Letter 56: To the same person. (359/360)

To the same man. Receive Philoxenus also, who has shown himself worthy in every respect of your kinship, and who has undergone many toils and has considered being well regarded for his character no worse a thing than being well regarded for his eloquence. And yet, when you were intending to send him to us, you added to your other praises of him the claim that even in a contest of hands [a court trial] he would contribute the very most. But he, while confirming everything else, has in this one point shown you to be a liar, having esteemed the quiet of the weak more highly. It is therefore for you either to exact a penalty for this, or else to admire this too.

**To the same person.** (359/360) Welcome Philoxenus too, a man who has shown himself in every respect worthy of your kinship, who has endured many labors, and who has considered distinction won through character no less valuable than that won through eloquence. And yet you, when you were planning to send him to us, added to your other praises of him the claim that he would also prove most formidable in a contest of fists. But while he has confirmed everything else, on this point he has made a liar of you, preferring instead the quiet life of the weak. It is for you, then, either to punish him for this or to admire even this about him.

τῷ αὐτῷ. (359/360) Δέχου καἰ τὸν Φιλόξενον ἄξιον διὰ πάντων τυ ὑμε- τέρας συγγενείας φανέντα πόνοις τε πολλοῖς κεχρημένον καἰ τὸ διὰ τοὺς τρόπους εὐδοκιμεῖν οὐ χεῖρον νομίσαντα τοῦ διὸ τοὺς λόγους. καίτοι σὺ πέμπειν αὐτὸν ὡς ἡμᾶς διανοού- μενος τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐπαίνοις ἐπέθηκας, ὡς κοὶ ἐν κρίσει χειρῶν ὅτι πλεῖστον εἰσοίσει. ὁ δὲ τἄλλα βεβαιώσας ἐν τούτῳ σε ψεύ- στην ἀπέφηνε τῶν ἀσθενῶν μᾶλλον τὴν ἡσυχίαν τιμήσας. σὸν τοίνυν ἢ δίκην τούτου λαβεῖν ἢ καὶ τοῦτο θαυμάσαι.