Letter 406: In every other respect, my homeland is better than the foreign city.

In every other respect, my homeland is better than the foreign city. But you will not let it be better in all things. The letters you used to send in abundance before -- since I arrived here, you have begrudged me, though you would have been justified in keeping silent even earlier. And what is even more galling: others received letters from you and showed them to me, while I was forced to explain why I had received none -- an explanation I could not find no matter how hard I tried. I knew you had no shortage of things to say, and I was conscious of no wrong I had done you, unless my offense was this: that when about to deliver a speech, I introduced your name with praise -- and even that was the act of genuine affection. I refuse to believe those who report that you criticize me -- not because I am beyond criticism, but because you are too noble a man. You would sooner conceal a fellow citizen's faults than expose them. Take my distress at not receiving your letters as proof of my regard for you. For love must be the cause of such grief. And who would not love a tongue capable of rising to the greatness of its subject? Know this well: the emperor saves cities by his victories, but you preserve them by your words.

Καλλιοπίῳ. (355) Τὰ μὲν ἄλλα ἡ πατρὶς ἡμῖν ἀμείνων τῆς ἀλλοτρίας, σὺ δὲ αὐτὴν οὐκ ἐᾷς πάντα εἶναι τῆς ἀλλοτρίας ἀμείνω. γραμ- μάτων γάρ, ἃ πρὸ τοῦ πλεῖστα ἔπεμπες, ἐπειδὴ δεῦρ’ ἥκομεν, ἐφθόνησας δίκαιος ὢν νῦν πέμπειν, εἰ καὶ πρότερον ἐτύγχα- νες σιγήσας. καὶ τὸ ἔτι σχετλιώτερον, ἄλλοι μὲν εἶχον λα- βόντες καὶ ἐδείκνυσαν ἡμῖν, ἐγὼ δὲ ἠναγκαζόμην τοῦ μὴ λα- βεῖν αἰτίαν λέγειν. ἣν πάντα κινῶν εὑρεῖν οὐκ εἶχον. σοί τε γὰρ εὐπορίαν εἰς λόγους συνῄδειν ἐμαυτῷ τε εἰς σὲ φαῦλον οὐδέν, πλὴν εἰ τοσοῦτόν σε ἠδίκουν, ὅτι μέλλων δεικνύναι λόγον ἐπεισήνεγκα σὸν ὄνομα σὺν εὐφημίᾳ καὶ μὴν κἀκεῖνο φιλοῦντος καθαρῶς. ἀπιστῶ τοῖς ἀγγέλλουσιν, ὡς ἄρα ἡμᾶς ψέγοις, οὐχ ὅτι ἡμεῖς οὐ κακοί, ἀλλ’ ὅτι σὺ γενναῖος καὶ πολιτῶν φαυλότητα κρύψαις ἂν μᾶλλον ἢ διακαλύψαις. ποιοῦ δὲ σημεῖον τῆς περὶ σὲ γνώμης καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τῷ μὴ λαμβάνειν γράμματα λύπην. ἔρωτα γὰρ ἀνάγκη τῆς λύπης ἡγεῖσθαι. τίς δ’ οὐκ ἂν ἐρασθείη γλώττης ἱκανῆς ἀρθῆναι πρὸς μέγεθος ἔργων; ὡς, εὖ ἵσθι, σώζει μὲν ὁ βασιλεὺς ταῖς νίκαις τὰς πόλεις, σώζεις δὲ σὺ τῷ λόγῳ τὰς νίκας, καὶ οὐ πάντη ἄρα σῶν γραμμάτων ἀπεστερήμεθα, ἀλλ’ ἡ πρὸς τὸ κοι- νὸν ἐπιστολὴ τὴν ἐν τοῖς ἰδίοις ἀτιμίαν παραμυθεῖται