Letter 667: If you did not already know from what length of time and through how many acts the friendship between us and our...

To Julian. (361) If you did not yourself already know from how long a time and through how many deeds our friendship with the worthy Macedonius both arose and grew, this is the first thing I would have been teaching you; but since you know the things that have brought it about, it would no longer appear remarkable if I think I must help him by letter, I who would not even flee a danger undertaken on behalf of friends. What has persuaded me to ask a favor is not that you grant favors both readily and all of them, but that this one is both fine and just, and that you know how to grant such favors; for whoever would not grant his friends even those favors which no blame could touch, that man lays hold of the daughter of Zeus, who keeps the Graces in her forecourt. But that you will be granting a favor to those who ask for no base thing is, I suppose, clear to everyone; consider, then, whether what we require can fail to be among the shameful things. Macedonius is marrying a woman who had a child from a former marriage, but the child has died. We wish, then, that the mother of the child should become the heir of the child's property in place of the grandfather, the grandfather being persuaded to make use of his sense of honor and to set aside the law, while looking instead to the praise he will earn. Yours, therefore, is the contest: to persuade the man that it is a greater gain not to take such things than to take them. And you will be persuasive on both counts, both from your ability to speak and from the dignity of your office. I hear, too, that the old man delights in good repute and considers not so much what he will acquire as what he will hear said of him. Do not, then, shrink from summoning him and conversing with him and arranging a deed more humane than the law; and do not think you will find any excuse with us, either by considering that speeches on behalf of such matters are not within your power, or by taking refuge in your having been unable to persuade him. For it would be far from shameful if you became responsible for the mother's gaining money and for that woman's father gaining a good name; and every speech that comes from you masters the hearer with all its force.

Ἰουλιανῷ. (361) Εἰ μὴ καὶ αὐτὸς ᾔδεις, ἐξ ὅσου χρόνου καὶ δι’ ὅσων ἔργων καὶ συνέστη καὶ ηὐξήθη ἡ πρὸς τὸν χρηστὸν ἡμῖν Μα- γεδόνιον φιλία, τοῦτο πρῶτον ἐδίδασκον ἄν· εἰδότι δὲ τὰ πεποιηκότα ταύτην οὐκέτ’ ἂν φανείη θαυμαστὸν εἰ βοηθεῖν οἶμαι δεῖν διὰ γραμμάτων, ὃς οὐδὲ κίνδυνον φύγοιμ’ ἂν τὸν ὑπὲρ φίλων πέπεικε δέ με χάριν αἰτεῖν οὐ τὸ σὲ διδόναι καὶ ῥᾳδίως καὶ πάσας, ἀλλὰ τὸ τὴν μὲν εἶναι καὶ καλὴν καὶ δικαίαν, σὲ δὲ εἰδέναι τὰς τοιαύτας διδόναι· ὡς ὅστις οὐδ’ ἂν τούτων δοίη τοῖς φίλοις, ὧν οὐκ ἂν ἅψαιτο μέμψις, οὗτος ἐπιλαμβάνεται τῆς τοῦ Δῖός θυγατρός, ἣ τὰς Χάριτας ἐν προπυλαίοις ἔχει. ἀλλ’ ὅτι μὲν οὐ φαῦλα αἰτοῦσι χαριῇ, παντί που δῆλον· σκόπει δὲ ὧν χρῇζομεν εἰ δύναται μὴ τῶν αἰσχρῶν εἶναι. γαμεῖ γυναῖκα Μακεδόνιος, ᾗ παιδίον ἦν ἐκ προτέρων γάμων, τὸ δὲ οἴχεται. βουλόμεθα δὴ κληρο- νόμον ἀντὶ τοῦ πάππου τῶν τοῦ παιδίου γενέσθαι τὴν τοῦ παιδίου μητέρα πειθομένου γε τοῦ πάππου χρήσασθαι φιλο- τιμίᾳ καὶ τὸν μὲν νόμον ἀφιέντος, πρὸς δὲ τὸν ἔπαινον βλέ- ποντος. σὸς τοίνυν ὁ ἆθλος πεῖσαι τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὅτι μεῖζον κέρδος μὴ λαβεῖν τὰ τοιαῦτα ἢ λαβεῖν. ἔσῃ δὲ ἀμ- φοτέρωθεν πιθανός, ἔκ τε τοῦ δύνασθαι λέγειν καὶ τοῦ σχή- μάτος τῆς ἀρχῆς. ἀκούω δὲ καὶ τὸν πρεσβύτην εὐφημίᾳ τε χαίρειν καὶ σκοπεῖν οὐχ ὅ τι κτήσεται μᾶλλον ἢ ὅ τι ἀκούσεται. μὴ τοίνυν ὀκνήσῃς καὶ καλέσαι καἰ διαλεχθῆναι καὶ κα- τασκευάσαι πρᾶξιν φιλανθρωποτέραν νόμου μηδ’ οἴου πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἀπολογίαν εὑρήσειν ἢ μὴ σαυτοῦ νομίζων τοὺς ὑπὲρ τοιούτων λόγους ἢ καταφεύγων εἰς τὸ μὴ δεδυνῆσθαι πεῖσαι. πόρρω τε γὰρ αἰσχύνης, εἰ τῇ τεκούσῃ μὲν χρημάτων, τῷ πατρὶ δὲ ἐκείνης παραίτιος γένοιο δόξης, καὶ λόγος ἅπας [<ὁ> παρὰ σοῦ μετὰ πάσης ἰσχύος τὸν ἀκούοντα χειροῦται.