Letter 527

To Aristophanes the Candidatus [a member of the imperial bodyguard]. Do not be astonished that you have seen Maximus the vicar [vicarius, a senior imperial administrator], and his brother, entangled in their own sophistries, and that they have undergone dangers and the most extreme evils, the very ones which they were eager to bring down upon other persons. For look at what the Scriptures say: "God bound together the axles of their chariots, and led them to what was their due." And: "Their wickedness turned back upon their own heads." And: "In this very snare which they hid, their own foot was caught." They are caught in the very counsels by which they deliberate; for that which they devised, for their own security but for the plotting against and harm of others, this God turned to their own affliction and shame and unspeakable ruin, but to the benefit and honor, and the boldness and no small gain, of those who had been plotted against. For indeed Haman too, once wishing to crucify [hang] Mordecai's circle, that righteous man, and having prepared the gallows, was himself suddenly put to shame, and contrary to expectation was impaled upon his own gallows, by command of the king who had earlier loved him more than his own life; but Mordecai, who held his mind continually fixed upon God, was honored with the greatest honors by the king and by all the magnates, and was now seen more illustrious than ever before. Therefore in every season one must trust the divine oracles, which say: What you yourself hate, do not do to another; and do not wish evils upon others, lest evils overtake you, and lest you alone be condemned to eat the pot which you seasoned for others. For he who digs a pit for others will fall into it himself when he least expects it.

Μὴ ξενίζου ἑωρακὼς Μάξιμον τὸν βικάριον, καὶ τὸν τούτου ἀδελφὸν, τοῖς ἑαυτῶν συμπλοδισθέντας σοφίσμασι, καὶ κινδύνους ὑπομεμηκότας καὶ τὰ ἔσχατα κακὰ, ἅπερ καθ’ ἑτέρων προσώπων ἐπενε- χθῆναι ἐσπούδασαν. Βλέπε γάρ, τί λέγουσιν αἱ Γρα- φαί· « Συνέδησεν ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς ἄξανας τῶν ἁρμάτων· καὶ ἦγεν αὐτοὺς πρὸς τὸ ὠφειλόμενον. » Καί, « Ἐπ- έστρεψεν ἡ πονηρία αὐτῶν εἰς τὰς κεφαλὰς αὐτῶν. » Καί· « Ἐν παγίδι ταύτῃ, ᾗ ἔκρυψαν, συνελήφθη ὁ ποῦς αὐτῶν. » Συλλαμβάνονται ἐν διαβουλίοις, οἷς διαλογίζονται· ὅπερ γὰρ ἐσαφίσαντο, εἰς ἑαυτῶν μὲν ἀσφάλειαν, ἄλλων δὲ ἐπιβουλὴν καὶ βλάβην, τοῦτο ἔστρεψεν ὁ Θεὸς εἰς τὴν τούτων μὲν κάκωσιν, καὶ αἰσχύνην, καὶ ὄλεθρον ἄφατον, ὠφέλειαν δὲ καὶ τιμὴν, παῤῥησίαν τε καὶ κέρδος οὐκ ὀλίγον τῶν ἐπιβουλευθέντων. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ Ἀμμὰν ποτε θέλων σταυρῶσαι, τοὺς περὶ Μαρδοχαῖον τὸν δίκαιον ἄνθρω- πον, καὶ τὸ ξύλον ἑτοιμάσας, αὐτὸς μὲν καταισχυν- θεὶς ἐξαίφνης, καὶ παρὰ προσδοκίαν ἐπ’ αὐτοῦ τοῦ οἰκείου ξύλου ἀνεσκολοπίζετο, προστάξει τοῦ βασι- λέως τοῦ πρότερον ὑπὲρ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν ἀγαπήσαντος αὐτόν· Μαρδοχαῖος δέ, ὁ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἔχων διηνεκῶς τὴν διάνοιαν αὐτοῦ, ταῖς μεγίσταις τετίμηται τιμαῖς παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ πάντων τῶν μεγιστάνων, καὶ περιφανέστερος ὤφθη νῦν μᾶλλον, ἤπερ ποτέ. Τοιγαροῦν ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ τοῖς θείαις πιστεύειν λογίοις, τοῖς λέγουσιν, ὅτι Ὅπερ αὐτὸς μισεῖς, ἑτέρῳ μὴ ποιήσεις, καὶ μὴ θέλε ἑτέροις κακὰ, ἵνα μή σε καταλάβῃ κακά, καὶ τὴν χύτραν, ἥνπερ ἄλλοις ἥρτυσας, σὺ μόνος καταδικασθῇς φαγεῖν. Ὁ γὰρ ἄλλοις βόθρον ὀρύξας, εἰς αὐτὸν ἐμπεσεῖται ἀνελπίστως.