To Priscianus. (359/60)
Miccalus comes to you from Olympius, from home to home -- and from one brother to another, in every real sense. That is why he seems to me to have looked past the wealth available in Paeonia and the luxuries that come with injustice, believing that being in your company will be sweeter to him than all the money from the sea trade.
This is what persuaded him to choose your province. And you should find him sources of income. For it is fitting that you return with empty hands and he with full ones.
As for what you wrote about poverty, trying to prove that conditions there are worse than here -- that was the work of a rhetorician, not a truth-teller. The beggars in our city make up a fair share of the population. If those closer to real danger are wealthy by comparison, we would need an Oedipus [i.e., a solver of riddles] to figure that out.
To Priscianus (359/60)
Miccalus has come from home to home, from Olympius to you — and no more from a brother than to a brother. That, it seems to me, is why he has scorned both the wealth to be had in Pannonia and the luxury that comes with injustice, believing that your company will prove sweeter to him than all the riches from the sea.
This, then, is what persuaded him to choose your governorship above all else. But you — do find him some means of profit as well. For it is fitting that you return with empty hands, but he with full ones.
As for what you wrote about poverty, trying to show that it is worse there than here — that was the work of a rhetorician, not a man telling the truth. The beggars among us are a moderate portion of the city; but if those nearer to real hardship are actually rich by this standard, we shall need some Oedipus to solve the riddle.
Miccalus comes to you from Olympius, from home to home -- and from one brother to another, in every real sense. That is why he seems to me to have looked past the wealth available in Paeonia and the luxuries that come with injustice, believing that being in your company will be sweeter to him than all the money from the sea trade.
This is what persuaded him to choose your province. And you should find him sources of income. For it is fitting that you return with empty hands and he with full ones.
As for what you wrote about poverty, trying to prove that conditions there are worse than here -- that was the work of a rhetorician, not a truth-teller. The beggars in our city make up a fair share of the population. If those closer to real danger are wealthy by comparison, we would need an Oedipus [i.e., a solver of riddles] to figure that out.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.