Letter 180

180. To Sophronius the Master, on behalf of Eumathius

Having met a man of worth caught in an intolerable predicament, I was grieved in soul. For how, being a man myself, could I fail to share the pain of a free man entangled, beyond his deserts, in such troubles? And taking thought how I might be of use to him, I found one remedy for the difficulty that holds him fast — to make it known to your excellency. The rest, then, is yours: to extend to him also that zeal of yours which, with us as witnesses, you have shown toward many.

The matter itself will be made known by the petition he has presented to the emperors, which we ask you to take into your hands and, as far as you are able, to help the man forward. For you will be doing a favour to a Christian, a man of noble birth, and one who carries the dignity that great learning confers. And if we add that we too receive a great favour through the kindness done to him, then surely — even though our own weight is otherwise slight — since your dignity always deigns to hold our affairs in account, what is granted to us will appear no small thing.