Theodoret of Cyrrhus→Arigius, Patrician|c. 440 AD|theodoret cyrrhus
illnessimperial politicsproperty economics
To the Patrician Areobindas.
In distributing wealth and poverty among human beings, the Creator and Governor of all renders no unjust judgment. He gives the poverty of the poor to the rich as an instrument of good — so that those who have wealth will have the means, and the occasion, to show kindness to mankind. This year the Lord has sent afflictions upon us: less than we deserve for our sins, but heavy enough to afflict the farmers. I wrote to your Magnificence about their suffering through your own stewards not long ago.
Take pity, I ask you, on the tillers of the ground, who have spent their labor with very little to show for it. Let this poor harvest be the occasion of a spiritual abundance: let the exercise of compassion on your part bring in the harvest of God's compassion for you. The excellent Dionysius has come to you in haste to report the trouble, in the hope of receiving the remedy. He carries this letter as if it were a suppliant's olive branch, hoping that through it he may receive greater kindness from your hand.
Letter 23
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To the Patrician Areobindas.
In distributing wealth and poverty among men the Creator and Governor of all gives no unjust judgment, but gives the poverty of the poor to the rich as a means of usefulness. So He brings chastisement upon men not merely in the infliction of punishment for their faults, but to provide the wealthy with opportunities for showing kindness to mankind. This year the Lord has sent us scourges, far less than our sins, but enough to distress the husbandmen, of whose sufferings I lately made your magnificence acquainted through your own hinds. Pity, I beseech you, the tillers of the ground, who have spent their toil with but very little result. Be this bad year a suggestion of spiritual abundance, and do ye through the exercise of compassion gather in the harvest of the compassion of God. On this account the excellent Dionysius has hurried to your greatness to tell you of the trouble, that he may receive the remedy. He carries this letter, like a suppliant's branch of olive, in the hope that by its means he may receive greater kindness.
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To the Patrician Areobindas.
In distributing wealth and poverty among human beings, the Creator and Governor of all renders no unjust judgment. He gives the poverty of the poor to the rich as an instrument of good — so that those who have wealth will have the means, and the occasion, to show kindness to mankind. This year the Lord has sent afflictions upon us: less than we deserve for our sins, but heavy enough to afflict the farmers. I wrote to your Magnificence about their suffering through your own stewards not long ago.
Take pity, I ask you, on the tillers of the ground, who have spent their labor with very little to show for it. Let this poor harvest be the occasion of a spiritual abundance: let the exercise of compassion on your part bring in the harvest of God's compassion for you. The excellent Dionysius has come to you in haste to report the trouble, in the hope of receiving the remedy. He carries this letter as if it were a suppliant's olive branch, hoping that through it he may receive greater kindness from your hand.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.