Letter 550

To Olympius. When you said you could not write me a treatise on kidney disease because you had not heard a precise enough account of the illness, you turned your letter itself into a treatise -- on why such treatises require an accurate description of the symptoms. Even that much helped me: simply reporting my condition to you was beneficial. No sooner had I sent you the letter than the pain made peace with me -- one of those things that often happens under the care of Asclepius [the god of healing]. Meanwhile, that clever sophist has rekindled the quarrel, showing no respect even for the man who brokered the peace. Whether the Lydian [proverbial for someone overreaching], seeking the wealth of Cyrus, will lose what he has -- I do not know. But I will tell you how he broke the truce. He went to Phoenicia and wanted to stay. I dragged him back and tried to make him behave. But he returned with Phoenicians who knew how to be insolent, and through them he ran riot. When we did not stand for it, he spotted one of my students -- a young man who deserved a beating and had in fact been beaten into a fury -- seized the moment, and persuaded himself (or was persuaded by the student) that he could grab a sizable portion of my flock. Bidding farewell to "the noble Olympius" and his handshake agreements, he set about profiting. So I sent to Eubulus and asked: "What is this?" He said it was the act of a man with sense who loves himself. "The people of Oenoe know the ravine," as the proverb goes [i.e., insiders know the terrain], and his gains will not be great. But you have good reason to despise the oath-breaker for two things: his contempt for the gods, and his insult to the effort you invested in that agreement. As for Letoius -- you have praised him to me many times, and now you have the opportunity to do him good. I trust you will not be ashamed to benefit the first man of our city, given his birth, his education, and his character.

Ὀλυμπίῳ. (357) Λέγων οὐκ ἔχειν ποιεῖν μοι περὶ τοῦ νεφροὶ βιβλίον διὰ τὸ μὴ πάντα ἀκριβῶς ἀΚοῦσαι τὰ περὶ τὴν νόσον ἕτερον ἐποίησας τὴν ἐπιστολὴν βιβλίον περὶ τοῦ δεῖν ἐπ’ ἀκριβεῖ τῶν τοιούτων ἀκοῇ τὰ βιβλία ποιεῖν. ἐμὲ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο ὤνησε τὸ προσαγγεῖλαί σοι περὶ τοῦ πάθους. οὐ γὰρ ἔφθην ἐπιστείλας σοι καὶ διηλλάγη πρὸς ἐμὲ τὸ λυποῦν, οἷα πολλὰ γέγονεν Ἀσκληπιοῦ. ὁ δὲ σοφὸς ἐκεῖνος ἀνεπυρίασε σοφιστὴς οὐδὲ τὸν πράξαντα τὴν εἰρήνην αἰδεσθείς. καὶ εἰ μὲν τὰ Κύρου ζητῶν ὁ Λυδὸς ἀποβαλεῖ τὰ ὄντα, οὐκ ὄιδα· τὰς δὲ συνθήκας ὅπως ἀνεῖλεν, ἐρῶ. πορευθεὶς εἰς Φοινί- κην ἐβούλετο μένειν, ἐγὼ δὲ αὐτὸν ἕλκων ἐπανῆγον καὶ ἐβου- λόμην εἶναι χρηστόν. ἐλθὼν δὲ μετὰ Φοινίκων ὑβρίζειν εἰ- δότων ἐπαρῴνει δι’ ἐκείνων. ὡς δ’ οὐκ ἠνέγκαμεν, ἰδὼν νέον τῶν ἐμῶν ἄξιον πληγῶν ἀπὸ πληγῶν εἰς ὀργὴν πεσόντα τὸν καιρὸν ἁρπάσας καὶ πείσας αὑτὸν ἢ πεισθείς γε ὑπ’ ἐκείνου μοῖραν ἕξειν τῆς ἀγέλης οὐ μικρὰν ἐρρῶσθαι φράσας Ὀλυμ- πίῳ τῷ καλῷ καὶ δεξιαῖς ἠξίου κερδαίνειν. πέμψας οὖν ὡς Εὔβουλον ἠρώτων, τί ταῦτα; ὁ δὲ νοῦν ἔχοντος ἔφασκε ταῦτ’ εἶναι καὶ φιλοῦντος αὑτό ἴσασι μὲν οὖν Οἰναῖοι τὴν χαράδραν, καὶ οὐ πάνυ γε κερδανεῖ· σὲ δ’ ἂν εἰκὸς εἴη τὸν παρασπονδήσαντα δυοῖν ἕνεκα μισεῖν, τῆς τε τῶν θεῶν ὑπερ- οψίας καὶ ὅτι σοῦ τὴν σπουδὴν ἐκείνην ὕβρισε. Λητόιον δὲ πολλάκις πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐπαινέσας νῦν εὖ ποιῆσαι καιρὸν παρείληφας, οἶμαι δέ, οὐκ αἰσχυνῇ τῆς πόλεως ἡμῖν τὸν πρῶ- τὸν εὐεργετῶν γένους τε ἕνεκα καὶ παιδείας καὶ τρόπων.