To Julian, friend. (362)
If justice were done, you would have held that office long ago, and by now you would hold one even greater. But Fortune, I think, takes pleasure in giving less to better men and more to worse ones, and she keeps at it as though afraid we might forget how powerful she is.
You know perfectly well that I enjoy speaking to you and that you enjoy listening -- you know how to leap with excitement when I am talking. But the sheer volume of my business has not allowed for a volume of letters. There are many people I must help, and those who have already bypassed the influence of many powerful men come running to my weakness instead, driven by an absurd impulse -- seeking a fig-wood shield when they need the armor of Hermione [proverbial for seeking weak help when strong help is needed].
I have no choice but to make myself available -- what else could one do? I manage to help those with small requests, but time is consumed, and the letters you want from me never come in the quantity you would wish.
If justice were done, you would have held that office long ago, and by now you would hold one even greater. But Fortune, I think, takes pleasure in giving less to better men and more to worse ones, and she keeps at it as though afraid we might forget how powerful she is.
You know perfectly well that I enjoy speaking to you and that you enjoy listening -- you know how to leap with excitement when I am talking. But the sheer volume of my business has not allowed for a volume of letters. There are many people I must help, and those who have already bypassed the influence of many powerful men come running to my weakness instead, driven by an absurd impulse -- seeking a fig-wood shield when they need the armor of Hermione [proverbial for seeking weak help when strong help is needed].
I have no choice but to make myself available -- what else could one do? I manage to help those with small requests, but time is consumed, and the letters you want from me never come in the quantity you would wish.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.