Letter 556: So Aristainetus has become just one of the crowd -- the man who used to be one of the wise!

To Aristainetos. So Aristainetos too has become just one of the crowd for me -- the man who used to be one of the wise! He now measures letters by cubits and hand-spans, and if he does not receive long ones, he considers himself dreadfully wronged. But I knew you understood that the measure of words is their subject matter, and surely the law governing speech extends to the domain of letters as well. What shortened my letter on that occasion was the fact that the bearer was fully able to report my affairs to you in person. If I had recounted everything myself, I would have insulted the messenger. Besides, Gymnasios was no stranger to you, and since there was no need to tell you who he was, I avoided the labor of writing about it. So what is this talk of shutting doors and profaning our friendship? You see how you wrote at length and beautifully to Strategios -- but length was required by the matters you were writing about. Short letters came to you from me -- though at other times long ones have come too. The earlier ones concerned many subjects; the later ones fewer, because there was less to say. Now let me tell you how your letter to Strategios came into my hands. He was returning from Chalcedon, and I, as is my custom, went out before the city to meet him. He greeted me with a kiss and said he had a letter from you that he would give me. He said this cheerfully, and his words did honor to both you and me. Nebridios was listening, having come along with him. When I got home and he handed it over, I read what was not so much lengthy as beautiful. I praised it, and he was pleased. As for Olympios, I feel the deepest gratitude to him for reporting the truth about my situation to you -- our fellowship together, the two who were bursting with emotion, those leaping for joy, those weeping -- I cannot express how much pleasure this gives me. And you too would rightly feel the same, if you consider it a gain not to be deceived about my affairs. But you do me wrong: you profess to love my speeches, yet you pay them no honor. What I ask for is not gold, but books of the ancients -- which you long ago promised as a gift, and now will not even exchange.

Ἀρισταινέτῳ. (357) Ἐγένετο καὶ Ἀρισταίνετος ἡμῖν εἷς τῶν πολλῶν ὁ πρό- τερον τῶν σοφῶν καὶ τὰς· ἐπιστολὰς πήχεσι καὶ σπιθαμῇ με- τρεῖ, κἂν μακρὰς μὴ λάβη, δεινὰ πέπονθε καὶ ἠδίκηται. ἐγὼ δέ σε ᾔδειν εἰδότα μέτρα τῶν λόγων εἶναι τὰ πράγματα· πάν- τὼς δὲ ὁ τῶν λόγων νόμος καὶ τὸ τῶν ἐπιστολῶν περιλαμ- βάνει μέρος. τότε οὖν συνέστελλέ μοι τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ὁ φέρων τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἔχων ἀγγεῖλαί σοι τὰ ἡμέτερα ἀκριβῶς· εἰ δὲ ἐγὼ διηγούμην, ὑβρίζετο ἂν ὁ φέρων. ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ ἀγνὼς ἦν ὁ Γυμνάσιός σοι καὶ διδάσκειν σε δέον, ὅστις ἐκεῖνος, ἔφυγον ὑπ’ ἀργίας τῆς περὶ τὰ γράμματα. τίς οὖν ὁ τοῦ βεβήλου καιρὸς καὶ τοῦ τὰς θύρας ἀποκλείειν; ὁρᾷς, ὅπως ἐπέστελλες Στρατηγίῳ μακρὰ καὶ καλά, μήκους γὰρ ἐδεῖτο περὶ ὧν ἐπέστελλες. μικρά σοι παρ’ ἡμῶν ἧκε καἰ γάρ- τοι μακρά ποτε ἧκε· τότε μὲν περὶ πολλῶν, ὕστερον δὲ οὐ τοσούτων· οὐ γὰρ ἔδει. ὅπως δὲ ἡμῖν εἰς χεῖρας ἦλθεν ἃ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἔγραψας, ἄκουσον. ἀνέστρεψε μὲν ἐκ Χαλκηδό- νος, ἐγὼ ἐγὼ δέ, τοῦτο δὴ τὸ εἰωθός, πρὸ τῆς πόλεως ὁ δὲ ἅμα τε ἐφίλησε καὶ γράμματα ἃ ἧκεν αὐτῷ παρὰ σοῦ, δώσειν μοι ταῦτα ἴφη. καὶ ταῦτα ἐλέγετο σὺν φαιδρότητι σοί τε καὶ ἐμοὶ τιμὴν ἔχοντα, Νεβρίδιος δὲ ἠκροᾶτο σὺν ἐκείνω φερόμενος. ὡς οὖν οἴκαδε ἦλθον, αὐτοῦ δόντος ἀνέγνων οὐ πλείω μᾶλλον ἢ καλλίω. ἐγὼ μὶν οὖν ἐπῄνουν, ὁ δὲ ἥδετο. Ὀλυμπίῳ δὲ πολλῶν εἰδὼς χάριν, ὅτι σοι τὰ ὄντα ἀπήγγελκε καὶ τὴν μεθ’ ἡμῶν μοῖραν καὶ τοὺς ῥηγνυ- μένους δύο καὶ τοὺς πηδῶντας καὶ τοὺς κλάοντας οὐδὲ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν ὅσην ἡδονὴν ἔχω. καὶ σὺ δ’ ἂν ἔχοις εἰκότως, εἴ σοι κέρδος τὸ μὴ περὶ τῶν ἐμῶν ἐξηπατῆσθαι πραγμάτων. τῶν δὲ ἐμῶν λόγων ἐρᾶν μὲν ἐγνωκώς, τιμὴν δὲ οὐ διδοὺς ἀδι- κεῖς. αἰτοῦμεν δὲ οὐ χρυσίον, ἀλλὰ βιβλία τῶν παλαιῶν, ἃ πάλαι μὲν ὑπέσχου δωρεάν, νῦν δὲ οὐδὲ ἀντιδίδως.