Letter 615

To Euphemius. (361 AD) I have spoken to you many times about the long-standing friendship of the admirable Thalassius toward me, and about the efforts he endured to keep me safe when that lightning-bolt affair was set in motion. You cried out in admiration and called him your own savior and benefactor through his connection with me. When I saw him recently sitting grim-faced in the marketplace, I was alarmed. I went up and asked him what had brought him to such a state, but he said nothing. His silence only alarmed me further. I then left him and approached another of our acquaintances, and learned of matters which rightly grieve him and which you could justly prevent. For in the present climate, calling for retribution for past deeds is perhaps not possible to mention openly. I write to you without his knowledge, wishing both to provide you with the occasion for honorable action and to show that I remember the man who extended a hand in times that needed a god. I think Heracles too must constantly remember Athena — that it was through her, as Homer says, that he escaped the Styx when he went for Cerberus. Had the goddess not been there to help, perhaps — but I leave the rest out of respect for Heracles. What, then? You must regard this business as monstrous, unlawful, and unworthy of your office — and you must detest it. The accuser — who makes the notorious Eurybatus look like a paragon, or Phrynonidas, [two Athenian proverbial villains] or rather makes all those celebrated for wickedness look like virtuous judges — repays acts of generosity with accusation and prosecution. He knows he has done the work of a man condemned to death: heaping up charges while having nothing to prove them with, and turning your sword upon Thalassius — which has already been aimed at him through informers and will be aimed again — calculating that he can profit from whatever damage he inflicts on Thalassius's household under the pretense of justice. He claims everyone can testify and orders everyone arrested. And his scheming has already borne fruit. Fields are deserted, harvests are lost, estate managers have fled to the mountains. Those who resent him bare their malice openly and have turned his affairs into Mysian spoil [a proverbial expression for undefended plunder] — this from the very man who has rescued them from danger time and again. And if carpenters or similar workers are needed for some public purpose, more than half the levy falls on Thalassius's resources, because they reckon the man is down for good. Yet the first stages of the trial have brought him the better reputation, and with god's help the rest will match the opening, and someone will see him pursue those who now wrong him. But this last — I don't know how it slipped out, given that I well know to guard myself against grand pronouncements. You, however: grieve over this as if it were happening to me; count yourself, moreover, as suffering it alongside me; rebuke the audacity; show that the lawless will pay; and adorn your magistracy with righteous anger on Thalassius's behalf.

