Resultados13 letters/passages
synesius_cyrene · c. 409 · score 0.02
To my Brother. How sad that we have only bad news to share when we write. The enemy has occupied Battia, attacked Aprosylis, burned the threshing floors, ravaged the fields, and sold the women into slavery. As for the men — no quarter was given. They used to take the boys alive, but now, I suppose, they do not have eno …
synesius_cyrene · c. 411 · score 0.02
To Anastasius. I have not been able to do anything for the presbyter Evagrius — nor for anyone else who came to me for help during the rule of Andronicus. That man turned our province into a tyranny and made the bishop's office powerless. [This long, detailed letter describes the full extent of Andronicus's crimes and …
synesius_cyrene · c. 412 · score 0.02
To Chryso-. Odysseus, after receiving from Aeolus the stored-up winds, was approaching rocky Ithaca and could already hear the sounds of home — when his companions, thinking the bag held treasure, untied it and unleashed a storm that blew them back across the sea. Something similar has happened to me. I was on the very …
synesius_cyrene · c. 394 · score 0.02
The rest were equally qualified. [Synesius goes on to describe a terrifying storm at sea, with the Jewish captain refusing to steer on the Sabbath even as the ship was being swamped, passengers praying and writing hasty wills, soldiers drawing their swords to die fighting the waves rather than drowning passively, and t …
synesius_cyrene · c. 399 · score 0.02
Against Andronicus [Letter 57]. [This is not a letter but a formal episcopal decree — the longest document in Synesius's correspondence. It is a devastating indictment of Andronicus, a corrupt governor of Pentapolis.] The malevolent forces in the universe fulfill the designs of Providence insofar as they punish the des …
synesius_cyrene · c. 413 · score 0.02
To the Philosopher [Hypatia]. I have produced two books this year. One was inspired by God himself; the other was provoked by the slander of men. Some of those who wear the white or dark robes [perhaps monks or philosophers of different schools] have attacked my work, and I felt compelled to respond. I am sending both …
synesius_cyrene · c. 394 · score 0.01
To my Brother. We set out from Bendideum [near Alexandria] at dawn but had barely passed the Pharian Shoals by noon — our ship ran aground two or three times still inside the harbor. A bad omen from the very start, and it would have been wiser to abandon a vessel that was already unlucky. But we were too ashamed to hav …
synesius_cyrene · c. 394 · score 0.01
To my Brother. Aeschines had already been in his tomb for three days when his niece finally came to visit it. Custom forbids engaged girls from attending funerals, so this was her first appearance. Even then, she arrived dressed in purple with a sheer veil over her hair, decked out in gold and gemstones — apparently so …
synesius_cyrene · c. 396 · score 0.01
To my Brother. The man I foolishly bought as a gymnastics instructor from the heirs of Theodorus was a slave in both name and nature. He was worthless from the start — badly born, badly raised, and trained in vices that matched his character perfectly. From childhood he wallowed in cockfighting, gambling, and tavern dr …
synesius_cyrene · c. 411 · score 0.01
To Theophilus. I act on your instructions because it is my desire — and a divine necessity compels me — to treat as law whatever your sacred throne ordains. For that reason, I forced my sick body into action, traveled through hostile territory as though it were safe, and arrived at Palaebisca and Hydrax — two villages …
synesius_cyrene · c. 408 · score 0.01
To Olympius. I have neglected my duty to pay tribute, but what could I do? Not one of the Greeks settled in Libya is willing to send merchant ships to your waters. At the same time, I release you from your contribution — we are even. [The letter continues with reflections on the good life, the exchange of goods between …
synesius_cyrene · c. 404 · score 0.01
To Troilus. "Even if there is utter forgetfulness of the dead in Hades, I shall remember there my beloved companion" [Homer, Iliad 22.389]. Homer wrote those lines, but I do not know whether they apply more fittingly to Achilles and Patroclus than to me and you. I call God — whom philosophy reveres — to witness: I carr …
synesius_cyrene · c. 412 · score 0.01
To Herculian. One of my slaves has run away. He is not one of those I inherited or who grew up with me — all those have received a free man's education. This one I bought recently, and he was unsuited to household service from the start. He is somewhere in your region. If he turns up, hold him until I can arrange to ha …