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shows that he is of the pitiable portion, since the very fact of falling into calamities sent by God seems to have a certain proof of having been given over to sufferings. But it is enough for him as a consolation for what has happened for you to look upon him with a benevolent eye and that the all-sufficient grace which all who enjoy it cannot exhaust (I mean that of your gentleness) be bestowed upon him also. And that also in the law courts the inclination from you is a great resource for him toward victory we are all precisely persuaded. And most just of all is this very man himself who sought our letter as something that would be of some benefit to him; may we see him with the others, with a voice according to his power, praising your reverence.

149.t TO TRAJAN

149.1 You yourself have perceived with your eye the misery of Maximus, formerly esteemed, but now most pitiable of all, who governed our country as he ought not to have. For I think that the governorship of the provinces would be an object of aversion to many, if their high offices are destined to come to such an end. So what need is there for us to report the details, of what we have seen and what we have heard, to a man who, because of the great keenness of his intellect, is able from the few things that have been done to conjecture the rest? But in saying this at least, perhaps I will not seem superfluous to you, that though the things dared against him before your arrival were many and terrible, the things after that became such as to make the preceding things be considered an act of humanity. Such an excess of outrage and loss and hardship to his very body did those things have that were later devised for him by the one in power. And now he has come as a prisoner to fulfill the remainder of his evils here, unless you are willing to hold your great hand over him who is being worn down. Therefore I know I do a superfluous thing in exhorting your goodness toward philanthropy. But yet since I wish to be useful to the man, I beseech your dignity to add something for our sake to your natural zeal for what is noble, so that the benefit of our intercession on his behalf may become clear to the man.

150.t TO AMPHILOCHIUS AS IF FROM HERACLIDES

150.1 I both remember the things once spoken between us and I have not forgotten what I myself said and what I heard from your nobility. And now a public life does not hold me. For although in my heart I am the same and have not yet put off the old man, yet at least by my habit and by having removed myself far from the affairs of life I have seemed at last as it were to have stepped upon the threshold of the life according to Christ. But I sit by myself, like those about to set out to sea, watching what is to come. For those who sail need winds for a good voyage, but we need one who will lead us by the hand and guide us safely through the salty waves of life. For I consider myself to be in need first of a bridle for my youth, then of goads for the course of piety. Of these, discourse is clearly the agent, at one time disciplining our disorderliness, at another, rousing the sluggishness of the soul. Again I have need of other medicines so as to wash away the filth from habit. For you know that we who have been accustomed for a long time to the marketplace, have an unsparing use of words, and are unguarded against the fantasies which arise in the mind from the Evil One. We are also overcome by honor and do not easily lay aside thinking something of ourselves. For these things I need a great and experienced

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τῆς ἐλεεινῆς ὄντα μερίδος δείκνυσιν, ἐπειδὴ αὐτὸ τὸ παραπεσεῖν τοῖς θεη λάτοις κακοῖς ἀπόδειξίν πως ἔχειν δοκεῖ τοῦ παραδεδόσθαι τοῖς πάθεσιν. Ἀλλ' ἀρκεῖ αὐτῷ πρὸς παραμυθίαν τῶν συμβάντων τὸ εὐμενεῖ αὐτὸν προσβλέψαι τῷ ὄμματί σε καὶ τὴν πολυαρκῆ χάριν ἧς πάντες ἀπολαύοντες δαπανᾶν οὐ δύνανται (τὴν τῆς σῆς ἡμερότητος λέγω) καὶ ἐπ' αὐτὸν ἀφεθῆναι. Ὅτι δὲ καὶ ἐν δικαστηρίοις μεγάλη αὐτῷ ἀφορμὴ πρὸς τὴν νίκην ἡ παρὰ σοῦ ῥοπὴ πάντες ἀκριβῶς πεπείσμεθα. ∆ικαιότατος δὲ πάντων καὶ αὐτὸς οὗτος ὁ τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἡμῶν, ὥς τι ὄφελος αὐτῷ ἐσομένην, ἐπιζη τήσας· ὃν μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἴδοιμεν τῇ κατὰ δύναμιν φωνῇ τὴν σὴν εὐφημοῦντα σεμνότητα.

149.τ ΤΡΑΙΑΝΩ

149.1 Καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπέλαβες ὀφθαλμῷ τὴν κακοπάθειαν τοῦ πρότερον μὲν

