Letter 437: The usual news has reached us: the emperor has won a victory and a barbarian nation has been destroyed.

To Calliopius. (355) The customary news has come to us: the emperor has been victorious, and a nation of barbarians has been cut down. But while we reap this pleasure, we hope for the other one as well. And this is that your letter should arrive, containing both an account of the battle and an encomium of the victor. So, then, proclaim it, keeping the theater in suspense, O best and most blessed of heralds, you who share your life with a noble athlete. And in return for your voice, let the wrestler grant you this favor: that I, who can now do nothing but admire the deeds of others, remain quietly in my bed; so utterly weak am I in every way. And you too grant us a favor: that, besides doing something on our behalf, you also write to us. For now, how do you think I was disposed, when you were writing to my uncle on our behalf, yet were sending us nothing yourself?

Καλλιοπίῳ. (355) Ἧκεν εἰς ἡμᾶς τὰ εἰωθότα· νενίκηκεν ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ βαρβάρων ἔθνος ἐκκέκοπται. ταύτην δὲ καρπούμενοι τὴν ἡδο- νὴν τὴν ἑτέραν ἐλπίζομεν. αὕτη δέ ἐστι σὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἐλθεῖν διδαχήν τε ἔχουσαν τῆς μάχης καὶ τοῦ κεκρατηκότος ἐγκώ- μιον. ὡς οὖν μετέωρον ἔχων τὸ θέατρον κήρυττε, ὦ κηρύ- κων ἄριστε καὶ εὐδαιμονέστατε, γενναίῳ συζῶν ἀθλητῇ. δότω δὲ σοὶ χάριν ἀντὶ τῆς φωνῆς ὁ παλαιστὴς τὸ μένειν ἀτρέμας ἐν δεμνίοις ἐμὲ τὸν οὐδὲν ἔτι δυνάμενον πλὴν τὰ ἑτέρων θαυ- μάζειν· οὕτω πανταχῶς ἀσθενῶ. καὶ σὺ δὲ δὸς ἡμῖν χάριν τὸ πρὸς τῷ τι πράττειν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν καὶ ἐπιστέλλειν. νῦν δὲ πῶς, οἴει, διετέθην, ἡνίκα πρὸς μὲν τὸν θεῖον ἔγραφες ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, αὐτὸς δὲ ἡμῖν ἐπέστελλες οὐδέν;