Synesius of Cyrene
Synesius Cyrenensis
Top correspondents
All letters (159)
To my Brother.
To my Brother.
To the Philosopher [Hypatia].
To my Brother.
How do you think I felt when a rumor swept through town that you were battling a dangerous — possibly catastrophic —...
To my Brother.
To the Philosopher [Hypatia].
To my Brother.
If Homer had told us that Odysseus benefited from his wanderings by seeing many towns and learning the minds of...
I once heard one of our brilliant speakers praising the practice of letter-writing.
If there is such a sting of persuasion in your letters — if even without your living presence and charm, the images...
To my Brother.
To my Brother.
To my Brother.
To my Brother.
I believe your divine soul was sent into this world for the common good of humanity — and you should be grateful to...
To my Brother.
I have just sent you a present: a horse that is perfect in every quality a horse should have.
Providence has not yet turned its attention to the Romans — but it will, someday.
To my Brother.
To my Brother.
To my Brother.
To my Brother.
Praise and love cannot be explained by the same motives, and they are not governed by the same faculties of the soul.
If cities have souls — and they must, with their divine guardians and spirits — then you can be sure those spirits...
To the Bishops.
To my Brother.
You are both a philosopher and a compassionate man.
I had a large Egyptian rug — not the kind you put under a bedspread, but one fine enough to use as a bedspread itself.
To my Brother.
I am not recommending the charming Gerontius to your friendship merely because he is related to my children —...
To my Brother.
Some letters dated last spring have just arrived from Thrace.
To my Brother.
To my Brother.
I have fathered children in my books — some by the noble Philosophy, some by her temple-companion Poetry, and others...
To the Philosopher [Hypatia].
May every blessing fall on the man — whoever he is — who extols your merit with such pious devotion.
To Anastasius [one of Synesius's closest friends and an important courtier in Constantinople, tutor to the children...
I have just sent you my treatise [A Eulogy of Baldness], written in Attic style and finished with care.
To my Brother.
To my Brother.
To my Brother.
Here at last is that Anastasius [one of my dearest friends and an important courtier in Constantinople, tutor to the...
A man from Phycus — a harbor of the Cyrenaeans — brought me a letter written in your name.
I ask your friendship and protection for my dear Sosenas — born and raised amid learning, yet not meeting with the...
No, my dear Pylaemenes — I call the god who presides over our friendship to witness — I never dreamed of ridiculing...
Believe me when I say that I embrace Pylaemenes — soul to soul.
The power of love's spell only grows stronger in me as I age.
To Pentadius the Augustalis [the governor of Egypt].
I am worried about two people: about you, that you may not commit an injustice; and about this man, that he may not...
To my Brother.
To my Brother.
To my Brother.
How do you think I received your welcome letters — I who was thirsting to hear from you?
Rumor says you have great influence with the present Prefect of Egypt — and in this case, rumor tells the truth.
In Plato, we see Socrates, already advanced in years, still pursuing his intellectual passions.
To my Brother.
In writing a single letter to both of you, I am not at fault.
The blessed Theodorus [a patron of the arts] was during his lifetime a generous host to the citizens of Pentapolis.
To the Governor.
I have come to your assistance many times before.
When I read the letter where you described your illness, I was alarmed at first.
I have adopted a new practice with this letter.
To my Brother.
"Even if there is utter forgetfulness of the dead in Hades, I shall remember there my beloved companion" [Homer,...
Here is a famous epigram of mine — and how could it fail to be famous, when the great Nicander himself has praised it?
To my Brother.
To my Brother.
To my Brother.
Just the other day — during the recent consulship of Aristaenetus [404 AD] and, I forget the name of his colleague —...
To Anastasius [one of Synesius's closest friends, an important courtier in Constantinople and tutor to the children...
I have two letters in circulation addressed to you: I am writing to both Thrace and Isauria at the same time, hoping...
To my Brother.
To my Brother.
To my Brother.
Know that the definitions of geometry are infallibly true.
I received your letter in which you again accuse Fortune of mistreating you.
If you want to live without fear, you should fear the law.
Hiero [tyrant of Syracuse] gained more from his relationship with the poet Simonides than Simonides gained from...
One should use the friendship of the powerful, but not abuse it.
Do not ask for great things.
To the Doctor Theodorus.
If you have heard of the late Maximinianus — he spent a great deal of time at court — you are certainly aware that...
Whatever you did for Diogenes — and I know you are capable of doing much — will be nothing new.
