Letter 392: Our city is more in love with you than you are with me — and while your affection for me may be undeserved, theirs...
To Aristainetos. (355 AD)
Our city is more in love with you than you are with me — and while your affection for me may be undeserved, theirs for you is entirely warranted. Indeed, if they had no hope of your coming to them, they would long since have come to you.
Apellion's appointment gives you the chance to see good things before you even reach us, and gives him the chance to enjoy his beloved city before any of your other admirers.
You will marvel at his gentleness, his honesty, his capacity for friendship, and his refusal to profit from anything dishonorable. Egypt already testifies to this, and you will say the same once you have seen it for yourselves.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
Ἀρισταινέτῳ. (355)
Ἡ πόλις ἡμῶν πλέον ἐρῶσι τῆς σῆς ψυχῆς ἢ σὺ τῆς
ἐμῆς· καὶ σὺ μὲν τῆς ἐμῆς ἴσως οὐκ εἰκότως, οἱ δέ γε τῆς σῆς
καὶ μάλα εἰκότως. ὥστ’ εἰ μὴ ἦν ἐλπὶς ὅτι αὐτοῖς ἀφίξῃ-
πάλαι ἂν ἦσαν αὐτοὶ παρὰ σοί.
ἡ όὲ Ἀπελλίωνος ἀρχὴ
τοῦ καλοῦ σοί τε δίδωσι πρὸ τῆς ἡμετέρας ὁρᾶν ἀγαθὰ τούτῳ
τε πρὸ τῶν ἄλλων ἐραστῶν ἀπολαύειν τῶν παιδικῶν.
θαυ-
μάσῃ δὲ αὐτοῦ τὸ πρᾷον, τὸ ἄδολον, τὸ φιλεῖν εἰδέναι, τὸ μὴ
εἰδέναι κερδαίνειν ἃ μὴ καλόν. ἃ μαρτυρεῖ μὲν Αἴγυπτος ἤδη, 5
φήσετε δὲ καὶ ὑμεῖς πειρώμενοι.
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