Letter 50

To my Brother. They say Joannes [the addressee of Letter 44] killed Aemilius. Others say this is a slander circulated by his political enemies. Only justice knows the truth, and time will reveal it. But even while the case remains unclear, I think all these people deserve contempt — the murderer, if he did it, for the crime; the slanderers, if he did not, for the lie; and even the bystanders, for their eagerness to believe the worst. The truth will come out. But meanwhile, the damage to reputation — guilty or innocent — is already done. That is the cruelest thing about accusations: they wound before the verdict and leave scars after acquittal.

Letter 50: The Assassination of Aemilius [1] To his Brother They say that Joannes note [The addressee of Letter 44 .] killed Aemilius. Another says this is a calumny that his political enemies have put in circulation. Justice only knows the truth, and time will discover it, but although the case is an obscure one, I think all these people should be held in detestation; the one because, even if he did not commit the crime, he is just the sort of man to commit it; the other because, if they did not invent the stories, at all events were quite capable of doing so, and the attempt to slander is theirs. [2] But if only a man has a nature that does not lend itself to suspicion, even all the evidence of a multitude of conspirators will not injure his reputation. He would be laughed to scorn who assailed Ajax on the charge of unchastity. But Alexander, even if not debauched, at all events was effeminate, and laid himself open to that imputation. As for Sisyphus and Odysseus, I detest them. Even although they spoke the truth in exceptional cases, they were, nevertheless, the sort of men who generally lie, and in whatever way I may be unlucky, I am very lucky to get rid of such citizens, whether they be friends or enemies. [3] Let me be fortified against all such, and may I have no dealings with any of them! I would rather live a stranger amongst strangers. [4] Our way of life separates us more than country. I mourn over the famous site of Cyrene , in the past the abode of the Carneadae and of the Aristippi, but now of the Joannes and the Julii. In their society I cannot live with pleasure, and I live away from it with pleasure. Do not write again to me therefore about any occurrences there. Do not recommend to my good graces anybody who is engaged in a lawsuit, for in future I do not wish to interest myself in any one of them. [5] I should indeed by unfortunate if I were deprived of good things of my beloved native town, but had to take part in its quarrels and those affairs that drag me away from my ease in philosophy, unfortunate if, when I have chosen poverty as a guerdon from leisure, I should interfere without reward in other men's evil concerns.