Letters

^A knowing that a single letter from your eloquence is enough to quiet grief, to heal the soul, and to restore vigor to the body, I beg you to continue writing, providing our memory and name, through your letters, both to the men of the present age and to those who come after.

III. TO EUSTRATIUS THE COUNT

If, because of the infirmity of my health, I have also become downcast and have complained of your silence, I do not consider the matter unworthy of pardon: for in a certain way, thoughts are accustomed to grow infirm along with an ailing body. ^B Indeed, I have felt this toward those who are my own kin; for I would never have blamed those who live with me in colored friendship, as they had given me no proof of a sincere disposition from the beginning. But this is sufficient, and it sufficed for healing what had passed. To me, however, the yearning during this time of separation has become even deeper, and looking toward you, I have been affected just as someone thirsty would be, whose appetite is inflamed by some scorching heat. I beseech you, therefore, remember to write something, which may bring me sufficient consolation for our absence through your letters.

IV. TO CYNEGIUS THE COUNT

There is an ancient proverb about those who desire to grow old in a single day. ^C For me, however, old age has been doubled because of the length of time that has passed, with the hope of your arrival among us being deferred by your promises. For I expect that your magnificence will someday come to our city, as to a mother who rightly demands the return of her nurture. If, however, there is any regard for us in you, do not count us second to those who are your friends there; for although we are surpassed by all others in all other respects, we are ready to compete with anyone at all concerning friendship, and most especially when the prize of victory is ^D to enjoy your good things to the full. I beseech you, therefore, casting off all negligence, return to me while

as it was when we sent you off to the Phrygian expedition. But if, by reason of age, your strength has been weakened, listen to your mother, the Church, promising to restore you to your former vigor if you should return to her when called. You will bestow the favor in its entirety if you also arrive bringing with you our most comely daughter and your sweetest children, thus paying your debts with a more generous hand.

V. TO ALYPIUS, CHOREPISCOPUS

^A "Upward flow the sacred streams" (as the saying goes), when your reverence seeks our protection, having the liberty to accord this favor to others by ancient custom. But since you have acted as an envoy to the God-beloved bishop Himerius, and have exerted yourself to secure a reconciliation with us through him, know now that you shall obtain more from us than before, so that you may have the freedom to teach on whatever subjects you wish, and to obtain a favorable reply from us, if you would only urge those under your authority toward good order. For we were not able to hold any grievance against you before; but we were troubled that, having received such training and having been enrolled under such teachers, you showed yourself beneath the estimation held of you by yielding to the impulses of your subordinates. Know, therefore, that you have gained from us a friendship such as you used to have before; but strive to show yourself to be one who knows both how to be governed ^B and how to govern well.

VI. TO GESSIUS, SCHOLASTICUS

"Let a brother be present for a man," says the ancient proverb, as—

NOTES OF LUD. ANT. MURATORI

(5) The mind of this epistle appears to me to be of this sort: Alypius the chorepiscopus had fallen from the favor of Firmus because he had deviated from ecclesiastical discipline and had indulged too much in the wishes of the flock committed to him. So that he might appease the angry bishop and recover the prefecture of souls he previously exercised, he implored the patronage of Bishop Himerius. Relying on this support, he sent letters to Firmus. The latter writes back that he holds Himerius in such high regard that he will confer upon Alypius both his prefecture and his former measure of favor, and indeed even greater things in the future, provided that he persists in right discipline. Chorepiscopi were formerly called vicars of the bishops, distributed throughout dioceses. Many have written much regarding them.

(6) "Upward flow the sacred streams," etc. Taken from Euripides' *Medea*. "Upward flow the sacred streams." By which words, as Erasmus is the author in his *Adagia*, we signify that something is done preposterously and in inverse order. This proverb is used by Lucian in the *Terpsion*, and in his *Apology of the Letter*; and Diogenes the Cynic also used it, as Laertius testifies in his *Life*. Perhaps Firmus was speaking ironically.

