Source edition
Isocrates, Vol. 3. Van Hook, Larue, editor. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd., 1945 (printing).
Source data
Perseus Digital Library · CC BY-SA (per Perseus's terms)
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This work is a letter addressed by the Athenian orator Isocrates to Timotheus, the ruler of Heraclea. The author praises Timotheus for exercising his power more wisely than his father and offers practical advice on how a monarch should govern. He emphasizes the importance of moderate rule and urges the young ruler to use his current privileged position to cultivate virtue (arete). To illustrate this, Isocrates presents Cleomis, the wise ruler of Methymna, as an exemplary model of governance. Finally, the author requests Timotheus's hospitality for Autocrator, the bearer of the letter, and expresses his hope of maintaining their mutual friendship, unlike with others whose characters changed for the worse.