35. It was therefore better for me to hide myself, and to wait for this opportunity. Yes, I am sure that from your knowledge of the sacred Scriptures you will assent and approve of my conduct in this respect. For you will perceive that, now those who exasperated you against us have been silenced, your righteous clemency is apparent, and it is proved to all men that you never persecuted the Christians at all, but that it was they who made the Churches desolate, that they might sow the seeds of their own impiety everywhere; on account of which I also, had I not fled, should long ago have suffered from their treachery. For it is very evident that they who scrupled not to utter such calumnies against me, before the great Augustus, and who so violently assailed Bishops and Virgins, sought also to compass my death. But thanks be to the Lord who has given you the kingdom. All men are confirmed in their opinion of your goodness, and of their wickedness, from which I fled at the first, that I might now make this appeal unto you, and that you might find some one towards whom you may shew kindness. I beseech you, therefore, forasmuch as it written, ‘A soft answer turneth away wrath,’ and ‘righteous thoughts are acceptable unto the King106    Prov. xv. 1; xvi. 13. vid. §27, note 1.;’ receive this my defence, and restore all the Bishops and the rest of the Clergy to their countries and their Churches; so that the wickedness of my accusers may be made manifest, and that you, both now and in the day of judgment, may have boldness to say to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the King of all, ‘“None of Thine have I lost107    John xviii. 9.,” but these are they who designed the ruin of all, while I was grieved for those who perished, and for the Virgins who were scourged, and for all other things that were committed against the Christians; and I brought back them that were banished, and restored them to their own Churches.’

35 Οὐκοῦν βέλτιον γέγονε τὸ κρυβῆναι, καὶ τοῦτον ἐκδέξασθαι τὸν καιρόν. Ναὶ οἶδα ὅτι καὶ σύ, γινώσκων τὰς θείας Γραφάς, ἐπινεύεις καὶ ἀποδέχῃ με τοῦτο πράξαντα. Ἰδοὺ γοῦν, τῶν παροξυνόντων πεπαυμένων, πέφηνεν ἡ σὴ θεοσεβὴς ἀνεξικακία, καὶ δέδεικται πᾶσιν ὅτι μηδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐδίωκες σὺ τοὺς Χριστιανούς· ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνοι ἦσαν οἱ τὰς ἐκκλησίας ἐρημώσαντες, ἵνα τὴν ἰδίαν ἀσέβειαν ἐπισπείρωσι πανταχοῦ, δι' ἣν καὶ ἡμεῖς, εἰ μὴ ἦμεν φυγόντες, πάλαι ἂν ἐπεβουλεύθημεν παρ' αὐτῶν. Οἱ γὰρ τοιαύτας διαβολὰς εἰπεῖν κατ' ἐμοῦ μὴ παραιτησάμενοι παρὰ τηλικούτῳ Αὐγούστῳ, οἱ τοιαῦτα κατ' ἐπισκόπων καὶ παρθένων ἐπιχειρήσαντες, εὔδηλον ὡς καὶ τὸν ἡμῶν θάνατον ἐθήρευον. Ἀλλὰ χάρις τῷ Κυρίῳ τῷ τὴν βασιλείαν σοι δεδωκότι· πάντες γὰρ ἐπιστώσαντο περί τε τῆς σῆς φιλανθρωπίας καὶ τῆς ἐκείνων πονηρίας, ἧς ἕνεκα καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔφυγον, ἵνα ταῦτα μὲν ἐγώ σοι προσφωνήσω, σὺ δὲ εὕρῃς τίνα φιλανθρωπεύσῃ. Παρακαλῶ τοίνυν, ἐπειδὴ καὶ γέγραπται· «Ἀπόκρισις ὑποπίπτουσα ἀποστρέφει ὀργήν»· καὶ, «∆εκτοὶ βασιλεῖ λογισμοὶ δίκαιοι»· δεξάμενος καὶ ταύτην τὴν ἀπολογίαν, ἀπόδος ταῖς πατρίσι καὶ ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις πάντας τοὺς ἐπισκόπους καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους κληρικοὺς ἵνα τῶν μὲν διαβαλλόντων ἡ πονηρία δειχθῇ, σὺ δὲ καὶ νῦν καὶ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως ἔχῃς παρρησίαν εἰπεῖν τῷ Κυρίῳ καὶ Σωτῆρι ἡμῶν καὶ παμβασιλεῖ Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ· «Οὐδένα τῶν σῶν ἀπώλεσα»· ἀλλ' οἱ μὲν ἐπιβουλεύσαντες πᾶσιν οὗτοί εἰσιν· ἐγὼ δὲ ἐπὶ μὲν τοῖς τετελευτηκόσι, καὶ ταῖς ξεσθείσαις παρθένοις, τοῖς τε ἄλλοις τοῖς κατὰ τῶν Χριστιανῶν γενομένοις ἠχθέσθην· τοὺς δὲ ἐξορισθέντας ἐπανήγαγον καὶ ἀποδέδωκα ταῖς ἰδίαις Ἐκκλησίαις.