Letter 811: Orion became my friend when he was prosperous.

To Belaeus. (363) Orion became my friend when he was prospering; but now he fares badly, while I keep my resolve unchanged; for I should be ashamed if I too were to fall under the proverb and seem to flee a friend who has met misfortune. These things I now cry out to you for the third time: the first time in writing, then to you in person, and now once again as at the first. For even if he stands apart from us in his opinion concerning the divine, he would be harming himself, if indeed he has been deceived, but he would not reasonably be made war upon by his familiars. For my part, I thought it right that even those who now press hard upon him should remember the many times he came to their aid, and should rather repay him gratitude than seek to bury alive their benefactor; whose kinsmen they long ago drove out and, having made the property of those men into Mysian plunder [proverbial for unresisted spoil], they come at last upon this man's person, as though by this they will gratify the gods - though they are very far indeed from the law concerning the honors due to the gods. But it is no wonder that the many should be carried along without reasoning and do what is pleasant instead of what is honorable; yet you, who have come from the teaching chair to the seat that is master of the vote, it is fitting that you restrain such men and persuade them, or hinder them by deed. If, then, Orion has money belonging to the sacred funds and is able to pay it back, let him be struck, let him be goaded, let him suffer the fate of Marsyas [the satyr flayed alive by Apollo]; for it is just, if, when he might have paid it back and been quit of the money, he is too weak for that and would endure anything in order to keep his gold. But if he is poor [or: 'sacred,' the text wavers] and has often gone to sleep hungry, I do not know what we would gain from torture, by which he will win good repute among those opposed to us. And if indeed it should befall him to die in bonds, consider where the matter will end, and take care that you do not make many Marcuses. Marcus, hanged and scourged and with his beard plucked out, having borne all things bravely, is now equal to the gods in the honors paid him, and if he should appear anywhere, he is at once fought over. And the emperor, though he knew these things, grieves indeed for the temple, yet did not put the man to death. Consider, then, the preservation of Marcus to be a law, and having saved Orion, send him forth not admired. For he says that he has stolen nothing; but let it be granted that he has taken something. What of it, if all has been spent? Do you expect to find mines of gold in his hide? No, by Zeus, do not be carried away, O judge, lest you yourself suffer something foolish; but, if he must undergo a trial, let him go his way unwounded, having no occasion for boasting.

βηλαίῳ. (363) Ἐγένετό μοι φίλος Ὠρίων, ὅτε εὐτύχει· νῦν δὲ πράττει μὲν ἐκεῖνος κακῶς, τηρῶ δὲ ἐγὼ τὴν γνώμην· αἰσχύνομαι γὰρ εἰ καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπὸ τῇ παροιμίᾳ γενήσομαι καὶ δόξω φεύγειν ἠτυχηκότα φίλον. ταῦτα δὲ τρὶς ἤδη πρὸς σὲ βοῶ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐν γράμμασιν, ἔπειτα πρὸς παρόντα, νῦν δὲ ὥσπερ τὸ πρῶτον. καὶ γὰρ εἰ διέστηκεν ἡμῶν τῇ περὶ τὸ θεῖον δόξῃ, βλάπτοι μὲν ἂν αὑτόν, εἴπερ ἐξηπάτηται, παρὰ δὲ τῶν συν- ήθων οὐκ ἂν εἰκότως πολεμοῖτο. ἠξίουν δὲ ἔγωγε καὶ τοὺς νῦν ἐγκειμένους αὐτῷ μεμνῆσθαι ὧν αὐτοῖς ἐβοήθησε πολλά- κὶς καὶ μᾶλλον ἀποδοῦναι χάριν ἢ ζητεῖν κατορύξαι ζῶντα τὸν εὐεργέτην· οὗ τὴν συγγένειαν ἐλαύνοντες πάλαι καὶ Μυ- σῶν λείαν πεποιημένοι τἀκείνων τελευτῶντες ἥκουσιν ἐπὶ τὸ τοῦδε σῶμα ὡς ταύτῃ γε χαριούμενοι τοῖς θεοῖς, πλεῖστον ἀπέχοντες τοῦ περὶ τὰς τῶν θεῶν τιμὰς νόμου. ἀλλὰ τοὺς μὲν πολλοὺς οὐδὲν θαυμαστὸν ἄνευ λογισμοῦ φέρεσθαι καὶ ποιεῖν ἀντὶ τῶν καλῶν τὰ ἡδέα· σὲ δὲ τὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ παιδεύ- ντος θρόνου θρόνου πρὸς τὸν ψήφου κύριον ἥκοντα κατέχειν τοιούτους εἰκὸς καὶ πείθειν ἢ ἔργῳ κωλύειν. εἰ μὲν οὖν ἔχει χρήματα τῶν ἱερῶν Ὠρίων καὶ δύναιτ’ ἂν ἐκτῖσαι, παι- έσθω, κεντείσθω, τὰ τοῦ Μαρσύου πασχέτω, δίκαιος γάρ, εἰ παρὸν ἀποδόντα ἀπηλλάχθαι χρημάτων ἐστὶν ἥττων καὶ πάντ᾿ ὂν ὑπομείνειεν, ὅπως ἔχοι χρυσίον· εἰ δ’ ἐστὶν ἱρος καὶ πει- νῶν ἐκοιμήθη πολλάκις, οὐκ οἶδα, τί ἂν κερδαίνοιμεν ἀπὸ τυ αἰκίας, δι’ ἣν εὐδοκιμήσει παρὰ τοῖς ἡμῖν ἐναντίοις. εἰ δὲ δὴ καὶ ἀποθανεῖν αὐτῷ δεδεμένῳ συμβαίη σκόπει ποῖ τὸ πρᾶγμα ἥξει, καὶ ὅρα μὴ πολλοὺς Μάρκους ἀποφήνῃς. Μάρκος ἐΜ κρεμάμενος καὶ μαστιγούμενος κοὶ τοῦ πώ- γωνος αὐτῷ τιλλομένου πάντα ἐνεγκὼν ἀνδρείως νῦν ἰσόθεός ἐστι ταῖς τιμαῖς, κἂν φανῇ που, περιμάχητος εὐθύς. κοὶ ταῦτα εἰδὼς βασιλεὺς ἀλγεῖ μὲν ὑπὲρ τοῦ νεώ, τὸν δὲ ἄνδρα οὐκ ἀπέκτεινε. νόμισον δὴ νόμον τὴν Μάρκου σωτηρίαν καὶ τὸν Ὠρίωνα σώσας ἔκπεμπε μὴ θαυμαζόμενον. φησὶ μὶν γὰρ οὐδὲν ἡρπακέναι, κείσθω δὲ εἰληφώς τί οὖν; εἰ πάντα ἀνήλωται. μέταλλα χρυσίου προσδοκᾷς εὑρήσειν ἐν τῷ δέρ- ματι; μή, πρὸς Δῖός, ἑπαῖρε κοὶ δικαστά, μὴ σύ τι πάθῃς ἀβέλτερον, ἀλλ’, εἰ δεῖ δίκην αὐτὸν ὑποσχεῖν, ἄτρωτος περι- νοστείτω μηδεμίαν ἔχων εἰς φιλοτιμίαν ἀφορμήν.