Letter 48: Procopius says Constantius's letter produced a lover's illusion of presence.

While I was still living by the Nile, I received that fine letter of yours. What happened over it should not be passed over in silence. When the bearer delivered it and added where it had come from, I suffered something like a lover's condition. Wandering a little from what was reasonable, I thought you yourself were already present with me. "Dearest of men," I said, "how deeply you grieved me while absent, and now you have come to those who longed for you." After I said things like this several times and made the people present suspect what was happening, they said, "What is happening to you? Surely he is not actually here with you." Coming back to myself, I was distressed, like someone who had missed such a hope. I wept a little, learned how strong love is, and realized that it had been a kind of delusion consoling my reason. But when I opened the letter and examined it, I was so pleased that I willingly withdrew from the present, often saying, "Not again ..." Desire for what was still to come pressed hard on me.

Κωνσταντίῳ Ἔτι παρὰ τὸν Νεῖλον οἰκῶν τὴν καλὴν ἐκείνην ἐπιστολὴν ἐδεξάμην. οἷον δὲ περὶ ταύτην συνέβη οὐ καλῶς ἂν ἔχοι σιγῇ παρελθεῖν. ὡς γὰρ ἐπέδωκε ταύτην ὁ φέρων, προσετίθει δὲ καὶ πόθεν, πάσχω τι πάθος ἐρωτικόν. βραχὺ γὰρ ἀποπλανηθεὶς τοῦ εἰκότος ἤδη σε καὶ παρεῖναί μοι πάντως ἐδόκουν. καὶ τοίνυν «ὦ φίλτατ' ἀνδρῶν» ἔφην «ὡς ἀπὼν ἄγαν ἐλύπεις καὶ νῦν ποθοῦσιν ἀφῖξαι». ὡς δὲ τοιαῦτα πολλάκις εἰπὼν τοῖς παροῦσιν ὑποψίαν παρεῖχον τοῦ πράγματος, «καὶ δὴ τί πάσχεις;» ἔφησαν· «οὐ γὰρ δή σοι καὶ παρὼν ἐκεῖνος τυγχάνει». εἰς δὲ μνήμην ἐλθὼν ἐμαυτοῦ ἠνιάθην, οἷα δή τις ἁμαρτὼν τῆς τοιαύτης ἐλπίδος, καὶ βραχὺ δακρύσας ἔγνων ὁπόσον ἔρως ἰσχύει, καὶ ὅτι πλάνη τις ἦν παραμυθουμένη τὸν λογισμόν. ὡς δὲ τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἀναλύσας ἐσκόπουν, ἥσθην τοσοῦτον ὥστε τοῦ παρόντος ἑκὼν ἀφιστάμην «μὴ καὶ πάλιν ...» πολλάκις εἰπών. καὶ ὁ τῶν μελλόντων με κατήπειγε πόθος.