Letter 228: I commend your war on thieves.

To Modestus. (358/359) I commend your war on thieves. By the same stroke you punish the wicked and encourage the honest, who can see that being just actually earns recognition. I congratulate Frontinus on the outcome of his audit: though he was examined in absentia, he won the more favorable verdict -- acquiring something worth more than a pile of gold, namely your official judgment that he is no scoundrel. And I congratulate myself too, since a good man has been shown to be my companion and friend. He now comes in person to demonstrate even more clearly how far removed he is from profiteering, and how in everything entrusted to him he has labored without adding a single obol to his own fortune. Stay true to your own principles and show everyone that it is possible to leave your presence a happy man.

Μοδέστῳ. (358/59) Ἐγώ σε πολεμοῦντα τοῖς κλέπταις ἐπαινῶ. τῷ γὰρ αὐ- τᾷ τούς τε πονηροὺς κολάζεις καὶ τοὺς δικαίους ἀμείνους ποιεῖς ὁρῶντας ὡς ἔστιν ὄντα δίκαιον ἐπαίνου τυχεῖν. συγχαίρω δὴ Φροντίνῳ τῷδε τῆς ἐξετάσεως, ἣν ἀπὼν ἐξετασθεὶς τὴν βελτίονα ψῆφον ἠνέγκατο πολλοῦ χρυσίου τιμιώτερον κτῆμα κτησάμενος τὸ παρὰ σοὶ κεκρίσθαι μὴ φαῦλος. ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐ- τὸς ἐμαυτῷ συγχαίρω χρηστοῦ φανέντος ἀνδρὸς ἑταίρου μοι καὶ φίλου. νῦν οἶν ἥκει δείξων ἔτ’ ἄμεινον ὡς πλεῖστον ἀφέστηκε λήμματος καὶ ὡς ἐν οἷς ἐπιστεύθη πεπόνηκε μόνον, τοῖς οὖσι δὲ οὐδὲ ὀβολὸν προσέθηκεν. ἀκολούθει δὴ σαυ- τῷ καὶ δείκνυε πᾶσιν ὅτι ἔστι παρὰ σοῦ καὶ χαίροντα ἀπελθεῖν.