Letter 49: Domnus -- the man whose penalty you deferred by advising him to appeal to the emperor's mercy for relief -- has done...

To Modestus. (359) Domnus -- the man whose penalty you deferred by advising him to appeal to the emperor's mercy for relief -- has done so and has received that mercy. But he needs you to confirm it. So keep your own principle -- or, if you prefer, the principle of Zeus himself, which is that promises should be free of deceit -- and preserve Domnus's farm for him. That farm is the source of all his hopes for food.

**To Modestus** (359) That Domnus, for whom you deferred the penalty by ordering him to take refuge in the emperor's clemency for his relief — he has done so, and has obtained mercy. But he needs you to confirm that mercy for him. Keep, then, your own law — or if you prefer, the law of Zeus — which is that promises be free of deceit, and preserve for Domnus his estate, from which come his hopes of sustenance.

Μοδέστῳ. (359) Δόμνος ἐκεῖνος, ᾧ τὴν ζημίαν ἀνεβάλου κελεύσας εἰς τὴν βασιλέως πρᾳότητα καταφεύγειν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀπαλλαγῆς, τὸ μὲν πεποίηκε καὶ τετύχηκεν ἐλέου, δεῖται δέ σου τοῦτον αὐτῶ βεβαιῶσαι τὸν ἔλεον. φυλάττων δὴ τὸν σαυτοῦ νόμον, εἰ δὲ βούλει, τὸν τοῦ Διός, ὁ δέ ἐστιν ἀπεῖναι τῶν ὑποσχέσεων ἀπάτην, τήρησον Δόμνῳ τὸν ἀγρόν, ὅθεν αἱ τῆς τροφῆς ἐλπίδες.