Letter 561

To Olympius. Late though it was, I did oblige you. Take the works of Celsus [a 2nd-century Greek philosopher who wrote against Christianity] and examine them. I suspect you asked for them more as a test of me than because you actually wanted to learn anything from them -- your command of that subject is hardly small. But you gave little thought to the reply my invitation demanded. You should either have said you were coming, as a kindness, or, if you had decided to stay, explained why. You have done neither. You seem to me puffed up by the greatness of Rome, looking down on other cities and the friends in them -- especially now that Rome has grown even more splendid with the emperor's passion for it. One might call him fortunate for the sight, and Rome is not a little flattered by his desire. Still, I will not stop calling you home, believing it would be good for me if you were here, and no worse for you. As for the rhetorical contests that the sophists have presumably been staging -- both newcomers and those long established in the city -- many people will report on them, but I could not find a better informant than you. You will preserve the accuracy and add that charm that is natural to your writing.

Ὀλυμπίῳ. (357) Ἀλλ᾿ εἰ καὶ βραδέως, ὑπηρέτηκά γέ σοι, καὶ λαβὼν τὰ Κέλσου δοκίμαζε. δοκεῖς γὰρ ἐπὶ βασάνῳ μοι μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦ τι μαθεῖν ἐκεῖθεν ἐθελῆσαι λαβεῖν. οὐχ οὕτω σοι μικρὸν <τὸ> περὶ τὴν γλῶτταν ἐκείνην. βραχὺ δ’ ἐφρόντισας τῆς ἀποκρίσεως, ἣν ἡ κλῆσις ἥν γε ἐκάλουν ἀπῄτει· χρῆν γὰρ ὡς ἥξεις εἰπόντα δοῦναι χάριν ἢ μένειν ἐγνωκότα, δι’ ὅ τι μένειν ἐπῆλθεν, εἰπεῖν. σὺ δ’ οὐδέτερον πεποίηκας. ἀλλά μοι φαίνῃ μετεωριζόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ τῆς Ῥώμης μεγέθους τῶν τε ἄλλων πόλεων καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐταῖς φίλων καταφρονεῖν, ἄλλως θ’ ὅτε καὶ λαμπροτέρα νῦν δὴ γεγένηται τῷ βασιλέως ἔρωτι. τοῦτον γὰρ εὐδαιμονίσαι τις ἂν τῆς θέας, ἐκείνη <δὲ> τοῦτο οὐ μικρὸν ἡ ’κείνου ἐπιθυμία. τοῦ δ’ οὖν σε καλεῖν οὐ παύσομαι νομίζων ἐμοί τε καλῶς ἕξειν, εἰ παρείης, σοί τε οὐ χεῖρον. περὶ δὲ τῶν ἀγώνων, οὓς εἰκὸς πεποιῆσθαι τοὺς σο- φιστάς, ὅσοι τε ἐπῆλθον καὶ οἱ πάλαι τὴν πόλιν οἰκοῦσι, πολ- λοὶ μὲν ἀγγελοῦσι, σοῦ δ’ ἀμείνων οὐκ ἄν μοι γένοιτο μηνυ- τής. τό τε γὰρ ἀκριβὲς διασώσεις καὶ χάρις ἡ σοὶ συνήθης ἐπέσται τοῖς γράμμασιν.