Letter 157: A pious poor man needs legal allies, lower court expenses, and swift judgment.
The most God-fearing man here has come to me after suffering a great deal from a most wicked brother. He thinks he would have moderate justice if he could at last recover what he has been deprived of. For this reason, through me, he takes refuge in your influence, which can commend him to the judge, provide powerful allies for him, and reduce the expenses of the court. He barely has enough for his own food from contributions. Please also arrange for a swift judgment in his case. He asks a simple thing: that his opponent resolve by oath the charges being brought. Bring your great zeal and very graceful tongue, flowing freely for justice, as an adequate contribution for his support: pleasing to God, gratifying to those who ask, and sufficient for those in need.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
Σοσιανῶι Ὁ θεοσεβέστατος ὁ δεῖνα ἀφίκετο πρὸς ἡμᾶς πλεῖστα μὲν ἐξ ἀδελφοῦ πονηροτάτου παθών, δίκην δὲ μετρίαν ἡγούμενος εἰ τυχεῖν δυνηθείη μόλις ὧν ἀπεστέρηται. ὅθεν δι' ἐμοῦ πρὸς τὴν ὑμετέραν καταφεύγει ῥοπὴν καὶ συστῆσαι δυναμένην τῷ δικαστῇ καὶ τοὺς μέγα δυναμένους πρὸς συμμα χίαν αὐτῷ παρασχεῖν καὶ τὰς ἐκ τοῦ δικαστηρίου περικόψαι δαπάνας. μόλις γὰρ ἐξ ἐράνων ἀρκεῖ πρὸς τὴν ἰδίαν τροφήν. ἀλλὰ καὶ σύντομον αὐτῷ τὴν ψῆφον ἐνεχθῆναι παρασκευάσατε. ἁπλᾶ γὰρ αἰτεῖ, τὸν ἀντίδικον ὅρκῳ διαλῦσαι τὰ περὶ τῶν ἐπαγομένων ἐγκλήματα. πρὸς ταύτην τὴν πολλὴν ὑμῶν σπουδὴν καὶ χαριεστάτην γλῶσσαν καὶ ῥέουσαν ἐπὶ δικαίοις ἀκω λύτῳ φορᾷ πρὸς συμμαχίαν ἱκανὴν ἀντ' ἐράνου τινὸς εἰσενέγκατε, θεῷ τε φίλην καὶ τοῖς αἰτοῦσι κεχαρισμένην καὶ τοῖς δεομένοις ἀρκοῦσαν.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern procopius gaza batch9 matia greek v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://www.matia.gr/pisth/pdf/pg_migne/Procopius_of_Gaza_PG_87a-87c/Epistulae.pdf
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