(7) Himerius was Bishop of Nicomedia in Bithynia. He was numbered among the supporters of Nestorius, and subscribed to the *Contestation* sent to the holy Cyril and the Ephesine synod on behalf of the same heretic by John of Antioch and his accomplices, as can be seen in the *Synodicon* published by Christian Lupus and Baluze, ch. 7. He was also present at the conciliabulum at Ephesus in A.D. 431, and consented to the condemnation of Cyril of Alexandria. Wherefore he was deposed by the ecumenical synod of Ephesus and deprived of ecclesiastical communion. I would rather piously believe that he repented than assume the contrary. In the aforementioned *Synodicon*, however, an epistle of Theodoret to the same Himerius is cited, ch. 71; and not only that, but two other of Theodoret's epistles, one to Helladius the bishop, and the other to John of Antioch, in which it seems it can be shown that Himerius still persisted in heresy. However that may be, we judge this epistle to have been written before the times of the Ephesine synod, at which time truly the commerce of letters between our Firmus and Himerius could be exercised most holily.

(8) Scholasticus. These were patrons of causes and advocates, whom the Greeks called Scholastici. Many of St. Nilus' epistles exist written to such Scholastici, as well as those of Synesius, who flourished in the same century as Firmus. In this sense, St. Augustine, ch.

as if it were nurtured by nature itself, and bestows the enjoyment of a genuine friendship. And it is not surprising that your learned self has gladly received your brother, who arrived to visit you after a long time. But if, because he professes the military life and happens to be using that practice for his livelihood, he had to depart again, nothing has been taken away from my hope; for he will come back again to those who long for him, if anything should happen according to his own wishes.

VII. TO DIDNIUS

VIII. TO ARMENIUS THE ARCHIATER

IX. TO LAUSUS

to be loved is a worthy man, I say, or friend, or more than others, no differently than Orpheus with his lyre, skilled at drawing those who delight in his company toward himself by his character and speech; except that for Orpheus, honor and glory rested on the art of singing, and in that way, he bound to himself those who came near; but you possess a renowned house, and a multitude of wealth distributed to the needy, and all things greater than words could express as a tribute of honor. I urge you to maintain this attitude and affection toward those who are absent as well, to cherish our memory, and to greet us with letters, so that we may have these epistles as pledges of a sincere friendship. ^B

X. TO GERONTIUS THE PRESBYTER

Since your piety has been away from the city for a long time, it was right that you should have arrived for the feast day, which is the first of all and abounds above all others. But since, now that the infirmity has at last ceased, a certain troublesome leanness has remained with you, as I have learned, hasten to come to us as soon as you have recovered yourself, fulfilling the debt you owe to the Church, lest you stand in need of a second act of generosity for the remedy of your absence. We have received the things you sent, and we marvel at both their quantity and their size: four partridges, a complete pair of foals, and the half of a domestic pig, which in its magnitude surpasses even wild ones, as can be seen in reality, and a jar of old wine. But how much are these things, if we measure them against the necessary meeting of a friend?

XI. TO AUSONIUS THE PRESBYTER

In other matters, moderation is best; but in love, he who has the most is more pleasing to God. Show, therefore, that you are so disposed toward us, by always wishing us well in your prayers, and by writing often, so that these letters may provide solace to us who are separated.

XII. TO HELLADIUS

After a savage storm and the tenth wave, I have seen a calm and (as the saying goes) a white day, having understood that your magnificence— ^C

restitution of the errors. Wherefore, heartened in our spirits, fleeing to the patronage that is our own and familiar, we have been impelled to hope for some solace in our sorrows; if you would deign, in the meantime, to have regard for us and for our fatherland, which is suffering from famine, so that you might ease the burdens of the soldiers that currently trouble us, and ensure that no passage of the army occurs through our territory. For scarcely, even if we should attain these things, shall those of us who are few, having escaped the slaughter of the famine out of the many, remain as survivors. ^B

XIII. TO BISHOP ATTICUS.

You know the ancient Aristides, most holy man; for how could you not know him, being a student of the Athenians and a cultivator of justice? Such, in our judgment, is the most eloquent Olympius, who in prudence indeed surpasses Themistocles, and in rhetoric Pericles, and whosoever else there may have been who surpassed the ancients in that in which any one of them held first place above others; and he shows the same zeal for his fatherland as they did. Consent, with our Church urging it, that he be received, and grant him, for our sake, a share of that humanity which you distribute to all who are in need. ^C

