Letter 334: Your letter was sweeter than the storax you sent — and not only sweeter than that batch, but than the kind you say...
Ἀκακίῳ. (357/58)
Τῆς μὲν στύρακος, ἣν ἔπεμψας, ἡδίω τὰ γράμματά σου,
καὶ οὐ ταύτης γε μόνον, ἀλλὰ κἀκείνης, ἣν φὴς οὐκέτι φοι-
τᾶν ἐξ Ἰσαύρων ὡς ὑμᾶς· τοῦ λόγου δὲ οἷς μὲν εἶπον συνή-
δομαι, τοῖς δὲ ρηθησομένοις βούλει με τὸ βλάσφημον ἀφεῖναι.
καίτοι, κἂν μὴ λέγω, πέπληγμαι τὴν καρδίαν ὡς οὐκ οὔσης
ἐν τοῖς δευτέροις βοηθείας, ἣν περιμένων ἐγὼ καὶ κεχηνὼς
πρὸς τὰς πύλας καὶ λέγων πρὸς τὸν Στρατήγιον· ὁπότε δὲ
ἥξει; καὶ ἀκούων ὡς αὐτίκα, λαβὼν τὰ γράμματα πολλα-
χόυεν εἶχον ἀθυμεῖν τῇ τε ἀρρωστίᾳ τῆς γυναικός, γυναικὸς
σοί τε ἀρεσκούσης καὶ Τιτιανὸν τεκούσης, καὶ ὅτι σὺ δυοῖν
βαρύνῃ, τῷ τε ἐκείνην κάμνειν καὶ τῷ τῶν ἀγώνων ἀπεῖναι
τοῦ φιλτάτου.
παρεμυθούμην δ’ οὖν ἐμαυτὸν ἐκ τοῦ μὴ
πάντα εἶναι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις εὐτυχεῖν καὶ συνεχῶς ἐπῇδον τό·
ἀλλ’ οὔπως ἅμα πάντα.
Στρατήγιος δὲ καὶ δὴ λαμπρῶς
κατεβόα τῆς Τύχης καὶ ὢν ὥσπερ πρὸ τοῦ καὶ φόβον τὸν τοῦ
λέγοντος φοβούμενος οὐδὲν ὅ τι οὐκ ἐφθέγγετο περὶ τῆς σῆς
ἀπουσίας.
ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν εἴσειμι τὸν Ἑρμῆν ἀντὶ σοῦ μοι
πιστεύων ἔσεσθαι, σὲ δὲ εἰη τῶν παρόντων ἀπαλλαγέντα κα-
κῶν ἐλθεῖν μὲν ὡς ἡμᾶς, εἰ βέλτιον, μένειν δὲ κατὰ χώραν,
εἰ βέλτιον.
Related Letters
You delivered a lengthy defense of your concern for the girl when no one, I believe, was prosecuting you.
"Not without a god," as Homer says — and you did not write this without the hand of Asclepius.
You do seem to think me very fond of gold, since you told Olympius to bring me the gold piece for the wedding...
To Ἀκακίῳ. (361)
Those many splendid speeches you delivered — first in Phoenicia, then here, and now in fair Palestine (and how could...