Letter 563: I have sent servants to your area to buy timber.
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?
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
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;
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