title: Philosophorum aliquot epistolae

author: Various Authors

source_edition: Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 17, coll. 1147A–1154B

source_text:
## *Thales Pherecydi.*

[1147A]

Audio te primum Ionum, de divinis rebus, apud Graecos palam disserere parare. Verum justiore fortasse sententia, inter amicos ea quae scripseris, leges, quam passim quibuscumque permittes, nullo illis emolumento futura. Equidem si tibi gratum cognovero, volo conscius eorum quae scribis esse. Ac siquidem jubes, ad te mature proficiscar. Neque enim adeo amentes ac stolidi sumus, ego et Solon Atheniensis, ut cum navigio Cretam petierimus visendi gratia, Aegyptumque itidem penetraverimus, ut istic sacerdotibus et astronomis congrederemur, ad te non pari studio navigaturi simus. Veniet enim et Solon ipse, si annuas. Neque tu loci illius amore detentus, raro in Ioniam transis, neque peregrinorum [1147B] hominum desiderio tangeris. Verum uni tantum, ut spero, scribendi negotio incumbis. At nos, qui nihil scribimus, Graeciam, Asiamque, peragramus. Vale.

## *Thales Soloni.*

Athenis si excedas, Mileti, ut equidem reor, commodissime habitare poteris. Est enim vestra colonia, patierisque grave nihil. Quod si et apud Milesios exsecraris tyrannidem, aeque enim ubique tyrannos infestos habes, at cum amicis nobiscum vivere erit jucundissimum. Scripsit ad te Bias, ut Prienam proficiscaris: eam tu urbem si libentius inhabitaveris, et ipsi eo ad te advolabimus.

## *Pisistratus Soloni.*

Neque solus Graecorum tyrannidem arripui, neque [1147C] mihi rem alienam usurpavi, quippe genus a Cecrope duco. Id enim mihi meo jure vindico, quod Athenienses olim cum in jurejurando firmassent Codro, illiusque genti praebituros, postmodum abstulerant. Caeterum in deos, vel in homines nihil alias pecco. Leges, quas ipse Atheniensibus dedisti, servari, atque secundum eas vivere jubeo: et quidem melius servantur, quam possent, si multitudinis imperio res ageretur. Permitto enim nemini injuriam fieri: ac tyrannus ego praeter dignitatem et honorem nihil a plebe differo, solis eis stipendiis contentus, quae iis quoque, qui ante me regnarunt, debebantur. Denique Atheniensium singuli decimas frugum suarum separant, non in usus nostros consumendas, verum sacrificiis publicis commodisque communibus: et si [1147D] quando bellum contra nos ingruerit, in sumptus deputandas. Tibi equidem nihil succenseo, quod mentem meam consiliumque detexeris: quippe qui id potius reipublicae studio civitatis, quam mei odio detexeris: ac praeterea quod ignorares cujusmodi [1148A] ego rex futurus essem. Id enim si didicisses, aequo animo et conatus meos forte tolerasses, et te fugae haudquaquam commisisses. Domum igitur bona fide redi, mihi et injurato credens, nihil esse periculi a Pisistrato Soloni. Nosti enim neminem, etiam ex inimicorum numero, mali quippiam a me perpessum. Denique si placuerit nostra amicitia frui, inter primos eris: nihil enim in te fraudis, perfidiaeve conspicio. Quod si alioqui habitare Athenis nolueris, pro arbitrio tuo id facies: tantum ne nostri causa, patria excederis. Vale.

## *Solon Periandro.*

Scribis tibi plurimos insidiari; at tu, siquidem omnes e medio tuleris, ne sic quidem proficies. Insidiabitur enim tibi quispiam ex his, quos minime [1148B] suspectos habes, partim sibi quidem metuens, partim te reprehendens, quod omnia formides, nihilque non metuas: partim item civitati gratificari cupiens. Esset ergo optimum abstinere tyrannide, ut causas omnis metus evaderes. Quod si tyrannidi omnino insistendum censes, compares tibi, necesse est, externas vires et peregrina auxilia, urbanis viribus majora, ut jam tibi nullus infestus sit, et tu neminem extorrem agas. Vale.

## *Solon Epimenidi.*

Neque leges meae profecto Atheniensibus profuturae multum erant: neque tu eis antiquatis, civitati fuisti emolumento. Deus enim, ac latores legum non soli juvare civitates possunt, sed qui multitudinem agunt, in quamcumque sententiam volunt. His enim, [1148C] si recte rem administrent, Deus ac leges utiles sunt: sin autem male, nihil prosunt. Neque sane meae leges ac jura, quae scripsi, quidquam profuerunt: sed qui illas transgressi sunt, magna reipublicae invexere detrimenta, qui Pisistrato, ne tyrannidem invaderet, non obstiterunt. Neque vero futura praedicenti mihi fides habebatur. Ille fidelior existimabatur Atheniensibus blandiens, quam ego vera proloquens. Positis igitur armis pro curia, his quidem qui Pisistratum gestire tyrannidem non animadvertunt, sapientiorem: eis vero qui libertatem reipublicae asserere metuerent, fortiorem me esse dixi; at illi Solonis interpretabantur insaniam. Tandem ita patriam contestatus, excessi: O Patria, hic quidem Solon ille tibi opem ferre, et facto et dicto, promptus [1148D] et paratus est, caeterum hisce et insanire videor. Itaque, te deserta, proficiscor, solus ex omnibus Pisistrati inimicus: isti vero et favere et obsequi parati sunt. Nosti enim hominem amice, quanto ille astu, quo ingenio, qua arte tyrannidem invaserit. [1149A] Nam coepit blande plebem illicere, deinde sibi etiam vulnera inflixit: ac progressus in publicum, eaque se ab hostibus accepisse vociferans, orabat quadringentos robustissimos juvenes sibi custodes darent. At illi, me quidem reluctante et reclamante, acquieverunt. Erant autem hi armati validis fustibus; his itaque stipatus, statum reipublicae evertit. Dumque illi spe inani pauperes suos, ne mercede servirent liberare student, omnes una sub jugum missi sunt, unique serviunt Pisistrato.

## *Solon Pisistrato.*

Credo equidem nihil me abs te passurum mali. Nam ante tyrannidem tibi amicus eram, ne nunc quidem magis infensus, quam alius quivis Atheniensium, qui tyrannidem non ament. Sive autem [1149B] unius imperio regi, sive publice rem administrari illis utilius sit, ex sua quisque sententia statuat. Certe tyrannorum te omnium esse praestantissimum fateor. Athenas autem redire mihi utile non esse cognosco, ne quis me juste reprehendat, qui Atheniensibus dudum rempublicam ex aequo administrandam tradideram, praesensque oblatam mihi tyrannidem sponte declinaveram, modo rediens factum tuum subita poenitentia probare videar.

## *Solon Craeso.*

Amplector mirifice tuam in nos benevolentiam: et per deos immortales, nisi apud me jampridem statuissem ibi sedem habere ubi respublica sit libera, mallem apud te, in tuo regno vitam, quam Athenis agere, violenter tyrannidem exercente Pisistrato. [1149C] Verum ibi suavius ex instituto nostro vivimus, ubi sunt omnibus aequa et communia jura. Veniam tamen ad te, ut tuo vel hospitio tantisper fruar.

## *Chilo Periandro.*

Jubes uti militia vacem, extorrisque agam: quasi tu in tuto futurus sis. Atqui ego monarchae nec sua tuta esse puto: felicemque eum tyrannum censeo, cui in sua domo absque sanguine contigerit mori.

## *Pittacus Craeso.*

Jubes me in Lydiam venire, spectatum opes tuas. Ego etsi illas minime aspexi, nihil ambigo, Alyattis filium, regum omnium esse opulentissimum, auroque refertissimum. Neque vero amplius quidquam habituri sumus, si Sardeis ad te accesserimus. Auro enim ipsi non indigemus, contenti modico vitae stipendio, [1149D] quantum satis sit mihi, et amicis. Veniam tamen, ut tibi perhumano et hospitali viro familiaris efficiar. Vale.

## *Cleobulus Soloni.*

Amici quidem tibi sunt permulti, singulisque domus est: verum ego Soloni commodissimam fore ad inhabitandum, Lindum censeo, civitatem liberam. Estque insula maritima, ubi si morari volueris, nihil a Pisistrato mali formidabis, atque ad te amici undique confluent. Vale.

## *Periander Sapientibus.*

Gratias immortales ago Pythio Apollini, quod in unum coactos epistolae meae repererunt, ipsaeque Corinthum, ut confido, perducent. Exspecto itaque [1150A] vos. Certe ipsi videbitis, quam civiliter vos excipiam. Sicut igitur anno praeterito Sardeis, in Lydiam venistis: ita nunc oro, ne pigeat ad me quoque proficisci, Corinthi tyrannum; videbunt enim vos non sine gratulatione Corinthii, Periandri domum adeuntes.

