Letter 645: To Ἀκακίῳ. (361)

To Acacius. (361) If you had somehow gotten hold of and sent me the wealth of Croesus, and the gold of Gyges, and besides that of Midas the Phrygian — whose land you now treat well and treated well before too (and I am not surprised, I think, that you do well by it even now, being ruler of Ancyra and knowing whence the place got its name) — if, then, you had taken all the wealth of those men from somewhere and sent it to me, all those great riches would still not have been greater than what has now been given; so much smaller is everything in my eyes than what comes from Maximus. But see to it, most excellent friend, that the time after this be not worse than what has already been done; for you will not be bestowing the favor on an ungrateful man, but on one who shouts aloud and proclaims what he has received. He certainly did not keep silent with us about either his admission to your presence or about what he obtained when he had been admitted, but he is so good a man that he sent a long letter, and yet he came weaving the whole thing through a single phrase, so that I was even moved to laughter. For by means of "I have been honored and was honored and have been deemed worthy of honor" he worked up the length, and the writing was quite simply the "Corinth of Zeus" [i.e. a tiresome repetition]. If, then, whoever is ungrateful would reasonably be hated, while a man who takes care to remember a favor — how is it not the case that to such a man one ought to give as many favors as possible, as one gives seeds to rich soil? And I praised you for this, that having granted the favor you did not at once write anything; for to answer nothing concerning the things I requested would be unreasonable, and you were ashamed to say what you had done. But since you have now heard from me about the things you accomplished on our behalf, come, write too, and gladden us through all things.

Ἀκακίῳ. (361) Εἴ μοι τὰ Κροίσου χρήματα καὶ χρυσὸν τὸν Γύγου καὶ ἔτι τὸν Μίδου τοῦ Φρυγός , οὗ τὴν χώραν νῦν τε εὖ ποιεῖς καὶ πρότερον ἐποίεις — οὐ θαυμάσῃ δέ, οἶμαι, τὸ καὶ νῦν εὖ ποιεῖν Ἀγκύρας τε ἄρχων καὶ εἰδὼς ὅθεν αὐτῇ τοὔνομα — εἰ οὖν μοι πάντα τὸν ἐκείνων λαβών ποθεν ἐπεπόμφεις πλοῦ- τον, οὐκ ἂν ἦν μείζω τοῦ νῦν δοθέντος τὰ πολλὰ ἐκεῖνα· οὕτως ἐμοὶ πάντα ἐλάττω τῶν Μάξιμον γιγνομένων. ἀλλ’ ὅπως, ὦ ἄριστε μὴ μὴ χείρων ἔσται τῶν ἤδη πεπραγμένων ὁ μετὰ ταῦτα χρόνος· οὐδὲ γὰρ εἰς ἀχάριστον καταθήσῃ τὴν χάριν, ἀλλ’ εἰς βοῶντα καὶ κηρύττοντα ὃ λάβοι. οὔκουν ἐσίγησε πρὸς ἡμᾶς οὔτε τὴν παρὰ σὲ εἴσοδον οὔθ’ ὧν ἔτυχεν εἰσελθών, ἀλλ’ οὕτως ἐστὶ χρηστός, ὥστε μακρὰν μὲν ἔπεμψεν ἐπιστολὴν, δι’ ἑνὸς δὲ ῥήματος πᾶσαν ἦλθεν ὑφαίνων, ὥστε με καὶ πρὸς γέλωτα ὑπενεχθῆναι. διὰ γὰρ τοῦ τετίμημαι καὶ ἐτιμήθην καὶ τιμῆς ἠξίωμαι τὸ μῆκος ἐξειργάσατο καὶ ἦν ὁ Δῖός Κόρινθος ἀτεχνῶς τὰ γράμματα. εἰ οὖν ὅστις ἀχάριστος μισοῖτ’ ἂν εἰκότως, ὅτῳ μέλει τοῦ μεμνῆσθαι χάριτος, πῶς οὐχ ὅτι πλείστας τῷ τοιούτῳ δοτέον, ὥσπερ πιείρᾳ γῇ σπέρματα; ἐπῄνεσα δέ σου τὸ δόντα τὴν χάριν μηδὲν εὐθὺς ἐπιστεῖλαι· τό τε γὰρ μηδὲν ἀποκρίνασθαι περὶ ὧν ἠξίουν ἄλογον εἰπεῖν τε ὃ πεποιήκεις ᾐσχύνου. ἀλλ’ ἐπει- δὴ παρ’ ἐμοῦ τὰ σοὶ πεπραγμένα πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἀκήκοας, ἴθι καὶ γράφε καὶ διὰ πάντων εὔφραινε.