Letter 123

To Clearchus the Numerarius [a financial accountant in the imperial administration]. I would not reproach the wolf for seizing its prey, for rapacity is in the wolf by nature; but I mock a man who has acquired, contrary to nature, a wolf-like disposition.

Ἐγὼ οὐκ ἂν λοιδορήσαιμι τὸν λύκον ἁρπάζοντα, κατὰ φύσιν γὰρ ἔνεστι τῷ λύκῳ τὸ ἁρπακτικόν, σκώπτω δ’ ἄνθρωπον κεκτημένον λυκώδη παρὰ φύσιν τὴν γνώμην.