Letter 370

To Aristainetos. (~358 AD) So you were destined after all to taste the labors of office, since you did not flee governance by every possible means. And now it is the belt of rank, military service, crowds at your door, sleepless nights, and anxieties — while that famous leisure of yours and your idleness have departed. But I have no fear that you will grow dizzy from grasping the greatest responsibilities at the outset. Your nature knows how to succeed even without practice, so I am confident you will quickly prove yourself admirable in your present duties and quickly advance through your excellence in them to something more brilliant still. But here is what pleased me most, and what you too may celebrate without envy: all who heard the news of your appointment felt joy along with the announcement. And of those who previously claimed to love you, not one was exposed as merely claiming it without truly doing so. No — the old refrain, "Aristainetos is worthy," rang out with a single voice across the entire city. And indeed the emperor was admired for composing the honeycomb of this office more wisely than a bee. If it were possible for me to run to you myself, I would have flown. But since he was the one able to travel, Dianios has come — your kinsman, my companion, often summoned by you before, but now summoned by the occasion itself. For your governing Bithynia brings the man home after he has long been a fugitive from his own country out of fear of the city council and of poverty. Had they seized him while he was in residence, unable to perform the liturgies [public financial obligations], the only thing left would have been imprisonment. He judged it more reasonable to live in a foreign land with freedom than in his homeland with disgrace. He grieved at being separated from his mother, yet shrank from seeing her under such expectations. Still, by his life among us he has brought honor to his mother, to you, and to all your family, conducting himself with temperance, gentleness, and a manner that commands respect. And what matters most: without compromising any of his obligations to us, he attracted no hatred from the other faction. So I would say with confidence that he is your kinsman, and no one thought him unworthy of the blood. Receive then your relative, who has won many friends here through his character, and deliberate on this question: which path should he take? Should he remain at home, return to us, or make his living in the Great City [Constantinople] by practicing law?

Ἀρισταινέτῳ. (358) ἔμελλές ποτε καὶ τῶν ἐν ἀρχῇ γεύεσθαι πόνων ὡς οὐ πάσῃ μηχανῇ τὸ ἄρχειν φυγών, καὶ νῦν ζώνη καὶ στρατεία καὶ ὄχλος περὶ θύρας καὶ ἀγρυπνίαι καὶ φροντίδες, ἡ πολλὴ δὲ ἐκείνη ῥᾳστώνη καὶ τὸ ἀργεῖν ἐκκεχώρηκε. φοβοῦμαι δὲ οὐδὲν μὴ τῶν μεγίστων πρῶτον ἁψάμενος ἰλιγγιάσῃς ἡμῖν, ἡ γὰρ δὴ σὴ φύσις καὶ μελέτης χωρὶς ἐπίσταται κατορθοῦν, ὥστε πιστεύω ταχέως μέν σε θαυμαστὸν ἐν τοῖς παροῦσι φα- νεῖσθαι, ταχέως δὲ τῇ περὶ ταῦτα ἀρετῇ πρός τι λαμπρότερον ἥξειν. ἐφ’ ᾧ δὲ αὐτός τε μάλιστα ἥσθην σύ τ’ ἂν <φθό- νου> α ἐκτὸς εὐφραίνοιο, τοῦτο ἔστιν. ὅσοι τὸν λόγον τοῦ πράγματος, τοσοῦτοι καὶ ἡδονὴν μετὰ τοῦ λόγου. καὶ τῶν πρὸ τοῦ σε φασκόντων φιλεῖν οὐδεὶς ἠλέγχθη φάσκων μέν, ἥκιστα δὲ φιλῶν. ἀλλὰ τὸ πάλαι τοῦτο· ἄξιος Ἀρισταί- νετος κοινῇ φωνῇ διὰ πάσης ἐχώρει τῆς πόλεως. καὶ δὴ καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐθαυμάζετο μελίττης σοφώτερον συνθεὶς τὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς κηρίον. εἰ μὲν οὖν ἐξῆν μοι καὶ αὐτῷ παρὰ σὲ τρέ- χειν, ἐπετόμην ἄν· νῦν δὲ ᾧ βαδίζειι ὑπῆρχεν, ἥκει Διάνιος, ὁ σὸς μὲν συγγενής, ἐμὸς δὲ ἑταῖρος πολλάκις μὲν ὑπὸ σοῦ κεκλημένος πρότερον, νῦν δέ γε ὑπὸ τοῦ καιροῦ. τὸ γὰρ σὲ Βιθυνίας κρατεῖν κατάγει τὸν ἄνδρα πολὺν δὴ χρόνον φυ- γόντα τὴν οἰκείαν διὰ τὸ φοβεῖσθαι βουλὴν καὶ πενίαν. εἰ γὰρ ἐλάβοντο ἐπιδημοῦντος τοῦδε οὐ δυναμένου λειτουργεῖν, λοιπὸν ἦν δεδέσθαι. ἐδόκει οὖν αὐτῷ μετριώτερον εἶναι γῆ ξένη μετ’ ἐλευθερίας ἢ πατρὶς μετ’ ἀτιμίας. καὶ τῷ μὲν ἀφεστάναι τῆς μητρὸς ἤλγει, τὴν μητέρα δὲ ἰδεῖν ἐπὶ τοιαύ- ταις ἐλπίσιν ὤκνει. τῷ μέντοι παρ’ ἡμῖν βίῳ καὶ τὴν μη- τέρα καὶ σὲ καὶ πάντας ὑμᾶς κεκόσμηκε μετὰ σωφροσύνης τε καὶ πρᾳότητος καὶ τοῦ παρέχειν αὑτὸν αἰδέσιμον διάγων. καὶ τὸ μέγιστον, τῶν πρὸς ἡμᾶς δικαίων οὐδὲν διαφθείρας οὐκ ἐπεσπάσατο μῖσος παρὰ τῆς ἑτέρας μερίδος. τοιγαροῦν θαρρῶν ἔλεγον ὡς κοινωνεῖ σοι τοῦ γένους, καὶ οὐκ ἐδόκει χείρων εἶναι τοῦ αἵματος. δέχου δὴ τὸν οἰκεῖον πολλοὺς τῇδε διὰ τῶν τρόπων κτησάμενον φίλους καὶ βούλευσαι περὶ τοῦ· τίνα χρὴ τοῦτον ὁδὸν ἐλθεῖν; εἴτ’ οἴκοι μένειν εἴθ’ ὡς ἡμᾶς ἀναστρέφειν εἴτε ζῆν ἐν τῇ Μεγάλῃ πόλει ποιούμενον τὸν βίον ἀπὸ τῶν δικῶν;