Letter 842: Libanius apologizes to Theodorus for silence caused by a credible but false report of Theodorus' hostility.

You have won: you wrote, and I had not written. That would have been true even if only a short letter had come from you; but this one is long, elegant, and proof that you have lived among books. Now hear my defense for my silence. If no one has ever been deceived by anyone at any time, then I have no argument, since I alone have suffered such a thing. But if, from the beginning of human life, deception too has existed, and if it has often come upon peoples, often upon councils, often upon many courts, and has even touched the gods, as the poets say, then I too have some refuge. You and I were friends. You were glad to see me, and I to see you, and each of us took pleasure in the other's good fortune. But when you followed the emperor, and a great stretch of land came between us, someone from your circle came to me and said, in many speeches full of abuse, that you were speaking against me every day. When I did not believe him, he swore by all the gods that this was truly so. Since the charge was serious, and the man was not obscure, I thought it better not to write and not to trouble you. That he was lying is now clear; a man doing what he claimed you were doing would not have written. You know Solon, and therefore you know whom it is fair to blame now instead of me.

1. Νενίκηκας γράψας οὐ γεγραφότι. τουτὶ δὲ ἦν μὲν ἂν καὶ μικρᾶς ἡμῖν ἐλθούσης ἐπιστολῆς· νῦν δ’ αὕτη καὶ μακρὰ καὶ καλὴ καὶ τὸ ἐν βίβλοις σε βεβιωκέναι μηνύουσα. 2. τῆς δ’ ἡμετέρας σιωπῆς τὴν ἀπολογίαν ἄκουε. εἰ μὲν οὐδεὶς ὑπ’ οὐδενὸς οὐδεπώποτε ἠπατήθη, λόγος οὐδείς ἐστί μοι μόνῳ τοῦτο παθόντι· εἰ δ’ ἐξ ὅτουπερ εἰσὶν ἄνθρωποι, καὶ τὸ ἀπατᾶσθαι, καὶ τοῦτο πολλάκις μὲν ἦλθεν εἰς δήμους, πολλάκις δὲ εἰς βουλάς, εἰς πολλὰ δὲ δικαστήρια, ἧπται δὲ ἤδη καὶ θεῶν, ὡς οἱ ποιηταί φασιν, ἔνι τις καὶ ἡμῖν καταφυγή. 3. ἐμοὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ σοὶ φιλία μὲν ἦν, καὶ ἑώρας σὺ μὲν ἡδέως ἐμέ, σὲ δὲ ἐγώ, καὶ τοῖς ἀλλήλων ἀγαθοῖς ἡδόμεθα· σοῦ δὲ ἀκολουθήσαντος βασιλεῖ καὶ πολλῆς γῆς ἐμοῦ τε καὶ σοῦ γενομένης ἐν μέσῳ παρ’ ὑμῶν τις ὡς ἡμᾶς ἐλθὼν πολλοῖς καὶ πολλὴν λοιδορίαν ἔχουσι λόγοις ἔλεγέ σε χρῆσθαι κατ’ ἐμοῦ καθ’ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν, ἀπιστοῦντος δὲ πάντας ὤμνυε θεοὺς ἦ μὴν ταῦθ’ οὕτως ἔχειν. ὡς δὲ πολὺ τοῦτο ἦν, ἦν δὲ ἀνὴρ οὐ τῶν ἀδοξοτέρων, ᾠήθην εἶναι βέλτιον μὴ γράφειν μηδ’ ἐνοχλεῖν. 4. καὶ ὡς μὲν ἐψεύδετο δεδήλωται, τοῦ γὰρ ἐκεῖνα ποιοῦντος οὐκ ἦν τὸ ἐπιστεῖλαι· σὺ δ’ εἰδὼς τὸν Σόλωνα καὶ νῦν ὃν ἀνθ’ ἡμῶν αἰτιᾶσθαι δίκαιον, οὐκ ἀγνοεῖς.