Letter 390: You will plead your case before the worthy Apellion regarding the wrongs you say you have suffered — the noble...

To Arabius. You will plead before Apellion, that excellent man, concerning the wrongs you say you have suffered; for the noble Strategius has appointed him as your judge. The man is both a fellow citizen of mine and one who gives us cause to take pride in him, so resolved is he to be a man of true worth and goodness. When he had learned from us what sort of man you are toward us, he bade me write, and I gladly complied, believing that the verdict of Apellion would prove a refuge for you and for those who belong to you. As for the trial, this is how you ought to think about it: if you are in the wrong, no one stands so high in the judge's regard that through him you will escape paying the penalty; but if the share of justice lies with you, no one is so hostile to you and so powerful that through him you will fail to obtain justice.

Ἀραβίῳ. (355) Παρὰ Ἀπελλίωνι τῷ χρηστῷ περὶ ὧν ἀδικεῖσθαι φῄς ἀγωνιῇ, τοῦτον γὰρ ἀπέδειξέ σοι δικαστὴν ὁ γενναῖος Στρα- τήγιος. ὁ δὲ ἀνὴρ πολίτης τε ἐμὸς καὶ διδοὺς ἡμῖν σεμνύ- νεσθαι· οὕτω καλός τε κἀγαθὸς εἶναι βούλεται. μαθὼν δὲ παρ’ ἡμῶν, ὅστις εἴης πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ἐκέλευσε γράψαι, καὶ ὑπή- κουσα ἄσμενος νομίζων ἔσεσθαι καὶ σοὶ καὶ τοῖς σοῖς κατα- φυγὴν τὴν Ἀπελλίωνος γνώμην. περὶ δὲ τῆς δίκης ὡδί σε χρὴ φρονεῖν· εἰ μὲν ἀδικεῖς, οὐδεὶς οὕτως αἰδέσιμος τῷ δικαστῇ, δι’. ὃν οὐ δώσεις δίκην· εἰ δὲ παρὰ σοὶ τοῦ δικαίου τὸ μέρος, οὐδεὶς οὕτω σοι δυσμενὴς δυνατός, δι’ ὃν οὐ λήψῃ δίκην.