Letter 563

To Gaius. I have sent servants to your area to buy timber. They will need someone locally powerful to protect them in a foreign land, so the sellers know that if they cheat, someone will stop them. You have both just authority and a friendship with me. When I mentioned that Gaius would be a good ally, my slave was delighted and cried out that I had found the right man. Clearly he has dealt with you before, and when I asked, he admitted it. So if you helped him without being asked last time, what will you not do now, with a letter in hand?

Γαίῳ. (357) Ἐπέμψαμεν τοὺς οἰκέτας ὡς ὑμᾶς ὠνησομένους ξύλα. δεῖ δὲ αὐτοῖς ἐν γῇ ξένῃ βοηθὸν γενέσθαι τινὰ τῶν αὐτόθι δυνατῶν, ὅπως εἰδῶσιν οἱ πωλοῦντες ὡς, ἢν ἀδικῶσιν, ὁ κωλύσων ἔσται. σοὶ δὴ καὶ δύναμις δικαία καὶ φιλία πρὸς ἡμᾶς. καὶ ὡς ἐμνήσθην ὅτι Γαΐῳ χρηστέον συμμάχῳ, ἥσθη τε ὁ παῖς καὶ ἐβόησεν ὡς ὃν ἐχρῆν εὗρον. ἐφαίνετο οὖν καὶ πάλαι σου τετυχηκέναι, καὶ ὡς ἠρόμην ὡμολόγησεν. εἰ οὖν ἀπαράκλητος πρότερον ὠφέλεις, τί νῦν ἐπὶ τοῖς γράμμασιν οὐ δράσεις;