Letter 783: To the same. (362/63)

To the same. (362/63) If I called you a pupil of the excellent Modestus, I would shame neither of you. You would seem to follow the best of men, and he to have produced a noble imitator. This pleases me, but far more pleasing is that the emperor is adorned by the nature of those he has chosen. Many tried to persuade him that Modestus deserved punishment, but the emperor listened to them, then looked at the facts, and though he had believed before arriving that the man was bad, found upon coming that the one he had been hostile toward was good. He made him prefect, caring little for those who would be dismayed, and at the same time teaching his longtime companions to practice virtue — showing that he would expel even them if they proved wicked, but that if he found a man who had served his enemy to be honorable, he would now raise him to high office. But that great son of Atreus [Agamemnon], leader of the demigods, who won Homer's voice, made his deeds fall short of his words and killed Palamedes. But now truth holds power, reigning alongside the emperor, discovered partly through reasoning, partly through divination. Escort the governor with choruses and count blessed the city that will receive him. He will go blessing your Galatians, as a great chorus of praise rises for you from every quarter. And may the eye of Zeus grant him the rest as well, and carry you through a succession of offices to this man's very throne.

Τῷ αὐτῷ. (362/63) Εἴ σε καλοίην τοῦ καλοῦ Μοδέστου μαθητήν, ιὐδέτερον ἆν αἰσχύνοιμι· σύ τε γὰρ τῷ κρατίστῳ δόξεις ἀκολουθεῖν ἐκεῖ- νός τε γενναῖον τὸν μιμησάμενον ἀπειργάσθαι. ἐμοὶ δὲ καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἡδέα, πολλῷ δὲ ἥδιον τὸ τὸν βασιλέα τῇ τῶν αἱρι- θέντων φύσει κοσμεῖσθαι. καίτοι πολλοὶ μὲν οἱ πειρώμενοι πείθειν ὡς εἴη δίκης ὁ Μόδεστος ἄξιος· ὁ δὲ τῶν μὲν ἀκού- σας, εἰς δὲ τὰ πράγματα βλέψας, καὶ νομίζων μὲν πρὶν ἴν δεῦρο κακόν, εὑρὼν δὲ ἥκων ἀγαθὸν πρὸς ὃν εἶχε χαλεπῶς, τοῦτον ὕπαρχον ἀποφαίνει βραχὺ φροντίσας τῶν ἀθυμησόν- των καὶ ἅμα παιδεύων τοὺς αὑτῷ πάλαι συνόντας ἀσκεῖν ἀρε- τὴν δεικνὺς ὅτι κἂν τούτων τινὰς ἐκβάλοι πονηρευομένους, εἰ δὲ ἴδοι τὸν τῷ πολεμίῳ διακονοῦντα χρηστὸν ὄντα, καὶ νῦν εἰς σχῆμα κατέστησεν. ὁ δὲ Ἀτρέως ἐκεῖνος ὁ μέγας, ὁ τῶν ἡμιθέων ἡγούμενος καὶ τῆς Ὁμήρου τυχὼν φωνῆς, ἀσθενέ- στερα λόγου ποιήσας ἔργα τὸν Παλαμήδην ἀπέκτεινεν. ἀλλὰ νῦν τῆς ἀληθείας τὸ κράτος καὶ μετὰ τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ αὐτὴ βασιλεύει τὰ μὲν λογισμοῖς τὰ δὲ μαντείαις εὑρισκομένη. παράπεμπε δὴ τὸν ἄρχοντα χοροὺς ἱστὰς καὶ μακάριζε τὴν δεξομένην πόλιν. ὁ δὲ πορεύσεται τοὺς σοὺς Γαλάτας μακα- ρίζων πανταχόθεν σοι μακρᾶς ἐγειρομένης εὐφημίας. Δῖός δὲ ὄμμα τούτῳ καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ προσθείη καὶ σὲ δι’ ἀρχῶν ἐπὶ τὸν τοῦδε θρόνον κομίσειεν.