Libanius → Aristaenetus

Πρισκιανῷ. (353) Οὐ κατεπάτησε τὸν ὅρκον ὁ Διονύσιος, ἀλλ’ ἐπανήκει σοι μετὰ τῶν γραμμάτων, ὃ δὴ καὶ ποιήσειν ὤμοσε. τὴν πόλιν δὲ ἡμῶν εὐδαίμονα καλῶν, ἐν ᾗ κατοικεῖν ἔδεισας, παίζεις ἔχων. εἰ γὰρ δὴ ὄντως αὐτὴν ᾤου τοιαύτην, τί παθὼν ἐξὸν κοινωνεῖν τῆς εὐδαιμονίας οὐκ ἠβουλήθης; τοὺς δ’ ἡμετέ- ρους εἰ μὲν ἀγνοεῖς κινδύνους, ἀδικεῖς, ἀμελῶν γὰρ ἀγνοεῖς καὶ ταῦτα οὕτως ὢν πρόσχωρος· εἰ δ’ ἐπιστάμενος μακαρίζεις <με> μετὰ τῶν δεινῶν, φιλοκινδυνότατος εἶ. τὰ Δεινίου πράγματα καὶ σαυτοῦ νομίζων ὀρθῶς φρονεῖς εἰμὶ δ’ οὐδ αὐτὸς τῶν ἀλλότρια τὰ Δεινίου ποιουμένων, ὄψει δὲ τὴν σπουδὴν ἐν τοῖς γράμμασιν, ἃ πέμψομεν εἰς ἐπικουρία· τῷ γέροντι·

**To Priscian** (353) Dionysius did not trample upon his oath — he has returned to you with the letter, just as he swore he would do. But when you call our city "blessed" — a city in which you were afraid to live — you are having your little joke. For if you truly believed it to be such, what possessed you to refuse to share in its blessedness when you had the chance? As for our dangers: if you are unaware of them, you do me wrong, for your ignorance can only come from neglect — and this when you live so close by. But if you know full well and yet congratulate me amid such perils, then you are the most reckless of men. In regarding Dinius's affairs as your own, you show good sense. I myself am certainly not among those who treat Dinius's concerns as someone else's business. You will see the earnestness of my support in the letter I shall send on the old man's behalf.