A ruin, I say, it has collapsed. It had already begun to struggle against various calamities seven years ago, but just like an animal dying in agony, it was still gathering and holding onto the remnants of its spirit. Blessed be the memory of Anysius! For he added a year to that time, by making fortunate use of the shields of all those people, but specifically the hands of the Unnigardae. And so, the calamity was delayed to some degree. For they did not roam the region in massed ranks; they turned to banditry, fleeing and raiding time and again. However, after they B fought three pitched battles and changed their strategy, the cavalry now holds the open fields, and the soldiers are kept within the walls, scattered here and there—a misfortune like that which happened in the time of Cerealis—unable to be of any help to one another because they have not been gathered together and forced into a single body. Hence, the enemy’s situation is bright and prosperous, for those who last year were mere light infantry, ready to flee, are now besiegers of cities. Now that they have torn down the walls of the villages, they surround the cities themselves with a regular army. For what has not succeeded for them? The Ausurians put on the breastplates of the Thracian cavalry, not because they had need of them, but to mock their appearance; and thereafter they used the shields of the Marcomanni. C The Roman legion has been reduced to light-armed skirmishers, men who indeed attained their safety through the pity of the enemy. I weep for these men; I do not reproach them for their disaster. For what could the Unnigardae do against much larger forces when they themselves encountered them scattered in shreds? Thus, as far as God, virtue, and skill in arms were concerned, they are safe and sound. But as for their commanders, what great evil could they possibly inflict upon the enemy, to whom those who lead them do not willingly commit them? Rather, if they ever burst forth like whelps, they immediately drag them back again, calling them off before they have had their fill D of running and of wild slaughter. And yet, the Unnigardae also have need of a rearguard and a well-ordered army. For it is necessary, in my opinion, for a phalanx, like a strong sword, to have its liveliest part placed in the van, and its weightier part held in reserve. For that is how a blow penetrates more deeply. And to speak in a single word, their entire multitude is too small to be able to sustain that war, which, if it could, might be well fought in our parts. But unless someone transports the Unnigardae into their territory, one needs a hundred-fold more men to oppose them; or rather, one ought to have had such a multitude, and a commander, before we were completely ruined, before the enemy’s resources had grown to this extent. In these final days, even women have joined the campaign. I have seen, I have seen—often—women carrying knives, and at the same time nursing infants. Who would not envy such a risk-free war? I fear for myself, I am ashamed for our times, for the Caesars, for the state. What has become of the old Roman spirit? They who conquered everything, everywhere; they who bound the continents with their trophies [or: victory monuments], now...
B, now—thanks to an unhappy and scattered race—have been brought to such a pass that there is danger they might lose not only the Greek cities but even the African ones, and Alexandria herself, which is in Egypt! The latter is certainly of greater importance as far as financial considerations go, but the former is no less significant in respect to splendor and glory, if anyone has any sense of shame left and retains any regard for decorum and honor. O such audacity, by which—trusting in these as if they were nets—they have encompassed the entire province! No mountain was too steep for them to approach, no fortress was sufficiently fortified; they have wandered through every region, thoroughly searched everything, and reduced every age to servitude. I have heard one of the chroniclers of old writing thus: "WOMEN C AND CHILDREN WERE LEFT AS A SIGN OF DESTRUCTION AND OVERTHROW." But at Pentapolis it happened quite differently. For what possession is more convenient for an Ausurian than a woman or an infant? So that the women may bear children for them, and they, as soon as they have grown, may be led off to war together. For they are more disposed in spirit toward those who nourish them than toward their own parents. O miserable colony that we are propagating! A captive youth is driven off to increase the armies of the enemy. The hostile people will eventually return against our fatherland. The same field will be ravaged and cut down by the youth who, while he was still a boy, had cultivated it along with his father. He is now on the road; he is now being led away; the youth of Pentapolis is even now in chains; and there is no one who brings them aid, or is able to do so. Nor, indeed, do those Alexandrians allow it, who, to the great misfortune of Pentapolis, have served as soldiers there. For what reason is there for anyone to blame the innocent man, whose advanced age and the long-standing onset of illness have earned him pardon? And yet it would have been most easy—if only we had an abundance of good commanders—to exact punishment for impiety from an insolent army that had offended God. What holy things, what consecrated objects did they spare D? Did they not heap up the fresh mounds of graves in many places throughout the field of the Barcaeans? Did they not leave the churches throughout our Ampelitis everywhere burnt and in ruins? Did they not set our holy tables before them as if they were profane, for the carving of meat? And did they not carry off the sacred vessels—which had been used for the liturgical, creative, and divine offering—to the demons in the enemy's land? What is there in these things that it is tolerable for a pious ear to hear? For whoever deems himself worthy of remembrance, having shaken down fortresses, having carried off the equipment, the furniture, the oxen, the sheep, and everything that was left behind by the barbarian raids and hidden in the ravines—such a one, in such great calamities, does not escape the charge of pettiness. And yet they carried off their spoils on five thousand camels. By a simple count they multiply the booty threefold with the addition of the captives, becoming that much greater. Pentapolis has died—it has reached its end; it has been handled and ruined; it exists no longer, either for us or for the emperor. For it could no longer become a possession of the emperor, from whom nothing can be brought back.
