Letter 765: So it is not only in guardianship of the laws and the splendor of your offices that you follow your family — you...

To Entrechius. (362) So it is not only in guardianship of the laws and the splendor of your offices that you follow your family — you have now inherited those men's devotion to me as well, or rather surpassed it. They, bound by ancient obligations and ties of shared study, were barely moved by many appeals, and even when moved, granted little. But you seem to have made me the very prelude of your office, as though reminding yourself of my words throughout your entire journey. Great as it was not to neglect my companion's mother, greater still was not hesitating even to visit her. And though that was splendid, far finer is the eagerness you bring to the deed itself — since some men, having granted a favor, have denounced themselves for giving it and come to hate both those who persuaded them and those who benefited. But you are plainly delighted by what you have done and show no sign of stopping. Such was the pleasure of the doer that came through in your letter. How, then, can we who have been so well treated either fail to write to you or keep silent about you to others whose friends you are glad to see? You seek my letters as though they contained immortal fame — a small thing you seek for great deeds. For you, like the famous Iphicrates, already have a sky-high monument standing in Palestine, and that despite your being snatched away to another labor right from the starting line. Yet even from the starting mark you shone, like Achilles the moment he touched Troy. And a far more glorious monument will stand from your second office — I will add, a taller one — from which base you will oversee not one province but many together, more easily than some manage one. Many of those now in their prime will sing of these achievements. And if the contest should also admit old men, perhaps someone will yet see me too stripping for action — especially since you cast your vote for me long ago, even when there were those whom you offended by doing so, and when a kind of Spartan law was in force among the Athenians forbidding the praise of outsiders. Yet you thought it right to say what you believed. May you hear the praises that these speeches are composing for you.

Ἐντορεχίῳ. (362) Οὐκ ἄρα τῇ τῶν νόμων φυλακῇ καὶ τῷ κάλλει τῶν ἀρ- χῶν μόνον ἀκολουθεῖς τῷ γένει, ἀλλ’ ἤδη καὶ τὴν περὶ ἐμὲ τῶν ἀνδρῶν διεδέξω σπουδήν, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ παρελήλυθας. οἱ μέν γε δικαιώμασιν ἀρχαίοις κατειλημμένοι καὶ συμπε- φοιτηγότες μόλις ὑπὸ πολλῶν ἐκινοῦντο παρακλήσεων, καὶ κινηθέντες δὲ ἐχαρίζοντο μικρά· σὺ δ’ ἔοικας καὶ τὸ προοί- μιον τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐμὲ πεποιῆσθαι καθάπερ διὰ πάσης τῆς ὁδοῦ σαυτὸν τῶν ἐμῶν ἀναμιμνήσκων ῥημάτων. μεγάλου δὲ ὄν- τος τοῦ μὴ παραμελῆσαι τῆς τοῦ ἑταίρου μητρὸς μεῖζόν ἐστι τὸ μηδὲ ἰδεῖν ὀκνῆσαι. τούτου δὲ ὄντος λαμπροτέρου πολὺ κάλλιον τὸ φιλοτιμεῖσθαι τῷ ἔργῳ· ὡς ἤδη τινὲς δόντες χάριν αὑτῶν ὅτι ἔδοσαν κατηγόρησαν καὶ ἐμίσησαν ὁμοίως τούς τε πείσαντας καὶ τοὺς πεπεισμένους. ἀλλὰ σύ γε δῆλος εἶ τερπόμενος οἷς ἔπραξας καὶ οὐδὲ παυσόμενος. οὕτω τις ἐκο- μίζετο διὰ τῶν γραμμάτων τοῦ πεποιηκότος ἡδονὴ. πῶς οὖν ἔστι τοὺς εὖ παθόντας ἡμᾶς ἢ πρὸς σὲ μὴ γράφειν ἢ πρὸς ἄλλους περὶ σοῦ σιγᾶν, ὧν τοὺς φίλους ἡδέως ὁρᾷς; ζητῶν δὲ ἐμὰς ἐπιστολὰς ὡς έν αὐταῖς μνήμην ἀθάνατον ἔζων μικρὰ ζητεῖς ὑπὲρ μεγάλων· σοὶ δὲ κατὰ τὸν Ἰφικράτην ἐκεῖνον ἕστηκε μὲν οὐρανομήκης ἐν Παλαιστίνῃ στήλη καὶ ταῦτα σοῦ πρὸς ἄλλον ἁρπασθέντος πόνον ἀπὸ βαλβῖδος εὐθύς, ἀλλ᾿ ὅμως ἀπὸ γραμμῆς ἐξέλαμψας ὥσπερ Ἀχιλλεὺς ἅμα τῆς Τροίας ἁψάμενος· ἑστήξει δὲ πολὺ σεμνοτέρα τῆς δευτέρας ἀρχῆς, προσθήσω δὲ ὅτι καὶ μακροτέρα, ἐξ ἧς ὁρμώμενος οὐκίτ’ ἔθνους ἑνός, ἀλλ’ ὁμοῦ πολλῶν ἐπιμελήσῃ ῥᾷον ἤ τις ἑνός. εἴσονται δὲ οἱ ταῦτα ὑμνοῦντες πολλοὶ τῶν ἀκμαζόντων. εἰ δὲ δὴ καὶ γέροντας ὁ ἀγὼν δέχοιτο, τάχα τις ὄψεται καὶ ἐμὲ γυμνούμενον, ἄλλως θ’ ὅτε πάλαι μοι τὴν ψῆφον ἔδωκας, καὶ ταῦτα ὄντων οὓς ταῦτα ποιῶν ἐλύπεις, κοί τινα τρόπον Λα- κωνικοῦ κειμένου παρ’ Ἀθηναίοις νόμου μηδένα τῶν ἔξωθεν ἐπαινεῖν. ἀλλ’ ὅμως ᾤου δεῖν ἅπερ ἐφρόνεις λέγειν. τού τῶν δὴ τῶν λόγων ἐπαίνους σοι συντιθέντων ἀκούσαις.