Letter 45: Procopius asks his brothers to stand in for him with Julian and not grow arrogant in office.

Procopius of GazaZacharias and Philip, brothers of Procopius of Gaza|c. 515 AD|Procopius of Gaza|From Gaza, Palaestina Prima|AI-assisted
late antique Greek letters; Zacharias; Philip; Julian; consistory; Roman administration; recommendation
The consistory is treated as a grand Roman word whose work Procopius claims not to know.

I already loved admirable Julian for other reasons, since he is enough to draw anyone who meets him into affection. But I was much more pleased that he also became an occasion for me to write to you. If I could ever gain such an occasion, I would think myself richer than Cinyras.

He asks nothing difficult. Wishing me to be present with him there through you, he hopes you will bring this about; I certainly hope the same. If I were present myself, there is nothing I would not become for him.

As for the consistory, I do not know what it is; the word strikes my ear with Roman magnificence. Yet because of you I love even the name. I would like it truly to be something divine, and I honor a title whose work I do not understand. If your fortune has changed toward greater things, remain in your deeds the man you were before, so that I do not call you an arrogant man of the consistory.

AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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

Ζαχαρίᾳ καὶ Φιλίππῳ ἀδελφοῖς

Τὸν θαυμαστὸν Ἰουλιανὸν καὶ ἄλλως μὲν ἠγάπων, ἱκανὸς γὰρ ἐφέλκεσθαι τὸν ἐντυχόντα πρὸς πόθον, πολὺ δὲ μᾶλλον ἥσθην ὅτι μοι καὶ πρὸς ὑμᾶς γραμμάτων γέγονε πρόφασις. τούτου γὰρ εἴ ποτε λαβοίμην, ὑπὲρ τὸν Κινύραν εἶναι δοκῶ. αἰτεῖ δὲ δυσχερὲς οὐδέν, ἀλλ' αὐτῷ με παρεῖναι κἀκεῖσε βουλόμενος δι' ὑμῶν, ὑμᾶς ἐλπίζει τοῦτο γενέσθαι, ὅπερ πάντως κἀγώ. ἐγὼ δὲ οὐδὲν ἂν ὅ τι μὴ παρὼν ἐγινόμην. τὸ δὲ κονσιστόριον ὅ τι μέν ἐστιν ἀγνοῶ, Ῥωμαϊκῷ γὰρ κόμπῳ προσβάλλει τὴν ἐμὴν ἀκοήν· δι' ὑμᾶς δὲ καὶ τοὔνομα φιλῶ, καὶ θεῖον ὄντως αὐτὸ βουλοίμην ὑπάρχειν, καὶ τιμῶ προσηγορίαν ἧς τὸ ἔργον ἠγνόησα. εἰ δὲ καὶ μεταβέβληταί σοι πρὸς τὸ μεῖζον ἡ τύχη, ἀλλὰ μεῖνον ὅσπερ ἦσθα πάλαι τοῖς ἔργοις, ἵνα μή σε ἀλαζόνα κονσιστοριανὸν ὀνομάσω.

Revision history

  1. 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import

    Initial corpus import from modern procopius gaza batch4 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

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