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And they have neither bread nor wine nor any other good thing, but the grain, or spelt and barley, neither boiling it nor grinding it into meal or flour, they eat it in no way different 4.6.14 from the other animals. Since the Moors were of such a sort, Gelimer's men, after living with them for a considerable time and changing their accustomed diet to this state of misery, when at last even the necessities of life failed them, they held out no longer, but even to die seemed to them most sweet and to be a slave least shameful. 4.6.15 Pharas, perceiving this, writes to Gelimer as follows: “I myself am a barbarian and have become neither accustomed to nor otherwise experienced in letters 4.6.16 “and speeches. But as much as it is necessary for me, being a man, to know, I have written, having learned it from the 4.6.17 “nature of things. What in the world “has possessed you, my dear Gelimer, that you have cast not only yourself “but also your entire race into this pit, 4.6.18 “so that, forsooth, you might not become a slave? For I think you are surely “acting like a rash youth in this, and are putting forward liberty “as a pretext, as though it were worthwhile to exchange for it all things that are miserable. 4.6.19 “And then, do you not think that you are now a slave to the most “wretched of the Moors, you who have your hope “of being saved, if the best should befall you, in them? 4.6.20 “And yet how would it not be in every way better to be a “slave and a beggar among the Romans than to be a tyrant on 4.6.21 “Pappua and among the Moors? And surely for you also to “be a fellow-slave with Belisarius seems a sort of excess of insolence. 4.6.22 “Away with it, most excellent Gelimer. Or do not we too, “being born of noble families, now boast of serving “the emperor? And indeed they say that it is the will of Emperor Justinian “to have you enrolled in the senate, having received the highest honor, which they call that of the patricians, “and to present you with much good land and “great sums of money, and that Belisarius is willing “to guarantee that all these things will be yours, giving 4.6.23 “you pledges. But as for all the miserable things fortune has brought, you are able “to bear them nobly, thinking that all things from her are necessary for one who is 4.6.24 “a man. But if she has decided to mix these “difficulties with some good, would you yourself “not deign to accept this voluntarily? Or must we not “consider the good things from fortune to be just as necessary for us “as the bad? But these things do not seem right even 4.6.25 “to the very foolish. But for you now, being “overwhelmed by misfortunes, it happens that you are without understanding, as is likely; 4.6.26 “for despair, striking a man with panic, is wont to turn to folly. “But if