Letter 416: I thought that as soon as you heard the governor was on our side, you yourself would be here.

To Elpidius. I supposed that you, as soon as you heard the governor was with us, would yourself also be with us; for the matters that vexed you were great, and these had to be settled, and otherwise it was not possible. But you have neither arrived, nor have you made plain the reason for your not coming. If, then, you reckon it some fine thing to stay, the enjoyment of which is to be had by staying, then stay, and good fortune to you, and take your fill of it; for assuredly, by your taking pleasure in it, you give us more joy than the pain you cause us by not being present. But if it is from a reluctance for the journey that you sit still, take care that this pleasure of yours does not breed for you displeasure.

Ἐλπιδίῳ. (355) Ἐγώ σε ᾤμην εὐθὺς ἀκούσαντα παρ’ ἡμῖν εἶναι τὸν ἄρχοντα καὶ αὐτὸν ἔσεσθαι παρ’ ἡμῖν· οἷς τε γὰρ ἤχθου με- γάλα ἦν καὶ ταῦτα ἴδει λυθῆναι καὶ ἄλλως οὐκ ἦν. σὺ δὲ 20 οὔτε ἀφῖξαι τοῦ τε μὴ ἥκειν τὴν αἰτίαν οὐκ ἐδήλωσας. εἰ μὲν οὖν τι καλὸν τίθη μένειν, οὗ μένοντα ἀπολαύειν ἔνι, μένε ἀγαθῇ τύχῃ καὶ ἐμφοροῦ, πάντως τῷ γε εὐφραίνεσθαι πλέον ἡμᾶς εὐφραίνεις ἢ τῷ μὴ παρεῖναι λυπεῖς· εἰ δὲ ὄκνῳ τῆς πορείας κάθησαι, ὅρα μὴ τὸ ἡδύ σοι τοῦτο ἀηδίαν τέκῃ.