Letter 364: Well now — what was long in the stitching has finally come together.

To Themistius. (358) Look now, the thing long stitched together has come to its end: having stripped from us the tongue of Harpocration, you have given it to those who have no need of it, and you have loosed a knot harder than the Gordian to undo, or rather, you have cut it, after the manner of that man who could not undo it. For if you had prevailed by persuasion, I would have said that you had loosed it; but as it is, since you used force, I say that you have cut it, and you smile, thinking great thoughts on account of your great power, and you drag whatever you wish. But that Zeus, your patron, the one from whom you came down and to whom you will return, when it was within his power to wrench up earth and sea and, having hung them aloft, to leave them suspended in mid-air, he threatened to do so but did not do it. You, however, without any rope, by a mere nod, hold in your hands whatever you please. And so, loving your own city, you will say that you do no wrong; but having handed over an Egyptian body to Thracian winds, consider what you will do. Having received a speech of yours, which tells us all the benefits you conferred on the city by your embassy, and then learning that you were summoning sophists, I said: the noble Themistius is seeking pupils. For what orator remains, when you produce such works as these? Telemachus did not resemble his father in form so closely as you resemble Demosthenes in your speeches, which, having possessed them long ago, you have at last brought forth. And so, for other reasons too, one must praise the embassy, and also because it gave these men an occasion to come forward into the public eye. Make, then, many noble things, and send your speeches not only to those who rule, but also to those who hold no office, but who perhaps have ears.

Θεμιστίῳ. (358) Ἴδου σοι, τὸ πάλαι ῥαπτόμενον ἐπὶ τέλος ἥκει· τὴν Ἁρ- ποκρατίωνος ἡμᾶς ἀφελόμενος γλῶτταν ἔδωκας τοῖς οὐδὲν δεο- μένοις καὶ δεσμὸν χαλεπώτερον εἰς λύσιν τοῦ Γορδίου λέλυ- κἀς, μᾶλλον δέ, ἔτεμες κατ’ ἐκεῖνον τὸν οὐ δυνηθέντα λῦσαι. εἰ μὲν γὰρ πείσας εἶχες, ἔφην ἄν σε λελυκέναι, νῦν δέ, ἐβιάσω γάρ, φημί σε τεμεῖ καὶ μειδιᾷς δὴ μεγάλα φρονῶν ἐπὶ με- γάλῃ τῇ δυνάμει καὶ πᾶν ὅ τι ἂν ἐθέλῃς ἕλκε ὁ Ζεὺς δὲ ἐκεῖνος, ὁ σὸς προστάτης καὶ παρ’ οὗ κατέβης καὶ πρὸς ὃν ἄπει, πρόχειρον ὂν γῆν καὶ θάλατταν ἀνασπάσαι καὶ κρεμά- σαντα ἀφεῖναι μετεώρους ἠπείλησε μέν, οὐκ ἔδρασε δέ. σὺ δὲ ἄνευ σειρᾶς ἀπὸ νεύματος ἐν χεροῖν ἔχεις ὅ τι ἂν δόξη. τὴν μὶν οὖν σαυτοῦ φιλῶν φήσεις οὐκ ἀδικεῖν, σῶμα δὲ Αἰγύ- πτιον παραδοὺς Θρᾳκίοις πνεύμασιν ὅρα τί δράσεις. λόγον δέ σου λαβών, ὃς ὅσα τῇ πρεσβείᾳ τὴν πόλιν ὤνησας ἴΜεν, εἶτα γνοὺς ὡς μεταπέμποιο σοφιστάς, μαθητὰς ἔφην ὁ καλὸς ζητεῖ Θεμίστιος. τίς γὰρ ἔτι ῥήτωρ σοῦ τοιαῦτα δημιουργοῦντος; οὐχ οὕτως ὁ Τηλέμαχος ἐῴκει τῷ πατρὶ τὴν μορφήν, ὡς σὺ τῷ Δημοσθένει τοὺς λόγους, οὓς πάλαι κεκτη- μένος ὀψέ ποτε ἐξήνεγκας. τῇ τε οὖν ἄλλῃ δεῖ τὴν πρε- σβείαν ἐπαινεῖν καὶ ὅτι τούτοις ἔδωκεν ἀφορμὴν εἰς μέσον ἐλ- θεῖν. ποίει δὴ πολλὰ τὰ καλὰ καὶ πέμπε τοὺς λόγους μὴ τοῖς ἄρχουσι μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἷς ἀρχὴ μὲν οὐκ ἔστιν, ὦτα δὲ ἴσως.