To Modestus. (361 AD)
Hear what the bearer of this letter says: he accuses the negligent servants and asks you to correct what has gone wrong. A malicious spirit has seized this business and begrudges the young man his success.
But, my good man, as the verse says, yield not to difficulty, not even before a god — in Zeus's name, don't give in. For us, quite apart from the actual harm, the shame alone would be unbearable if we seemed to have let everything be ruined through negligence, especially when word has spread far and wide that you personally committed yourself to overseeing this matter.
I think the task won't even require much effort. There's no need to win a second favor — only not to forfeit the one already given. That could be achieved with a very few letters. But even if it turns out to be harder than the labors of Olympia, this won't be the first time you've toiled on our behalf.
Hear what the bearer of this letter says: he accuses the negligent servants and asks you to correct what has gone wrong. A malicious spirit has seized this business and begrudges the young man his success.
But, my good man, as the verse says, yield not to difficulty, not even before a god — in Zeus's name, don't give in. For us, quite apart from the actual harm, the shame alone would be unbearable if we seemed to have let everything be ruined through negligence, especially when word has spread far and wide that you personally committed yourself to overseeing this matter.
I think the task won't even require much effort. There's no need to win a second favor — only not to forfeit the one already given. That could be achieved with a very few letters. But even if it turns out to be harder than the labors of Olympia, this won't be the first time you've toiled on our behalf.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.