Letter 547: A letter reached me from Italy describing the nonsense of some sham sophist and your laughter at him, together with...

To Anatolius. A letter reached me from Italy describing the nonsense of some sham sophist and your laughter at him, together with your praise for me. The letter urged me to write to you and to consider you the best man alive where I am concerned. That you are the best man alive in general -- I cast that vote long ago. But I am puzzled that since you took office, you have written to everyone else as before, yet failed to observe the same custom toward me. At first I was baffled, but now I have stopped being baffled -- I think I have found the reason for the silence. You see how most sophists, whenever one of their associates enters an office like yours, come running to the governor with a speech in one hand and a purse in the other, showing off the first and handing over the second, filling his coffers through that display. You were afraid I might become one of those who rush in for that purpose, and so you stopped writing, stripping me of my nerve. On top of that, you knew you owed me a tunic -- promised in Thrace, delivered nowhere. That was your second fear: that I might come to collect. And to keep me at home, you found the one effective method -- silence. But I will foil even this strategy of yours. I am coming. Take all of the above as a joke. But I was truly delighted to hear what I had been expecting. I heard it at Strategius's house, from his own mouth. It was evening; we were reclining by the pool. The conversation turned to the virtues of governors, and inevitably your name came up. Someone present said that nothing about you was small, but one thing was especially great. "What great thing?" I asked. Strategius then said: "When he was about to take leave of the emperor, after many fine exchanges, he added: 'Your Majesty, no one's rank will shield them from punishment for wrongdoing. Whether it is a judge or a military commander who breaks the law, I will not tolerate neglect.'" He said the emperor both threatened and praised in the same breath, and that your words were immediately put into action: a certain general who had shown cowardice against the barbarians was arrested. I heard this from Strategius in the presence of five people. From me, everyone in the city has heard it -- and there was applause, and no one could disbelieve it. The deed bore the stamp of your character. I was so happy -- not merely as someone reporting your actions, but as if I were the one performing them. After all, you feel the same way about my speeches: you treat them as your own. So it is only natural that you should regard my friends as your own too. If that is so, then Letoius is your friend. In his devotion to me he falls short of none of my intimates and surpasses some. He even gave up his retirement from public life and re-entered affairs for my sake, so he could support my interests from a position of greater influence. When things go well for me, he beams. When they do not, his distress outdoes mine. He holds his property in common with me, and if a day goes by without his sending something, he says he has been treated outrageously. As for the young students who are poor, through him they are poor no longer. He makes a point of discovering the needs of those devoted to literature and takes care to meet them. Though he had not planned to serve as ambassador -- he had already met the emperor on the occasion of the Olympic games -- he took on the burden to spare my uncle the journey. Whatever efforts you would have made on my uncle's behalf in rallying the officials to his side, give those same resources to this man. If he succeeds over there, we will have reason to hold our heads high here.

