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but that gentle and tame disposition, which I with difficulty instilled in you before, and the hopes for your progress, you have made all to vanish. Now, as is natural, you have become wild and such as the law of the country desires. Such things you have received from fortune, you who once philosophized in your poverty. For which reason you linger fondly in your fatherland and you look not to where you will be wiser, but to where you might see the cornfields flourishing. But I, longing for you, blame the Loves, if they are not able to make one soul love in return those who long so much. 76 To Zacharias and Philip, brothers Your letter both showed your goodwill toward us and was not devoid of sound judgment, and each, by the addition of the other, appeared pure; for neither did you wish to have us simply because you longed for us, but if the advantageous were not also present, you considered the sight superfluous, nor, having become very fearful because of the uncertainty of the future, did you forbid us to come to you again, but the manner of your advice was new and fitting for a rhetorical mind, having neither a bold invitation, and being suspicious of dissuasion. But I am so far from boasting and from loving affairs and from envying the good fortune of others, that although I did not fare according to my mind here, I nevertheless endured for so long a time. And now since they promise to do for me moderate things, I do not consider it a godsend on merely light hopes to see the emperor's city, and this though I love tranquility and consider this the one happiness, and have come to think of Byzantium at all only so that I might find provisions for someday being free from affairs and enjoying a more divine life. However, not loving affairs, I propose what seems best. For nothing is to be chosen which does not receive God's nod, and each thing that does not happen shows that it does not have God's approval, just as if something should happen that is not joined with passion, it certainly seemed good to God and has happened. And it is not possible for something that does not seem good to happen, nor for something that has happened not to seem good, so that if any of the promises should proceed, it is necessary, as it seems, to remain, and I have nothing to say against it. But if these are mere words and the necessity for what has not happened is gone, it shows the vote of God as commanding me to go to you. For if not, those things would certainly have existed on account of which I ought to have remained. 