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being scourged. And how we had love for each of you, and how we esteemed your favor with him above all else, many, I think, know and can tell; but if somehow we did not succeed in our supplications, I know this was not our fault. However, that the difficulty of the time should surround with the greatest suspicions even those who could not justly be accused, if one were to judge correctly, is perhaps not at all unlikely; for the difficulty of the time, touching even the greatest and those who should not have suffered justly, attached misfortune to them, and to us suspicion—for we would not say malice—as was likely. However, the judge of each is the divine eye, which knows how to punish wickedness even when they have no means of deceiving. Thus we are free of such things, even if the irreparable happened to some. For his will prevailed over everything that stood in the way; to oppose which was not only necessarily dangerous, but also inopportune. For a king is stronger when he is angry with an inferior. And these things are to show that we neither strove to hold offices, nor that some can justly blame us for the emperor's anger against some of the great men. But perhaps there was a mistake by someone, and for others there was suspicion, and not for good reasons, and there was also the emperor's will against some, forged in anger; and another, being good, seemed unacceptable and has been overlooked, though being least worthy of it. That then was their time, as it seemed best to the Almighty, but now, I think, is the time 69 for relief. For behold, the ruler is out of the way, and the one from him worthy to rule is a youth, as you see; and for this reason, we who are loyal must have much concern for him, and frequent care, as they ought to be vigilant both towards those within and those without, lest some irreparable thing happen unnoticed. And I will say without reservation how it is both good and just to maintain a more faithful service to the sovereign now than before. First, for the one ruling to be nurtured by the concerns of his youth and not to be undermining anything regarding the actions of his subjects is to draw upon himself the goodwill of all, as they suspect no ill treatment, and, in the absence of fear, one who is not fearful for himself will be ready to show the signs of love. For the earnestness with which one might serve is composed of either fear or love, and since we are altogether bound to serve, with fear being absent, everything will depend on love. And when pure and untroubled love is present, there is no one who will shirk what is required for service, so as to be neglectful. And this is the first point; and second, that being ruled by a new and established master, at a time when circumstances make his