## *Periander Proclo.*

Nobis quidem non ex sententia fuit uxoris scelus: tu autem sponte filio ingrato si quid egeris, peccas. Aut igitur immanitatem in filium compesce, aut ego illi opem feram: nam et ipse satis diu poenas dedit.

## *Thrasybulus Periandro.*

Praeconi quidem tuo nihil dissimulavi, sed ipsum in segetem inducens, eminentiores spicas bacillo feriens, decutiebam, subsequente illo: tibique, si [1150B] interrogares, referret quidquid vel viderit vel audierit a me. Tu ergo sic facito, siquidem tyrannidem tuto tenere cupis, atque in ea constabiliri. Civitatis principes tolle, sive illi amici, sive inimici videantur: quippe tyranno amici quoque saepe suspecti sunt.

## *Anarcharsis Craeso.*

Ego, Lydorum rex, in Graeciam adveni, Graecorum mores et studia et instituta percepturus. Auro autem nihil egeo, satisque mihi est, ut ad Scythas redeam melior atque doctior. Veniam tamen ad te Sardeis, plurimi faciens tibi familiarem et amicum fieri.

## *Epimenides Soloni.*

Confide, o amice. Si enim vel servire assuetis, vel non bene institutis Atheniensibus Pisistratus immineret, [1150C] imperium profecto diuturnum habuisset. Caeterum viros haud sane malos, aut ignavos servire compulit: sed qui monitorum Solonis memores, prae pudore ingemiscant, servire tyrannidi diutius haudquaquam ferent. Verum etsi Pisistratus civitatem occuparit, non tamen ad illius liberos imperium spero deducendum. Est enim perdifficile hominibus liberis, praeclarisque institutis legibus, sub servitute durare. Tu autem, noli, quaeso, vagus agi, sed in Cretam venire ad nos matura, ubi tyrannus nullus cuiquam molestus est. Si vero illius amici forte, ut fit, in itinere inciderint, metuo ne quid sinistri tibi eveniat.

## *Pherecydes Thaleti.*

Bene moriaris, cum tibi fatalis dies supervenerit. [1150D] Morbus me invaserat, cum tuas accepi litteras, pediculis opperiebar, et febri quatiebar totus. Mandavi itaque quibusdam ex familiaribus, ut cum me sepelierint, ad te perferant quae scripsi. Tu autem, siquidem ea probaveris cum sapientibus reliquis, ita legenda demum trades: sin autem improbaveris, nolito edere. Mihi certe necdum satis placebant, est ibi quidem non certa rerum fides. Neque enim id recepi, neque quid sit verum me scire professus sum. Forte quaedam de Theologia reservavi, caetera intelligere oportet. Omnia quippe judico potius, quam aperio. Morbo autem singulis diebus invalescente, neque medicorum quempiam, neque amicorum penitus admitto. Caeterum assistentibus pro foribus, [1151A] et interrogantibus quo in statu sim, digito per ostii claustra dimisso, quam pestilenti malo tenear, ostendi: admonuique ut postridie conveniant ad solemnes Pherecydis inferias. Vale.

## *Anaximenes Pythagorae.*

Thales, ab aetatis flore, ad senectutem, per studia virtutis humanitatisque pervectus, inclyta morte defungitur. Is cum, ut consueverat, una cum ancillula, sidera inspecturus, atrio domus matutinus exisset, immemor ut sese loci situs haberet, dum aethera securus explorat, in subjectam foveam cecidit. Milesii siderum observatoris hunc finem tradunt. Caeterum nos, qui litterarum amore tenemur, tanti viri jugiter meminimus, atque in illius maxime doctrina acquiescimus, initiumque sermonis nostri Thaletem [1151B] semper instituimus.

## *Anaximenes Pythagorae.*

Consultius nobis egisti, ut quietus viveres, qui ex Samo Crotonem commigrasti. Nam Aeacidae cum aliis infesti sunt, tum Milesiis tyranni dominantur. Medorum item rex nobis acriter imminet, nisi velimus esse tributarii. Quamquam videntur Iones pro libertate omnium cum Medis dimicare. Ita enim illi nos undique urgent, ut nulla nobis spes salutis sit. Quonam igitur animo possit Anaximenes coeli secreta rimari, cui jugis aut mortis, aut servitutis incumbit metus? Atqui tu Crotoniatis atque Italis caeteris gratus atque in pretio es, quem accedunt et ex Sicilia studiosi quique.

## *Archytas Dionysio.*

[1151C]Misimus omnes Platonis necessarii Lamiscum, et Photidam, virum illum abs te recepturi jure antiquae nostrae amicitiae. Recte igitur feceris, si memineris quanto a nobis studio efflagitasti Platonis ad te adventum, ut nos illum venire hortaremur, facturum te spondens omnia illumque libere accedere et abire permissurum. Memor esto igitur, quanti illius adventum feceris, quodque eo tempore plus caeteris amaveris. Quod si qua orta simultas est, humanius te agere convenit, illumque nobis restituere illaesum. Haec enim si facis, justitiam coles, ac nobis gratificaberis.

## *Arcesilaus Thaumasiae.*

Testamenta mea Diogeni tradidi ad te perferenda. Quia enim saepius aegroto, et corpore non recte [1151D] valeo, testamentum conficere placuit: ut si quid contingat inopinatum, sine tua injuria proficiscar ex vita, qui unus ex omnibus maximo me affectu prosecutus es. Fidelissimus autem omnium, qui hic sunt, cum mihi semper fueris, diligenter et servare stude, tum propter aetatem, tum propter necessitudinem. Cura igitur memor, quantum tuae fidei committam, ut quod apud te totum deponetur, quantum in te est, et negotia mea honeste disposita sint.

## *Rex Antigonus Zenoni philosopho.*

Ego fortuna me quidem et gloria vitam tuam anteire existimo: caeterum disciplinis studiisque liberalibus, et perfecta felicitate, quam tu possides, longe abs te praecelli sentio. Quocirca te orare statui, [1152A] uti ad me proficiscaris, id mihi persuadens, te preces meas minime irritas fieri passurum. Tu igitur modis omnibus enitere, ut tuo contubernio fruamur: certo sciens non mei tantum, sed omnium simul Macedonum eruditorem fore. Nam qui Macedoniae regem erudit, atque in virtutem imbuit, eum et subditos quosque instruere ad fortitudinem et probitatem certum est. Nam cujusmodi fuerit dux, tales ut plurimum subditos fieri necesse est. Vale.

## *Zeno Antigono regi.*

Amplector tuum tam vehemens discendi studium, quod veram, utilem atque necessariam, non popularem et quae ad pervertendos mores tendit, eruditionem apprehendere instituis. Qui enim philosophiae amore ac studio tenetur, declinatque celebrem illam [1152B] et vulgarem voluptatem, quae quorumdam adolescentulorum animos effeminat: eum non natura modo nobilitatem tueri, sed verum quidem virtutis quoque institutum, manifestum est. Porro liberali ac nobili ingenio si adjiciatur modica exercitatio, neque desit praeceptoris copia, mature ad perfectam virtutis evadit frugem. Equidem nisi senectus mihi obsisteret, sum enim octogenarius, corpusque praeterea invalidum, ipse ad te venirem, ut jubes. Quia vero id datur, quosdam ex conturbernalibus meis ad te mitto, qui animi bonis me minime inferiores sunt, et corporis etiam commodis exsuperant. His si tu studiose congrediare, nihil quod ad perfectam pertinet beatitudinem, desiderabis.

## *Pythagoras Anaximeni.*

[1152C]At tu, virorum optime, si nihil Pythagora, et genere et gloria praestantior esses, profecto ad nos jam ex Mileto migrasses: nunc vero te continuit paterna et avita gloria, quae et me continuisset, si essem Anaximeni similis. Caeterum vos si augurio urbes deseretis, eis quidem ornatus adimetur, Medique illis infestius instabunt. Neque vero semper convenit astrorum ac coeli vestigare rationes. Praestat interdum, ad patriam curas cogitationesque convertere. Quamquam ego non semper meis vaco fabulis, verum et bellis interdum quibus inter se invicem Itali dissident.

## *Archytas Platoni.*

Facis tu quidem recte, quod nobis re convaluisse ex aegritudine significaris: de Damisco item certiores [1152D] feceris. De Commentariis autem curavimus venimusque ad Lucanos, ibique convenimus Occelli nepotes. Quae igitur de regno, legibus, justitia, omniumque generatione, et ipsi habemus, et ex his quaedam misimus. Reliqua modo reperiri non possunt: cum inventa fuerint, ad te deferentur.