XIV. TO BISHOP ANTHIMUS.

To your mother herself, and to us [who are] joined with your holiness in all sincerity and intimacy, through piety and religion, you have sent your son. Now let it be the work of your prayers before God to petition that, along with his age, his discipline may also increase. For we count the success of the young as our own gain, since in them consists the fruit of both glory and friendship. Drawing a conjecture from your piety, I say not rashly that I hope it will come to pass that those who are to be the heirs of your goods will also obtain the inheritance of glory. ^D

XV. TO BISHOP EVANDRIUS.

A certain man, offering a gift to God from among those who are inclined toward piety, inscribed an epigram upon the offered gift, saying: "I offer Thine own to Thee." I, however, ought to use no epigram in your regard; yet, calling you [index: entries preserved]

[...your] house, your piety, that I may not appear ridiculous, I add my own request, so that my negligence may not provide a pretext for your piety to be absent. And, being entreated, be persuaded to be present at the commemoration of the saints in the Argocni, which you yourself will celebrate even when entreated, and even without entreaty. ^A

XVI. TO THALASSIUS

XVII. TO SOTERICHUS

LUD. ANT. MURATORI'S NOTES

(20) "With the addition of cities." These words seem to hint at cities separated from the government of another and added to Cappadocia; and therefore Firmus says the splendor of the Cæsarean city was increased by right. Or if you read "of one city," namely Cæsarea, you should understand it as an increase or augmentation.

(21) In a similar argument to the previous one, this letter is concerned. Soterichus, at the beginning of his prefecture, had rendered the city of Cæsarea more illustrious with many added ornaments. Hence Firmus gives him many thanks. I believe this Soterichus was Prefect of the Praetorium of the Orient, or at least the vicar of the same prefect in the Pontic diocese, since his power extended thus far, so that he could distract cities from one province and join them to another. Cæsarea was the head of the province of Cappadocia.

XVHI. COLOSIANO. ^A You have by common consent agreed among yourselves to send no letters to us, not noticing what immense consolation letters from friends and necessary companions are to those who are related by such great intimacy and who are set over the affairs of the fatherland. I implore you, therefore, that, changing your mind, you may deign not only to remember us but also to write to us, about to provide for us great relief through your letters. But so that you may not be ignorant of how things are with us, we inform you that, as the sickness is subsiding, we are resuming our journey. ^B

XIX. TO BISHOP ACACIUS. I had hoped to speak with your holiness in person, since I had received a letter as a harbinger of your arrival; I was therefore asking myself the cause of why you could not accomplish this. But when your letter signified how badly you fared when the beast you were riding fell to the ground, I was astonished that you do not travel either in a white carriage or in chariots constructed of bronze, to speak modestly. But you love your Pegasuses too much, although you do not have them winged, but needing spurs for their movement. If, therefore, it is your intention to travel on horseback, preparing for yourself from somewhere else a horse that can carry you more safely and more quickly, resolve to come to us as soon as possible, not allowing the memory of us to be obliterated by a long interval of separation. As for the fish about which I have been silent until now, and which came to us without being requested, it was so great that in its size it surpassed the sea fish, and all the ^C citizens of Melitene of the city of Cappadocia...

