Letter 1620: Nothing makes one fit to rule lawfully so much as having been ruled lawfully.
To Ambelius the Count. The Christian magistrate walks a narrow path between two abysses: the abyss of severity, which crushes the weak, and the abyss of leniency, which emboldens the wicked. Justice requires punishment for the guilty, but mercy requires compassion even for the condemned. How to balance these two demands is the great challenge of every ruler, and those who have managed it successfully are remembered as the wisest and best of governors. I counsel you, Ambelius, to err on the side of mercy rather than severity whenever the case admits of doubt, for it is better to let a guilty person go free than to condemn an innocent one. But when guilt is clear and the crime is grave, do not hesitate to apply the law with firmness, for justice delayed is justice denied, and the ruler who fails to punish evil becomes the accomplice of the evildoer.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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.
Latin / Greek Original
Θεὲ ραγμἷ τϑοία, ϑθπε ἱπερεταί (). (ὠμη[. ομίει. .) Αἰ γεοῖς ἐμηρογαηάιπι,, ἢ φῆυς γλ]οὶ, υἱ δἰ τγὶ ἰορφίεἰπιθ ρϑγυϊ886. Ουΐ δηΐπι τεοῖ ονϑάϊι, . ἱπιρογαπὰρ δχεοεῖ, Ἐδοί! ὙθγῸ δἱ ῥγοοῖϊνοβ δπηὶ αεἰἴ0η685, αυἱ 5ι125 γα ρυδιέςϑε ᾿γίποῖροβ φὐρίυω. ΟΒΙΚΥ͂Ι. --- ΓΕΒΌΒΙΟΚ. ΡΙΕΒΙ. Οὐδὲν οὕτω ποιεῖ νομίμως ἄρχειν, ὡς τὸ νομίμως ἦρχθαι. Ὁ γὰρ ἀγαθὸς ἐν ὑπηχόοις, ἀγαθὸς ἔσται χαὶ ἐν ἡγεμόσιν. Οἱ δ᾽ ἐν τῷ ἰδιαχτεύειν χαὶ πρω- τοστατεῖν πρόχειροι, ναὶ πρὸς τὸ ἄρχεσθαι ἀνετ τέδειοι, οὗτοι χαὶ εἰς ἀρχὴν ἀνεπιτηδειότατοι. Β ΥΝ('. --- ΔΗ͂ΜΩ ΠΗΛΟΥ͂ΣΙΩ. Ρταεὶάϊε διῦε ἐμἱἐεορὶ αὐνείψη πιπιίαι. Γλθδνίοῦ αὺΐ γοϑὶϑ πιπρογαθῖς ἰοραι!ομοπι δοορρὶι : ΤΥ ΘιΝἽπὶ γϑηϊεπάαιν ἰμοϊδίυβ, υἱ ὙΟ 1η6- Βοχοπὶ, ογθδη, τοί ρυυ!ΐοας οδίδηἀογοῖ,, πΠοβΊΓΏ ἢ) ἐχκρθοίαν!ι. βϑη εη!ἴϑιν : ᾳυλ ϑοζερίᾶ ΒΡΟ Ροιίυ5. : Ὗ" ὀνοσδίυ5 ᾿δεςοὐεῖ. ΘΟΡΚΥ͂Ι. το ἘΒΕΟΡΟΒΙΟ ΡΒΕΒΒΎΤΕΒΟ. ᾿Ασμένως ἐδέδβατο τὴν πρεσδείαν ὁ τὴν ἀρχὴν. ὑμῶν λαχών. Καὶ πάλαι γὰρ ὡρμημένος ἤχειν, χαὶ τὰ χαθ᾽ ὑμᾶς ἐν ἀμείνονι ὄψει χαταστῆσαι, τὴν ἧμε- τέραν ἀνέμενε Ἰνώμην " ἧς λαδό μενος, ὡς αὑτόχλη- τος μᾶλλον ἣ ὡς χεχλημένος ἀφίξεται.
Related Letters
The one who commands rightly must first have learned to obey rightly.
The priesthood is a sacred trust, not a career.
To Dioscorus, Bishop of Alexandria [the patriarch of the most powerful see in the eastern church after Constantinople],
Festal greeting.
Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus, to Dioscorus, Archbishop of Alexandria.