Letter 532
To Aristainetus.
Everything would have come easily to Gymnasius even if he had stayed here with us. Strategius, for his part, was astonished that you neither answered those who called you to office nor followed his example and made the journey.
He blamed you for refusing to govern when you were so well suited to it. I told him that while he governed, you were hardly living as a private citizen -- and this pleased him.
As for my health, your guess was not far off: things are improving, God willing -- let that be added. But when you speak badly of the city council, you are insulting my friends. Except for one household devoid of sense, the whole body is mine.
Somehow, though, you have bypassed learning about my affairs from my letters and are instead paying attention to a man who says things he wishes he had not said. I understood perfectly well where your remarks about my anger came from.
For my part, may I never lack the spirit to face my enemies. Even now, some of them have paid the price, and others may yet do so.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.