Letter 653: We remain the same in both our affection and our admiration.

To Italicianus. (361) We are the same as ever, both in our affection and in our admiration; but you seem—well, I will not yet say it, though circumstances press me to say even something rather more disagreeable; still, let it be deferred for now—but let this be your token that we have not become other than we were: that, as before, we ask favors of you, and favors which will make the reputation you already enjoy still greater. Severus the Lycian—a worthless fellow, as those who envy him would say, but a noble one, as my account of him would have it, the account of a man perhaps no worse than those who are in the habit of slandering—this Severus, then, even if in the former time he was harassed, would now reasonably be in safety, since the office has come into your hands; and this means that the laws are in force. But as it is, the matter has been so turned upside down that the security he enjoyed under the less excellent governors he is now in danger of losing, when the most just of men administers affairs there. And yet, when Severus suffers ill, wronged is the city of the Athenians, which reared him, and wronged is Maximus, through whom the practice of eloquence did not wither away, and who looked upon this man in place of a son. And we too share in these ills, being fellow-students of his and having all along cultivated his interests—not because any power belonged to us, but because of the respect we enjoy among the powerful. It was therefore neither possible for me to desert my post, nor without shame, if, having hoped to prevail the more [where] you hold sway, I should appear feeble. And the man I am rescuing is no Midas, nor a Rhampsinitus, nor one whom the multitude of his estates can keep at home, but one who will everywhere find the necessary sustenance, while by the honor of his ancestral tombs he is still attached to Lycia.

Ἰταλικιανῷ. (361) Ἡμεῖς οἱ αὐτοὶ καὶ τῷ φιλεῖν καὶ τῷ θαυμάζειν, σὺ δὲ ἔοικας — ἀλλ’ οὔπω γε ἐρῶ, καίτοι τῶν πραγμάτων καὶ δυσ- χερέσrερόν τι βιαζομένων λέγειν, ἀλλ’ ὅμως ἀναβεβλήσθω τὸ νῦν—τοῦ δ᾿ ἡμᾶς οὐχ ἑτέρους γεγονέναι σύμβολον ἔστω σοι τὸ χάριτας, ὥσπερ ἔμπροσθεν, αἰτεῖν καὶ χάριτας, αἰ τὴν οὖσάν σοι δόξαν καταστήσουσι μείζω. Σευῆρος ὁ Λύκιος ὁ πονη- ρὸς μέν, ὡς ἂν οἱ φθονοῦντες φαῖεν, γενναῖος δέ, ὡς οὑμὸς λόγος ἀνδρὸς ἴσως οὐ φαυλοτέρου τῶν διαβάλλειν εἰωθότων, οὗτος δὴ ὁ Σευῆρος, εἰ καὶ τὸν πρὶν ἠλαύνετο χρόνον, νῦν γε εἰκότως ἂν ἐπ’ ἀδείας ἦν εἰς σὲ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἡκούσης, τοῦτο δέ ἐστιν ἰσχυόντων τῶν νόμων. νῦν δ’ οὕτω τὸ πρᾶγμα ἀνέστραπται, ὥσθ’ ἧς ἀπέλαυεν ἀσφαλείας τῶν ἧττον ἀγαθῶν ἀρχόντων, ταύτης ἐκπεσεῖν κινδυνεύει τοῦ δικαιοτάτου τἀκεῖ διοικοῦντος. καίτοι Σευήρου πάσχοντος κακῶς ἀδικεῖται μὲν ἡ τῶν Ἀθηναίων πόλις, ἣ τοῦτον ἐξέθρεψεν, ἀδικεῖται δὲ Μάξιμος, δι’ ὃν οὐκ ἐμαράνθη τὸ χρῆμα τῶν λόγων, ὃς τοῦτον ἀνθ’ υἱέος ἑώρα. κοινωνοῦμεν δὲ καὶ ἡμεῖς τῶν κακῶν συμφοιτηταί τε ὄντες καὶ παρὰ πάντα τὸν χρόνον τὰ τοῦδε θεραπεύσαντες οὐχ ἡμῖν οὔσης δυνάμεως, ἀλλ’ αἰδοῦς παρὰ τοῖς δυνατοῖς. οὔτ᾿ οὖν λιπεῖν τὴν τάξιν ἦν μοι αἰσχύνη τε, εἰ μεῖζον ἐλπίσας ἰσχύσειν, Μῆν σὺ κρατεῖς, ἀσθενὴς φανείην. ἐξαιροῦμαι δὲ ἄνθρωπον οὐ Μίδαν οὐδὲ Ῥαμψίνιτον οὐδ’ ὃν τὸ πλῆθος τῶν γεωργιῶν οἴκοι δύναται κατέχειν, ἀλλ’ ὃς πανταχοῦ μὲν εὑρήσει τὴν ἀναγκαίαν τρο- φὴν, τιμῇ δὲ πατρῴων μνημάτων ἔτι τῆς Λυκίας έχεται.