Letter 327: To the same person. (358)

To the same man. (358) When Spectatus returned to us from his embassy, he seemed to many to be fortunate: to some, because he had seen much land and mountains and rivers; to others, because he had seen the manner of life of the Persians, and their customs and the laws under which they live. Others made much of the sight of the ruler himself and of the jewels with which he was adorned; while to others it seemed a grand thing that, having given gifts and received them, he came away. But to me, these things too appeared to carry some measure of grace, yet the finest thing was that he returned having displayed the power of an orator at Susa. And indeed I had supposed that he had cast off this strength long ago, since it had now for a long time been diverted elsewhere, away from his books; yet, as it turned out, the cleverness remained fixed in his character. For when the Persian was conducting business and the discussion concerned the points of dispute, and he pressed hard, demanding the boundaries of his forefathers and asking repeatedly whether it was not just that what belonged to the ancestors should pass down to the children, the wrestling-bouts of the others on that occasion Spectatus will report, if he is able to control his laughter; but the arguments which this man employed were altogether noble and such as to shake the specious claims of the Persian. For he said: "If, O King, Constantius is cutting off part of your land, hold to your arms until he ceases to grasp for more; but if those against whom you bring your charge died long ago, and Constantius is willing to lay down the war keeping those things with which he entered into the war, then take care lest, while charging another with greed, you yourself be convicted of doing this very thing." With such words, they say, he put on the lion's skin [played the bold champion], so that the other, looking at his age but examining his speech, more than once shook his head. And on account of your beloved one, the man who was slandering us to the King fell silent. So then he spoke brilliantly in another's cause; but on his own behalf, what indeed could he say more eagerly than to run to you from us rather than to us from Persia?

Τῷ αὐτῶ. (358) Ἐπανήκων ἡμῖν ὁ Σπεκτάτος ἀπὸ τῆς πρεσβείας πολ- λοῖς ἔσοξεν εὐδαίμων εἶναι τοῖς μέν, ὅτι πολλὴν εἶδε γῆν καὶ ὄρη καὶ ποταμούς, τοῖς δ’, ὅτι τὴν Περσῶν δίαιταν καὶ ἔθη καὶ νόμους ἐν οἷς ζῶσιν. οἱ δὲ τὴν αὐτοῦ τοῦ δυναστεύοντος θέαν καὶ τῶν λίθων οἷς ἐκεκόσμητο μέγα ἦγον, τοῖς δὲ σε- μνὸν ἐδόκει τὸ δόντα δῶρα λαβόντα ἀπελθεῖν. ἐμοὶ δὲ καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἔχειν τινὰ χάριν ἐφαίνετο, κάλλιστον δὲ τὸ δείξαντα ῥήτορος δύναμιν ἐν Σούσοις ἐπανελθεῖν. καίτοι γε ᾤυην αὐτὸν ἀποβεβληκέναι τουτὶ τὸ σθένος πολὺν ἤδη χρόνον ἀπὸ τῶν βιβλίων μετενηνεγμένον ἄλλοσε, τῷ δ’ ἄρα ἐνέμενεν ἐπὶ τοῦ ἤθους ἡ δεινότης. ὡς γὰρ ἐχρημάτιζεν ὁ Πἐρ- σης καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν περὶ τῶν διαφορῶν καὶ πολὺς ἐνέκειτο τοὺς παππῴους ἀπαιτῶν ὅρους καὶ πολλάκις ἐρωτῶν, εἰ μὴ δίκαιον εἰς τοὺς παῖδας τὰ τῶν προγόνων καταβαίνειν, τὰ μὲν παρὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἐνταῦθα παλαίσματα Σπεκτάτος ἀπαγ- γελεῖ, τοῦ γέλωτος ἤν οἷός τε γένηται κρατεῖν· οἷς δὲ οὗτος ἐχρήσατο, πάνυ γενναῖα καὶ διασείοντά γε τοὺς εὐπροσώπους τοῦ Πέρσου ἔφη γάρ· εἱ μέν, ὦ βασιλεῦ, Κων- στάντιός σου τῆς γῆς ἀποτέμνεται, τῶν ὅπλων ἔχου, μέχρις ἂν ἐκεῖνος τοῦ πλεονεκτεῖν· εἰ δ’ οἷς μὲν ἐγκαλεῖς πάλαι τεθνᾶσιν, ὁ δὲ μεθ’ ὧν εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν πόλεμον, ταῦτα ἔχωνκαταθέ σθαι τὸν πόλε- μον ἐθέλει, σκόπει μὴ πλεονεξίαν ἐγκαλῶν αὐτὸς τοῦτο ποιῶν ἐλεγχθῇς. ἐπὶ τοιούτοις ἐνέδυ, φασί, τὴν λεοντῆν, ὥστ’ ἐκεῖνον βλέποντα μὲν εἰς τὴν ἡλικίαν, ἐξετά- ζοντα δὲ τὸν λόγον οὐκ ὀλιγάκις σεῖσαι τὴν κεφολήν. κοὶ διὰ τὸν σὸν ἐρώμενον ὁ συκοφαντῶν ἡμῖν τὸν βασιλέα σεσί- γηκεν. 6, ἄλλῳ μὲν οὖν συνεῖπε λαμπρῶς, αὐτὸς δ’ ὑπὲρ αὑ- τοῦ τί ποτ’ ἂν καὶ λέγοι προθυμότερον ὡς σὲ παρ’ ἡμῶν τρέ- χων ἢ παρ’ ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῆς Πέρσιδος;