Letter 731: May your sacrifices go well, and may you find favor with the gods -- with the leader of the Muses and with the god...

May your sacrifices go well, and may you find favor with the gods -- with the leader of the Muses and with the god who was allotted the mountain. For the emperor, they say, intends to climb up there as well, regarding the difficult road as easy if it leads to an altar. I ought to have shared the journey, the prayers, the sacrifices, and the sight of the emperor's beard, with which he adorns the purple. But Fortune decided otherwise and struck me a blow worse than any before. I would have described it in detail, had you not already possessed a man who can tell it better than any letter -- the good Olympius. He was present with me, wept alongside me, reached out his hand, and knows everything. This is the man I once praised to you, and you immediately agreed to enroll him among your friends and told me to bring him forward. Even the grapevine knows this -- the one under which we walked and talked, enjoying from it as much shade as one gets from a roof. Olympius kept pressing me, shouting that I should introduce him to you. But I was hemmed in by countless troubles. Since he cannot bear the loss any longer, hearing that even a brief meeting with you sends a man away wiser --

Ἀνατολίῳ. (362) Ὑμῖν μὲν εἵη καλλιερεῖσθαι καὶ τυγχάνειν τῶν θεῶν, τοῦ τε τῶν Μουσῶν ἡγεμόνος καὶ τοῦ τὸ ὄρος λαχόντος, λέ- γεται γὰρ δὴ βασιλεὺς ἀναβήσεσθαι κἀκεῖσε τὴν χαλεπὴν ὁδὸν ῥᾳδίαν ἡγούμενος, εἰ προξενοίη βωμόν· ἐμὲ δὲ ἔδει μὲν κοι- νωνεῖν καὶ ὁδοῦ καὶ εὐχῶν καὶ ἱερῶν καὶ βλέπειν εἰς τὸ τοῦ βασιλέως γένειον, ᾧ κοσμεῖ τὴν πορφύραν, τῇ Τύχῃ δὲ οὐ ταῦτα ἔδοξεν, ἀλλά με πληγὴν οἴαν οὐ πρότερον ἔπληξε. καὶ διῆλθον ἂν περὶ αὐτῆς, εἰ μὴ τὸν ἄμεινον τῆς ἐπιστο- λῆς ἐροῦντα τὸν χρηστὸν εἶχες Ὀλύμπιον, ὃς καὶ παρῆν ἡμῖν καὶ συνεδάκρυε καὶ χεῖρα ὤρεγε καὶ πάντα οἶδεν. οὗτος δέ ἐστιν ἐκεῖνος, ὃν ἐπαινοῦντος ἐμοῦ ἐγγράφειν ἕτοιμος εἰς τοὺς φίλους ἦσθα, καὶ προσάγειν τὸν ἄνδρα ἐκέλευσας. καὶ ταῦτα οἶδε καὶ ἡ ἄμπελος, ὑφ’ ἣν περιπατοῦντες ἐποιούμεθα τοὺς λόγους ἔχοντες παρ’ αὐτῆς ὁπόσον ἄν τις ἐξ ὀροφῆς. ὁ μὲν οὖν Ὀλύμπιος ἐνέκειτό μοι βοῶν εἰσάγειν αὑτόν, ἐγὼ δὲ ὑπὸ κακῶν μυρίων εἰργόμην. ἐπεὶ δὲ οὐ φέρει τὴν ζημίαν ἀκούων, ὡς ὁ μικρά σοι συγγενόμενος ἀπέρχεται φρονιμώτερος, τὸν δεύτερον ἐζήτησε πλοῦν, γράμματα ἐμὰ ἀντ’ ἐμοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἔμελλον δήπου μὴ δώσειν. σὸν δ’ ἂν εἴη τὸν δεύτερον αὐτῷ τοῦ κρείττονος μὴ χείρω καταστῆσαι πλοῦν, ὅπως οὗτός τε χαίροι καὶ τὰ γράμματά μου τιμῷτο.