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| To Sophronius the Master.
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Letter
XXXII.2008
To Sophronius the Master.2009
| 2009 i.e.
Magister officiorum. Sophronius was a fellow
student with Basil at Athens, and a friend of Gregory of
Nazianzus. He secured the favour of Valens, who was staying at
Cæsarea in 365, by conveying him intelligence of the usurpation
of Procopius at Constantinople. (Amm. Marc. xxv. 9.) On
the circumstance which gave rise to this letter, cf. Greg.
Naz., Ep. xviii. Letters lxxvi.,
xcvi., clxxvii., clxxx., cxcii., and cclxxii. are addressed to the
same correspondent, the last, as it will be seen, indicating a
breach in their long friendship. |
Our God—beloved brother,
Gregory the
bishop,2010
| 2010 The word
Episcopus in this and in the following letter is supposed by Maran
to have crept into the text from the margin. Gregory of
Nazianzus is referred to, who was not then a bishop. Gregory
the Elder, bishop of Nazianzus, was in good circumstances, and had
not adopted the monastic life. | shares the
troubles of the times, for he too, like everybody else, is
distressed at successive outrages, and resembles a man buffeted by
unexpected blows. For men who have no fear of God, possibly
forced by the greatness of their troubles, are reviling him, on the
ground that they have lent Cæsarius2011
| 2011 cf.
Letter xxvi. Cæsarius died in 368, leaving his
brother Gregory as executor. |
money. It is not indeed the question of any loss which is
serious, for he has long learnt to despise riches. The matter
rather is that those who have so freely distributed all the effects
of Cæsarius that were worth anything, after really getting very
little, because his property was in the hands of slaves, and of men
of no better character than slaves, did not leave much for the
executors.2012
| 2012 τούτοις.
So the mss., but the editors here
substituted τούτῳ, i.e.
Gregory, and similarly the singular in the following
words. | This
little they supposed to be pledged to no one, and straightway spent
it on the poor, not only from their own preference, but because of
the injunctions of the dead. For on his death bed
Cæsarius is declared to have said “I wish my goods to
belong to the poor.” In obedience then to the wishes of
Cæsarius they made a proper distribution of them. Now,
with the poverty of a Christian, Gregory is immersed in the bustle
of a chafferer. So I bethought me of reporting the matter to
your excellency, in order that you may state what you think proper
about Gregory to the Comes Thesaurorum, and so may honour a man whom
you have known for many years, glorify the Lord who takes as done to
Himself what is done to His servants, and honour me who am specially
bound to you. You will, I hope, of your great sagacity devise
a means of relief from these outrageous people and intolerable
annoyances.
2. No one is so ignorant of Gregory as to have any
unworthy suspicion of his giving an inexact account of the
circumstances because he is fond of money. We have not to go far
to find a proof of his liberality. What is left of the property
of Cæsarius he gladly abandons to the Treasury, so that the
property may be kept there, and the Treasurer may give answer to those
who attack it and demand their proofs; for we are not adapted for such
business. Your excellency may be informed that, so long as it was
possible, no one went away without getting what he wanted, and each one
carried off what he demanded without any difficulty. The
consequence indeed was that a good many were sorry that they had not
asked for more at first; and this made still more objectors, for with
the example of the earlier successful applicants before them, one false
claimant starts up after another. I do then entreat your
excellency to make a stand against all this and to come in, like some
intervening stream, and solve the continuity of these troubles.
You know how best you will help matters, and need not wait to be
instructed by me. I am inexperienced in the affairs of this life,
and cannot see my way out of our difficulties. Of your great
wisdom discover some means of help. Be our counsellor. Be
our champion. E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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