Letter 710: The god has raised our hierophant [the chief priest of a mystery cult] from his bed.

The god has raised our hierophant [the chief priest of a mystery cult] from his bed. So great is the power a god breathes into a man that the old priest, who had been carried about by others, performed the sacred rites with more vigor than the young and healthy. With that same zeal and strength, he now hurries to your city to correct the sacred texts held there using the copies held here. I did not write so that the hierophant might gain something from this letter -- he has plenty of sources of honor. I wrote so that I too might be counted among those who toil on behalf of the temples.

Τῷ αὐτῶ. (362) Τὸν ἱεροφάντην ἡμῖν ἐκ τῆς κλίνης ἀνέστησεν ὁ θεός. καὶ τοσοῦτον ἄρα ἐστὶ θεὸς μένος ἐμπνέων, ὥσθ’ ὁ πρὶν φε- ρόμενος ὁ γέρων ἐβάκχευσεν ἄμεινον τῶν ἐρρωμένων καὶ νέων. ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς δὴ προθυμίας τε καὶ ῥώμης καὶ παρ’ ὑμᾶς τρέχει βίβλους τὰς παρ’ ἡμῖν οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἐχούσας ἐκ τῶν παρ’ ὑμῖν ἐπανορθώσων. ἐγὼ δ’ οὐχ ἴνα οὗτος κερδάνῃ τι παρὰ τῶν γραμμάτων, ἔγραψα, πολλαχόθεν γὰρ αὐτῷ τιμῆς ἀφορμαί, ἀλλ’ ἕν’ ἐν τοῖς ὑπὲρ τῶν ἱερῶν πονοῦσι καὶ αὐτὸς ἀριθμῶμαι.