you could bear your own mind and not be vexed “at changing fortune, it will be possible for you right away to choose “all that is advantageous and be freed from the evils which beset you.” 4.6.27 After reading this letter, Gelimer wept terribly and wrote back as follows: “Both for the advice “you have given me I have much thanks for you, and I think it is not tolerable “to be a slave to an enemy who is doing me wrong, from whom I would pray to “exact punishment, if God were merciful to me, who, “though he has never suffered anything unpleasant from me either in deed “or heard it in word, has provided a pretext for a war that has no cause, “and has brought me to this state of fortune, 4.6.28 “having brought Belisarius against me from I know not where. And yet for “him too, since he is a man, and an emperor, it is not unlikely 4.6.29 “that something of what he would not choose will happen. I, however, cannot “write anything further. For my present fortune has taken away my 4.6.30 “thought. But farewell, my dear “Pharas, and send to me, as I request, a lyre and one loaf of bread and a sponge.” 4.6.31 When Pharas learned this, after it was brought to him, he was at a loss for some time, being unable to comprehend the end of the letter, until the man who brought it told him that Gelimer wanted one loaf of bread, desiring to come to the sight and eating of it, since from the time he went up to Pappua, he had seen no baked bread at all. 4.6.32 And a sponge was necessary for him; for one of his eyes, being irritated by the lack of washing, 4.6.33 was excessively swollen. And being a good lyre-player, a certain ode has been composed by him on his present misfortune, which he is eager to lament and bewail to the lyre. 4.6.34 These things

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ἔχουσι δὲ οὔτε ἄρτον οὔτε οἶνον οὔτε ἄλλο οὐδὲν ἀγαθὸν, ἀλλὰ τὸν σῖτον, ἢ τὰς ὀλύρας τε καὶ κριθὰς, οὔτε ἕψοντες οὔτε ἐς ἄλευρα ἢ ἄλφιτα ἀλοῦντες οὐδὲν ἀλλοιότερον 4.6.14 ἢ τὰ ἄλλα ζῷα ἐσθίουσι. τοιούτοις δὴ οὖσι τοῖς Μαυρουσίοις οἱ ἀμφὶ τὸν Γελίμερα συχνὸν ξυνοικήσαντες χρόνον τήν τε ξυνειθισμένην αὐτοῖς δίαιταν ἐς τοῦτο ταλαιπωρίας μεταβαλόντες, ἐπειδὴ καὶ αὐτὰ σφᾶς τὰ ἀναγκαῖα ἤδη ἐπιλελοίπει, οὐκέτι ἀντεῖχον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ τεθνάναι αὐτοῖς ἥδιστον καὶ τὸ δουλεύειν ἥκιστα αἰσχρὸν ἐνομίζετο. 4.6.15 Ὧν δὴ Φάρας αἰσθόμενος γράφει πρὸς Γελίμερα τάδε «Εἰμὶ μὲν καὶ αὐτὸς βάρβαρος καὶ γραμμάτων «τε καὶ λόγων οὔτε ἐθὰς οὔτε ἄλλως ἔμπειρος γέγονα. 