## *Plato Archytae.*

Quae abs te nobis allata sunt Commentaria, dici non potest, quam libenter accepimus; quique illa scripsit, in primis admirati sumus. Ostendit enim profecto vir ille, dignum se majoribus illis suis, antiquissimis atque optimis viris. Feruntur autem isti viri, Myraei fuisse: hi autem ex illis fuere Trojanis, qui cum Laomedonte migrarunt, viri boni, ut de [1153A] illis tradita significant. Quae apud me sunt Commentaria, de quibus scripsisti, nondum satis elucubrata sunt, neque umquam satis erunt; ea tamen misi. De custodia vero ambo consentimus: nihil itaque adhortatione opus est. Vale.

## *Rex Darius, Hystaspis filius, Heraclitum Ephesium, sapientem virum, salutat.*

Librum de Natura scripsisti obscurum, difficilemque in plerisque, qui si ad verbum exponatur, vim quamdam speculationis continere videtur mundi totius, et quae in eo fiunt omnium, quae quidem sunt in divino motu constituta. In quibus plurimi haeserunt adeo, ut et qui complura legerunt, ambigant, cum recta abs te narratio conscripta videatur. Rex igitur Darius, Hystaspis filius, auditor esse tuus cupit, [1153B] particepsque Graecae eruditionis fieri. Venias itaque quam primum ad conspectum meum, ac regiam [1154A] domum. Graeci enim, ut plurimum sapientibus viris observandis minus dediti, aspernantur ea quae ab his recte fuerint elucubrata: tametsi ejusmodi sint, ut eruditione et gravitate non careant. Apud me autem aderit tibi omnis honor, primatusque omnis, quotidieque sollicita observatio, et grata collocutio, vitaque tuis moribus probabilis. Vale.

## *Heraclitus Ephesius regi Dario, Hystaspis filio.*

Quotquot mortales in terris vivunt, a veritate ac justitia abstinent, avaritiae autem et inani gloriae inexplebiliter intendunt, perditae dementiae causa. Ego autem, omnis immemor nequitiae, fastidiumque devitans omnis invidiae domesticae, quae splendorem comitari solet, numquam in Persarum solum advenirem, [1154B] paucis contentus, quae sunt secundum meam sententiam.

english:
## *Thales to Pherecydes.*

[1147A]

I hear that you are preparing to be the first of the Ionians to discourse openly among the Greeks concerning divine matters. But it would perhaps be a juster judgment to read among friends what you have written than to hand it about indiscriminately to any and all, since to them it will bring no profit. For my part, if I learn that it would be agreeable to you, I wish to be privy to the things you are writing. And if indeed you bid me, I will set out to you in good time. For we are not so senseless and dull, I and Solon of Athens, that, when we sailed to Crete for the sake of seeing it, and likewise made our way into Egypt to meet there with the priests and astronomers, we should not sail to you with equal zeal. For Solon himself will come too, if you consent. And you, held fast by love of that place of yours, cross but rarely into Ionia, nor are you touched by any longing for foreign [1147B] men. But you apply yourself, as I hope, to the one business only of writing. Yet we, who write nothing, travel through Greece and Asia. Farewell.

## *Thales to Solon.*

If you depart from Athens, you will be able, as I for my part think, to dwell most conveniently at Miletus. For it is your colony, and you will suffer nothing grievous there. But if among the Milesians too you abhor tyranny — for everywhere alike you find tyrants hostile — yet to live with us among friends will be most pleasant. Bias has written to you that you set out for Priene: if you would more gladly dwell in that city, we too will fly there to you.

## *Pisistratus to Solon.*

I am neither the only one of the Greeks to have seized the tyranny, nor [1147C] have I usurped a thing that was another's, seeing that I trace my descent from Cecrops. For I claim for myself by my own right what the Athenians once, when they had confirmed it by oath to Codrus and his line that they would render it, afterward took away. For the rest, I sin in nothing else against the gods or against men. The laws that you yourself gave the Athenians I command to be kept, and to live according to them; and indeed they are better kept than they could be if affairs were conducted by the rule of the multitude. For I permit no one to be wronged; and I, though a tyrant, differ from the common people in nothing but rank and honor, content with only those revenues that were owed also to those who reigned before me. In short, the individual Athenians set apart the tithes of their crops, not to be consumed for our uses, but for the public sacrifices and the common advantages; and if [1147D] at any time a war should press upon us, to be assigned to the expenses. With you, for my part, I am in no way angry, that you laid bare my mind and design — seeing that you laid it bare rather out of zeal for the commonwealth of the city than out of hatred of me; and besides, because you did not know what sort of [1148A] king I would prove to be. For had you learned this, you would perhaps have borne my endeavors too with an even mind, and would by no means have committed yourself to flight. Come home, then, in good faith, believing me even unsworn, that there is no danger to Solon from Pisistratus. For you know that no one, even from among my enemies, has suffered any evil at my hands. In short, if it should please you to enjoy our friendship, you will be among the first; for I perceive in you nothing of fraud or perfidy. But if for other reasons you are unwilling to dwell at Athens, you will do so at your own discretion; only do not depart your fatherland on our account. Farewell.

## *Solon to Periander.*

You write that very many lie in wait for you; yet you, even if you should take them all out of the way, will not even so gain your end. For someone will lie in wait for you from among those whom you least hold suspect — partly indeed fearing for himself, partly reproaching you because you dread everything, and there is nothing you do not fear, [1148B] partly likewise desiring to gratify the city. It would therefore be best to abstain from the tyranny, that you might escape all causes of fear. But if you judge that you must cling to the tyranny at all costs, you must needs procure for yourself external forces and foreign auxiliaries, greater than the forces of the city, so that now none may be hostile to you, and you may drive no one into exile. Farewell.

## *Solon to Epimenides.*

Neither, in truth, were my laws going to profit the Athenians much; nor, when you had made them ancient, were you of any advantage to the city. For God, and the givers of laws, cannot by themselves aid cities, but those who lead the multitude, into whatever opinion they wish. For to these, [1148C] if they administer the matter rightly, God and the laws are useful; but if ill, they profit nothing. Nor indeed did my laws and ordinances, which I wrote, avail anything; but those who transgressed them brought great harm upon the commonwealth — they who did not withstand Pisistratus, that he should not seize the tyranny. Nor was any faith placed in me foretelling what would come. He was reckoned more trustworthy, flattering the Athenians, than I speaking the truth. So, having laid down my arms before the senate-house, I said that I was wiser than those who did not perceive that Pisistratus was straining after the tyranny, and braver than those who feared to assert the freedom of the commonwealth; but they construed it as Solon's madness. At last, having thus called my fatherland to witness, I departed: O Fatherland, here indeed is that Solon, ready and prepared [1148D] to bring you aid both by deed and by word; but to these men I even seem to be mad. And so, forsaking you, I set out, alone of all men the enemy of Pisistratus; but they are ready both to favor and to obey him. For you know the man, my friend — with what cunning, with what wit, with what art he seized the tyranny. [1149A] For he began winningly to entice the common people, then even inflicted wounds upon himself; and coming forth in public, and crying aloud that he had received these from enemies, he begged that they give him as guards four hundred of the most robust young men. And they, though I indeed struggled and cried out against it, consented. Now these were armed with stout cudgels; and so, hemmed about by these, he overthrew the state of the commonwealth. And while those men strive with vain hope to free their poor, that they might not serve for hire, all together were sent under the yoke, and serve Pisistratus alone.

## *Solon to Pisistratus.*

I believe indeed that I shall suffer no evil from you. For before the tyranny I was your friend, and not even now am I more hostile than any other of the Athenians who do not love the tyranny. Whether, moreover, [1149B] it be more useful to them to be ruled by the command of one, or for the affair to be administered publicly, let each determine according to his own judgment. Certainly I confess you to be the most excellent of all tyrants. But I recognize that it is not useful for me to return to Athens, lest anyone justly reproach me — I who long ago had handed over to the Athenians the commonwealth to be administered on equal terms, and, being present, had of my own accord declined the tyranny offered to me — should now, returning, seem by a sudden repentance to approve your deed.

## *Solon to Croesus.*

I marvelously embrace your goodwill toward us; and by the immortal gods, had I not long since resolved with myself to have my seat where the commonwealth is free, I would rather pass my life with you, in your kingdom, than at Athens, while Pisistratus violently exercises the tyranny. [1149C] But there we live more sweetly, according to our principle, where there are laws equal and common to all. Yet I will come to you, that I may for a while enjoy at least your hospitality.

## *Chilon to Periander.*

You bid me be free of military service, and live in exile — as though you yourself were going to be in safety. And yet I think that not even his own affairs are safe for a monarch; and I judge that tyrant happy to whom it has fallen to die in his own house without bloodshed.