LUD. ANT. MURATORI’S NOTES. (22) Since Firmus was expecting Bishop Acacius, the latter wrote back that he had been injured by the fall of the beast on which he was riding, and therefore his journey had been interrupted. Firmus wittily mocks the cause of such things and urges his friend to set out on the journey again. Then he gives thanks for the river fish which he had sent to him as a gift. But it is not easy to divine who this Acacius was, a friend of Firmus and notable for his episcopal office, to whom letter 35 was also sent. For I find that many bishops of the same name flourished in those times, namely the bishop of Beroea, the bishop of the Coelenians, the bishop of Hellas, the bishop of the Scopeni (if indeed this name is not corrupted), and the bishop of Melitene, who flourished at the time of the Council of Ephesus. Others may also be cited, namely the bishop of Antioch minor, the bishop of Ariarathia, the bishop of Cynnensis, the bishop of Proconnesus, who were alive around the year of Christ 450. We might suppose that this letter was written to one Acacius ^D of Melitene, led by the conjecture that Melitene, or Melitine, was close to Cappadocia; and therefore that bishop could have been familiar to Firmus, as one subject to the primate of the Pontic jurisdiction, and joined almost by the close proximity of the locations. Moreover, this Acacius must be considered among the illustrious men: for among the first, and with no one coming between, he subscribed after our Firmus at the Ephesian Synod in the year of Christ 431, and he is there called Acacius, Bishop of Melitene in Armenia. He himself, as is held in the Acts, had previously exhorted Nestorius in that same Ephesian city to the truth, and had contended, although with wasted labor, to lead him unto the straight path. Afterward, however, together with Firmus and other bishops, as we have said in the prolegomena, he was sent from the approved Ephesian Synod to Constantinople to the emperor, and for that reason was subsequently oppressed and deposed by the heretics. There still exist other letters of St. Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, to that same Acacius, in which the concord to be entered into between the Catholics and John of Antioch is discussed. Also other letters written previously by Acacius to St. Cyril, together with another letter from Maximus the deacon to the same Acacius. Now our Acacius was the metropolitan in Armenia Secunda, as the city of Melitene was the capital of the province, and was therefore called Melitenensis; and he was formerly subject to the primate of Caesarea, when it was counted in the Pontic diocese. Certainly, in all the catalogs of Greek bishoprics edited by Jacob Goar at the end of George Codinus, Melitene is referred to Armenia Secunda, if you exclude one of those Catalogs, in which it is read as Armenia Prima. What is it, therefore, that Stephanus in his book *De Urbibus* joins this city to Cappadocia? "Melitene," he says, "a city of Cappadocia; the citizens are called Meliteni." That he may urge his own opinion, Stephanus uses a passage which, however, if we believe Salmasius in *Plinianae Exercitationes*, he did not understand in the least. However Stephanus may have erred in his interpretation of Strabo, it is certain that the city of Melitene was eruditely described by him as being in Cappadocia. For in antiquity the province of Melitene, of which the city of the same name was the capital, was one of the ten provinces or prefectures into which Greater Cappadocia was divided. Pliny, Book V of *Natural History*, chapter 24: "Descusa," he says, "is 75 miles from Zimara. Thence one journeys to Pastonam, 10 miles. Melitene of Cappadocia, 24 miles." But in book VI, chapter 3, he describes the province thus: "A part of Cappadocia stretches toward Greater Armenia; it is called Melitene." From these words you may understand that a close friendship, by reason of the proximity of the locations, could have been entered into between Acacius of Melitene and our Firmus.

to arrive in the city, [being] marked ^A by all the citizens; a gift worthy of your zeal and benevolence toward us.

XX. TO LAUSUS

To those who desire to converse in person, the converse of letters is sufficient and sweet when they happen to be separated by a long distance. And this indeed is what has happened to me regarding your magnificence. For, longing for your company, I have sent an epistle, devising thereby a solace for my desire. If, then, such is the word regarding us among your excellence, continue to be mindful [of us] and to write; for by these things friendship is accustomed to grow.

XXI. TO PLIETHAS

What happens to those who borrow through poverty, namely to add a second debt upon the first, this has now happened to me through infirmity of the body: having been disappointed before of our meeting, I am now unable to bear the labor of the journey. But may your magnificence deign to grant me pardon, and may you deign not only to hold us worthy of your memory, but to respond with the mutual office of letters, lest time, in which we are absent, obliterate our friendship.

XXII. TO BISHOP THEODOTUS (23)

Bringing with him the Greek tongue, and employing the restraint of good character, being also of high birth and showing the proofs of nobility in many ways, this man who has come from the East I myself have received with the testimony of the bishops there, and I commend him to your holiness as he hastens to the great city, that ^C if you deign to receive him kindly, and as is customary and familiar to your godliness, you might make his way easier regarding the matters proposed to him.

XXIII. TO EUTHERIUS

A certain creditor has become troublesome to some who are subject to your godliness, and having found them ungrateful, in place of money he has brought upon them suits and annoyance. On their behalf, he comes as a suppliant, that he may obtain justice. May your holiness command that they be compelled to equity, both granting a favor to us and speeding the course of justice.

