Letter 815: I was delighted by the letter, by what was in it, and by the fact that, seized by necessity, you resorted to the...

To Proklos. (~363 AD) I was delighted by the letter, by what was in it, and by the fact that, seized by necessity, you resorted to the second voyage — the one by correspondence. Aristophanes has done you no wrong, if wrongdoing requires intent. He was fulfilling what he had promised, and I was the one pressing him, knowing that in his place you would have Dorion or someone else — which is exactly what happened — while for the young man I wanted sent to Ankara, his only hope was Aristophanes and Aristophanes' reputation. If you accuse me, I am ready to suffer whatever you command. But if you blame him, take care you do not seem unforgiving — especially as a Greek, and the very crown of Greeks.

Πρόκλῳ. (363) Ἥσθην καὶ τῷ γραμματείῳ καὶ τοῖς ἐγγεγραμμένοις καὶ ὡς ὑπ’ ἀνάγκης ἁρπασθεὶς ἐπὶ τὸν δεύτερον ἦλθες πλοῦν τὸν δι’ ἐπιστολῆς. Ἀριστοφάνης δέ σε ἠδίκηκεν οὐδέν, εἰ γνώμης ἐστὶ τὸ ἀδικεὶν· ἀλλ’ ὁ μὲν ἔλεγεν ἃ ἦν ὑπεσχημένος, ἐγὼ δὲ αὐτὸν ἐβιαζόμην εἰδὼς ὅτι σοὶ μὲν ἀντ’ ἐκείνου Δω- ρίων ἔσται ἤ τις ἕτερος — ὃ δὴ γέγονε —, τῷ νέῳ δέ, ὃν εἰς Ἄγκυραν ἐβουλόμην ἐλθεῖν, μία ἐστ’ ἐλπὶς Ἀριστοφάνης καὶ τὸ Ἀριστοφάνους σχῆμα. εἰ μὲν οὖν ἐμοῦ κατηγορεῖς, ἕτοι- μος ὅ τι ἂν κελεύῃς παθεῖν· ἐκεῖνον δὲ αἰτιώμενος ὅρα μὴ δόξῃς ἀσυγγνώμων εἶναι καὶ ταῦτα Ἕλλην τε ὢν καὶ Ἑλλή- νων ὅτιπερ κεφάλαιον.