Letter 57

Isidore of PelusiumUnknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk
To: A person of authority
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore continues his complaint about the corrupt Cappadocian, detailing more crimes.

Join in the fight against this man, I beg you by all that is holy. You know the outrages this Cappadocian has committed in our city. While living here, he perpetrated horrible and unspeakable acts of impurity. When he was recognized and confronted, he responded with private threats against individuals and public hostility against everyone — robbery, brazen theft, a new census designed to plunder, lawsuits against the poor and powerless — all prepared with deliberate malice. He was finally thrown into chains and dragged to the military camp. If divine justice and a better administration do not put an end to him, he will return and do worse.

Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.