εὐδοκίμου, νῦν δὲ ἐλεεινοτάτου πάντων Μαξίμου, τοῦ ἄρξαντος τῆς πατρίδος ἡμῶν, ὡς οὐκ ὤφειλεν. Οἶμαι γὰρ ἂν πολλοῖς ἀπευκτὴν ἔσεσθαι τὴν τῶν ἐθνῶν ἀρχήν, εἰ πρὸς τοιοῦτον πέρας μέλλουσι κατα στρέφειν αἱ προστασίαι. Ὥστε τί δεῖ ἡμᾶς τὰ καθ' ἕκαστον ἀπαγγέλλειν, ὧν τε εἴδομεν ὧν τε ἠκούσαμεν, ἀνδρὶ διὰ πολλὴν τῆς διανοίας ὀξύτητα ἱκανῷ ἐξ ὀλίγων τῶν πραχθέντων στοχάσασθαι τὰ λειπόμενα; Πλὴν ἐκεῖνό γε εἰπών, ἴσως οὐ περιττός σοι φανήσομαι, ὅτι πολλῶν ὄντων καὶ δεινῶν τῶν εἰς αὐτὸν τολμηθέντων πρὸ τῆς σῆς παρουσίας, τοιαῦτα γέγονε τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα ὡς φιλανθρω πίαν ποιῆσαι νομισθῆναι τὰ φθάσαντα. Τοσαύτην εἶχον ὑπερβολὴν ὕβρεως καὶ ζημίας καὶ τῆς εἰς αὐτὸ τὸ σῶμα κακοπαθείας τὰ δὴ ὕστερον αὐτῷ παρὰ τοῦ κρατοῦντος ἐξευρεθέντα. Καὶ νῦν ἔμφρουρος ἥκει τὰ λείψανα τῶν ὧδε κακῶν αὐτοῦ ἀποπληρώσων, ἐὰν μὴ σὺ τὴν μεγάλην σαυτοῦ χεῖρα ὑπερσχεῖν ἐθελήσῃς τῷ καταπονουμένῳ. Περιττὸν μὲν οὖν οἶδα ποιῶν τὴν σὴν χρηστότητα εἰς φιλανθρωπίαν παρακαλῶν. Πλὴν ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ βούλομαι γενέσθαι χρήσιμος τῷ ἀνδρί, ἱκετεύω σου τὴν σεμνο πρέπειαν προσθεῖναί τι τῇ ἐκ φύσεως περὶ τὸ καλὸν σπουδῇ δι' ἡμᾶς, ὥστε ἐναργὲς τῷ ἀνδρὶ γενέσθαι τῆς ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ παρακλήσεως ἡμῶν τὸ ὄφελος.

150.τ ΑΜΦΙΛΟΧΙΩ ΩΣ ΠΑΡΑ ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙ∆ΟΥ

150.1 Ἐγὼ καὶ τῶν ὁμιληθέντων ἡμῖν πρὸς ἀλλήλους ποτὲ μέμνημαι καὶ ὧν

τε αὐτὸς εἶπον ὧν τε ἤκουσα παρὰ τῆς εὐγενείας σου οὐκ ἐπιλέλησμαι. Καὶ νῦν βίος μέν με δημόσιος οὐ κατέχει. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ ὁ αὐτός εἰμι καὶ οὔπω τὸν παλαιὸν ἀπεδυσάμην ἄνθρωπον, πλὴν τῷ γε σχήματι καὶ τῷ μακρὰν ἐμαυτὸν ποιῆσαι τῶν τοῦ βίου πραγμάτων ἔδοξα λοιπὸν οἷον ἐπιβεβηκέναι τοῦ οὐδοῦ τῆς κατὰ Χριστὸν πολιτείας. Καθέζομαι δὲ ἐπ' ἐμαυτοῦ, ὥσπερ οἱ εἰς πέλαγος ἀφιέναι μέλλοντες, ἀποσκοπεύων τὸ μέλλον. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ πλέοντες ἀνέμων χρῄζουσι πρὸς τὴν εὔπλοιαν, ἡμεῖς δὲ τοῦ χειραγωγήσοντος ἡμᾶς καὶ ἀσφαλῶς διὰ τῶν ἁλμυρῶν κυμάτων τοῦ βίου παραπέμψοντος. Χρῄζειν γὰρ ἐμαυτὸν λογίζομαι πρῶτον μὲν χαλινοῦ πρὸς τὴν νεότητα, ἔπειτα κέντρων πρὸς τὸν δρόμον τῆς εὐσε βείας. Τούτων δὲ πρόξενος λόγος δηλονότι, νῦν μὲν παιδαγωγῶν ἡμῶν τὸ ἄτακτον, νῦν δὲ τὸ νωθρὸν τῆς ψυχῆς διεγείρων. Πάλιν μοι χρεία φαρμάκων ἑτέρων ὥστε τὸν ἐκ τῆς συνηθείας ἀποπλύνασθαι ῥύπον. Οἶδας γὰρ ὅτι ἡμεῖς, οἱ πολὺν χρόνον ἐνεθισθέντες τῇ ἀγορᾷ, ἀφειδῶς μὲν ἔχομεν τῶν ῥημάτων, ἀφυλάκτως δὲ πρὸς τὰς ἐν τῇ διανοίᾳ συνισταμένας ἐκ τοῦ Πονηροῦ φαντασίας. Ἡττήμεθα δὲ καὶ τιμῆς καὶ τὸ ἐφ' ἑαυτοῖς τι φρονεῖν οὐ ῥᾳδίως ἀποτιθέμεθα. Πρὸς ταῦτα μεγάλου μοι δεῖν καὶ ἐμπείρου