[LUD. ANT. MURATORI'S NOTES]

(23) Firmus recommends [someone] coming from the East to Theodotus, the bishop, so that he might be of service to him and show himself benevolent, and assist his affairs in the great city—this being either Constantinople or Antioch. He had brought to Firmus letters from the Eastern bishops, namely "formatae" [canonical letters], by which clerics intending to travel to other dioceses were protected by their own bishops, so that they might be admitted not only to the communion of the sacraments by the other Churches, but also be aided where necessity demanded. Those learned in ecclesiastical matters have handed down many things concerning the rite of these epistles. You may also observe that among the praises of this cleric (for I believe him to have been such) is reckoned his skill in the Greek language. Perhaps he came from a place where the Greek idiom was not in use, or where it was not the custom to speak the Greek language correctly. But who is this Bishop Theodotus? While Firmus was flourishing among the living, there were several bishops of the same name, namely the bishops of Antioch, of Ancyra in Galatia, of the Mysians, and of Nyssa. It seems likely to me, however, that the one of Antioch is signified here, since, as I was saying, by the name of the great city, Firmus undoubtedly understands either Constantinople or Antioch. Theodotus governed the latter city with his episcopal staff. In the former, however, when in A.D. 426 a council was celebrated by Sisinnio, the bishop of Constantinople, he himself was also present, according to the witness of Photius in Codex [C], and of Baluzius in the *Nova collectio conciliorum*.

XXIV. TO CHILO THE BISHOP

You have truly brought spring to us by your letter (as the proverb goes), delivering me not only from the cold and shivering of my body, but also happily lifting up my heart, which had been so pressed down by the grief of those things reported to me, that it was as if a peril hung over all my goods. But since He who adapts His own kindness to the needs of each has granted that I should recover again from illness and send fitting letters in return, I have been filled with good hope, believing that all things will turn out for me according to my desire, now that I have obtained these things.

XXV. TO VOLUSIANUS

Many foolish people indeed procure for themselves those riches which consist in money; but I, in place of money, ^B procure friends. And I understand very well that you are more useful to me than riches are to the wealthy; for you have provided a refuge for this very sweet youth with your magnificence. And I have had no care at all, though my son is traveling abroad, since I commended him to your moderation; for I know clearly how much care you will have for everything, guiding him by your accustomed kindness, correcting his habits, and becoming to this young man as a second homeland: since your purpose is to bestow benefits not only upon your own kin, but upon whosoever else comes to you.

XXVI. TO HELLADIUS

If it fell to the lot of all to attain the friendship of such men, human affairs would easily return to their former simplicity, with kindness and friendship intervening in all things. And you, indeed, have adopted us as friends like so many sons, and continually remember us, and write kindly of us, and do everything that is a sign and proof of genuine intimacy. For these things, therefore, you receive your reward in the fruits of good things from God, to whom what is honorable is pleasing; and from us, the rendering of thanks: for we do not cease to pray that, such being your magnificence, it may increase day by day with greater progress, to our benefit and that of our country.

XXVII. TO OLYMPIUS

Because the letters of your wisdom were honorable and bore forward excellent things about me, the result was that they brought me both longing and pleasure. For I know not how it is, but while I am soothed and delighted by these, even though I am mocked, I approve of the comedy concerning me. But since by the communication of these to me you have offered me Attic honey to taste, see, I pray you, that you do not—to those ^D who by habit have had the abundance of enjoying the best

things once they have begun to taste them, the subsequent deprivation of them is felt more heavily. But if you wish to treat this lack of serious pleasure with these blessings, while thinking less of the matters at hand, and accounting negligence to this beloved man for what has preceded, await from us a correction for what follows. For we shall anoint you not only with oil, but—as if you were an Attic bird ^D—with perfumes.