## *Pittacus to Croesus.*

You bid me come into Lydia to behold your wealth. Though I have by no means beheld it, I in no way doubt that the son of Alyattes is the most opulent of all kings, and most crammed with gold. Nor indeed shall we have anything more, if we come to you at Sardis. For gold we ourselves do not lack, being content with a modest provision of life, [1149D] as much as suffices for me and my friends. Yet I will come, that I may become the intimate of a man so very kindly and hospitable. Farewell.

## *Cleobulus to Solon.*

You have indeed very many friends, and each of them has a house; but I judge that Lindus will be most convenient for Solon to dwell in, a free city. And it is a maritime island, where, if you should wish to tarry, you will dread no evil from Pisistratus, and your friends will flock to you from every side. Farewell.

## *Periander to the Sages.*

I render immortal thanks to Pythian Apollo, that my letters have found you gathered into one, and will themselves, as I trust, lead you through to Corinth. And so I await [1150A] you. Certainly you yourselves will see how courteously I receive you. As, therefore, last year at Sardis, you came into Lydia, so now I pray that it may not irk you to set out to me also, the tyrant of Corinth; for the Corinthians will see you, not without rejoicing, coming to the house of Periander.

## *Periander to Procles.*

To us indeed the crime committed against my wife was not according to our wish; but you, if of your own accord you do anything to my son who is ungrateful, do wrong. Either, therefore, restrain your savagery against my son, or I will bring him aid; for he too has paid the penalty long enough.

## *Thrasybulus to Periander.*

To your herald indeed I dissembled nothing, but leading him into the standing corn, and striking the more eminent ears with my staff, I beat them down, he following after; and to you, if [1150B] you should ask, he would report whatever he saw or heard from me. Do you therefore act thus, if indeed you desire to hold the tyranny in safety and to be established firmly in it. Take away the leading men of the city, whether they seem friends or enemies; for to a tyrant even friends are often suspect.

## *Anacharsis to Croesus.*

I, O king of the Lydians, have come into Greece, to learn the manners and pursuits and institutions of the Greeks. But I have no need of gold, and it is enough for me that I may return to the Scythians better and more learned. Yet I will come to you at Sardis, making very much of becoming intimate and friend to you.

## *Epimenides to Solon.*

Take heart, O friend. For if Pisistratus were bearing down upon Athenians accustomed to servitude, or ill-instructed, [1150C] he would assuredly have held a lasting rule. But he has compelled to servitude men in no way base or cowardly; and they, mindful of Solon's admonitions, groaning for shame, will by no means bear to serve the tyranny any longer. For even though Pisistratus has seized the city, yet I do not expect the rule to be carried down to his children. For it is exceedingly difficult for free men, and for those instructed by excellent laws, to endure under servitude. But you, do not, I pray, let yourself be driven as a wanderer, but make haste to come to us into Crete, where no tyrant is troublesome to anyone. But if perchance his friends should fall in with you on the road, as happens, I fear lest something ill befall you.

## *Pherecydes to Thales.*

May you die well, when your fated day shall come upon you. [1150D] A sickness had assailed me when I received your letter; I was beset by lice, and was shaken all over by fever. And so I have charged certain of my household that, when they have buried me, they carry to you what I have written. But you, if indeed you approve it together with the rest of the sages, then at last hand it over to be read; but if you disapprove it, do not publish it. To me certainly it was not yet quite pleasing; there is in it indeed no sure warranty of things. For I neither undertook this, nor professed that I knew what is true. Perhaps I have reserved certain things concerning Theology; the rest one must understand. For all things I rather judge than lay open. But as the sickness grows stronger day by day, I admit to me neither any of the physicians nor of my friends at all. But to those standing before my doors, [1151A] and asking in what state I am, I showed, by letting a finger through the door's bar, with what pestilent evil I am held; and I bade them assemble on the morrow for the solemn funeral rites of Pherecydes. Farewell.

## *Anaximenes to Pythagoras.*

Thales, having been carried through, from the flower of his age to old age, by the pursuits of virtue and humane learning, has met a renowned death. For when, as was his custom, he had gone out in the morning, together with his little maidservant, into the courtyard of his house to inspect the stars, forgetful of how the lay of the place stood, while he securely explores the heaven, he fell into a pit lying below. Such an end do the Milesians relate of this observer of the stars. But we, who are held by love of letters, remember so great a man continually, and rest most of all upon his teaching, and always make Thales [1151B] the beginning of our discourse.

## *Anaximenes to Pythagoras.*

You acted more prudently for us, in that you might live in quiet — you who migrated from Samos to Crotona. For the Aeacidae are hostile to others, and tyrants lord it over the Milesians. Likewise the king of the Medes bears down sharply upon us, unless we are willing to be tributaries. Although the Ionians seem to be fighting with the Medes for the freedom of all. For so do they press us on every side that there is no hope of safety for us. With what mind, then, could Anaximenes search out the secrets of heaven, upon whom lies the perpetual fear either of death or of servitude? But you are pleasing to the Crotoniates and to the rest of the Italians, and held in esteem, whom the studious also from Sicily approach.

## *Archytas to Dionysius.*

[1151C]We, all the intimates of Plato, have sent Lamiscus and Photidas, to receive that man from you by the right of our ancient friendship. Rightly, therefore, will you have acted, if you remember with how great zeal you demanded of us the coming of Plato to you, that we should urge him to come, promising that you would do all things, and would permit him freely to come and to depart. Be mindful, therefore, how much you made of his coming, and that at that time you loved him more than the rest. But if any quarrel has arisen, it befits you to act more humanely, and to restore him to us unharmed. For if you do these things, you will cultivate justice, and will gratify us.

## *Arcesilaus to Thaumasias.*

I have handed my testament to Diogenes to be carried to you. For since I am rather often sick, and am not rightly [1151D] well in body, it has pleased me to make a testament: so that, if anything unforeseen should happen, I may depart from life without wrong to you — you who, alone of all men, have attended me with the greatest affection. And since you have always been the most faithful of all who are here, be diligent both to keep it carefully, both for your age's sake and for our close bond's sake. Take care, therefore, mindful of how much I commit to your trust, that what is deposited with you wholly may, as far as in you lies, and that my affairs be honorably arranged.

## *King Antigonus to Zeno the philosopher.*

I for my part reckon that I go before your life in fortune and glory; but in the liberal disciplines and studies, and in the perfect felicity which you possess, I feel myself far outdone by you. Wherefore I have resolved to entreat you, [1152A] that you set out to me, persuading myself of this, that you will by no means suffer my prayers to be made vain. Do you, therefore, strive by all means, that we may enjoy your company; knowing for certain that you will be the educator not of me only, but of all the Macedonians together. For he who educates the king of Macedonia, and imbues him with virtue, it is certain that he instructs also each of his subjects unto fortitude and probity. For of whatever sort the leader has been, of such sort must the subjects for the most part become. Farewell.

## *Zeno to King Antigonus.*

I embrace your so vehement zeal for learning, in that you resolve to grasp the true, useful, and necessary erudition — not the popular, and that which tends to the perverting of morals. For he who is held by the love and study of philosophy, and turns aside from that famous [1152B] and vulgar pleasure which effeminates the minds of certain young men — it is manifest that he not only guards his nobility by nature, but has also the true institution of virtue. Moreover, if to a liberal and noble disposition there be added moderate exercise, and the abundance of a teacher be not wanting, it comes early to the perfect fruit of virtue. For my part, were old age not against me — for I am an octogenarian, and my body besides is weak — I would myself come to you, as you bid. But because this is not granted, I send to you certain of my companions, who are by no means inferior to me in the goods of the mind, and even surpass me in the advantages of the body. If you consort with these zealously, you will lack nothing that pertains to perfect blessedness.

## *Pythagoras to Anaximenes.*

[1152C]But you, best of men, if you were in no way more excellent than Pythagoras, both in birth and in glory, would assuredly have migrated to us already from Miletus; but as it is, your fatherland's and forefathers' glory has held you back — which would have held me back too, if I were like Anaximenes. But you, if by augury you shall desert your cities, their adornment indeed will be taken from them, and the Medes will press upon them more hostilely. Nor indeed does it always befit one to trace out the reckonings of the stars and of heaven. It is better at times to turn to the cares and thoughts of one's fatherland. And yet I do not always have leisure for my own tales, but also at times for the wars in which the Italians are at variance among themselves.

## *Archytas to Plato.*

You do indeed rightly, in that you have signified to us that you have recovered your strength from your ailment; and likewise have made us more certain concerning Damiscus. [1152D] Concerning the Commentaries, moreover, we have taken care, and have come to the Lucanians, and there we met the descendants of Occellus. Whatever things, then, concerning kingship, laws, justice, and the generation of all things, we ourselves have, and of these we have sent certain of them. The rest cannot just now be found; when they have been found, they will be conveyed to you.