Ἀνατολίῳ. (357) Ἧκεν ἡμῖν ἐξ Ἰταλίας γράμματα δηλοῦντα σοφιστοῦ τινος ὑποξύλου φληνάφους καὶ σὸν γέλωτα μὲν εἰς ἐκεῖνον, ἔπαινον δὲ εἰς ἐμέ. καὶ παρῄνει δὴ τὰ γράμματα γράφειν σοι καὶ νομίζειν ἀνδρῶν σε εἰς ἐμὲ βέλτιστον εἶναι ὑῶ δέ σε ἀνδρῶν μὲν ὅλως εἶναι βέλτιστον πάλαι δὴ ψῆφον ἐθέμην, θαυμάζω δέ σου τὸ ἐπειδὴ ἦρξας, τοῖς μὲν ἄλλοις, ᾗ πρόσθεν, ἐπιστεῖλαι, πρὸς δὲ ἐμὲ τοῦτο δὴ τὸ εἰωθὸς μὴ τηρῆσαι. ἀπορῶν δὴ τὸ πρῶτον νῦν ἀπορῶν ἐπαυσάμην· εὑρηκέναι γὰρ οἶμαι, πόθεν ἡ σιγή. ὁρᾷς τῶν σοφιστῶν τοὺς πολλούς, ὅταν τις τῶν αὐτοῖς ἐπιτηδείων εἰς ἀρχὴν εἰσέλθῃ τοιαύτην, οἴαν καὶ σὺ νῦν, τρέχοντας παρὰ τὸν ἄρχοντα μετὰ λόγου καὶ βαλαντίου καὶ τὸν μὲν δεικνύντας, τὸ δὲ διδόντας καὶ δι ἐκείνου πληροῦντας. ἔδεισας δὴ μὴ γένωμαι καὶ αὐτὸς τῶν ἐπὶ τοῦτο τρεχόντων, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο δὴ τοῦ γράφειν ἀπέστης ἀφαιρούμενός με τὸ θαρρkν. πρὸς δὲ καὶ ᾔδεις ὀφείλων μοι χιτωνίσκον, ὃν ὑπέσχου μὲν ἐν Θρᾴκῃ, δέδωκας δὲ οuαμοῦ. τοῦτο δεύτερον ἴδεισας μή σε ἥκων εἰσπράττοιμι. καὶ πρὸς τὸ μένειν με μίαν εὗρες ἀνάγκην τὴν σιωπήν. ἀλλ’ ἐγώ σου καὶ ταύτην ἐλέγξω τὴν τέχνην· ἥξω γάρ. ταυτὶ μὲν οὖν ἐν παιδιᾶς δέξῃ μέρει· πάνυ δὲ ἥσθην ἀκούσας ἃ προσεδόκων. ἤκουσα δὲ ἐν Στρατηγίου λέγοντος αὐτοῦ. ἑσπέρα μὲν ἦν, προσεισι,ίκειμεν δὲ τῇ δεξαμενῇ. καὶ λόγος ἦν τις ὑπὲρ ἀρχόντων ἀρετῆς, ἐν ᾧ μὴ τὸ σὸν εἶναι ὄνομα οὐκ ἐνῆν. εἰπόντος δέ του τῶν παρόντων μηδὲν μὲν εἶναι τῶν σῶν μικρόν, ‘ὲν δὲ καὶ δὴ πάνυ μέγα ποῖον ἔφην τοῦτο τὸ μέγα; Στρατήγιος οὖν εὐθὺς μέλλων ἔφη πα- ρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως ἀπιέναι μετὰ πολλὰ καὶ καλὰ προσ- έθηκεν ὅτι, ὦ βασιλεῦ, τῶν ἀδικούντων οὐδένα οὺόὲν ἀξίωμα ῥύσεται, ἀλλὰ κἂν τῶν δικαζόντων τις,κἂντῶνἐπὶταἱςδυνάμεσιπαραβαίνη τοὺςνό- μους,οὐκἀνέζομαιἀμελεῖσθαι. ταῦτα σὲ μὲν ἔλεγεν ἀπειλεῖ τὸν δὲ ἐπαινεῖν τε καὶ ἐπιτρέπειν καὶ σοὶ τὸν λόγον εὐθὺς εἰς ἔργον ἐλθεῖν. τῶν γάρ τινα στρατηγῶν δειλὸν γενό- μένον πρὸς τοὺς βαρβάρους δεδέσθαι. παρ’ ἐκείνου μὲν ἐγὼ ταῦτα ἤκουσα πέντε παρόντων, παρ’ ἐμοῦ δὲ οὐδεὶς ὅστις οὐκ ἀκήκοε, καὶ κρότος ἦν καὶ οὐδεὶς εἶχεν ἀπιστεῖν. ἀπιστεῖν. τῆς γὰρ σῆς φύσεως ἐφαίνετο τὸ ἔργον. ἐγὼ δὲ οὕτως ἔχαιρον, οὐχ ὡς λέγων περὶ ὧν σὺ ποιεῖς, ἀλλ’ ὡς αὐτὸς ὢν ὁ ποιῶν, ἐπεὶ καὶ σὺ περὶ τοὺς ἐμοὺς λόγους ἴσον τι πέπονθας· σαυ- τοῦ τοὺς ἐμοὺς ἡγῇ. οὐκοῦν καὶ τοὺς ἐμοὺς φίλους σαυτοῦ νομίζειν εἰκός. εἰ δὴ τοῦτο οὕτως ἔχει, φίλος σοι Λητόιος οὗτος τῶν οἰκείων οὐδὲν λειπόμενος εἰς ἐμέ, τινὰς δὲ καὶ παρελθών, ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸ τὰ κοινὰ πράττειν ἀφεὶς ἡσυχίας ἐπι- θυμίᾳ πάλιν αὐτῶν ἐμὴν χάριν ἀνθήψατο τοῦ τοῖς ἐμοῖς πράγμασιν ἀπὸ μείζονος τῆς δυνάμεως συμμαχεῖν. οὗτος, ἂν μὲν ἐμοί τι χρηστὸν ᾖ, καὶ φαιδρός, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἑτέροις τῷ λυπεῖσθαί με νικᾷ. καὶ τὰ ὄντα κοινά μοι κέκτηται, κἂν μὴ παρ’ ἡμέραν τι πέμψας λάβω, δεινὰ πεπονθέναι φησί. νέων δὲ ὅσοι πένητες, διὰ τοῦτον οὐ πένητες· τὰς γὰρ ἐνδείας τῶν περὶ τοὺς λόγους ὅπως τε μὴ ἀγνοήσει ποιεῖ καὶ ὅπως λύσει φροντίζει. πρεσβεύειν δὲ οὐκ ἐγνωκώς, ἤδη γὰρ ἐντετυχήκει τῷ βασιλεῖ μέλλων θήσειν τὰ Ὀλύμπια, τὸν θεῖον τὸν ἐμὸν ἀπαλλάττων τοῦ πόνου τὸν πόνον ὑπέστη. οἷς ἂν οὖν ἐχρήσω πράγμασιν ὑπὲρ ἐκείνου παῶν αὐτῷ συμμάχους τοὺς ἐν τέλει, ταῦτα τούτῳ δὸς ἄγειν· ὡς, ἂν οὗτος ἐκεῖ πράξῃ κατὰ νοῦν, ἡμῖν ἐνθάδε μέγα φρονεῖν ὑπάρξει.