To the same person. (361)
Here now is a letter from the emperor as well, declaring that Olympius should suffer no injustice at our hands -- not because your own judgment would not suffice, since it has always sought to ensure that nothing is done outside the bounds of justice. But those who care for the man -- and they are many and powerful -- thought it better to leave no aid untried than to overlook anything. They arranged for the letter and told me to send it, so I could not disobey.
Still, if anything goes our way as a result, we will not forget who holds ultimate authority, nor that the power of such imperial letters depends on your own decision to enforce them or not.
Here now is a letter from the emperor as well, declaring that Olympius should suffer no injustice at our hands -- not because your own judgment would not suffice, since it has always sought to ensure that nothing is done outside the bounds of justice. But those who care for the man -- and they are many and powerful -- thought it better to leave no aid untried than to overlook anything. They arranged for the letter and told me to send it, so I could not disobey.
Still, if anything goes our way as a result, we will not forget who holds ultimate authority, nor that the power of such imperial letters depends on your own decision to enforce them or not.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.