23

therefore, show yourselves to be of little account concerning other things and to others (for I pray that you may be capable along with kindness), but for us, strive in the good contest, to see who will conquer the other in reverence and with the blessings due from God to the right-minded. 61.9 Persuade us then that you are genuinely Christian, or rather, having started from a good and thus pious and just beginning, from this point also be of one mind concerning the other matters, so that you may rejoice in each other and we in you, both in other things and in having become a favorable example to the whole Church of right-mindedness concerning these things. 62.TO AMPHILOCHIUS 62.1 Not barbarous is the command of your inimitable virtue, but Hellenic, or rather, Christian. But the Armenian, in whom you take such pride, is an outright barbarian and far from our ambition. 63.TO AMPHILOCHIUS 63.1 Are you in pain? But I, clearly, am living in luxury. Are you weeping? But I, as you see, am celebrating and taking pride in present circumstances. Or does your son grieve you, being seized and honored on account of his virtue, and is it a terrible thing if he will not be present for you and care for your old age and attend to you fittingly as is customary? 63.2 And does my father not vex me, having departed from us on his final journey, from which he will no longer return to us nor be seen by us? Then we for our part make no accusation nor demand the consolation that is due, knowing that one’s own troubles give no time to attend to those of others; for no one is so friendly and philosophical as to be above his sufferings and console another, while needing consolation himself. 63.3 But you inflict a wound upon a wound by accusing us, as I learn, and thinking that your son, but our brother, is being neglected, or has been betrayed by us, which is more serious, and not that we are sensible of the loss which all have suffered, both friends and relatives, and I more than all—I who placed the hopes of my life in him and considered him my only support, my only good counselor, my only partner in piety. 63.4 And to what do you liken this? If to the first matters, recall that I also crossed over to you on purpose, disturbed by the rumor, and I was eager to share my opinion with you, when there was still time to deliberate about these things; and you shared everything with us except this, whether from the same difficulty, or I know not what you wished. 63.5 But if to the last matters, my suffering especially did not allow me to meet with you again, and the honor and reverence owed to my father, than which I could hold nothing more precious, and this when the suffering was recent, at which time it was not only impious but not at all seemly to philosophize out of season and beyond human measure; then we also considered that we had been overtaken by events, since his affairs had already reached the conclusion that seemed best to Him who directs our lives. 