Letter 76: Procopius says he will stay only if real promises advance; otherwise God's vote sends him to his brothers.

Your letter revealed your goodwill toward me, and it was not without sound judgment. Each quality appeared clearly through the addition of the other. You did not simply wish me to be with you because you longed for me; rather, unless advantage too were present, you judged the sight of me unnecessary. Nor, frightened by the uncertainty of the future, did you forbid me to come back to you. The style of your advice was new and worthy of a rhetorical mind: it had no rash invitation, and it looked carefully at the reasons for holding me back. I am so far from loving display and public business, or envying the prosperity of others, that even though things here have not gone as I wished, I have nevertheless endured for so long. Now, since they promise to do something moderate for me, I do not treat the chance to see the emperor's city as a prize won by light hopes. I love quiet and count it the one happiness. I have considered Constantinople only as a means of finding provision to get outside public business someday and enjoy a more divine life. Still, without loving public affairs, I set down what seems right. Nothing is worth choosing unless it receives God's nod. When something does not happen, that shows it does not have God approving it; just as, if something happens without being joined to suffering, it certainly seemed good to God and has come to pass. Nothing can happen unless it seems good, and nothing that has happened can fail to have seemed good. So if any of the promises advances, it seems I must stay, and I have no answer against it. But if these are only words, and the necessity of things not happening goes away, it shows God's vote commanding me to come to you. Otherwise, the things for which I ought to stay would certainly have existed.

Ζαχαρίαι καὶ Φιλίππωι ἀδελφοῖς Τὰ ὑμέτερα γράμματα καὶ τὴν εἰς ἡμᾶς εὔνοιαν ἐδήλου καὶ γνώμης οὐκ ἀπήλλακτο σώφρονος, ἑκάτερον δὲ τῇ τοῦ ἑτέρου προσθήκῃ καθαρὸν ὑπεφαίνετο· οὔτε γὰρ ὡς ποθοῦντες ἁπλῶς οὕτως ἔχειν ἡμᾶς ἐβουλήθητε, ἀλλ' εἰ μὴ καὶ τὸ συμφέρον προσεῖη περιττὴν ἡγεῖσθε τὴν θέαν, οὔτε τῷ τοῦ μέλλοντος ἀδήλῳ περιδεεῖς γεγονότες τὴν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἰέναι πάλιν ἀπηγορεύσατε, ἀλλ' ἦν καινὸς ὁ τρόπος τῆς συμβουλῆς καὶ ῥητορικῇ πρέπων ἐννοίᾳ, οὔτε τὸ καλοῦν ἔχων θρασύ, καὶ τὴν ἀποτροπὴν ὑφορώμενος. ἐγὼ δὲ τοσοῦτον ἀπέχω τοῦ κόμπου καὶ πραγμάτων ἐρᾶν καὶ τὴν ἑτέρων εὐδαιμονίαν ζηλοῦν, ὥστε καίπερ οὐ κατὰ νοῦν πράξας ἐνταῦθα, τοσοῦτον ὅμως ἐκαρτέρησα χρόνον. καὶ νῦν ἐπειδήπερ ἐπαγγέλλονταί μοι ποιήσειν τὰ μέτρια, οὐχ ἕρμαιον ἡγοῦμαι κούφαις ἁπλῶς ἐλπίσι βασιλέως πόλιν ἰδεῖν, καὶ ταῦτα τῆς ἡσυχίας ἐρῶν καὶ μίαν ταύτην εὐδαιμονίαν ἡγούμενος καὶ τοῦ Βυζαντίου πρὸς ἔννοιαν ὅλως ἐλθών, ὅπως ἐφόδιον εὕροιμι τοῦ ποτὲ πραγμάτων ἔξω γενέσθαι καὶ θειοτέρας ἀπολαῦσαι ζωῆς. πλὴν οὐκ ἐρῶν τῶν πραγμάτων τίθεμαι τὸ δοκοῦν. οὐδὲν γὰρ αἱρετὸν ὃ μὴ θεοῦ δέχεται νεῦμα, καὶ μὴ γινόμενον ἕκαστον τὸ μὴ θεὸν ἔχειν ἐπαινοῦντα δηλοῖ, ὥσπερ κἄν τι γένηται μὴ πάθει συνεζευγμένον, θεῷ πάντως ἐδόκει καὶ γέγονε. καὶ οὔτε τι μὴ δοκοῦν ἔστι γενέσθαι οὔτε γεγενημένον μὴ δοκεῖν, ὥστε εἴ τι τῶν ἐπηγγελμένων προβαίη, μένειν ὡς ἔοικε δεῖ, καὶ ἀντιλέγειν οὐκ ἔχω. εἰ δὲ λόγοι ταῦτα καὶ οἴχεται ἡ τῶν μὴ γενομένων ἀνάγκη, τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ δείκνυσι ψῆφον ὡς ὑμᾶς ἰέναι κελεύουσαν. εἰ γὰρ μή, ταῦτα πάντως ἂν ὑπῆρξεν ἐφ' οἷς με μένειν ἐχρῆν.