Letter 694: If justice were done, you would have held that office long ago, and by now you would hold one even greater.

If justice were done, you would have held that office long ago, and by now you would hold one even greater. But Fortune, I think, takes pleasure in giving less to better men and more to worse ones, and she keeps at it as though afraid we might forget how powerful she is. You know perfectly well that I enjoy speaking to you and that you enjoy listening -- you know how to leap with excitement when I am talking. But the sheer volume of my business has not allowed for a volume of letters. There are many people I must help, and those who have already bypassed the influence of many powerful men come running to my weakness instead, driven by an absurd impulse -- seeking a fig-wood shield when they need the armor of Hermione [proverbial for seeking weak help when strong help is needed]. I have no choice but to make myself available -- what else could one do? I manage to help those with small requests, but time is consumed, and the letters you want from me never come in the quantity you would wish.

Ἰουλιανῷ. (362) Εἰ τι τῶν δικαίων ἐγίγνετο, πάλαι μὲν ἐπ’ ἐκείνης ἂν ἦσθα τῆς ἀρχῆς, νῦν δὲ ἐπὶ μείζονος ἢ κατ’ ἐκείνην ἐξουσίας. ἀλλ’, οἶμαι, τέρπεται ἡ Τύχη τοῖς μὲν ἀμείνοσιν ἐλάττω όι- οἰδοῦσα, τοῖς δὲ φαυλοτέροις μείζω καὶ διατελεῖ δὴ τοῦτο ποι- 9γΠβ,qη.Var,πέ.kο(Rπέ.SΙέ(ξέ).Βιέ- οὖσα καθάπερ φοβουμένη μὴ τῆς ἰσχύος αὑτῆς ἐπιλαθώμεθα. ἐγὼ δὲ ὅτι μὲν ὁμοίως ἡδέως καὶ λέγω καὶ τῆς σῆς ἀκοῆς τυγχάνω — καὶ γὰρ οἶσθα πηδᾶν λέγοντος — οὐκ ἀγνοεῖς· πλῆθος δὲ ἐπιστολῶν τὸ τῶν πραγμάτων πλῆθος οὐκ ἀφῆκε γενέσθαι. πολλοὶ μὲν γὰρ οἷς δεῖ βοηθεῖν, οἱ δ’ ὑπερπηδῶντες πολλῶν δυνάμεις ἐπὶ τὴν ἐμὴν καταφεύγουσιν ἀσθένειαν ἀτόπῳ κεχρημένοι πάθει, συκίνην ἀνθ’ Ἑρμιόνος ζητοῦντες ἐπικουρίαν. ἐμοὶ δὲ ἀνάγκη παρέχειν ἐμαυτόν, τί γὰρ ἄν τις καὶ ποιοῖ; ἔπειτα μικρὰ δεομένων μὲν ὠφελῶ, χρόνος δὲ ἀναλίσκεται, γράμματα δὲ ὑμῖν οὐχ ὅσα βούλεσθε γίγνεται.