Letter 628: The man who brought me your letter but brought you accusations against me instead of a letter from me was, I...

To Eudaemon. (361 AD) The man who brought me your letter but brought you accusations against me instead of a letter from me was, I suspect, a poor messenger. He did not act on the judgment of someone who wanted to receive a letter, but on the mere appearance of wanting one. So do not trust him in his accusations; let the length of our friendship carry more weight than his words. As for you, I would not claim to be surprised that, being a poet, you seized upon Egypt and forgot the pleasures of the Bosporus. After all, if someone had led Cassandra to Delphi and brought her into the oracular sanctuary, I think she would no longer have valued any of the splendors of Troy above the beauties of Delphi. And now something more has been added: Gerontius governs the Egyptians — a man who possesses eloquence and honors those who possess it. This means the tribute owed to you has doubled. For not even if someone sang the songs of Telles [a proverbially bad poet] would he be able to draw you away to himself.

Εὐδαίμονι. (361) Ὁ παρὰ σοῦ μὲν ἐμοὶ γράμματα ἐνεγκών, σοὶ δὲ καθ ἡμῶν αἰτίας ἀντὶ τῶν παρ’ ἡμῶν γραμμάτων, εἰκάζω, κακὸς διάκονος ἦν καὶ οὐκ ἐχρῆτο γνώμῃ βουλομένου γράμματα λαβεῖν, ἀλλὰ δοκοῦντος ἐθέλειν λαβεῖν. μὴ οὖν ἔστω πιστὸς ἐν ταῖς κατηγορίαις, ἀλλ’ ὁ χρόνος τῆς ἡμετέρας φιλίας μεῖ- ζον ἰσχυέτω τῶν ἐκείνου ῥημάτων. σοῦ δὲ οὐκ ἂν φαίην θαυμάζειν εἰ ποιητὴς ὤν, ἔπειτα Αἰγύπτου λαβόμενος ἐπελά- θου τῆς περὶ τὸν Βόσπορον τρυφῆς, ἐπεὶ καὶ Κασάνδραν εἴ τις ἤγαγεν εἰς Δελφοὺς καὶ παρήγαγεν εἰς τὸ μαντικὸν χω- ρίον, δοκεῖ μοι μηδὲν ἂν ἔτι τῶν ἐν Ἰλίῳ λαμπρῶν πρότερον ποιήσασθαι τῶν ἐν Δελφοῖς καλῶν. νῦν δὲ δή τι καὶ πλέον προσγέγονεν· ἄρχει Γερόντιος Αἰγυπτίων λόγους ἔχων τε καὶ τιμῶν τοὺς ἔχοντας. τοῦτο δ’ ἐστὶ διπλοῦν σοι γεγο- νέναι τὸν δασμόν. οὐδὲ γάρ, εἰ τὰ Τέλληνος ᾄδοι τις, οἶός τε ἔσται πρὸς αὑτόν σε μεταστῆσαι.