Letter 10
To the Philosopher [Hypatia, the famous mathematician, astronomer, and Neoplatonist philosopher in Alexandria, later murdered by a Christian mob in 415].
I salute you, and I beg you to salute your fortunate circle of companions for me, august Mistress. I have reproached you for a long time now for not thinking me worthy of a letter, but I realize that you all look down on me — not for any wrongdoing of mine, but simply because I am unlucky. And I have been unlucky in every way a man can be.
If I could only have had letters from you and learned that you were all well and flourishing — I am sure you are — I would have been relieved of half my troubles just by sharing in your happiness. But your silence has only added to my sorrows.
I have lost my children, my friends, and everyone's goodwill. But the greatest loss is the absence of your divine intellect. I had hoped that would always remain to me — enough to overcome both the whims of fortune and the cruelty of fate.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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