22

ministering to the need, and the greatest authority decreeing. 85 To Zacharias and Philip The speed of your zeal so astonished us that we counted the days from when we sent the decrees, and almost found you conquering time. Such it is to meet with the zeal of good brothers, who consider as gain whatever they might provide for one another's cheerfulness. But to have surpassed the need of the things requested and to have provided more than the one who asked wanted, what great goodwill does it not show? Therefore, may you not cease doing such things, nor I being proud of them. 86 To Jerome You indeed, O best one, who departed from us, should have been the first to write and to teach those who long to know if Poseidon has been favorable to you and has smoothed the sea for your ship, if things in Alexandria have been favorable, if you have sailed up the great Nile successfully, if the affairs of your sojourn are flourishing, and if you now have countless coins, and if you have a house full of Egyptian gifts. You ought to have written these things and to fulfill the promises, in which were many letters, but no forgetting of friends. But you ignore one who is even writing to you, not wishing to reply with a letter. Therefore I have already sent a second one, and if you are still silent, perhaps we will add a third too, until some shame for what is being done comes over you, and we might be fortunate enough to hear your voice. 87 To Agapetus You were, it seems, a clever one at snatching away an expected accusation and using those things as reproaches against others, which one might have justly used against you. For long ago you were in Alexandria, and having left it, you were silent, and for your part you were unnoticed even when present. But well done of Rumor, who allows nothing of the best men to be hidden. She has revealed that you are here, and I had to wonder for what reason indeed you are silent. "1If he considers this solemn and Pythagorean, but not of an orator"2 I said, "1silence; but if he was vexed at Elousa as a place hateful to the gods and a pit, he ought to have asked for consolation from his friends"2. Whence it was none of these things, but I said rather that you have become very arrogant and you think your oldest and dearest friends to be nonsense, and that too while living in Elousa and being almost tutored by a brother who does not laugh. Thinking these things to myself, I would not have expected to suddenly see you as an accuser. Whence I laughed at your letter, and admired rhetoric for supplying such great license, because of which I, who a moment ago was accusing in my reasoning, was seeking a defense. These are the august works of sophistry, and it has not even spared fellow craftsmen, sending owls to Athens, as they say. But my children—for so you called my discourses—blush to come to you, who know how to expose even hidden formlessness. 