Letters of Julian/Letter 32

by Julian

32. To the priestess Theodora

[362, Jan-May, Constantinople, or from Antioch in the autumn]

I have received through Mygdonius^[1] the books that you sent me, and besides, all the letters of recommendation^[2] that you forwarded to me throughout the festival. Every one of these gives me pleasure, but you may be sure that more pleasant than anything else is the news about your excellent self,^[3] that by the grace of the gods you are in good physical health, and are devoting yourself to the service of the gods more earnestly and energetically. As regards what you wrote to the philosopher Maximus, that my friend Seleucus^[4] is ill-disposed towards you, believe me that he neither does nor says in my presence anything that he could possibly intend as slandering. On the contrary, all that he tells me about you is favourable; and while I do not go so far as to say that he actually feels friendly to you — only he himself and the all-seeing gods can know the truth as to that — still I can say with perfect sincerity that he does refrain from any such calumny in my presence. Therefore it seems absurd to scrutinise what is thus concealed rather than what he actually does, and to search for proof of actions of which I have no shred of evidence. But since you have made so many accusations against him, and have plainly revealed to me a definite cause for your own hostility towards him, I do say this much to you frankly; if you are showing favour to any person, man or woman, slave or free, who neither worships the gods as yet, nor inspires in you any hope that you may persuade him to do so, you are wrong. For do but consider first how you would feel about your own household. Suppose that some slave for whom you feel affection should conspire with those who slandered and spoke ill of you, and showed deference to them, but abhorred and detested us who are your friends, would you not wish for his speedy destruction, or rather would you not punish him yourself?^[5] Well then, are the gods to be less honoured than our friends? You must use the same argument with reference to them, you must consider that they are our masters and we their slaves. It follows, does it not, that if one of us who call ourselves servants of the gods has a favourite slave who abominates the gods and turns from their worship, we must in justice either convert him and keep him, or dismiss him from the house and sell him, in case some one does not find it easy to dispense with owning a slave? For my part I would not consent to be loved by those who do not love the gods; wherefore I now say plainly that you and all who aspire to priestly offices must bear this in mind, and engage with greater energy in the temple worship of the gods. And it is reasonable to expect that a priest should begin with his own household in showing reverence, and first of all prove that it is wholly and throughout pure of such grave distempers.

Footnotes

1. For Mygdonius cf. Letter 33, and Libanius, Letters 471, 518 written in 357.
2. Literally "tokens," tesserae, probably the same as the συνθήματα mentioned by Sozomen 5. 16; they were letters of recommendation for the use of Christian travellers; Sozomen says that Julian wished to establish this custom among the pagans.
3. Literally "your Goodness"; with this use cf. Oribasius, Introduction to his ἰατρικαὶ συναγωγαὶ 1. παρὰ τῆς σῆς θειότητος, αὐτόκρατορ Ἰουλιανὲ = "by your god-like self," literally "your Divinity"; see Letter 2
4. Of Cilicia. He was an old friend of the Emperor's and accompanied him on the Persian campaign. From the letters of Libanius it seems that Julian had appointed Seleucus to some high priestly office in 362.
5. An echo of Plato, Euthyphro 13d; cf. Vol. 2, 289b.