Letter 156: So you will not collect taxes twice, yet you keep asking for letters on matters about which you already have...

To Priscianus. (359/60) So you will not collect taxes twice, yet you keep asking for letters on matters about which you already have correspondence. Miccalus already carried a letter about the poverty here and there. But that is not enough for you. Your wife's brother, who is dearest to me, burst in yesterday where I was sitting with my companions, saying he was under suspicion and afraid that you thought he was not serving you well with the letters you send. He claimed I was wronging you by having written nothing about the poverty. But I am among those who have written, as you well know and Miccalus can confirm. So I will not pay the tax again. But there is something you should know. Hearing that you are surrounded by great labors, not entirely free from danger, I eagerly ask whether we are succeeding. I take pleasure in the scale of the labors when I hear that we are succeeding. These labors will find their chronicler, and their admirer too. And some reward will follow -- one you do not seek, but which I expect on your behalf.

To Priscianus (359/60) So then — you would not exact the same tribute twice, yet on matters about which you already have a letter, you see fit to receive another. Mikkalus, at any rate, was carrying a letter concerning the poverty both there and here. But that is not enough for you. Your wife's brother — a man most dear to me — came rushing in yesterday to where I was sitting with my companions, declaring that he was under accusation and in fear, on the grounds that he seemed to you not to be serving you well with regard to the letters you send. He claimed that *you* were being wronged by *me*, since I had written nothing about the poverty. But I am among those who have written, as you yourself know and as Mikkalus can attest. I shall not, therefore, pay the same tribute a second time. But there is something you ought to know. When I hear that great labors beset you — labors not entirely free from danger — I immediately ask whether you are succeeding, and I take joy in the magnitude of those labors whenever I hear that you are indeed succeeding. For these labors of yours — someone will one day set them down in narrative, and someone will stand in wonder at them, and a certain reward will follow, one which you do not seek, but which I expect on your behalf.

Πρισκιανῷ. (359/60) Εἶτα σὺ διπλᾶς μὲν οὐκ εἰσπράξεις τὰς εἰσφοράς, ὑπὲρ ὦν δὲ πραγμάτων ἔχεις γράμματα, πάλιν ἀξιοῖς λαμβάνειν· τήν γέ τοι περὶ τῆς πενίας τῆς <τε> ἐκεῖ τῆς τε ἐνθάδε καλος ἔφερεν ἐπιστολήν. σοὶ δὲ οὐκ ἀρκεῖ, ἀλλ’ ὁ τῆς σῆς μὲν γυναικὸς ἀδελφός, ἡμῖν δὲ φίλτατος, χθές, οὗ σύνειμι τοῖς ἑταίροις, εἰσδραμὼν ἐν αἰτίαις τε ἔφασκεν εἶναι καὶ φό- βοις ὡς οὐ καλῶς σοι δοκῶν διακονεῖν περὶ ἃς πέμπεις ἐπι- στολάς, ὑπ’ ἐμοῦ δὲ <σὲ> ἔλεγεν ἀδικεῖσθαι τοῦ μηδὲν πιστείλαντος περὶ τῆς πενίας. εἰμὶ δὲ τῶν ἐπεσταλκότων, ὡς οἶσθα σὺ καὶ μαρτυρεῖ Μίκκαλος. οὔκουν αὖθις εῖσοίσω τὴν εἰσφοράν. ἀλλ’ ἐκεῖνό γε δεῖ σε μαθεῖν. ἀκούων σε μεγά- λους περιεστηκέναι πόνους οὐ πάνυ κινδύνων καθαροὺς εὐ- θὺς ἐρωτῶν, εἰ κατορθοῦμεν, χαίρω τῷ μεγέθει τῶν πόνων, ὅταν ὅτι κατορθοῦμεν, ἀκούσω. τούτους γὰρ δὴ τοὺς πό- νους ἱστᾶι μέν τις ὁ διηγησόμενος, ἱστᾶι δέ τις ὁ θαυμασό- μενος, καί τις ἀκολουθήσει μισθός, ὃν σὺ μὲν οὐ ζητεῖς, ἐγὼ δέ σοι προσδοκῶ.