Letter 108: Nephalius's failure to come or explain himself leaves Procopius vulnerable to rumor.
You have filled me with no ordinary worries. You have neither come as you promised before nor explained the reason by letter. So now you drive me even into absurd thoughts, wondering whether something we would all pray against has happened to you.
Now a rumor has also disturbed me, saying what rumors say. May it remain only a rumor and carry nothing further. If you care at all to bring me back to cheerfulness, at least give me the consolation that comes from letters.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
Νηφαλίωι Οὐ τὰς τυχούσας ἡμῖν φροντίδας ἐμπεποίηκας, μήτε παρὼν κατὰ τὰς πρὶν ὑποσχέσεις, μήτε τὴν αἰτίαν διὰ γραμμάτων μηνύσας, ὡς ἡμῶν λοιπὸν καὶ πρὸς ἀτόπους ἐννοίας χωρεῖς μή τι γέγονε τῶν ἀπευκταίων ὑμῖν. νυνὶ δὲ καὶ φήμη τις ἐπετάραξε λέγουσα μὲν ἃ δὴ καὶ λέγει. γένοιτο δὴ φήμη καὶ πλέον φέροι μηδέν. εἰ οὖν τί σοι μέλει πρὸς εὐθυμίαν ἄγειν ἡμᾶς, τὴν γοῦν ἐκ τῶν γραμμάτων παραμυθίαν ἀπόδος.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern procopius gaza batch7 matia greek v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://www.matia.gr/pisth/pdf/pg_migne/Procopius_of_Gaza_PG_87a-87c/Epistulae.pdf
Related Letters
Procopius accepts the letter but says providence prevented the requested action.
Those who think well leave earth to earth and swim beyond matter and the senses.
Nephalius's gifts matter less than the friendly intention behind them.
Procopius recommends poor Stephen, who has turned to diaconal dress for survival.
Nephalius's cheerful invitation lets Procopius expose rumors against him as false.