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

To Leontius. (359) I received your earlier letter too -- you cannot imagine how gladly. The most delightful part was that you had heard I intended to write to you, and though you already had my letter in hand, you had not yet done what one would expect of someone holding it. The man who delivered your letter to me handed it over in the marketplace and said he would come at once to the council chamber where I spend my time -- for the Temple of Tyche [Fortune], my dear Leontius, has been stripped of its former splendor along with everything else, even the flocks it once maintained, and has become for us an occasion for tears whenever we pass by. So, having said he would come and shown every sign of eagerness, he vanished as if snatched away by the winds and never appeared before me again. I assumed he had been carried off against his will, but it turns out he was here in the city the whole time, simply avoiding me -- I learned this from the man who delivered your second letter. Quite likely he fell in with some gang of flatterers for whom not carrying letters from me is a point of pride. Had he encountered them before meeting me, they would certainly have persuaded him not to deliver yours at all. I was surprised that even in your latest letter you gave no indication whether you received mine. I have turned the matter over every which way and cannot find the reason. That Eumathius came to you is clear from the letter Iphicrates sent here, and having arrived at your end I cannot believe he had no account to give -- he who had delivered many fine speeches on the subject and never stopped saying one ought to write. I kept asking the young man he was escorting whether the tutor had died, since I could not imagine him committing such an oversight while alive; when the boy said he was still with us, my bewilderment has not ceased. So tell me: did you receive it or not? If you did, I shall be glad. If not, I shall have to send you copies of the originals.

**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.