Letter 3004: The experts in rhetoric say there's no controversy when both sides are guilty of the same thing.
Aiunt, qui callent rhetoricam disciplinam, nihil esse controversiae , ubi eadem
partinm iussa sunt. imaginem propositae fei postulas? niitto decantatas meditationum
20 iudicialium fictiones et mania simulacra causarum: vel haec nostri silentii diutumitas
materiae talis exemplum est. obicies mihi dissimulati officii neglegentiam : in te haec
refertur oratio. ergo quia pares sumus, dulce conludium est, ut cum altero neuter 2
expostnlet. veniam cum dederis, impetrasti. sed cur aequis tecum condicionibus ago
iam melior causa [est], qui prior emendo utriusque delictum? videro, quae tua futura sit
25 in referendo sermone curatio. ego in vrnm reduxi amicitiae nostrae fortuitum stupo-
rem, neque ex ea re adfecto gratiam. satis mihi laudis est invidiam silentii di-
luisse* vale.
VI a. 380.
Related Letters
1. I have received intelligence from those who come to me from Ancyra, and they are many and more than I can count, but they all agree in what they say, that you, a man very dear to me, (how can I speak so as to give no offense?) do not mention me in very pleasant terms, nor yet in such as your character would lead me to expect. I, however, lear...
I am delighted at your remembering me and writing, and, what is yet more important, at your sending me your blessing in your letter. Had I been but worthy of your labours and of your struggles in Christ's cause, I should have been permitted to come to you and embrace you, and to take you as a model of patience. But since I am not worthy of this,...
"Now let Earth know this, and the broad sky above" — and I will add, if you like, the Styx and all the other gods —...
Don't blame the boy for the slow return.
On my return from a long journey (for I have been into Pontus on ecclesiastical business, and to visit my relations) with my body weak and ill, and my spirits considerably broken, I took your reverence's letter into my hand. No sooner did I receive the tokens of that voice which to me is of all voices the sweetest, and of that hand that I love s...