Letter 642: To Κυρίλλῳ. (361)

To Κυρίλλῳ. (361) I care for Ulpianus as a fellow citizen, as a companion, and as a man of genuine worth. Caring for him, I cannot be indifferent to his father-in-law. The man says you have done him many favors — he doesn't deny it — but he now fears some harm may come to him, not through any wrongdoing on his part, but because he has somehow left room for complaint. You are praised everywhere, but above all for knowing how to grant forgiveness. Even if this were not your natural inclination, you would know how to master your anger — and in doing so, you would rise above your own nature. I look to that quality of yours on behalf of this man. Do what you would want done if the roles were reversed. [Ulpianus was a prominent sophist and friend of Libanius in Antioch.]

Κυρίλλῳ. (361) Οὐλπιανοῦ καὶ ὡς πολίτου καὶ ὡς ἑταίρου καὶ ὡς χρη- στοῦ πάντων εἵνεκα κήδομαι. τούτου δὲ κηδόμενον οὐκ ἔστιν ἀμελῶς ἔχειν περὶ τὸν τούτου κηδεστήν· ὃς εὖ πεπονθέναι μὲν ὑπὸ σοῦ πολλά φησι καὶ οὐκ ἀρνεῖται, δέδοικε δὲ νῦν μὴ κακόν τι λάβῃ πονηρίᾳ μὲν οὐ κεχρημένος, μέμψει δέ πως χώραν δεδωκώς. σὺ δὲ πανταχόθεν μὲν ἐπαινῇ, μάλιστα δὲ τῷ συγγνώμην νέμειν εἰδέναι· πάντως δέ, εἰ καὶ μὴ ὧδε ἐπεφύκεις, ἀλλ’ ᾔδεις καὶ θυμῷ χαρίσασθαι, κρείττων ἂν ἐγέ- νου α τῆς φύσεως εἰς ἐμὴν βλέπων