Letter 2
Synesius of Cyrene→Joannes|c. 407 AD|synesius cyrene
To Joannes.
If you want to live without fear, you should fear the law. But you have always been too proud even to seem afraid of it. At the very least, fear your enemies — and with them, fear the judges, if they are honest. Even if they are corrupt, you should still fear them: once a man with a deeper purse comes along, corrupt judges suddenly develop a passionate commitment to upholding the law.
Letter 2: An Insult
[1] To Joannes
To be free from fear one must fear the law, but you have always been ashamed even to seem to fear them. [2] At all events fear your enemies, and with them fear the judges if they are incorruptible. [3] Nay, they are still to be feared even if they are open to bribery; for such ones, if your purse is not of the longest, are full of zeal to defend the laws once they have found a paymaster into the bargain.
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To Joannes.
If you want to live without fear, you should fear the law. But you have always been too proud even to seem afraid of it. At the very least, fear your enemies — and with them, fear the judges, if they are honest. Even if they are corrupt, you should still fear them: once a man with a deeper purse comes along, corrupt judges suddenly develop a passionate commitment to upholding the law.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.