beneficence toward his subjects necessary, even when it is not inherently necessary, we should not seek how to escape suffering evil, but rather we might hope and expect to receive good. And it is possible to readily obtain what each desires, if only he is judged worthy, and the abundance of beneficence will be present. For since the ruler is young and under guardians, he will have no room to give way to his own will—from which error against what is proper often comes, when imperial pride overcomes reason. But it is possible to approach the guardians immediately and to prick their conscience by speaking more insistently. Therefore, in the hope of easily obtaining from this source what one desires, how should one not serve the emperor with all readiness? And besides these things, and I pass over most of them, for at that time there was also fear that one who had succeeded might be deceived, with others counterfeiting the imperial impulse in ways by which it is naturally stolen away, and for this reason it was not possible to strive to try to do more than others, since there was no one able to speak to the emperor and testify clearly, and the effort was in vain for the one striving, being often deceived and deprived of the credit for what he had done. 71 But now, with affairs being conducted by the guardians, it would be well for the zeal of each to be manifest and to be rewarded with better things; therefore we must be zealous, since there is no cause to fear the emperor, the

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μαστιγουμένους. Ὅπως δὲ καὶ πρὸς ὑμῶν ἕκαστον ἀγάπης εἴχομεν καὶ ὡς τὴν ὑμετέραν παρ' ἐκείνῳ ἀποδοχὴν τοῦ παντὸς ἐτιμώμεθα, πολλοὺς οἶμαι γινώσκοντας ἐξειπεῖν· εἰ δέ πῃ καὶ μὴ ἀνύοιμεν ἱκετεύοντες, οὐ πρὸς ἡμᾶς οἶδα τοῦτο. Πλὴν τὸ δύσκολον τοῦ καιροῦ περιβάλλειν μεγίσταις ὑποψίαις καὶ τοὺς μηδὲν δικαίως ἂν ἐγκληθη σομένους, εἰ ὀρθῶς τις κρίνοι, οὐδὲν ἀπεικὸς ἴσως· ἡ γὰρ τοῦ καιροῦ δυσκολία, ἁψαμένη καὶ τῶν μεγίστων καὶ οἷς οὐκ ἦν παθεῖν ἐκ δικαίου, ἐκεί νοις μὲν συμφοράν, ἡμῖν δὲ ὑποψίανοὐ γὰρ κακίαν εἴποιμενἐκ τοῦ εἰκότος προσῆψε· πλὴν ἑκάστου κριτὴς τὸ θεῖον ὄμμα, ὃς οἶδε καὶ κακίαν κολάζειν μηδὲν ἐχόντων παραλογίζεσθαι. Οὕτως ἡμεῖς ἐλεύθεροι τῶν τοιούτων, ἄν τισι συνέβη καὶ τὰ ἀνήκεστα. Τὸ γὰρ ἐκείνου θέλημα περιῆν παντὸς ἐμποδὼν ἱσταμένου· ᾧ δὴ καὶ προσίστασθαι μὴ καὶ κίνδυνος ἦν ἐξ ἀνάγκης, καὶ ἡ ἀκαιρία προσῆν. Κρείσσων γὰρ βασιλεύς, ὅτ' ὀργίζοιτο χείρονι. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ὥστε δεῖξαι μήτε τὰ ἀξιώματα σπουδάσαντας σχεῖν, μήτε τῆς ἐπί τινας τῶν μεγιστάνων τοῦ βασιλέως ὀργῆς δικαίως ἔχειν ἡμᾶς αἰτιᾶσθαί τινας. Ἀλλ' ἦν μὲν ἴσως καὶ πταῖσμά τινι, ἦν δ' ἄλλοις καὶ οὐκ ἐπ' ἀγαθοῖς ὑποψία, ἦν δὲ καὶ βασιλέως ἐπί τισι θέλημα θυμῷ συγκρο τούμενον· καὶ ἄλλος, ἀγαθὸς ὤν, ἀδόκιμος ἔδοξε καὶ παρώραται, ἥκιστ' ἄξιος ὤν. Ἦν οὖν ἐκείνων καιρός, οὕτω δόξαν τῷ κρείττονι, ἀλλὰ νῦν, οἶμαι, ἔστι 69 καὶ τῆς ἀνέσεως. