Letter 599: I believe my letter has reached you and that yours will reach me, and even before receiving it I take pleasure in my...

To Musonius. (357) I believe that my letter has been delivered to you, and that yours will reach me, and even before receiving it I take pleasure in trusting that I shall receive it. Do not, then, think it strange if, not yet having learned what opinion you formed upon the first, I have added a second. For I have persuaded myself of the things I most wish, and perhaps I do not divine badly. For I reckon that you are gentle, and that you are both a lover and a maker of words. Much toil indeed has been undertaken by you in coming to the aid of many others, and most especially of those concerned with letters; of these, the good ones, when you found them, you honored, and those not such you pitied, doing the one by right judgment and the other by the kindness of your nature. What reason, then, had a man, when he took courage, not to share letters with one who is mild and ready to speak and unhesitating in action, especially when the noble Mygdonius was urging him on from close at hand, or rather not setting him in motion, but praising one already set in motion? These things have made me a diviner concerning the letter from your side. And the things which I would naturally have been doing had I received it, I deem it right to do in hope. I am already undertaking to procure your favor for others; of this Olympius shall be the first to enjoy it, for it is better to put it so. This Olympius is, along with many, a fellow citizen of mine, but before many he is a friend. The same school received us as boys; then, thrust out of letters by some chance, he becomes a soldier, and not even so a fortunate one. Therefore down to this very day he has not tasted that gain which swiftly makes a soldier prosperous; so that, had he not known how to bear poverty, he would perhaps even have made use of the river that is among us. But having spent his time here and used up the season, in fear he kept adding to his delay. I, however, raised him up, both encouraging him and crying out in public that he will pay no penalty, but will receive something good. You, then, have the power to enroll me in the company of the diviners.

Μουσωνίῳ. (357) Καὶ σοὶ δεδόσθαι νομίζω τὴν ἐμὴν ἐπιστολὴν καὶ σὴν ἀφίξεσθαί μοι, καὶ πρὶν λαβεῖν ὅτι λήψομαι πιστεύων ἥδο- μαι. μὴ οὖν θαυμαστὸν ποιοῦ εἰ μήπω μαθὼν ἣν ἔσχες ἐπὶ τῇ πρώτη γνώμην, ἐπέθηκα δευτέραν. πέπεικα γὰρ ἐμαυτὸν ἃ μάλιστα βούλομαι, καὶ ἴσως γε οὐ κακῶς μαντεύομαι. λο- γίζομαι γὰρ ὡς εἴης μὲν ἥμερος, εἴης δὲ λόγων ἐραστής τε καὶ ποιητής. πολλὰ δή σοι πεπόνηται βοηθοῦντι πολλοῖς ἄλλοις τε καὶ μάλιστά γε δὴ τοῖς περὶ τοὺς λόγους· ὧν τοὺς μὲν ἀγαθοὺς εὑρὼν ἐτίμησας, τοὺς δ’ οὐ τοιούτους ἠλέησας, τὸ μὲν κρίσει ποιήσας ὀρθῇ, τὸ δὲ φύσεως χρηστότητι. τὸν οὖν πρᾷόν τε καὶ λέγειν ἕτοιμον καὶ πράττειν ἄοκνον τίνα εἶχε λόγον ἀνδρὶ θαρρήσαντι μὴ μεταδοῦναι γραμμάτων, ἄλ- λως τε καὶ Μυγδονίου τοῦ καλοῦ παρακαλοῦντος ἐγγύθεν, μᾶλλον δέ, οὐ κινοῦντος, ἀλλ’ ἐπαινοῦντος ὡρμημένον; ταῦτά με πεποίηκε μαντικὸν εἰς τὴν ἐκεῖθεν ἐπιστολήν. καὶ ἃ λαβὼν ἔπραττον ἂν εἰκότως, ἐλπίζων ἀξιῶ ποιεῖν. ἄλλοις ἤδη προξενεῖν ἐπιχειρῶ τὴν σὴν ῥοπήν· ἧς πρῶτος Ὀλύμπιος ἀπολαύσεται, λέγειν γὰρ οὕτω βέλτιον. ὁ δ’ Ὀλύμπιος οὗτος μετὰ μὲν πολλῶν πολίτης ἐμός, πρὸ πολλῶν δὲ φίλος. καὶ ἐδέξατο ταὐτὸ διδασκαλεῖον ἡμᾶς παῖδας ὄντας ἔπειτα τύχη τινὶ τῶν λόγων ἐξωσθεὶς γίγνεται στρατιώτης οὐδὲ οὕτως εὐτυχής. οὔκουν εἰς τήνδε τὴν ἡμέραν γέγευται κέρδους τούτων δὴ τῶν ὀξέως ποιούντων τὸν στρατιώτην εὐδαίμονα· ὥστ᾿, εἰ μὴ ἠπίστατο πενίαν φέρειν, κἂν ἴσως ἐχρήσατο τῷ παρ’ ἡμῖν ποταμῷ. διατρίψας δὲ τῇδε καὶ χρόνον ἀνηλωκὼς φοβούμενος προσετίθει τῇ μελλήσει. ἐγὼ δὲ αὐτὸν ἀνέ- στησα θαρρύνας τε καὶ βοήσας ἐν μέσῳ ὡς δίκην μὲν οὐ δώσει, λήψεται δέ τι καλόν. σὺ τοίνυν κύριος ἐμὲ τελεῖν εἰς συμμορίαν μάντεων.