Εὐφημίῳ. (361) Καὶ περὶ τῆς ἄνωθεν πρὸς ἡμᾶς τοῦ θαυμαστοῦ Θα- λασσίου φιλίας καὶ περὶ τῶν πόνων, οὓς ὑπέμεινεν, ὅπως σωθείην, ὅτε ὁ σκηπτὸς ἐκεῖνος κεκίνητο, πολλάκις οἶδα πρὸς σὲ διελθών· ἐφ’ ᾧ μέγα τε ἐβόησας τὸν ἄνδρα θαυμάσας καὶ σαυτοῦ σωτῆρα καὶ εὐεργέτην ἐκάλεις ἐκ τῶν πρὸς ἐμέ. τοῦτον ἰδὼν ἐγὼ σκυθρωπὸν ἐν ἀγορᾷ καθήμενον ἐταράχθην καὶ προσιὼν ἠρώτων, ὅθεν ἡμῖν τοιοῦτός ἐστιν, ὁ δὲ ἐσίγα. τῇ σιγῇ δὲ αὐτὸς ἐταραττόμην πλέον. ἔπειτα τὸν μὲν ἀφείς. ἐπ’ ἄλλον δέ τινα τῶν συνήθων ἐλθὼν πράγματα ἔμαθον, ἃ τὸν μὲν εἰκότως ἐλύπησεν, ὑπὸ σοῦ δὲ δικαίως ἂν κωλυθείη. τιμωρίας γὰρ ἴσως τῆς ἐπὶ τοῖς πεπραγμένοις οὐκ ἔξεστι μνη- σθῆναι· τοιαῦτα τὰ παρόντα. γράφω δέ σοι τὸν μὲν λα- θῶν, βουλόμενος δέ σοί τε ἔργων καλῶν ἀφορμὰς παρέχειν αὐτός τε φαίνεσθαι μεμνημένος τοῦ χεῖρα ὀρέξαντος ἐν και- ροῖς θεοῦ τινος χρῄζουσιν. οἶμαι δὲ καὶ τὸν Ἡρακλέα τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς μεμνημένον διατελεῖν, ὅτι δι’ αὐτὴν ἐξέφυγεν, ὥς φησιν Ὅμηρος, τὴν Στύγα ἥκων ἐπὶ τὸν Κέρβερον. εἰ δὲ μὴ παρῆν ἡ θεὸς καὶ ἐβοήθει, τάχα ἄν — ἀλλ’ ἀφίημι τὸ λοιπὸν Ἡρακλέους τιμῇ. τί οὖν; δεῖ σε καὶ δεινὸν καὶ παράνομον καὶ τῆς σῆς ἀρχῆς ἀνάξιον καὶ νομίσαι καὶ μι- σῆσαι. ὁ Εὐρύβατος ἐκεῖνος ἢ Φρυνώνδας, μᾶλλον δὲ πάν- τὰς τοὺς ἐπὶ πονηρίᾳ διαβεβοημένους Αἰακοὺς ἀποφήνας καὶ τὰς χάριτας ἀμειβόμενος κατηγορίᾳ καὶ γραφῇ οἶδε μὲν ὅτι θανατῶντος ἔργον ἐποίησε πλῆθος μὲν αἰτιῶν ἐπενεγκών, ἔχων δὲ ἐλέγχειν οὐδέν, τό τε σὸν ὀρέξεται ξίφος, ὃ διὰ τῶν συκοφαντῶν ἦλθέ τε ἤδη καὶ πορεύσεται, νομίζων δὲ κερδα- νεῖν ὅ τι ἂν ἐπὶ προφάσει τῆς δίκης κακώσῃ Θαλασσίου τὸν οἶκον, πάντας μέν φησι δύνασθαι μαρτυρεῖν, πάντας δὲ κε- λεύει συλλαμβάνειν. καὶ δὴ καὶ τὸ τῆς τέχνης αὐτῷ κεχώ- ρηκεν εἰς ἔργον. ἔρημοι μὲν ἀγροί, καρποὶ δὲ ἀπολώλασιν, ἐπιμεληταὶ δὲ χωρίων εἰς ὄρη φεύγουσιν. οἱ δὲ ἔχοντες φθό- ὄν εἰς τὸν ἄνδρα γυμνοῦσι τὸ πάθος καὶ Μυσῶν λείαν πε- ποιήκασι τὰ τούτου, δι’ ὃν ἐκ κινδύνων ἐλύθησαν πολλάκις. κἂν δέῃ τέκτονας ἤ τι τοιοῦτον εἰς τὴν κοινὴν εἰσενεχθῆ- νᾶι χρείαν, ἐκ τῶν Θαλασσίου τῆς φορᾶς ὑπερήμισυ γίνεται νομίζουσι γὰρ κεῖσθαι τὸν ἄνθρωπον. τῷ δὲ τά τε πρῶτα τῆς δίκης δόξαν ἤνεγκε τὴν ἀμείνω καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ θεοῦ δι- δόντος συνέσται τῷ προοιμίῳ, καί τις αὐτὸν ὄψεται τοὺς νῦν ὑβρίζοντας μετιόντα. ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅπως με ἐξέφυγε καὶ ταῦτα εἰδότα φυλάττεσθαι μὴ μεγάλα λέγειν· σὺ δὲ ὡς ἂν ἐμοῦ ταῦτα πάσχοντος ἀλγήσας καὶ προσέτι γε σαυ- τὸν μετ’ ἐμοῦ ταῦτα πάσχειν νομίσας μέμψαι μὲν τὰ τετολ- μημένα, δεῖξον δὲ ὡς ὁ μὴ σωφρονῶν δώσει δίκην, κόσμησον δὲ σαυτῷ τὴν ἀρχὴν ταῖς ὑπὲρ Θαλασσίου καὶ τῶν τούτου πραγμάτων ὀργαῖς.