Synesius of Cyrene→Alethius, (brother of Florentius)|c. 406 AD|Synesius of Cyrene|Human translated
property economics
To my Brother.
What now? Are we going to watch these vile raiders bravely risking death for the sake of other people's property — refusing to give up what they have plundered — while we spare ourselves and cling to our lives when our wives, our children, our freedom, and our country are at stake?
It is time to act. I am calling every able-bodied man to arms. The enemy is not invincible — they are bandits, not soldiers. They flee from any determined resistance. All we need is the will to fight.
[The letter is a passionate call to action — the philosopher-bishop has become a war leader, shaming his fellow citizens into defending themselves rather than waiting for military rescue that will never come.]
Letter 113: On Going to War
[1] To his Brother
How now? Shall we watch these foul fiends braving death so readily for the sake of others' property, that they may not have to give up to the owners what they may have plundered? And shall we be sparing of ourselves, and cling to our lives, when the question is one of defending our country, our altars, our laws, and our property, all the possessions that we have enjoyed for so many years? [2] At this rate we shall no longer look like men. For my part, just as I am, I must go against these barbarians . I must make trial to see what these enemies are who stop at nothing, what sort of people they are who dare to laugh the Romans to scorn, even though faring as they do now. A dromedary with the mange, says the proverb, can shoulder the burden of many asses. [3] Quite apart from all this, I see that in such cases all those who do not think of anything except saving their lives, generally succumb, whereas those who are ready to make the sacrifice escape the danger. I shall be among these. I shall fight as if I were at the point of death, and I have no doubt at all that I shall survive. I am a Lacedaemonian by descent, and I remember the letter which the magistrates addressed to Leonidas . "Let them fight as if doomed to die, and they will not die." note [Leonidas was the Spartan king who fought at Thermopylae . Synesius' reference is a bit odd, as Leonidas was killed in action.]
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To my Brother.
What now? Are we going to watch these vile raiders bravely risking death for the sake of other people's property — refusing to give up what they have plundered — while we spare ourselves and cling to our lives when our wives, our children, our freedom, and our country are at stake?
It is time to act. I am calling every able-bodied man to arms. The enemy is not invincible — they are bandits, not soldiers. They flee from any determined resistance. All we need is the will to fight.
[The letter is a passionate call to action — the philosopher-bishop has become a war leader, shaming his fellow citizens into defending themselves rather than waiting for military rescue that will never come.]