I believe that even in your Heraclea, no one is ignorant of the name of our fellow countryman, the philosopher...
Tell me: do you still stand firm in philosophy — the Pylaemenes I left behind, the newly initiated soul, the divine...
The luxury of Syria is making you forget your friends and relatives.
A man's feelings should not rise and fall with the turns of fortune, and the memory of old friends should never seem...
You are quite right to return to the capital.
To my Brother.
To the Philosopher [Hypatia].
I have neglected my duty to pay tribute, but what could I do?
Though absent, you live always present in our memory.
If you hold the virtue of philosophy in esteem, you will honor it not only in the living but also in the dead.
To my Brother [Euoptius].
You ask how many lines Dioscorus declaims every day?
To my Brother.
To my Brother.
When you asked Cerialis to bring me your congratulations, you did him an unintended favor — you kept me ignorant for...
A letter arrives from you once a year, as though the seasons themselves deliver it.
I know from the facts themselves that your greatest pleasure lies in doing good, and that you are always ready to...
Righteous causes always need allies, and those who come to their rescue may count themselves fortunate — since they...
To the Elders.
To Auxentius [a childhood friend with whom Synesius was trying to mend a quarrel].
I call as witness the divinity honored by both philosophy and friendship: I would have preferred many deaths to the...
To Auxentius [a childhood friend with whom Synesius was ending a quarrel].
Odysseus tried to persuade Polyphemus to let him out of the cave.
To my Brother.
To my Brother.
To my Brother.
Most holy and wise prelate — may you enjoy a long and comfortable old age!
Even if neither the people of Cyrene nor the neighboring towns give you the gratitude you deserve for the fact that...
Joannes [a mutual friend of ours who, after an illness that left him unfit for military service, entered a...
One of my relatives is suffering an injustice.
Consider Peter as well: the scourge of Pentapolis, a man who breaks its laws without method.
Since I am about to put a question to you, let me first explain the background.
I act on your instructions because it is my desire — and a divine necessity compels me — to treat as law whatever...
The man carrying this letter has been sent on a piece of business that piety does not allow me to describe.
To the Bishops.
The Olbiates — a village community — were required to elect a bishop to replace the blessed father Athamas, who died...
Light and darkness do not wait for each other — by a law of nature, they avoid one another.
Nothing could benefit Pentapolis more than honoring the Unnigardae [a barbarian military unit], who are excellent...
I have not been able to do anything for the presbyter Evagrius — nor for anyone else who came to me for help during...
Justice has departed from humanity.
In the old days, when I wrote to friends, our exchanges were carefree.
The Athenians praised Themistocles because, although he loved political power as much as any man of his time, he...
The moment I heard the bad news from Cyrene — that the enemy were approaching — I thought of writing to you in...
There are loves with earthly, human origins — detestable and ephemeral, measured only by the presence of their...
Do not be surprised that I am sending two letters with the same messenger.
Reading your letter, I recognize Odysseus at once.
To the Bishops.
This Carnas is taking his time.
May God direct my every deed and word.
So this is how sons defend their fathers!
God declares that we should forgive debts owed to us [Matthew 6:12].
Evil men from outside are troubling our Church.
To Anastasius [one of Synesius's dearest friends, tutor to Emperor Arcadius's children].
The man carrying this letter is a philosopher at heart but a lawyer by profession.
You care for Pentapolis — you truly do.
I was prepared to place my hand and my judgment at the service of your fatherly command.
You have not kept your promise, my dear friend — the promise that you would not reveal things that should remain hidden.
Phoebammon, who will give you this letter, is an honest man, a friend of mine, and a victim of injustice.
One of my slaves has run away.
To Joannes [a mutual friend who, after illness left him unfit for military service, entered a monastery].
For everyone else, spring is delightful because it covers the earth with flowers and turns the whole countryside...
Odysseus, after receiving from Aeolus the stored-up winds, was approaching rocky Ithaca and could already hear the...
To the Philosopher [Hypatia, the famous mathematician, astronomer, and Neoplatonist philosopher in Alexandria, later...
Go, brother Cyril, to your mother Church — from which you were not excommunicated, only separated for a period...
To the General.
For the past year, no letter has come from your sacred hand, and I count that among the many calamities that have...
To the Philosopher [Hypatia].
The cry of grief comes naturally, but — why grieve?
The desire to strengthen your hallowed soul made me write to you in criticism of your excessive longing to be with me.
To the Philosopher [Hypatia].