Letter 233
Isidore of Pelusium→Unknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Martyrius
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore on the instability produced by unjust use of power — arguing that injustice always generates the forces that overthrow it.
Injustice breeds instability. The pleasure of using power unjustly is short. The instability it generates is durable.
This is not merely a moral argument. It is a practical one. Those who use authority unjustly create, in the people they oppress, exactly the level of anger and resentment that will eventually overturn them. The unjust ruler is building the case against himself. He may not live to see the verdict, but the verdict will come.
Use your authority justly while you have it. The alternative is not merely wrong — it is self-defeating.
᾿Απένιμδ ἱπείαϑὸϊ μἰξαημα ΔΟΥΙΟ πιουείκνΥ, ἐαρὶεπ πο ἰΐοια. ( ρει. .) Ἱπεογία ἤιϊεὶ οἱ ἰηβι }}}. ᾿οπιίη φϑαυιίυπι οἱ ΟΙΟΓ ἃ ἀόσοηιὶ! αἰπιονοιι βἰλυ. (δι ἢ ἀπ ! [ αὐϊδηβ., δ υϑῆἱ οὐ οοδδρὶ βιιδοιϑ; ἀοίοῦ γοΓῸ ἀἰδηΐιο γα [ον οἰ ο θόγα οοὐφὶῖ. (ὑι- ΡίΔΑΙ Υ Ὁ ῬΟηΘ ἰδϑ ]ο Ῥγυύοινί η}}}}] ἀόσιη ἃ ἀδοῦτο ἀΐπιοτοί. Πυ} οηἷπι ὄχϑυ διἰοιοηὶ λλϑοϊνίδϑαιο ἐοιμιρτηίαἶ!, ἰΔησυδπὶ ΓΔ θη ἰη]- Τοὺς μὲ εὐριπίστους χαὶ ἀθεδαίους καὶ χαρὰ χαὶ λύπη τῆς πρεπούσης χαταστάσεως ἐξαχοντίζουσιν" ἡ μὲν πτερυῦσα χαὶ παροινεῖν ἀναπείθουσα,, ἣ δὲ ταπεινοῦσα χαὶ ψοτφοδεεῖς παρασκενάζουσα. Τοὺς δὲ βεδαίους καὶ ἐρηρεισμένους, χαὶ χρηπῖδα φρονήσεως ἔχοντας, οὐδ᾽ ὁποτέρα τούτων τοῦ προσέχοντος ἐξ- ίστησι. Τῆς μὲν γὰρ χαταστέλλουσι τὰ σχιρτή ματα, ἰοεῖιι ἴγθηο γεβφθιίο. ἈΠΠ ὙδγῸ βιιρθγίογαβ γορθιι- Ὦ χαθάπερ χαλινῷ τινι τῷ λογισμῷ ἀνασειράζοντες᾿" ἴυν, φυϊάαυϊά ἱμππιοάϊευπ ἰε ΠΠ| σδεὶ αι ο. ΟΥΧΗΙΥ. --- ΑΟΘΑΤΗΟΌΔΣΜΟΝΙΝ τῆ; δὲ χρείττονες εὑρίσχοντας, τὴν ἀμετρίαν αὐτῆς χολάζοντες.
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From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Martyrius
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore on the instability produced by unjust use of power — arguing that injustice always generates the forces that overthrow it.
Injustice breeds instability. The pleasure of using power unjustly is short. The instability it generates is durable.
This is not merely a moral argument. It is a practical one. Those who use authority unjustly create, in the people they oppress, exactly the level of anger and resentment that will eventually overturn them. The unjust ruler is building the case against himself. He may not live to see the verdict, but the verdict will come.
Use your authority justly while you have it. The alternative is not merely wrong — it is self-defeating.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.