88 To Dorotheus When I was already about to write in response to your former letter, you yourself anticipated me and added a second; so even in letters you hasten to conquer. "1But what about the time,"2 you will say, "1and the delay in not writing?"2 It is not possible for one who is human to do whatever one wishes, but it is necessary to attend to and be a slave to need and to obey the occasion. And it gives not what one wants, but what necessity measures out for the need. For these reasons, then, until now, though unwilling, I was nevertheless silent and vexed, although I had to admire the zeal you had when you were with us, the goodwill which, after you had set sail again, still remained for me, the envy arrayed against you and the long-standing plot of fortune, and how wisely you conducted yourself, becoming a man of letters, bidding farewell to the nonsense concerning these things, choosing rather to be inferior in all things, in order that you might gain the Muses. But may you sooner have enjoyment of your love for learning, and may you receive as much as you wish, and may you become, in relation to the previous slander, if it was true, more prudent, but if false, more fortunate, so that your life hereafter may not receive even a false slander, but you may appear again as you were before. For thus, when the extremes have been united, the middle is destroyed, being struck from either side. 89 To Stephen Are you still silent? Are we still among the neglected? And yet long ago indeed you kept us engaged with frequent letters, and it was a most pleasant thing to hear you speaking often. But now you are suddenly silent and of the

22

διακονούντων τῇ χρείᾳ, ψηφιζομένης δὲ τῆς μεγίστης ἀρχῆς. 85 Ζαχαρίαι καὶ Φιλίππωι Τοσοῦτον ἡμᾶς τὸ τάχος κατέπληξε τῆς ὑμετέρας σπουδῆς, ὡς τὰς ἡμέρας ἀριθμεῖν ἐξ οὗ πεπόμφαμεν τὰ ψηφίσματα, καὶ μικροῦ δεῖν ὑμᾶς νικῶντας τὸν χρόνον εὑρεῖν. τοσοῦτόν ἐστιν ἀγαθῶν ἀδελφῶν περιέπεσθαι σπουδῇ, κέρδος ἡγουμένων ἅπερ ἂν ἀλλήλοις πρὸς εὐθυμίαν πορίσωνται. τὸ δὲ καὶ νικῆσαι τῶν αἰτηθέντων τὴν χρείαν καὶ πλείω παρασχεῖν ἢ ὁ αἰτήσας ἐβούλετο, πόσην οὐκ ἐμφαίνει τὴν εὔνοιαν; μήτ' οὖν ὑμεῖς παύσησθε τοιαῦτα ποιοῦντες, μήτε μέγα φρονῶν ἐπὶ τούτοις ἐγώ. 86 Ἱερωνύμωι Σὲ μέν, ὦ βέλτιστε, τὸν ἐξ ἡμῶν ἀπάραντα κατάρχειν ἔδει γραμμάτων καὶ διδάσκειν εἰδέναι ποθοῦντας εἴ σοι γέγονεν ὁ Ποσειδῶν εὐμενὴς καὶ τῇ νηὶ τὴν θάλατταν ὑπεστόρεσεν, εἰ τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου γέγονεν εὐμενῆ, εἰ τὸν πολὺν Νεῖλον ἀνέπλευσας εὐτυχῶς, εἰ τὰ τῆς διατριβῆς εὐθαλῆ, καί σοι λοιπὸν ἐν μυριάσι τὸ νόμισμα, καὶ τὸν οἶκον ἔχεις Αἰγυπτίοις πλήθοντα δώροις. ταῦτα γράφειν ἐχρῆν καὶ τὰς ὑποσχέσεις πληροῦν, ἐν αἷς πολλαὶ μὲν ἐπιστολαί, λήθη δὲ τῶν φίλων οὐκ ἦν. σὺ δὲ καὶ ἐπιστέλλοντα παρορᾷς, οὐκ ἐθέλων ἀμείβεσθαι γράμμασι. τοιγαροῦν ἤδη καὶ δευτέραν ἐπέστειλα, κἂν ἔτι σιγήσῃς τάχα καὶ τρίτην προσθήσομεν, ἕως σέ τις ἐπεισέλθῃ τῶν δρωμένων αἰδώς, καὶ τὴν σὴν φωνὴν εὐτυχήσωμεν. 