Letter 161: Evagrius makes Procopius defeat Demosthenes, Thucydides, and Herodotus by love's distortion.

Your words are plainly those of a man who longs deeply and has resolved to crown his beloved with victory over everyone. In your letter I was not only defeating the speakers of today, but, if it is lawful to say it, Demosthenes too was defeated, Thucydides took second place, and sweet Herodotus was ranked with them. Seeing that I had become such a man in your words, I smiled to myself and said: "Nothing is stronger than the rule of Love. My dearest friend, possessed by goodwill toward me, has failed to understand my real affairs. He suffers something like a man who presented Homer's bandy-legged figure, and what else could that be but Thersites, as first in beauty among the Greeks, perhaps even better than Nireus himself, who came to Troy as the most beautiful man." For me the greatest praise would be to seem to know the men over whom, with you as judge, I have won. So, admiring your goodwill, I dedicated your words to the Loves, asking pardon from the men around the Paeanian if longing persuades people to say whatever they want to say, especially those who luxuriate in the strength of words. But I will turn even this to a moderate prayer: may you prosper, my dearest friend, and may you win with the laws as much as you have won with words.

Εὐαγρίωι Ὡς ποθοῦντος ἄγαν οἱ λόγοι καὶ τῇ κατὰ πάντων νίκῃ στεφανοῦν ἐγνωκότος τὰ παιδικά. ὡς γὰρ ἐν τοῖς σοῖς γράμμασιν οὐ τοὺς νῦν μόνον ἐνίκων, ἀλλὰ καί, ὃ μὴ θέμις εἰπεῖν, καὶ Δημοσθένης ἥττητο, καὶ Θουκυδίδης εἶχε τὰ δεύτερα, καὶ ὁ γλυκὺς Ἡρόδοτος μετὰ τούτων ἐτάττετο, ὡς οὖν τοιοῦτος ἦν ἐν τοῖς λόγοις, μειδιάσας πρὸς ἐμαυτόν "οὐδέν" ἔφην "τῆς Ἔρωτος δυναστείας σφοδρότερον. τῆς γὰρ περὶ ἡμᾶς εὐνοίας κάτοχος ὁ φίλτατος γεγονὼς ἠγνόησέ μου τὰ πράγματα, καὶ πάσχει τι παραπλήσιον ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις τὸν φοξὸν παρ' Ὁμήρῳ καὶ τί γὰρ ἕτερον ἢ Θερσίτην πρῶτον Ἑλλήνων εἰς θέαν ἀπέφηνε, κρείττονα καὶ αὐτοῦ τάχα τοῦ Νιρέως, ὃς "κάλλιστος ἀνὴρ ὑπὸ Ἴλιον ἦλθεν". ἐμοὶ δὲ μέγιστος ἔπαινος εἰ τούτους ἐγνωκέναι δοκοίην, οὓς παρὰ σοὶ κριτῇ νενικήκαμεν. ὅθεν σου θαυμάσας τὴν εὔνοιαν τοὺς λόγους ἀνετίθην τοῖς Ἔρωσι, τοὺς ἀμφὶ τὸν Παιανιέα παραιτησάμενος εἰ πόθος ἀνθρώπους ἀναπείθει λέγειν ὁπόσα καὶ λέγειν ἐθέλουσι, καὶ μάλιστα δὴ τούτους ὁπόσοι λόγων ἐναβρύνονται ῥώμῃ. ἀλλὰ πρὸς εὐχὴν καὶ ταύτην μετρίαν τραπήσομαι "εὐτυχοίης" λέγων "ὦ φίλτατε, καὶ νικῴης τοῖς νόμοις ὁπόσα τοῖς λόγοις νενίκηκας".