## *Plato to Archytas.*

The Commentaries that were brought to us from you — it cannot be told how gladly we received them; and him who wrote them we admired above all. For that man has assuredly shown himself worthy of those great ancestors of his, most ancient and best of men. Now these men are said to have been Myraeans; and these were of those Trojans who migrated with Laomedon, good men, as the things handed down concerning [1153A] them signify. The Commentaries that are with me, concerning which you wrote, are not yet sufficiently wrought out, nor ever will be sufficiently; yet I have sent them. But concerning safekeeping we both agree; and so there is no need of exhortation. Farewell.

## *King Darius, son of Hystaspes, greets Heraclitus of Ephesus, a wise man.*

You have written a book On Nature, obscure and difficult in most parts, which, if it be expounded to the letter, seems to contain a certain force of speculation about the whole world, and about all the things that come to pass in it — things indeed that are established in the divine motion. In these very many have stuck fast, so that even those who have read much are in doubt, though the narration written by you seems correct. King Darius, therefore, son of Hystaspes, desires to be your hearer, [1153B] and to become a partaker of Greek erudition. Come, therefore, as soon as possible into my sight, and to the royal [1154A] house. For the Greeks, being for the most part little given to regarding wise men, spurn the things that have been rightly wrought out by them — even though they be of such a kind as not to lack erudition and gravity. But with me there will be for you every honor, and every precedence, and daily anxious regard, and welcome converse, and a life approvable by your manners. Farewell.

## *Heraclitus of Ephesus to King Darius, son of Hystaspes.*

However many mortals live upon the earth abstain from truth and justice, but strain insatiably after avarice and empty glory, for the sake of ruinous madness. But I, forgetful of all wickedness, and shunning the loathing of all domestic envy, which is wont to attend splendor, would never come into the soil of the Persians, [1154B] content with the few things that are according to my judgment.


site: migne

title: Epistolae

author: Peter the Deacon

languages: en la

source_edition: Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 173, coll. 1137B–1144A

source_text:
## I. *Ad Richizam Romanorum imperatricem.--Consolatoria de morte Lotharii imperatoris et Henrici ducis Bavariae ejus generi.* [n: (Anno 1139.)]

[1137B]

Dominae RICHIZAE a Deo protectae Romanorum imperatrici, PETRUS DIACONUS, post praesentis vitae metas aeterni regni calculum.

Multoties, imperatrix invicta, impetum coepi consolandi vestram eminentiam, multoties continui. Ut id protinus facerem, plurima invitabant, praecipue autem domini nostri imperatoris Lotharii defuncti fidelitas, tum vestrae augustalis clementiae in nos indignos dilectio, ut lacrymas vestras etsi ex toto sopire non potuissem, interim certe vel abstersissem: ut retardarem autem, sciebam dolori tuo, dum recens saeviret, praepropere occurrendum non [1137C] esse, ne illum ipsa eadem solatia potius irritarent, exagerarent, accenderent: nam saepe videmus in ipsis quoque morbis immaturam medicinam esse perniciosissimam. Exspectabam itaque dum ipsemet dolor vires suas deponeret, ut mora mitigatus tangi se quodammodo, attrectarique ad remedia sustinenda permitteret. Ante tamen quam cum eo congrediar, adero illi, et aliquanta quibus excitetur in memoriam reducam, et quae jam quasi obducta videntur rescindam et proferam, optimo videlicet ac solemni genere consolandi. Hi itaque fleant gemantque diutius, quorum delicatissimas mentes enervavit longa felicitas, effeminavit luxuria, qui spem suam omnino fixerunt in saeculo; [1137D] qui, quae sint bona illa perennia, vel ignorant ex toto, vel si sciunt, oblectamentis sopiti mundialibus negligunt. At quorum fere omnes sani per diversas curas transierunt, quorum, juxta Apostolum, conversatio in coelis est, qui et vanitates saeculi, ut coeli gaudia, prudenti ac discreto corde perpendunt, gravissima quoque quaelibet immobili constantia perferunt. Quid pergam referre? numera quot calamitatibus, [1138B] quot infortuniis ab infantia ipsa jactata sis, cum in eisdem fere, ut sic dicam, innata fueris. Felicis memoriae dominus noster imperator Lotharius, qui te sibi in conjugem elegerat, ad imperiale fastigium promoverat, in quam solam cuncta negotia Romani imperii commiserat, post multas quas cum ipso pertulisti angustias, post orbem Romanum, ut ita dixerim, cum eo peragratum, cum in dies ad imperiale domicilium cum eo accelerares regressum; heu! proh dolor, multorum sociorum dolore gravissimo extulisti. Transeo tot pericula, tot metus, quos sine interstitio incursantes in te cum tanto caesare pertulisti: modo, modo, cum nondum priores luctus integre composueris, lugenti adhuc tibi luctus adjunctus est, et cum quasi solatium [1138C] tot aerumnarum, quod videlicet solum residuum erat in vivente genero vestro HEINRICO duce Bavariae te habere putares, subito nec opinanti vobis mors ejus immatura relata est: gravissimum plane est omnibus quae vobis post decessum domini nostri imperatoris Lotharii obtigerunt, recens vulnus; nec autem summam rupit, sed pectus, fateor, et viscera ipsa divisit: nec ex intacto corpore tuo hic sanguis effluxit per ipsas cicatrices percussus, sed quemadmodum tirones leviter sauciati, tamen vociferantur, ut veterani quamvis confossi patienter ac sine gemitu curari se patiuntur: non enim, clementissima domina, ita lugendi sunt quique fideles, ait Apostolus, sicut et caeteri qui spem non habent: *Si enim [1138D] credimus quod Jesus mortuus est et resurrexit, ita et Deus eos qui dormierunt per Jesum adducet cum eo.* Ergo, clementissima domina, ut consolationem accipiatis, hortamur; ista enim mors, quid est aliud, nisi relictio corporis, depositio sarcinae gravis? Nata es, o imperatrix, moritura es; quo ibis ut non moriaris? Quid facis, ut non moriaris? Ut Dominus Deus tuus consolaretur te, propria voluntate mori [1139A] dignatus est. Quando vides Christum pro te mortuum, tu mori dedignaris? Ergo moritura es, velis, nolis. Quo evades? quo effugies ut non moriaris? Hodie sit, cras sit, futurum est, dubium non est, credendum est. Quid ergo agis, times, fugis! futurum est. Ergo, mi piissima domina, lamentationes et ululatus ac si muliebres tumultus a te viriliter amove; quando enim dolor iste vester durior est, tanto major vobis virtus advocanda est, et veluti cum noto hoste et saepe jam victo acrius congrediendum; fortem ac sapientem nec secunda evehunt, nec adversa demittunt; facile illa fert qui semper expectat; illi sunt gravia quae sunt repentina; qui laetis rebus non se inflavit, nec mutatis contraxit, adversus utrumque statum invictam animam tenet [1139B] jam exploratae firmitatis. In ipsa namque felicitate quid contra infelicitatem posset, expertus est: infinito quidem dolore, cum aliquem ex carissimis amiseris affici, inepta indulgentia est; nullo autem inhumana duritia; nam et non sentire dolorem, non est hominis, et non ferre, non est virtutis. Optimum inter utrumque temperamentum est, et sentire desiderium, et reprimere; praesertim cum nec excellentiae vestrae conveniat immensum tristari: maximum solatium est cogitare, id vobis accidisse quod omnes ante passi sunt, omnesque passuri. Gaude itaque habuisse te virum Romanum imperatorem: cogita jucundissimum esse quod habuisti, humanum quod amisisti: quod talem habuisti, in summis bonis pone; non est cogitandum vobis quam diutius [1139C] habere illum potueris, sed quandiu habueris: non in eo mors vestram satietatem, sed suam sequi voluit legem. Stet tantum animus in procinctu; mors alium alio tempore comprehendet, neminem interibit, nullum certe excipiet. Quisquis ad vitam editur, ad mortem destinatur; sed animus sapientis quod necesse est nunquam timeat, quod incertum semper exspectet.

## II. *Ad eamdem.--Ejusdem argumenti.* [n: (Anno eod.)]

Dominae suae excellentissimae atque piissimae Richizae a Deo protectae, magnae ac pacificae Romanorum imperatrici Augustae PETRUS, vestri imperii servus, post praesentis regni potentiam aeternam felicitatem.

Licet nervus incisus doleat, et spiritus tristis ossa [1139D] conterat, non tamen adeo lugendus est dominus noster imperator Lotharius sicut et hi, sicut dicit Apostolus, qui spem non habent. Ad suum perrexit, in quo summum bonum est, in quo omnis bonitas, omnis justitia, omnis pietas, omnisque sanctitas est. Ad illum perrexit qui sua praecepta servantibus clamare non cessat, Venite ad me omnes qui laboratis et onerati estis; et ego vos requiescere faciam. Elias festinans rogabat ut acciperetur a se anima sua.

