Letter 393: We have raised up a governor for you, and our pride rests not merely on the fact that he is our fellow citizen, but...

To Alcimus. (355) We have reared a governor for you, and we take great pride in it, not because the man who governs is a citizen of ours, but because he knows what the true work of governing is. For he knows that the man who has stood in this office here must depart not in a meaner condition but in a more honored one, and that he must do such things as will make those he governs pray that the leadership may remain with them. The Egyptians, then, have often prayed for these things, but the gain has now passed over to you. And one who loves me very deeply asked me whom among the men in your parts I loved most, so that this man might become his friend. And I, hearing the word "most," was at once carried off in my mind toward you, and I uttered the name of Halaemus [i.e., Alcimus]. "Write, then," he said, "and I will carry it." For he will do a favor not more to the one who receives than to the one who bears it. And so I wrote, fitting into one letter a wise teacher, Alcimus, and a just governor, Apellion.

Ἀλκίμῳ. (355) Ἐθρέψαμεν ὑμῖν ἄρχοντα καὶ μέγα φρονοῦμεν οὐ τῷ πολίτην ἄρχειν ἡμέτερον. ἀλλ’ ὅτι οἶδεν, ὅ τι ποτὲ ἔργον ἀρχῆς. οἶδε γὰρ ὅτι δεῖ τὸν ἐνταῦθα σχήματος ἑστηκότα μὴ σιώτερον, ἁ λ’ ἐνδοξότερον ἀπαλλάττεσθαι καὶ τοιαῦτα δρᾶν. ἃ ποιήσει τοὺς ἀρχομένους εὔχεσθαι μένειν αὑτοῖς τὴν προ- στασίαν. Αἰγύπτιοι μὲν οὖν πολλάπις ταῦτα εὔξαντο, πρὸς δὲ ὑμᾶς τὸ κέρδος μεταβέβηκεν. ὁ δὲ φιλῶν με πάνυ σφόδρα, τίνα μάλιστα φιλοίην τῶν παρ’ ὑμῖν, ἤρετο, ὅπως αὐτῷ εἴη φίλος. ἐγὼ δὲ ἀκούσας τὸ μάλιστα, πρὸς σέ τε εὐθὺς ἠνἐ- χθην καὶ τὸν Ἅλαιμον ἐφθεγξάμην. ὁδὲ γράφε τοί- νυν ἔφη, καὶ κομιῶ. χαφιῇ γὰρ οὐ τῷ ληψομένῳ πλέον ἢ τῷ φέροντι. καὶ ἐπέστελλον συναρμόττων τῇ ἐπιστολῇ σο- φὸν παιδευτὴν Ἄλκιμον καὶ ἄρχοντα δίκαιον Ἀπελλίωνα.