Letter 803: To the Emperor Julian.

To the Emperor Julian. (363) I was at first displeased with the rule of Alexander [the governor of Syria], I confess, and I considered it an outrage and not the work of a magistrate that those who among us were formerly not of the distinguished sort should now have the oversight of these matters; and I thought, too, that he would make the city weaker by his frequent penalties upon men's money, and gain nothing more. But now the fruit of that harshness has been yielded, and I sing a recantation. For those men who used once to bathe before noon and to sleep have become, in their manner of life, a kind of Spartans, and hardy; and besides the day they toil no little part of the night as well, as though nailed to Alexander's doors. And if he should but shout from within, everything is shaken, so that it seems to me he will have no need even of iron, since his threatening alone suffices to make active and at the same time temperate those who are idle and insolent. [...] and Calliope too has been honored worthily of your judgment, not only with horse-races but also with the graces upon the stage, and sacrifice has been offered to the goddess in the theater, and no small part [of the people] has gone over to our side, so that the acclamation is brilliant and the gods are called upon amid the acclamation. And the magistrate, showing how he rejoices in such acclamation, calls forth from a greater number a still greater one. So great a thing it is, O King, that prophecy teaches to men, namely by what conduct one might best administer both a household and a city and a nation and a kingdom.

Ιουλιανῷ αὐτοκράτορι. (363) Ἐγὼ τὴν ἀρχὴν τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου τὸ πρῶτον ἐδυδχέραινον, ὁμολογῶ, καὶ τὸ τοὺς ἀτιμοτάτου, τῶι παρ’ ἡμῖν ἐπιμελεῖσθαι τούτων δὴ τὸ πρὶν οὐ τῶν ἐνδόξων ὕβριν ἡγούμην κὼ οὐκ ἄρχοντος ἔργον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν εἰς χρήματα ζημίαν πυκνήν τινα οὖσαν ἀσθενεστέραν ᾤμην ποιήσειν τὴν πόλιν, πλέον δὲ οὐ νῦν δὲ ὁ καρπός τε ἀνεδόθη τῆς τραχύτητος καὶ ᾄδω πα λινῳδίαν. οἱ γὰρ δὴ πρὸ μεσημβρίας ἐκεῖνοι λελουμένοι καὶ κοιμώμενοι Λακωνικοί τινες γεγένηνται τοὺς τρόπους καὶ καρ- τερικοί, καὶ πρὸς τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τυ νυκτὸς οὐκ ὀλίγον πονοῦσιν ὡσπερ προσηλωμένοι ταῖς Ἀλεξάνδρου θύραις. ὁ δ’ εἰ βοήσειεν ἔνδοθεν, σείεται πάντα, ὥστ’ οὐδὲ σιδήρου μοι δε- ήσεσθαι δοκεῖν τοῦ ἀπειλεῖν ἀποχρῶντος ἐνεργούς τε ὁμοῦ καὶ σώφρονας ποιεῖν τοὺς ἀργούς τε καὶ θρασεῖς. τειερά πευται δὲ καὶ ἡ Καλλιόπη τῆς σῆς γνώμης ἀξίως οὐ μόνον ἱπποδρομίαις, ἀλλὰ καὶ ταῖς ἐπὶ σκηνῆς χάρισι καὶ τέθυται ἐν θεάτρῳ τῇ θεῷ καὶ μετετάξατο παρ’ ἡμᾶς οὐ μικρὸν μέρος, ὥσθ’ ἥ τε βοὴ λαμπρὰ θεοί τε ἐν τῇ βοῆ καλοῦνται. δηλῶν δὲ ὁ ἄρχων ὡς χαίρει τῇ τοιαύτῃ βοῇ μείζω ταύτην ἀπὸ πλειόνων προκαλεῖται. τοσοῦτόν ἐστιν, ὦ βασιλεῦ, μαντικὴ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις διδάσκουσα, τί ποιῶν ἄν τις ἄριστα διοικοίη καὶ οἶκον καὶ Πόλιν καὶ ἔθνος καὶ βασιλείαν.