Resultados25 letters/passages
synesius_cyrene · c. 398 · score 0.02
To Aurelian. Providence has not yet turned its attention to the Romans — but it will, someday. Those men [perhaps the Goths of Gainas] will not sit quietly in their houses forever, they who have the power to save the state. As for our old friend the orator: the power you currently hold is enough to give him what he nee …
synesius_cyrene · c. 411 · score 0.02
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. 411 · score 0.02
To Anysius. Nothing could benefit Pentapolis more than honoring the Unnigardae [a barbarian military unit], who are excellent both as men and as soldiers, above all the other troops — not just the so-called native forces, but every auxiliary unit that has ever been stationed in our region. The proof of their quality is …
synesius_cyrene · c. 407 · score 0.02
To Troilus. If you have heard of the late Maximinianus — he spent a great deal of time at court — you are certainly aware that he was an honorable man. His son is my second cousin, and he will deliver this letter to you. Many others might defer to you out of self-interest, but I trust you for a better reason: your char …
synesius_cyrene · c. 407 · score 0.02
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. 397 · score 0.02
To Uranius. I have just sent you a present: a horse that is perfect in every quality a horse should have. You will find him useful for racing, for hunting, and for leading a triumphal procession after the Libyan victory. I honestly cannot tell you which purpose he is best suited for — the hippodrome, the hunt, the para …
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. 409 · score 0.01
To Simplicius. When you asked Cerialis to bring me your congratulations, you did him an unintended favor — you kept me ignorant for five days of what a contemptible man he is. Our cities had some hope for anyone Simplicius deemed worth knowing. But he quickly disgraced not you — may your reputation never depend on any …
synesius_cyrene · c. 411 · score 0.01
To Anysius. Light and darkness do not wait for each other — by a law of nature, they avoid one another. Returning from seeing you off, we ran straight into Andronicus [the corrupt military commander whom Synesius eventually excommunicated]. The contrast could not have been sharper.
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. 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. 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?
synesius_cyrene · c. 396 · score 0.01
To my Brother. Athanasius has found the shortest road to fortune. He has realized that the key is to go straight to the bedsides of the dying and secure his interests with them — by persuasion or by force. The moment a notary is called in to draft a will, Athanasius barges in right behind him.
synesius_cyrene · c. 409 · score 0.01
To my Brother [Euoptius]. I would be completely lacking in sense if I did not show deep gratitude to the people of Ptolemais, who consider me worthy of an honor I never dared to aspire to. But at the same time, I must examine not the importance of the duties they want to entrust to me, but my own capacity for fulfillin …
synesius_cyrene · c. 408 · score 0.01
To my Brother. May all good things befall the priests of Axomis! While the soldiers were hiding in mountain gorges to save their precious skins, these priests gathered the peasants around them and led them straight from the church door against the enemy. They called on God and raised a trophy of victory in the Myrtle V …
synesius_cyrene · c. 406 · score 0.01
To Pylaemenes. I received your letter in which you again accuse Fortune of mistreating you. You are wrong, dearest friend — it is not fitting to blame Fortune, but rather to console yourself. In your difficulties, you can always come to me. You will be in a brother's house. We are not rich, my good friend, but all we h …
synesius_cyrene · c. 404 · score 0.01
To Joannes. I have come to your assistance many times before. I have softened the blows of fate for you whenever I could, in word and deed. Today, regarding your present situation, I can only offer advice — I am powerless to act. But it would not be right for Synesius, while he lives and has the ability, to hold back f …
synesius_cyrene · c. 403 · score 0.01
To my Brother. Until now I had been happy. Then a wave of misfortune crashed over me, and both public and private affairs are causing me pain. I live, not as a private citizen, in a country that is ravaged by war, and I am obliged constantly to share in everyone's misfortunes. Often I cannot tell where my own grief end …
synesius_cyrene · c. 402 · score 0.01
To Pylaemenes. A man from Phycus — a harbor of the Cyrenaeans — brought me a letter written in your name. I read it with both pleasure and admiration: it deserved both, for its feeling and for the beauty of its language. I immediately assembled the Greek residents of Libya and told them to come hear an eloquent letter. …
synesius_cyrene · c. 401 · score 0.01
To my Brother. How often one sees the same men who are brave in peacetime turn cowardly in battle! They prove themselves worthless everywhere. I think we should all be grateful to war, for it is an exact touchstone of the blood in a man's heart. It strips away many a braggart and returns them to us humbler. We will no …
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 …