Letter of Ammonius to his Parents

From Ammonius to Demetria, his mother, and Dius, his father, greetings. The letter of my brother Theon should have been enough, in which he informed you that, having got a chill deep within and a general weakness of the body, which made us all worry greatly, he immediately recovered, thanks to the gods, and was in perfect form again, so that he even bathed on that very same day, and no residue of his illness still remains. I swear to all the gods that these things that I am sending you are very true. In order that . . . you would . . . that he sent his letter to you just to please you, I have also written. However, in order that you 〈do not〉 hear about this from one of those people who have the habit of not telling the truth, I thought it necessary to let you know of this before they did. . . . Therefore, do not be upset, since Theon, my brother, is in perfect condition and carries out all his usual activities. Your daughter and my brother Sotas send you their greetings. Give my best to Ptolemaeus and Antiochus, my brothers. I wish you good health, my most honoured (parents), and good fortune to the entire household . . . I swear that my bother Theon is very well and doing his usual activities. (illegible remains of the address followed by) from Ammonius, (ex-?)gymnasiarch. (M. Malouta)