Letters

Contents

Reading pages: 1–43 · 44–45

1. 1Firmus praises Achilles, an official, for clearing the Taurus road of brigands and bringing peace to the frontier.
2. 2Firmus asks a sophist who has fallen silent to keep writing to him.
3. 3Firmus excuses his complaint about a friend's silence and asks for letters.
4. 4Firmus urges Cynegius to return to Caesarea, his native city, with his family.
5. 5Firmus is reconciled with a country bishop who had given way to his subordinates, and urges him to keep them in order.
6. 6Firmus consoles a friend whose soldier brother had to leave again soon after returning.
7. 7Firmus asks a friend to obtain his release from the duties that keep him away.
8. 8Firmus tells a physician friend he needs his help in body and soul and hopes to return soon.
9. 9Firmus thanks Lausus, a great man of Constantinople, for his friendship and generosity and asks for letters.
10. 10Firmus urges a presbyter, kept away by illness from the chief feast, to come back, and thanks him for his gifts.
11. 11Firmus asks a presbyter for his love, prayers and frequent letters.
12. 12Firmus asks an official to relieve famine-stricken Caesarea of the cost of quartering troops.
13. 13Firmus commends the orator Olympius to Atticus, bishop of Constantinople.
14. 14Firmus welcomes a bishop's son sent to Caesarea for education.
15. 15Firmus invites a bishop to the feast of the saints at Argokna.
16. 16Firmus thanks an official for raising the rank of Caesarea and asks that the province be enlarged and given more power.
17. 17Firmus thanks a patron for raising Caesarea above its rival cities and asks for further benefits.
18. 18Firmus complains that his friends have all stopped writing and tells them he has recovered and is traveling.
19. 19Firmus teases a bishop who fell from his mount, urges him to get a better horse and come, and thanks him for a large fish.
20. 20Firmus writes to Lausus to ease his longing and asks for letters.
21. 21Firmus apologizes for missing a meeting through illness and asks for letters.
22. 22Firmus commends a well-born traveler from the East to a bishop on his way to Constantinople.
23. 23Firmus asks a churchman to make debtors under him repay a lender.
24. 24Firmus rejoices at a bishop's letter announcing his recovery from illness.
25. 25Firmus thanks a friend for taking in a young man sent away for study.
26. 26Firmus thanks an official for his friendship and prays for his advancement.
27. 27Firmus answers a playful letter from the orator Olympius and asks for more; the end of the letter is lost.
28. 28Firmus writes to an official and asks for an immediate reply.
29. 29Firmus sends an official Easter gifts in honor of the feast.
30. 30Firmus thanks an official for news of a friend's success at "the sacred table" and praises the style of his letter.
31. 31Firmus urges a friend to keep a long-delayed promise.
32. 32Firmus, recalling Alexander's saying that his friends were his treasure, calls friendship his only wealth.
33. 33Firmus congratulates an advocate or official on a swift victory and promises to visit.
34. 34Firmus thanks a bishop for festal greetings and asks him to keep writing.
35. 35Firmus thanks a bishop for the gift of a fresh fish, whose leftovers were given to the poor.
36. 36Firmus asks a bishop to have a man's runaway slaves found and returned.
37. 37Firmus tells Cyril of Alexandria that he now misses the stay at Ephesus (431) for Cyril's sake; the end of the letter is damaged.
38. 38Firmus calls a bishop's friendship his treasure and compares their unresolved business to the stone of Sisyphus.
39. 39Firmus asks an official to free a church singer from a slanderous charge.
40. 40Firmus asks a judge to give justice to a wronged man.
41. 41Firmus asks a bishop to punish and excommunicate a woman who abandoned her ascetic vow and robbed another woman.
42. 42Firmus asks a bishop to hand over a fugitive who had robbed monks.
43. 43Firmus playfully sends Inachius a Laconian hunting hound named Helen, a terror to hares.
44. 44Firmus answers Inachius's witty letter about the hound Helen, jokes about the hares and a hawk, and thanks him for wine.
45. 45Firmus asks a country bishop to receive an old man fairly.