Letter 14: Procopius appeals to Palladius's power and justice on behalf of a vulnerable household.

I think the virtue of people with great power is the greatest consolation for the wronged. When power and a judgment that honors justice come together, what prevents the law's decisions from reaching completion? But why this preface? Isidorus the scholasticus, formerly my friend while he lived and now my friend only in memory, was a man whose life and excellence you could describe to others yourself. Now he has departed from human company and left his house without an ally. His mother, once a mother, is now childless on the threshold of old age, a mother no longer. His wife bears the yoke of widowhood. As for the children, what need is there to speak? They are young girls, only beginning life and already tasting the fortune of orphans. In short, they lie exposed to anyone who wants to wrong them unless you prevent it, since their hopes look to you. A certain man is wicked by nature; once he had freedom to act and saw their defenselessness, he became more wicked still. Living near their house and taking envy from proximity, he has made one purpose for himself: to make their dwelling useless to them. He would not tolerate the builders being lawfully restrained, and treating the written agreements between them as nonsense, he declares himself more authoritative than the laws and than his own agreement. Take on the mind of a judge who hates evil. Become a father to the girls, a son to the mother, the equal of a husband to the wife, and to us such a man as earlier experience has often shown you to be. Let him learn clearly that a house is not without allies so long as laws are preserved and there are men who honor justice.

Παλλαδίωι Τὴν τῶν μέγα δυναμένων ἀρετὴν μεγίστην οἶμαι τοῖς ἀδικουμένοις παραμυθίαν. δυνάμεως γὰρ εἰς ταὐτὸν ἐλθούσης καὶ γνώμης τιμώσης τὰ δίκαια, τί κωλύει πρὸς πέρας ἰέναι τὰ δοκοῦντα τοῖς νόμοις; ἀλλὰ τί μοι βούλεται τὸ προοίμιον; Ἰσίδωρος ὁ σχολαστικός, ὁ πάλαι μὲν φίλος ἡνίκα ἔζη, νῦν δὲ μέχρι τῆς μνήμης, οἷος μὲν ἦν τὸν βίον καὶ ὡς πανταχόθεν αὑτὸν παρεῖχε θαυμάζειν, κἂν ἑτέροις αὐτὸς διηγήσαιο. νυνὶ δὲ ἀπελθὼν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἔρημον συμμαχίας κατέλιπε τὴν οἰκίαν· ἡ μὲν γὰρ πάλαι μήτηρ νῦν ἄπαις ἐπὶ γήραος οὐδῷ καὶ μήτηρ οὐκέτι, ἡ δὲ σύνοικος χηρείας ὑποφέρει ζυγόν. τὰ δὲ παιδία τί δεῖ καὶ λέγειν; κόραι γὰρ αὗται μικρὰν ἄγουσαι τὴν ἡλικίαν καὶ ὀρφανίας τύχης πειρώμεναι. συνελόντι δὲ φάναι, πρόκεινται πᾶσι τοῖς ἀδικεῖν βουλομένοις, εἰ μὴ σὺ κωλύσεις, εἰς ὃν αἱ τούτων ὁρῶσιν ἐλπίδες. ὁ δεῖνα γὰρ φύσει μέν ἐστι πονηρός, ἐπ' ἀδείας δὲ γενόμενος καὶ τὴν ἐρημίαν ἰδὼν πέφηνε πονηρότερος· προσοικῶν γὰρ τὴν τούτων οἰκίαν καὶ τὸν ἐκ τοῦ γειτνιάζειν φθόνον λαβών, μίαν πεποίηται γνώμην ἄχρηστον αὐταῖς ἀποφῆναι τὴν οἴκησιν. ὅθεν οὔτε τῶν οἰκοδομούντων ἐννόμως κωλυομένων ἠνέσχετο, καὶ τὰ πρὸς ἀλλήλους διὰ γραμμάτων συγκείμενα λῆρον ἡγούμενος κυριώτερον αὑτὸν ἀποφαίνει τῶν νόμων καὶ ὧν αὐτὸς ὡμολόγησεν. ἀλλὰ δικαστοῦ καὶ μισοῦντος τὰ φαῦλα γνώμην λαβὼν γενοῦ ταῖς κόραις πατὴρ καὶ τῇ μητρὶ παῖς καὶ τῇ γυναικὶ πάλιν ἴσα καὶ σύνοικος, ἡμῖν δὲ τοιοῦτος οἷον ἡ προλαβοῦσα πεῖρα πολλάκις ἀπέδειξε· καὶ γνώτω καλῶς ὡς οὐκ ἔστιν ἔρημον εἶναι συμμαχίας, ἕως ἂν οἵ τε νόμοι σώζωνται καὶ ἄνδρες τιμῶντες τὰ δίκαια.