*Et post multa:*

Dolendumne est igitur in decessu? Minime, quid enim absurdius, quam ut id quod scias omnibus esse praescriptum, quasi speciale deplores? Hoc est animum supra conditionem extollere, legem non recipere communem, consortium recusare, mente carnis [1140A] inflari, et carnis ipsius nescire mensuram. Quid absurdius quam nescire qui sis, affectare quod non sis? aut quid imprudentius, quod futurum scias, id cum acciderit ferre non posse? Natura ipsa nos revocat, et hujuscemodi moeroribus quadam sui collatione subducit. Quis enim tam gravis luctus, aut tam acer inest dolor, in quo non interdum relaxetur animus? Habet hoc natura, ut quamvis homines in tristibus rebus sint, tamen si modo homines sunt, a moerore mentem paulisper abducant. Fuisse etiam feruntur quidam populi, qui ortus hominum lugerent, obitusque celebrarent, nec imprudenter: eos enim qui in hoc vitae saeculum venissent, moerendos putabant; eos vero qui ex istius mundi procellis et fluctibus emersissent, non injusto gaudio prosequendos [1140B] arbitrabantur. Mors aequalis est omnibus hominibus, indiscreta divitibus. Hanc quotidie prae oculis tantus Caesar habebat, qui, sicut vidimus et experti sumus, dum in ejus versaremur obsequiis, sub imperiali chlamyde alterius militiae tirocinium ostendebat. Prius enim in lucis crepusculo missam pro defunctis audiebat, dehinc pro exercitu, postremo missam diei, demum cibum potumque viduis, pupillis ac caeteris pauperibus large distribuens, quaestiones et oppressiones ecclesiarum relevabat, et in ultimo in cura imperii insudabat. Quandiu enim Casini remoratus est, omnibus noctibus ita claustrum et omnes officinas monasterii, ac si abbas vel quilibet decanus circuibat, scire cupiens, qualiter unusquisque sub B. Benedicti magisterio viverent. Factoque [1140C] mane, per omnes monasterii ecclesias causa orationis discalceatis pedibus incedebat. Licet autem hoc ageret, nunquam a consortio archiepiscoporum, episcoporum, abbatum, clericorum, vel monachorum sequestrabatur, ut impleretur in eo quod legitur: Et cum sapientibus ac religiosis sermocinatio ejus. Quis autem ejus gravitatem non miretur, cum ad sedandas dissensiones fratrum, quae pro electione abbatis ortae fuerant, ad capitulum veniens, ab hora prima diei usque in vesperum, non cibo, non potui indulgens, exinde non egrediebatur? Quo autem affectu, quove amore Casinensem dilexit ecclesiam, ostendit, cum dixit prius se sinere omnia privilegia et concessiones ecclesiarum convelli, [1140D] quam aliquid de dignitatibus et privilegiis Casinensis Ecclesiae minui: et prius sineret electionem omnium episcoporum, archiepiscoporum et abbatum qui sunt in toto orbe Romano tollere, quam solummodo Casinensis abbatis. Dicebat enim, Abbas si ex consensu monachorum electus non fuerit, abbas non est, et quicunque electionem monachis tollit, omnia monasterii jura convellit. Et cum haec omnia ageret erat tamen caecorum baculus, esurientium cibus, spes miserorum, solamen lugentium; et ita singulis virtutibus eminebat, quasi caeteras non haberet. Sacerdotes honorabat ut dominos, clericos ut patres, pauperes ut filios, viduas ut matres, creber monitionibus, pervigil in vigiliis, lacrymas Deo non hominibus offerebat. Volvuntur per ora lacrymae et obfirmato [1141A] animo non queo dolorem dissimulare quem patior. Posquam enim nostram parvitatem discipulum Bertulfi cancellarii effecerat, postquam logothetae, exceptoris et auditoris officio renumeraverat, postquam sessionem ad pedes suos indulserat, postquam a secretis effecerat, postquam de his quae ad vitam aeternam attinent, satis instruxerat, te praesente et cunctis imperii aulicis adstantibus, manum meam apprehendens et Guibaldo commendans abbati, dixit ad eum: Si qua meae dilectionis, si qua mei amoris in vestro corde vestigia sunt, in isto ostende, eumque pro nostro amore loco charissimi et unici filii habe. Haec cum dixisset imperator augustus Caesarque Romanus, et pater patriae nominatus, ut clericos discordantes in pace reconciliaret, [1141B] una cum vestra excellentia dum studeret, corpus et animam coelo reddidit. Confortare igitur, strenuissima, et juxta illud Salomonis praeceptum, Accipe consolationem propter tristitiam. Sed fortasse dicis: Quomodo possum accipere consolationem, cum eum quem diligebam amisi? Nonne haec nobis cum ipso mundo elementisque communia sunt, quia ad tempus creata in perpetuum tenere non possumus? Non amisit virum quae exhibet castitatem: non est viduata conjugio, quae non mutavit nomen mariti. Recole quid David feceret: is enim cum amisisset filium, surrexit, comedit, bibit, et dixit: Ego vado ad eum, ille vero amplius non revertetur ad me. Haec igitur, excellentissima domina, advertens, ita vos ab imminente tristitia temperate, ita studete, [1141C] quatenus Deum ut decet felici cernere possitis intuitu. Salvationis etiam et consolationis et orationis obsequium vobis congregatio Casinensis dirigit, puerumque Minonem filium domini Ptolomei, qui penes vos est, vobis commendantes, rogant ut illum loco filii habeatis.

## III. *Ad Conradum imperatorem II.--Congratulatur ei de sua in imperatorem electione, hortaturque ut strenue et christiane Romanum regat imperium, atque Casinense monasterium protegat.* [n: (Anno eod.)]

CONRADO excellentissimo imperatori et Romani imperii strenuissimo propagatori PETRUS DIACONUS clypeo Domini jugiter protegi, atque ejus victrici dextera de spiritualibus ac corporalibus hostibus perpetuo triumphare.

Benedictio et claritas et sapientia et gratiarum [1141D] actio sit in saecula omnipotenti Deo nostro, qui per vos et in vobis antiqua nobis suscitavit miracula, et de recenti vestra electione vetera Romano imperio renovat gaudia: non enim Annibalis interitus, aut Gothorum internecio, vel Lucii Catilinae caedes, vel Attilae ac Totilae interitus sic nos delectat, quomodo magnificam vestram audisse electionem, et in vestris successibus divinam jugiter praedicare potentiam. Per vos quippe aeternae urbis decus honorque ad solis ortum usque protenditur, dilatatur, ac in rebelles sibi nationes infidelitate depulsa accipit principatum. Per vos Romani imperii dignitas reparatur, sublimatur, et in antiquum consulum Pompeii, Scipionis, Julii, Octaviani atque [1142A] Trajani dominationis vix attollitur statum. Laetetur itaque in vestra electione omnis penitus christianitas, oriens et occidens gaudeat, meridies cum septentrione resultet, aeterna urbs cunctorum post Deum terrestrium domina fastos ac solemnes dies concelebret et in Domini nostri Jesu Christi laudibus det vota, promat cantica, et consonis laetitiae vocibus antiquam renovet harmoniam, dicens: *Cantemus Domino, gloriose enim glorificatus est.* Vere namque in vobis honorificatur Deus, qui talem elegit, qui unus persequatur mille et transmoveat dena millia. Ecce per quadruos orbis Romani fines vestra opera, vestri labores, vestra certamina insignia referentur, omnis pene lingua de vestri imperii gloria loquitur. Facti siquidem estis, ut ait [1142B] Apostolus, spectaculum mundo et angelis et hominibus, facti estis propugnatores Domini, Romani imperii gloria, augmentum, decus, et mirabile diadema, defensio sedis apostolicae, solamen tristium, refocillatio pauperum. Recepit tandem proprium filium Dei miseratione Romana civitas, et ex antiqua caesarum prosapia gaudet se retinere imperatorem. Vos tamen quos ad tantum imperium divina elegit majestas, oportet et decet, ut quanto magis ab illo super coeteros mortales elevati estis, tanto magis illi in omni humilitate subditi sitis. Quos enim temporaliter dedit imperare, si ejus misericordiae, ejus potentiae omnes actus vestros ascripseritis, dabit perpetuo triumphare: pacis itaque bonum, imperator invicte, ante omnia et super omnia [1142C] custodite, nullus in vestro pectore livor, nulla subrepat invidia. Subjectum vero vobis Romanum imperium juste misericorditerque tractate, ut Romana ecclesia maxime, per quam accepistis Romani imperii sedem, sentiant se et sentientes gaudeant talem ac tantum augustum meruisse, atque in Deum timentis ditionem venisse. Nunquam tantum vobis opos alicujus placeant, ut non semper in vestro pectore justitia praeponderet, ut justitia locum aequitatis perdat: quid namque prodest Romani imperii gubernacula suscepisse, si non cunctos mortales studetis in misericordia, in justitia, in omni denique bonitate praecellere; animi enim probitas, non solum vobis, sed etiam subsequentibus debet esse forma, exemplum virtutis. Ita autem facientes [1142D] omnipontentis Dei gratiam semper cooperatricem habebitis, cujus adminiculis et inimicos omnes subjugabitis, et tam de praesenti, quam et de futura pace gaudebitis. Casinensem vero Ecclesiam sciatis quotidie pro vestri imperii statu omnipotenti Domino supplicare, ut coepta per vos misericordiae suae opera ad condignum finem perducat, et ut vos ab omnibus malis protegat, et defendat, atque pro tanto labore aeternae municipatum vitae vobis in futuro concedat. Rogamus autem generositatis vestrae celsitudinem, triumphator praecelse, ut Casinensem Ecclesiam, omnium coenobiorum matrem protegatis; ea enim praedecessorum vestrorum quondam defensa praesidiis, ditata opibus exstitisse cognoscitur. Vos [1143A] ergo quemadmodum pro sapientiae vestrae nobilitate, potentia, prudentia, in omnibus quae saeculi sunt, et probis, quod magis egregium est, moribus aequiparare probamini, ita etiam in Casinensis coenobii exaltatione aequiparare conamini. Facite vobis in terris beatum Benedictum debitorem, ut ei quaeque contuleritis, centuplicata in coelis recipere mereamini. Ad hoc enim coelestis Providentia quae omnia moderatur et a saeculo universa disponit, hoc praesertim tempore quando peccatis nostris exigentibus [1144A] defecit sanitas, et diminutae sunt veritates a filiis hominum, tantae strenuitatis ac prudentiae virum in Romana republica elegit, ut Ecclesias exaltare debeatis. Deus autem et Dominus noster, qui dona suae pietatis gratis largitur petentibus, dextera fortitudinis suae vos protegat et benedicat, et utriusque substantiae hostibus separatis, cum palma certaminis ad se revertentibus, coelestis vitae vobis januas aperiat, secumque perpetuo jucundare de coelestibus bonis concedat.

