# On Kingship - Author: [Synesius of Cyrene](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/synesius-of-cyrene/) - Latin title: *De regno* - Date: ca. 399-400 (probable) - Source: G. Krabinger, ed., Synesii Cyrenensis quae exstant opera omnia, vol. 1 (Landshut, 1850), 3-77 - Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator - Editions and translations: J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologia Graeca 66 (Paris, 1859); N. Terzaghi, ed., Synesii Cyrenensis opuscula (Rome, 1944) - Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/ - Passages: 75 ## Krabinger p. 3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-3 - Source: Krabinger 1:3 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Synesius opens by asking whether only a speaker from a great city with showy rhetoric may be heard at court. ### Greek text Δ,α, εἰ μή τις ἱκ πόλεως ἥκοι μεγάλης τε καὶ πλου- ῥεαν: ο τούσῃς, καὶ κομίδοι λόγους γαύρου! τε καὶ χλιδῶντας, ν». 1. οἴους ῥητορικὴ καὶ ποιητικὴ τίκτουσι, πάνδημιοι τί- ### English translation (Claude) Must it be, then, that unless someone comes from a city great and wealthy, and brings proud and luxurious speeches, such as rhetoric and poetry beget — popular arts, ### Translation notes - Krabinger's pages begin and end mid-sentence; each page is translated as far as its Greek runs. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 3 (Krabinger 1:3; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/3). ## Krabinger p. 4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-4 - Source: Krabinger 1:4 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Philosophy comes to court with weighty and free speech, not the flattering rhetoric of the great cities. ### Greek text χναι πάνδημα ἔκγονα, τοῦτον, ὅταν ἐνθάδε γένηται, δεῖ κάτω νεύειν, ὡς οὐκ οὖσῃς αὐτῷ παῤῥησίας ἐν βασιλείοις οὐδὲ ἐρυγγάνειν, οὐκ ἔχοντι τῇι πατρίδος τὸν Βὶ ὄγκον, οὔτε παρασχεῖν ἀκροαμάτων χαριέντων τε καὶ δσυνήθων ἡδονὴν, καταδημαγωγησόντων βασιλέα τὲ καὶ τοὺς συνεδρεύοντας; ἢ καὶ φιλοσοφίαν ποτὲ ἐπιδημοῦσαν προ(ίήσεσθε, καί τις αὐτὴν οὐκ ἀμφιγνοῆσει δεῦρο διὰ πλείστου φανεῖσαν, ἀλλὰ ξεναγύσει καὶ κατερεῖ τι αὐτῆς ἀγαθὸν πρὸ οὗς ἄξιονς δεῖται γάρ που τούτων οὐχ ἑαυτῇς, ἀλλ᾽ ὑμῶν ἕνεκα, μὴ καταφρονη- αὶ θεῖσα ἀνόνητος ἄν γενέσθαι. Αὐτὴ μέντοι παρέξεται λόγου!, οὐ τοὺς ἱλαροὺς δὴ τούτους καὶ διατιθένταρ ἐν ἡδονῇ τὰ μειράκια, ὡς οὔτε ἤθει διαῤῥέοντας, οὔτε λέξεσι κομμωθένται εἰς νόθου κάλλους ἐπίδειξιν" ἀλλ' ἕτερον τρόπον τοῖς ἐφικέσθαι δυναμιίένοις τὸν ἐμβριθῇ τε καὶ ἔνθεον ἀῤῥενωποὺ; καὶ σεμνοὺς καὶ ἀπαδιοῦντας ἀνελευθέρου θωπείαι χάριν τὰ παρὰ τῶν δυνατῶν ἃ ### English translation (Claude) popular offspring — such a man, when he comes here, must hang his head, as having no freedom of speech in the palace, unable to boast of the grandeur of his country or to furnish the pleasure of charming and familiar recitals that would win over the emperor and those who sit in council with him? Or will you also cast off philosophy when she visits you, and will no one recognize her, appearing here after so long a time, but rather act as her host and say something good of her to those to whom it is worth saying? For she needs these things, I think, not for her own sake but for yours, lest, being despised, she should become of no use. She herself will provide speeches — not these cheerful ones that put young men into a state of pleasure, dissolute in character and dressed up in diction for the display of a bastard beauty, but of another sort, for those able to reach them: weighty and inspired, manly and dignified, and refusing, for the sake of servile flattery, to buy the favours of the powerful ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 4 (Krabinger 1:4; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/4). ## Krabinger p. 5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-5 - Source: Krabinger 1:5 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Flattery is like poison in honey; true speech, like medicine, hurts in order to save. ### Greek text ἐξωνεῖσθαι. Οἱ δὲ οὕτως ἄρα ἀςτεμφῶ; ἔχουσὶ, καὶ εἰσὶ πάντολμοι δή τινε, καὶ ὡς ἐν βασιλείοις ἀλλόκοτοι, ὥ;τε οὐδὲ φασιν αὐτοῖς ἀποχρήσειν, εἴ τις ξυγχωρήσει μὴ πάντα ἐκ πάντων ἐπαινεῖν τὰ. βασιλέως καὶ βασιλέα" ἀλλ᾽, εἴ πη παρείκοι, καὶ λυπήσειν ἀνατείνονται, καὶ ἀπειλοῦσι δήξεσθαι τὴν καρδίαν, οὐκ ἐν -χρῷ μὸνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ μέσην, εἰ ἄρα τις ἀνιαθεὶς ὠφελύσοιτο. Πολλοὺ μέντ᾽ ἂν ἄξιος εἴν βασιλέως ἀκοῦ λό- 10γος ἐλεύθερος" ὁ δὲ ἐφ᾽ ἅπαντι γινόμενος ἔπαινος, σὺν ἡδονῇ λυμαινόμενος, ἐοικέναι μοι δοκεῖ τῶν φαρμάκων ἃ μέλιτι δεύσαντες τοῖς ἀπολουμένοις ὀὁρέγουσιν. Οὐκ οἶσθ᾽ ὅτι μὰγειρικὴ μὲν κατακαρυκεύουσα, καὶ νόύόθου; ὀρέξεις ἐκκαλουμένη, λωβᾶται τοῖς σωλιασι" γυμινατικὴ δὲ καὶ ἰατρικὴ σώδετον ἄμφω τὸ παραυτίκα λυποῦσαι; Σὲ τοίνυν ἐγὼ βούλομαι τῶν σωξομένων εἶναι, καὶ εἰ μέλλεις δυςχεραίνειν ἐπὶ τῷ σώξεσθαι. Τρέα μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ἐᾷὰ διαβῥυῆναι ευ- ### English translation (Claude) with them. These speeches are so unbending, so wholly daring, and so out of place in a palace, that they say it will not be enough for them if someone allows them not to praise everything about the emperor and the emperor in every respect; but, if occasion offers, they even threaten to give pain, and promise to bite the heart, not on the surface only but to the middle, in case someone, being pained, might be helped. Worth much indeed to an emperor's hearing would free speech be; but praise given for everything, harming with pleasure, seems to me like those poisons which people steep in honey and hold out to those who are to perish. Do you not know that cookery, with its sauces and its calling forth of bastard appetites, maims bodies, while gymnastics and medicine both save, though at the moment they cause pain? I want you, then, to be among those who are saved, even if you are going to be annoyed at being saved. For meat is not allowed to rot by ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Gorg. 464b-465d (Plato (works)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Cookery set against gymnastics and medicine follows Plato, Gorgias 464b–465d. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 5 (Krabinger 1:5; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/5). ## Krabinger p. 6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-6 - Source: Krabinger 1:6 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Synesius presents himself as Cyrene's envoy, bringing a gold crown for the emperor's head and philosophy for his soul. ### Greek text εφότη! ἁλῶν" νέου δὲ βασιλέως γνώμην, ὑπ᾽ ἐξουσία, ἢ ἄν τύχῃ βαδιουμένην συνέχει λόγων ἀλήθεια. Οὕτω, οὖν ἀνάσχοισθε τοῦ ἔένου γένους τῶν λόγων" ἀλλὰ μὴ ἀγροικίας ἐν ὑμῖν ἁλώσονται καὶ ὅ πατασιγασθεῖεν,, πρὶν᾽ καὶ βραχὺ προχωρῆσαι, ὅτι μὴ Ο. εἰσὶ θεραπευταὶ πειθοῦ!, νέοις ἡδεῖς καὶ συμπαίτορεε᾽ ἀλλὰ παιδαγωγοί τινες, ἀτεχνῶς σωφρονιξαὶ, καὶ βαρεῖς ἐντυχεῖν. Εἰ δὲ γένοισθε καρτεροὶ συνουσίαν τοιάνδε βαςάσαι, καὶ μὴ παντάπασιν ὑμῖν ὑπὸ “τῶν παίνων, οὗ, ἀκούειν εἰώθατε, τὰ ὦτα ἐκδεδιύτηῃται, ’ ἜἜνδον μὲν 'δὴ «ὅδ᾽ τ αὐτὸς ἐγω. ἜῈμέ σοι πέμπει Ἀυρύήνη τιφανώσοντα χρυσῷ μὲν τὴν κεφαλὴν, φιλοσοφίᾳ δὲ τὴν ψυχὴν, πόλις ᾿Ελληνὶ;, παλαιὸν ὄνομα καὶ σεμνὸν, καὶ ἐν ᾧδῇ ### English translation (Claude) the bite of salt; and the mind of a young emperor, inclined by his power to walk wherever it may chance, is held together by the truth of words. Bear, then, with this foreign kind of speech; and let not these words be convicted among you of boorishness and be silenced before they have advanced even a little, because they are not servants of persuasion, pleasant to the young and their playmates, but tutors of a sort, plain correctors, and heavy to meet. But if you prove strong enough to bear such company, and your ears have not been wholly spoiled by the praises you are used to hearing — “here indeed within am I myself.” Cyrene sends me to you, to crown your head with gold and your soul with philosophy: a Greek city, an ancient and venerable name, and in song ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 21.207 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “Here indeed within am I myself” is Homer, Odyssey 21.207 (Odysseus revealing himself). The first word of the page (εφότη!) is damaged; “bite” renders the sense. Krabinger's critical apparatus, printed at the foot of the page, has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 6 (Krabinger 1:6; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/6). ## Krabinger p. 7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-7 - Source: Krabinger 1:7 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Cyrene is a ruin needing imperial help, but truth gives a speech its nobility; reforming the emperor reforms the whole empire. ### Greek text μυρίᾳ τῶν πάλαι σοφῶν' νῦν πίένη., καὶ κατηφὴϊ, καὶ μέγα ἐρείπιον, καὶ βασιλέως δεόμενον, εἰ μέλλει τι πράξειν τῇς περὶ αὐτὴν ἀἁρχαιολογίας ἐπάξιον. Ταύτὴν μὲν δὴ μοι τὴν ἔνδειαν, ὅταν αὐτὸς ἰθέλῃς, ἰάἤ σῃ, καὶ ἐπὶ σοὶ βυληθέντι παρὰ μεγάλης τε καὶ εὐδαίμονος ἤδη τῇς πατρίδος τὸν δεύὐτερὸν με διακομίσαι σοι ςέφανον. Οἱ λόγοι δὲ οὐδὲν νῦν τι δέονται πόλεως, ὥςτε ἐλευθεροτομῇσαι καὶ βασιλέα θαῤῥῆῇσαι" ἀλήθεια γὰρ δὴ λόγων εὐγίνεια, καὶ διὰ τόπον οὐδείς 1θπω λόγο, αἰσχίων, οὐδὲ κυδίων ἐγένετο. ᾿Ιτητέον οὖν ἅμα τῷ θεῷθ, καὶ ἐγχειρητέον τῷ καλλίστῳ τῶν λόγων" ἀληθέξερον δὲ φάναι, τῶν ἔργων. Ὃ γὰρ ἐνὸς ἀνδρὸς, τοῦ βασιλέως, ἐπιμεληθεὶς, ὅπως ἂν ἄριφςος εἴη, τὴν συντομωτάτην ἰβάδισεν ἐπὶ τὸ πάντας λὲν οἴκους ἐπανορθοῦν, πόλεις τε πάσας, ἔθνη τε πᾶντα, καὶ μικρὰ καὶ μείδω, καὶ τὰ γείτονα καὶ τὰ πόῤῥω, ἃ πάντα ἀπολαύειν ἀνάγκῃ τὴς ὅπως ποτὲ ἐχούσῃς τοῦ βασιλέως ψυχῇ. Βούλει δὴ ποιῶμὲν οὕτω τὴν πρώτην, ἵνα μοι καὶ πεβεμείν δὲ. Φ ### English translation (Claude) by countless wise men of old; now poor and downcast, a great ruin, and in need of the emperor if it is to do anything worthy of its ancient story. This want of mine you will heal whenever you wish, and it will rest with you, if you so will, that I bring you a second crown from my country, great and prosperous by then. But speech now needs no city in order to speak freely and be bold before an emperor; for truth is the nobility of speech, and no speech has ever become baser or more glorious because of its place. Let us set out, then, with God, and take in hand the finest of speeches — or, to speak more truly, of works. For he who has taken care of one man, the emperor, that he may be the best, has gone the shortest way to setting right all households, all cities and all nations, small and great, near and far, all of which must enjoy the emperor's soul, whatever its condition may be. Do you wish, then, that we begin thus, so that you may also follow ### Translation notes - The last words of the page (πεβεμείν δὲ. Φ) are garbled; the sense is completed from the next page. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 7 (Krabinger 1:7; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/7). ## Krabinger p. 8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-8 - Source: Krabinger 1:8 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The emperor should blush at the faults the speech will name, since shame leads to repentance, while obstinacy deserves punishment. ### Greek text τὸν λόγονς σοφὸν γὰρ ἂν εἴη μὴ προσοβῆσαι τὴν -Β ραν. Λέγωμεν δὴ ἃ τε χρεὼν εἴη βασιλέά ποιεῖν, ἃ τε μὴ χρεὼν, ἀντιπαρατιθέντες αἰσχρὰ καὶ σεμνά. Σὺ δὲ τοῖς ἐξ ἑκατέρας μερίδος ἰφιςάμενος, ὅταν ἐπιγνῷς τι προίῆκον, τὸ μὲν ἀγαπᾷν, ὡς ὑπὸ φιλοσοφίας ἐγκεκριμένον" τὸ δὲ ἀποδιοπομιπεῖσθαι, καὶ διανοεῖσθαι δὴ, τὸ μὲν ὡς ἀεὶ ποιήσων" τὸ δὲ ὡς οὐκἐτ᾽ αὖθι. ᾿Δλλὰ παρὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῷν λόγων ἐπὶ τοῖς μιῇ χρεὼν, οἷς ἡμεῖς τε, σύ τε σαυτῷ συνἐπίσασαι, δυςχεραίνων τε φαίνου σαυτῷ καὶ ἐρυθριῶν, ὅτι δὴ πέφηνε σὸν ὃ μὴ ἄξιον εἶναι σόν. Τό τοῖα χρῶμα τοῦτο τὴν ἐκ μετανοίας ἀρετὴν ὑπισχνεῖται" καὶ αἰδὼς αὕτη θεία τὲ ἔτι καὶ Ἡσιόδῳ δοκεῖ. Ὃ δὲ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἁμαρτανομένοις ἰσχυρογνώμων, αἰσχυνόμε- 1ὅ νος ὁμολογίαν ἀγνοίας, οὐ κερδαίνει γνῶσιν ἐκ μετανοίας, οὐδὲ δεῖται λόγων ἰατρῶν" ἀλλ᾽ ἀνὴρ ἂν φαΐῃ σοφὸς ὅτι κολάσεως. Οὕτω που τραχεῖά τε ᾿ϊκ φροιμίου καὶ χαλεπ φιλοσοφία προιφέρεσθαι, ᾿ Αἱσθάνομαι γάρ τοι ἐνίων ὑμῶν ἐκταραττομιένων τε" 7δη) καὶ τὴν ἐλευθερίαν ἐν δεινῷ τιθεμέγων. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ὑπεαχόμῳν τε οὕτω ποιεῖν, καὶ τῶν προγνόντων ἦν ### English translation (Claude) the speech? For it would be wise not to scare away the quarry. Let us say, then, what an emperor ought to do and what he ought not, setting the shameful beside the noble. And you, standing over what comes from each side, when you recognize something fitting, love it as approved by philosophy, and reject the other with abhorrence, and resolve to do the one always and the other never again. But when, in the course of the speech, we come to the things that ought not to be done, of which both we and you yourself know you are guilty, show yourself displeased with yourself and blush, because something has appeared to be yours that is not worthy to be yours. Such a colour promises the virtue that comes of repentance; and this shame seems divine even to Hesiod. But the man who is obstinate in his faults, ashamed to confess ignorance, gains no knowledge from repentance, nor has he any use for healing words; a wise man would say that he needs punishment. So rough from the very prelude, and harsh, is philosophy in coming forward. For I perceive that some of you are already disturbed and count freedom of speech a terrible thing. But I promised to do this, and it was for those who foresaw it ### Extrabiblical texts - Hesiod, Op. 200 (Hesiod, Works and Days): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - Hesiod calls Shame (Αἰδώς) a goddess in Works and Days 200; which line Synesius has in mind is uncertain. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 8 (Krabinger 1:8; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/8). ## Krabinger p. 9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-9 - Source: Krabinger 1:9 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Others praise the emperor's wealth and armies; Synesius counts these a matter of good fortune, not of praise. ### Greek text δύπου φράξασθθαι καρτιρῶς καὶ ἀντέχειν ταῖς ἐμ-, βολαῖ,. ! Ἑαίτοι ταῦτα σύ τε χαίρεις ἀκούων, καὶ ἅπαντες ὑμνοῦσι άγω σοὶ σύμφημι μέγεθος ἀρχῇς ἑνὶ διαηδενὶ τοσόνδε παρεῖναι, καὶ πλούτου θημῶνας ὑπὲρ τὸν πάλαι “]αρεῖον, καὶ ἵππον πολλακιμυρίαν, καὶ τοὺς χρωμένους τοξότας τε καὶ θωρακοφόρου;, πρὸς οὔς ἡγεμόνος τυγχάνοντος ἀσθενὲς ἅπαν τὸ ἀνθιτάμενον" πόλεις δὲ ἀριθμὸν νικῶσαι προςκυνῦσιν, οὐδὲ ὁρώμενον αἱ πλείους, οὐδὲ ἰδεῖν προιδοκῶσαι τὸ κρεῖτ- ᾿ τον εὔχεσθαι θέαμα. Ταῦτα σοὶ καὶ παῤ ἡμῶν ἅπαν- ἃ τος ἂν μᾶλλον ἀληθὴ λέγοιτο. Τί οὖν τὸ μὴ συμιβαῖνον ἡμῶν ἐκείνοις; Οἱ μὲν ἐντεῦθεν σοὶ πλέκουσιν ἔπαινον, καὶ καλοῦσιν εὐδαίμονα" ἐγὼ δὲ ὕκισα 15.