Letter 550
To Demarchus, the Illustrious [holder of the rank of vir illustris].
When the passion of the lower belly [the carnal urge of the loins] is weak, it is clear that it grows feeble from the emptiness of the vessel lying above it, that is, the stomach. But when it swells with vigor and is stirred into motion, it has its power supplied entirely from that quarter, out of immoderate repletion.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Ὅταν ἀσθενεῖ τὸ ὑπογάστριον πάθος, δῆλον ὅτι
ἐκ τῆς ἐνδείας τοῦ ὑπερκειμένου ἄγγους τῆς γαστρὸς
ἐξασθενεῖ· ὅταν δὲ σφριγᾷ, καὶ διακεκίνηται, πάντως
ἐκεῖθεν ἔχει ἐπιχορηγουμένην τὴν δύναμιν ἐκ πλη-
σμονῆς ἀμέτρου.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern nilus ancyra workflow v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: project source import
Related Letters
1. The holy presbyter Innocentius, who is the bearer of this letter, did not last year take with him a letter from me to your Eminences, as he had no expectation of returning to Africa. We thank God, however, that it so happened, as it afforded you an opportunity of overcoming [evil with good in requiting] our silence by your letter.
Chrysostom tells Firminus that illness prevented a meeting but not friendship, and reports safe arrival.