Libanius → Modestus

Μοδἐσrῳ. (359/60) Οὔτε μὴ σὺ παραχθῇς φοβούμενος οὔτε μὴ φανῇ πο- νηρὸς Εὐπείθιος, ἔδωκα τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ὡς ἄν τις ἢ παραινῶν σοι προσέχειν τὸν νοῦν ἢ δεόμενος ἁλόντα ἀφεῖναι. ἀλλ’ ὃ πέπονθα πρὸς τὰ τοιαῦτα φράσω. ἐπειδὰν αἴσθωμαι συκο- φάντην ἄνθρωπον ἐπιεικεῖ προσπεσόντα καθάπερ χειμάρρουν, ἀλγῶ τὴν ψυχὴν καί που δακρύω καὶ συμπράττειν ὅ τι ἂν δύνωμαι προθυμοῦμαι. δύναμαι δὲ ἐπιστέλλειν, ᾧ καὶ νῦν χρῶμαι. καὶ λέγω πρὸς ἄρχοντα ἀγαθόν, ὅτι Μητρόδωρον εἴρωνα κρίνων ἴσως δικαίως προσέρριψεν Εὐπείθιος οὐ δι- καίως αὐτῷ θυμῷ πρὸς τὴν αἰτίαν ἐνεχθείς, οὐκ ἐλέγχων ἐλ- πίδι. τεκμήριον δέ· τῶν γάρ, οἶμαι, πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἐξητασμέ- νων ἤδη καὶ τῆς πρὸς τοῦτον ἐπιγενομένης ὀργῆς ἀνεμνήσθη ποτὲ καὶ προσέθηκε πρᾶγμα οὕτω πολὺ καὶ πρῶτον ἄν, εἰ μὴ πλάσμα ἦν, ἐν ἐγκλήμασι φανέν. ἀλλὰ τούτων μὲν ὁ διώ- κων δώσει δίκην, ὁ δὲ φεύγων ἔσται σῶς, οἶδα γάρ, τοῦ δὲ ἄγοντος ἀμφοτέρους ἀεί ποτε τὸν τρόπον ἐπαινέσας οὐδ’ ἂν εἰπεῖν, ὅπως νῦν ἠγάσθην, ἔχοιμι. ὥσπερ γὰρ οὐ παρα- δώσων τοὺς ἀγομένους, ἀλλ’ αὐτὸς ὑφέξων λόγον προσελθὼν ἐδεῖτό μου προσγράψαι τι περὶ αὑτοῦ βέλτιον, ὅπως, ἔφη, θαρροίην. καὶ τί γάρ, ἠρόμην, τὸ ταράττον; οὐδέν, ἔφη, μέγα δὲ ὅμως ἥμερόν μοι παρασκευασθῆναι τὸ ὄμμα τοῦ γενναίου Μοδέστου. τοῦτο ἔπεισεν Εὐσε- βίου με μνησθῆναι, πείσει δέ, οἶμαι, καὶ σὲ πρᾴως ἰδεῖν ἄν- δρᾶ ἀφελῶς διακείμενον.

**To Modestus** (359/60) It is not because I fear you will be led astray, nor because Eupeithius will prove to be a scoundrel, that I have written this letter — as though I were advising you to pay attention, or begging you to release someone already convicted. But let me describe my feelings in such matters. Whenever I learn that a sycophant has fallen upon a decent man like a winter torrent, my soul aches, I shed tears, and I am eager to do whatever I can to help. What I can do is write letters — which is what I am doing now. And so I say to a good governor: Eupeithius, in judging Metrodorus a dissembler, perhaps justly attacked him, but was carried toward the charge unjustly, by sheer anger rather than by any hope of proof. Here is the evidence: after the matters concerning that man had already been examined, Eupeithius later recalled his grudge against this one too, and tacked on an accusation so enormous that, had it not been a fabrication, it would have appeared first among the charges. But the prosecutor will pay the penalty for these things, and the defendant will come through safely — of that I am certain. As for the man escorting them both, whose character I have always praised, I could not begin to say how much I admired him on this occasion. For as though he were not delivering up the prisoners but were himself about to stand trial, he approached me and begged me to write something favorable about him, "so that," he said, "I might take heart." "And what," I asked, "is troubling you?" "Nothing serious," he said, "but all the same, I would like the gaze of the noble Modestus to be made gentle toward me." This persuaded me to make mention of Eusebius, and I trust it will also persuade you to look kindly upon a man of guileless disposition.