Synesius of Cyrene

Mosaic depicting an angel. Museum of Ptolemais

Synesius of Cyrene (c.370-c.413) was a Neo-Platonic philosopher who became bishop of Ptolemais in the Cyrenaica. He left behind a small corpus of texts that offer much information about daily life in Late Antiquity, and about the christianization of the Roman world.

The text of Letters 18, 19, and 20, and 21, recommendations for an important man from Alexandria, are offered here in the translation by A. Fitzgerald. They were written in 404.

Letter 21: A Recommendation

To the Governor

If your Excellency should remember Theodorus (and how could it be otherwise?), I beg you will show some respect for his kinsman by honoring him in the same way. By kind treatment to an excellent man you will confer a favor on the senate of our illustrious Alexandria; they all in a body recommended the man to me, and begged me to help him with letters of introduction. I have done all that I can in this matter now that I have written to you. Whether my efforts prove of any use to him, rests entirely with yourself.

Online 2007
Revision: 15 August 2007