To Belaeus. (363)
Orion became my friend when he was prosperous. Now his fortunes are bad, but I hold to my conviction — I would be ashamed to fall under the proverb and seem to abandon a friend in misfortune.
This is the third time I have cried out to you on his behalf: first by letter, then face to face, and now by letter again. Even if he differs from us in his views on the divine, he may be harming himself, if indeed he is mistaken, but he should not on that account be attacked by his acquaintances.
For my part, I think those who now press hard upon him ought to remember how often he helped them, and repay the favor rather than seek to bury their benefactor alive. They have long been hounding his relatives and making plunder of their property [a proverbial expression for easy prey], and now at last they have come for the man himself, as though this will please the gods — though they are utterly at odds with the law concerning the honor due to the gods.
That the mob should be carried along without reason, doing what is pleasant rather than what is right, is no surprise. But you, who have come from the teacher's chair to the seat of judgment, ought to restrain such people — by persuasion or, if need be, by force.
If Orion has temple funds and can repay them, let him be beaten, let him be goaded, let him suffer what Marsyas suffered [the satyr flayed by Apollo] — he deserves it, if when he could return the money and be done with it, he is so enslaved to wealth that he would endure anything to keep his gold. But if he is destitute and has often gone to sleep hungry, I do not see what we gain from abuse that will only win him glory among our opponents.
And if he should happen to die in chains, consider where that will lead — and take care that you do not produce many a Marcus. Marcus [of Arethusa] was hung up, flogged, had his beard plucked out, bore it all bravely, and is now honored as equal to a god; wherever he appears, people fight to get near him. The emperor knows this: he grieves over the temple, but he did not kill the man.
Take Marcus's preservation as your precedent. Save Orion and send him away un-admired. He says he stole nothing; but grant that he took something — what then, if it has all been spent? Do you expect to find gold mines under his skin?
No, by Zeus — do not go too far, good judge, lest you do something foolish. If he must pay a penalty, let him go about unharmed, with no grounds for being made a hero.
Orion became my friend when he was prosperous. Now his fortunes are bad, but I hold to my conviction — I would be ashamed to fall under the proverb and seem to abandon a friend in misfortune.
This is the third time I have cried out to you on his behalf: first by letter, then face to face, and now by letter again. Even if he differs from us in his views on the divine, he may be harming himself, if indeed he is mistaken, but he should not on that account be attacked by his acquaintances.
For my part, I think those who now press hard upon him ought to remember how often he helped them, and repay the favor rather than seek to bury their benefactor alive. They have long been hounding his relatives and making plunder of their property [a proverbial expression for easy prey], and now at last they have come for the man himself, as though this will please the gods — though they are utterly at odds with the law concerning the honor due to the gods.
That the mob should be carried along without reason, doing what is pleasant rather than what is right, is no surprise. But you, who have come from the teacher's chair to the seat of judgment, ought to restrain such people — by persuasion or, if need be, by force.
If Orion has temple funds and can repay them, let him be beaten, let him be goaded, let him suffer what Marsyas suffered [the satyr flayed by Apollo] — he deserves it, if when he could return the money and be done with it, he is so enslaved to wealth that he would endure anything to keep his gold. But if he is destitute and has often gone to sleep hungry, I do not see what we gain from abuse that will only win him glory among our opponents.
And if he should happen to die in chains, consider where that will lead — and take care that you do not produce many a Marcus. Marcus [of Arethusa] was hung up, flogged, had his beard plucked out, bore it all bravely, and is now honored as equal to a god; wherever he appears, people fight to get near him. The emperor knows this: he grieves over the temple, but he did not kill the man.
Take Marcus's preservation as your precedent. Save Orion and send him away un-admired. He says he stole nothing; but grant that he took something — what then, if it has all been spent? Do you expect to find gold mines under his skin?
No, by Zeus — do not go too far, good judge, lest you do something foolish. If he must pay a penalty, let him go about unharmed, with no grounds for being made a hero.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.