Letter 97: People who ask for a first favor think the very fact that it's their first request entitles them to it, invoking...

People who ask for a first favor think the very fact that it's their first request entitles them to it, invoking some proverb about the special claim of a first favor. But I actually think my position is stronger because I've received many favors from you before -- and am asking for one now. Here's my reasoning: if someone has never given a man anything and refuses his first request, you can always say the man wasn't worth helping. But someone you've helped many times -- you can't refuse him next time without effectively condemning all your previous generosity as wasted on an unworthy recipient. So what am I asking? But first -- don't criticize my preamble as too long for a small matter. What you'll give is small in its nature but great in the pleasure it brings the recipient. Here is the case. Zenobius was my teacher and lives here among us, though he's originally from Elusa. He's a cousin of the distinguished Argyrius, who was the father of whatever eloquence still exists here -- if indeed any does. I served that man while he lived, and after his death I've tried to help his family as much as I can. Now the moment has come that calls for help, and you have the power to provide it...

**To the Same Recipient** (369/60) Those who ask a favor for the first time claim they deserve to receive it for that very reason — that it is the first time they ask — calling to their aid the well-known proverb about the first favor. But I believe that having received many favors before, and having just now received another, gives me a strong claim. For if a man has never yet received anything and is refused when he asks, one can say he was simply not worthy of receiving. But a man whom someone has benefited many times cannot be dishonored in what follows — or else one must condemn the earlier favors as having been wasted on an undeserving person. So what is my request? But first, do not fault my preamble as too long for a small matter — for what you will grant is not great in its nature, but it is great in the pleasure it brings to those who receive it. Consider, then: Zenobius became my teacher. He lives among us here but is originally from Elusa, a cousin of the distinguished Argyrius — and the father, if I may say so, of whatever eloquence now exists among us. I honored the man while he lived, and now that he is dead, I try through his relatives to help them as far as I can. Now once again an occasion has arisen that demands assistance, and you have the power to give it. A man who bears the same name as Zenobius and is his kinsman was appointed a guardian of the peace and served the city with particular distinction, yet someone has attacked him and is driving him from his post. As to how this happened, I will not say — but you can see for yourself. I ask, then, that the man who unjustly expelled him should justly suffer the same fate, so that I may fulfill my obligations to my departed teacher and so that the powerful may not persecute these people in their poverty. And I know that Zenobius will prove himself even better than before, once he has recovered his office by your decree.

τῷ αὐτῷ. (369/60) Οἱ πρώτην αἰτοῦντες χάριν δι’ αὐτὸ τοῦτο λαμβάνειν ἀξιοῦσιν, ὅτι πρώτην αἰτοῦσι, παρακαλοῦντες εἰς συμμαχίαν παροιμίαν δή τινα τὴν περὶ τῆς πρώτης χάριτος. ἐγὼ δὲ τῷ πολλὰς εἰληφέναι πρόσθεν καὶ νῦν δὴ λαβεῖν ἰσχυρὸν εἶναί μοι νομίζω. ᾧ μὲν γὰρ οὔπω τις ἔδωκε πρότερον, ἂν αἰτοῦντι μὴ δῷ, τὸ μηδ’ ἄξιον εἶναι λαβεῖν ἔστιν εἰπεῖν ὃν δὲ εὖ πεποίηκε πολλάκις, οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς ἀτιμάσαι ἢ τῶν προτέρων ἀνάγκη κατηγορεῖν ὡς οὐκ εἰς σπουδαῖον ἀνηλωμένων.. τί οὖν αἰτοῦμεν; ἀλλ’ ὅπως μή μου μέμψῃ τὸ προοίμιον ὡς μακρὸν ὑπὲρ μικρῶν· τῇ φύσει μὲν γὰρ ὃ δώσεις οὐ μέγα, τῇ δὲ τῶν λαμβανόντων ἡδονῇ μέγα. σκόπει δέ. Ζηνόβιος γίνεταί μοι διδάσκαλος, παρ’ ἡμῖν μὶν οἰκῶν, ὢν δὲ ἐξ Ἐλούσης, ἀνεψιὸς Ἀργυρίου τοῦ πάνυ καὶ τῶν νῦν ἐν ἡμῖν λόγων, εἰ δή τινες ἐν ἡμῖν, πατὴρ ἐκεῖνος. ζῶντά τε οὖν ἐθεράπευον τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ τεθνεῶτα διὰ τῶν οἰκείων αὐτοῦ ἐκείνου πειρώμενος αὐτοῖς εἰς ὅσον ἔξεστι βοηθεῖν. ἥκει δὲ καὶ νῦν καιρὸς βοήθειαν ἀπαιτῶν, σὺ δὲ δίδως τὸ δύνασθαι· τὸν γὰρ ὁμώνυμον ἐκείνῳ τουτονὶ καὶ συγγενῆ τε- ταγμένον εἰρήνης φύλακα καὶ μάλιστά γε φρουρήσαντα τὴν πόλιν ἐκβάλλει τις ἐπιθέμενος τῆς τάξεως. τὸ δὲ ὅπως, ἐγὼ μὲν οὐκ ἐρῶ, σὺ δὲ ὁρᾷς. δέομαι δὴ τὸν ἐκβαλόντα ἀδί- κως τοῦτο παθεῖν δικαίως, ὅπως ἐγώ τε ποιοίην τὰ δίκαια πρὸς τὸν ἀπελθόντα παιδευτὴν τήν τε τούτων πενίαν μὴ ἐλαύνωσιν οἱ δυνατώτεροι. βελτίων δὲ ἢ πρόσθεν οἶδ᾿ ὅτι φανεῖται Ζηνόβιος τῇ παρὰ σοῦ ψήφῳ τὴν ἀρχὴν κεκομισμένος.