XXVIII. TO HELION

XXIX. TO FLORENTIUS

XXX. TO ISIDORE

it smells of Attic learning, and imitates the beauty of a spring meadow that depicts a mingled grace to the eyes. It is even overlaid with gold; for we can the more truly express the nobility of its diction by this image. May our Savior keep you, such as you are, for His own Churches as a good ally and an unconquerable protector. ^A

XXXI. TO ELEUSINIUS. Homer, wishing to praise the eagerness of a soldier which is exhibited in the very performance of his duty, introduced the king offering words of encouragement to the soldier as he was already hastening to the battle. But I have determined to incite via letters the hesitation of your wisdom: for the old proverb says that those who love and yearn grow old in a single day; but now we can count not only days, but whole years, while held in expectation. If, therefore, the result should follow, even if late, it will suffice to heal the previous delay. But if you persist in it, see that we do not suffer the evils of the proverb: nourished on promises, but destroyed by famine. ^B

XXXII. TO ECDICIUS. When someone asked Alexander where his riches were, the king showed him his friends, signifying that his treasures were in these. He, being wealthy, as it is fitting for a king to be, seemed to have used dissimulation in his answer; but for me, possessing only these riches and boasting uniquely in my friends, my sole care is to know how great is the benefit that comes from them, and how much these riches surpass the rest. For this is the only possession that can neither be seized by force nor consumed by time, and which, among upright men, however separated by the interval of places, is increased through letters. ^C

XXXIII. TO DOMETIANUS. Our letters bore witness to your prudence just as much as the outcome of the event confirmed it. For as soon as you appeared, you immediately returned having defeated your adversaries, having secured a more illustrious victory than did the son of Peleus over the Trojans in Homer. ^D

LUD. ANT. MURATORI'S NOTES.

Firmus looks to this, where Agamemnon: "Whom he saw of the Danaans of the swift horses hastening, These he would greatly encourage, standing by them with words." But on the other hand, since Eleusinius was delaying to come to him, Firmus our author had decided to provoke him via letters when he could do nothing else, excusing his own impatience with an elegant proverb, specifically that those who love, or yearn, grow old in a single day. He took this proverb from Theocritus, whose verse is in the *Idylls* (x, 2): "Truly those whom love torments, in one day they grow old."

Then he complains that he is forced not only to await Eleusinius for days, but for whole years; although he promises that he will forget the past delay once [Eleusinius] finally comes. But if Eleusinius should further delay his arrival, he says that he is nourished by promises but will eventually be killed by famine, by which words he alludes to another proverb.

(29) In the manuscript the title is not fully written out, as it is only written there as "Domet...". It seemed to me that it could be clearly read as "Dometianus", given that among the letters of Saint Nilus one is written to Dometianus, who I do not know if he has anything in common with ours besides the name. Firmus congratulates this illustrious man because he has routed his adversaries with a most successful outcome. He also promises that he will set out to him, adding I know not what regarding the martyrs.

If my praise is less than your merit, attribute it to ^A the measure of these letters: for who could express a skilfully crafted encomium within the compass of a letter? As for the rest, I will come myself to care for it, and in place of my own zeal for all things, I will accept as companions those who are honored by your prudence—the martyrs whom your memory distinguishes.

XXXIV. TO BISHOP EVANDRIUS

XXXV. TO BISHOP ACACIUS

XXXVI. TO BISHOP LEONTIUS

XXXVII. TO BISHOP CYRIL

...both through public and private letters, I have learned of your holiness. I, however, have hastened to write of what I have experienced; for I seem to be singing the palinode of Stesichorus, desiring those things which I formerly accused at length. For being annoyed at my stay in Ephesus, and desiring to be freed therefrom, I am now constrained by a longing for your holiness to love that very place: so much am I inflamed with desire. But if you also, most dear to God, have any regard for us, write to me, and remember to report briefly what has been devised by friends, and the things themselves, since hope wavers rashly on both sides. ^{A B}

XXXVIII. TO BISHOP VALERIUS

Someone asked Alexander where his treasures were, and he pointed to his friends; for he abounded, as I think, in such men as I too have now found, having gained knowledge of your holiness. I certainly embrace and guard this treasure with care, since its memory of me has been engraved upon the golden column, that is, the heart of your holiness. Keep this for me, therefore, forever, both by deeming me worthy of your memory and by embracing me through letters. But as for the matters that pertain to the business, what need is there to speak? We are still rolling the stone of Sisyphus; and if we sometimes approach the end, the stone falls back to the same place before the peak is surpassed, so that there is no fruit for us from our previous labors. Yet your prayers will take effect, so that this may finally be surmounted, and we may be freed from our troubles, and we may come together to the same place; for I think this will put an end to these long labors. ^C