english:
## I. *To Richenza, empress of the Romans.--A letter of consolation on the death of the emperor Lothar and of Henry, duke of Bavaria, her son-in-law.* [n: (Anno 1139.)]

[1137B]

To the lady RICHENZA, empress of the Romans, protected by God, PETER THE DEACON wishes, beyond the bounds of the present life, the reckoning-stone of the eternal kingdom.

Many times, unconquered empress, have I taken up the impulse to console your eminence; many times have I checked it. Very many things invited me to do it at once — chiefly the fidelity owed to our lord the emperor Lothar, now dead, and then the love your imperial clemency has shown toward us who are unworthy of it — so that, even if I could not altogether lull your tears to sleep, I might at least in the meantime have wiped them away. But as for holding back, I knew that your grief, while it raged fresh, was not [1137C] to be met too hastily, lest those very consolations should rather chafe, aggravate, and inflame it: for often we see that in bodily sicknesses too an untimely medicine is most destructive. And so I was waiting until the grief should itself lay down its strength, so that, softened by delay, it might permit itself in some measure to be touched and handled and to bear remedies. Yet before I close with it, I will stand by it, and will bring back into memory a number of things by which it may be stirred, and will cut open and bring forward what already seem as it were skinned over — that is, by the best and most solemn manner of consoling. Let those, then, weep and groan the longer whose most delicate minds long good fortune has unnerved and luxury unmanned, who have fixed their hope wholly in this world; [1137D] who either are altogether ignorant of what those everlasting goods may be, or, if they know, lulled by worldly delights, neglect them. But as for those who have passed almost all of them sound through various trials, whose conversation, according to the Apostle, is in the heavens, who weigh both the vanities of the world and the joys of heaven with a prudent and discerning heart, they also endure any burden whatever, however heavy, with unmoved constancy. Why should I go on recounting? Number how many calamities, [1138B] how many misfortunes you have been tossed by from infancy itself, seeing that you were, so to speak, all but born into them. Our lord the emperor Lothar of happy memory, who had chosen you for his wife, had advanced you to the imperial summit, and had committed to you alone all the affairs of the Roman empire — after the many straits you endured together with him, after the Roman world, if I may so speak, had been traversed with him, when day by day you were hastening your return with him to the imperial dwelling — alas, ah the grief! you bore him out to burial amid the most grievous sorrow of many companions. I pass over so many perils, so many terrors, which without interval assailed you and which you bore along with so great a Caesar. And now, just now, when you have not yet fully composed your earlier mournings, while you still mourn, a mourning has been added to you; and when you thought you had, as a consolation [1138C] for so many hardships, the one thing that was left, namely your living son-in-law HENRY, duke of Bavaria, suddenly, when you were not expecting it, his untimely death was reported to you. Plainly it is the gravest of all the things that have befallen you since the passing of our lord the emperor Lothar, this fresh wound; and it did not break the sum, but has divided, I confess, the breast and the very inward parts. Nor did this blood flow from a body untouched, but was struck through the scars themselves; but just as raw recruits, though lightly wounded, still cry out, as veterans, however run through, suffer themselves to be treated patiently and without a groan. For the faithful, most merciful lady, are not to be mourned, says the Apostle, as are the rest who have no hope: *For if [1138D] we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also will God bring with him those who have slept through Jesus.* Therefore, most merciful lady, we exhort you to receive consolation; for what else is this death but the leaving behind of the body, the laying down of a heavy burden? You were born, O empress; you are going to die. Where will you go that you may not die? What can you do that you may not die? That the Lord your God might console you, he deigned of his own will to die. [1139A] When you see Christ dead for you, do you scorn to die? Therefore you are going to die, willing or unwilling. Whither will you get away? Whither will you flee that you may not die? Be it today, be it tomorrow, it is to come; it is not doubtful; it is to be believed. What then are you doing, you fear, you flee! It is to come. Therefore, my most devoted lady, put manfully away from you lamentations and wailings and womanish uproars; for the harder this grief of yours is, the greater the courage you must summon, and the more fiercely you must engage, as with an enemy known and already often beaten. Neither do prosperous things lift up the brave and wise man, nor do adverse ones cast him down; he bears those things easily who always expects them; things are heavy to him which are sudden. He who has not puffed himself up in glad circumstances, nor shrunk when they changed, keeps against either state an unconquered soul [1139B] of a firmness already tested. For in good fortune itself he has learned by trial what he could do against ill fortune. To be affected with unbounded grief when you have lost one of your dearest is indeed a foolish indulgence; but to be affected with none is an inhuman hardness. For not to feel grief is not a man's part, and not to bear it is not the part of virtue. The best tempering lies between the two: both to feel the longing and to restrain it — especially since it does not befit your excellence to grieve beyond measure. It is the greatest consolation to consider that this has happened to you which all before you have suffered and all will suffer. Rejoice, then, that you had a Roman emperor for a husband; consider that it is most delightful that you had him, and human that you lost him; that you had such a man, set down among your highest goods. You must not consider how much longer [1139C] you might have had him, but how long you did have him. In him death did not choose to follow your satisfaction, but its own law. Only let the soul stand ready for battle; death will seize one man at one time and another at another; it will pass no one by, it will certainly except no one. Whoever is brought forth to life is destined for death; but let the soul of the wise man never fear what is necessary, and always expect what is uncertain.

## II. *To the same.--On the same subject.* [n: (Anno eod.)]

To his most excellent and most devoted lady Richenza, protected by God, the great and peace-making Augusta and empress of the Romans, PETER, the servant of your empire, wishes, beyond the power of the present kingdom, eternal happiness.

Although a severed sinew gives pain, and a sorrowful spirit [1139D] grinds the bones, yet our lord the emperor Lothar is not to be mourned as are those also who, as the Apostle says, have no hope. He has gone forth to his own, in whom is the highest good, in whom is all goodness, all justice, all mercy, and all holiness. He has gone forth to him who does not cease to cry out to those who keep his commandments: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will make you to rest. Elijah in his haste asked that his soul might be taken from him.