77 To Diodorus I thought that you would celebrate the festival of the martyrs with us and would at last grant us the good fortune of the sight of you; but you, even if you see Maiuma in a dream, as it seems, are displeased and, fearing the omen, call the day unlucky. So long ago and from so far has this hatred been instilled in you, that on account of this you are not even willing to see your friends, and you prove that time knows how to increase anger rather than to refute it. These things I always foretold, and these things have happened. For seeing you turning away from the place as well because of those who grieve you, "1alas, alas,"2 I often said, that "1once you have departed from us, you will not wish to see us again."2 But not even Achilles was angry with the Achaeans for so long a time, but after causing grief by his absence he yielded again as was necessary and changed his mind. Nevertheless, I am grateful to Fortune that you do not have Thetis as your mother; for long ago you would have prayed and we would have been destroyed. 78 To Irenaeus For the circle of Zonaeus my goodwill was created, first by you, and after experience of the young men, by their nature. And having met the first through you, finally they thus created my affection on their own account. For seriousness adorns their character, and their nature does not know how to belie their seriousness, so that if you had not happened to inform me beforehand, perhaps I would have divined that they are connected to you by birth, having guessed from the character of their nature. But well done for your family if it knows how to produce such men. Know therefore that my opinion is strong for the young men; but whether I also have the power to serve my zeal, let that lie on the knees of the gods. 79 To Eusebius and Elias I, who both see you with pleasure when you are present and always remember you when you are absent, did not think it right to let this occasion pass in silence; for it is always pleasant to write to you, but to send off our common son without a letter is something neither you would have approved, and I would have been ashamed to do. Therefore, as long as he was with me, I seemed, for the sake of his zeal, to have become his father by nature as well; but now as he goes from us I can only pray to hear from others relating that God has granted for the young man just what you wished

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δὲ πρᾶον ἐκεῖνο καὶ ἥμερον, ὅ σοι μόλις ἐνεποίησα τὸ πρότερον, καὶ τὰς ἐπὶ σοὶ τοῦ προκόψειν ἐλπίδας φροῦδα πάντα πεποίηκας. νῦν ὡς εἰκὸς ὄρειος γέγονας καὶ οἷον ὁ τῆς χώρας βούλεται νόμος. τοιαῦτα παρὰ τῆς τύχης ἀπέλαυσας ὁ παρὰ τὴν πενίαν πάλαι φιλοσοφῶν. ὅθεν ἐμφιλοχωρεῖς τῇ πατρίδι καὶ σκοπεῖς οὐχ ὅθεν ἔσῃ σοφώτερος, ἀλλ' ὅθεν ἂν ἴδοις κομῶντα τὰ λήια. ἐγὼ δέ σε ποθῶν τοὺς Ἔρωτας μέμφομαι, εἰ μὴ δύνανται ψυχὴν μίαν ἀντερᾶν ποιῆσαι τῶν οὕτω ποθούντων. 76 Ζαχαρίαι καὶ Φιλίππωι ἀδελφοῖσ Τὰ ὑμέτερα γράμματα καὶ τὴν εἰς ἡμᾶς εὔνοιαν ἐδήλου καὶ γνώμης οὐκ ἀπήλλακτο σώφρονος, ἑκάτερον δὲ τῇ τοῦ ἑτέρου προσθήκῃ καθαρὸν ὑπεφαίνετο· οὔτε γὰρ ὡς ποθοῦντες ἁπλῶς οὕτως ἔχειν ἡμᾶς ἐβουλήθητε, ἀλλ' εἰ μὴ καὶ τὸ συμφέρον προσείη περιττὴν ἡγεῖσθε τὴν θέαν, οὔτε τῷ τοῦ μέλλοντος ἀδήλῳ περιδεεῖς γεγονότες τὴν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἰέναι πάλιν ἀπηγο ρεύσατε, ἀλλ' ἦν καινὸς ὁ τρόπος τῆς συμβουλῆς καὶ ῥητορικῇ πρέπων ἐννοίᾳ, οὔτε