Letter LXXVII.534    Of the same date as the preceding.

Without inscription:  about Therasius.535    Perhaps to Elpidius.  Therasius is probably the governor referred to in Letter xcvi. to Sophronius.

One good thing we have certainly gained from the government of the great Therasius and that is that you have frequently paid us a visit.  Now, alas! we have lost our governor, and we are deprived of this good thing too.  But since the boons once given us by God remain immovable, and, although we are parted in body, abide fixed by memory in the souls of each of us, let us constantly write, and communicate our needs to one another.  And this we may well do at the present moment, when the storm for a brief space has cried a truce.  I trust that you will not part from the admirable Therasius, for I think that it is very becoming to share his great anxieties, and I am delighted at the opportunity given you both of seeing your friends and of being seen by them.536    The text is here corrupt.  The Ben. Ed. say “corruptissimus.”  I have much to say about many things, but I put it off till we meet, for it is, I think, hardly safe to entrust matters of such importance to letters.

ΑΝΕΠΙΓΡΑΦΟΣ ΠΕΡΙ ΘΗΡΑΣΙΟΥ

[1] Ἓν καὶ τοῦτο τῆς ἀγαθῆς ἀρχῆς τοῦ μεγάλου ἀπελαύσαμεν Θηρασίου, τῆς σῆς λογιότητος τὴν ἐπιδημίαν συνεχῶς ἡμῖν γινομένην. Τὸ αὐτὸ δὲ τοῦτο ἐζημιώθημεν στερηθέντες τοῦ ἄρχοντος. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ τὰ ἅπαξ ἡμῖν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ χαρισθέντα μένει βέβαια καὶ ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἀλλήλων ἐνοικούμενα διὰ τῆς μνήμης, εἰ καὶ τοῖς σώμασι διωρίσμεθα, γράφωμεν γοῦν συνεχῶς καὶ φθεγγώμεθα πρὸς ἀλλήλους τὰ ἀναγκαῖα, καὶ μάλιστα νῦν, ὅτε ὁ χειμὼν τὴν ὀλιγοχρόνιον ταύτην ἐκεχειρίαν ἐσπείσατο. Ἐλπίζομεν δὲ μὴ ἀπολείψεσθαί σε τοῦ θαυμασιωτάτου ἀνδρὸς Θηρασίου, πρέπον εἶναι κρίναντα κοινωνεῖν τῷ ἀνδρὶ τοιούτων φροντίδων, ἤγουν μὲν οὐ καὶ μάτην πρόφασιν ἀσμενίζοντα παρέχουσάν σε ἰδεῖν τε τοὺς φίλους καὶ παρ' αὐτῶν θεαθῆναι. Πολλὰ δὲ ἔχων εἰπεῖν καὶ περὶ πολλῶν, εἰς τὴν συντυχίαν ὑπερεθέμην, οὐκ ἀσφαλὲς εἶναι ἡγούμενος ἐπιστολαῖς τὰ τοιαῦτα καταπιστεύειν.