Letter 504

To Anatolius. I was sitting with my uncle in conversation when someone walked up and handed him a letter. The thing drew my eyes to it at once -- and there was your name on it. I asked him immediately: "Where is my letter?" I could not believe you would write to others without thinking of me. He said: "What letter? Nothing has come through me for you." So I was forced to conclude that the whole thing was a pretense, and your professed affection was just talk, not love. If you say it was I who stopped you from writing by not writing first, you only prove that your so-called passion was never very strong. If it had been, as you so often claimed, powerful and intense, it would never have been shaken by so flimsy a pretext. So now the rivers run backwards: you look down on me, and I am the one in love. The game-piece has flipped -- you are the one fleeing, and I am doing the chasing. What consoles me is that I am being slighted along with many nations, many cities, and a great number of people. After all, they pray for you to take the reins [of public office], but you refuse to govern when you could. You prefer luxury to labor, sleep to doing good -- so how could anything seem important to you? But I realize I am making a poor case here. In complaining about your arrogance, I am only saying things that will make it worse -- telling you that so many people are gazing at you with open mouths. So, to avoid inflating your ego further, let me assure you: not everyone admires you. Those who profit from other people's misfortunes would happily cut you up and devour you. But perhaps that is not so surprising. After all, wolves have always hated guard dogs.

Ἀνατολίῳ. (356/57) Παρεκαθήμην τῷ θείῳ καὶ διελεγόμην, καί τις ἐπιστὰς ἔδωκεν ἐπιστολὴν ἐκείνῳ, καὶ τὸ δοθὲν ἔλκει μου τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ πρὸς αὑτό, καὶ τὸ σὸν ὄνομα ἐφαίνετο. ἠρόμην οὑν αὐτόν· ποῦ δὲ τὰ πρὸς ἐμὲ γράμματα; νομίζων οὐκ ἄν σε ἐτέ- ροις γράφοντα μνήμην ἡμῶν μὴ λαβεῖν. ὁ δὲ ποῖα ἔφη γράμματα;σοὶ γὰρ ἔρχεται δι᾿ ἡμῶν οὐδέν: ἐνεθυ- μούμην οὖν ὅτι πλάσμα ἦν ἅπαν ἐκεῖνο καὶ ὁ σὸς ἔρως λόγος ἦν, οὐκ ἔοως. εἰ γὰρ δὴ φὴς ὅτι αὐτὸν οὐκ ἐπιστείλας ἔπαυσα ἐγώ, τούτῳ δεικνύεις αὐτῷ τὸ μὴ πολὺν ἐν σοὶ γενέ- σθαι τὸν θεόν εἰ γὰρ ἦν, ὃ πολλάκις ἔλεγες, πολύς τε καὶ ἰσχυρός, οὐκ ἄν ποτε ἐκινήθη φαύλη προφάσει. νῦν οὖν ἄνω ποταμῶν· σὺ μὲν ὑπερορᾷς, ἐγὼ δὲ ἐρῶ. καὶ μεταπεσόν- τος ὀστράκου φεύγεις, ἐγὼ δὲ ὁ διώκων εἰμί. παραμυθεῖται δέ με τὸ μετὰ πολλῶν μὶν ἐθνῶν, πολλῶν δὲ πόλεων, πλείστων δὲ ἀνθρώπων ὑβρίζεσθαι. εἰ γὰρ οἱ μὲν εὔχονταί σε λαβεῖν ἡνίοχον, σὺ δ’ ἐξὸν ἄρχειν οὐκ ἐθέλεις. ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον τρυφᾶν ἢ πονεῖν, καὶ καθεύδειν ἢ εὖ ποιεῖν, πῶς οὐ πάντα μικρά σοι νενόμισται; ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὐ καλῶς ἔοικα ῥητορεύειν, εἰ δυσ- χεραίνων σου τὴν ὑπεροψίαν ἀφ’ ὧι ἔσται μείζων λέγω· τοι- οῦτον γὰρ τὸ φάσκειν εἰς σὲ κεχηνέναι τοσούτους. 7, ἕν’ οὖν μὴ τοῦτο 7], μάνθανε ὡς οὐ πᾶσιν ἀρέσκεις. οἷς γὰρ αἱ τῶν ἄλλων συμφοραὶ πρόσοδοι, κἂν ἀποτεμόντες σε φάγοιεν ἂν ἡδέως, θαυμαστὸν δὲ ἴσως οὐδέν. καὶ γὰρ οἱ λύκοι μισοῦσι τοὺς κύνας.