Letter 290

To Eusebius. (359/360) We take refuge at the same Athena on the same kind of business. Recently you snatched a young man from the fire for us, enduring labors such as a man would undertake for his own son. The same labors and the same eagerness are needed now -- or rather, much more. For this Agroicius is no different to me from a son, and I have sustained his household up to this very day -- a household with many siblings, all of them poor. But the men who so readily draft decrees want to demonstrate that I can do nothing for my friends beyond praying for them. And yet, when your anger was directed at those very men, I defended them not with prayers but with deeds, and I calmed the storm. But they remember that favor so well that in return for my benefaction they treat me like Agamemnon [i.e., they repay kindness with ingratitude, as in the Iliad]. Let them learn, then, that my power is your power, and that I am not easy to harm as long as you have strength. As for the details of the case, let Agroicius explain...

Εὐσεβίῳ. (359/60) Ἐπὶ τὴν αὐτὴν Ἀθηνᾶν ὑπὲρ ὁμοίων καταφεύγομεν πραγμάτων. πρῴην ἡμῖν ἐξήρπασας νέον ἐκ πυρὸς καὶ πόνους ὑπέστης, οἴους ἄν τις ὑπὲρ υἱέος. τῶν αὐτῶν δεῖ πόνων καὶ τῆς ἴσης προθυμίας, μᾶλλον δέ, πολλῷ μείζονος. Ἀγροίκιος γὰρ οὑτοσὶ παιδὸς οὐδέν μοι διαφέρει κοὶ διαγέγονα μέχρι τῆς τήμερον ἡμέρας ἀνέχων αὐτοῖς τὴν οἰκίαν πολλοῖς ἀδελ- φοῖς καὶ πένησιν. ἀλλ’ οἱ ῥᾳδίως ψηφίσματα γράφοντες δείξαι θέλουσιν ὡς πλὴν τοῦ συνεύξασθαι τοῖς φίλοις οὐδὲν ἄλλο δυναίμην ἂν ὠφελεῖν. καίτοι πρός γε τὴν σὴν ὀργὴν οὐ δι’ εὐχῆς αὐτοῖς, ἀλλ᾿ ἔργοις ἤμυνα καὶ τὸ κῦμα ἐστόρεσα. οἱ δὲ οὕτω σφόδρα μέμνηνται τῆς χάριτος, ὥστ’ ἀντ’ εὐερ- γεσίης Ἀγαμέμνονα. μαθέτωσαν οὖν ὡς δύναμις ἐμή τε καὶ σὴ καὶ οὔκ εἰμι ῥᾷστος παθεῖν κακῶς, ἴως ἂν ἰσχύῃς· τὸ μὲν οὖν διδάξαι περὶ τῶν πραγμάτων Ἀγροικίου, τὸ δὲ μὴ παρασυρῆναι τὸν ἄνδρα τῆς σῆς ἀνδρείας.