63.6 These things, then, are such. But now, release to us this grief, which is the most irrational of all, as I persuade myself; and if anything seems more to you, present it, so that you may not grieve both us in turn and yourself, and suffer a thing greatly unworthy of your nobility by accusing us in place of others, we who are doing no wrong, but, if the truth must be told, have been tyrannized in equal measure by our common friends and those whom you alone considered benefactors. 64.TO EUSEBIUS OF SAMOSATA 64.1 When your God-fearing self was passing through our country, I was not even able to look out of my room, being in extreme illness. And the disease did not grieve me so much by bringing on the fear of the end, but because I was deprived of your sacred and good company, 64.2 having such a great desire to see your honored face, as was fitting for one who needed healing for the wounds of the soul, and hoped to have this from your perfection. 64.3 But if it has also become the result of my sins that at that time I missed your company, now through your goodness it is possible for some correction of these painful things to be made for me. 64.4 For if you would deign to make mention of me also in your well-accepted prayers, this will be for me all the

23

μὲν οὖν εὐτελὼς περὶ ἄλλα καὶ ἄλλοις δείξατε (καὶ γὰρ εὔχομαι δυνατοὺς ὑμᾶς εἶναι μετὰ χρηστότητος), ἡμῖν δὲ ἀγωνίσασθε τὸν καλὸν ἀγῶνα, ὅστις νικήσει τὸν ἄλλον εὐλαβείᾳ καὶ ταῖς ὀφειλομέναις εὐλογίαις ἐκ Θεοῦ τοῖς εὐγνώμοσι. 61.9 Πείσατε οὖν ἡμᾶς ὅτι γνησίως χριστιανίζετε, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀπὸ καλῆς ἀρξά μενοι ἀρχῆς καὶ οὕτως εὐσεβοῦς καὶ δικαίας, ἐντεῦθεν καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὁμονοήσατε, ὡς ἂν ὑμεῖς τε ἀλλήλοις καὶ ἡμεῖς ὑμῖν ἐπευφραινώμεθα τά τε ἄλλα καὶ δεξιὸν ὑπόδειγμα γενομένοις πάσῃ τῇ Ἑκκλησίᾳ τῆς περὶ ταῦτα εὐγνωμοσύνης. 62.Τ ΑΜΦΙΛΟΧΙΩΙ 62.1 Οὐ βάρβαρον τὸ ἐπίταγμα τῆς ἀμιμήτου σου καλοκἀ γαθίας, ἀλλ' ἑλληνικόν, μᾶλλον δὲ χριστιανικόν. Ὁ δὲ Ἀρμένιος, ἐφ' ᾧ πάνυ φιλοτιμῇ, βάρβαρος ἄντικρυς καὶ πόρρωθεν τῆς ἡμετέρας φιλοτιμίας. 63.Τ ΑΜΦΙΛΟΧΙΩΙ 63.1 Ἀλγεῖς; Ἐγὼ δὲ τρυφῶ δηλονότι. ∆ακρύεις; Ἐγὼ δέ, ὡς ὁρᾷς, πανηγυρίζω καὶ τοῖς παροῦσι καλλω πίζομαι. Ἢ σὲ μὲν υἱὸς λυπεῖ δι' ἀρετὴν ἁρπαζόμενος καὶ τιμώμενος, καὶ δεινὸν εἰ μὴ παρέσται σοι καὶ γηρο κομήσει καὶ τὰ εἰκότα θεραπεύσει κατὰ τὸ σύνηθες; 63.2 Ἐμὲ δὲ οὐκ ἀνιᾷ πατὴρ τὴν τελευταίαν ἐκδημίαν ἀφ' ἡμῶν ἐκδημήσας, ἐξ ἧς οὐκέτι πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἀναλύσει οὐδὲ παρ' ἡμῶν ὀφθήσεται; Εἶτα ἡμεῖς μὲν οὐδὲν ἐγκα λοῦμεν οὐδὲ τὴν ὀφειλομένην ἀπαιτοῦμεν παραμυθίαν, εἰδότες ὅτι τὰ ἴδια κακὰ καιρὸν οὐ δίδωσι τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις σχολάζειν· οὐδὲ γὰρ οὕτω τίς ἐστι φιλικὸς καὶ φιλόσοφος ὥστε ὑπεράνω τῶν παθῶν εἶναι καὶ παρακαλεῖν ἄλλον, αὐτὸς δεόμενος παρακλήσεως. 