4.6.16 «ὅσα δέ με ἄνθρωπον ὄντα εἰδέναι ἀνάγκη, ἐκ τῆς 4.6.17 «τῶν πραγμάτων φύσεως ἐκμαθὼν ἔγραψα. τί ποτε «ἄρα πεπονθὼς, ὦ φίλε Γελίμερ, οὐ σαυτὸν μόνον, «ἀλλὰ καὶ ξύμπαν τὸ σὸν γένος ἐς τὸ βάραθρον τοῦτο 4.6.18 «ἐμβέβληκας, ὅπως δηλαδὴ μὴ γένοιο δοῦλος; πάντως «γάρ σε καὶ νεανιεύεσθαι τοῦτο οἶμαι, καὶ τὴν ἐλευ»θερίαν προΐσχεσθαι, ὡς δὴ ἅπαντα ταύτης τὰ μοχθηρὰ 4.6.19 «ἀνταλλάσσεσθαι ἄξιον. εἶτα νῦν Μαυρουσίων τοῖς «γε ἀτυχεστάτοις οὐκ οἴει δουλεύειν, ὃς τὴν ἐλπίδα «τοῦ σώζεσθαι, ἢν τὰ κράτιστα φέρῃ, ἐπ' αὐτοῖς 4.6.20 «ἔχεις; καίτοι πῶς ἂν οὐχὶ τῷ παντὶ ἄμεινον εἴη δου»λεύειν ἐν Ῥωμαίοις πτωχεύοντα ἢ τυραννεῖν ἐν 4.6.21 «Παπούᾳ τε καὶ Μαυρουσίοις; πάντως δέ σοι καὶ τὸ «ξυνδούλῳ Βελισαρίῳ εἶναι ὑπερβολή τις ὕβρεως φαί4.6.22 «νεται. ἄπαγε, ὦ βέλτιστε Γελίμερ. ἢ οὐ καὶ ἡμεῖς «ἐξ εὐπατριδῶν γεγονότες βασιλεῖ νῦν ὑπηρετεῖν «αὐχοῦμεν; καὶ μὴν λέγουσιν Ἰουστινιανῷ βασιλεῖ «βουλομένῳ εἶναι ἔς τε βουλὴν ἀνάγραπτόν σε ποιή»σασθαι, τιμῆς μεταλαχόντα τῆς ἀνωτάτω, ἣν δὴ πατρι»κίων καλοῦσι, καὶ χώρᾳ πολλῇ τε καὶ ἀγαθῇ καὶ «χρήμασι μεγάλοις δωρήσασθαι, Βελισάριόν τε ἐθέλειν «ἀναδέχεσθαι πάντα ταῦτα ἔσεσθαί σοι, πίστεις δι4.6.23 «δόντα. σὺ δὲ ὅσα μὲν ἡ τύχη μοχθηρὰ ἤνεγκε, φέρειν «γενναίως οἷός τε εἶ πάντα τὰ ἐνθένδε ἀνθρώπῳ γε 4.6.24 «ὄντι ἀναγκαῖα εἶναι οἰόμενος. ἢν δέ τινι ἀγαθῷ τὰ «δυσχερῆ ταῦτα ξυγκεραννύειν βεβούλευται, τοῦτο δὲ «αὐτὸς ἐθελούσιος δέξασθαι οὐκ ἂν ἀξιοίης; ἢ οὐχ «ὁμοίως τοῖς φλαύροις ἀναγκαῖά γε ἡμῖν καὶ τὰ παρὰ «τῆς τύχης ἀγαθὰ λογιστέον; ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν οὐδὲ 4.6.25 «τοῖς σφόδρα ἀνοήτοις δοκεῖ. σοὶ δὲ νῦν μὲν βε»βαπτισμένῳ ταῖς ξυμφοραῖς, ἀξυνέτῳ, ὡς τὸ εἰκὸς, 4.6.26 «συμβαίνει εἶναι· ἀθυμία γὰρ ἐκπλήξασα εἰς ἀβουλίαν «τρέπεσθαι πέφυκεν· ἢν δὲ φέρειν τὴν διάνοιαν τὴν «σαυτοῦ δύναιο καὶ μὴ πρὸς τύχην μεταβαλλομένην «ἀγανακτεῖν, παρέσται σοι αὐτίκα δὴ μάλα τά τε ξύμ»φορα ἑλέσθαι ἅπαντα καὶ τῶν ἐπικειμένων ἀπηλλάχθαι «κακῶν.» 4.6.27 Ταῦτα Γελίμερ τὰ γράμματα ἀναλεξάμενος ἀποκλαύσας τε δεινῶς ἀντέγραψεν ὧδε «Καὶ τῆς ξυμβουλῆς, «ἥν μοι ἐποιήσω, πολλὴν ἔχω σοι χάριν καὶ πολεμίῳ «ἀδικοῦντι δουλεύειν οὐκ ἀνεκτὸν οἶμαι, παρ' οὗ ἂν «δίκην εὐξαίμην λαβεῖν, εἴ μοι ὁ θεὸς ἵλεως εἴη, ὅς «γε οὐδὲν πώποτε ἄχαρι πρὸς ἐμοῦ οὔτε ἔργῳ παθὼν «οὔτε λόγῳ ἀκούσας πολέμῳ μὲν αἰτίαν οὐκ ἔχοντι «παρέσχετο σκῆψιν, ἐμὲ δὲ ἐς τοῦτο μετήνεγκε τύχης, 4.6.28 «Βελισάριον οὐκ οἶδα ὅθεν ἐπενεγκών. καίτοι καὶ «αὐτῷ ἀνθρώπῳ γε ὄντι, καὶ βασιλεῖ οὐδὲν ἀπεικὸς 4.6.29 «ξυμβήσεσθαί τι ὧν οὐκ ἂν ἕλοιτο. ἐγὼ μέντοι περαι»τέρω τι γράφειν οὐκ ἔχω. ἀφείλετο γάρ με τὴν 4.6.30 «ἔννοιαν ἡ παροῦσα τύχη. ἀλλὰ χαῖρέ μοι, ὦ φίλε «Φάρα, καί μοι κιθάραν τε καὶ ἄρτον ἕνα καὶ σπόγγον 4.6.31 «δεομένῳ πέμπε.» ταῦτα ἐπεὶ ἀπενεχθέντα ὁ Φάρας ἔγνω, χρόνον δή τινα διηπορεῖτο τῆς ἐπιστολῆς τὸ ἀκροτελεύτιον συμβαλεῖν οὐκ ἔχων, ἕως οἱ ὁ ταύτην κομίσας ἔφρασεν ὡς ἄρτου μὲν ἑνὸς δέοιτο Γελίμερ, ἐπιθυμῶν ἐς θέαν τε αὐτοῦ ἀφικέσθαι καὶ βρῶσιν, ἐπεὶ ἐξ οὗ ἐς Παπούαν ἀναβέβηκεν, οὐδένα που ἄρτον 4.6.32 ὠπτημένον εἶδε. σπόγγος δέ οἱ ἀναγκαῖος εἴη· τοῖν γάρ οἱ ὀφθαλμοῖν ἅτερος, τραχυνόμενος τῇ ἀλουσίᾳ, 4.6.33 ἐς ἄγαν ἐπῆρται. κιθαριστῇ δὲ ἀγαθῷ ὄντι ᾠδή τις αὐτῷ ἐς ξυμφορὰν τὴν παροῦσαν πεποίηται, ἣν δὴ πρὸς κιθάραν θρηνῆσαί τε καὶ ἀποκλαῦσαι ἐπείγεται. 4.6.34 ταῦτα