ιὲν ἂν ἐντεῦθεν ἐπαινέσαιμι, μάλιτα δὲ ἂν μακαρίσαιμι. "Ἐξι δὲ οὐ μία φύσις, ἀλλ᾽ ἕτερον ἑκάτερον, μακαρισμὸς καὶ ἕπαινος. ΔδΙακαρίδεται μὲν γάρ τις ### English translation (Claude) to brace themselves stoutly and hold out against the assaults. Now, you rejoice to hear these things, and everyone sings them, and I agree with you: that so great a greatness of rule is yours as is no one else's, and heaps of wealth beyond the Darius of old, and horse by many tens of thousands, and those who use them, archers and men in breastplates, against whom, when they have a leader, all resistance is weak; and cities beyond number do you homage, most of them without seeing you, and not even expecting to see the sight that is better than any prayer. These things would be said of you by us more truly than by anyone. What, then, is the point on which we do not agree with those others? They weave praise for you out of these things and call you happy; but I would least of all praise you for them, though I would most of all count you fortunate. For being counted fortunate and being praised are not one nature, but each is different from the other. One is counted fortunate ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 9 (Krabinger 1:9; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/9). ## Krabinger p. 10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-10 - Source: Krabinger 1:10 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Good fortune is external and unstable and needs great effort to keep; tragedy is made from the falls of the powerful. ### Greek text ἐπὶ τοῖς ἔξωθεν" ἐπαινεῖται δὲ ἐπὶ τοῖς; ἔνδοθεν, ἐφ᾽ ὧν εὐδαιμονία τὴν ἔδραν ἴσχει. Ἀακεῖνο μὲν ἔτι τύχῃς ἀτέκμαρτον δῶρον τῦτο δὲ γνώμῃς οἰκεῖον ἀγα-ἘῈ θόν. Ταύτῃ καὶ τὸ μὲν ἐξι παῤ ἑαυτοῦ βέβαιον" εὐδτυχία δὲ πλάνον καὶ πολλάκις γε ἀντιπεριϊσάμενον εἰς «οσοῦτον τὸ ἀντικείμενον. αὶ δεῖ μὲν ἐπὶ τὴν φυλακήν αὐτοῦ [τοὐ]θεοῦ, δεῖ δὲ νοῦ, δεῖ δὲ τέχνης, δεῖ δὲ καιροῦ, δεῖ δὲ ἔργων πολλῶν καὶ πολλαχοῦ,. -, χιθ ᾿ ΙΝ "» - Π' τό καὶ παντοδαπῶν δὲ τούτων, ὧν οὔτε πεῖρα ἔετιν, οὔτε ἔχει πειρωμένοις εὐμάρειαν. Οὐ γὰρ ὥιϊπερ παραγίνεται τοῖς; ἀνθρώποις μακαρισμὸς, οὕτως ἀπραγματεύτω; διασώξεται" ἀλλ᾽ ὁρᾷς γὰρ τίσι βίοις αἱ τρα- ᾿γῳδῶν σκηναὶ κεχορήγηντὰαι" οὐκ ἀφ᾽’ ὧν δυςτυ-Οὶ χοῦσιν ἰδιῶται καὶ πένητες, ἀλλ᾽ ἀφ᾽ ὧν ἰσχυροὶ καὶ 1ὅ δυνάται καὶ τύραννοι. Οὐ γὰρ χωρεῖ μέγεθο; συμ" φορᾶς οἰκία μικρὰ, οὐδὲ ὄγκον ἀτυχημάτων πτωχεία. Ἰὸν δὲ λαμιπρὸν ταῖς τύχαι, τοῦτον ἔσι καὶ κινδύ ### English translation (Claude) for things outside oneself; one is praised for things within, in which happiness has its seat. The one is still an uncertain gift of fortune, the other the proper good of the will. So, too, the one is steadfast of itself, while good fortune wanders, and often turns round into its very opposite. For guarding it there is need of God himself, need of mind, need of skill, need of the right moment, need of many deeds in many places and of every kind, of which there is no experience, and which do not come easily to those who try. For good fortune is not kept safe for human beings without effort, as it comes to them; you see indeed from what lives the stages of the tragedians have been furnished: not from the misfortunes of private men and the poor, but from those of the strong and the powerful and of tyrants. For a small house has no room for the greatness of a calamity, nor poverty for a mass of misfortunes. But the man who is brilliant in his fortunes is the one who may become conspicuous in danger ### Translation notes - Krabinger brackets τοῦ before θεοῦ as a deletion; it makes no difference in English. The words between κινδύ- and the next page's -νοις are a stray line (ἀτελείωτον … ὅτι ὦντινων τού-) and are removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 10 (Krabinger 1:10; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/10). ## Krabinger p. 11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-11 - Source: Krabinger 1:11 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Theodosius won the throne by virtue; Arcadius inherited it and must now earn it by virtue. ### Greek text νοις ἐπιφανῆ γινέσθαι καὶ θατέρᾳ μερίδι τοῦ δαίμονος. ᾿Αλλὰ παὶ πολλάκις μὲν ἤρξατο εὐτυχίας ἀρετῇ. καὶ ἔπαινος ἡγήσατο μακαρισμοῦ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ὥ:περ αἰσχυνομένη; τῇς τύχῃ: ἀρεταῖς ἐπιδήλοις μὴ μαρτυρῆσαι. Ἡὰν δεήσῃ τοῦτο πιςρώσασθαι παραδείγμασι, μὴ θύραθεν αὐτὸ μετίωμεν" ἀναπέμπασαι δὲ τὸν πατέρα, καὶ ὄψει τὴν ἀρχὴν αὐτῷ μισθὸν ἀρετῆς ἢ δοθεῖσαν: Τύχῃ δὲ ἀρετῆς ἀναΐτιος" ἀλλὰ τῶν γε κατ᾽ ἀρετὴν ἔργων ἤδη πού τινες καὶ τύχῃν συνεπεσπάσαν- 10το. Τούτοις ἐναρίθμιος εἴη:, ὦ βασιλεῦ, ἵνα μὴ μάτὴν δεῦρο φιλοσοφία φθέγγηται. Εἴη σοὶ τὸ βασιλεύειν ταύτῃ σεμνὸν, ὅτι τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐγύμνασε καὶ προΐγαγε, δεομένην ὕλῃς ἀποχρώσης οἰκείῳ μεγέθει, καὶ οὐκ ἂν χωρηθεῖσαν ἐν ὑποθέσει βίου βασιλείας ἐλάττονι. : ᾿Ασκητέον οὖν τὴν ψυχὴν ἔχειν βασιλικῶς, καὶ ἀπολογητέον ὑπὲρ τῇς τύχη, ἵνα μὴ ἀλογίας διώκηται, ὡς οὐχ ὁμοίοις φροιμίοις σοί τε καὶ τῷ πατρὶ προῆλθεν ὁ βίοι. Τῷ μὲν ἡ σ“ρατεία βασιλείαν προύξένησεν' σὲ δὲ τρατεύει τὸ βασιλεύειν, καὶ ὀφείλεις ἀρετὴν τῇ τύχῃ. Ὃ μὲν τἀγαθὰ πόνοις ἐκτύή- ### English translation (Claude) and in the other portion of fortune. But often virtue has begun good fortune, and praise has led the way to good fortune for human beings, as if fortune were ashamed not to bear witness to manifest virtues. If this must be confirmed by examples, let us not fetch it from outside: recall your father, and you will see that rule was given him as a reward of virtue. Fortune is not the cause of virtue; but some before now have drawn fortune along with deeds done in accordance with virtue. May you be numbered among these, O emperor, so that philosophy may not speak here in vain. May kingship be venerable to you for this reason, that it exercised and advanced your virtue, which needs material sufficient for its own greatness and could not find room in the setting of any life smaller than kingship. You must train, then, to have a kingly soul, and make a defence on fortune's behalf, lest it be prosecuted for unreason because your life and your father's did not proceed from like beginnings. For him military service procured the kingship; for you, kingship is your military service, and you owe virtue to fortune. He acquired good things by toil ### Translation notes - The father is Theodosius I, proclaimed emperor in 379 after military success. Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 11 (Krabinger 1:11; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/11). ## Krabinger p. 12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-12 - Source: Krabinger 1:12 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Theodosius defeated two usurpers and died undefeated; his heir must guard the kingdom by toil, virtue and God's help. ### Greek text σατο σὺ δὲ ἀπόνως ἐκληρονόμησα,.. “]εῖ δὴ πόνων ἐπὶ τὴν φυλακήν. αὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἔσιν, ὃ πάλαι λέγω, τὸ χαλεπὸν καὶ μυρίων ὀμμάτων δεόμενον, μὴ, ὅπερ εἴωθεν ἡ τύχῃ ποιεῖν, ἀνακάμψῃ μεταξὺ τῇς ὁδοὺῦ,Β 5. καθάπερ οἱ μοχθηροὶ τῶν συνοδοιπόρων. Τούτοις γέ τοι τὸ ἀτάθμητον αὐτῇς οἱ σοφοὶ προρεικάδουσιν. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι καὶ τῷ πατρὶ, καίτοι σαφῶς ἐπὶ Ἀατορθώς, μασι γενομένης τὴς ἀναῤῥήσεως, οὐδὲ τὸ γῆραι ἀκόνιτον ἀφῆκεν ὁ φθόνοις'" οὐκοῦν οὐδὲ ὁ θεὸς ἀξεφά- 1Ιθνωτον" ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ δύο τυράννους ἐλθὼν καὶ ἄμφω ᾿βαλὼν, ἐπὶ τῷ δευτέρῳ τροπαίῳ καταλύει τὸν βίον, ἀνθρώπων μιὲν οὐδενὶ, τῇ δὲ φύσει παραχωρήσας » πρὸς ἣν οὔτε ὅπλον ἰσχυρὸν, οὔτε νοῦς εὐμήχανος" ἐντάφιόν τε ἔσχε τὴν ἀρετὴν, ἀδήριτον ὑμῖν 20τὴν βασιλείαν καταλιπὼν, ἣν σώδοι μὲν ὑμῖν ἀρετῇ, σώδοι δὲ διὰ τῇς ἀρετῆς ὁ θεός. ᾽ς ἁπανταχοῦ δεῖ θεοῦ, καὶ οὐχ ἥκιτα παρὰ τοῖς οὐκ ἀθληταῖ;, οὐδὲ αὐτουργοῖ;, ἀλλ᾽, ὥςπερ ὑμῖν, κληρονόμιοις τῆς τύχη ἡ, ὅτῳ πλεῖσον ἔνειμεν ὁ θεὸς, καὶ ὃν ἔτι πομιδὴ παῖδα μέγαν βασιλέα καλεῖσθαι πέποικε, τοῦτον δεῖ πάντα μὲν πόνον αἱρεῖσθαι, πᾶσαν δὲ ῥᾳα- ### English translation (Claude) but you inherited them without toil. There is need, then, of toil to guard them. And this is what I have long been saying, the hard thing that needs countless eyes: lest fortune, as she is wont to do, turn back midway on the road, like bad fellow travellers. To these the wise compare her instability. You see that even in your father's case, although his proclamation came clearly upon his achievements, envy did not leave his old age free of struggle; and so God did not leave him uncrowned either. Having gone against two tyrants and overthrown both, he ended his life at the second trophy, yielding to no human being, but to nature, against which no weapon is strong and no mind resourceful; and he had virtue for his shroud, leaving to you the kingship unchallenged. May virtue preserve it for you, and may God preserve it through virtue. For God is needed everywhere, and not least by those who are not athletes or workers on their own account but, like you, heirs of fortune. He to whom God has allotted most, and whom he has caused to be called great king while still quite a boy, must choose every toil and leave behind all ease, ### Translation notes - The two “tyrants” are the usurpers Magnus Maximus (defeated 388) and Eugenius (defeated 394); Theodosius died in January 395. Arcadius had been proclaimed Augustus as a boy in 383. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 12 (Krabinger 1:12; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/12). ## Krabinger p. 13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-13 - Source: Krabinger 1:13 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Numbers of subjects no more make a king than a flock makes a shepherd rather than a butcher. ### Greek text ςώνην ἀπολιπεῖν, ὕπνου μὲν ὀλίγον, φροντίδων δὲ πλεῖσον μεταλαγχάνοντα, εἰ μέλλει τις τὸ βασι- Ὦ λέως ὄνομα προτῆκον αὐτῷ περικεῖσθαι. Εὖ γὰρ ὁ παλαιὸς ἔχει λόγος, ὡς οὐ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ὑπηὅ κόων ποιεῖ βασιλέα, οὐ μάλλον, ἢ τύραννον, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ πλῆθος προβάτων ποιεῖ ποιμιένα, οὐ μᾶλλον, καὶ μάγειρον, ὃς ἐλαύνει κατακόψων αὐτά, καὶ ἐμφορηθησόμενό, τε αὐτὸς, καὶ ἄλλοις δεῖπνον ἀποδωσόμενος. - ### English translation (Claude) taking little sleep and the greatest share of cares, if one is to wear the name of king as befits him. For the old saying is right, that it is not the number of subjects that makes a king, any more than a tyrant, since neither does a number of sheep make a shepherd, any more than a butcher, who drives them off to cut them up, both to gorge himself and to sell a dinner to others. … ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Resp. 345c-d (Plato (works)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The page ends early in the scan; the rest of the sentence (the shepherd who seeks what is best for his flock) is lost, marked …. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 13 (Krabinger 1:13; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/13). ## Krabinger p. 14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-14 - Source: Krabinger 1:14 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The true king toils for his subjects like a shepherd; the tyrant fattens himself on them like a butcher. ### Greek text λῴῷ, καὶ ἐθέλῃ μοχθεῖν, ἵνα μηδὲν ἐκείνοις ἡ κμο-. χθηρὸν, καὶ προκινδυνεύειν, ἵνα ἐπ᾽ ἀδείας ἐκεῖνοι βιοτεύωσι, καὶ ἀγρυπνεῖν καὶ συνεειᾶσθαι μερίμναις, ἵνα νύκτωρ καὶ μιεθ᾽ ἡμέραν σχολάδωσι δυιχερῶν, ὅ οὗτός σιν ἐν προβάτοις μὲν ποιμὴν, ἐν ἀνθρώποις δὲ βασιλεύ,. “Οιτις δὲ ἀπολαύει τῇς ἡγεμονίας εἰς τρυφὴν καὶ παθηδυπαθεῖ τὴν ἐξυσίαν, οἰόμενος δεῖν ἐμπιπλάναι τὰς αὐτὸς αὐτοῦ πάσας ὀρέξεις, ὅθεν οἰμώξεται τὸ ἀρχόμενον, τοῦτο κέρδος τοῦ πολλῶν ἄρχειν τιθέμενος, τὸ παρὰ πολλῶν αὐτῷ θεραπεύεσθαι τῇ: ψυχῇ! τὸ ἡδόμενον" καὶ καθάπαξ εἰπεῖν, ὄιτις οὐ πιαίνει τὴν ἀγέλην, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὸς ὑπὸ τι ἀγέλης 9έλει πιαίνεσθαι, τοῦτον καλῶ μάγειρον ἐπὶ βοσκημάτων, τοῦτον ἀποφαίνω τὸν τύραννον, ὅταν ἡ δη- 15.μὸς ἔλλογο, τὸ ἀρχόμενον. Ἑἰς οὗτος βασιλείας σοὶ γνώμων σὺ δὲ ἠδ᾽ σαυτὸν πρόζαγε τῷ βασανιτηρίῳ. αν μὲν ἐφαρμόδῃ;, χρῇσθαι δι- “ᾳπαίω; τῇ σεμν) προιηγορίᾳ τοῦ σεμνοῦ πράγματος" ### English translation (Claude) [who seeks what is] better for them, and is willing to toil so that nothing may be toilsome for them, and to face danger first so that they may live in safety, and to lie awake and keep company with cares so that by night and by day they may be at leisure from troubles — he is a shepherd among sheep, and among human beings a king. But whoever enjoys his leadership for luxury and indulges himself in his power, thinking he ought to fill all his own appetites from what the governed will lament, counting this the profit of ruling many, that the pleasure-loving part of his soul is served by many; in a word, whoever does not fatten the flock but wishes himself to be fattened by the flock — him I call a butcher among cattle, him I declare a tyrant, when the people governed is a rational one. This is your one measure of kingship; and now bring yourself to the touchstone. If you fit, use justly the noble title of the noble thing; ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Resp. 343b (Plato (works)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The shepherd who fattens the flock for himself is the image of Thrasymachus and Socrates in Plato, Republic 343b and 345c–e. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 14 (Krabinger 1:14; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/14). ## Krabinger p. 15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-15 - Source: Krabinger 1:15 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Youth can go either way; philosophy must keep the young emperor from sliding from kingship into tyranny, its nearest vice. ### Greek text ἀφαρμόδων δὲ, ἐπανορθοῦν πειρῶ τὰ διάξροφα καὶ τῷ κανόνι προιφύεσθαι. Οὐ γὰρ ἀπογινώσκω τῇς ἡλικίας χωρῆσαι πᾶσαγ ἐπίδοσιν, μόνον εἴ τις αὐτὴν εἷς ἔῦλον ἀρετῇ, μυωπίσειεν" ἰσχυρὸν γὰρ καὶ νεότῆς ἱφ᾽ ἑκάτερα " ῥοπῇ, ὥιπερ οἱ ποταμοὶ ταῖς δοθείσαι; ὁδῶν ἀφορμαῖς, ἀπληῃτότερον ἐπεξέρχονται. Ταύτῃ καὶ δεῖ τῷ νέῳ βασιλεῖ φιλοσοφίας καὶ προλαμιβανούσῃς: αὐτὸν, ἀνθελκούσης ἀπὸ τῆς εἰς ἑκάτερον ἑκροῦε᾽ ἄλλαι μὲν γὰρ ἄλλαις ἀρεταὶς κακίαι γείτονες, καὶ ἀφ᾽ ἑκάςης ὀλισθος οὐκ εἰς ἑτέραν, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς τὴν γείτονα. βασιλείᾳ δὲ τυραννὶς παρὸν κεῖ καὶ μιάλα ἀγχίθυρο;, καθάπερ ἀνδρείᾳ μὲν θρασύτη,, ἰλευθεριότητι δὲ ἀσωτία" καὶ ὁ μεγαλόφρων, ἣν μὴ παρὰ φιλοσοφίας εἴσω τῶν τῆς ἀρεῖϊῆ; ὅρων φυλάττηται, προκύψας, ἀλαδών ἐπι καὶ φαῦλος τὴν γνώμῃν ἀντὶ τοῦ μεγαλόφρονοι. ### English translation (Claude) but if you do not fit, try to straighten what is twisted and to grow true to the rule. For I do not despair of your age's being capable of every advance, if only someone would spur it on toward virtue; for youth too is strong in its leaning either way, just as rivers, once given the starting points of their courses, rush on more insatiably. That is why the young emperor needs philosophy to take hold of him early and draw him back from the outflow to either side. For different vices are neighbours of different virtues, and from each virtue the slip is not into some other vice but into its neighbour. And tyranny lies beside kingship, very close to its door, just as rashness lies beside courage and prodigality beside liberality; and the great-souled man, unless he is kept by philosophy within the bounds of virtue, steps over them and becomes a boaster and vulgar in mind instead of great-souled. ### Extrabiblical texts - Aristotle, Eth. nic. 2.7 (Aristotle (works)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The virtues set between neighbouring vices follow Aristotle's doctrine of the mean (Nicomachean Ethics 2.7). The phrase rendered “spur it on toward virtue” is damaged (εἷς ἔῦλον). ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 15 (Krabinger 1:15; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/15). ## Krabinger p. 16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-16 - Source: Krabinger 1:16 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Law rules the king, the king's whim rules the tyrant; happiness belongs to the ruler whose power follows prudence. ### Greek text Μὴ τοίνυν ἄλλην, ἀλλὰ τὴν βασιλείας; νόσον, [τὴν] τυραννίδα, δείδιθί τε καὶ διαγίνωσκε, χαρακτῆρσι τοῖς; τεθεῖσιν ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου χρώμενος" μεγίρῳ δὲ, ὅτι βασιλέως μιἐέν ἐστι τρόπος ὁ νόμος, τυράνὕνου δὲ ὁ τρόπος νόμος " ἡ δὲ' ἐξουσία ποινῇ τίς ἐεσιν ὕλῃ, καὶ μαχομένων τῶν βίων. Η ΕΣ ἢ Ἑὐμοιρίας μὲν οὖν καὶ εὐδαιμονίας τὰ ἄκρα πα-Ἶ τεῖ πᾶ,ς, ὅτῳ φύσει πάντα μὲν ἵἕπεϊαι τῇ βουλύσει" ἔπεται δὲ ἡ βούλησις τῇ φρονήσει, καὶ δεσπότις οὖσα Ἰθρτῶμ ἔξω, παραχωρεῖ τῇς ἀρχῇ! τῇ συνοίκῳ τῇ κρείττονι, καὶ δέχεται παρ᾽ αὐτῇς τῶν πρακτέων συνθήματα. Οὐ γὰρ ἀπόχρῃ δυναεεία πρὸς εὐδαιμονίαν, οὐδ᾽ ἐν ἰσχύϊ τὸ μακάριον ἔθηκεν ὁ θεὸς, ἀλλὰ δεῖ παρεῖναι, μᾶλλον δὲ προεῖναι τὴν φρόνῦσιν, θξε ἂν Ἰδ κάλλιτα τῷ δύνασθαι χρήσαιτο, αὶ τοῦτον ἐγὼ τιλεώτατον ἄνδρα καὶ βίον ἀναγρρεύω, τὸν ἄρτιον ἀπ᾽ ### English translation (Claude) Fear, then, and recognize no other disease of kingship but tyranny, using the marks the argument has laid down; and remember that for a king his way of life is the law, while for a tyrant law is his way of life. Power is a material common to both, though their lives are at war. The height of good fortune and happiness, then, belongs to the man whose will all things by nature follow, while the will follows prudence, and, though mistress of things outside, yields rule to its better partner and receives from her the watchwords of what is to be done. For power is not enough for happiness, nor did God place blessedness in strength; but prudence must be present, or rather go before, so that one may use one's power most finely. And this man and this life I proclaim the most perfect, which is complete ### Translation notes - Krabinger brackets τὴν before τυραννίδα as a deletion. His critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 16 (Krabinger 1:16; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/16). ## Krabinger p. 17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-17 - Source: Krabinger 1:17 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Strength and wisdom must go together, as the Egyptians show in their double Hermes and their Sphinx. ### Greek text ἀμφοῖν ὅ),. καὶ οὐ θατέρᾳ σκάξδοντα, ὃ; ἄρχειν ἔλα-Β χεν, ἄρχειν εἰδώς" ὡς ἔστιν ἄμαχον, ὅταν ἰσχὺ, καὶ σοφία συγγένωνται " διαληφθεῖσαι δὲ ἀπ᾿ ἀλλήλων, ῥώμη τε ἀμαθὴς καὶ φρόνησις; ἀσθενὴς, εὐχείρωτοι γίἥνονται. αὶ ἰγὼ τοῦτο 'τῶν σοφῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἐθαύμασα. Τὸν Ἑρμῆν, Αἰγύπτιοι διπλὴν ποιοῦσι τὴν ἰδέαν τοῦ δαίμονος, νέον ἱσάντες παρὰ πρεσβύτῃ, ἀξιοῦντες, εἴπερ τις αὐτῶν μέλλει καλῶς ἐφορεύσειν, ἔννουν τε εἶναι καὶ ἄλκιμον, ὡς; ἀτελὲς εἰς ὠφέλειαν θά- 10τερον παρὰ θάτερον. Ταῦτ᾽ ἄρα καὶ ἡ Σφὶγξ αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ τῶν «προτεμενισμάτων.. ἱδρύεται, τοῦ συνδυασμοῦ τῶν ἀρετῶν ἱερὸν σύμβολον, τὴν μὲν ἰσχὺν θηρίον, τὴν δὲ φρόνησιν ἄνθρωποι. ᾿Ισχύς τε γὰρ, ἔρημος ἡγεμονίας ἔμφρονος, ἔμπληκτος φέρεται, πάντα μιγνύ ### English