Letter 111: Under any ordinary circumstances I should have lacked courage to intrude upon your excellency, for I know how to gauge my own importance and to recognise dignities. But now that I have seen a friend in a distressing position at having been summoned before you, I have ventured to give him this letter. I hope that by using it, as a kind of propiti...

To Modestus [the Praetorian Prefect of the East — one of the most powerful officials in the Roman Empire], Normally I wouldn't presume to bother someone in your position. I know my own standing, and I know yours. But a friend of mine is in serious trouble — he's been called before your court — and I couldn't stay silent. So I'm sending this letter along with him, hoping it might serve as a kind of peace offering and win him a fair hearing. I realize I'm nobody important. But I'm counting on your own sense of moderation to do the heavy lifting here. If my friend has done nothing wrong, the truth alone should be enough to clear him. And if he has done something wrong, I'm asking you to forgive him as a personal favor to me. You know better than anyone how things stand in our region. You see where the weaknesses are, and you govern with remarkable foresight.

ST. BASIL OF CAESAREA To Modestus, the prefect. Under any ordinary circumstances I should have lacked courage to intrude upon your excellency, for I know how to gauge my own importance and to recognise dignities. But now that I have seen a friend in a distressing position at having been summoned before you, I have ventured to give him this letter. I hope that by using it, as a kind of propitiatory symbol, he may meet with merciful consideration. Truly, although I am of no account, moderation itself may be able to conciliate the most merciful of prefects, and to win pardon for me. Thus if my friend has done no wrong, he may be saved by the mere force of truth; if he has erred, he may be forgiven through my entreaty. How we are situated here no one knows better than yourself, for you discern the weak parts in each man and rule all with your admirable forethought.

[Πρός: Μοδέστῳ ὑπάρχῳ] Ἄλλως μὲν οὐκ ἂν ἐθάρρησα δι’ ὄχλου γενέσθαι τῇ μεγαλοφυΐᾳ σου, εἰδὼς καὶ ἐμαυτὸν μετρεῖν καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας γνωρίζειν. ἐπειδὴ δὲ εἶδον ἄνδρα φίλον ἐναγωνίως διακείμενον ἐπὶ τῷ μετακληθῆναι, ἀπετόλμησα αὐτῷ δοῦναι τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ταύτην, ἵνα ἀνθʼ ἱκετηρίας αὐτὴν προβαλλόμενος τύχῃ τινὸς φιλανθρωπίας. πάντως δέ, εἰ καὶ ἡμεῖς οὐδενὸς λόγου ἄξιοι, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸ τὸ μέτριον ἱκανὸν δυσωπῆσαι τὸν φιλανθρωπότατον τῶν ὑπάρχων καὶ ἡμῖν δοῦναι συγγνώμην, ἵνα, εἰ μὲν μηδὲν πεπλημμέληται τῷ ἀνδρί, σωθῆναι αὐτὸν δι’ αὐτὴν τὴν ἀλήθειαν, εἰ δὲ καὶ ἥμαρτεν, ἀφεθῆναι αὐτῷ δι’ ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἱκετεύσαντας. Οἷα δὲ τὰ ἐνταῦθα τῶν πραγμάτων ἐστί, τίς μᾶλλον ἐπίσταται σοῦ, τοῦ καὶ ἐπιβλέποντος τὰ παρʼ ἑκάστῳ σαθρὰ καὶ τῇ θαυμασίᾳ προμηθείᾳ τὰ πάντα διακρατοῦντος;