XXXIX. TO EUSTRATIUS

If I were going to commend an unknown man to your magnificence, I would need to use preambles and a narrative, reporting who he was, and whence, and of what sort, and how much he has surpassed not only those living today but also our ancestors in singing. But since he has often filled you yourself with honest pleasure and delight in divine canticles, I beseech you, in a few words, to make easy for him the things he has undertaken, and that he may, both by his own efforts and with the help of the most magnificent Count, escape the slander framed against him by certain detractors. Therefore, for our sake, exert your efforts and grant him this, so that all contention and stubbornness may be repelled, lest this business brand us with the mark of a feigned friendship; for you will cause grief not only to me, but also to your mother the Church, if you receive this recommendation incidentally and perfunctorily. ^D

NOTES OF LUD. ANT. MURATORI

...certainly, he excelled among the more fervent bishops who were present at the same universal council and condemned the impious Nestorius, and he was always in agreement with Saint Cyril in delivering his opinion, as the Acts of that council clearly testify.

(34) Valerius is mentioned in the subscriptions of the ecumenical council of Chalcedon as bishop of Laodicea in Phoenicia. Whether he is the same as the one to whom Firmus writes is uncertain. It seems to have been the case of Nestorius, which our writer by no means thinks can be amicably composed. Hence, he says that the stone of Sisyphus is turned in vain. If these things are true, we understand that this letter is to be referred to the times of the Ephesine Council.

XL. TO EUPNIUS

It seems that this judgment has been opportunely reserved for this time, to be the retribution for the wrongs committed, with you as the judge presiding over the case. I ask—having learned of all the daring acts he has perpetrated against the other party—that you deign to pursue the matter manfully, to bring aid to the one who has been wronged, to exact penalties from the wrongdoer, and to apply your best efforts to the fulfillment of justice, so that you may appear to have valued this office of mine. ^A

XLI. TO BISHOP HELLADIUS (35)

A wicked little woman, who had once renounced this life, then, on account of her wantonness, fell into every kind of impiety, thinking it a small thing to betray her initial profession, and instead using as an accomplice in her sin one who has partaken in the evil: she has dared to make incursions against this lady, to plunder her property, and to carry off her household servants, leaving no excess of wickedness untried or unattempted in order to add further sins to her previous ones. ^B Now that she has moved to the territory under your God-fearing care, let your Holiness order that she be punished for her denial of Christ and for the crimes she has dared to commit after that time, and let her be excommunicated from all ecclesiastical communion—for good, if you so judge, or if not that, at least until the matter is set right.

XLII. TO BISHOP DANIEL (36)

If the wicked carried the signs of their character on their faces, the person in question would have been sufficient, even without anyone bringing a charge, to appear before your God-fearing presence as a person guilty of the crimes he has dared to commit. For after he had robbed godly men who had chosen a life of gravity, and had taken from them the necessities of life—and from there had fled and migrated to the region subject to your God-fearing authority—you must order that this man be identified and that he restore the property that he carried off and handed it over to those who have arrived. Here, after he has been convicted of all, he shall pay the penalty ^C for the correction of others who have chosen such a way of life. It is sufficient for the removal of injustice that no one should think that by changing locations they can escape punishment, and that it should be clear, both there and among us, that the law is being diligently preserved in its integrity.

