Letter 171: Let me borrow something from Demosthenes to talk to you about this man Bassus.

To Andronicus, a general. (360) Let me borrow something from Demosthenes to talk to you about this man Bassus. He is poor, Andronicus, but not dishonest. He is a Phoenician who has endured every hardship and now stands before you carrying a speech in one hand and an empty satchel in the other -- hoping to deliver the one and fill the other. Both tasks suit you: to receive the speech and to fill that little bag. What is small to you is enormous to him, so you will not burden those who contribute, yet you will set right the man who receives. He came to me from Damascus, a pauper hungry for learning. Taking to heart Aeschylus's saying that excellence is born from toil, he fled sleep, counted spectacles a harmful pleasure, found the sweat of rhetorical study sweeter than wine, and never let poverty force him into anything low or shameful. He has reached such a level of skill that he can already say something fitting about your own accomplishments -- perhaps not on their full scale, but certainly something worth praising. So do a favor to Damascus, to me, and above all to the god who grants the gift of eloquence. Remember that your own authority derives from rhetoric, and send Bassus back to us with better clothes, a brighter face, and by these same means help him while encouraging others to pursue education.

**To Andronicus** (360 AD) Well then, let me borrow something from Demosthenes and speak to you about this fellow Bassus. He is a poor man, Andronicus, but not a dishonest one. Now this man, a Phoenician who has endured every kind of hardship, stands before you carrying a speech and an empty purse — so that he might deliver the one and have the other filled. Both things befit you: to receive the speech and to fill the purse, small though it is. And what is small to you is great to him, so that you will cause no pain to those who contribute, yet you will set right the man who receives. He came to me from Damascus, a pauper hungry for learning. Taking to heart the words of Aeschylus — that virtues are born for mortals from toil — he fled from sleep, counted the pleasures of spectacles harmful, judged the sweat of literary study sweeter than wine, and though his poverty never compelled him to do anything base or shameful, he has advanced so far in his art that he already has something to say about your noble deeds — nothing adequate, perhaps, but still something one might praise. So do a favor to Damascus, to me, and above all to the god who grants the gift of eloquence. Consider that your own authority derives from the power of words, and send Bassus back to us in better clothing and with a brighter face. By these same means, help this man and encourage others toward the pursuit of learning.

Ἀνδρονίκῳ. (360) Ἀλλ’ ἐγώ σοι παρὰ τοῦ Δημοσθένους λαβών τι περὶ τουτουὶ διαλέξομαι Βάσσου. οὗτος τοίνυν, Ἀνδρόνικε, πένης μέν ἐστιν, οὐ πονηρὸς δέ γε. οὗτος μέντοι Φοῖνιξ ὢν καὶ διὰ πάντων ἥκων πόνων ἕστηκε νυνὶ λόγον τε κομίζων καὶ φασκώλιον κενόν, ὅπως τὸν μὲν εἴποι, τὸ δὲ ἐμπλήσαι. σοὶ δ’ ἄμφω πρέπει, τὸν μὲν δέξασθαι, τὸ δὲ μικρὸν ὂν ἐμπλῆσαι. μέγα δὲ τούτῳ καὶ τὸ μικρόν, ὥστε τοὺς μὲν εἰσοίσοντας οὐκ ἀνιάσεις, τὸν δὲ ληψόμενον ὀρθώσεις. ὃς ἧκε μὲν ἐκ Δα- μασκοῦ παρ’ ἐμὲ πτωχός, λόγων ἐπιθυμητής, ἀκούων δὲ Αἰ- σχύλου λέγοντος ἐκ τῶν πόνων τίκτεσθαι τὰς ἀρετὰς βροτοῖς ὕπνον φυγὼν καὶ θεαμάτων ἡδονὰς βλαβερὰς νομίσας τε τοὺς περὶ λόγους ἱδρῶτας μέθης ἡδίους καὶ ταπεινὸν οὐδὲν οὐδὲ αἰσχρὸν ἀναγκασθεὶς ἀχρηματίᾳ ποιῆσαι πρὸς τοσοῦθ’ ἥκει τῆς τέχνης, ὥστ’ ἤδη καὶ περὶ τῶν σῶν καλῶν ἔχει τι φθέγ- ξασθαι σύμμετρον μὲν ἴσως οὐδέν, ἔχει δ’ οὖν τι τοιοῦτον ὃ κἂν ἐπαινέσαι τις. ἀλλὰ σὺ καὶ Δαμασκῷ καὶ ἐμοὶ χάριν διδοὺς κοὶ πολὺ πρότερον τῷ διδόντι λόγους θεῷ καὶ λογισά- μενος ὅτι σοι τὸ ἄρχειν ἀπὸ τῶν λόγων ἀπόπεμψον ἡμῖν τὸν Βάσσον μετὰ βελτίονος μὲν ἐσθῆτος, ἱλαρωτέρου δὲ τοῦ προσ- ώπου καὶ διὰ τῶν αὐτῶν τῷ μὲν βοήθει, τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους ἐπὶ τὴν παιδείαν παρακάλει.