Letter 440: Theodore Studite, Letter 440; Greek heading: Ἀβρααμίῳ ξενοδόχῳ.

A true mark of a friend is to visit the one he loves, whether in person or by letter; so from this know that we love you, most honored and most distinguished sir. And we love you with good reason, and this for several causes. The first is on account of those who were once our authentic emperors, since they, as you know, were among those who loved and were loved. The second is on account of your sympathy toward our lowliness, when we were in the Anatolic regions [the Anatolic theme, a military province of Asia Minor, where Theodore was exiled], at the time when you sent us your greeting and all that concerned the most impious prelate of Smyrna [the iconoclast bishop of Smyrna]. The third is on account of your reputation for right doctrine [Greek: orthon phronema, sound orthodox conviction], which our spiritual and beloved brother and letter-bearer has more fully proclaimed; and I would add also on account of our common friend the lord Arcadius, I mean my companion and kindred spirit, whom you also cherish among your own people, as I learn. But since it is the work of a friend also to remind the one he loves in matters where it is necessary, we remind and we beseech your magnificence to conduct yourself sparingly and attentively in the service entrusted to you by the great emperors. And let no one tell me that he is compelled by fear to act in this way; for nothing is greater than the fear of God, and nothing is more necessary than the salvation of the soul. "For what," Scripture says, "will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his own soul?" The physician is sought out in times of crisis, and the helmsman in the storm; or do you not see that there is a great storm and a stroke of divine wrath? Heal, master; steer; that you may both save yourself, and cure the guilty, and restore them to stability, bearing with the threat as one who are yourself also in the body and subject to stumbling. For in this way you will also gain God as merciful; and if God is your protector, who is there to harm you? Remember, my lord, that you also are flesh, and, as you fear blows, spare others blows; since with whatever measure we measure, it shall be measured back to us. Remember, good brother, that today we exist, and what the morrow will bring forth we do not know, lest we be found made a mockery and accursed both in the present age and in the age to come. Remember that fearful and unmistakable sentence, by which the unmerciful will be sent into the unquenchable fire. Remember that there will stand before us the persons who have been well treated and those who have suffered grievously at our hands; and what will it profit us then to have heard ourselves here called capable? Do not, I beseech you, do not thus thrust the sword into ourselves; I speak as one who loves you and is most deeply concerned, master. The end of my discourse: may I from now on hear good reports, and ones kindly instructive, concerning my lord, that I may sing for joy, that I may know that I am being heeded, and will be so hereafter, by my friend. For already even those who are our neighbors here are afraid and trembling because of the things they hear, although they have committed no offense: "He who is coming is a tyrant, he brings a sword; the poor man will not bear up under the threat; it is not that he is received in order to contend, even if he should not wish it, and for this he is not accountable; for not even I myself, if I were so caught, could act otherwise." But if the cause goes beyond these things, well and good, yet even so act with compassion, as in the eyes of the Lord; from which the subject population will rather be made stable, being enslaved by goodwill to the victory-bringing emperors.

