Letter 1019: A request for lawful leave so a student can see his teacher after a long absence.

Grant this just favor to a student who longs, after a long time, to see his teacher. Everything else allows him to come, but since he is engaged in public service, he surely needs the nod of the man who governs him; without it, moving would be reckless, against the law, and not without penalty. So that he may come lawfully and without harm, imitate Zeus when he granted Thetis her request. That favor has already been criticized, since it improved the position of wrongdoers; this one is good from every side. You yourself are one of those who have honored this justice toward teachers, and from that comes your power in the courts and, from present events, the name Rhadamanthus. A man like that must praise such conduct toward teachers and must help another man of the same mind. If it were not easy for you, there would be nothing left but pain; but since the power is present, you must use the power. Remind yourself what you were like toward those who once fought against us, who thought the labors of teachers were nothing: how you fled from them, called them impious, and called the gods against them. It follows from that hatred of those men that you should make these men glad. Release Nemesius for us, then. He is the man who longs for this journey, which needs only a month; afterward he will again be both benefiting his own city and serving what seems best to you.