translation (Claude) from both and does not limp on one: he who, having been allotted to rule, knows how to rule. For it is invincible when strength and wisdom come together; but parted from each other, ignorant force and weak prudence are easily overcome. And I have admired this in the wise Egyptians. The Egyptians make the form of the god Hermes double, setting a young man beside an old one, holding that whoever among them is to watch over things well must be both intelligent and valiant, since either without the other is of no complete use. That is also why they set up the Sphinx at the entrances of their sacred precincts, a holy symbol of the pairing of the virtues: a beast in strength, a human being in prudence. For strength, deprived of intelligent leadership, is carried along senselessly, mixing ### Translation notes - A repeated line at the end of the page (παρὰ πρεσβύτῃ, διπλῆν ποιοῦσι) is removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 17 (Krabinger 1:17; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/17). ## Krabinger p. 18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-18 - Source: Krabinger 1:18 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Prudence, eldest of the virtues, brings the others with it; without it, power only gives vice an outlet. ### Greek text ουσα καὶ ταράττουσα πράγματα" καὶ νῦς ἀχρεῖος εἰς πρᾶξιν, ὑπὸ χειρῶν οὐχ ὑπηρετούμενοι. ἈἘόσμιος μὲν οὖν βασιλέων ᾽ ἀρεταὶ πᾶσαι" φρόνησις; δὲ ἀπασῶν βασιλικωτίρα. Ταύτην μοι "7 ποίησαι πάρεδρον " θ ἕψεται γὰρ ἡ τριττὺς «τῇ πρεισβυτέρᾳ τῶν ἀδελφῶν, καὶ πᾶσας εὐθὺς ἕξεις συσκήνους καὶ συτρατιώτιδας ἐπὶ σοί. “Λόγον ἐρῶ τοῦτον ἄτοπον ὡς εὐθὺς ἀκοῦσαι, παντὸς Ὦ δὲ δήπου τῇς ἀληθείας ἐχόμενον. Ὅταν ἀ-Ὦ σθένειαν ἐγὼ “) πρὸς δύναμιν ἐξετάδω, καὶ πενίαν πρὸς πλοῦτον, καὶ τὰς ἐν ἅπασι μειονεξίας πρὸς τὰς ἐν ἅπασι πλεονεξίας, εἰ δίχα φρονήσεως καθαραὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλας κρίνοιντο,, πενία τε καὶ ἀδυναμία καὶ βίος ἰδιώτης ἀντὶ τῇς μεγίστης βγεμονίαι εὐτυχέξεραι 3“) παρεῖναι τοῖς 1ὅ ἥκιτα ἐπηβόλοι; νοῦ καὶ φρονήσεως" ἐλάττω γὰρ ἄρα ἐξαμάρτοιεν, τῇς ἐν τῇ γνώμῃ κακίας οὐχ εὐρισκούσης πρόοδον εἰς ἐνέργειαν. Τὰ γὰρ θυραῖα τῶν ἀγαθῶν, Α ### English translation (Claude) and throwing affairs into confusion; and mind is useless for action when it is not served by hands. All the virtues, then, adorn kings, but prudence is the most kingly of them all. Make her, I pray, your assessor; for the other three will follow the eldest of the sisters, and at once you will have them all as tent-mates and fellow soldiers at your side. I shall speak a word that sounds strange at first hearing, but is wholly bound up with the truth. When I set weakness beside power, poverty beside wealth, and the disadvantages in everything beside the advantages in everything, if they were judged against each other bare, apart from prudence, then poverty and powerlessness and a private life, rather than the greatest leadership, are the happier lot for those who have least share of mind and prudence; for they would sin less, since the vice in their will finds no outlet into action. For external goods, ### Translation notes - “The other three” (ἡ τριττύς) are the remaining cardinal virtues: justice, courage and temperance. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 18 (Krabinger 1:18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/18). ## Krabinger p. 19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-19 - Source: Krabinger 1:19 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Wealth and power are instruments, good or bad by their user; the earthly king is God's friend if he imitates divine providence. ### Greek text ἅπερ ὀργανικὰ καλεῖν ἴθος ᾿Αριτοτέλει Ὗ καὶ Πλάτωνι, τοῖς ἐμοῖς ἡγεμόσιν, ὑπηρετεῖν οἷδε κακίαις οὐ μεῖον, ἢ ἀρεταῖ. Ταύτῃ καὶ τὠὦ ἄνδρε τούτω καὶ ὅσοι γε ἀπὸ τούτων ῥύακες φιλοσοφίας ἐῤῥύησαν, οὔτε τῇς ὅ ἀμείνονος αὐτὰ ὅ) προτηγορίας ἡξίώσαν, αὔτε τῇ χείρονι κατεδίκασαν, ἀλλ᾽. ὀργανικὰ καλρῦσι, νῦν. μὲν ιἀγαθὰ, νῦν δὲ κακὰ, ταῖς τῶν χρωμένων. ἕξεσιν.. αὐτὰ- χρῳ: μεατεύοντες. ᾿Ὥιπερ οὖν εὐχῆς ἄξιον ἀπεῖναι τοῦ φαύ-Β λου τὰ ὄργανα, ὅπως ἀνενέργητον. ἔχῃ -). τὴν. μοχθηρίαν, οὕτω παρεῖναι τῷ καλῶς χρηασομένῳ, οὐ πάντες ἄν, καὶ πόλεις καὶ διῶται, ὀνίναιντο, ἵνα μὴ.ἀχρεία καὶ ἄπρακτος ἀρετῆς φύσιριἀγνοουμένῃ. μαραίνηται, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς ἀνθρώπων εὐεργεσίας δαπανήσῃ τὴν δύναμιν. Οὕτω μιοι χρῶ τοῖς προκειμένοις ἀγαθοῖγ" καὶ γὰρ μόνως ἂν οὕτως ἀγαθοῖ; χβήσαιο. ᾿Απολαυόντων οἶκοι, καὶ πόλεις, καὶ δῇμοι,. καὶ ἔθνη, καὶ ἤπειροι, προνοίρα; βασιλικῆς καὶ κηδεμόνίας... ἔμφρονος, ἣν ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν ἐν τοῖς; νοητοῖς “ἡ σας ἀρχέτυπον, δίδωσιν εἰκόνα τῇς προνοίας, καὶ ἐθέλει τὰ τῇδε τετάχθαι κατὰ μίμησιν ὑπερκόσμιον. Φίλος οὖνΟ τοῦ μεγάλου. βασιλέως ὁ δεῦρο 'ὁμώνυμος, ἂν μὴ ψεύδηται τοὐνομια " οὐ ψεύδεται 1δγ.δὲ, ἂν καὶ θάτερον παρῇ τῶν ὀνομάτων τοῦ θέοῦ. Ὃ πρὶν εἰπεῖν, ### English translation (Claude) which Aristotle and Plato, my guides, are accustomed to call instrumental, know how to serve vices no less than virtues. For this reason these two men, and all the streams of philosophy that have flowed from them, neither thought them worthy of the better name nor condemned them to the worse, but call them instrumental: now good, now bad, as they take their colour from the dispositions of those who use them. Just as it is worth praying, then, that the bad man may lack the instruments, so that his wickedness may remain inactive, so all, cities and private persons alike, would benefit from their being present to one who will use them well, so that the nature of virtue may not wither away useless, idle and unknown, but spend its power on benefits to mankind. Use the goods before you, then, in this way; for only so would you use them as goods. Let households and cities, peoples and nations and continents, enjoy a kingly forethought and an intelligent care — the care which God himself, having set himself up among the intelligible things as archetype, gives as an image of his providence, wishing the things here to be ordered in imitation of what is above the world. The king here, then, is a friend of the great King, being his namesake, if he does not belie the name; and he does not belie it if the other of God's names is also present in him. Before saying which, ### Extrabiblical texts - Aristotle, Eth. nic. 1.8 (Aristotle (works)): allusion, medium confidence - Plato, Leg. 631b-c (Plato (works)): echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - “Instrumental” goods: Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 1.8 (1099a–b); compare Plato, Laws 631b–c. The king as image of God's providence is a commonplace of Hellenistic and Neoplatonic kingship theory. Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 19 (Krabinger 1:19; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/19). ## Krabinger p. 20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-20 - Source: Krabinger 1:20 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: No name reaches God's essence; ‘king’ names him from his subjects, and the other name a king must share with God is ‘good’. ### Greek text οὐκ΄ ἂν ἄκαιρον εἴν διαλεχθῦῆναϊί τι τῶν παρὰ φιλοσόφίας ἐνθάδε σαφήνειαν προοικονομούμενον. ν Οὐδὲν ἢ οὐδαμῇ πω πέφηνεν ὄνομα τῇς οὐσίας ἁπτόμενον 'τοῦ. θεοῦ, ἀλλ᾽ ἀτευκτοῦντε; Ὕ αὐτοῦ τῇς ἐμφάσεως; ἄνθρωποι διὰ τῶν ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ψαύειν ἐθέλυσιν αὐτοῦ. ἂν πατέρα, κἂν ποιητὴν Ὗ, κἀν ὅτι- ἢ οὖν εἴπῃς δ), κἀν ἀρχὴν, κἄν αἴτιον, ταῦτα πάντα ᾿σχίσεις εἰσὶν αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὰ παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ, αὶ βασιλέα τοίνυν εἰπὼν, ἀπὸ τῶν βασιλευομένον, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ αὐτοπροτώπω; ἐπεχείρησας τῇς φύσεως αὐτοῦ δράξασθθαι. ἸΙΝῦν οὖν ἐρῶν ἔρχομαι καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν τῶν΄ ὀνομάτων, ὅπερ ὑποσχόμενος ὑμῖν, εἰς καιρὸν τοῦτον ἀνήρτησα. αὶ τί τοῦτ᾽ ἔσει τὸ συντεταγμένον καὶ συγγενόμενον ὅ τῷ δεῦρο βασιλεῖ, ὃ κυροῦν ἔφην αὐτὸν καὶ ἀποφαίνειν ὅ τυγχάνοντα, καὶ οὐ ψευδώνυμον; ᾿Α4γαθόν ### English translation (Claude) it would not be out of season to discuss here something from philosophy, preparing clarity in advance. No name has ever yet appeared that touches the essence of God; but human beings, failing to grasp its expression, wish to touch him through the things that come from him. Whether you call him father, or maker, or anything else, or principle, or cause, all these are relations of him to the things that come from him. And so, in calling him king, you named him from those he rules, and did not try to grasp his nature directly. Now, then, I come to speak of the remaining one of the names, which I promised you and deferred to this moment. What will this be, that is ranged alongside and joined to the king here, which I said confirms him and shows him to be truly what he is called and not falsely named? Good. ### Translation notes - Synesius's teaching that every divine name expresses only a relation to creatures is Neoplatonic; translated as written. Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 20 (Krabinger 1:20; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/20). ## Krabinger p. 21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-21 - Source: Krabinger 1:21 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: All agree in calling God good, but even this name describes him only as the cause of good things, as the sacred prayers praise his care rather than his power. ### Greek text που τὸν θεὸν ὑμνοῦσιν ἅπαντες ἁπανταχοῦ.)) καὶ σοφοὶ δήμοι καὶ ἄσοφοι" καὶ ταύτῃ συγχωροῦσιν ἀλλήλοις καὶ ὁμοφωνοῦσιν ἅπαντες οἱ τὰ ἄλλα διαςάντες περὶ τὰν ὑπολήψεις τοῦ θείου, καὶ τὴν ἀκήρατον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀμερῆ φύὅ σιν δόξαις ἱτερογνώμοσι μεριδάμενοι. ᾿4λλά τοι καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ἀγαθὸν τὸ ἀναμφηβύευτον οὔπω μηνύει τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν ἐν τῷ εἶναι ἕδραν, ἠράνιται δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ὑτέρων. Οὐγὰρ ἀπόλυτον " εἰς ἀκοὴν ἔρχεται τἀγαθὸν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκείνοις ἀγαθὸν, ὧν ἔσει πρακτικὸν καὶ οἷς ἔστιν ἀπολαυει- αὶ ᾿ κόν τοῦτο γὰρ αὶ διάνοια ᾽ βούλεται τοῦ ὀνόματος, ἐφερμιηνεύειν τὸν θεὸν αἴτιον ἀγαθῶν ἱεραΐί τε ἐν τελεταῖς ἁγίαις εὐχαὶ πατέρων ἡμῶν ἐκβοῶσαι πρὸς τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν οὐ τὴν δυναξείαν αὐτοῦ κυδαί-, νουσιν, ἀλλὰ τὴν κηδεμονίαν προικυνοῦσιν, “Ὅτε 1ὅ οὖν θεὸς δωρητικό; ἔστιν ὧν προτήκει θεῷ, δωῇ, καὶ ### English translation (Claude) — for God, I suppose, is hymned as good by all men everywhere, by wise peoples and unwise; and in this they all concede to one another and agree, who in other respects stand apart in their notions of the divine and divide his pure and indivisible nature among differing opinions. Yet even this undisputed name, “good,” does not yet reveal God's seat in being, but is borrowed from the things that come after him. For “good” does not reach the hearing in an absolute sense, but as good for those for whom it is effective and who are able to enjoy it; for this is what the meaning of the name intends, to interpret God as the cause of good things. And the sacred prayers of our fathers in holy rites, crying out to the God over all, do not glorify his power but adore his care. Since, then, God is the giver of the things that befit God, of life and ### Translation notes - “The sacred prayers of our fathers in holy rites” is deliberately general; it may refer to Christian or to traditional liturgy. Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 21 (Krabinger 1:21; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/21). ## Krabinger p. 22 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-22 - Source: Krabinger 1:22 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The king should imitate God by pouring out good on his subjects; Synesius will sculpt the ideal king in words, with piety as the base. ### Greek text νοῦ καὶ εἰ δύ τι τῶν ὑεξέρων οὐ. ἀνάξιον ὕκειν παρὰ τοῦ πρώτου 3.), σοὶ δ᾽ ἂν προτήκοι μὴ λιπεῖν τὴν τάξιν, καθ᾽ ἣν Ὁ) ἐτάχθη;, μηδὲ αἰσχύνειν τὰς ὁμωνυμίας, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπιτίθεσθαι τῇ μιμήσει, ἐπικλύξειν μὲν ἀγα-Γ ὁ θοῖς ἅπασι τὰς. πόλεις, καταχεῖν δὲ εὐδαιμονίαν, ὅσῳ δυνατὴ τῶν ἀρχομένων ἑκάτῳ. Οὕτω βασιλέα μέγαν 3, τὴν τιμὴν οὐκ ἔθει διὀνομάξοντες ἐπαλυθεύοιμεν δόντες, οὐ θεραπεύοντες χρείαν,. οὐκ ὀργὴν παραιτούμενοι, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτῷ τῷ κρίνοντι τῇς ψυχῇς ἐπινεύον-, 10τες, ἀδόλῳ γνώμης ἐρμηνεῖ τῇ γλώττῃ χρώμενοι. Φέρε δή σοι γράψω λόγῳ τὸν βασιλέα, ὥςπερ ἄγαλμα -εύσαρ" σὺ δὲ μοι τὸ ἄγαλμα τοῦτο κινούμενον ἐπιδείξεις καὶ ἔμπνουν γενόμενον. Οὐκοῦν συμπαραλήψομαι μὲν εἰς δημιουργίαν, εἰ τοῦτο δέοι, τῶν τοῖς ἢ παλαιοῖς τε καὶ μακαρίοις ἀνδράσιν ἐπὶ νοῦν ἐλθόντων" σὺ δὲ μηδὲν ἧττον αὐτὰ τῶν ἄλλων, ἀλλὰ μάλ.λον ἀγαπᾷν ὦ; ἀδηρίτω; προζήκοντα βασιλεῖ, περὶ: ὧν ὁμοίως; φρονοῦσι παλαιοί τε καὶ νέοι σοφοί. Ἐὐσέβεια δὲ πρῶτον ὑποβεβλήσθω κρηπὶς ἀσφα- 4201λὴ:», ἐφ᾽ ἡὁς ἐσήξει τὸ ἄγαλμα ἔμπεδον" καὶ οὐ μή πο- ### English translation (Claude) mind, and of anything else among the things after him that is not unworthy to come from the First, it would befit you not to desert the post at which you were stationed, nor to shame the name you share, but to set yourself to the imitation: to flood the cities with all good things, and to pour out happiness on each of your subjects, as far as each can receive it. So we would truly call you great king, not giving the title from habit, not serving our need, not begging off your anger, but assenting with the very judging part of the soul and using the tongue as a guileless interpreter of the mind. Come, then, let me paint the king for you in words, like a statue; and do you show me this statue moving and come to life. I shall take into my workshop, if need be, some of the thoughts that came to the minds of ancient and blessed men; and you should love them no less than the rest, but rather more, as indisputably fitting for a king, since about them the wise of old and of today think alike. Let piety first be laid as a safe foundation, on which the statue will stand firm; and never will ### Translation notes - A few words near the middle (ἐπαλυθεύοιμεν δόντες) are damaged; they are translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 22 (Krabinger 1:22; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/22). ## Krabinger p. 23 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-23 - Source: Krabinger 1:23 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The king must first rule himself, for the soul is a many-headed beast of conflicting powers. ### Greek text τε αὐτὸ περιτρέψῃ χειμὼν, τῆς κρηπῖδος ἐχόμενον. «41ὕτη μὲν δὴ καὶ συναναβήσεται καὶ πολλαχοῦ “) φανεῖται, πρὸς τῇ κορυφῇ δὲ οὐχ ἥκιτα. "Ἔνθεν ὅ) ἑλὼν, φημὶ δεῖν, ἡγουμένου θεοῦ ), τὸν βασιλέα πρῶτον αὐτὸν ὅδ αὐτοῦ βασιλέα εἶναι, καὶ μοναρχίαν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ. κατατήσασθαι. Εὖ γὰρ ἴσθι τοῦτο, ὡς οὐχ ἁπλοῦν τι χρῇμα δ), οὐδὲ μονοειδὲς ἄνθρωπο;, ἀλλὰ συνῴκισεν ὁ θεὸς εἷς ἑνὸς Σώου σύφασιν ὄχλον δυνάμεων παμμιγῇ τε καὶ πάμφωνον" καὶ ἐσμὲν ὕδρας, οἶμαι, θηρίον ὅ ἀτοπώτερον καὶ μαλλόν τι πολυκέφαλον. Οὐ γὰρ ταὐτῷ ὅ) δήπου νοοῦμεν καὶ ὀρεγόμεθα οὐδὲ ταὐτῷ καὶ θυμούμεθα, οὐδὲ καὶ λυπούμεθα, ὅθεν ἡδόμεθα, καὶ φοβούμεθα᾽ ἀλλ᾽ ὁρᾷς ὡς ἔνι μὲν Ϊ ἄῤῥεν ἐν τούτοις, ἕνι δὲ θήλυ, καὶ θαῤῥαλέον τε ### English translation (Claude) a storm overturn it while it holds to the foundation. Piety will also rise with it and appear in many places, and not least at the summit. Starting from here, I say that, with God as leader, the king must first be king of himself and establish monarchy in his own soul. For know this well: a human being is no simple thing, nor of one form; God has settled together, in the structure of one living creature, a crowd of powers of every mixture and every voice; and we are, I think, a beast stranger than the hydra and somehow more many-headed. For surely it is not with the same part that we think and desire, nor with the same that we are angry and grieve, and that by which we feel pleasure and fear; but you see that there is in these a male and a female, both bold and ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Resp. 588c (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence - Plato, Resp. 436a-b (Plato (works)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The many-headed beast in the soul comes from Plato, Republic 588c–589b; the division of the soul's parts from Republic 436a–b. Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 23 (Krabinger 1:23; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/23). ## Krabinger p. 24 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-24 - Source: Krabinger 1:24 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Mind must reign over the passions in the king's soul; such a man's calm and goodness benefit whole nations. ### Greek text καὶ δειλόν" ἔνι δὲ τὰ παντοδαπῶς ἀντικείμενα " ἔνι δὲ τις ἡ μέσῃ διὰ πάντων φύσις, ἣν νοῦν καλοῦμεν, ὃν ἀξιῶ βασιλεύειν ἐν τῇ τοῦ βασιλέως ψυχῇ, τὴν ὀχλοκρατίαν τε καὶ δημοκρατίαν τῶν παθῶν καταλύσαντα. ᾿Αφ᾽ ᾿Ἑτίας γὰρ ἄν οὗτοςς βασιλεύσειε τῇ κατὰ φύσιν ἀρχῇ τῇς ἡγεμονίας χρησάμενος. Ὡς ὅσις γε τὰς ἀλόγους δ) τῇς ψυχῇς μοίραξτιθασσοὺς καὶ χειροήθει; ποιήσας, κατηκόου; τῷ λόγῳ παρέ-Ὁ σχετο, εἷς μίαν ἡγεμονίαν ἔμφρονα συντάξας τὸ πλῆθοι, οὗτός ἐσιν ὁ θεῖος, καὶ ἰδιώτης καὶ βασιλεὺς" μᾶλλον δὲ βασιλεὺς, ὅτι τὴν ἀρετὴν οὗτος ἔθνεσιν ὅλοις κοινοῦται, καὶ τῶν ἐνὸς; ἀγαθῶν πολλοὶ ἐπαυρίσκονται ἄνθρωποι Τούτῳ γὰρ ἀνάγκῃ τὸ ἔνδοθεν ἀςασίατον διάγειν, καὶ μέχρι προτώπου γαλήνην 1δἔνθεον" καὶ ἔστιν οὐ φοβερὸν, ἀλλ᾽ ὑπέρσεμνον θέαμα ἐν αἰδοῦς ἀκύλιονι διαθέσει, φίλους μὲν, ταὐτὸν | δὲ εἰπεῖν, ἀγαθοὺς ἐκπλύήττων, τοὺς δὲ ἐχθρούρ τε καὶ Ὦ πονηροὺς καταπλήττων. ΜΙετάνοια δὲ οὐκ ἐμβατεύει τῇ τούτου ψυχῇ. Πράττει γὰρ΄, ὃ τι. ἂν πράττῃ, ### English translation (Claude) cowardly; there are in it things opposed in every way; and there is a certain nature running through all of them in the middle, which we call mind, and which I deem worthy to reign in the king's soul, after putting down the mob rule and democracy of the passions. For so, starting from his own hearth, he would reign, using the rule of leadership that accords with nature. Whoever has made the irrational parts of the soul tame and submissive and presented them obedient to reason, ordering the multitude under one intelligent leadership, he is the divine man, whether private citizen or king — rather a king, because he shares his virtue with whole nations, and many human beings reap the benefit of the goods of one. Such a man must lead an inner life free of strife, with a godlike calm reaching even to his face; and he is not a fearful but an exceedingly august sight, in a disposition of unfeigned reverence, striking with wonder his friends — which is the same as saying the good — and dismaying his enemies and the wicked. Regret does not set foot in this man's soul. For whatever he does, ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 24 (Krabinger 1:24; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/24). ## Krabinger p. 25 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-25 - Source: Krabinger 1:25 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The divided soul never agrees with itself; the first kingly task is to rule oneself. ### Greek text δεδογμένα ἅπασι τοῖς μέρεσι τῆς ψυχῇς πράττων, τῷ πάντα πρὸς μίαν ἀρχὴν κεκοσμῆσθαι, καὶ μὴ ἀπαξιῶσαι μέρη τε εἶναι, καὶ εἰς ἕν τὸ ὅλον συννεῦσαι. Ὅρτι; δὲ διοικίδει τὴν προ:βολὴν τῶν μερῶν τούτων, ἐνδοὺς αὐτοῖς εἰς ἐνέργειαν πολλοῖς εἶναι, καὶ ἀνὰ μέρος ἐθέλει ἀναπείθειν τὸ δῶον, τοῦτον ὄψει νῦν μὲν ὑψοῦ τὴν γνώμην, νῦν δὲ ὕπτιον’ τεταραγμένον νῦν μὲν ὁρμῇ, νῦν δὲ φυγῇ, καὶ λύπαι δ καὶ ὑἡδοναῖ; καὶ ἀτόποις ὀρέξεσιν, ᾿Ομολογεῖ δὲ οὐδέποτε οὗτοςς αὐτὸς ἑαυτῷ, ' Ἑαὶ μανθάνω μὲν οἷα δρᾷν μέλλω κακά" Θυμὸς δὲ κρείσσων τῶν ἐμῶν βουλευμάτων, ἔφη τις, ἐπιγνοὺς τὴν ἑτερότυτα καὶ διχόνοιαν τῶν ἴσων δυνάμεων, Τοῦτό τοι πρῶτον καὶ σφόδρα βασιλικὸν, αὐτὸν ἑαυτοῦ βασιλεύειν, τὸν νοῦν ἐπιστήσαντα Ἶ τῷ συνοίκῳ ν ς πλῷ τ' - Θθηρίῳ, καὶ μὴ κρατεῖν ἀξιοῦντα πολλακιεμυρίων ### English translation (Claude) he does as resolved by all the parts of his soul, because all have been ordered under one principle, and the parts have not refused to be parts and have converged into one whole. But whoever scatters the forward thrust of these parts, letting them be many in action and wishing to persuade the creature part by part, you will see him now lofty in mind, now laid low; troubled now by impulse, now by flight, and by pains and pleasures and strange appetites. Such a man never agrees with himself. “I understand what evils I am about to do, but passion is stronger than my counsels,” said someone who recognized the otherness and discord of powers of equal strength. This, then, is the first and a very kingly thing: to reign over oneself, setting mind over the many-formed beast that lives with it, and not to claim to rule many tens of thousands ### Extrabiblical texts - Euripides, Med. 1078-1079 (Euripides (plays and fragments)): quotation, high confidence - Plato, Resp. 588c (Plato (works)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Medea's in Euripides, Medea 1078–1079. “Many-formed beast” renders a damaged phrase (νῷ τ' - Θθηρίῳ), probably ποικίλῳ θηρίῳ, after Plato, Republic 588c. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 25 (Krabinger 1:25; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/25). ## Krabinger p. 26 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-26 - Source: Krabinger 1:26 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: After ruling himself, the king turns to his friends, who are the most kingly possession and whose good fortune shows his goodness. ### Greek text ἀνθρώπων, ἔπειτα αὐτὸν δοῦλον εἶναι δεσποινῶν αἱ-,σχίστων, ἡδονῆς καὶ λύπης καὶ ὅσοι σύγγονοι θῆρεςΒ ἐνδιαιτῶνται τῷ δώῳ. ᾿Εντεῦθεν δὲ ἤδη παρ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ προϊὼν ὁ βασιλεὺς πρώτοις; ἐντεύξεται τοῖς πέλας τε καὶ φίλοις ὅ), μεθ᾽ ὧν συνεεώτων περὶ τῶν ὅλων βουλεύσεται. Τούτους προτερεῖ φίλους, οὐ κατειρωνευόμενος τοῦ ὀνόματος, οὐδὲ ὥιπερ οἱ κολάδοντες ὅ) τὸ τραχὺ καὶ πρόιϊαντε; τῇς δεσποτείας ἔργῳ φιλανθρωποτέρῳ τῇς ἀληθείας ὀνόματι ). Τὶ γὰρ΄ κτῆμα βασιλικὸν οὕτω,, ὥς- 10πὲρ ὁ συνὼν φίλος; τίς εὐτυχίας κοινωνὸς ἡδίων; τίς δὲ διενεγκεῖν χείρω τύχης ῥοπὴν ἀσφαλέξερος; τί ἀδολώτερος εἰς" ἔπαινον; τίς εἰς πλήττουσαν νουθεσίαν ἀἁλυπότερος; εὐγνώμονος δὲ βασιλέως ποῖον ἐπιδηλότερον τῷ πλύήθει τεκμήριον, ἢ εἰ φαίνοιτο δηλωτοὺ; Ιθ ποιῶν ἀεὶ τοὺς συνόντας; Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ τοῖς πόῤῥωῚθπεν ἐραφὸς ἂν εἴ, καὶ γένοιτο ἂν ἀγαθοῖς εὐχὴ τεύξασθαι φιλίας βασιλικῆς" ὧν τἀναντία τοῖς τυράννοις ὑπάρχει, ### English translation (Claude) of men while being himself the slave of the most shameful mistresses, pleasure and pain and all the kindred beasts that make their home in the creature. From here, then, going out from himself, the king will first meet those near him, his friends, with whom as companions he will take counsel about the whole. These he will call friends, not using the name ironically, nor like those who disguise the harshness and arrogance of despotism under a name kinder than the reality. For what possession is so kingly as a friend at one's side? What sharer of good fortune is sweeter? Who is surer for bearing with one a worse turn of fortune? Who more guileless in praise? Who less painful in stinging admonition? And what plainer proof of a kindly king could the multitude have than if he is seen always making his companions enviable? For so he would be loved even by those far off, and good men would pray to obtain a king's friendship. The opposite of all this holds for tyrants, ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 26 (Krabinger 1:26; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/26). ## Krabinger p. 27 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-27 - Source: Krabinger 1:27 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: A king needs friends to see and hear for him, but must guard against flattery disguised as friendship. ### Greek text δι᾽ οὗ, ἡ κομψὴ παροιμία, πόῤῥω “1]ιός τε καὶ κεραυνοῦ, διὰ τοὺς ἐπιβούλω; τοῖς συνοῦσι χρωμένου, ἀδεέξερον εἶναι λέγουσα τὴν μετ᾽ ἀπραγμοσύνῃ: ἀσφάλειαν τῶν ἐν ἐπιφανεὶ βίῳ κινδύνων. Οὐ γὰρ ἔφθασέ ἢ ὅτις μακαρισθῆναι τῇς τοῦ τυράννου φιλίας καὶ ἠλεύθη τῇς ἔχθραις" ἀλλ᾽ ὅγε βασιλεὺς οἷδεν ὡς τὸ μὲν αὐταρπερ ἐν θεῷ καὶ,ἀρχαία θεὸς; οὐσία τῶν ἀρχομένων ὑπερκείμενος" ἀνθρώπῳ δὲ ἀνθρώπων ἄρχοντι πολλῶν καὶ ὁμοίων οὐκ αὐτάρκης ἡ φύσις εἰς ἅπαντος ἔργου περινόησιν. ᾿Ιώμενος οὖν τὴν τῇς φύσεως ἔνδειαν, συνουσιοῦται τοῖς φίλοις, τὴν δύναμιν ἑαυτῷ πολυπλασιάδων. Οὕτω γὰρ τοῖς ἁπάντων μὶν ὀφθαλμιοῖςὄψεται, ταῖς ἁπάντων δὲ ἀκοαῖς; ἀκούσεται καὶ ταῖ α΄ ἁπάντων γρώμαι; εἰς ἕν ἰούσαι; βουλεύσεται. 155 ἈΦἀΑΠαραφυλακτέον μέντοι Ἶ) καὶ μάλα ὅλῃ τῇ γνώωμιῇ), καὶ, εἴγε δυνάμεθα, ἅπασι τοῖς ἐν ταῖς αὐλαῖς ὅπλοις ἐπὶ τούτῳ χρῇσθαι, μὴ λάθῃ παρειδῦσα κολακεία, τὸ φιλίας πρόίφωπον περικειμένη. Ὑπὸ μόνῃς γέ τοι. ταύτης, καὶ ἀγρυπνούντων τῶν δορυφόρων,. λῃξεεύεται.20 βασιλεία" εἰφέρεται γάρ, ἣν μὴ καὶ πάνυ ἐρύκηται ### English translation (Claude) which is why the clever proverb, “far from Zeus and his thunderbolt,” said of one who treats his companions as plotters, declares that safety with obscurity is less fearful than the dangers of a conspicuous life. For no one was sooner counted fortunate for the tyrant's friendship than he was caught by his enmity. But the king knows that self-sufficiency belongs to God, since God is a primal being set above those he rules; but for a man ruling many men like himself, nature is not sufficient for planning every task. Healing, then, nature's deficiency, he joins himself to his friends, multiplying his power. For so he will see with the eyes of all, hear with the ears of all, and deliberate with the judgments of all brought together into one. But one must be on guard with all one's mind — and, if we can, use all the weapons in the courts for this — lest flattery slip in unnoticed, wearing the mask of friendship. By this alone, even while the bodyguards are awake, kingship is plundered; for it makes its way, unless it is very firmly kept out, ### Translation notes - “Far from Zeus and his thunderbolt” is a Greek proverb. The words translated “a primal being” (ἀρχαία … οὐσία) are partly damaged. Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 27 (Krabinger 1:27; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/27). ## Krabinger p. 28 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-28 - Source: Krabinger 1:28 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The king should share the soldiers' drills himself, so that calling them fellow soldiers is true. ### Greek text μάλα ἐνδοτέρω τῶν ταμιείων, καὶ ἐπιχειρεῖ τῷ κυριωτάτῳ τῶν βασιλέων, αὐτῇ τῇ ψυχῇ. ᾿Επεὶ τόγε φιλέταιρον ὅ οὐχ ὕκιτα ἀρετὴ βασιλέως. Τοῦτό γέ τοι καὶ Ιῦρον τὸν πάνυ καὶ ᾿Αγησίλαον ὀνοματςοτάτου; βαὅ σιλέίων ἐν “Ἕλλησι καὶ βαρβάροις. ἐποίησε. Γνώσεται μὲν δὴ τὰ ποιητέα, καὶ γνώμην ἐν τοῖς φίλοις κυρώσει" ἵνα δὲ ἔργα γένηται, χειρῶν αὐτῷ δεῖ πολλῶν. Ὅ δὲ λόγος βαδίξων ἐξάγει τὸν βασιλέα τῶν βασιλείων, καὶ μετὰ τοὺς φίλους τοῖς φρατιώται; δίδωσι, δευτέροις δὴ τούτοις φίλοις, καὶ καταβιβάσας εἷς τὸ πεδίον, ἐξεταεὴν ἀνδρῶν καὶ ἵππων καὶ ὅπλων.᾽) ποιεῖ, ἔνθα καὶ ἱππεῖ συνιππεύσει, καὶ πεξῷ συνθευσεῖται,ὉΟ καὶ συνοπλιτεύσει τῷ ὀπλίτῃ, καὶ τῷ πελταςῇ συλμιπελτασθήσεται, καὶ συνακοντιεὶ τῷ γυμνῆτι Ὗ, τῇ κοινωνίᾳ τῶν ἔργων εἰς ἔμψυχον ἑταιρίαν ἕκατον προ!αγόμενοι, ἵνα μηδὲ πρὸς τούτου εἴρων ἦ, συερατιώτας καλῶν, ἀλλὰ δημηγοροῦντα ἐπιγινώσκωσιν αὐτὸν, καὶ μαρτυρῶσιν ὡς ἐκ τῶν ἔργων ἄρα τὸ ὄνομα λέγεται. “Πυιχεραίνεις ἴσως, ὅτι σοὶ πονεῖν ἐπιτάττομεν" ἀλλ᾽, ορθέμοὶ σὺ πείθου, βασιλικοῦ σώματος ἐλάχιτα πόνος ### English translation (Claude) deep within the treasuries and attacks the most precious of the king's possessions, his soul itself. For loyalty to companions is not the least of a king's virtues. It was this that made the famous Cyrus and Agesilaus the most renowned of kings among Greeks and barbarians. He will know, then, what must be done, and will confirm a resolution among his friends; but for it to become deeds he needs many hands. The argument, proceeding, now leads the king out of the palace, and after his friends hands him over to the soldiers, friends of the second rank, and, bringing him down to the plain, makes him review men and horses and arms. There he will ride with the horseman, run with the foot soldier, serve as a hoplite with the hoplite, act as a peltast with the peltast, and throw the javelin with the light-armed, drawing each into living comradeship by sharing in the work, so that here too he may not speak ironically when he calls them fellow soldiers, but they may recognize him as one who speaks to them as one of themselves, and bear witness that the name is spoken from deeds. Perhaps you are annoyed that we bid you toil; but, take my word for it, toil touches a kingly body least. ### Translation notes - Cyrus and Agesilaus are the model kings of Xenophon's Cyropaedia and Agesilaus. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 28 (Krabinger 1:28; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/28). ## Krabinger p. 29 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-29 - Source: Krabinger 1:29 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: A king seen at work among his soldiers earns their love, the strongest wall of a kingdom. ### Greek text ἅπτεται). Ὅτις γὰρ οὐ λανθάνει πονῶν, τοῦτον ἥκιρα πόνος νικᾳ. Βασιλέίω; δὲ σωμασκοῦντο; καὶ θυρανυ-Ὦ " λοῦντο; καὶ ὅπλοις ἐννεάδοντος οἱ πανταχοῦ δῆμοι θέατρόν εἰσι. Τῶν τὲ γὰρ παρόντων ἐπιερέφει τὰ δάλατα, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἀλλαχόσε βλέπειν ἀνέχεται, βασιλέως ἐν ἀπόπτῳ τι δρῶντορ" καὶ τῶν ἀπόντων ἑνηχεὶῖ τὰ ὦτα πᾶν ἔργον βασιλέως ὠδὴ γενόμενον. “Ἰύναται δὲ ὁ συνεθισμὸς οὗτος, τὸ ἢ μὴ σπάνιον εἶναι τὸν βασιλέα θέαμα ςρατιώται;, εὔνοιάν τε αὐτοῦ καὶ μάλα ἐῤῥῥωμένην δημιουργεῖν τῶν τςρατιωτῶν ταῖς Ψψυχαῖρ Ιϊαὶ τίς ἐχυρωτέρα ὃ) βασιλεία τῆς ἔρωτι τετειχισμένης; τίς δὲ ἰδιώτης καὶ μικρὰ πράττων ἀδείςερός τε καὶ ἀνεπιβουλευτότερος ἐκείνου βασιλέως, οὐχ ὃν δεδίασιν, ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὲρ οὗ δεδίασιν οἱ ὑπήκοοις Τὸ δή τοι ερατιωτικὸν ### English translation (Claude) For whoever toils in the sight of others is least overcome by toil. When a king trains his body, lives in the open, and is busy with arms, the peoples everywhere are his theatre. He turns the eyes of those present, and no one can bear to look elsewhere when the king is doing something in full view; and every deed of the king, turned into song, rings in the ears of the absent. This habit — the king's not being a rare sight to the soldiers — can create in the soldiers' souls a very strong goodwill toward him. And what kingship is more secure than one walled by love? What private man, doing small things, is more free from fear and less plotted against than that king whom his subjects do not fear, but fear for? The military class ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 29 (Krabinger 1:29; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/29). ## Krabinger p. 30 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-30 - Source: Krabinger 1:30 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Soldiers, like dogs, love those they know; a king who knows his officers by name strengthens the army. ### Greek text τὸ μαχητικὸν γένος, καὶ κυνὶ μάλιτα προτεικάξει, θηρίῳ γνώσει καὶ ἀγνοίᾳ κρίνοντι τό τε φίλιον καὶ τὸ πολέιον. Τί δ' ἂν αἴσχιον γένοιτο βασιλέως, ὃν διὰ τοὺς δωγράφου; ἐπιγινώσκουσιν οἱ προπολεμοῦντες; ᾿Ὄνήσεται δὲ οὐ μόνον τοῦτο τῇς πυκνῇ» ἢ ἐπ μιξία;, τὸ καθάπερ ἕν σῶμα συμφυὲς τὸ ἐράτευμα περικεῖσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολλὰ τῶν ἐν τοῖς τοιοῖξδε καιροῖς γινομένων 8, τὰ μέν ἕξι μελέτῃ πολεμικῶν ἔργων, τὰ δέ ἐςι τρατηγίας προτέλεια καὶ παρασκευαί τινε, ἃ πρὸς τὰ μείξω τε καὶ σπουδάϊα διεγείρει. Οὐ γάρ τοι Ἢ σμικρὸν ἐν χρείᾳ δορὸς ὀνομάσαι μὲν τρατηγὸν, ὀνομάσαι δὲ ὑποςράτηγον καὶ ἰλάρχῃν ὅ) καὶ ταγματάρχην καὶ σημαιοφόρον, εἰ τύχοι, καί τινας τοῦ πρεσβυτικοῦ σὺν ἐπιγνώσει καλέσαι τε καὶ προ ### English translation (Claude) — the fighting class — [Plato] likens most of all to the dog, an animal that distinguishes friend and foe by knowledge and ignorance. What could be more shameful for a king than that those who fight in his defence should know him only through the painters? Not only will this benefit come from frequent mingling, that the army surrounds him like a single body grown together, but also many of the things that happen at such times: some are exercise in the works of war, others the first rites and preparations of generalship, which rouse one to greater and more serious things. For it is no small thing, in the need of war, to name a general, to name a lieutenant-general, a cavalry commander, a battalion commander and a standard-bearer, if so it happens, and to call some of the veterans by name, with recognition, and to en- ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Resp. 375e-376b (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The soldier likened to a dog that knows friend from stranger is Plato, Republic 375e–376b. Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 30 (Krabinger 1:30; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/30). ## Krabinger p. 31 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-31 - Source: Krabinger 1:31 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: As Homer's god roused the Greeks with his sceptre, a king calling men by name rouses them to fight. ### Greek text τρέψαι, τοὺς ἐν τέλει 1.) λίγω. καθ'᾽ ἕκατον ἱππικόν πτὲα καὶ πεξικὸν σύτημια. “Ομηρος μὲν γάρ τινα [τῶν] Θεῶν παραΞφῆσας τῇ μάχῃ τῶν ᾿Αχαιῶν, πληγῇ σκήπτρου φηδὶν αὐτὸν πιμπλάναι τοὺς νέους μένεος πραΐε- " θροϊῖο, ὡς τήν τε ψυχὴν Ιᾶάλλον ἐφωρμῇδθαι πολεμίξειν, ἡδὲ μάχεσθάι, καὶ μηδὲ τὼ πόδε, μηδὲ τὼ χεῖρε ἀτρέμας ἔχειν ἀνέχεσθαι" τὸ γὰρ ΜΝΜΙαιμώωσι δ᾽ ἔνερθε πόδες καὶ χεῖρες ὕπερθεν, ἀττουσίν ἐξσιν αὐτοκέλευτοι περὶ τὰ ἔργα τῆς μάχῃ. Ὦ Ἔ μοὶ δὲ ταὐτὸ τοῦτο ἂν ποιήσαι καὶ βασιλεὺς ὀνομαςὶ καλέσας; καὶ τὸν ἀπερισάλπιτόν τε ἄν. εἰς φιλοτιμίαν ἐγείραι παὶ τὸν ἀγωνιτὴν ἂν ἐπιθήἕαι 13. Πᾶς γὰρ ἰθέλει πονεῖν ὑπὸ μάρτυρι - τῷ ### English translation (Claude) -courage them — I mean those in command in each cavalry squadron and infantry unit. For Homer, setting one of the gods beside the Achaeans in battle, says that with a blow of his sceptre he filled the young men with mighty strength, so that their souls were roused the more to war and fighting, and they could not bear to keep either their feet or their hands still; for “and their feet below and their hands above were eager” means that they dart of their own accord to the work of battle. To my mind the king would do this same thing by calling men by name: he would rouse even one whom no trumpet stirs to ambition, and spur on the fighter. For everyone wishes to toil with the king as witness. ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 13.59-61 (Homer, Iliad): allusion, high confidence - Homer, Il. 13.75 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The god is Poseidon in Iliad 13.59–61; the quoted line is Iliad 13.75. Krabinger brackets τῶν before θεῶν as a deletion. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 31 (Krabinger 1:31; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/31). ## Krabinger p. 32 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-32 - Source: Krabinger 1:32 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Homer's Agamemnon names and praises each man; a king who does so will find his soldiers ready to shed their blood. ### Greek text βασιλεῖ. "Ὃ τὸι 3} ποιητὴς οὕτως ἔοικε κρίνειν, πάμμεγα ὄφελος εἶναι βασιλεῖ καὶ εἰρηνικῷ καὶ πολεμικῷ" ὃε αὐτό που τοῦτο πρῶτον κατανοήσας, ὅτι πλείστην ἔχει ῥοπὴν εἰς εὐψυχίαν ἀνδρῶν τὸ μηδὲ ἡ τοὺς ἀγελαίους ἀγνόεῖσθαι τῷ βασιλεῖ, οὐκ ὀνόματι μόνον καλοῦντα τοὺς τρατιώτας πεποίηκεν ᾿Αγαμέμνονα, ἀλλ᾽ οὗτος αὐτῷ τὸν ἀδελφὸν νουθετεῖ πρὸς τῇ " προτηγορίᾳ πατρόθεν καὶ ἐκ γενεῆς ἄνωθεν ὀνομάξειν ἄνδρα ἕκατον, καὶ πάντας κυδαίνειν, μηδὲ μεγαλίξεσθαι. Καὶ τὸ κυδαίνειν δὲ αὖ εὖ λέγειν ἐξεὶν, εἴ τῷ τι ἀγαθὸν ἢ πραχθὲν ὃ εὐτυχηθὲν' συνηπίτατο. Ὁρᾷ, “Ὅμηρον; ἐγκωμιαςὴν ποιεῖ τὸν βασιλέα δημότου. Ἑαὶ τίς οὐκ ἂν αἴματος ἀφειδήσειε, βασιλέως αὐτὸν ἐπαινέσαντο;; αὶ τοῦτο οὖν ἥξει σοι τἀγαθὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ θαμὰ ὁμιλεῖν ςρατιώταις, καὶ προφειδήσεις αὐτῶν καὶ ### English translation (Claude) This, it seems, is how the poet judges, that it is a very great help to a king in peace and in war. Perceiving first this very thing, that it weighs most for men's courage that not even the common soldiers be unknown to the king, he made Agamemnon not only call the soldiers by name, but has him also admonish his brother, besides the address, “to name each man by his father and his lineage from of old, and to honour all, and not be proud.” And to “honour” is to speak well of someone, if he knew of some good thing done by him or achieved. Do you see how Homer makes the king the praiser of a commoner? And who would not be lavish of his blood when the king had praised him? This good, then, will come to you from associating often with soldiers; and you will know beforehand their ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 10.68-69 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Iliad 10.68–69, Agamemnon to Menelaus. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 32 (Krabinger 1:32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/32). ## Krabinger p. 33 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/3/#p-33 - Source: Krabinger 1:33 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: A king must know his soldiers as a craftsman knows his tools; Synesius turns now to a pointed criticism. ### Greek text ἦθη καὶ βίους, καὶ τίς ἑκάτῳ τάξις ἐν καιροῖς ἑκάτοι; προ;- Β ῥκουσα. Θέα γὰρ δὴ καὶ τόδε. Τεχνίτῃς ἐεὶν ὁ βασιλεὺς πολέμων, ὥιπερ ὁ σκυτοτόμος ὑποδημάτων. Ἐκεῖνός τε οὖν γελοῖοι, ὅταν ἀγνοῦ τῇς τέχνης τὰ ὄργανα, ἡ δ᾽ τε βασιλεὺς πῶςς ἐπιεήσεται. χρῆσθαι ςρατιώταις ὁργάνοι,, ἂν μὴ "γινώσκῃς "Αλλ᾽ ἐνταῦθα γενόμενοι, εἰ τὸ" κοινὸν τῶν λόγων εἰς ἢ τὴν παροῦσαν τῶν λόγων ὕλην καταβιβάσδαιαι, τάχα ἂν γ᾽ οὐκ ἄπο σκοποῦ βάλοιμι" Τίς δ᾽ οἶδ᾽ εἴ κέν τοι ὅ) σὺν δαίμονι θυμιὸν ὀρίνω ( Παρειπών; ἀγαθὴ δὲ παραίφασις ἀνδρὸς ἀληθοῦ. Φημὶ. γὰρ οὐδὲν οὕτως ἔμκιπροσθεν ἄλλο χείρω ποιῆ- ### English translation (Claude) characters and lives, and what post befits each man at each moment. Consider this too. The king is a craftsman of wars, as the cobbler is of shoes. The cobbler is ridiculous when he does not know the tools of his craft; and how will the king know how to use soldiers as tools if he does not know them? But now that we have come to this point, if I bring the general argument down to the present matter, perhaps I would not shoot wide of the mark: “Who knows if, with heaven's help, I may stir his spirit by my counsel? Good is the counsel of a true man.” For I say that nothing before now has made the affairs of the Romans worse ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 11.792-793 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation adapts Iliad 11.792–793 (Nestor to Patroclus; also 15.403–404), with “a true man” in place of “a comrade.” Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 33 (Krabinger 1:33; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/33). ## Krabinger p. 34 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-34 - Source: Krabinger 1:34 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Court ceremonial has shut emperors away from the world, leaving them to bodily pleasures and the life of a jellyfish. ### Greek text σαι τὰ Ῥωμαίων, ὡς τὴν περὶ τὸ βασιλικὸν σῶμα σκηνὴν καὶ θεραπείαν, ἣν ὥπερ ἱερουργοῦντες ὑμῖν ἐν ἀποῤῥήτῳ ποιοῦνται, καὶ τὸ βαρβαρικῶς ἐκτεθεῖσθαι τὰ καθ᾽ ὑμᾶς ὅ). 'Ώ; οὐ. φιλεὶ συγγίνεσθαι φαντασία δ5τε καὶ ἀλήθεια. ᾿Αλλὰ σύγε μὴ δυιχεράνῃς, ὠτ ἢ τοῦτό γε οὐκ ἔσι σὸν, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἀρξάντων τῇς νόσου καὶ παραδόντων τῇ διαδοχῇ τοῦ χρόνου δηλούμενον τὸ κακόν. Τοιγαροῦν ἡ σεμνότῃς αὕτῃ καὶ τὸ δεδιέναι, μὴ. ἐξανθρωκπισθείγέε 1.) συνηθὲς γενόμενοι 1θθέαμα, κατακλείεους ποιεῖ, πολιορκουμένου; ὑφ᾽ ἕαυτῶν, ἐλάχιςα. μὲν ὁρῶντας, ἐλάχιτα δὲ ἀκούοντας, ἀφ᾽ ὧν πρακτικὴ φρόνησις συναθροίξεται, μόνας ἡδοἰένου, ᾽ τὰς. τοῦ σώματος ἡδονάς, καὶ τούτων γε τὰς ὑλικωτάτα,, ὅσας ἀφῴ τε καὶ γεῦσις. πορίξουσι, βίον 1ὅ δῶντας θαλαττίου πνεύμονος. Ἕως οὖν ἀπαξιοῦτε Π » 3ςν ἡ - ᾽,, ᾿ Ε τὸν ἄνθρωπον, οὐδὲ τῆς ἀνθρώπου τυγχάνετε τελειότῃ- ### English translation (Claude) than the stage-setting and ceremonial around the emperor's person, which they perform for you in secret, as though conducting sacred rites, and the barbaric display of your state. For show and truth do not usually keep company. But do not be annoyed: this is not your doing; the evil was begun by those who started the disease and handed it on to the succession of time. So this solemnity, and the fear of being made merely human by becoming a familiar sight, keeps you shut in, besieged by yourselves, seeing as little as possible and hearing as little as possible of the things from which practical wisdom is gathered, delighting only in the pleasures of the body, and of these the most material, those which touch and taste provide, living the life of a jellyfish. So long, then, as you disdain the human being, you do not attain even the perfection of a human being. ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Phlb. 21c (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - “The life of a jellyfish” (literally “of a sea-lung”) is from Plato, Philebus 21c. A few garbled characters before “the human being” are left untranslated. Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 34 (Krabinger 1:34; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/34). ## Krabinger p. 35 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-35 - Source: Krabinger 1:35 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Shut in the palace, the emperor keeps company with jesters and fools instead of wise men and soldiers. ### Greek text τοι᾽ καὶ γὰρ οἷς σύνεξε παρὰ δίαιτάν᾽ ᾽ τε καὶ ἄλλως, καὶ οἷς ἔσιν εἰς τὰ βασίλεια πάροδος. ἀδεέξερον, ἢ τρατηγοῖς τε καὶ λοχαγοῖ!, τούτους οὖς χαρίεντας ἄρα παρασκευάξεσθε, τοὺς μικροκεφάλους τε καὶ ὀλιγογνώδ μόναι, οὗ ἡὶ φύσις ἀμαρτάνουσα παραχαράττει, καθάπὲρ ἀδικοῦντες οἱ τραπεξῖται τὸ΄ νόμισμα" καὶ γίνεται βασιλεὶ δῶρον ἀπόπληκτος ἄνθρωπος καὶ μεῖδον ὅσον ἀποπληκτότερος" οὗτοι γελασείοντες ἐν ταὐτῷ καὶ πλαυσείοντες ἀτελῶς, καὶ σχήλιασι καὶ ψόφοις καὶ ἅπασιν ὅσοις οἷόν τε βωμολοχοῦντες συνδιαφθείρουσιν Β ὑμῖν τὸν χρόνον, καὶ τῇς, ψυχῇ! τὴν ἀχλὺν, ὃν ἐκ τοῦ μὴ φύσει δὴν ἔχετε, κακῷ μείξονι, παραμυθοῦνται. Τούτων τὰ κολοβὰ διανοήματα καὶ ῥήματα ταῖρ ἀκοαῖς ὑμῶν ἐναρμιόξεται μάλλον, ἢ νοῦς ἐκ φιλοσοφίας ἐν γλώττῃ περιτράνῳ τε καὶ ςρογγύλῃ. Ὃ δὲ τῇς θαυμαΞςῆς οἰκουρίας ἀπολελαύκατε, τοῦ δήμου τὸ μὲν φρόνιμον ὑποπτεύοντες καὶ πρὸς ἐκείνους ἀποσεμνυνόμενοι,. τὸ δὲ ἀνόητον εἐἰάγοντες καὶ πρὸς ἐκείνους, ἀπογυμνούμενοί, ἔδει μὲν εἰδέναι καλῶς ὅτι ταῖν. αὐὖδθταῖ; παρασκευαῖς ἕκατον αὔξεται καὶ συγκροτεῖται. ### English translation (Claude) For those who keep you company at table and elsewhere, and who have readier access to the palace than generals and captains, these you furnish yourselves as charming companions: the small-headed and small-witted, whom nature, erring, has struck false, as dishonest money-changers do the coinage; and a crack-brained man becomes a gift for the emperor, all the greater the more crack-brained he is. These, wanting to laugh and to weep at once for no purpose, playing the buffoon with gestures and noises and every means they can, help you waste your time, and console the fog of your soul, which you have from not living according to nature, with a greater evil. Their stunted thoughts and words fit your ears better than a mind formed by philosophy on a clear and well-rounded tongue. As for what you have reaped from this wonderful life indoors — suspecting the sensible part of the people and holding yourselves aloof from them, while bringing in the senseless and baring yourselves before them — you ought to have known well that each thing grows and is held together by the same means [by which it was made]. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 35 (Krabinger 1:35; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/35). ## Krabinger p. 36 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-36 - Source: Krabinger 1:36 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Every great empire was built by rulers who lived and toiled like their soldiers. ### Greek text ᾿Αλλ᾽. ἂν ἐπιδράμῃς τῷ νῷ τὴν ὅποι τοτὲ τῇς γῇς ἐκταθεῖσαν ἀρχὴν, εἴτε τῶν Παρθυαίων, εἴτε τῶν Μακεδόνων, εἴτε τῶν “Πιρσῶν, εἴτε τῶν. παλαιτάτων Μήδων, εἴτε τὴν ἐν ἡ δῶμεν, ἄνδρες δημοτικοί τε καὶ ὅ ςρατιῶται, καὶ τὰ πολλὰ συνθυραυλοῦντές τε καὶ χαμευνοῦντε; τοῖς ἐν ταῖς φάλαγξι, καὶ οὔτε μειονεκτοῦντες πόνων, οὔτε πλεονεκτοῦντες ἡδονῶν, ἑκάτῃν ἐπικράτειαν ἐπὶ μέγα προήγαγον" δι᾽ ἐπιμελείας ἄνθρωποι κτώμενοι τἀγαθὰ καὶ γενόμενοι ξηλωτοὶ χαλεπῶς; ἂν ἔτι τὴν ἢ ### English translation (Claude) But if you run over in your mind the empire that at any time has stretched over the earth — whether of the Parthians, or of the Macedonians, or of the Persians, or of the most ancient Medes, or the one in which we live — it was men of the people and soldiers, who for the most part lived in the open and slept on the ground with those in the ranks, having no less share of toil and no greater share of pleasure, who brought each dominion to greatness. Men who acquire good things through diligence and become enviable would with difficulty still … ### Translation notes - The end of the page is lost in the scan; the sentence is completed on the next page only in part. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 36 (Krabinger 1:36; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/36). ## Krabinger p. 37 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-37 - Source: Krabinger 1:37 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Empires fall by abandoning the ways that built them; Rome's rulers have exchanged the old ways for purple, gold and jewels. ### Greek text φυλαττομένην γενέσθαι τὸ ἐκ λόγου συμβαῖνον. Τοῖς γὰρ ἐναντίοις τῶν συνιςεάντων ἕκατον φθείρεται. αὶ οὐκ ἀξιῶ παραβαθῆναι τῷ βασιλεὶ Ρωμαίων τὰ πάτρια. Πάτρια δὲ ἡγοῦ 'Ῥωμαίων οὐ τὰ χθὲρ καὶ ὅ πρώην εἰς ἐκδεδιητημένην ἤδη παρελθόντα τὴν : πολιτείαν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν οἷς ὄντες ἐκτήσαντο τὴν ἀρχήν. Ἐπεὶ φέρε πρὸς τοῦ βασιλείου θεοῦ καὶ μοι πειρῶ διαμεῖναι" θυμοδακὴς γὰρ ὁ αὖθοι' πότε κάλ.λιον ἔχειν ἡγῇ τὰ Ῥωμαίων πράγμάτα; ἀφ᾽ οὐ περιπόρφυροί τὲ ἐστε καὶ περίχρυσοι, καὶ λίθους ἐξ ὁρῶν ὅ) τε καὶ θαλαττῶν βαρβάρων τοὺς μὲν ἀναδεῖσθε, τοὺς δὲ ὑποδεῖσθε, τοὺς δὲ περικεῖσθε, τοὺς δὲ ἐξαρτᾶσθε, τοὺς δὲ περονᾶσθε, τοῖς δὲ ἐφιδάνετε; Τοιγαροῦν ἀπε- ### English translation (Claude) … [their happiness] guarded [by the opposite means]: this is what follows from reason. For each thing is destroyed by the opposites of what established it. And I ask that the emperor of the Romans should not transgress the ancestral ways. Count as ancestral to the Romans not what came in yesterday and the day before into a constitution already corrupted, but the ways by which they acquired their empire. Come now — by the god of kings, try to bear with me, for what follows stings the heart — when do you think the affairs of the Romans were in better condition: since you have been clad in purple and gold, and bind on stones from the mountains and seas of the barbarians, some on your heads, some on your feet, some around you, some hung from you, some pinned on you, some to sit on? And so you have become ### Translation notes - The opening words of the page continue a sentence whose middle is lost; they are translated by sense. Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 37 (Krabinger 1:37; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/37). ## Krabinger p. 38 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-38 - Source: Krabinger 1:38 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jewelled robes make the emperors peacocks, so loaded with gold that they bear it like fetters. ### Greek text τελέσθητε θέαμα ποικιλώτατον καὶ πάγχρουν; ὥςπερ οἱ ταῷ ὅ), τὴν ᾿Ομηρικὴν ἀρὰν ἰφ᾽ ἑαυτοὺς ἕλκοντες, τὸν. χιτῶνα τὸν λάϊνον. ᾿γμῖν δὲ οὐδὲ χιτὼν οὗτος Β ἀποχρῶν" οὐ γὰρ εἰριτητὸν εἰς τῶν ὁμοτίμων το" Ὁ βουλευτήριον, ἡνίκα ἄν τὴν ἐπώνυμον ἀρχὴν ἄρχυτε ὅ), οὔτε ἀρχαιρεσιαδόντων, οὗὐτε ἐπ᾿ ἄλλῳ τῳ συνεδριαδόντων, ἦν μὴ καὶ πέπλον τοιοῦτον ἐγκορδυλήσησθε. Καὶ δῆτα ἀποβλίπεσθε ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, οἷς θέμι: ὁρᾷν, ὡς μόνοι τῶν βουλευτῶν εὐδαίμονει, μόνοι τῶν, βουλευτῶν ἀχθοφοροῦντε;" ἀλλὰ καὶ γάννυσθε τῷ φορτίῳ, καθάπερ εἶ τις χρυσῷ δεθεὶς καὶ μᾶλλον πολυταλάντοις; ᾽") ταῖς πίδαις, ἔπειτα μηδὲν ἐπαῖοι τοῦ ### English translation (Claude) a most varied and all-golden spectacle, like peacocks, drawing upon yourselves the Homeric curse, the tunic of stone. And for you not even this tunic is enough: for it is not permitted to enter the council chamber of your peers, when you hold the office that gives its name to the year — whether they are holding elections or sitting on any other business — unless you have wrapped yourselves in such a robe. And indeed you are gazed at by those who are permitted to see you, as alone of the senators happy, alone of the senators bearing burdens; yet you even delight in the burden, as if someone bound with gold, and with fetters of many talents' weight at that, should then perceive nothing of the ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 3.57 (Homer, Iliad): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - “The tunic of stone” is Hector's taunt in Iliad 3.57 (death by stoning); Synesius applies it to garments set with precious stones. The office that names the year is the consulship. Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 38 (Krabinger 1:38; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/38). ## Krabinger p. 39 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-39 - Source: Krabinger 1:39 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The emperors, walking on gold dust and hiding in their chambers like lizards, fare worse than the open-living generals of old. ### Greek text κακοῦ, μηδὲ ἡγοῖτο σχέτλια πάσχειν εἰς δεσμώτα; τελῶν», ᾿Κ)ὶ πατημένος τῇ πολυτελείᾳ τῆς “συμφορά. ᾿Αλλ' οὔ γε.) μᾶλλον κινήσεται τῶν ἐν τῇ ποδοκάκῃ, τῷ φαυλοτάτῳ τῶν ξύλων. ᾿γμῖν δὲ οὐδὲ τοὐδαφός ἐτιν ἀνο- 5πτὸν, οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἐμπεριπατήσητε κατὰ φύσιν ἐχούσῃ τῇ γη᾽ ἀλλὰ δεὶ " τὴν χρυσῖτιν ἐπιφορεῖν, ἣν ἐκ τῶν πέραν ἠπείρων ὑμῖν ἀπῇναί τε καὶ ὁλκάδες διακομιὶἔουσι, καὶ ἐρατιά τίς ἑτιν οὐ φαύλῃ τῶν τὸ χῶμα ῥαινόντων. Οὐ γὰρ βασιλικὸν ἡγεῖσθε, μὴ οὐχὶ καὶ τοῖς σκύτεσι τῶν ὑποδημάτων τρυφᾷν. Ιγῦν οὖν ἀρ' ') ἢ ἀμεινονηπράττετε. ἀφ᾽ οὗ περὶ τοὺς βασιλέας ἡ. τελετὴ συνέστη, καὶ θαλαμεύεσθε.) καθάπερ αἱ σαύραι, μόλις,' εἴ πῃ, πρὸς τὴν εἴλῃην ἐκκύπτουσαι, μὴ φωραθείρτε ὦ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὄντες ἄνθρωποι; ἢ τόθ᾽ ἡνίκα : ἐξηγοῦντα τῶν ςρατευμάτων ἄνδρες ἐν μέσῳ ξῶντε;, μέλα ### English translation (Claude) evil, nor think he suffers anything terrible in being numbered among prisoners, trodden down by the costliness of his misfortune. Yet he will move no more freely than those in the stocks, the meanest of woods. And for you not even the floor may be seen, nor would you walk on the earth as nature made it; gold dust must be spread over it, which wagons and merchant ships bring you from the continents beyond, and there is no mean army of those who sprinkle the dust. For you do not think it kingly unless you luxuriate even in the leather of your shoes. Now, have you fared better since this ceremonial grew up around the emperors, and you live shut in your chambers like lizards, scarcely peeping out, if at all, into the sunlight, lest men should find you out to be men? Or did you fare better then, when men who lived in public view led the armies, black- ### Translation notes - Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 39 (Krabinger 1:39; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/39). ## Krabinger p. 40 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-40 - Source: Krabinger 1:40 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Rome's old generals carried war across the Euphrates and the Danube; now the barbarians cross into the empire and demand payment for peace. ### Greek text νες ὑφ᾽ ἡλίῳ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἀφελῶς τε καὶ αὐτοσκευῶι ἔχοντες, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ διθυραμβωδῶ, καὶ τραγικῶς, ἐν πίλοις Δακωνικοῖ;, οὖς ἐν ταῖς εἰκόσι θεώμενα γελᾷ τὰ ειράκια, καὶ οὐδὲ ὁ γέρων δῆμος εὐτυχεῖς ἡγοῦνται γεγονέναι, πρὸς δὲ ὑμᾶς ἐξετασθῆναι, καὶ παντάπασι το κακοδαίμονα,; ᾿Α4λλ᾽ ἐκεῖνοί γε οὐκ ἀποτειχίξοντε; “ἢ ᾿ τὴν οἰκείαν, εἶργον οὔτε τοὺς ᾿Ασιανοὺ;, οὔτε τοὺς Εὐρωπαίους βαρβάρους,, ἀλλ᾽ οἷς ἐποίουν, ἐκείνους ἐνουθέτουν τὴν σφετέραν ἀποτειχίξειν, θαμὰ. διαβαίνοντες τὸν Εὐφράτην ἐπὶ τὸν Παρθναῖον, τὸν δὲ ἼΡρον ἐπὶ “ τὸν Γίτην τε “5 καὶ Μασσαγέτην. Οἱ δ᾽ ἦν ἕτερα ἀντὶ τούτων ὀνόματα θέμενοι, ἕτεροι δ᾽ αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ πρόωπα τέχνῃ παραποιήσαντες, ἵνα δὴ δοκοίη γέ νος ἄλλο νέον τε καὶ ἀλλόκοτον ἐκφῦναι. τῇς γῆ,» δεδίττονται ὑμᾶς ἀντιδιαβαίνοντες, καὶ μισθὸν εἰρήνη: ἀξιοῦσι πράττεσθαι, ᾿ ἣν μὴ ὅ σύ γε δύσεαι ἀλκήν. Β ### English translation (Claude) -ened by the sun and in all else simple and self-equipped — not dithyrambic and tragic — in Laconian felt caps, which the youngsters laugh at when they see them in the pictures, and which not even the old people think were the dress of fortunate men, but, compared with you, of utterly wretched ones? Yet those men did not wall off their own land, shutting out neither the Asian nor the European barbarians; rather, by what they did they taught those barbarians to wall off their own, often crossing the Euphrates against the Parthian and the Ister against the Getan and the Massagetan. But these, now taking other names instead, and some even altering their faces by art, so that a new and outlandish race might seem to have sprung from the earth, frighten you by crossing over in their turn, and demand to be paid the price of peace — “unless you put on your strength.” ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 9.231 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Ister is the Danube; Getae and Massagetae are the classical names Synesius uses for the Goths and the Huns. The closing words adapt Iliad 9.231. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 40 (Krabinger 1:40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/40). ## Krabinger p. 41 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-41 - Source: Krabinger 1:41 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Setting extravagance beside the simplicity of old, Synesius prepares to show the true beauty of kingship by an example. ### Greek text ᾿Αλλ’ ἀφείσθω μὲν, εἰ δοκεῖ, τὰ παλαιὰ πρὸς τὰ νῦν ἐξετάξειν, ἵνα δὴ μὴ ᾿) δοκοίγμεν ἐν σχήλιατι παραινέσεως ὀνειδίδειν, δεικνύντες ὡς ὅσον ἐπέδωκεν εἰς σχῆμα σοβαρὸν τὰ βασιλέως, τοσοῦτον ἀληθεία; ἀφήὅρῃται. Εἰ δὲ, ὥιπερ ἰν τῇ καθ᾽ ὑμὰς Ὦ ποικιλίᾳ γενόμένος ὁ λόγος ἰφιλοχώρησε, νέμοι τινὰ μοῖραν ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τῇ πάλαι τῶν βασιλέων εἴτε ἀγροικίαν καλοῦμεν ὃ) αὐτὴν, εἴτε λιτότητα βούλεσθε, καλῶς ἂν ἀλλήλαις ἀντιπαρεκδύοιντο πολυτέλεια καὶ εὐτέλεια" καὶ γυμνὰς α ἂν οὕτω θεώμενος, ἐρασθείης ἀληθινοῦ βασιλέως κάλλους, ἀφεὶς τὸ φαινόμενόν τε καὶ ἐπιποίητον. Οὐκοῦν ἐκείνην μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν χρωμάτων ὅ) τὸ πλέον ἐγράφομεν" ταύτην δὲ οὐκ ἔσιν ἀπὸ τούτων δ), ἄλλοθεν δὲ λαβεῖν" οὐ γὰρ ἔεσιν αὐτῇ περιττά, μὴ πραγματευομένῃ περὶ αὐτά" τὰ δὲ ἤθη μᾶλλον εἰκόνες ἂν αὐτῆς εἶεν. Ἰαί τι ἔργον εὐθὺς συμλιπροκύπτει τῶν κατὰ φύσιν ἐχόντων βίων ταῖς προβολαῖ. ᾿Ἑνὸς οὖν ἄξιον ἐπιμνησθῆναι ### English translation (Claude) But let us leave off, if you will, comparing the old with the new, lest we seem to reproach you under the guise of exhortation, by showing that as far as the emperor's state has advanced in haughty show, so far has it been robbed of truth. But if the speech, which has lingered amid your finery, were to allot some share of itself to the old ways of kings — whether we call them rusticity or you prefer simplicity — extravagance and frugality would be well stripped for a contest against each other; and seeing them thus naked you would fall in love with the true beauty of a king, letting go of what is merely apparent and artificial. The one we painted mostly from its colours; but the other cannot be drawn from these, but from elsewhere; for it has nothing superfluous, since it does not busy itself with such things, and its habits would rather be its images. And at once some deed comes forward along with the displays of lives lived according to nature. It is worth recalling one ### Translation notes - Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 41 (Krabinger 1:41; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/41). ## Krabinger p. 42 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-42 - Source: Krabinger 1:42 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Synesius tells of an emperor who, on campaign against Persia, stopped to dine on the Armenian heights when Persian envoys arrived. ### Greek text βασιλέως καὶ ηθους και ἐργου" καὶ γὰρ ἀποχρῶν ἢ ὁτιοῦν πάντα συνεφελκύσασθαι. Δέγεται δή.) τινα τῶν οὐ λίαν ἀρχαίων, ἀλλ᾽ ὃν “) ἂν εἰδεῖεν καὶ τῶν νῦν γερόντων οἱ πάπποι, εἰ ὅ μὴ νέοι τοὺς παῖδας ἐτέκνωσαν, καὶ παρὰ νέων τῶν παίδων ἐγένοντο πάπποι" Δλίγεται δή τινα ἐκείνων τρατείαν μὲν ἄγειν ἐπὶ τὸν ᾿Αρσακίδην εἰς Ρωμαίους ὑβρίσαντα" ἐπειδὴ δὲ πρὸς ταῖς ὑπερβολαῖς τῶν ᾿Αραενίων γενέσθαι, πρὶν ἐπιχειρῆσαι τῇ πολεμίᾳ, δείπνου 10τε αὐτὸν ἐρασθῆναι καὶ ἐπιτάξαι τῇ τρατιᾷ τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν σκευοφόρων ἀγαθοῖ; χρῆσθαι, ὡς ἐγγύθεν ἐπισιτουμένοις, ἦν δέῃ" ἰδείκνυε Ἢ) δὲ ἄρα τοὺς Παρ- δ θυαίων ἀγρού;" ἐν τούτῳ δὲ ὄντων, πρεσβείαν ἐκ τῶν πολεμίων παρεῖναι καὶ οἴεσθαι μὲν ἤκουσαν προεντεύξεσθαι τοῖς βασιλεῖ παραδυναξεύουσι, καὶ τούτων γε ### English translation (Claude) example of a king's character and deeds; for any one is enough to draw all the rest along with it. It is said that one of the emperors — not a very ancient one, but one whom the grandfathers of today's old men would have known, if they had fathered their children young and become grandfathers through children who were young — it is said, then, that one of them was leading an expedition against the Arsacid who had wronged the Romans. When he had reached the heights of the Armenian mountains, before attacking enemy country, he felt like having his dinner, and ordered the army to use the good things from the baggage train, since they would find supplies close at hand if need be — and he pointed to the fields of the Parthians. While they were at this, an embassy arrived from the enemy, expecting first to meet those who held power beside the king, and after them ### Translation notes - “The Arsacid” is the Persian king (Synesius uses the old Parthian dynastic name). Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 42 (Krabinger 1:42; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/42). ## Krabinger p. 43 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-43 - Source: Krabinger 1:43 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The envoys found the emperor, without any guard of honour, lying on the grass in a plain tunic eating stale pea soup. ### Greek text αὖ πελάται; τισὶ καὶ εἰξαγγελεῦσιν,ν» ὡς εἰς ἠμέραν πολ- “λοεὴν ἀπ᾽ ἐκείνη: τοὺ βασιλέως τῇ πρεσβείᾳ χρηματιρὺντο," συνενεχθῆναι ᾽) δὲ κατ᾽ αὐτὸν πως γενέσθαι. τὸν βασιλέα ὃ Ἴ), Οὐγὰρ ἡ τῶν δορυφόρων ασιλέα δειπνοῦντα ᾽" ὑ γὰρ ἣν πω τὸ τῶν δορυφόρων 5. τοιοῦτον, ἀπὸ τῇι τρατιᾶς τρατιᾶ τις ἔκκριτο;, νέοι πάν-. τες, πάντες, εὐμήπει,, τὰ κόμας ξανθοί τε καὶ περιττοὶ, Αἰεὶ ν δὲ λιπαροὶ κεφαλὰς καὶ καλὰ πρόφωπα,μ χρυσάσπιδες καὶ χρυσεολόγχαι, οἶς, ὅταν ποτὲ ὀφθῶ- «σι, τὸν βασιλέα ισημαινόμεθα ᾿, καθάπερ,. οἶμαι, ταῖς προανισχούσαις ἀκτῖσι τὸν ἥλιον' ἀλλὰ πάσα, φάλαγξ τὸ αἰκεῖον ποιοῦσα δορυφόρο;. ἦν τοῦ. βασίλέως. τὲ καὶ τῇς βασιλείας... Οἱ δὲ ἁπλῶς ἑαυτῶν εἶχον,. οὐκ ἀπὸ τῇς σκευῇ!, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπὸ τῆς ψυχῇς βασιλεῖς ὃντες, καὶ τἄνδον. τοῦ πλύήθους διέφερον" τὰ δὲ ἐκτὸς 1ὅ ὅμοιοι τοῖς. ἀγελαίοις ἐφαίνοντο,. ὥςπερ 'ἔχοντά φασι τὸν Ἡαρῖνον ὑπὸ τῇς πρεσβείας ὑφθῆναι. Φοινικοβα-Ο φὴς χιτὼν, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς πόας ἐκέκλιτο" τὸ δὲ δεῖπνον ᾿ ἣν πίσινον ἕωλον ἔτνο;, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ τεμάχια ἄττα ### English translation (Claude) certain dependants and ushers, and that the king would deal with the embassy many days later; but as it happened they came upon the king himself at his dinner. For there was not yet such a body of guards as now — an army picked out of the army, all young, all tall, with fair and abundant hair, “ever sleek of head and fair of face,” with golden shields and golden spears, by whose appearance we know the emperor is near, as we know the sun, I suppose, by the rays that rise before it. Rather, the whole phalanx, doing its own part, was the bodyguard of the king and the kingdom. And the kings were simple in themselves, being kings not by their trappings but by their soul; they differed from the multitude in what was within, but in what was outside they looked like the common soldiers. So, they say, the embassy saw Carinus: in a tunic of purple dye, reclining on the grass; his dinner was a day-old pea soup, with some pieces in it ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 15.332 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quoted line is Odyssey 15.332. Synesius names the emperor Carinus; the campaign against Persia (283) was that of his father Carus, so the name is probably Synesius's slip or confusion. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 43 (Krabinger 1:43; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/43). ## Krabinger p. 44 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-44 - Source: Krabinger 1:44 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The bald emperor bluntly threatened the Persian king and dismissed the envoys, and the Persians were terrified. ### Greek text ταρίχῃ κρεῶν ὑείων, ἀπολελαυκότα τοῦ χρόνου. ᾿Ιδόντα δὲ αὐτὸν οὔτε ἀναθορεῖν, οὔτε μεταποιῆσαί τι Δλέ- “γεται" καλίσαντα δὲ αὐτόθεν τοῦ! ἄνδρας, εἰδέναι τε φάναι παρ᾽ αὐτὸν ἤκονται' αὐτὸς γὰρ εἶναι Ἐαρῖνος εὐ. καὶ κελεύειν ἀπαγγεῖλαι τῷ νίῳ βασιλεῖ τήμε-" 3, προιδέχεσθαι πᾶν αν. ρον, εἰ μὴ σωφρονήσοι 3 ἐν μιᾷ σελήνῃ ψι-Ὁ ἄλσο! αὐτῷ, πὰν δὲ πεδίον λότέρον ἔσεσθαι. τῇς: Ἀαρίνου κεφαλῆς" ἅμα δὲ λέγοντά φασιν ἐκδῦναι τῷ πίλου, δεικνύντα τὴν κεφαλὴν» οὐδέν τι δασυτέραν παρακειμένου τοῦ κράνου: Ἑαϊ' εἰ μὲν πεινῷεν, ἐφεῖναι συνεμβαλεῖν τῇ χύτρᾳ" μὴ δεομέναυς δὲ, κελεύειν ᾿αὐθωρὸν ἀπηλλάχθαι καὶ ἔξω τοῦ Ῥωμαϊκοῦ χάρακος εἶναι, ὡς τῇς πρεσβείας αὐτοῖς τέλος εὑρούση!. Λέγεται τοίνυν καὶ τούτων ἀνενε- 1ὅ χθέντων ἐπὶ τὸ πλῆθοι, καὶ τὸν ἡγεμόνα τῶν πολεμίων, ὧν τὲ εἶδον, ὧν τε ἤκουσαν, ὅπερ εἰκὸς ἦν συμ βῆναι, φρίκην καὶ δέος ἐπιπεσεῖν ἅπασιν, εἰ πρὸς ἄνδρας μαχοῦνται τοιούτους, ὧν ὁ βασιλεὺς οὔτε βασιλεὺ ὃ ὧν, οὔτε φαλακρὸ; αἰσχύνεται, καὶ χύτραν παρατιθέμε- ### English translation (Claude) of salted pork that had seen some age. When he saw them, it is said, he neither jumped up nor changed anything, but called the men to him where he was, and said he knew they had come to him, for he himself was Carinus; and he told them to report to the young king that very day that, unless he came to his senses, he should expect every grove and every plain of his to be barer within a single month than Carinus's head. And as he spoke, they say, he took off his cap and showed his head, no hairier than the helmet lying beside him. If they were hungry, he let them dip into the pot with him; if they had no need, he ordered them to leave at once and be outside the Roman palisade, since their embassy had reached its end. It is said, then, that when this was reported to the multitude and to the leader of the enemy — what they had seen and what they had heard — there fell upon them all, as was likely, shuddering and fear at the thought of fighting such men, whose king is ashamed neither of being a king [in such a dress] nor of being bald, and, setting out a pot, ### Translation notes - Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 44 (Krabinger 1:44; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/44). ## Krabinger p. 45 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-45 - Source: Krabinger 1:45 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Earlier emperors went in person as spies and gave up power freely; the Romans long avoided the title ‘king’, and emperors still avoid it in their letters. ### Greek text νος συνδείπνους καλεῖ" ἀφικέσθαι. δὲ τὸν βασιλέα. τὸν ἀλαξόνα ᾿κατοῤῥωδήσαντα᾽. πάντα εἴκειν ἕτοιλιον ὄντα, τὸν ἐν. τιάρᾳ καὶ κάνδυϊ τῷ μετὰ χιτῶνος φαὺλων ἐρίων καὶ ἑ ἀίλου. ΡΘΡΥΣ » νυ Ἕτερον δὲ τούτου νεώτερον. ἀπούει;, οἶμαι" καὶ γὰρ οὐδὲ εἰκὸς ἀνήκοόν τινα εἷναι βασιλέως ἑαυτὸν ἐπιδόντος Ἷ) εἴσω τῆς πολεμίας γενέσθαι ἐν χρείᾳ κατασκοπῆς, αιμησαμένου σχῆμα πρεσβείας. “Δειτουργεῖν [τε] ὅ) γὰρ ἦν τότε τὸ πόλεων τε καὶ τρατευμάτων ἡγεῖσθαι" καὶ ἐξώμνυντό ἢ γε πολλοὶ τὴν τοιαύτην ἀρχήν. Εἰς δέ τις αὐτῶν καὶ ἐννεάσας τῷ ἡ βασιλεύειν, ἀπειπὼν πρὸ Β τοὺς πόνους ἑκὼν ἰδιώτης ἐγύρα δ). ᾿Επεὶ καὶ τοὔνομα αὐτό σοι δείξω τοῦ βασιλέως ὄψιμον, ἐκλιπὲς Ρωμαίοις γενόμενον ἀφ" οὗ Ταρκυνίου; ὁ δῆμοι ἐξήλασεν. ᾿Απὸ τούτου γὰρ ἡμεῖς μὲν ὑμᾶς ἀξιοῦμεν καὶ καλοῦμεν βασιλίας, καὶ γράφομεν οὕτωρ' ὑμεῖς δὲ, εἴτε εἰδότει, εἴτε μὴ, συνηθείᾳ δὲ συγχωροῦντει, τὸν ὄγκον τῇς προ;ῃηγορίας ἀναδυομένοις ἐοίκατε. Οὔκουν οὔτε πρὸς; πόἂν, οὔτε πρὸς ἰδιώτην, οὔτε πρὸς ὕπαρχον ὃ) γράφοντει, ### English translation (Claude) invites them to dinner; and that the boastful king, he of the tiara and the robe, came in terror, ready to yield everything to the man in a tunic of cheap wool and a felt cap. Another story, more recent than this, you know, I think; for it is not likely that anyone has not heard of the emperor who gave himself up to go into enemy country when reconnaissance was needed, disguised as an embassy. For then to lead cities and armies was a public service, and many even swore off such office. And one of them, having grown old in reigning, renounced the toils and of his own will became a private man. I will show you, too, that the very name of king came late, having lapsed among the Romans from the time the people drove out the Tarquins. From then on we for our part think you worthy of the title and call you kings and write so; but you, whether knowingly or not, yielding to custom, seem to shrink from the weight of the title. At any rate, when you write to a city, or to a private man, or to a prefect, ### Translation notes - The emperor who reconnoitred in disguise is probably Galerius (297); the one who abdicated is Diocletian (305). Krabinger brackets τε after “public service” as a deletion. His critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 45 (Krabinger 1:45; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/45). ## Krabinger p. 46 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-46 - Source: Krabinger 1:46 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Roman emperors call themselves autokratores, a republican title, out of a wise wariness of the name of king, which tyranny has discredited. ### Greek text οὔτε πρὸς ἄρχοντα βάρβαρον ἐκαλλωπίσασθέ ποτε τῷ "βασιλέως ὀνόματι" ἀλλ᾽ αὐτοκράτορες εἶναι ποιεῖσθε. 