63.3 Σὺ δὲ τῇ πληγῇ πλη γὴν ἐπιβάλλεις αἰτιώμενος ἡμᾶς, ὡς πυνθάνομαι, καὶ νομίζων ἀμελεῖσθαι τὸν σὸν υἱόν, ἡμέτερον δὲ ἀδελφόν, ἢ προδεδόσθαι παρ' ἡμῶν, ὃ βαρύτερον, ἀλλὰ μὴ τῆς ζημίας ἡμᾶς ἐπαισθάνεσθαι ἣν ἐζημίωνται πάντες μὲν καὶ φίλοι καὶ συγγενεῖς, ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ πάντων μᾶλλον-ὁ καὶ τὰς ἐλπίδας τῆς ζωῆς ἐν ἐκείνῳ θέμενος καὶ μόνον μὲν ἔρεισμα, μόνον δὲ σύμβουλον ἀγαθόν, μόνον δὲ κοινωνὸν εὐσεβείας ὑπολαμβάνων. 63.4 Καὶ τίσι τοῦτο εἰκάζεις; Εἰ μὲν τοῖς πρώτοις, ἐνθυμήθητι ὅτι καὶ διέβην μέχρις ὑμῶν ἐξεπίτηδες, τῇ φήμῃ τεταραγμένος, καὶ κοινωνῆσαι γνώμης ὑμῖν πρόθυμος ἐγενόμην, ἡνίκα καὶ καιρὸς ἦν ἔτι περὶ τούτων βουλεύεσθαι· καὶ πάντα μᾶλλον ἢ ταύτης ἡμῖν ἐκοινωνήσατε, εἴτε ὑπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς ἀπορίας, εἴτ' οὐκ οἶδ' ὅ τι βουληθέντες. 63.5 Εἰ δὲ τοῖς τελευταίοις, μάλιστα μὲν οὐκ εἴα τὸ πάθος πάλιν ὑμῖν ἐντυχεῖν καὶ ἡ τῷ πατρὶ χρεωστουμένη τιμὴ καὶ ὁσία, ἧς οὐδὲν ἐδυνάμην ποιήσασθαι προτιμότερον, καὶ ταῦτα ὑπογυίου τοῦ πάθους ὄντος, ἡνίκα οὐκ ἀσεβὲς ἦν μόνον ἀλλ' οὐδ' ὅλως εὐπρεπὲς ἔξω τοῦ καιροῦ φιλοσοφεῖν καὶ ὑπὲρ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον· ἔπειτα καὶ προκατειλῆφθαι ὑπὸ τῶν πραγ μάτων ἐνομίσαμεν, πέρας ἤδη τῶν κατ' αὐτὸν ἐχόντων ὁποῖον ἐδόκει τῷ ἄγοντι τὰ ἡμέτερα. 63.6 Ταῦτα μὲν δὴ τοιαῦτα. Νῦν δὲ καὶ τὴν λύπην ἄνες ἡμῖν πάντων οὖσαν ἀλογωτάτην, ὡς ἐμαυτὸν πείθω· καὶ εἴ τί σοι πλέον δοκεῖ, παράστησον, ἵνα μὴ καὶ ἡμᾶς ἐν τῷ μέρει καὶ σεαυτὸν λυπῇς καὶ πρᾶγμα πάσχῃς σφόδρα τῆς σῆς εὐγενείας ἀνάξιον ἀντ' ἄλλων ἡμᾶς αἰτιώμενος τοὺς οὐδὲν ἀδικοῦντας, ἀλλ' εἰ δεῖ τἀληθὲς εἰπεῖν, τὰ ἴσα τυραννηθέντας ὑπὸ τῶν κοινῶν φίλων καὶ οὓς μόνους εὐεργέτας ἐνόμιζες. 64.Τ ΕΥΣΕΒΙΩΙ ΣΑΜΟΣΑΤΩΝ 64.1 Ὅτε παρῄει σου ἡ θεοσέβεια διὰ τῆς πατρίδος ἡμῶν, οὐδὲ τοῦ δωματίου προκύψαι οἷός τε ἤμην, ἐν ἐσχάτῃ ἀρρωστίᾳ διάγων. Ἐλύπει δέ με οὐ τοσοῦτον ἡ νόσος τὸν περὶ τῶν ἐσχάτων φόβον ἐπάγουσα, ἀλλ' ὅτι τῆς ἱερᾶς σου καὶ ἀγαθῆς συντυχίας ἀπεστερούμην, 64.2 τοσαύτην ἔχων περὶ τὸ ἰδεῖν σου τὸ τίμιον πρόσωπον ἐπιθυμίαν, ὅσον εἰκὸς ἦν τὸν χρῄζοντα μὲν θεραπείας τῶν ψυχικῶν τραυμάτων, ταύτην δὲ παρὰ τῆς σῆς τελειό τητος ἕξειν ἐλπίζοντα. 64.3 Ἀλλ' εἰ καὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν τῶν ἐμῶν γέγονεν ἔργον τὸ κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν ἐκεῖνον διαμαρτεῖν με τῆς σῆς συντυχίας, νῦν διὰ τῆς σῆς ἀγαθό τητος ἔστι δυνατὸν γενέσθαι μοί τινα τῶν λυπηρῶν ἐπανόρθωσιν. 64.4 Εἰ γὰρ καταξιώσειας κἀμοῦ μνήμην ποιεῖσθαι ἐν ταῖς εὐπροσδέκτοις σου προσευχαῖς πάσης ἔσται μοι τοῦτο τῆς