To Proklos. (~363 AD)
I was delighted by the letter, by what was in it, and by the fact that, seized by necessity, you resorted to the second voyage — the one by correspondence.
Aristophanes has done you no wrong, if wrongdoing requires intent. He was fulfilling what he had promised, and I was the one pressing him, knowing that in his place you would have Dorion or someone else — which is exactly what happened — while for the young man I wanted sent to Ankara, his only hope was Aristophanes and Aristophanes' reputation.
If you accuse me, I am ready to suffer whatever you command. But if you blame him, take care you do not seem unforgiving — especially as a Greek, and the very crown of Greeks.
I was delighted by the letter, by what was in it, and by the fact that, seized by necessity, you resorted to the second voyage — the one by correspondence.
Aristophanes has done you no wrong, if wrongdoing requires intent. He was fulfilling what he had promised, and I was the one pressing him, knowing that in his place you would have Dorion or someone else — which is exactly what happened — while for the young man I wanted sent to Ankara, his only hope was Aristophanes and Aristophanes' reputation.
If you accuse me, I am ready to suffer whatever you command. But if you blame him, take care you do not seem unforgiving — especially as a Greek, and the very crown of Greeks.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.