τὸν ἡμέτερον ποταμόν, ἐπανάγειν ὀξέως.