Letter 14: To Prohaeresius [an Armenian Christian rhetorician who taught in Athens; by this point in his late eighties].

To Prohaeresius [an Armenian Christian rhetorician who taught in Athens; by this point in his late eighties]. Why should I not write to the excellent Prohaeresius — a man who has poured his eloquence over the young the way rivers flood across a plain? A man who rivals Pericles himself in his speeches, except that he does not throw Greece into turmoil [a joke borrowed from Aristophanes]? Do not be surprised that I have been brief. It may be fitting for sages like you to compose long and impressive discourses, but from me to you, a few words are enough. Besides, I am inundated by business from every direction. As for the reasons I returned [from Gaul — referring to his march against Constantius] — if you intend to write a historical account, I will give you a very precise report and hand over the letters as documentary evidence. But if you have decided to devote your remaining years entirely to rhetoric, then you will perhaps not blame me for my silence.

To Prohaeresius1 [End of 361 or early in 362. Constantinople] Why should I not address the excellent Prohaeresius, a man who has poured forth his eloquence on the young as rivers pour their floods over the plain; who rivals Pericles in his discourses, except that he does not agitate and embroil Greece?2 But you must not be surprised that I have imitated Spartan brevity in writing to you. For though it becomes sages like you to compose very long and impressive discourses, from me to you even a few words are enough. Moreover you must know that from all quarters at once I am inundated by affairs. As for the causes of my return,3 if you are going to write an historical account I will make a very precise report for you, and will hand over to you the letters,4 as written evidence. But if you have resolved to devote your energies to the last, till old age,5 to your rhetorical studies and exercises, you will perhaps not reproach me for my silence. 1 The Armenian sophist, a Christian, who taught at Athens. For his Life see Eunapius, Lives of the Sophists and Philosophers, pp. 477-515 (Wright). See Introduction.  2 Aristophanes, Acharnians 531. 3 i. e. from Gaul, when he marched against the Emperor Constantius, in 361. This letter was probably written after his triumphal entry into Constantinople on December 11th. 4 For the correspondence between Julian and Constantius cf. Ammianus Marcellinus 20. 8. 5. 5 Prohaeresius was already in the late eighties.

[Πρός: Προαιρεσίῳ] Τί δὲ οὐκ ἔμελλον ἐγὼ Προαιρέσιον τὸν καλὸν προσαγορεύειν, ἄνδρα ἐπαφιέντα τοῖς νέοις λόγους, ὥσπερ οἱ ποταμοὶ τοῖς πεδίοις ἐπαφιᾶσι τὰ ῥεύματα, καὶ ζηλοῦντα τὸν Περικλέα κατὰ τοὺς λόγους ἔξω τοῦ συνταράττειν καὶ ξυγκυκᾶν τὴν Ἑλλάδα; θαυμάζειν δ’ οὐ χρὴ τὴν Λακωνικὴν εἰ πρὸς σὲ βραχυλογίαν ἐμιμησάμην. ὑμῖν γὰρ πρέπει τοῖς σοφοῖς μακροὺς πάνυ καὶ μεγάλους ποιεῖσθαι λόγους, ἡμῖν δὲ ἀρκεῖ καὶ τὰ βραχέα πρὸς ὑμᾶς. ἴσθι δῆτά μοι πολλὰ πανταχόθεν κύκλῳ πράγματα ἐπιρρεῖν. τῆς καθόδου τὰς αἰτίας, εἰ μὲν ἱστορίαν γράψεις, ἀκριβέστατα ἀπαγγελῶ σοι, δοὺς τὰς ἐπιστολὰς ἀποδείξεις ἐγγράφους· εἰ δ’ ἔγνωκας ταῖς μελέταις καὶ τοῖς γυμνάσμασιν εἰς τέλος ἄχρι γήρως προσκαρτερεῖν, οὐδὲν ἴσως μου τὴν σιωπὴν μέμψῃ.