Letter 791: For I too am your possession — so it is no wonder that you are mine as well.

To Gaianus. (362/63) For I too am a possession of yours; so it is no wonder if you too are a possession of mine. That, however, I am no longer persuaded of—that the virtue of governing came to you from us. For you had arrived bringing it with you from Phoenicia, and for this reason, though sitting in attendance upon another, you proved stronger than any love-charm by your character. And now Phoenicia receives the wages of what she taught, having made a noble man, and being both preserved and tended by her pupil. And by preservation and tending I do not mean that it is permitted to do anything whatever on the grounds that the governor is a comrade and a Phoenician, but that I hear you both honor those whom you ought and punish those whom you must, and that you demand this first of all from your friends—that they not disobey the laws. Since whoever at the outset grants his old familiars license to break the law bestows a harmful favor on both parties, and, while seeming to respect friendship, does not realize that he hates both himself and them. Great slowness, then, you imputed to Rumor, if you supposed that men are ignorant of these things, about which you thought you should write. But long ago your reputation outran your letter, behaving like a thing of a god and a winged creature, and it filled not only the marketplace with itself, but has by now entered even into the palace, bringing pleasure to the emperor and seer. And he, rejoicing, uttered such words as are likely from one who is delighted, and we too, being present somewhere, heard them and rejoiced together and joined in the applause—which he knows, and which you no doubt can infer.

Γαϊανῷ. (362/63) Καὶ γὰρ ἐγὼ κτῆμα σόν· ὥστ’ οὐδὲν θαυμαστὸν εἰ καὶ σὺ κτῆμα ἐμόν. ἐκεῖνο μέντοι οὐκέτι πείθομαι τὴν τὴν τὸ ἄρχειν ἀρετὴν παρ’ ἡμῶν γεγενῆσθαί σοι. κομίζων γὰρ αὐτὴν ἐκ Φοινίκης ἀφῖξο καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἑτέρῳ παρεδρεύων μεῖζον ἴυγγος ἴσχυσας τῷ τρόπῳ. καὶ νῦν Φοινίκη μισθοὺς ὧν ἐδίδαξε κομίζεται ποιήσασά τε γενναῖον καὶ παρὰ τοῦ μα- θητοῦ σωζομένη τε καὶ θεραπευομένη. σωτηρίαν δὲ καλῶ καὶ θεραπείαν οὐ τὸ ἐξεῖναι πάντα ποιεῖν ὡς ὂν ἑταίρου καὶ Φοίνικος ἄρχοντος, ἀλλ’ ὅτι σε ἀκούω καὶ τιμᾶν οὓς δεῖ καὶ κολάζειν οὓς χρή, καὶ τοῦτο πρῶτον ἀπαιτοῦντα τοὺς φί- λους τὸ μὴ ἀπειθεῖν τοῖς νόμοις. ὡς ὅστις ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῖς πάλαι συνήθεσι δίδωσι παρανομεῖν, βλαβερὰν ἀμφοτέροις χα- ρίζεται χάριν καὶ δοκῶν αἰδεῖσθαι φιλίαν αὑτόν τε κἀκείνους μισῶν οὐκ οἶδε. πολλὴν δὲ ἄρα βραδυτῆτα κατέγνως τῆς φήμης. εἰ ἀγνοοῦσι ταῦτα ᾠήθης γράφειν. ἡ δὲ πάλαι σου τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἔφθη θεοῦ τε πρᾶγμα ποιοῦσα καὶ ὑποπτέρου καὶ οὐ τὴν ἀγοράν γε μόνον ἐνέπλησεν αὑτῆς, ἀλλ’ ἤδη καὶ εἰς τὸ βασίλειον εἰσῆλθεν ἡδονὴν φέρουσα τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ μάντει. ὁ δὲ χαίρων ἐφθέγξατό τε οἷα τὸν ἡδόμενον εἰκός, καί τί που καὶ ἡμεῖς παρόντες ἠκούσαμεν καὶ συνήσθημέν τε καὶ συνεισηνέγκαμεν κρότον, ὃν ἐκεῖνός τε οἶδε καὶ σὺ δήπου τεκμαίρῃ.