Letter 800: Hyperechius claimed he made this journey on behalf of his brother, but it turned out he came more on your behalf...

To Maximus. (363) Hyperechius said that he had made this journey on behalf of his brother, but he was found to have made it on your behalf rather than on behalf of the one for whom he claimed to have made it; for toward that man his concern was slight, whereas he went around quenching a report that was at its height and was not true, as I at least had been persuaded, though there were those who wished the worse things to prevail, men who could not attain honor themselves, because they do not practice virtue, and who, envying those honored for their virtue, breathe freely whenever those men seem to commit some wrong. Against these men I myself fought, using probability as my ally, but there was need of some witness close at hand, who was going to make probability strong for me. Now of the others, some kept silent, becoming, by their silence, partners with the accusers, while others claimed that they had indeed heard these things, but did not know the precise truth, these men differing little or not at all from those others; but this excellent fellow, a friend both to you and to me and to Truth, set his tongue in place of weapons on your behalf, crying out against those who spoke as liars, and crying out against those who were persuaded as men being deceived. And he prevailed so far by the persistence of his contests that, having cleansed the city of the deception for us, he comes back; and now neither has any councillor been outraged in his sides [i.e. flogged], nor has any profit prevailed over his soul, and the noble Maximus is thought to be such as he is. I therefore rejoiced together with both of you in the praises, since you proved just at the beginning, and he proved just among those beginning, and at the same time you seemed to me to have left nothing wanting in goodwill toward him. But this I did not ask; for by the things he was doing I was at once being taught. So great was his eagerness concerning the defense, showing on the one hand the man who tells the truth, and showing on the other the man who repays favors. Such men I both rear and recommend to my friends.

Μαξίμῳ. (363) Υπὲρ ἀδελφοῦ τὴν ὁδὸν Ὑπερέχιος ἴφη ταυτηνὶ πεποιῇ- σθαι, ἐφωράθη δὲ ὑπὲρ σοῦ μᾶλλον ἢ ὃν ἴφη πεποιημένος· εἰς μὲν γὰρ ἐκεῖνον μικρά τις ἦν ἡ σπουδή, περιέτρεχε δὲ σβεννύων φήμην ἀκμάζουσαν οὐκ ἀληθῆ μίν, ὡς ἔγωγε ἐπε- πείσμην, ἦσαν δὲ οἱ βουλόμενοι τὰ χείρω κρατεῖν, πἳ τιμῆς μὶν οὐκ ἂν τύχοιεν διὰ τὸ μὴ ἀσκεῖν ἀρετήν, τοῖς δὲ ἀπ ἀρετῆς τιμωμένοις φθονοῦντες, ἂν ἐκεὶνοί τι δόξωσιν ἀδικεῖν, ἀναπνέουσι. πρὸς οὓς ἐγὼ μὲν ἐμαχόμην τῷ εἰκότι συμ- μάχῳ χρώμενος, ἔδει δέ τινος ἐγγύθεν μάρτυρος, ὃς ἕμελλε ποιήσειν μοι τὸ εἰκὸς ἰσχυρόν. τῶν μὲν οὖν ἄλλων οἱ μὲν ἐσίγων μετὰ τῶν κατηγόρων τῇ σιγῇ γιγνόμενοι, οἱ δ’ ἀκοῦ- σαι μὲν ταῦτα ἔφασκον, τἀκριβὲς δὲ ἀγνοεῖν, οὐδὲν ἢ μικρὸν ἐκείνων οἵδε διαφέροντες· ἀλλ’ ὁ χρηστὸς οὑτοσὶ καὶ σοί τε καὶ ἐμοὶ καὶ Ἀληθείᾳ φίλος ἀνθ’ ὅπλων ὑπὲρ σοῦ τὴν γλῶτ- ταν ἔθετο καταβοῶν μὲν τῶν λεγόντων ὡς ψευδομένων, κατα- βοῶν δὲ τῶν πειθομένων ὡς ἐξαπατωμένων. καὶ τοσοῦτον ἴσχυσε τῇ συνεχείᾳ τῶν ἀγώνων, ὥστε καθήρας ἡμῖν τὴν πό- λιν τῆς ἀπάτης ἔρχεται· καὶ νῦν οὔτε βουλευτὴς ἰς τὰς πλευ- ῥᾶς ὕβρισται κέρδος τε οὐδὲν κεκράτηκε τῆς ψυχῆς δοκεῖ τε ὁ γενναῖος Μάξιμος εἶναι τοιοῦτος οἷός ἐστιν. ἐγὼ οὖν ἀμφοτέροις συνήσθην τῶν ἐπαίνων, εἰ σὺ μὲν ἐν ἀρχῇ δίκαιος, ὁ δὲ ἐν ἀρχομένοις, καὶ ἅμα ἐδόκεις μοι μηδὲν εἰς αὐτὸν εὐ- νοίας ἐλλελοιπέναι. τοῦτο δὲ οὐκ ἠρόμην· ὑπὸ γὰρ ὧν ἔπραττεν εὐθὺς ἐδιδασκόμην. τοσαύτη τις ἦν ἡ περὶ τὴν ἀπο- λογίαν προθυμία δεικνῦσα μὲν τὸν ἀληθεύοντα, δεικνῦσα δὲ τὸν ἀμειβόμενοι χάριτας. τοιούτους ἐγὼ τρέφω τε καὶ συνί- στημι τοῖς φίλοις.