Letter 544

To Anatolius. What was expected has come to pass. Or to put it more accurately: everyone expected your current appointment, so thoroughly that what you hold now does not seem foreign to you but is exactly what belongs to you. A great shout went up from everyone -- calling blessed the people under your authority, praising the one who appointed you, and congratulating you on having the opportunity to display your virtue. What is charming about the general reaction is this: although you are still in the opening phase of your governance, people speak not as if you will do many good things for the cities, but as if you have already done them all. They talk about the future as if it were already accomplished -- such is the reputation that precedes you across the world. Among all these happy people, I was particularly pleased, though I was not among those who received a letter. I was just one of those who said, "So-and-so got a letter; he honored so-and-so with a message." And perhaps this was only fair -- with your new rank comes a corresponding dignity. But previously, what was it that kept you from honoring me in your official communications? So now I genuinely fear that even having a letter arrive from me may become a cause for reproach. Understand that I am truly afraid. As for the supremely excellent Sarapodorus, though I could praise him from every angle, I will keep silent -- lest even that become a disadvantage for the first man of Egypt.

Ἀνατολίῳ (356/57) Καὶ τὰ δοκηθέντα ἐτελέσθη· μεταθέντα γὰρ εἰπεῖν ἀληθὲς ὡς οὐκ ἔσθ’ ὅστις οὐκ ἤλπισε τὴν παροῦσαν ἀρχήν· οὕτως οὐκ ἀλλοτρίων ἅπτῃ τῶν νῦν, ἀλλ’ ἀκριβῶς ἐδέξω τὰ σαυτοῦ, καὶ μέγα πάντες ἐβόησαν ἄνθρωποι μακαρίζοντες μὲν ὧν ἐπιστατεῖς, ἐπαινοῦντες δὲ τὸν ἐπιστήσαντα, συγχαίροντες δὲ σοὶ τοῦ λαβεῖν ἀφορμὴν πρὸς ἐπίδειξιν τῆς ἀρετῆς. χάριεν δὲ ἐκεῖνο τῶν πολλῶν· ὄντος γὰρ ἔτι σοῦ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐν προοιμίοις οὐχ ὡς ποιήσοντος πολλὰ ἀγαθὰ τὰς πόλεις, ἀλλ’ ὡς ἤδη πάντα πεποιηκότος χρῶνται τοῖς λόγοις καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐσομένων ὡς ἤδη τετελεσμένων διηγοῦνται· τοιαύτη δόξα τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐπέρχεται. τῶν δὲ ἡδομένων μάλιστα ὦν αὐτὸς οὐκ ἐγενόμην τῶν λαβόντων ἐπιστολήν, ἀλλ’ εἷς ἦν τῶν λεγόντων῾ ἥκει τῷ δεῖνι γράμματα καὶ τὸν δεῖνα ἐτίμησε γράμμασι. καὶ ἴσως εἰκότως τόδε ἐπράττετο· τῷ γὰρ ἀξιῶ ματι προσήκει τὸ φρόνημα ἀντίπαλον εἶναι. τὸ δ’ ὂν πρό- τερόν τί σε τιμᾶν ἐν ταῖς ἐξουσίαις ταπεινόν, ὥστ’ ἐγὼ δέ- δοικα μὴ καὶ τὸ γράμματά σοι παρ’ ἡμῶν ἐλθεῖν εἰς ἔγκλημα ἀφίκηταί μοι. γνῶθι δ’ ὡς ἀληθῶς φοβοῦμαι. τὸν δὲ πάντα ἄριστον Σαραπόδωρον ἔχων ἐπαινεῖν πανταχόθεν σιω- πῶ, μὴ τοῦτο τῷ πρώτῳ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἐλάττωμα γένηται.