Letter 145: Miccalus comes to you from Olympius, from home to home -- and from one brother to another, in every real sense.

To Priscianus. (359/60) From one home to another Miccalus has come to you from Olympius, and not from a brother rather than to a brother; and for this reason it seems to me that he despised the wealth among the Paeonians and the luxury that goes with injustice, considering that to be with you would be sweeter to him even than the riches that come from the sea. This, then, is what persuaded him to prefer your office; and you on your part were also finding for him sources of money. For it is fitting that you return with empty hands, but he with full ones. As for what you wrote about poverty, trying to demonstrate that the poverty there is greater than the poverty here, that was the work of one playing the orator, not of one telling the truth. For those who beg among us ask only a moderate sum [as befits a city], but if those who are nearer to dire straits are wealthy by this measure, then we have need of some Oedipus [to solve the riddle].

To Priscianus (359/60) Miccalus has come from home to home, from Olympius to you — and no more from a brother than to a brother. That, it seems to me, is why he has scorned both the wealth to be had in Pannonia and the luxury that comes with injustice, believing that your company will prove sweeter to him than all the riches from the sea. This, then, is what persuaded him to choose your governorship above all else. But you — do find him some means of profit as well. For it is fitting that you return with empty hands, but he with full ones. As for what you wrote about poverty, trying to show that it is worse there than here — that was the work of a rhetorician, not a man telling the truth. The beggars among us are a moderate portion of the city; but if those nearer to real hardship are actually rich by this standard, we shall need some Oedipus to solve the riddle.

Πρισκιανῷ. (359/60) Οἴκοθεν οἴκαδε Μικκαλος παρ’ Ὀλυμπίου πρὸς σὲ καὶ οὐ παρ’ ἀδελφοῦ μᾶλλον ἢ παρ’ ἀδελφόν, ὅθεν μοι δοκεῖ τοῦ τε ἐν Παίοσιν ὑπεριδεῖν πλούτου καὶ τῆς ἐν ἀδικίᾳ τρυφῆς νομίζων τὸ σοὶ συνεῖναι καὶ τῶν χρημάτων αὐτῷ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς θαλάττης ἥδιον ἔσεσθαι. τοῦτον μὲν οὖν τοῦτ’ ἔπεισε προ- κρῖναι τὴν σὴν ἀρχήν, σὺ δ’ αὐτῷ καὶ χρημάτων εὕρισκες πό- ρους. σοὶ μὶν γὰρ κεναῖς, τούτῳ δὲ μεσταῖς ἐπανελθεῖν προσ- ήκει χερσίν. ἃ δὲ περὶ τῆς πενίας ἔγραψας μείζω τὴν ἐκεῖ τῆς τῇδε πειρώμενος δεικνύναι, ῥητορεύοντος, οὐκ ἀληθεύον- τος ἦν. οἴ γέ τοι παρ’ ἡμῖν προσαιτοῦντες πόλεως μέτριον, οἱ δ’ ἐγγυτέρω τῶν δεινῶν εἰ τούτῳ πλουτοῦσιν, Οῖδίπου τινὸς χρῄζομεν.