102.  Such is the defence which I have been able to make, perhaps at immoderate length, for my flight.  Such are the reasons which, to my pain and possibly to yours, carried me away from you, my friends and brothers; yet, as it seemed to me at the time, with irresistible force.  My longing after you, and the sense of your longing for me, have, more than anything else, led to my return, for nothing inclines us so strongly to love as mutual affection.

ΡΒʹ. Ἔχετε τὴν ἀπολογίαν τὴν ὑπὲρ τῆς φυγῆς, καὶ ἴσως οὐ μετρίαν. Ἃ μὲν οὖν με ἀφ' ὑμῶν ἀπήγαγεν, ὦ φίλοι καὶ ἀδελφοὶ, λυπηρῶς μὲν ἐμοὶ καὶ ὑμῖν ἴσως, ἀναγκαίως δ' οὖν, ὡς γοῦν ἐμαυτῷ τότε ἐδόκουν, ταῦτά ἐστιν: ἐπανήγαγε δέ με μάλιστα μὲν ὁ πρὸς ὑμᾶς πόθος, καὶ τὸ ἀντιποθούντων αἰσθάνεσθαι: οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτως ἰσχυρὸν πρὸς ἀγάπην, ὡς ἀντιδιδομένη διάθεσις.