Letter 594
To Julian. (357)
Now that you have what you requested and what you said you would give, send it along and gratify your homeland with gifts welcome to those coming from it. Word has reached us that the bears in your region perform wonderfully and are so numerous you can even spare some.
Even if there were only one, you would surely have made that single bear a gift to your fellow citizens — receiving not merely forgiveness but praise from those you took it from, for being seen to honor your own city.
Picture that day: the entire city gathered for the spectacle, a bear drawing roars from the crowd, the spectator asking who provided the beast, hearing your name and telling another — and you become a partner in the glory of the man staging the games.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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