Letter 194: I know that you were going to receive Palladius kindly without any letter from me.

To Andronicus, a general. (360) I know that you were going to receive Palladius kindly without any letter from me. For the laws you govern by and the rhetoric you live by -- you will find both in him. But these you might find in others. His personal charm, his sociable nature, his way of immediately attracting whomever he meets, the fact that he is himself a festival when no festival is on and makes any festival greater when there is one -- this you will perhaps find in no one else, and certainly not in many. For these qualities, you would pursue him even if he ran away, far from turning him away when he approaches. So you needed no letter to create friendship. But since you will make use of him and in doing so will praise the man, I insert myself into the matter so that you will give me credit when you praise him.

Ἀνδρονίκῳ. (360) Εἰ μὲν οὐκ ἦν σοὶ φίλος, ὥσπερ ἡμῖν, ὁ χρηστὸς Εὐ- στόχιος, πολλῶν ἂν ἴδει μοι λόγων εἰς τὸ δοῦναί σε χάριν· νῦν δέ, οἶσθα γὰρ τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ εἰδὼς φιλεῖς, ἃ δοίης ἂν ἡδέως αἰτοῦμεν. κακῶς φησι πεπονθέναι ὁ σὸς στρατιώτης παρὰ τῶν τὰ τοῦδε διοικούντων, οἱ δὲ ἀρνοῦνται καὶ κατα- δύντες που τρέμουσιν, οὐχ ὅτι ἠδίκησαν, ἀλλ’ ἡ ἀπειρία ποιεῖ τὸν φόβον. ὁ καρπὸς δὲ ἐν συγκομιδῇ, κἂν μὴ φανῶσιν ἐκεῖνοι, πάντα Εὐστοχίῳ διέφθαρται. μὴ δὴ γένη βλάβης αὶ- τιος ἀνδρὶ καλῷ τε κἀγαθῷ, ἀλλὰ μηδ’, εἴ τις ἐπλημμέλησε, διαφευγέτω τὴν δίκην. πῶς ταῦτα; <νὴ> Δία, βουλῆς μακρᾶς, εἰ καὶ τὸν καρπὸν διασώσει κἀκείνους οὐκ ἀφαιρή- σεταί σε. δεῖ δέ σε εἰδέναι τοῦθ’ ὡς, ἢν ἁλῶσιν, οὐδὲν δεήσει τῆς ὀργῆς, ἀλλ’ ὁ δεσπότης φθήσεται τὸν δικαστήν.