The surviving fragment is unusually stark, moving from wedding violence to a call for justice through authority.
[The beginning of the letter is fragmentary.] In place of self-control there was wantonness; in place of the bridal chamber, lamentation; in place of lawful persuasion, violence and a sword raised high.
If the man who dared these things had been someone rich or powerful, it would have been dreadful even then. How could it not be dreadful, by Zeus, in a civic order governed by laws, if captivity ruled over us? Still, there might have been some consolation in the matter. But now this is the height of the calamity: the man who dared it cannot even easily be identified by where he comes from, while the suffering has made him all too well known to us.
Stop the lament of those who have suffered, wisest friend. Give the daughter back to her mother's arms, so that the drunken offenders may know that Justice exists and pursues those who do wrong.
Show those who honor self-control that laws are useful when men in authority know how to wage war against vice.
[The beginning of the letter is fragmentary.] In place of self-control there was wantonness; in place of the bridal chamber, lamentation; in place of lawful persuasion, violence and a sword raised high.
If the man who dared these things had been someone rich or powerful, it would have been dreadful even then. How could it not be dreadful, by Zeus, in a civic order governed by laws, if captivity ruled over us? Still, there might have been some consolation in the matter. But now this is the height of the calamity: the man who dared it cannot even easily be identified by where he comes from, while the suffering has made him all too well known to us.
Stop the lament of those who have suffered, wisest friend. Give the daughter back to her mother's arms, so that the drunken offenders may know that Justice exists and pursues those who do wrong.
Show those who honor self-control that laws are useful when men in authority know how to wage war against vice.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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.