Letter 129: "A friend should stand by a man," as the saying goes.
"A friend should stand by a man," as the saying goes. And you are both our friend and the most reliable of friends, so you won't hold back any effort in matters that could improve our situation.
Receive Mocimus kindly and turn our chaff into gold for us. If the thing is easy, do it precisely because it's easy. If it's difficult, do it because you know how to work hard.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
Εὐστολίῳ. (359/60)
Φίλος ἀνδρὶ παρείη, φασί. σὺ δ' ἡμῖν καὶ φίλος καὶ
σαφέστατος τῶν φίλων, ὥστ’ οὐδὲν παρήσεις προθυμίας ἐν
οἷς τι θήσῃ τῶν ἡμετέρων βέλτιον.
δέξαι δὴ τὸν Μόκιμον
ἡμῖν εὐμενῶς καὶ ποίησον ἡμῖν τὰ ἄχυρα χρυσίον, εἰ μὲν τὸ 10
πρᾶγμα ῥᾷστον, δι’ αὐτὸ τοῦτο, ὅτι ῥᾷστον, εἰ δὲ ἐργῶδες,
ὅτι καὶ πονεῖν οἶσθα.
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