Letter 805: This is what good neighbors do — they help those living nearby in times of misfortune.
To Demetrius. (363 AD)
This is what good neighbors do — they help those living nearby in times of misfortune. And you have fulfilled the proverb in both ways, adding deeds to kind words.
For us the famine has been a double evil: the famine itself and the emperor's anger against the city on account of it. If some god does not resolve this, I fear that having escaped the famine, we shall be struck down amid plenty of goods for sale.
So pray, and persuade the others whom you know to be dear to the gods to do the same.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Δημητρίῳ. (363)
Ταυτὶ γὰρ ἀγαθῶν γειτόνων ἐπικουρεῖν ἐν ταῖς ἀτυχίαις
τοῖς πλησίον οἰκοῦσι. σὺ δ’ ἀμφότερα τὴν παροιμίαν πεπλή-
ρωκας εὐφημίαις ἔργα προστιθείς.
ἡμῖν δὲ ὁ λιμὸς διπλοῦν
γἐγο ἑ κακόν, αὐτός τε καὶ ἡ δι’ οὐτὸν κατὰ τῆς πόλιας ὀρ-
γή· ἣν εἰ μή τις λύσει θεῶν, δέδοικα μὴ τὸν λιμὸν διαφυ-
γόντες ἐν ἀφθονίᾳ τῶν ὠνίων πληγῶμεν.
ἀλλὰ σύ τι εὔχου
καὶ τῶν ἄλλων οὓς οἶσθα θεοῖς φίλους, πεῖθε τὸ αὐτὸ ποιεῖν.
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