Φίλου γνήσιον γνώρισμα τὸν φιλούμενον ἐπισκέπτεσθαι εἴτε δι' αὐτοψίας εἴτε διὰ γράμματος, ὥστε ἐντεῦθεν γνώριζε ἡμᾶς ἀγαπᾶν σε, τιμιώτατε καὶ περιφανέστατε. ἀγαπῶμεν δέ σε εἰκότως, καὶ τοῦτο κατ' αἰτίας διαφόρους· ἡ πρώτη διὰ τοὺς ποτὲ ὑπάρξαντας βασιλεῖς αὐθεντικοὺς ἡμῶν, ἐπείπερ ἐκεῖνοι, ὡς οἶδας, τῶν φιλούντων καὶ φιλουμένων· ἡ δευτέρα διὰ τὸ πρὸς τὴν ταπείνωσιν ἡμῶν συμπαθητικόν σου, ὁπότε ἦμεν ἐν τοῖς Ἀνατολικοῖς, ἡνίκα τὴν προσηγορίαν ἡμῖν διεπέμψω καὶ ὅσα κατὰ τὸν Σμυρναίων ἀσεβέστατον πρόεδρον· ἡ τρίτη διὰ τὴν τοῦ ὀρθοῦ φρονήματος δόξαν, ἣν περισσοτέρως ἐξηγόρευκεν ὁ πνευματικὸς ἡμῶν καὶ ἠγαπημένος ἀδελφὸς καὶ γραμματηφόρος, προσθείην δ' ἂν καὶ διὰ τὸν κοινὸν φίλον κύριον Ἀρκάδιον, τὸν σύντροφον λέγω καὶ σύμψυχον, ὃν καὶ περιέπεις ἐν τοῖς σοῖς, ὡς μανθάνω. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ φίλου ἔργον καὶ ὑπομιμνήσκειν ἐν οἷς χρὴ τὸν ἀγαπώμενον, ὑπομνήσκομεν καὶ παρακαλοῦμεν τὴν μεγαλειότητά σου πεφεισμένως καὶ προσεκτικῶς διεξέρχεσθαι αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ καταπιστευθείσῃ αὐτῇ ὑπὸ τῶν μεγάλων βασιλέων διακονίᾳ. καὶ μή μοι λεγέτω ὅτι ἀναγκάζεται φόβῳ οὕτω διαπράττεσθαι· φόβου γὰρ θεοῦ οὐδὲν μεῖζον καὶ σωτηρίας ψυχῆς οὐδὲν ἀναγκαιότερον. τί γὰρ ὠφελήσει ἄνθρωπος, φησίν, ἐὰν ὅλον τὸν κόσμον κερδήσῃ καὶ ζημιωθῇ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ; καὶ ὁ ἰατρὸς ἐν ταῖς περιστάσεσι ζητητέος καὶ ὁ κυβερνήτης ἐν τῷ κλύδωνι· ἢ οὐχ ὁρᾷς ὅτι κλύδων μέγας καὶ θεομηνὴς πληγή; ἰάτρευσον, δέσποτα, κυβέρνησον, ἵνα καὶ σεαυτὸν σώσῃς καὶ τοὺς ὑπαιτίους ἐξιάσῃ καὶ ἀναστοιχειώσῃς εἰς εὐστάθειαν, ἀνεχόμενος τὴν ἀπειλὴν ὡς καὶ αὐτὸς ὢν ἐν σώματι καὶ ὑπὸ τὸ πταιστόν· οὕτως γὰρ καὶ θεὸν κτήσῃ ἵλεω, θεοῦ δὲ περιέποντος τίς ὁ κακώσων; μνήσθητι, κύριέ μου, ὅτι σὰρξ εἶ καὶ αὐτὸς καί, ὡς φοβῇ τὰς πληγάς, φείδου τῶν πληγῶν· ἐπείπερ, οἵῳ μέτρῳ μετροῦμεν, ἀντιμετρηθήσεται ἡμῖν. μνήσθητι, ἀδελφὲ καλέ, ὅτι σήμερόν ἐσμεν καὶ τί τέξεται ἡ ἐπιοῦσα οὐκ οἴδαμεν, ὡς μὴ εὑρεθῆναι ἡμᾶς κωμῳδουμένους καὶ κατηραμένους καὶ ἐν τῷ νῦν αἰῶνι καὶ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι. μνήσθητι τῆς ἀποφάσεως ἐκείνης τῆς φοβερᾶς καὶ ἀπαραλογίστου, ὑφ' ἧς οἱ ἀνελεήμονες εἰς πῦρ ἄσβεστον ἐκπεμφθήσονται. μνήσθητι ὅτι παραστήσονται ἡμῖν τὰ εὖ πεπονθότα πρόσωπα καὶ τὰ δεινοπαθήσαντα ὑφ' ἡμῶν· καὶ τί ὠφελήσει τότε τὸ ἐνταῦθα ἀκοῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἱκανούς; Μή, παρακαλῶ, μὴ οὕτως εἰς ἑαυτοὺς τὸ ξίφος ὠθῶμεν· φιλῶν λέγω καὶ μάλα κηδόμενος, δέσποτα. τέλος τοῦ λόγου, ἀκούσαιμι ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν ἀγαθὰς ἀκοὰς καὶ φιλανθρώπως παιδευτικὰς περὶ τοῦ ἐμοῦ κυρίου, ἵνα ᾄσω, ἵνα γνῶ ὡς ὑπακουόμενος ἔσομαι καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἑξῆς ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐμοῦ φίλου. ἤδη γὰρ καὶ οἱ γειτνιάζοντες ἡμῖν ἐνταῦθα ἔμφοβοι καὶ ἔντρομοί εἰσιν ἐξ ὧν ἀκούουσι, καίπερ μὴ ἐπταικότες τι· "4τύραννός ἐστιν ὁ ἐρχόμενος, μάχαιραν ἐπιφέρεται, πτωχὸς οὐχ ὑποίσει ἀπειλήν· οὐχ ἵνα ἀνταγωνίσηται δέχεται, κἂν μὴ βούλοιτο, ἐπὶ τούτῳ οὐχ ὑπεύθυνος· οὐδὲ γὰρ αὐτὸς ἐγὼ καταληφθεὶς οὕτως δυνηθείην ἂν ἑτέρως δρᾶσαι"5. ἐὰν δὲ πέρα τούτων τὸ αἴτιον, καλῶς, ἀλλὰ καὶ οὕτως συμπαθῶς, ὡς ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς Κυρίου· ἐξ οὗ καὶ εὐσταθήσει μᾶλλον τὸ ὑπήκοον, δουλούμενον εὐνοίᾳ τοῖς νικοποιοῖς βασιλεῦσιν.