Resultados25 letters/passages
synesius_cyrene · c. 403 · score 0.02
To Pentadius the Augustalis [the governor of Egypt]. As for the flood of people coming to see both you and me about their problems — you have only yourself to blame. You have been too zealous in making it obvious to everyone that you hold me in high honor, and the result is a perfect deluge of people in trouble beating …
synesius_cyrene · c. 411 · score 0.02
… gn to have him excommunicated and removed. It is addressed to Anastasius at the imperial court in Constantinople, in hopes that the central government will finally intervene. The letter reveals the desperate situation of a provincial bishop in a collapsing frontier zone — caught between barbarian raiders from outside, …
synesius_cyrene · c. 400 · score 0.02
To the Bishops. Andronicus of Berenice — let no one call him a Christian, for he was born, raised, and grew up to be the evil destiny of Pentapolis, having seized the government of his country for his own profit — is accursed of God. Let him and his entire household be expelled from every church. The reason is not mere …
synesius_cyrene · c. 404 · score 0.02
To the Governor. If Your Excellency remembers Theodorus — and how could you not? — I beg you to show some respect for his memory by honoring his kinsman in the same way. By treating an excellent man with kindness, you will confer a favor on the senate of our illustrious city.
synesius_cyrene · c. 403 · score 0.02
To Pentadius the Augustalis. I am worried about two people: about you, that you may not commit an injustice; and about this man, that he may not suffer one.
synesius_cyrene · c. 402 · score 0.02
To my Brother. I have entrusted a letter to the charming Gerontius, addressed to your august and thrice-longed-for self, providing an occasion for your first meeting. At first, perhaps, you will honor him for my sake. But after you have tested him, you will honor someone else for his.
synesius_cyrene · c. 399 · score 0.01
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. 411 · score 0.01
To the Bishops. Let Andronicus [a notoriously corrupt local official], who has made a mockery of the Church, now experience her justice. Just yesterday he sinned against God and insulted humanity. For this we closed the church against him and drafted a letter to your brotherhood announcing the sentence. He anticipated …
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. 401 · score 0.01
To my Brother. Who deserves the admiration of your peers? The man who is prudent, orderly, well educated, and devout. In a word: a man like Gerontius. Here he is, along with this letter. Once you have made his acquaintance, you will say my praise was not exaggerated.
synesius_cyrene · c. 412 · score 0.01
To the Bishops. "It is better to trust in God than to trust in man" [Psalm 97:8]. Even so, I hear that the followers of the godless heresy of Eunomius [an extreme Arian theologian who denied any similarity between Father and Son] are putting forward a certain Quintianus and boasting about their influence at court, with …
synesius_cyrene · c. 407 · score 0.01
To the Doctor Theodorus. Scarcity of food is a blessing forced upon us. Someone else might scoff at the idea, but you cannot — you are the admirer of Hippocrates, who declared that want is the mother of health.
synesius_cyrene · c. 407 · score 0.01
To Joannes. If you want to live without fear, you should fear the law. But you have always been too proud even to seem afraid of it. At the very least, fear your enemies — and with them, fear the judges, if they are honest. Even if they are corrupt, you should still fear them: once a man with a deeper purse comes along …
synesius_cyrene · c. 412 · score 0.01
To Anysius. So this is how sons defend their fathers! I thank you for it. Carnas came to me as a suppliant, and God himself made the plea sacred. How can a priest ignore the arrest of a man — on his own warrant, no less — during a day of fasting? Whoever brought him did not hand him over willingly; he was taken by forc …
synesius_cyrene · c. 413 · score 0.01
To the General. Praise is the reward of virtue, and we offer it now to the most illustrious Marcellinus [a man of senatorial rank], at this moment when he is leaving his post — precisely when there can be no suspicion of flattery. When he arrived here, he found our cities attacked from without by hordes of barbarians a …
synesius_cyrene · c. 411 · score 0.01
To Theophilus. The Olbiates — a village community — were required to elect a bishop to replace the blessed father Athamas, who died after a long life in the priesthood. They called me in to take part in their deliberations. I complimented the people on having so many worthy candidates to choose from — a sign of a healt …
synesius_cyrene · c. 405 · score 0.01
To my Brother. You must be joking when you say you want to stop us from manufacturing weapons — while the enemy holds our country, plunders everything, and slaughters entire populations every day, and we have no soldiers to be seen anywhere. Are we supposed to wait patiently to be killed? If a man may not forge a sword …
synesius_cyrene · c. 405 · score 0.01
To my Brother. I have acquired three hundred lances and the same number of scimitars. As for double-edged swords, I never had more than ten — they do not manufacture those long iron weapons in our country. But I think the scimitars strike the enemy's bodies with a more devastating blow anyway. [The letter continues wit …
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. 403 · score 0.01
To my Brother. You think I am inclined to yield to your wishes — at least that is what you write. You are right. How grateful I am to you, if an elder brother may admit owing gratitude to a younger one for obedience — something I can barely bring myself to believe. But it is enough for me that you recognize my situatio …
synesius_cyrene · c. 411 · score 0.01
To Troilus. Even if neither the people of Cyrene nor the neighboring towns give you the gratitude you deserve for the fact that the great Anastasius writes to them through your efforts — God's grace will be with you regardless, since you have played your part in forwarding good works. Be happy, most excellent of philos …
synesius_cyrene · c. 398 · score 0.01
To my Brother. A long letter to you would suggest that the messenger is a stranger to us. But my good friend Acacius is as well informed as I am, and he will tell you even more than he knows — because he is very fond of you and has a tongue that tends to outrun the facts. So I am keeping this letter short, less out of …
synesius_cyrene · c. 394 · score 0.01
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. 402 · score 0.01
To Heliodorus. May every blessing fall on the man — whoever he is — who extols your merit with such pious devotion. He has filled everyone's ears with praise of your golden heart and your eloquent tongue. And you are promptly repaying his good work: your praise of him is bringing him the admiration of countless people …
synesius_cyrene · c. 397 · score 0.01
To my Brother. Longing and necessity are both pulling me toward you. Tell me: will you be there if I come?