XLIII. TO INACHIUS

Our times, too, have produced a Helen (37) of Lacedaemon... ^D

of the causes of war, and having for a short time enjoyed its beauty, I was often impelled to send it back to you, ^A even as the Trojans deliberated concerning the woman of the same name. Indeed, I have persisted up until now in a war longer than that which was waged by them; for anyone who was gripped by the desire for this beauty caused me trouble and business, neither granting any truce nor allowing a brief intermission in the fight, so great was the fervent love that urged everyone toward it. And rightly so. For who would not be likely to be overcome by these fine qualities, which are so well adorned by the bloom of the body, the posture, and the swiftness of foot, that at one stroke all the hares everywhere would fall down, fearing and trembling whenever they might hear of Helen’s expedition against them? But I have freed those living in our mountains from this fear—if indeed any ^B still happens to remain who, by hiding, has been able to escape its speed. You, however, most holy man, admire it with all your might; for any praise, however great, seems to me small if it were to be measured against its fine qualities. Praise the sender, moreover, with a tongue that is engaging, simple, laconic, concise, and clear; for these things most of all are apt to create the beauty of speeches. But I fear lest the hares, already sensing its presence, might take to flight; for as they are sagacious, they are accustomed to practicing a kind of malice, and through their own senses they discern, from the breezes of the wind, the traps set for them by some. ^C Lest this happen therefore, and their attempt succeed according to their desire, it is time for the sally against them to be swifter than their expectation; for in this way they will reproach me as the author of so great a destruction for them, but they will wonder at you as the possessor of such a prize.

XLIV. TO THE SAME

Truly charming, elegant, and full of graces is the letter. Perhaps the mother of the loves herself fashioned it, adorned with a varied composition of names and with meanings. For since the encomium for the dust-footed one [cineripedem] ^D was drawn from the similarity of names, from the country, and from the woman who stirred up war and who was celebrated for her form and beauty, who would not admire its author? But you have also shown us that you yourself are to be numbered among the heroes, outranking them in strength as much as they had a greater store of brave men when they would raise up whole battle lines for war. You, however, sufficed with your own strength.

opposing many, and taking as the prize of victory a certain Helen, or, as one might say, the daughter of the sea-old man. She is such as to run upon the tips of the stalks of grain, not only without leaving footprints, but even mimicking the blasts of the winds. Those who have tried it say that your hawk has granted the hares here such defiance toward us that, through boundless confidence, they forget their own nature and are not even considered hares. But this one will return to you; as for Helen, we will keep her until the time of hunting, and when they are caught, we will mock them and read this letter. But if they escape and find safety, see how we shall struggle against them, convicted of false testimony. And concerning these matters, this is enough. As for the wines, both are of the nectar flowing from the gardens of Zeus, worthy of Homer as laudatory, he who calls it sweet, and unmixed, and a divine drink, and such as he fashioned it, besides much else in the Odyssey, the wine of Maron. ^B

XLV. TO PERGAMIUS THE CHOREPISCOPUS

It is excellent to deem an old man, whose mind is no longer whole, worthy of forgiveness. Furthermore, since you have taken the lead with your kindness, you have been the cause for us also to act benevolently toward the man. Receive him, therefore, keeping this custom: to neither accuse easily, nor to deprecate lightly. ^C

NOTES OF LUDOVICO ANTONIO MURATORI

Maron, that is, I drink the wines of Maron. But let us listen to some Latin writer, namely Pliny, lib. IV (or rather lib. XIV) chap. IV Hist. Nat., where he speaks of the cultivation of vines: "The most ancient fame," he says, "belongs to Maronean wine, produced in the maritime part of Thrace, as Homer is the authority." He then adds: "Homer taught that Maronean wine should be mixed with twenty times as much water." From Homer, therefore, comes the learning which Inachius also hints at in this letter. His verses are in lib. IX of the Odyssey (vers. 196), where Ulysses speaks thus:

"But I had a goatskin of dark wine, Sweet, which Maron, son of Evanthes, gave me."

You would do injustice to Maron, son of Evanthes, who visits the vines in Ismarus, and makes them produce the sweetest wine, planting and traversing them. When the field is seen by the farmers as beautiful, breathing something drinkable and wine-like, it has taken that name from Maron, one of those who made the military expeditions with Dionysus, etc. Cratinus also, in Pollux (lib. VI, chap. 3, segm. 26), commends Maronean wine thus: "Neither will I drink of Maron, nor..." The rest continues:

"But I had a goatskin of dark wine," "Sweet, which Maron, son of Evanthes, gave me." ^D

And below he adds (vers. 203):

"He gave me a mixing-bowl, all of silver; and then" "Wine in twelve amphorae drawn out for all," "Sweet, unmixed, a divine drink," etc.