Letter 275: You have anticipated my entreaties in your affection for my very reverend brother Hera, and you have been better to him than I could have prayed for you to be in the abundant honour which you have shown him, and the protection which you have extended to him on every occasion. But I cannot allow his affairs to go unnoticed by a word, and I must b...
You have already exceeded my requests in your kindness to my reverend brother Hera -- showing him more generous honor and broader protection than I could have dared to ask. But I cannot let his affairs pass without a word, and I beg Your Excellency to add something more, for my sake, to the interest you have already shown in him. Send him back to his own country victorious over the attacks of his enemies.
Many are trying to disturb the peacefulness of his life, and he is not beyond the reach of envy's arrows. Against his enemies there is one sure defense: your continued protection. I rely on it.
Human translation — New Advent (NPNF / ANF series)
Latin / Greek Original
[Πρός: Ἀνεπίγραφος, περὶ Ἥρα]
Προέλαβες τὰς παρʼ ἡμῶν παρακλήσεις ἐν τῇ πρὸς τὸν αἰδεσιμώτατον ἀδελφὸν ἡμῶν Ἥραν διαθέσει, καὶ γέγονας αὐτῷ εὐχῆς ἀμείνων τῶν τε τιμῶν ταῖς ὑπερβολαῖς αἷς εἰς αὐτὸν ἐπεδείξω καὶ ταῖς ἐφʼ ἑκάστου καιροῦ προστασίαις. ὅμως δὲ καὶ ἡμεῖς, ἐπειδὴ σιωπῇ φέρειν τὰ κατʼ αὐτὸν οὐ δυνάμεθα, παρακαλοῦμέν σου τὴν ἀνυπέρβλητον τιμιότητα καὶ εἰς ἡμετέραν χάριν προσθεῖναι τῇ εἰς τὸν ἄνδρα σπουδῇ, καὶ ἀποπέμψαι αὐτὸν τῇ πατρίδι κρείττονα τῆς παρὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν αὐτοῦ ἐπηρείας· ἐπεὶ νῦν γε οὐκ ἔξω ἐστὶ βελῶν τοῦ φθόνου, πολλῶν αὐτοῦ ἐπηρεάζειν ἐπιχειρούντων τῇ ἀπραγμοσύνῃ τοῦ βίου. πρὸς οὓς μίαν εὑρήσομεν ἀσφάλειαν ἄρρηκτον, εἰ αὐτὸς ὑπερσχεῖν τὴν χεῖρα τοῦ ἀνδρὸς θελήσειας.
Related Letters
You know this young man, I think -- you were never unaware of those among my students who showed promise in oratory.
I assumed your return was approaching, since the sacred rites of the Mother of the Gods [the festival of Cybele, the...
Had you been for a long time considering how best you could reply to my letter about yours, you could not in my judgment have acquitted yourself better than by writing as you have written now. You call me a sophist, and you allege that it is a sophist's business to make small things great and great things small. And you maintain that the object ...
I mourn for the Church that is deprived of the guidance of such a shepherd. But I have so much the more ground for congratulating you on being worthy of the privilege of enjoying, at such a moment, the society of one who is fighting such a good fight in the cause of the truth, and I am sure that you, who nobly support and stimulate his zeal, wil...
I feel my boldness in pressing my suit by letter upon a man in your position; still the honour that you have paid me in the past has banished all my scruples. Accordingly I write with confidence. My plea is for a relative of mine, a man worthy of respect for his integrity.