Letter 549: You, Olympius, won the contest.
Ὀλυμπίῳ καὶ Ἰοβίνῳ. (357)
Σὺ μέν, Ὀλύμπιε, τὸν ἀγῶνα λαῷ, τὸν μισθὸν ἀπόδος·
ἔστι δὲ ὁ μισθὸς τὸν ἑταῖρον ἡμῖν Στρατήγιον ἐπί τινος φα-
νῆναι σχήματος. πάντως δὲ δύναμίς ἐστί σοι παρὰ τοῖς δυ-
νατοῖς.
τῷ δὲ ἀδελφῶ σου τὴν μὲν ἐμὴν εἰς αὐτὸν ὀργὴν
οὐκ ἦν ἀγνοῆσαι, Κλημάτιος γὰρ οὐκ οἶδε σιγᾶν· ἀπολογεῖ-
σθαι δὲ βουλομένῳ θαυμάζω πῶς ποτε ἐπῆλθεν ἃ πρὸς τοὺς
σοφιστὰς ποιῆσαι. νέον γὰρ ἡμῖν ἐγχειρίζων οἴεται τὸ πᾶν
λελύσθαι· τοσοῦτον εἶναι νομίζει παρ’ ἐμοὶ μαθητήν.
ἐγὼ
δὲ τὸν μὲν νέον οὐκ ἀηδῶς εἶδον, τὰ δὲ ἐγκλήματα μένει,
μέχρις ἄν μοι παραδοὺς αὑτὸν ἐκεῖνος ὅ τι βούλομαι χρῆ-
σθαι τούτῳ με αὐτῷ πείσῃ μὴ λαβεῖν δίκην τῷ δίκην ἐθέ-
λειν ὑποσχεῖν.
ἀλλ’ ἐκεῖνα μὲν ἔσται ποτέ· τὸν δὲ Λητόιον
ἡμῖν ποιεῖτε μέγαν συγγενῆ μὲν ὄντα τῶν ἀδελφιδῶν ὑμῖν,
ἐμοὶ δὲ ἐν τάξει συγγενῶν. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλοι χρήμασι πι-
στεύοντες ὡς ὑμᾶς ἴασιν, ὁ δὲ τῷ πρεσβεύειν ἄξιος εἶναι καὶ
ὑμῖν. οὐ γὰρ ἀγνοοῦμεν ὡς ἀπὸ τοῦ χρηστοὶ φαίνεσθαι
πρὸς τὸ δύνασθαι προήλθετε.
δείξατε δὴ τὸν ἄνδρα κρείττω
τῶν οἰομένων αὐτοῦ κρειττόνων ἔσεσθαι.
Related Letters
I did not have to ask Iamblichus to carry this letter to you -- he asked me to send it.
To a friend (~371 AD):
We grieved as never before and rejoiced as never before — grieved because your wife was ill, a woman who surpasses...
1. Oh that I had wings like a dove for then would I fly away to you, and satisfy my longing to meet you. But now it is not only wings that I want, but a whole body, for mine has suffered from long sickness, and now is quite worn away with continuous affliction.
As soon as your letters arrived, I replied with equal devotion — neither the protocol of correspondence nor the...