Letter 561: Late though it was, I did oblige you.

To Olympius. (357) Well, though belatedly, I have at any rate done you this service, so take the works of Celsus and examine them. For you seem to me to wish to take them rather for the sake of putting me to the test than out of any desire to learn something from them. So small a matter is not to you what concerns that tongue of his. But you gave little thought to the reply which the invitation, by which at least I was inviting you, demanded; for you ought either to have done me the favor of saying that you would come, or, having resolved to stay, to have told me the reason why staying came to seem best. Yet you have done neither. No, you appear to me, lifted up by the greatness of Rome, to look down upon the other cities and the friends in them, especially now that it has just become more splendid through the emperor's love. For one might count him fortunate in the spectacle, and that city [Rome] fortunate in this [...] no small thing is his longing for it. For my part, then, I will not cease inviting you, believing that it will be well for me if you are present, and no worse for you. As for the contests which it is likely that the sophists have held - both those who have come and those who have long dwelt in the city - many will report them, but no better informer could there be for me than you. For you would preserve the exact truth, and the charm that is customary with you will attend your letters.

Ὀλυμπίῳ. (357) Ἀλλ᾿ εἰ καὶ βραδέως, ὑπηρέτηκά γέ σοι, καὶ λαβὼν τὰ Κέλσου δοκίμαζε. δοκεῖς γὰρ ἐπὶ βασάνῳ μοι μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦ τι μαθεῖν ἐκεῖθεν ἐθελῆσαι λαβεῖν. οὐχ οὕτω σοι μικρὸν <τὸ> περὶ τὴν γλῶτταν ἐκείνην. βραχὺ δ’ ἐφρόντισας τῆς ἀποκρίσεως, ἣν ἡ κλῆσις ἥν γε ἐκάλουν ἀπῄτει· χρῆν γὰρ ὡς ἥξεις εἰπόντα δοῦναι χάριν ἢ μένειν ἐγνωκότα, δι’ ὅ τι μένειν ἐπῆλθεν, εἰπεῖν. σὺ δ’ οὐδέτερον πεποίηκας. ἀλλά μοι φαίνῃ μετεωριζόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ τῆς Ῥώμης μεγέθους τῶν τε ἄλλων πόλεων καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐταῖς φίλων καταφρονεῖν, ἄλλως θ’ ὅτε καὶ λαμπροτέρα νῦν δὴ γεγένηται τῷ βασιλέως ἔρωτι. τοῦτον γὰρ εὐδαιμονίσαι τις ἂν τῆς θέας, ἐκείνη <δὲ> τοῦτο οὐ μικρὸν ἡ ’κείνου ἐπιθυμία. τοῦ δ’ οὖν σε καλεῖν οὐ παύσομαι νομίζων ἐμοί τε καλῶς ἕξειν, εἰ παρείης, σοί τε οὐ χεῖρον. περὶ δὲ τῶν ἀγώνων, οὓς εἰκὸς πεποιῆσθαι τοὺς σο- φιστάς, ὅσοι τε ἐπῆλθον καὶ οἱ πάλαι τὴν πόλιν οἰκοῦσι, πολ- λοὶ μὲν ἀγγελοῦσι, σοῦ δ’ ἀμείνων οὐκ ἄν μοι γένοιτο μηνυ- τής. τό τε γὰρ ἀκριβὲς διασώσεις καὶ χάρις ἡ σοὶ συνήθης ἐπέσται τοῖς γράμμασιν.