Letter 75: Chrysostom asks Harmatius for letters rather than material help through servants.
John Chrysostom→Harmatius, correspondent of John Chrysostom|c. 406 AD|John Chrysostom|From Arabissus (modern Afsin), Armenia Secunda|AI-assisted
patronagefriendshiphouseholdhealth
PG 52 Epistulae source-specific import; English is a new modern rendering from Greek.
What is this? You have given much authority, so that we may freely command your people in whatever we need, but you have deprived us of what we need most: your letters, which report your health to us. Do you not know that for those who love most genuinely this is what is most sought and desired, as it is for us now?
If, then, you wish to grant us a favor, my most honored master, stop ordering your people to attend to our bodily needs. We need none of these things; everything flows to us as from springs. Instead, through a little paper and ink, provide us the greatest favor, the one we especially desire to enjoy: write to us continually about your health and that of your whole household. If it were possible for us to meet one another, I would both rouse you from home and ask as the greatest favor to see face to face one who is such a warm friend to us. Since fear of the Isaurians has prevented this, at least provide us generously with the consolation that comes from letters, and we will have received everything.
What is this? You have given much authority, so that we may freely command your people in whatever we need, but you have deprived us of what we need most: your letters, which report your health to us. Do you not know that for those who love most genuinely this is what is most sought and desired, as it is for us now?
If, then, you wish to grant us a favor, my most honored master, stop ordering your people to attend to our bodily needs. We need none of these things; everything flows to us as from springs. Instead, through a little paper and ink, provide us the greatest favor, the one we especially desire to enjoy: write to us continually about your health and that of your whole household. If it were possible for us to meet one another, I would both rouse you from home and ask as the greatest favor to see face to face one who is such a warm friend to us. Since fear of the Isaurians has prevented this, at least provide us generously with the consolation that comes from letters, and we will have received everything.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.