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ ὁ κρατῶν ἐκποδών, καὶ ὁ ἐξ ἐκείνου ἄξιος ἄρχειν μεῖράξ ἐστιν, ὡς ὁρᾶτε· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πολλῆς μὲν πιστοῖς οὖσι τῆς ἐπ' αὐτῷ δεῖ φροντίδος, συχνῆς δὲ τῆς ἐπιμελείας, ὡς ἂν καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἐντὸς καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἐκτὸς ἀγρυπνεῖν ὀφείλουσι, μήπως λαθόν τι τῶν ἀνηκέστων γένηται. Ὅπως δὲ καὶ καλῶς ἔχει καὶ δίκαιον πιστοτέραν τὴν ὑπηρεσίαν νῦν ἢ τὸ πρότερον συντηρεῖν τῷ δεσπόζοντι, οὐδὲν ὑποστειλά μενος λέξω. Πρῶτον μὲν τὸ νέαις τῆς ἡλικίας φροντίσιν ἀττάλλειν καὶ μηδὲν ὑπορύττειν τὸν βασιλεύοντα πρὸς τὰ παρὰ τῶν ἀρχομένων πραττόμενα ἐφέλκοντός ἐστιν ἐφ' ἑαυτὸν τὴν παρὰ πάντων εὔνοιαν, μηδὲν ὑπονοούντων πείσεσθαι, καί, τοῦ φόβου ἀπόντος, μὴ δειλιῶν τις περὶ ἑαυτῷ ἕτοιμος ἐσεῖται τὰ τῆς ἀγάπης ἐνδείκνυσθαι· τὸ γὰρ σπουδαῖον, ἐφ' ᾧ τις ὑπηρετοίη, ἢ φόβου ἢ μὴν ἀγάπης συνιστώντων καὶ ἡμῖν ἀνάγκης πάντως οὔσης ὑπηρετεῖν, ἀπόντος τοῦ φόβου, τῇ ἀγάπῃ τὸ πᾶν περιστήσεται· παρούσης δὲ καθαρᾶς τῆς ἀγάπης καὶ ἀθολώτου, οὐκ ἔστιν ὅστις καθυφήσει τοῦ πρὸς τὴν ὑπηρεσίαν ἐπιβάλλοντος, ὥστε καὶ ἀμελεῖν. Καὶ πρῶτον μὲν τοῦτο· δεύτερον δὲ καὶ ὅτι ὑπὸ νέῳ καθισταμένῳ δεσπότῃ βασιλευόμενοι, ὅτε καὶ μὴ ἀναγκαίαν τὴν εὐεργεσίαν οὖσαν τὴν ἀπ' ἐκείνου πρὸς τὸ ὑπήκοον ὁ καιρὸς ἀναγκαίαν ποιεῖ, οὐχ ὅπως ἐκφύγοιμεν κακῶς παθεῖν μέλλοντες ζητήσαιμεν, ἀλλ' ὅπως εὖ παθεῖν ἡμῖν γένοιτο ἐλπίζοιμεν ἂν προσδοκῶντες. Ἑτοίμως δὲ καὶ ὧνπερ ἕκαστος θέλει, εἰ μόνον ἄξιος κρίνοιτο, τυχεῖν ἔστι, καὶ τὸ δαψιλὲς τῆς εὐεργεσίας προσέσται· νέος γὰρ ὢν ὁ κρατῶν καὶ ὑπὸ κηδεμόσι τελῶν τῇ μὲν σφετέρᾳ βουλήσει, ὅθεν πολλάκις καὶ τὸ σφάλλεσθαι πρὸς τὸ πρέπον ἐστίν, ἀρχοντικοῦ τύφου τοὺς λογισμοὺς ὑπερβαίνοντος, οὐχ ἕξει χώραν διδόναι. Τοῖς δὲ κηδεμόσιν ἔστι καὶ προσελθεῖν ἐκ τοῦ παραχρῆμα καὶ νύξαι λέγοντα συνεχέστερον· τῷ γοῦν ἐλπίζειν ἐντεῦθεν ῥᾳδίως τυχεῖν ὧν ἔραταί τις, πῶς οὐ μετὰ ῥᾳστώνης ἁπάσης δουλευτέον τῷ βασιλεῖ; Χωρὶς δὲ τούτων, καὶ σιωπῶ τὰ πλεῖστα, τότε μὲν γὰρ καὶ δέος ἦν μὴ κατορθώσας παρακρουσθῇ τις, ἄλλων τὴν βασιλικὴν ὑποποιουμένων ὁρμὴν τρόποις οἷς ἐκείνη πέφυκε κλέπτεσθαι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὔτ' ἦν σπουδάζειν ἐπὶ τῷ μεῖζον ἢ κατὰ τοὺς ἄλλους πράττειν πειρᾶσθαι, τοῦ δυναμένου λέγειν πρὸς βασιλέα καὶ μαρτυρεῖν καθαρῶς οὐκ ὄντος, καὶ μάταιος ἦν ἡ σπουδὴ τῷ σπουδάζοντι, παραλογιζομένῳ πολλάκις καὶ ζημιουμένῳ τὴν ἐφ' οἷς ἔπραξεν εὐδοκίμησιν. 71 Νῦν δ' ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῶν κηδεμόνων τῶν πραγμάτων τελουμένων, καλῶς ἂν ἔχοι τὴν ἑκάστου σπουδὴν φανερὰν εἶναι καὶ τοῖς ἀμείνοσιν ἀνταμείβεσθαι· διὸ καὶ σπουδαστέον ἡμῖν, ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἔστι τὸ τὸν βασιλέα δεδιέναι, τὸ