Letter 719: What debt you say I have not repaid, I do not know.

To Demetrius. (362) What the debt may be, which you say I have not repaid, I do not know; but the trouble in my head, which is an old one - for I was twenty years old when I was struck, and it is now twenty-eight years from that time - has now become famous on account of the aid that came from the gods. For those things that come to bodies from the sanctuaries, having in them something of the marvelous as well, stir up much talk concerning themselves. But do you not only share my pain, but also persuade the divinity who set this contest before you to utter something concerning us as well. And it is just that he should give a reward for the two speeches, which Zenobius too mentioned with praise. So truly did the divinity lend his hand to them. And I myself would wish to honor the god with your words; and this I would do by reading them. Send them, then, and instruct the neighboring city as to who this is that sustains your own.

Δημητρίῳ. (362) Τὸ μὲν ὀφείλημα τί ποτέ ἐστιν, ὃ φὴς οὐκ ἀποδοῦναί με, οὐκ οἶδα· τὸ δὲ τῆς κεφαλῆς κακὸν ἀρχαῖον ὄν, εἴκοσι γὰρ ἔτη γεγονὼς ἐπλήγην, ἔστι δὲ ἐκεῖθεν ὀκτὼ καὶ εἴκοσι, νῦν γέγονε περιβόητον ταῖς παρὰ τῶν θεῶν βοηθείαις. τὰ γὰρ ἐκ τῶν ἱερῶν φοιτῶντα τοῖς σώμασιν ἔχοντά τι καὶ τοῦ παραδόξου πολὺν ἐφ’ ἑαυτοῖς κινεῖ τὸν λόγον. σὺ δὲ μὴ μόνον μοι συναλγεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν προβαλόντα σοι τὸν ἆθλον δαίμονα πείθειν φθέγξασθαί τι καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν. δίκαιος δέ ἐστι μισθὸν δυοῖν δοῦναι λόγοιν, ὧν καὶ Ζηνόβιος ἐμνήσθη μετ’ εὐφημίας. οὕτως ἄρα αὐτῶν ὁ δαίμων συνεφήπτετο. βουλοίμην δ’ ἂν καὶ αὐτὸς τοι; σοῖς λόγοις τιμῆσαι τὸν θεόν· τοῦτο δ’ ἂν ποιοίην ἀναγιγνώσκων. πέμπε οὖν καὶ δίδασκε γείτονα πόλιν, ὅστις ἐστὶν οὗτος ὁ τὴν ὑμετέραν ἀνέχων.