Procopius of Gaza, Letters 29
created: This entry is taken from Letters 29 written by Procopius of Gaza in 500-525 C.E.
edition published: 2023-06-30-05:00
language: grc; grc
availability: Except for materials quoted from other sources, this entry is copyright 2023 by the contributors (Joseph L. Rife, et al.) and the Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project. It is licensed under the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. Some texts quoted in this entry may be in the public domain in the United States. No copyright is asserted for these quotations. Some texts quoted in this entry may have copyright restrictions and are reused under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)

https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/441

τὴν Καίσαρος

, and

Caesarea

are directly attested at Procopius of Gaza, Letters 29. This passage was written ca. 500-525 C.E. possibly in Gaza. Procopius, later followed by his student Choricius, was a leading figure in the rhetorical flowering at Late Antique Gaza. During his career spanning the late 5th to early 6th centuries, he was a celebrated teacher and orator whose extant writings include rhetorical works, letters, and biblical exegesis. In florid language Procopius addresses the following letter to an associate Diodorus, who has failed to stay in contact with Procopius upon moving from Gaza to Caesarea (cf. Letters 110).

Διοδώρωι Ἔτι σιγᾷς; ἔτι περιφρονεῖς τὰ ἡμέτερα; καὶ μὴν ᾤμην σε πρὸς κόρον ἀφῖχθαι φρονήματος, σεμνὸν μὲν ἡγούμενον τὸ σιγᾶν, ἡμῶν δὲ φιλοτιμότερον χρησομένων τῷ πράγματι, ἵνα καὶ νικήσωμεν ὀφρῦν διὰ σιγὴν ἐπηρμένην. τουτὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνο τὸ σύνηθες· ἅμα τε τὴν Καίσαρος εἶδες καὶ βαίνεις ὑψοῦ καὶ ἀγανακτεῖς ὅτι μὴ Περσέως πτεροῖς αἴρῃ μετέωρος, τὰ δὲ ἡμέτερά σοι λογιζομένῳ σμικρά τε ἔτι δοκεῖ καὶ οὐδέν. ὅθεν σοι νόμος παλαιὸς καὶ πανταχοῦ κρατῶν παρεβαίνετο. χρὴ γὰρ ἐπειδάν τις τοὺς συνήθεις καταλιπὼν ἐπ’ ἀλλοδαπῆς ἰθύνῃ τὸν δρόμον, αὐτὸν εἶναι πρῶτον τὸν ἐπιστέλλοντα, ὁποῖον αὐτὸν ἦγεν ἡ θάλαττα, ὅπως ἡ γῆ τοῦτον ὁδοιποροῦντα παρέπεμπεν, εἰ χρηστῆς ἀπέλαυε τύχης, εἰ τὸ χωρίον αὐτὸν εὐμενῶς ὑπεδέχετο. τούτων οὖν αὐτὸς ἔφης οὐδέν, οὐδ’ ἡμεῖς ἔχομεν διηγήσασθαι, ἀλλὰ τοὐμὸν μέρος αὐτῶν ἰχθύων γέγονας ἀφωνότερος. ἀλλ’ ἵνα μὴ τὰ τῆς φιλίας τῇ σιγῇ πρὸς λήθην ἐλθόντα κατὰ μικρὸν ὑπορρέῃ, ἀνανεοῦμαι πάλιν τὸ πρᾶγμα καὶ γίνομαί σοι φιλανθρωπότερος. καὶ σύ, πρὸς Φιλίου, παῖζε πρὸς ἡμᾶς τὰ συνήθη καὶ τῆς σῆς χάριτος ἄξια.

[Ed. Garzya and Loenertz 1963 with ref. to Amato and Ciccolella 2010]

To Diodorus, Are you still silent? Do you still despise our news? In fact, I thought you had reached your fill of arrogance: while you consider silence to be a solemn act, we will use this action to competitive advantage, so that we might defeat your eyebrow raised due to silence. For this is the usual story: you have just seen Caesarea, and you go to the heights and are angry that you do not to take yourself aloft on the wings of Perseus, but our goings-on seem in your estimation to be small and worthless. Thus an ancient and universally valid law was transgressed on your part. That is, whenever someone leaves behind his family and travels to a foreign land, he must be the first to send word by letter about how his trip by sea went, how his journey over land went, whether he enjoyed good fortune, whether the region welcomed him favorably. You, however, said nothing of these matters, and we ourselves are unable to tell the story. As far as I am concerned, you have become dumber than the fish themselves. But in order that the bonds of friendship, having come to oblivion because of silence, do not slowly wash away, I renew again our relationship and become more benevolent toward you. And you, by Zeus the god of friendship, bring to us the usual delight, a delight worthy of your grace.

[Trans. J. L. Rife with ref. to Amato and Ciccolella 2010][^1]

[^1: The reference to flying with the wings of Perseus here as elsewhere (Letters 58, 90, 123) may allude to a desire to escape human contact out of haughtiness or contempt (cf. Menander, Dyscolus 153-159), and in any case would seem to symbolize the distance between the author of the letter and its recipient; see Amato and Ciccolella 2010, p. 455 n. 263.]

Works Cited

[...] 29 19
[...] 314-315

[*Procopius of Gaza,

*Procopius of Gaza, Letters 110

110]

[Gaza]

[Diodorus

Perseus

Zeus]

[Culture and Society

Maritime Activity

Paganism

Travel]