Letter 416: I thought that as soon as you heard the governor was on our side, you yourself would be here.
I thought that as soon as you heard the governor was on our side, you yourself would be here. The things that troubled you were serious, and they could only be resolved this way. But you have neither arrived nor explained your absence.
If there is something worthwhile where you are -- something you can enjoy by staying -- then stay, and good luck to you. Your happiness cheers me more than your absence grieves me. But if you are sitting still out of mere reluctance to travel, be careful that this pleasant idleness does not breed something unpleasant.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
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.
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