Letter 458

To Lycurgus the Illustrius [holder of the senatorial rank of illustris]. Who would not laugh at you, who would not blame you for your boundless eagerness? Who would not sneer at you for your senseless madness, since you insatiably amass so great a fortune, and imagine that you possess what you will in no way be able to carry out with you when you die, when you are dragged unwillingly by dread angels to the world yonder? You do the work of an enemy, in that, through your inhumanity and your merciless and implacable disposition, you do the greatest harm to your own most unholy soul, while you pour out your wealth upon the young kinsman who is thought to be the heir of your great estate. But I bring you good news of a kind that is bitter and very unwelcome: for in a short time that sweet heir of yours will die, the one to whom, while living, in your right mind, and in good health, you assigned in writing all your belongings; and of the tomb you will inherit the three cubits, and those alone. And you will surely be astounded to see a young man buried before an aged man of many years. Yet perhaps you will not be astounded at this, nor will it seem strange to you, since you have already had such things befall the other Illustres, Aristophanes and Crescens. But now at least, having sobered up as is fitting, cease from your great greed, and do not weep for the one who is about to die, but lament your own soul, which is a lover of wickedness, and incline toward amendment and good works, before you depart from the stage of the present age, and journey to the place where no longer will any of those who have died in their faults find room for a defense, where no friend, no slave, no kinsman will have the strength to plead for or to help one who is being punished forever. Many times I have told you, and now too I declare, that the talismans produced by the magic of Apollonius of Tyana [first-century wandering sage credited with wonder-working], having no heavenly benefit at all, and bringing no gain whatever to the soul, would seem to differ in nothing from a handful of barley, in the eyes of wise and pious men who long for the things above. Do not, then, marvel at the works of sorcery, nor be troubled over them, but rid yourself of that beloved opinion and of your boyish mindset.

Τίς σε οὐκ ἂν γελάσεται, τίς σε οὐκ ἂν μέμψεται τῆς ἀπεράντου σπουδῆς; Τίς σε οὐκ ἂν μυκτήρισει τῆς ἄφρονος μανίας, συνάγοντα μὲν ἀκορέστως τὰ τοσαῦτα χρήματα, κατέχειν δὲ δοκοῦντα, ἅπερ μηδαμῶς δυνήσῃ συνεξενέγκαι θνήσκων, πρὸς τὸν ἐκεῖ κόσμον ὑπὸ φρικτῶν ἀγγέλων συρόμενος ἄσμιος, ἐχθροῦ δὲ πρᾶγμα ποιοῦντα, ἐν τῷ διὰ τῆς ἀπανθρωπίας καὶ τῆς ἀνηλεοῦς καὶ ἀμειλίκτου γνώμης βλάπτειν τὰ μέγιστα τὴν ἀνοσιωτάτην σεαυτοῦ ψυχήν, προσχεῖσθαι δὲ τῷ συγγενεῖ νεανίᾳ νομιζομένῳ κληρονομεῖν τὴν μεγάλην οὐσίαν; Ἀλλ’ εὐαγγελίζομαί σοι πικρόν τι καὶ λίαν ἀβούλητον· τεθνήξεται γάρ μετ’ ὀλίγον ὁ γλυκὺς κληρονόμος σου, εἰς ὃνπερ καὶ πάντα ἐγγράφως ζῶν, καὶ φρονῶν, καὶ εὐρωστῶν διέθου τὰ διαφέροντά σοι, καὶ τοῦ μνήματος τοὺς τρεῖς καὶ μόνους κληρονόμησας πήχεις. Καὶ πάντως ἐκπλαγήσῃ βλέπων νέον θαπτόμενον πρὸ γέροντος πολυχρονίου. Τάχα δὲ οὐκ ἐκπλαγήσει ἐπὶ τούτῳ, οὐδὲ γε ξενισθήσῃ, προτεθειμένος ἤδη τοιαῦτα συμβεβηκότα τοῖς ἄλλοις Ἰλλουστρίοις, Ἀριστοφάνει, καὶ Κρήσκεντι. Ἀλλὰ νῦν γοῦν ἐκνήψας προσηκόντως, πέπαυσο τῆς πολλῆς ἀπληστίας, καὶ μὴ τὸν τελευτᾶν μέλλοντα κλαύσῃς, ἀλλὰ τὴν σεαυτοῦ ψυχὴν φιλοπόνηρον ὑπάρχουσαν θρήνησον, καὶ πρὸς διόρθωσιν ῥέψον καὶ ἀγαθοεργίας, πρὶν ἐξελθεῖν σε τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ παρόντος αἰῶνος, καὶ πορευθῆναι, ἔνθα μηδεὶς λοιπὸν τῶν ἐναποθανόντων τοῖς πταίσμασιν εὑρήσει ἀπολογίαν χώραν, ἔνθα μὴ φίλος, μὴ δοῦλος, μὴ συγγενὴς συνηγορῆσαι ἢ βοηθῆσαι κολαζομένῳ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας ἰσχύσει. Πολλάκις σοι εἴρηκα, καὶ νῦν δὲ φημί, ὅτι διὰ μαγείας ὑπὸ τοῦ Τυανέως Ἀπολλωνίου γεγενη- μένα τελέσματα, μηδὲν παντελῶς οὐράνιον ἔχοντα εὐεργέτημα, μηδέ τι πρὸς ψυχὴν ἀναφέροντα κέρδος, οὐδὲν διαφέρειν δόξειεν δρακὸς κριθῶν χάριτος, τοῖς πρὸς τὰ ἐπουράνια κεχηνόσι σοφοῖς τε καὶ εὐσεβέσιν ἀνθρώποις. Μή τοίνυν θαύμαζε τὰ ἔργα τῆς γοη- τείας, μηδὲ θροοῦ ἐπὶ τούτοις, ἀπάλλαξον δὲ σαυ- τὸν τῆς εὐποθήτου γνώμης, καὶ τοῦ μειρακιώδους φρονήματος.