Letter 212
To Acacius Presbyter. (360?)
I write in haste because haste is necessary. Our friend's case comes before the court within days, and without your intervention, the outcome is far from certain. The merits are clear -- at least to anyone who cares about justice -- but merits, as we both know, do not always determine outcomes.
What is needed is a word from you: a letter to the judge, or better yet, a personal visit if your duties permit it. I would not ask if the matter were trivial or if the man were undeserving. But this is serious, and he is worthy, and the thought that he might lose through lack of a friend's support when that support was available -- that is something I refuse to contemplate.
Act quickly, and write to tell me what you have done. I shall owe you a debt, and I am the kind of debtor who remembers.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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