Letter 539: My cousin established the games in honor of Olympian Zeus some time ago.
To Antiochus.
My cousin established the games in honor of Olympian Zeus some time ago. Now he has entered into a public liturgy [a compulsory civic duty for wealthy citizens], and while he already knew a good deal about such things, the highest priority is the spectacle of men fighting wild beasts.
We need animals that are not sleepy and do not let spectators feel safe -- the kind it takes real skill to avoid being caught by. Your mountains breed just such bears: fierce to hunt and fierce to capture. And capturing fierce ones is what gives the crowd its thrill. Our countryside is good hunting ground, and you have many skilled hunters -- the sort I believe even Artemis herself would enjoy.
So make our liturgy a brilliant one with the ferocity of your bears. By the same stroke, free your farmers from fear and strike fear into our arena hunters. Be generous toward your own people.
It was fitting that this letter should come to you from me, and that your good sister should receive one from the excellent Bassiana.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Ἀντιόχῳ. (356/57)
Τῷ μὲν Ὀλυμπίῳ Διὶ πάλαι τὸν ἀγῶνα τέθεικεν οὑμὸς
ἀνεψιός, νῦν δὲ εἰς λειτουργίαν εἰσῆλθεν, ἧς οὐκ ὀλίγα μὶν
ᾔδει, τὸ δὲ ἐν πλείστῃ σπουδῇ τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀγωνίσματα
πρὸς τὰ θηρία.
δεῖ δὲ θηρίων ἡμῖν οὐ νυσταζόντων καὶ
θαρρεῖν παρεχόντων τοῖς ἀπαντῶσιν, ἀλλ’ ἐφ᾿ ἃ διήσει πολλῆς
σοφίας τῷ γε οὐχ ἁλωσομένῳ. τοιαύτας δὲ ὑμῖν τὰ ὄρη
τρέφει τὰς ἄρκτους δεινὰς ἐπινοῆσαι καὶ ἑλεῖν. τὸ δὲ τὰς δει-
νὰς ἑλεῖν διαφυγεῖν τὴν χάριν ἔχει τῷ θεάτρῳ. οὔσης δὲ ἡμῖν
εὐθήρου τῆς χώρας εἰσί σοι θηραταὶ πολλοὶ καὶ ἐπιστήμονες,
οἷς ἡγοῦμαι τέρπεσθαι καὶ Ἄρτεμιν.
ποίησον δὴ ἡμῖν
λαμπρὰν τὴν λειτουργίαν ἄρκτων χαλεπότητι καὶ τῷ αὐτῷ
τοὺς μὲν παρ’ ὑμῖν γεωργοὺς ἀπάλλαττε φόβου, τοῖς δὲ παρ’
ἡμῖν κυνηγέταις ἔπαγε φόβον καὶ γίγνου πρόθυμος εἰς τοὺς
οἰκείους.
ἔπρεπε δὲ σοὶ μὲν παρ’ ἐμοῦ περὶ τούτων ἐλθεῖν
ἐπιστολὴν, πρὸς δὲ τὴν ἀδελφήν σου τὴν ἀγαθὴν παρὰ τῆς
ἀρίστης Βασσιανῆς.
Related Letters
Your brother and I had decided to hand the man over to your people and send him to you.
I cannot accuse you of carelessness and inattention, because, when an opportunity of writing occurred, you said nothing. For I count the greeting which you have sent me in your own honoured hand worth many letters. In return I salute you, and beg you earnestly to give heed to the salvation of your soul, disciplining all the lusts of the flesh by...
The indispositions of the body originate from excess.
I mourn for the Church that is deprived of the guidance of such a shepherd. But I have so much the more ground for congratulating you on being worthy of the privilege of enjoying, at such a moment, the society of one who is fighting such a good fight in the cause of the truth, and I am sure that you, who nobly support and stimulate his zeal, wil...
My sins have prevented me from carrying out the wish to meet you, which I have long entertained. Let me apologise by letter for my absence, and beseech you not to omit to remember me in your prayers, that, if I live, I may be permitted to enjoy your society. If not, by the aid of your prayers may I quit this world with good hope.