To Kalliopios. (355 AD)
That wretch Theodoros has caused you trouble and us — the injured parties — anger. Not that I blame you for this: putting those who are present ahead of those who are absent, showing deference to the one while assuming the other is as good as dead. I'm well aware that your reputation rests on being attentive to your friends.
But, my dear fellow, being wronged breeds pain, and the tongue of a man in pain is not reliable. So if some rather harsh word escaped me, charge it to the circumstances, not to my true feelings.
As for Theodoros, let him answer us: does he wish to do the right thing and stay with his own people, or would he prefer to come bathe at our establishment? We certainly won't begrudge him the trip.
That wretch Theodoros has caused you trouble and us — the injured parties — anger. Not that I blame you for this: putting those who are present ahead of those who are absent, showing deference to the one while assuming the other is as good as dead. I'm well aware that your reputation rests on being attentive to your friends.
But, my dear fellow, being wronged breeds pain, and the tongue of a man in pain is not reliable. So if some rather harsh word escaped me, charge it to the circumstances, not to my true feelings.
As for Theodoros, let him answer us: does he wish to do the right thing and stay with his own people, or would he prefer to come bathe at our establishment? We certainly won't begrudge him the trip.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.