Letter 509: You have Spectatus in your hands -- the man you have been longing to get hold of.

To Clematius. You have Spectatus in your hands -- the man you have been longing to get hold of. Now do not go soft at the sight of him. Carry out all those threats you made: grab him, strangle him, smother him with furious kisses. That, as you well know, is the kind of punishment you give this man. He comes to you with greater dignity now, having ended a war and settled those fearsome archers of ours in the theater, so it is likely his standing with the emperor will only grow, since his judgment has already surpassed his official rank. If he is not lying when he says he loves you, and if the emperor will refuse him nothing, then nothing you desire will be out of reach. But if you want to take advantage of these opportunities, wake up and stop sleeping through them.

Κληματίῳ. (356/57) Ἔχεις ὑπὸ χεῖρα Σπεκτάτον, ὃν ηὔξω λαβεῖν. μὴ τοίνυν πρὸς τὴν ὄψιν μαλακισθῇς, ἀλλ’ ὅσα ἠπείλεις ἐπιτέλει βοῶν, ἕλκω ἄγχων, καταφιλῶν μετὰ θυμοῦ· τοιάσδε γὰρ οἶσθα παρὰ τοῦδε δίκας λαμβάνειν. σεμνότερος δὲ ἥκει σοι τὸν πόλεμον καταλύσας καὶ καθίσας ἡμῖν ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ τοὺς δεινοὺς ἐκείνους τοξότας, ὥστ’ εἰκὸς αὐτὸν ἔσεσθαι μείζω παρὰ τῷ βασιλεῖ δυνηθέντα τῇ γνώμη πλέον τῶν ὄντων. εἰ δὲ σὲ μὶν λέγων φιλεῖν οὐ ψεύδεται, παρ’ ἐκείνου δὲ οὐδενὸς ἀτυχήσει, κώλυμα οὐδὲν ὧν ἐπιθυμεῖς ἔσται σοι. εἰ δὲ δεῖ σε καιρῶν ἀπολαῦσαι. τὸν ὕπνον ἀποθέμενος ἀνίστω.