τὸ καλοῦν ἔχων θρασύ, καὶ τὴν ἀποτροπὴν ὑφορώμενος. ἐγὼ δὲ τοσοῦτον ἀπέχω τοῦ κόμπου καὶ πραγμάτων ἐρᾶν καὶ τὴν ἑτέρων εὐδαι μονίαν ζηλοῦν, ὥστε καίπερ οὐ κατὰ νοῦν πράξας ἐνταῦθα, τοσοῦτον ὅμως ἐκαρτέρησα χρόνον. καὶ νῦν ἐπειδήπερ ἐπαγγέλλονταί μοι ποιήσειν τὰ μέτρια, οὐχ ἕρμαιον ἡγοῦμαι κούφαις ἁπλῶς ἐλπίσι βασιλέως πόλιν ἰδεῖν, καὶ ταῦτα τῆς ἡσυχίας ἐρῶν καὶ μίαν ταύτην εὐδαιμονίαν ἡγούμενος καὶ τοῦ Βυζαντίου πρὸς ἔννοιαν ὅλως ἐλθών, ὅπως ἐφόδιον εὕροιμι τοῦ ποτὲ πραγμάτων ἔξω γενέσθαι καὶ θειοτέρας ἀπολαῦσαι ζωῆς. πλὴν οὐκ ἐρῶν τῶν πραγμάτων τίθεμαι τὸ δοκοῦν. οὐδὲν γὰρ αἱρετὸν ὃ μὴ θεοῦ δέχεται νεῦμα, καὶ μὴ γινόμενον ἕκαστον τὸ μὴ θεὸν ἔχειν ἐπαινοῦντα δηλοῖ, ὥσπερ κἄν τι γένηται μὴ πάθει συνεζευγμένον, θεῷ πάντως ἐδόκει καὶ γέγονε. καὶ οὔτε τι μὴ δοκοῦν ἔστι γενέσθαι οὔτε γεγενημένον μὴ δοκεῖν, ὥστε εἴ τι τῶν ἐπηγγελμένων προβαίη, μένειν ὡς ἔοικε δεῖ, καὶ ἀντιλέγειν οὐκ ἔχω. εἰ δὲ λόγοι ταῦτα καὶ οἴχεται ἡ τῶν μὴ γενομένων ἀνάγκη, τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ δείκνυσι ψῆφον ὡς ὑμᾶς ἰέναι κελεύουσαν. εἰ γὰρ μή, ταῦτα πάν τως ἂν ὑπῆρξεν ἐφ' οἷς με μένειν ἐχρῆν. 77 ∆ιοδώρωι Ὤιμην σε τὴν τῶν μαρτύρων παρ' ἡμῖν ἐπιτελέσαι πανήγυριν καὶ διδόναι μόλις ἡμῖν εὐτυχῆσαι τῇ θέᾳ· σὺ δὲ κἂν ὄναρ ἴδῃς τὸν Μαϊουμᾶν, ὡς ἔοικε, δυσχεραίνεις καὶ τὸν οἰωνὸν δεδιὼς ἀποφράδα τὴν ἡμέραν καλεῖς. οὕτω σοι πάλαι καὶ πόρρωθεν τὸ μῖσος ἐνέστακται, ὡς διὰ τοῦτο μηδὲ τοὺς φίλους ἐθέλειν ὁρᾶν, καὶ διελέγχεις τὸν χρόνον αὔξειν τὸν θυμὸν μᾶλλον ἢ διελέγχειν εἰδότα. ταῦτα προὔλεγον ἀεί, ταῦτα καὶ γέγονεν. ὁρῶν γάρ σε διὰ τοὺς λυποῦντας καὶ τὸν τόπον ἀποστρεφόμενον, "1ἰοὺ ἰού"2 πολλάκις ἔφην, ὡς "1ἅπαξ ἡμῶν ἀπαλλαγεὶς οὐκ ἐθελήσεις αὖθις ὁρᾶν"2. ἀλλ' οὐδὲ Ἀχιλλεὺς τοσοῦτον χρόνον ἐθυμοῦτο τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς, ἀλλὰ λυπήσας ἀπὼν εἶξεν αὖθις ὡς ἔδει καὶ μετεβάλετο. χάριν δ' οὖν ὅμως οἶδα τῇ Τύχῃ ὅτι μὴ Θέτιν ἔχεις μητέρα· πάλαι γὰρ ἂν ηὔξω καὶ ἀπολώλειμεν. 78 Εἰρηναίωι Τοῖς περὶ Ζώναιον τὴν ἐμὴν εὔνοιαν ἐνεποίει, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ὑμεῖς, μετὰ δὲ τὴν πεῖραν τῶν νέων ἡ φύσις. καὶ τῶν πρώτων διὰ σὲ τυχόντες, τὸ τελευ ταῖον οὕτω μοι δι' αὑτοὺς ἐνεποίουν τὸν ἔρωτα. κοσμεῖ γὰρ αὐτοὺς τὸν μὲν τρόπον σπουδή, τὴν δὲ σπουδὴν οὐκ ἐλέγχειν οἶδεν ἡ φύσις, ὥστε εἰ μὴ προμηνύσας ἔτυχες, ἴσως ἂν ἐμαντευσάμην ὡς πρὸς σὲ τὸ γένος συν άπτουσι, τῷ χαρακτῆρι τῆς φύσεως στοχασάμενος. ἀλλ' εὖ γε τοῦ σοῦ γένους εἰ τὰ τοιαῦτα τίκτειν ἐπίσταται. τὴν μὲν οὖν ἐμὴν γνώμην ἐρρωμένην ἴσθι τοῖς νέοις· εἰ δὲ καὶ δύναμιν ὑπουργοῦσαν ἔχω τῇ προθυμίᾳ θεῶν ἐν γούνασι κείσθω. 79 Εὐσεβίωι καὶ Ἠλίαι Ἐγὼ καὶ παρόντας ὑμᾶς ἡδέως ὁρῶν καὶ ἀπόντων ἀεὶ μεμνημένος οὐκ ᾠήθην δεῖν σιγῇ τὸν καιρὸν παρελθεῖν· ἀεὶ μὲν γὰρ ὑμῖν ἐπιστέλλειν ἡδύ, τὸν δὲ κοινὸν παῖδα μὴ μετὰ γραμμάτων προπέμπειν οὔτ' ἂν ὑμεῖς ἐπῃνέ σατε, κἀγὼ ποιεῖν ᾐσχυνόμην. ἕως μὲν οὖν μοι παρῆν, σπουδῆς αὐτῷ χάριν ἐδόκουν καὶ φύσει γεγονέναι πατήρ· νυνὶ δὲ τὴν ἐξ ἡμῶν ἰόντι μόνον εὔχεσθαι δύναμαι διηγουμένων ἄλλων ἀκούειν, ὡς οἷον ἐβούλου τὸν νέον θεὸς ἐπ ένευσεν