For who shall bring back fruits from the desert? I have no fatherland which I shall abandon. For there is a ship beside me, so that I may not already be upon the sea, or circumnavigating an island [(5)]. For I do not trust Egypt; for even there, a camel can cross, carrying an Ausurian soldier. I shall dwell as an islander, a poor man instead of a landowner, a sojourner less honorable than a citizen of Cythera. For I am learning through my labors that Cythera is situated beyond the Pentapolis. There, perhaps, the south winds will carry me; I shall live among them, a stranger and a wanderer. And if I attempt to speak about my nobility, they will not believe me.
B Alas for Cyrene, whose public records trace my lineage back to the descendants of Hercules! For I would not appear foolish were I to lament the nobility transmitted thence among those who know. Alas for those Doric tombs, in which I shall have no share! Alas for unhappy Ptolemais, whose priest I have been the last of all! But this calamity clings to my soul. I can say nothing more; tears impede my tongue. I am entirely fixed upon the thought that the holy places must be abandoned by me.
Indeed, I ought to withdraw from here by ship; but when someone calls me to board the vessel, I shall request that he wait a little while. For I shall go first to the temple of God; I shall circle the altar; I shall bedew the most precious floor with my tears. I will not depart before I have kissed that door and that throne. O how often shall I call upon the faith of God, and turn my face! O how often shall I lay my hands upon the railings! C But necessity is a harsh and violent thing. I desire to grant my eyes a sleep undisturbed by any blaring of trumpets. How long, then, shall I stand at the bulwark of the walls? How long shall I guard the interspaces of the towers? I am exhausted by the arranging of nightly watches, and in turn, by guarding others myself, and being guarded by others. And I, who many a time have spent the night wide-awake in contemplation of the rising of the stars, am now tired of keeping watch for the incursions of the enemy. We sleep by measured water, and the portion that falls to my lot for sleep is often taken away by the guard-bell [(6)]. And if I close my eyes for a little while, O what wretched dreams! To what things do they send us, along with the cares of the day! To cease from labors is but to begin new labors. We flee, we are captured, we are wounded, we are bound. D
we are being sold off. How often have I risen gladly, because I had left my master behind! How often have I risen short of breath, glistening with sweat, having abandoned at once both my sleep and the race, in which I was fleeing from the armed enemy soldier! To us alone does Hesiod seem to have said nothing, when he leaves Hope inside the jar; for we are all discouraged and despairing. That proverbial life 7—which is no life at all—is nothing other, sirs, than this very one we are living. Why the delay? Why do we hesitate? Pentapolis has become hateful to God. We are delivered overover to punishments. For the locust is by no means the sharper or more grievous evil, but that fire which, before the enemy, consumed the crops of the three cities. What is the end of these evils? If the islands are free and exempt from these things, I, for one, whenever the sea calms down, shall set sail. But I fear lest the disaster should overtake me first. For the lady of the assault draws near; they say that inside the city the winged messenger has B arrived, he who leads the enemy army. Most of all, that is the moment when the priest will show that the race to the courts of God is necessary, when the danger is upon the very skin of the city. I shall remain in my place in the church. I shall stand before the all-holy lustral waters. I shall embrace the holy columns which support the table that is pure and uncontaminated by earth; there I shall sit while I live, and there I shall lie once I am dead. I am a minister of God, and a priest, and perhaps it is fitting for me to sacrifice my very soul to Him. And surely God will not overlook that bloodless altar being defiled by the blood of a priest.
In speech excelling, and in deeds foremost, Whom all learning, Thalelaeus, becomes 8.
THE CONSTITUTIO OF SYNESIUS OF CYRENE
C I, having chosen a life of philosophy that is not sequestered, and since the most humane religion draws one toward a life of social fellowship, have obeyed your call, and I rejoice D that I have learned for what reasons the cities have 305 gathered together. For I believe it is of advantage to them even now...