Letter 228
To Modestus. (358/359)
I commend your war on thieves. By the same stroke you punish the wicked and encourage the honest, who can see that being just actually earns recognition.
I congratulate Frontinus on the outcome of his audit: though he was examined in absentia, he won the more favorable verdict -- acquiring something worth more than a pile of gold, namely your official judgment that he is no scoundrel. And I congratulate myself too, since a good man has been shown to be my companion and friend.
He now comes in person to demonstrate even more clearly how far removed he is from profiteering, and how in everything entrusted to him he has labored without adding a single obol to his own fortune.
Stay true to your own principles and show everyone that it is possible to leave your presence a happy man.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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