Letter 594: Now that you have what you requested and what you said you would give, send it along and gratify your homeland with...

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.

Ἰουλιανῷ. (357) Ὡν ἐδεήθης ἔχων ἃ δώσειν ἔφης ἀπόστελλε καὶ χαρίζου τῇ πατρίδι τοῖς ἐρχομένοις ἐκ τῆς πατρίδος κεχαρισμένα. λόγος δὲ παρ’ ἡμᾶς ἀφῖκται θαυμαστὰ παρ’ ὑμῖν τὰς ἄρκτους ἐργάζεσθαι καὶ εἶναι τοσαύτας ὥστε καὶ ἐκπέμπειν ἔχειν. καίτοι μίαν οὖσαν πάντως ἂν σύ γε τῶν σῶν πολιτῶν τὴν μίαν ταύτην ἐποίησας συγγνώμην ἔχων καὶ παρ’ αὐτῶν ἐκεί- νων οὓς ἀφῃροῦ, μᾶλλον δὲ ἔπαινον, οὐ συγγνώμην, εἰ τιμῶν ἐφαίνου τὴν σαυτοῦ. λογίζου δὲ τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην, ἐν ᾗ πᾶσα μὲν ἤθροισται πόλις ἐπὶ τὴν θέαν, ἄρκτος δὲ βοὴν ἐκκαλεῖται, ζητεῖ δὲ ὁ θεωρός, παρ’ ὅτου τὸ θηρίον, σὲ δὲ ἀκούει καὶ πρὸς ἕτερον λέγει καὶ γίγνῃ τῷ λειτουργοῦντι τῶν ἐπαίνων κοινωνός.