Letter 94: If people knew how you really feel about me, they wouldn't ask me to send you letters on their behalf.

To Spectatus. [359/60] If people knew what your disposition toward us is, they would not be urging me to send you letters on their behalf; rather, even if I myself were begging them to carry the letters, they would beg me in return not to write, on the grounds that this would turn out to their harm. But as things stand, many things go unnoticed, and in particular that you reckon what concerns me as nothing. And it was open to me, once I had taught Miccalus the truth, to keep silent; but, being more ashamed on your behalf, who are doing the despising, than on my own, who am the one cast aside, I let Miccalus remain in his ignorance about these matters, thinking that the period of his being deceived would be a gain to him. But he is the bearer of this letter on the journey; for once he has come and delivered the letter, he will discover how things really stand. Yet this at least I know: that, even if for our sake you will not give him your attention, there is nothing you will fail to contribute out of another necessity. And by necessity I mean not his fairness and the obligation either to honor such men or else to be held in the reputation of baseness -- for to many people such a thing counts for little -- but rather, you know his brother, formidable at speaking and formidable at acting, who knows both how to return a favor and how to exact a penalty. I know that you will dread this man's thunderbolts, and that, in providing calm for yourself, you will count it worth more than anything else to be of service to Miccalus.

**To Spectatus** (359/60) If people knew what your disposition toward me truly is, they would not ask me to send letters to you on their behalf. Indeed, even if I myself needed them to carry one, they would beg me not to write, since it would only bring them harm. But as it stands, much escapes notice — including the fact that you hold me in no regard whatsoever. Now, I could have told Miccalus the truth and left it at that. But feeling more ashamed on your behalf, the one who scorns me, than on my own, the one cast aside, I let Miccalus remain ignorant of how things stand between us, thinking that the time spent in his delusion would be a kind of profit for him — namely, the duration of his journey. For once he arrives and delivers this letter, he will discover how things really are. Still, this much I do know: even if you will pay him no attention on my account, there is another compulsion under which you will do everything for him. By "compulsion" I do not mean his own decency and the obligation to honor such men or else be thought guilty of vice — for many people attach little weight to that sort of thing. No, I mean that you know this man's brother: formidable in speech, formidable in action, and a man who knows how both to repay a favor and to exact a punishment. His thunderbolts, I am quite sure, you will fear — and in securing fair weather for yourself, you will think it worthwhile to become everything to Miccalus.

Σπεκτάτῳ. (359/60) Εἰ ᾔδεσαν οἱ ἄνθρωποι, τίς σὺ πρὸς ἡμᾶς τὴν γνώμην, οὐκ ἄν με ἐκέλευον ὑπὲρ αὑτῶν σοι πέμπειν ἐπιστολάς, ἀλλὰ κἂν εἰ αὐτὸς ἐδεόμην αὐτῶν κομίζειν, ἀντεδέοντ’ ἂν μὴ γρά- φειν ὡς εἰς βλάβην αὐτοῖς τοῦτο ἧξον. νῦν δὲ ἄλλα τε πολλὰ λανθάνει καὶ σὺ τοὐμὸν ἐν οὐδενὶ ποιούμενος. καὶ ἦν μέν μοι διδάξαντι τὴν ἀλήθειαν Μίκκαλον σιγῆσαι, αἰσχυνθεὶς δὲ πλέον ὑπὲρ σοῦ τοῦ καταφρονοῦντος ἢ ἐμαυτοῦ τοῦ ἀπερ- ριμμένου τὴν ἄγνοιαν τὴν περὶ ταῦτα Μικκάλου μένειν εἰάσα νομίζων ἔσεσθαί οἱ κέρδος τὸν τῆς ἀπάτης χρόνον. οὗτος δέ ἐστιν ὁ τῆς ὁδοῦ· ὡς ἐλθών γε καὶ δοὺς τὴν ἐπιστολὴν εὑρή- σει τὰ ὄντα. πλὴν ἐκεῖνό γε οἶδα, ὡς, εἰ καὶ δι’ ἡμᾶς οὐ προσέξεις αὐτῷ τὸν νοῦν, ἀπ’ ἄλλης γε ἀνάγκης οὐδὲν ὅ τι οὐκ εἰσοίσεις. λέγω δὲ ἀνάγκην οὐ τὴν ἐπιείκειαν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ δεῖν ἢ τιμᾶν τοὺς τοιούτους ἢ κακίας ἐνέχεσθαι δόξῃ, πολλοῖς γὰρ οὐκ ἐν πολλῷ τὸ τοιοῦτο λόγῳ, ἀλλ’ οἶσθα τὸν τοῦδε ἀδελφὸν τὸν δεινὸν μὲν εἰπεῖν, δεινὸν δὲ πρᾶξαι, εἰδότα δὲ καὶ χάριν ἀποδοῦναι καὶ δίκην λαβεῖν. τούτου τὰς βροντὰς οἶδ’ ὅτι δείσεις, καὶ γαλήνην σαυτῷ παρασκευάζων ἀνθ’ ἁπάντων ἀξιώσεις γενέσθαι Μικκάλῳ.