Letter 84: I received your earlier letter too -- you can't imagine how gladly.

To Leontius. (359) I received your earlier letter too, and you could not even guess how gladly. But the sweetest thing about it was this: that, having heard that I would write to you, and having my letter in hand, you had not yet done that very thing which it was natural for the man who held it to do. The man, however, who delivered to me what came from you delivered it in the marketplace, and said that he would come at once to the council-house, where I pass my time--for the temple of Fortune, my noble Leontius, has been stripped of its other splendor and of the flocks it once used to feed, and it is a cause of tears for us whenever we pass by--this man, then, having said that he would come, and having shown a certain eagerness, as if snatched away by the winds, never came and met me. And I supposed that he had been carried off against his will, but in fact, being right here, he was running away. For that he is here I heard from the man who delivered the second batch. And perhaps he fell in with a band of flatterers, to whom my not receiving letters from you is a delight. And if he had met with those men earlier than with me, they would surely have made it a favor to them also that he did not deliver what was yours. I was amazed, too, that not even to those to whom you have now written did you make clear that you had received my letter. And turning the matter over in every direction, I cannot find the cause. For that Eumathius came to you is made clear by the letter that came here from Iphicrates; but having come to you, I think he had no excuse for not giving the message, concerning which he went through many fine speeches, and the man to whom it needed to be sent he never ceased saying--so that I many times asked the young man whom he was bringing whether the tutor had died, for it did not seem to me that, if he were alive, he would commit this error; and when he said that the man was still living, I have not ceased being at a loss. Tell me, then, whether you received it or not; for by the one I shall be gladdened, while the other will make me send you copies of the first letter.

**To Leontius** (359 AD) I received your earlier letter too — you could not imagine with what pleasure. And the most delightful thing about it was this: that upon hearing I had written to you, but not yet having the letter in hand, you did exactly what one would expect of a man who already possessed it. The fellow who delivered your letter to me, however — he handed it over in the marketplace and said he would come straightaway to the council chamber where I spend my time (for the Temple of Fortune, my dear Leontius, along with its other splendors, has been stripped even of the flocks it once maintained, and is now a source of tears for us whenever we pass by) — well, that fellow, after saying he would come and showing every eagerness, was snatched away as if by the winds and never appeared before me again. I assumed he had been carried off against his will, but it turned out he was still here in the city and was avoiding me. I learned that he was still around from the man who delivered your second letter. And perhaps he had fallen in with a gang of flatterers, the sort of people who are only too pleased that he brought no letter from me. Indeed, had he encountered them before he met me, they would no doubt have prevailed upon him not to deliver even your letter. I was surprised, though, that in your present letter you gave no indication that you had received mine. I turn the matter over in every direction and cannot find the explanation. That Eumathius came to you is made clear by the letter that arrived here from Iphicrates; and I cannot believe that, having reached you, he would have had no account to give of the man on whose behalf he delivered many fine speeches and whom he never ceased urging you to write to. I myself repeatedly asked the young man he was escorting whether his tutor had died — for I could not believe he would commit such an oversight while still alive — and when the boy assured me he was well, my bewilderment has not ceased. So tell me — did you receive it or not? If you did, I shall be glad; if not, it will prompt me to send you a copy of my original letter.

Λεοντίῳ. (359) Ἔλαβόν σου καὶ τὴν προτέραν ἐπιστολήν, οὐδ’ ἂν εἰκά- σαις, ὅπως ἡδέως. ἦν δὲ ἥδιστον αὐτῆς, ὅτι ἀκούσας, ὡς γράψοιμί σοι, τὰ γράμματα δὲ ἔχων οὔπω τοῦτο ἐποίησας, 15 ὅπερ ἦν εἰκὸς τὸν ἔχοντα. ὁ μέντοι δοὺς ἐμοὶ τὰ παρὰ σοῦ δοὺς ἐπ’ ἀγορᾶς καὶ φήσας αὐτίκα ἥξειν εἰς τὸ βουλευτήριον, οὗ διατρίβω—τὸ γὰρ τῆς Τύχης ἱερόν, ὦ καλὲ Λεόντιε, μετὰ τῆς ἄλλης αἴγλης καὶ τῶν ποιμνίων ἅ ποτε ἔτρεφεν ἐστέρηται καὶ ἔστιν ἡμῖν ἀφορμὴ δακρύων, ὁπότε παρίοιμεν — εἰπὼν οὖν ἐκεῖνος, ὡς ἥξει, καί τινα προθυμίαν ἐνδειξάμενος ὥσπερ ἁρπασθεὶς ὑπ’ ἀνέμων οὐκ ἴτ’ ἐνέτυχέ μοι. κἀγὼ ᾤμην αὐτὸν ἄκοντα ἀπενηνέχθαι, ὁ δ’ ἄρα ἐνταῦθα ὢν ἀπεδί- δρασκε. τὸ γὰρ ὡς ἐνταῦθά ἐστιν ἤκουσα παρὰ τοῦ τὰ δεύ- τερα δόντος. καὶ ἴσως συνεγένετο συμμορίᾳ κολάκων, οἷς τὸ μὴ παρ’ ἐμοῦ γράμματα λαβεῖν κεχάρισται. εἰ δὲ ἐκείνοις ἐν- τετυχήκει πρότερον ἢ ἐμοί, πάντως ἂν αὐτοῖς ἐχαρίζετο καὶ τὸ μὴ τὰ σὰ δοῦναι. ἐθαύμασα δέ, ὅπως οὐδ’ οἷς νῦν ἔγραψας ἔδειΞας, ὡς κομίσαιό μου τὴν ἐπιστολήν. καὶ παν- ταχῆ τὸ πρᾶγμα στρέφων οὐκ ἔχω τὴν αἰτίαν εὑρεῖν. τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἐλθεῖν ὡς ὁμᾶς Εὐμάθιον δηλοῦται τοῖς παρ’ Ἰφικράτους δεῦρ’ ἐλθοῦσι γράμμασιν, ἥκοντα δὲ παρ’ ὑμᾶς οἶμαι μὴ δοῦναι λόγον οὐκ ἔχειν, ὑπὲρ οὗ πολλοὺς καὶ καλοὺς διῆλθε λόγους καὶ πρὸς ὃν δεῖν ἐπιστέλλειν οὐκ ἀνῆκε λέγων, ὥστ ἐγὼ μὲν πολλάκις ἠρόμην ὃν ἦγε νέον εἰ τέθνηκεν ὁ παιδα- γωγός, οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἐδόκει μοι ζῶν τοῦτο ἁμαρτεῖν, τοῦ δὲ λἐ- γοντος, ὡς περίεστιν, ἀπορῶν οὐ πέπαυμαι. φράσον οὖν, εἴτ’ ἔλαβες εἴτε μή· τῷ μὲν γὰρ ἡσθήσομαι, τὸ δ’ ἀντίγραφά σοι τῶν πρώτων ποιήσει πέμπειν.