87 Ἀγαπήτωι ∆εινὸς ἄρα τις ἦσθα κατηγορίαν ὑφαρπάζειν ἐλπιζομένην καὶ ταῦτα προφέρειν τοῖς ἄλλοις οἷς ἄν τις δικαίως ἐχρήσατο κατὰ σοῦ. πάλαι μὲν γὰρ εἶχες τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου, καὶ ταύτην ἀπολιπὼν ἐσίγας, καὶ τὸ σὸν μέρος ἐλάνθανες καὶ παρών. ἀλλ' εὖ γε τῆς φήμης, ἣ τῶν ἀρίστων ἐᾷ λανθάνειν οὐδέν. αὕτη σε παρόντα μεμήνυκε, καὶ θαυμάζειν εἶχον ἀνθ' ὅτου δὴ καὶ σιγᾷς. "1εἰ μὲν σεμνὸν τοῦτο καὶ Πυθαγόρου νομίζει, ἀλλ' οὐ ῥήτορος"2 ἔλεγον, "1ἡ σιγή· εἰ δὲ τὴν Ἐλοῦσαν ὡς θεοῖς ἐχθρὰν καὶ βάραθρον ἐδυσχέραινεν, ἐχρῆν παρὰ τῶν φίλων παραμυθίαν αἰτεῖν"2. ὅθεν τούτων μὲν οὐδέν, ἔλεγον δὲ μᾶλλον ὡς πολὺς ἤρθης καὶ τοὺς πάλαι φιλτάτους λῆρον εἶναι δοκεῖς, καὶ ταῦτα τὴν Ἐλοῦσαν οἰκῶν καὶ μικροῦ δεῖν ὑπ' ἀδελφῷ μὴ γελῶντι παιδαγωγούμενος. ταῦτα κατ' ἐμαυτὸν ἐννοῶν οὐκ ἂν ἤλπικά σε κατήγορον ἐξαίφνης ἰδεῖν. ὅθεν προσεγέλων τὰ γράμματα, καὶ τὴν ῥητορικὴν ἐθαύμα ζον τοσαύτην χορηγοῦσαν τὴν ἐξουσίαν, δι' ἣν ἀπολογίαν ἐζήτουν ὁ πάλαι τῷ λόγῳ κατηγορῶν. ταῦτα τῆς σοφιστικῆς τὰ σεμνά, καὶ οὐδὲ τῶν ὁμο τέχνων ἐφείσατο, γλαῦκάς φησιν Ἀθήναζε παραπέμπουσα. οἱ δὲ ἐμοὶ παῖδεςοὕτως γὰρ ἐκάλεις τοὺς λόγουςπρὸς σὲ φοιτᾶν ἐρυθριῶσι, διελέγχειν εἰδότα καὶ λανθάνουσαν ἀμορφίαν. 88 ∆ωροθέωι Ἤδη με μέλλοντα πρὸς τὴν προτέραν γράφειν ἐπιστολὴν φθάσας αὐτὸς καὶ δευτέραν ἐπέθηκας· οὕτω κἀν τοῖς γράμμασιν ἐπείγῃ νικᾶν. "1ἀλλὰ τίς ὁ χρόνος"2 ἐρεῖς, "1καὶ ἡ τοῦ μὴ γράφειν ἀναβολή;"2 οὐκ ἔστιν ἄνθρωπον ὄντα πράττειν ὅσα τις βούλεται, ἀλλ' ἀνάγκη παρέπεσθαι καὶ δουλεύειν τῇ χρείᾳ καὶ πείθεσθαι τῷ καιρῷ. ὁ δὲ δίδωσιν οὐχ ὅσα τις θέλει, ἀλλ' ὅσα πρὸς τὴν χρείαν ἀνάγκη μετρεῖ. ταῦτ' ἄρα μέχρι καὶ νῦν ἄκων μέν, σιωπῶν δ' οὖν ὅμως ἠχθόμην, καίτοι θαυμάζειν ἔχων τὴν ὅτε παρ' ἡμῖν ἦσθα σπου δήν, τὴν ἐπειδὴ πάλιν ἀνήχθης ἔτι μοι διαμένουσαν εὔνοιαν, τὸν κατὰ σοῦ συστάντα φθόνον καὶ τὴν πάλαι τῆς τύχης ἐπιβουλήν, καὶ ὡς σώφρων ἀνήγου τῶν λόγων γινόμενος καὶ τῇ περὶ ταῦτα φλυαρίᾳ χαίρειν εἰπών, αἱρησάμενος τοῖς πᾶσιν ἐλαττοῦσθαι μᾶλλον, ἵνα κερδάνῃς τὰς Μούσας. ἀλλ' ὄναιο θᾶττον ἔρωτος μουσικοῦ, καὶ τοσοῦτον λάβοις ὁπόσον ἐθέλεις, καὶ γένοιο τῆς προλαβούσης διαβολῆς, εἰ μὲν ἀληθὴς ἦν, σωφρονέστερος, εἰ δὲ ψευδής, εὐτυχέστερος, ὅπως ὁ μετὰ ταῦτα βίος μηδὲ ψευδῆ διαβολὴν ἔτι δέξηται, ἀλλὰ φανείης πάλιν ἐκεῖνος ὁ πρότερον. οὕτω γὰρ ἂν ἑνωθέν των τῶν ἄκρων διόλλυται τὸ μέσον ἑκατέρῳ μέρει βαλλόμενον. 89 Στεφάνωι Ἔτι σιγᾷς; ἔτι τῶν ἠμελημένων ἡμεῖς; καὶ μὴν πάλαι γε πυκνοῖς ἡμᾶς εἶχες τοῖς γράμμασιν, καὶ ἦν ἥδιστόν τι χρῆμα φθεγγομένου πολλάκις ἀκούειν. ἀλλὰ νῦν ἐξαίφνης σιγᾷς καὶ τῆς