Letter 59: Procopius says the fatherland itself calls Philip to repay what he owes.

If old sayings and the law of nature require us to give parents what is owed, how much more fitting is it to repay one's fatherland, from which even parents have their beginning? The present moment calls you to her. Imagine that the land that bore you is sending this voice to you through me. In that way you will both fulfill what is necessary and give me a memory of the matter, since the need concerns the greatest things. Expect nothing burdensome. It will be very easy for you to give and very great for those who receive. I want the petitions on behalf of the city to be presented to the great emperor through the chief priest among you or through the emperor's brother, so that the rank of the presenter may give some weight to what is given. By doing this you will lay up a common gratitude both among those who asked and among those of us on whose behalf the request was made.

Φιλίππῳ ἀδελφῷ Εἰ τοῖς γονεῦσι τὸ προσῆκον ἀποδιδόναι παλαιοί τε λόγοι καὶ ὁ τῆς φύσεως βούλεται νόμος, πόσον εἰκὸς πατρίδι χάριν ἐκτίνειν, ἐξ ἧς προῆλθε καὶ τοῖς γονεῦσιν ἀρχή; ἐπὶ ταύτην σε νῦν ὁ καιρὸς καλεῖ, καὶ δόκει τὴν ἐνεγκοῦσαν ταύτην δι' ἐμοῦ σοι φωνὴν ἀφιέναι· οὕτω γὰρ καὶ τὸ δέον ἔσῃ πεπληρωκὼς καὶ μνήμην ἡμῖν παράσχοις τοῦ πράγματος, ὅσῳ καὶ περὶ τῶν μεγίστων ἡ χρεία. βαρὺ δὲ προσδόκα μηδέν, ἀλλὰ σοὶ μὲν ῥᾷστον διδόναι, μέγα δὲ τοῖς λαβοῦσι τυχεῖν. βασιλεῖ τῷ μεγάλῳ τὰς ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως δεήσεις ἐπιδοθῆναι βουλόμεθα διὰ τοῦ παρ' ὑμῖν ἀρχιερέως ἢ τοῦ βασιλέως ἀδελφοῦ, ἵνα τὸ τοῦ ἐπιδιδόντος ἀξίωμα λόγον τινὰ παράσχῃ τῷ διδομένῳ. ταῦτα γὰρ ποιῶν κοινὴν καταθήσει χάριν καὶ τοῖς αἰτήσασι καὶ τοῖς αἰτηθεῖσιν ἡμῖν.