Letter 384: Before I had cleanly recovered from the affliction in my head, a greater evil seized me — one that filled my soul...

To Strategius. (358/59) Before I had cleanly recovered from the affliction in my head, a greater evil seized me — one that filled my soul with darkness, on account of which many friends sat beside me for a long time, trying every incantation to preserve my sanity. For what do you think I became when I learned that my dearest city had fallen along with its dearest men? I neglected food, cast aside my writing, pushed away sleep, and lay for the longest time in silence — my tears flowing for them, while those close to me wept for me — until someone advised me to mourn in words both the city and the man who deserved, O Zeus, no such end. Persuaded by this, and having expelled some portion of my grief through writing, I now grieve with composure. If I did not think your own mind was also shaken — deprived as you are of a friend who proved the name by his deeds — I would ask consolation to come from you. But since the blow is shared, all that is left for me is to groan, which is exactly what I do.

Στρατηγίῳ. (358/59) Οὔπω με καθαρῶς ἀπαλλαγέντα τοῦ ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ κα- κοῦ μεῖζον ἕτερον ἔλαβε κακόν, ὃ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐνέπλησε ζόφου καὶ δι’ ὃ πολλοὶ τῶν φίλων πολύν μοι παρεκάθηντο χρόνον πάσαις ἐπῳδαῖς πειρώμενοι διασῶσαί μου τὰς φρένας. τίνα γὰρ οἴει με γενέσθαι πυθόμενον ὡς ἡ φιλτάτη πόλις ἐπὶ τοῖς φιλτάτοις πέπτωκεν ἀνδράσιν; ἠμέλησα μὲν σιτίων, ἔρριψα δὲ λόγους, ἀπεωσάμην δὲ ὕπνον, σιγῇ δὲ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἐκείμην, δάκρυα δὲ ἡμῶν ἅμα μὲν ἐπ’ ἐκείνοις, τῶν δὲ ἐπιτηδείων ἐπ ἐμοί, πρὶν δή τις παρῄνεσεν ἐν λόγοις θρηνῆσαι τήν τε πόλιν καὶ τὸν οὐ τοιαύτης ἄξιον, ὦ Ζεῦ, τελευτῆς. ᾧ πεισθεὶς καὶ τοῦ πάθους τι μέρος ἐπὶ τῆς γραφῆς ἐκβαλὼν ἤδη πενθῶ σωφρονῶν. εἰ μὲν οὗν μὴ καὶ σοὶ τεταράχθαι τὴν γνώμην ἡγούμην ἐστερημένῳ φίλου δείξαντος ἔργοις τοὔνομα, ἐδεό- μην ἄν μοι παρὰ σοῦ φοιτᾶν παραμυθίαν· ἐπεὶ δὲ ἡ πληγὴ κοινή, λείπεταί μοι στένειν, ὃ δὴ καὶ ποιῶ.