*And after much more:*

Is there, then, cause to grieve at a departure? By no means. For what is more absurd than that you should bewail as something particular to yourself what you know has been laid down for all? This is to exalt the mind above its condition, not to accept the common law, to refuse fellowship, to be puffed up with the mind of the flesh, [1140A] and to be ignorant of the measure of that same flesh. What is more absurd than not to know who you are, and to aim at what you are not? Or what is more imprudent than to be unable to bear, when it has happened, the thing you knew was going to happen? Nature herself calls us back, and by a certain comparison with herself draws us out from mournings of this sort. For what mourning is so heavy, or what grief so sharp, that in it the mind is not now and then relaxed? Nature has this property, that although men are set among sad circumstances, yet, if only they are men, they draw the mind away from mourning for a little while. There are even said to have been certain peoples who mourned the births of men and celebrated their deaths — and not imprudently; for they thought that those who had come into this age of life were to be mourned over, while those who had emerged from the storms and waves of this world they judged were to be attended with a joy that was not [1140B] unjust. Death is equal for all men, making no distinction for the rich. This so great a Caesar had daily before his eyes — a man who, as we saw and learned by experience while we were engaged in his service, displayed beneath the imperial cloak the raw service of another warfare. For first, in the twilight, he would hear the Mass for the dead; then the Mass for the army; last the Mass of the day; and at length, distributing food and drink lavishly to widows, orphans, and the other poor, he would relieve the suits and oppressions brought against churches, and at the last would sweat over the care of the empire. For as long as he stayed at Cassino, every night he went about the cloister and all the workshops of the monastery just as an abbot or any dean would, wishing to know how each man was living under the mastership of blessed Benedict. And when [1140C] morning came, he would walk with unshod feet through all the churches of the monastery for the sake of prayer. And although he did this, he was never cut off from the company of archbishops, bishops, abbots, clerics, or monks, so that there was fulfilled in him what we read: And his conversation is with the wise and the religious. And who would not marvel at his gravity, when, in order to settle the dissensions of the brothers which had arisen over the election of an abbot, he came to the chapter and, from the first hour of the day until evening, indulging in neither food nor drink, would not go out from there? And with what affection, with what love he loved the church of Cassino, he showed when he said that he would sooner allow all the privileges and grants of the churches to be torn up [1140D] than allow anything of the dignities and privileges of the Church of Cassino to be diminished; and that he would sooner allow the election of all the bishops, archbishops, and abbots in the whole Roman world to be taken away than that of the abbot of Cassino alone. For he used to say: If an abbot has not been elected by the consent of the monks, he is not an abbot; and whoever takes away the election from the monks tears up all the rights of the monastery. And while he did all these things, he was nevertheless a staff to the blind, food to the hungry, the hope of the wretched, the solace of mourners; and he so stood out in each single virtue as though he did not possess the rest. He honored priests as lords, clerics as fathers, the poor as sons, widows as mothers; frequent in admonitions, sleepless in vigils, he offered his tears to God, not to men. Tears roll over my face, and though my mind is set hard [1141A] I cannot conceal the grief I suffer. For after [sic: *Posquam*] he had made our littleness a disciple of Bertulf the chancellor; after he had rewarded me with the office of logothete, of recorder and of auditor; after he had granted me a seat at his feet; after he had made me his private secretary; after he had instructed me sufficiently in the things that pertain to eternal life — in your presence and with all the courtiers of the empire standing by, taking my hand and commending me to abbot Wibald, he said to him: If there are any traces of my esteem, any of my love, in your heart, show them upon this man; and for love of me hold him in the place of a most dear and only son. When the august emperor and Roman Caesar, named also father of his country, had said these things, while he was striving, [1141B] together with your excellency, to reconcile discordant clerics in peace, he rendered body and soul to heaven. Take comfort, therefore, most valiant lady, and according to that precept of Solomon: Receive consolation in place of sadness. But perhaps you say: How can I receive consolation, when I have lost him whom I loved? Are not these things common to us with the world itself and its elements, that we cannot hold in perpetuity what was created for a time? She has not lost her husband who displays chastity; she is not widowed of her marriage who has not changed her husband's name. Recall what David did: for when he had lost his son, he rose up, ate, drank, and said: I am going to him, but he will not return again to me. Considering these things, therefore, most excellent lady, so temper yourselves against the sadness that presses upon you, and so strive, [1141C] that you may be able to behold God, as is fitting, with a happy gaze. The congregation of Cassino also sends you the service of its greeting and consolation and prayer; and commending to you the boy Mino, son of the lord Ptolemy, who is with you, they ask that you hold him in the place of a son.

## III. *To the emperor Conrad II.--He congratulates him on his election as emperor, and exhorts him to rule the Roman empire vigorously and in a Christian manner, and to protect the monastery of Cassino.* [n: (Anno eod.)]

To CONRAD, most excellent emperor and most vigorous enlarger of the Roman empire, PETER THE DEACON wishes that he may be unceasingly protected by the shield of the Lord, and may triumph perpetually by his conquering right hand over enemies both spiritual and bodily.

Blessing and brightness and wisdom and thanksgiving [1141D] be to our almighty God for ever, who through you and in you has raised up for us the miracles of old, and by your recent election renews for the Roman empire its ancient joys. For neither the death of Hannibal, nor the extermination of the Goths, nor the slaughter of Lucius Catiline, nor the death of Attila and Totila so delights us as to have heard of your magnificent election, and to proclaim unceasingly the divine power in your successes. For through you the glory and honor of the eternal city is stretched out even to the sun's rising, and is enlarged, and, unfaithfulness being driven off, receives its sovereignty over the nations that rebel against it. Through you the dignity of the Roman empire is repaired, is lifted up, and is barely raised again to the ancient state of the dominion of the consuls — of Pompey, Scipio, Julius, Octavian, and [1142A] Trajan. Let all Christendom, then, utterly rejoice in your election; let east and west be glad; let the south echo back with the north; let the eternal city, mistress after God of all earthly things, celebrate festal calendars and solemn days, and pay her vows in the praises of our Lord Jesus Christ, bring forth songs, and with harmonious voices of gladness renew the ancient harmony, saying: *Let us sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously glorified.* For truly God is honored in you, who has chosen such a man as may, being one, pursue a thousand and put to flight ten thousand. Behold, through the four bounds of the Roman world your deeds, your labors, your notable struggles are reported; almost every tongue speaks of the glory of your empire. Indeed you have been made, as the [1142B] Apostle says, a spectacle to the world and to angels and to men; you have been made a champion of the Lord, the glory of the Roman empire, its increase, its ornament, and its marvelous diadem, the defense of the apostolic see, the solace of the sorrowful, the refreshment of the poor. At last the city of Rome has, by God's mercy, received back her own son, and rejoices that she keeps an emperor from the ancient stock of the Caesars. Yet for you, whom the divine majesty has chosen for so great an empire, it is fitting and becoming that, the more you have been raised by him above other mortals, so much the more you should be subject to him in all humility. For those whom he has given to rule in time, if you ascribe all your acts to his mercy and his power, he will grant to triumph perpetually. Guard therefore, unconquered emperor, before all things and above all things [1142C] the good of peace; let no spite, no envy creep into your breast. And treat justly and mercifully the Roman empire subjected to you, that above all the Roman church, through which you have received the seat of the Roman empire, may perceive — and perceiving may rejoice — that they have deserved so great and so good an Augustus, and have come under the rule of one who fears God. Let no man's [sic: *opos*] ever so please you that justice does not always outweigh it in your breast, so that justice should lose the place of equity. For what does it profit to have taken up the helm of the Roman empire, if you do not strive to excel all mortals in mercy, in justice, and in short in every goodness? For uprightness of mind ought to be a pattern and an example of virtue not only to you, but also to those who come after. And by doing so [1142D] you will always have the grace of [sic: *omnipontentis*] God as your fellow-worker; by whose supports you will both subdue all enemies, and will rejoice in peace both present and to come. Know, moreover, that the Church of Cassino daily entreats the almighty Lord for the standing of your empire, that he may bring the works of his mercy begun through you to a worthy end, and that he may protect and defend you from all evils, and for so great a labor may grant you hereafter the citizenship of eternal life. And we ask the loftiness of your nobility, most exalted conqueror, that you protect the Church of Cassino, the mother of all monasteries; for it is known to have been once defended by the protections of your predecessors and enriched by their wealth. You [1143A] therefore, as you are shown to be their equal in the nobility of your wisdom, in power, in prudence, in all the things that are of this world, and — what is more distinguished — in upright character, so also strive to be their equal in the exaltation of the monastery of Cassino. Make blessed Benedict your debtor on earth, that whatever you bestow on him you may deserve to receive a hundredfold in heaven. For to this end has heavenly Providence, which governs all things and orders all things from the beginning of the world, chosen a man of such vigor and prudence in the Roman commonwealth — especially at this time, when, our sins requiring it, [1144A] soundness has failed, and truths have been diminished among the sons of men — that you should exalt the Churches. And may God our Lord, who freely lavishes the gifts of his goodness on those who ask, protect and bless you with the right hand of his strength; and, when the enemies of both substances have been separated off, may he open to you the doors of the heavenly life as you return to him with the palm of the contest, and may he grant you to rejoice perpetually with himself in heavenly goods.

license_source: Public Domain Mark 1.0

license_translation: CC BY-NC 4.0

license_apparatus: CC BY-NC 4.0