'Ὃ δὲ αὐτοκράτωρ ὄνομα τρατηγία; ἐεὶ, πάντα ποιεῖν ὑποσάσηγ᾽ καὶ ᾿Ιφικράτη; καὶ Περικλῆς ἔπλεον ᾿Αθύήνη- 53εν αὐτοκράτορες τρατηγοὶ, καὶ οὐκ ἐλύπει τοὔνομεα τὸν δῆμον τὸν ἀδυνάςευτον 1}), ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὸς ἐχειροτόνει τὴν «ςρατηγίαν νόμιμον οὖσαν. ᾿Αθύνῃσι μὲν οὖν καὶ βασιλεύς τις καλούμενος μικρὰ ἔπραττε καὶ ὑπεύθυνος - ἦν, ᾿εἰς τοὔνομια; τοῦ δήμου, οἶμαι, παίξοντοι, ἅτε ὄντος ἀλρατῶ; ἐλευθέρου 1}. ἀλλ᾽ ὄγε αὐτοκράτωρ αὐτοῖς ἢ οὔτε μόναρχος ἦν, καὶ σπουδαῖον ἦν καὶ πρᾶγμα καὶ ὄνομα, Πῶςς οὖν οὐ σαφὲς τοῦτο τεκερήριον τῇς σώφρονος ἐν τῇ Ῥωμαίων πολιτείᾳ προαιρίσεως, ὅτι, καίτοι μοναρχία προδήλως ἀποτελεσθεῖσα, μίσει τῶν τυραννίδος κακῶν διευλαβεῖται καὶ φειδομένως ἃ ἅπτεται τοῦ βασιλείας ὀνόλιατο!; μοναρχίαν γὰρ διαβάλλει μιὲν τυραννὶς Ἶ,. ξηλωτὴν δὲ ποιεῖ βασιλεία ", καὶ Πλάτων αὐτὴν θεῖον ἀγαθὸν ἐν ἀνθρώποι; καλεῖ. ᾽Ο δὲ αὐτὸς οὗτος τὸ θείας ### English translation (Claude) or to a barbarian ruler, you have never prided yourselves on the name of king, but are content to be emperors. And “autokrator” is the name of a generalship, one empowered to do everything. Iphicrates and Pericles sailed from Athens as generals with full powers (autokratores), and the name did not offend the people, who tolerated no overlord; the people themselves elected to the generalship, as a lawful office. At Athens, indeed, one called “king” did small things and was answerable to the people — the people, I think, playing with the name, since it was free and undiluted — but their autokrator was not a monarch, and both the thing and the name were serious. How, then, is this not a clear sign of the sober policy of the Roman constitution, that, though it plainly became a monarchy, it is wary through hatred of the evils of tyranny and touches the name of kingship sparingly? For tyranny brings monarchy into disrepute, but kingship makes it enviable, and Plato calls it a divine good among human beings. This same Plato deems that the one who has received a share of the divine ### Translation notes - At Athens the “king” (archon basileus) was a minor annual magistrate. Which passage of Plato is meant is uncertain. Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 46 (Krabinger 1:46; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/46). ## Krabinger p. 47 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-47 - Source: Krabinger 1:47 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Like God, who governs silently, the true king shuns theatrical display; only tyrants hide behind spectacle. ### Greek text αεετειληχὸς ᾽) μοίρας ἀξιοὶ πάντῃ ἄτυφον εἶναι" οὐ γὰρ σκηνοβατῶν, οὐδὲ τερατουργῶν ὁ θεὸς, ἀλλὰ δι᾿ ἀἁψόφου͵ 3") Βαίνων κελεύθου, κατὰ δίκην τὰ θνήτ᾽ ἄγει, ἢ, παντί τε ἁπανταχοῦ παρεεάναι τῷ πεφυκότι μετέχειν “ἢ ἕτοιμος. Οὕτως ἀξιῶ τὸν βασιλέα κοινὸν ἀγαθὸν καὶ ἄτυφον εἶναι. Τύραννοι δὲ εἰ θαυματοποιοῦσι.πρυπτόμενοί τε καὶ σὺν ἐκπλήξει φαινόμενοι, φθόνος οὐδεὶς χήτει σεμνότητος ἀληθινῇς ἐπὶ προςποίψσιν καταφεύγειν " τὸν γὰρ οὐδὲν ὑγιὲς ὄντα καὶ εἰδότα γε τοῦτο, τίς μιῃχανὴ, ἢ οὐχὶ φεύγειν τὸ ἐμφανὲς, φεύγοντα καταφρόνῃσιν; ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἡλίου τὸ μέχρι τήμερον οὐδεὶς πω καταπιφρόνηκε. Βαΐ τοι τί συνηθέςερον. θέακα; Καὶ βασιλεὺς εἰ τεθάῤῥγκεν ἀληθινὸς ὧν καὶ’ οὐκ ἐλεγχθησόμενο;, ἔσω κοινότατρε᾽ οὐδὲν γὰρ ἧττον, ### English translation (Claude) portion should be wholly free of vanity. For God does not tread the stage or work marvels for show, but, “going by a noiseless path, leads mortal things according to justice,” and is ready to be present everywhere to everything that by nature can share in him. So I deem that the king should be a common good and free of vanity. If tyrants work wonders, hiding themselves and appearing amid amazement, no one grudges them, for want of true dignity, their refuge in pretence; for one who has nothing sound in him and knows it, what means has he but to flee being seen, and so flee contempt? But no one to this day has ever despised the sun; and what sight is more familiar? A king too, if he is confident, being genuine and in no danger of exposure, let him be most accessible; for he will be no less, ### Extrabiblical texts - Euripides, Tro. 887-888 (Euripides (plays and fragments)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Euripides, Trojan Women 887–888. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 47 (Krabinger 1:47; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/47). ## Krabinger p. 48 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-48 - Source: Krabinger 1:48 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Agesilaus, lame and living in public, humbled the Persian king; only the frugal Epaminondas could defeat him. ### Greek text εἰ μὴ καὶ μᾶλλον ἀγατὸς ἔσται. Οὐδὲ τοῦ χωλοῖ βασιλέω,, ὃν ἐπαινεῖ “Ξενοφῶν ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ συγγράμματι, κατεγέλων οὔτε οὗς ἦγεν, οὔτε,δὶ ὧν ἦγεν, οὔτε ἐφ᾽ οὖς; ἐπορεύετο. Ἀαΐ τοι κατέλυεν οὗτος ἑκάτης πόλεως δὲν τοῖς δημοσίωτάτοι; χωρίοις, ἐν ᾧ πάντα ποιῶν καταφανέτάτος ἦν οἵν ᾿ἐπιμελὲς τὸν ἡγεμόνα τῇς Σπάρτη; ὁρᾷν' ἀλλ᾽ οὗτοι εἰς τὴν ᾿Ασίαν τε διαβὰς ὁλί. ζ γῳ «ρατεύματι; τὸν προςκυνούμενον ᾿ἄνθρωπον ὑπὸ τῶν ἀκατονομάςων ἐθνῶν ἐγγὺς ἦλθεν ἀποβιβάσαι 10τῇ, ἀρχῆξ᾽ τοῦ μὲν γὰρ φρονήματο, ἀπεβίβασε" καὶ, ἐπειδὴ τῶν οἴκοι τελῶν καλούντων τὰς ἐν ᾿Ασίᾳ πράἕξεις ᾿ἀφήρητο, νίκας Ἑλληνικὰς ἀνῃρεῖτο πολλὰς, ὑπὸ 'μόνου τε [τῶν] ἀνθρώπων ὑττᾶτο μαχόμενοι, ὑφ᾽ οὗ κρατηθῆναι μόνου τῶν ἁπάντων “εἰκὸς ἦν “ἢ ““γῃσίλαον, καὶ ὑπὲρ εὐτελείας ἀγωνιδόμενον. Ἔπαμιειμεάνδαι " ἦν οὗτος, ὃν ςεφαν οὖσαι μὲν αἱ πόλεις ἑκά- ἢ ### English translation (Claude) if not even more, admired. Nobody laughed at the lame king whom Xenophon praises in a whole book — neither those he led, nor those through whose land he led them, nor those against whom he marched. And yet he lodged in each city in the most public places, where everything he did was in plain view of anyone who cared to see the leader of Sparta. Yet he crossed into Asia with a small army and came near to bringing down from his rule the man whom countless nations worshipped — from his pride, indeed, he did bring him down; and when the authorities at home recalled him and he was robbed of his achievements in Asia, he won many victories in Greece, and was defeated in battle by one man only, the one man of all by whom it was likely that Agesilaus would be beaten, a man who strove even in frugality. This was Epaminondas, whom the cities, each crowning him, ### Translation notes - The lame king is Agesilaus, the subject of Xenophon's Agesilaus. Krabinger brackets τῶν before “men” as a deletion. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 48 (Krabinger 1:48; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/48). ## Krabinger p. 49 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-49 - Source: Krabinger 1:49 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Epaminondas kept his plain habits at banquets and cared for the blade, not the ornament, of his sword. ### Greek text λουν εὐωχησόμενον, ὁ. δὲ φοιτῶν αὐταῖς" οὐ γὰρ ἦν") ἄλλως ποιούντα μὴ οὐκ αἰτίαν ἔχειν τὸν ἐν ἀξιώματι " δριμέο; ὀξους ἐπέπινεν, ἵνα, φησὶ, τῇς οἴκοϊ διαίτης Ἔπα. μεινώνδας; μὴ ἐπιλάθοιτο. Ιγεανίσκυ δὲ ᾿Αττικοῦ τῆς Ὁ) ἡ μαχαίρας αὐτῷ τὴν κώπην ἐπισκώψαντοι, ὅτι ξύλου γέ φαύλου καὶ ἀκατέργατος: ἦν, οὐκοῦν ὅταν, ἔφη, μαχώμεθα, τῇς μὲν κώπης; οὐ πειράσῃ" τὸν. σίδῆρον δὲ υὐκ ἑνέραι “) σοι μέμψασθαι. ᾿- τ ΤΠ τ.Ὰ ὡἋ ἰ Εἰ δὲ βασιλιιὸν μὲν τὸ ἄρχειν, ἄρχει δὲ ὑποῖον. "3 δέον κρατεῖν. ἐξ ὧν οἱ. κρατεῖν. εἰδότιρ ἐπιτήδευμάτων ### English translation (Claude) invited to feast; and he went to them — for a man in high position could not do otherwise without incurring blame — and drank sharp vinegar besides, “so that Epaminondas,” he said, “may not forget his diet at home.” And when an Attic youth mocked the hilt of his sword because it was of cheap and unworked wood, “Well then,” he said, “when we fight you will not try the hilt; but you will not find the iron to blame.” If, then, ruling is a kingly thing, and one must rule by the practices ### Translation notes - A few garbled words in the last sentence are translated by sense. Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 49 (Krabinger 1:49; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/49). ## Krabinger p. 50 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-50 - Source: Krabinger 1:50 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Extravagance must be banished; the emperor must restore the old kingly simplicity, for the empire stands on a razor's edge. ### Greek text καὶ βίων, ὁρῶμεν ὅ ὡς οὐκ. ἀπὸ τῶν ἐκφύλων τε καὶ σοβαρῶν, ἀλλ' ἀπὸ τῶν μετρίων τε καὶ σωφρόνων πάντα ἐκ πάντων συναιρεῖται, βασιλείας ἐξοριςίον εἶναι τύφον καὶ πολυτέλειαν, ὡς οὐ μετὸν αὐτῇ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων. ὅ Καὶ ὁ λόγος ἐκ τούτου προῆκται δ). ᾿Επαναγάγωμεν δὲ ἡμεῖς τε Ὦ τὸν λόγον εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν ἀρχὴν, σύ τε εἶ, ") τὸ ἀρχαῖον πρᾶγμα τὸν βασιλέα" ἀνάγκη γάρ, κεκολασμένων ὃ) τῶν βίων καὶ σωφροσύνης ἐπανελθούσῃ!, συνεπανελθεῖν μὲν αὐτῇ τὰ παλαιὰ καλὰ, τῶν Β δὲ. ἐκ τῇ, ἱναντίας μερίδος ἀντιμετάσασιν πάντων γενέσθαι. Ἑαὶ σὺ, βασιλεῦ, τῇς ἐπαναγωγῇ; τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἄρξαιο καὶ ἀποδοίη; ἡμῖν λειτουργὸν τῇς πολιτείας τὸν βασιλέα" καὶ γὰρ ἐν οἷς ἐσμὲν οὐκέτι οἵα χωρῆσαι ῥᾳθυμία οὐδὲ πρόσω βῆναι" 1δ νῦν γὰρ πάντες ἐπὶ ξυροῦ ᾽ ἴρανται ἀκμῇς, καὶ δεῖ θεοῦ καὶ βασιλέω, ἐπὶ τὰ πράγματα, τὴν ὠδινομένην ### English translation (Claude) and ways of life by which those who know how to rule do rule, we see that everything in every way is achieved not by the outlandish and the haughty, but by the moderate and the temperate; so that vanity and extravagance must be banished from kingship, as having no part in what is foreign to it. From this point the speech digressed. Let us now bring the speech back to its proper beginning, and do you bring back that ancient thing, the king. For when lives have been chastened and temperance has returned, the good things of old must return with it, and everything on the opposite side must change places. May you, O emperor, begin the restoration of good things, and give us back the king as servant of the commonwealth. For in our present state there is no longer room for sloth, nor for going further on: now all things “stand on a razor's edge,” and affairs need God and an emperor to forestall the fate that has long been in labour ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 10.173 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “Stand on a razor's edge” is Iliad 10.173. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 50 (Krabinger 1:50; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/50). ## Krabinger p. 51 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-51 - Source: Krabinger 1:51 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Returning to the portrait of the king, Synesius recalls that the emperor must live among his soldiers to win their goodwill. ### Greek text χρόνον ἤδη συχνὸν τῆς ' Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῆς [τὴν] " εἰμαρμένην προαναιρήσοντος, ἣν, ἅμα συνάπτων τὸ 35.606 ἑξῃς τοῦ λόγου καὶ τὸν βασιλέᾳ δημιουργῶν, ὃν ἐνύργμὴν ἀγαλμα πάγκαλον ἱστάναι, δείξω γε σαφῶς ἐγγὺς οὖσαν, ἦν 3.) μὴ σοφῇ τε καὶ ἰσχυρὰ βασιλεία κωλύῃ " καὶ, ἵνα ὁ κωλύων αὐτὸς ἦ,, ἐκ τῶν ἐνόντων συμπαλαμήσομαι. Θεὸς δὲ ἀγαθοῖς ἀεί τε καὶ πάντως παρατάτῃς καὶ ἴλεω:. Πόθεν οὖν ἀπολιπόντες τὰ καινῇ διαπλαττόμενα, Ἰθτῷ πλαττομένῳ παρὰ τοῦ λόγου βασιλεῖ ) γνώμῃ περιηνέχθημεν εἰς τὰ καθετῶτα; ᾿Ηξίου φιλοσοφία τὸν βασιλέα θαμὰ ὁμιλεῖν ςρατιώταις, ἀλλὰ μ θαλαμεύε- Ὦ σθαι" τὴν γὰρ εὔνοιαν, ἢ μόνῃ παὶ μάλιςα βασιλέως ### English translation (Claude) now for a long time against the empire of the Romans. This fate, as I join the sequence of the speech and fashion the king whom I promised to set up as an all-beautiful statue, I will clearly show to be near, unless a wise and strong kingship prevents it; and, so that you may be the one who prevents it, I will help contrive it with what resources we have. And God is always and in every way the ally and the friend of the good. From where, then, leaving the new fashioning of the king whom the speech was moulding, were we carried round in thought to the present state of things? Philosophy deemed that the king should often keep company with soldiers and not live shut in his chamber; for goodwill, which alone and above all is a king's ### Translation notes - Krabinger brackets τήν before “fate” as a deletion. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 51 (Krabinger 1:51; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/51). ## Krabinger p. 52 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-52 - Source: Krabinger 1:52 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The soldiers must be the empire's own citizens; arming foreigners is like setting wolves among the sheepdogs. ### Greek text ἐεὶν ἰσχυρὸν φυλακτήριον, ἐδίδασκεν ἀπὸ τῇς ὁσημέραι συνηθείας ἀθροίξεσθαι. Ποδαποῖς; οὖν τὸ γένος οὖσι τοῖς τρατιώταις φιλόσοφος, ἐρατὴς ὧν βασιλέως, ἀξιοῖ ὁ καὶ παιδεύειν τὸ σῶμα καὶ συναυλίξεσθαι; ὃ δῆλον ὅτι τοιούτοις, οὗς ἀγροὶ καὶ πόλεις καὶ καθάπὰξ ἡ βασιλευομίνν γῇ δίδωσι προμάχους καὶ καταλέγει φύλακας τῇ πολιτείᾳ τὲ καὶ τοῖς νόμοις, ὑφ᾽ ὧν ἐτρά: φησάν τε καὶ ἐπαιδεύθησαν; οὗτοι 'γάρ εἰσιν, οὖς παὶ κυσὶν ὁ Πλάτων εἴκαδεν. ᾿4λλ᾽ οὔτε τῷ ποιμένι μετὰ Ἰθ κυνῶν τοὺς λύκους τακτέον, κἄν σκύμνοι ποτὲ ἄναι-, ρεθέντες ὅ τιθασσεύεσθαι δόξωσιν, ἢ κακῶς αὖὐτοῖς πιτεύσει τὴν ποίμνην" ὅταν γάρ τινα ταῖς πυσὶν ἀσθένειαν ἢ ῥᾳθυμίαν ἐνίδωσιν, αὐταῖς τε καὶ ποίμνῃ καὶ ποιμέσιν ἐπιχειρήσουσιν. οὔτε τῷ νομο- 1ὅ θέτῃ δοτέον ὅπλα τοῖς οὐ τεχθεῖσί τε καὶ τραφεῖσιν ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῦ νόμοις" οὐ γὰρ ἔχει παρὰ τῶν τοιούτων οὐδὲν εὐνοίας ἐνέχυρον. 'Ὥς ἕξιν ἀνδρὸς θαρ. ### English translation (Claude) strong safeguard, she taught is gathered from daily familiarity. Of what race, then, are the soldiers with whom the philosopher, as a lover of the king, deems he should train his body and live in camp? Clearly of such as the fields and cities, and in a word the land under his rule, provide as champions and enrol as guardians of the commonwealth and of the laws by which they were reared and educated; for these are the men whom Plato likened to dogs. But the shepherd must not place wolves among his dogs, even if, caught as cubs, they seem to have been tamed, or he will trust his flock to them to his cost; for whenever they see some weakness or slackness in the dogs, they will attack the dogs, the flock and the shepherds together. Nor must the lawgiver give arms to those not born and reared under his laws; for from such men he has no pledge of goodwill. For it belongs to a man of reckless ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Resp. 416a (Plato (works)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The guardian-dogs are Plato, Republic 375e–376b; the wolves among dogs recall Republic 416a. Synesius's argument against the Gothic soldiers in Roman service, which follows, is translated as written. Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 52 (Krabinger 1:52; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/52). ## Krabinger p. 53 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-53 - Source: Krabinger 1:53 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Armed foreigners in the empire are like Tantalus's stone hanging by a thread; they must be expelled like a foreign body. ### Greek text σαλίέου ' μάντεως ᾽ νεότητα πολλὴν ἑτερότροφον, ἔθεσιν ἰδίοις χρωμένην, ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ τὰ πολέμια} μελετῶσαν ὁρῶντα μὴ δεδιέναις δεῖ γὰρ ἤτοι πάντας αὐτοὺς πιςεῦσαι φιλοσοφεῖν,» τούτου καλῶς ἀπογνόνὅτας οἴεσθαι τὸν Ταντάλου λίθον ὑπὲρ τῇς πολιτείας λεπτοῖς; καλωδίοις ἠρτῆσθαι. ᾿Ὥ, τότε πρῶτον ἐπιχειρήσουσιν, ὅτε πρῶτον αὐτοῖς οἰῤσονται προχωρήσειν ) τὴν πεῖραν. Τούτου μὲν οὖν καὶ ἀκροβολισμοὶ τινες ἤδη γίνονται, καὶ φλεγμαίνει μέρῃ συχνὰ τῇς: ἀρχῇ: ὥςπερ σώματοι, οὐ δυναμένων αὐτῷ συγκραθῆναι τῶν ἀλλοτρίων εἰς. ἁρμονίαν ὑγιεινήν. Ἔκκρῖναι δὲ “δεῖν τἀλλότριον ἀπὸ τε σωμάτων καὶ πόλεων ἰατρῶν (αὶ τε καὶ τρατηγῶν παῖδες ἂν εἴποιεν. Τὸ δὲ μήτε ἄἂντίπαλον αὐτοῖς κατασκευάξεσθαι δύναμιν, καὶ, ὡς ἐκείνης οἰκείας οὔσης, ἀςρατείαν τε διδόναι πολλοῖς αἰτοῦσι, καὶ πρὸς ἄλλοις ἔχειν ἀφιέναι τοὺς ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ, ### English translation (Claude) boldness, or of a prophet, not to fear when he sees a great body of youth, reared elsewhere and following its own customs, practising the arts of war in our land. One must either believe that all of them are philosophers, or, despairing of that, think that the stone of Tantalus hangs over the commonwealth by thin cords. They will attack at the first moment they think the attempt will succeed. Of this there are already some skirmishes, and many parts of the empire are inflamed, as of a body, when foreign elements cannot blend with it into a healthy harmony. That the foreign must be expelled from bodies and from cities, the sons of physicians and of generals alike would tell you. Not to build up a force to match them, and, as if that force were our own, to grant exemption from service to the many who ask it, and to let those in the country busy themselves with other things — ### Extrabiblical texts - Pindar, Ol. 1.57-58 (Pindar (odes and fragments)): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The stone of Tantalus hung over the sinner's head (Pindar, Olympian 1.57–58). ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 53 (Krabinger 1:53; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/53). ## Krabinger p. 54 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-54 - Source: Krabinger 1:54 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Romans themselves, from farmers to philosophers to idle theatre-goers, should be enlisted instead of the Scythians. ### Greek text τί ἄλλο, καὶ σπευδόντων ἐξὶν εἰς πλεθρὸν ἀνθῥώπων; δίον πρὸ τοῦ Σκύθα; δεῦρο 'σιδηροφοροῦντας ἀνέχεσθαι παρά τε τῆς φίλης γεωργίας ἄνδρας αἰτῆσαι τοὺς μαχεσομένου; ὑπὲρ αὐτῇ: καὶ καταλέγειν εἰς τοσοῦὅτον, ἐν ᾧ δὴ καὶ τὸν φιλόσοφον ἀπὸ τὸ φροντιςη- ἢ ρίρυ, καὶ τὸν χειροτέχνην απὸ τοῦ βαναυσεῖν ἀναΞήσαντες,, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πωλητηρίου τὸν ὄντα πρὸς τούτῳ, τόν τε κηφῆνα δῆμον, ὃ; ὑπὸ τῆς πάνυ σχο-., λῆς ἐγκαταβιοὶ τοῖς; θεάτροις, πείσομὲν ποτε καὶ σπουδάσαι, πρὶν ἀπὸ τοῦ γελᾷν ἐπὶ 'τὸ κλάειν ἀφίκωνται, αεήτε τῇς χείρονος αἰδοῦς 5, αὖτε τῆς ἀμείνογος ἐμποδὼν οὔσης τῷ τὴν ἰσχὺν Ρωμαίοις οἰκείαν γενέσθαι. Τέτακται 3“) γὰρ ὥ!περ ἐν οἴκῳ, καὶ πολιτείαις ὁμοίως τὸ μὲν ὑπερασπίξον κατὰ τὸ ἄῤῥεν, τὸ δὲ εἰς τὴν. ἐπιμέλειαν ἑσραμμένον τῶν εἴσω κατὰ τὸ θήλυι Πῶς ἃ ### English translation (Claude) what else is this but the act of men hastening to their ruin? Instead of putting up with Scythians bearing arms here, we should ask our beloved farming for men to fight on its behalf, and enlist them to the point of raising even the philosopher from his think-shop and the craftsman from his workbench and the trader from his market; and we shall persuade even the drone people, who from excess of leisure live in the theatres, to be serious at last, before they pass from laughing to weeping — and let neither the worse shame nor the better stand in the way of strength becoming the Romans' own. For as in a household, so in commonwealths, the part that holds the shield is ranked as male, and the part turned to care for what is within as female. How, then, ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Resp. 552c (Plato (works)): allusion, low confidence - Euripides, Hipp. 385-387 (Euripides (plays and fragments)): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The “Scythians” are the Goths. The “drone people” recalls Plato, Republic 552c; the two kinds of shame, Euripides, Hippolytus 385–387. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 54 (Krabinger 1:54; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/54). ## Krabinger p. 55 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-55 - Source: Krabinger 1:55 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: If the army is foreign while the citizens are unarmed, the soldiers will become masters; Rome must fight its own wars and exclude barbarians from office. ### Greek text οὖν ἀνεκτὸν παρ᾽ ἡμὶν ἀλλότριον εἶναι τὸ ἀῤῥεν; πῶς δὲ οὐκ αἴσχιον 4.) παραχωρῦδαι τὴν εὐανδροτάτην ἀρχὴν ἑτέροις. τῇς ἐν πολέμῳ φιλοτιμέας; ᾿4λλ᾽ ἔγωγε, καὶ εἰ νίκας ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν νικῷεν πολλᾶς, αἰσχυνοίμην ὅ ἂν ὠφελούμενοι. ᾿Εκεῖνο μέντοι γινώσκω φρωνέω τε " καὶ γὰρ ἐγγύς ἔστιν “ἅπαντος; “Ἷ τῦ. νοῦν ἔχοντος, ὡς, ὅταν τὰ λεγόμενα ταῦτα, τὸ ἄῤῥεν τε καὶ τὸ θῆλυ, ααὐτε ἀδελφὰ τυγχάνῃ, μήτε ἄλλως ὁμογενὴ, μικρὰ πρόφασις ἀρκέσει τοὺς ὡπλισμένους τῶν ἀευπολούντων δεσπότα, ἀξιοῦν εἶναι" καὶ μαχήσονταί ποτε ἀπό-Β. λέμοι πρὸς τοὺς ἠἡσκημένου; τὸν ἐν ὅπλοις ἀγῶνα. Πρὶν οὖν εἰς τοῦτο ἥκειν, ἐφ᾽ ὃ πρόεισιν ἤδη, ἀνακτητέον 4“) ἡμῖν τὰ 'Ρωμαίων, φρονήματα καὶ συνεθιεέον αὐτουργεῖν ἑὰς νίπας, μηδὲ κοινωνίας ἀνεχομένους, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπαξιοῦντας ἐν ἁπάσῃ τάξει τὸ βάρβαρον. ᾿Αρχῶν δὲ δὴ καὶ δ) πρῶτον ἀπεληλάσθων καὶ τῶν ἐν βουλευτηρίῳ γερῶν ἀποκεκόφθων οἷς ὑπθρξεν ἢ) ### English translation (Claude) can it be tolerated among us that the male part is foreign? And how is it not most shameful to yield to others the most manly sphere, the honour that is won in war? For my part, even if they won many victories on our behalf, I would be ashamed to be helped by them. This, however, I know and consider — and it lies near to everyone with sense — that when these two, as we call them, the male and the female, are neither siblings nor otherwise of one race, a small pretext will be enough for the armed to claim to be masters of the citizens; and those unfit for war will one day have to fight those trained in the contest of arms. Before we come to this, then, toward which things are already moving, we must recover the spirit of the Romans and accustom ourselves to win our victories with our own hands, tolerating no partnership but refusing the barbarian in every rank. First let them be driven from the magistracies and cut off from the privileges of the senate, those to whom ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 55 (Krabinger 1:55; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/55). ## Krabinger p. 56 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-56 - Source: Krabinger 1:56 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Gothic chieftains in sheepskins sit in the senate beside the consul, while every Roman household has Scythian slaves. ### Greek text αἰσχύνη τὰ παρὰ 'ῬῬωμαίοις πάλαι καὶ δοκοῦντα καὶ ὄντα σεμνότατα, ἐπεὶ νῦν γε καὶ τὴν βουλαίαν Θέμιν Ὁ αὐτὴν καὶ θεὸν οἶμαι τὸν ςτράτιον ἐγκαλύπτεσθαι, ὅταν ὁ σισυροφόρο; ὅ ἄνθρωπος ἐξηγῆται χλαμύδας ἐχόνὅτων, καὶ ὅταν ἀποδύ; τις ὅπερ ἐνῆπτο κώδιον, περιβάλῃται τήβεννον καὶ τοῖς Ῥωμαίων τέλεσι συμφροντίξῃ περὶ τῶν καθεστώτων, προεδρίαν ἔχων παρ᾽ αὐτόν᾽ που τὸν ὕπατον, νομίμων ἀνδρῶν ὀπίσω θακούντων. ᾿4λλ᾽ οὗτοί γε μικρὸν τοῦ βουλευτηρίου᾽ προκύψαντες, αὖθις ἐν τοῖς κωδίοις εἰσὶ, καὶ, ὅταν τοῖς ὁπαδοῖς ὅ) συγγίνωνται, τῆς τηβέννου καταγελῶσι, μεθ' ἧ; οὐκ εἶναί φασι ξιφουλκίας εὐμοιρίαν. Θαυμάδω δ᾽ ἔγωγε ᾿πολ- Ὦ λαχῇ τε ἄλλῃ καὶ οὐχ ὕκιςα ταύτῃ τὴν ἀτοπίαν ἡμῶν" ἅπας γὰρ οἶκος ὁ καὶ ἢ κατὰ μικρὸν εὖ πράττων Σκυθικὸν ἔχει τὸν δοῦλον, καὶ ὁ τραπεδοποιὸς, καὶ ὁ περὶ τὸν ἱπνὸν Ὗ, καὶ ὁ ἀμφορεαφόρο; “Σκύθης ἐεὶν ἑκάστῳ" τῶν τε ἀκολούθων οἱ τοὺς [χθαμαλοὺς σκιμρο ### English translation (Claude) the things that among the Romans of old both seemed and were most august have been a disgrace. For now, I think, even Themis of the council and the god of armies veil their faces whenever the man in a skin coat commands those in military cloaks, and whenever someone puts off the sheepskin he wore, puts on a toga, and deliberates with the Roman magistrates about the state of affairs, holding the front seat somewhere beside the consul himself, while lawful men sit behind. But these men, once they have stepped a little way out of the senate house, are back in their sheepskins, and when they are with their followers they laugh at the toga, saying that in it there is no ease in drawing a sword. I marvel at our absurdity in many other ways, and not least in this: every household that does even moderately well has a Scythian slave; the table-setter, the man at the oven, the amphora-bearer, is for everyone a Scythian; and of the attendants, those who carry on their shoulders ### Translation notes - Krabinger brackets the words 'low stools' (χθαμαλοὺς σκιμποδίσκους), which run over into the next page, as a deletion; they are left out. His critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 56 (Krabinger 1:56; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/56). ## Krabinger p. 57 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-57 - Source: Krabinger 1:57 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The same blond barbarians who are Rome's slaves in private are its rulers in public, as once the gladiators Crixus and Spartacus rose against Rome. ### Greek text ποδίσκου!] ὀκλαδίας ἐπὶ τῶν μων ἀνατιθέμενοι, ἐφ᾽ ᾧ " τοῖς ἐωνημένοις ἐν ταῖς ἀγυιαῖς. εἶναι καθίδεσθαι, Σικύθαι πάντες εἰσὶν, ἄνωθεν ἀποδεδειγμένου͵ τοῦ γένους ἐπιτηδείου τε καὶ ἀξιωτάτου δουλεύειν 'Ῥω-. μαίοι. Τὸ δὲ τοὺ, ξανθοὺς τούτους καὶ κομῶντας Εὐ-. βοεικῶς παρὰ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἰδίᾳ μὲν οἰκέτας ἃ εἶναι, δημοσίᾳ δὲ ἄρχοντας,. ἄηθες ὄν, τῇς θέας γένόιτο ἂν τὸ παραδρξότατον, καὶ, εἰ “μὴ τοῦτο ἔκιν͵, οὐκ ἂν εἰδείην, ὁπῆϊον ἂν εἴη τὸ καλούμενον αἴνιγμα. Ἔ» Γαλλίᾳ " μὲν οὖν Ἰρίξος καὶ Σπάρτακος ὁπλοφοροῦντε; ἀδόξως, -ἶνα θεάτρῳ γένοιντο τοῦ δήμου. “Ῥωμαίων καθάρσια, ἐπειδὺ δραπετεύσαντες τοῖς νόμοις ### English translation (Claude) the folding chairs on which their buyers may sit in the streets are all Scythians, the race having long since proved fit and most deserving to be slaves of the Romans. But that these fair-haired men, with their hair long like the Euboeans, should be household slaves in private among the same people and rulers in public would be the most paradoxical of sights, being unheard of; and if this is not a riddle, I would not know what the thing called a riddle might be. In Italy, Crixus and Spartacus bore arms ingloriously, to make a spectacle for the people as purifications for the Romans; but when they ran away and held a grudge against the laws, ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 2.542 (Homer, Iliad): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - “Long-haired like the Euboeans” recalls the Abantes of Iliad 2.542. The scan reads “Gaul” (Γαλλίᾳ), probably a misreading of “Italy” (Ἰταλίᾳ), where Spartacus's revolt took place (73–71 BC); translated as Italy. “Purifications” means gladiators, whose shows were sometimes treated as expiations. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 57 (Krabinger 1:57; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/57). ## Krabinger p. 58 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-58 - Source: Krabinger 1:58 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Spartacus's motley slaves nearly destroyed Rome; far more dangerous are whole armies kin to Rome's slaves, led by their own generals. ### Greek text ἑμνησικάκησαν, τὸν. οἰκετικὸν κληθέντα πόλεμον συνεεήσαντο, βαρυσυμφορώτατον ἐν τοῖς μάλιτα τῶν τότε "Ρωμαίοις γενόμενον" ἐφ᾽ οὗς ὑπάτων καὶ «ρατηγῶν καὶ τῇ, Πομπηΐου" τύχῃς ἐδέησεν αὐτοῖς, “ἐγγὺς ἐλθούρης τῇς πόλεως ἀναρπασθῆναι τῆς γῆ:-. Ἰζαίτοι- Βὶ γε οἱ Σκαρτάκῳ καὶ Ἀρίξῳ συναποςάντες οὔτε ἐκείνοι, οὔτε ἀλλήλοις ἦσαν ὁμόφυλοι, ἀλλ᾽ ἡὶ κοινωνία τῆς τύχη!. ἐπειλγνεμένῃ προφάσεω!,, ὁμογνώμόνας ἐποίει. Φύσει γὰρ ἅπαν, οἶμαι, πολέμιον, 1θὅταν ἐλπίσῃ κρατήσειν τοῦ κυρίου, τὸ δοῦλον. ᾿ρ᾽ οὖν ὁμοίως ἔχει καὶ παρ᾽ ἡμῖνς ἢ τῷ παντὶ μεγαλειότερον τὰς ὑποθέσεις τῶν ἀτόπων ἐκερίφομεν» Οὔτε γάρ δύο ἑἐςὸν, οὔτε ἀτίμω παρ᾽ ἡμῖν οἱ φάσεως ἄν ἄρ-͵ ἕοντες, ἀλλὰ ερατεύματα μέγαλα καὶ ᾿παλαμναῖα καὶ συγγενῇ τῶν παρ᾽. ἡμῖν δούλων, εἶςι τὴν. Ῥωμαίων ἡγε- Ὁ μονίαν εἰρηῤῥηκότα πακῇ' μοίρᾳ, παρέχεται τρατηψιτηά, ### English translation (Claude) they organized what was called the Servile War, the most disastrous of the wars of that time for the Romans. Against them the Romans needed consuls and generals and the good fortune of Pompey, and the city came near to being snatched from the earth. And yet those who revolted with Spartacus and Crixus were of the same race neither as those leaders nor as one another; but the common fortune, seizing a pretext, made them of one mind. For everything servile, I think, is by nature hostile when it hopes to overcome its master. Is it, then, the same with us, or have we stored up the occasions of absurdity on a far greater scale? For with us it is not two men, nor men without honour, who would lead a revolt, but great and bloodstained armies, kin to our slaves, which, having burst into the empire of the Romans in an evil hour, furnish generals ### Translation notes - Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 58 (Krabinger 1:58; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/58). ## Krabinger p. 59 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-59 - Source: Krabinger 1:59 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Gothic soldiers and their slaves are a fortress within the empire; the army must be purged of them like darnel from wheat. ### Greek text γοὺς μάλα ἐν ἀξιώματι παρὰ σφίσιν αὐτοῖς καὶ παρ᾽ ἡμῖν ἡμετέρῃ κακίῃ. Τούτων, ὅταν ἐθέλωσι, πρὸς οἷς ᾿ἔχουσι, καὶ τοὺς οἰκέτας ἡγοῦ ςρατιώτας εἶναι! μάλα ἰταμοὺ; καὶ θρασεῖς, ἔργοις ἀνοσιωτέροις τῇς αὐτονομίας ἐμφορησομένουι. Ἑαθαιρετέον οὖν ὑμῖν τὸν ἐπιτει- “ χισμὸν, καὶ τὴν ἔξωθεν αἰτίαν ἑξαιρετέον τῇς νόσου, πρὶν ἀποσημῆναι “3 καὶ τὸ ῥῆγμα τὸ ὕπουλον, πρὶν Ὦ ἐλεγχθῆναι τὴν τῶν ἐνοικούντων δυςμένειαν. ᾿Αρχόμενά τοι κρατεῖται τὰ κακὰ, κρατύνεται δὲ προϊόντα. 1ἴαθαρτέον δὴ τῷ βασιλεῖ τὸ ςρατόπεδον, ὥ!περ θημῶνα πυρῶν, οὗ δειάν τε ἐκκρίνομεν καὶ ὅσα παραβλατάνει, λύμη τῷ γενναίῳ τε καὶ γνησίῳ’ σπέρματι. Ἐὶ δέ σοι δοκῶ τὰ μηκέτι ῥάδια συμβουλεύειν, οὐκ ἐννενόηκα:, ἀνδρῶν ποίων μὲν ὄντι σοὶ βασιλεῖ, περὶ δὲ ἔθνου; ὁποίου τοὺς λόγους ποιοῦμαι; Οὐ “Ῥωμαῖοι ### English translation (Claude) held in very high honour among their own people, and among us through our own baseness. Reckon that, whenever they wish, their slaves too, besides the soldiers they have, will be soldiers, very reckless and bold, ready to glut themselves on the more unholy deeds of independence. You must, then, pull down this fortress raised against us, and remove the outside cause of the disease before the hidden abscess shows itself and bursts, before the hostility of those who live among us is exposed. Evils are mastered at their beginning and grow strong as they advance. The emperor must purge the army as one purges a heap of wheat, separating out the darnel and whatever grows up alongside, a bane to the noble and genuine seed. And if I seem to you to advise what is no longer easy, you have not considered what kind of men you are king of, and about what kind of nation I am speaking. Are not the Romans ### Translation notes - Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 59 (Krabinger 1:59; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/59). ## Krabinger p. 60 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-60 - Source: Krabinger 1:60 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Romans rule the world; the Scythians are a slave race, always driven from their land by one people after another. ### Greek text ν᾿. ᾿,,,“« Σ.. » "σε", Ψὴ ν᾽ Ω μεν περιεγένοντο, αφ Ὃν και τουνομα αὐτων εἰς αν βωπου; ἠκούσθη, καὶ κρατοῦσιν ἁπάντων, οἷς συμμίξει- δ᾽ αν,. καὶ χειρὶ. καὶ γνώμῃ, καὶ τὴν γὴν ἐπῆλθον, ὥϊπερ “Ομηρός φησι “) τοὺς θεούς" 5. ᾿Ανθρώπων ὕβριν τε καὶ εὐνομίαν ἐφέποντε; Δ) Σκύθα; δὲ ᾽) τούτους Ηρόδοτός τέ φησι καὶ ἡμεῖς ὁρῶμεν. κατεχομένους ἅπαντας ὑπὸ “νόσου θηλείας ὅ). Οὗτοι γάρ εἰσιν, ἀφ᾽ ὧν οἱ πανταχοῦ δοῦλοι οἱ μηδὲποτε γῇς ἐγκρατεῖς, δι᾽ οὖς ἡ ΣΣκυθῶν ἐρημία πεπαροιίαφαι, φεύγοντες ἀεὶ τὴν οἰκείαν" οὗ, ἐξ ἠἡθέων τῶν «σφετέρων, φασὶν οἱ τὰ παλαιὰ παραδόντες, Ἀιμμέριοί 8Β τε ἀνέφρησαν πρότερον, καὶ αὖθις ἕτεροι, καὶ αἱ γυναϊκές ποτε, καὶ" οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν, καὶ ὁ Μακεδὼν, ὑφ᾽ ὧν ### English translation (Claude) … the ones who prevailed, from which their very name came to be heard among men, and who rule all with whom they have engaged, both by hand and by judgment, and have gone over the earth, as Homer says of the gods, “watching over the insolence and the lawfulness of men”? But these Scythians, as Herodotus says and as we see, are all held by a “female disease.” For they are the people from whom slaves come everywhere, who have never been masters of land, through whom the Scythian desert has become a proverb, always fleeing their own country. As those who have handed down ancient history tell, the Cimmerians first drove them from their homes, and then others, and once the women, and your fathers, and the Macedonian, by whom ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 17.487 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence - Herodotus, Hist. 1.105 (Herodotus, Histories): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The first line of the page is lost in the scan (marked …). The Homeric line is Odyssey 17.487; the “female disease” of the Scythians is Herodotus 1.105. “The women” are the Amazons; “your fathers” as printed is uncertain (Darius's Persians may be meant); “the Macedonian” is Alexander or his father Philip. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 60 (Krabinger 1:60; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/60). ## Krabinger p. 61 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-61 - Source: Krabinger 1:61 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Goths came to Rome as suppliants, rebelled, were defeated by Theodosius, and were then pardoned and settled as allies on Roman land. ### Greek text τῶν μὲν εἰς τοὺ εἴσω, τῶν δὲ εἰς τοὺς ἔξω προὐχώρῃσαν ἢ). αὶ οὐ παύονταί γε, ἕως ἂν ὦσι τοῖς; καταντικρὺ παρὰ τῶν ἐλαυνόντων ἀντιδιδόμενοι " ἀλλ᾽, ὅταν ἐμπέσωσιν ἄφνω τοῖς οὐ 'προιδεχομένοις, ἐπὶ χρόδνον ταράττουσιν, ὥςπερ ᾿Ασσυρίους ᾽) πάλαι καὶ Μήδους καὶ Παλαιείνους, καὶ τὸ νῦν ᾿δὴ τοῦτο παρ᾽ ἡμᾶς 1.) οὐ πολεμῃσείοντες ἦλθον, ἀλλ᾽ ἱκετεύσοντες Ἂν, ἐπειδὴ πάλιν ἀνίταντος ΜΙαλακωτέροι; δὲ ἐντυχόντες οὐ τοῖς ὅπλοις Ῥωμαΐων, ἀλλὰ τοῖς θεσιν, ὥπερ ἴ-α σως; ἔδει πρὸς ἱκέτας, γένος ἀμαθὲς τὸ εἰκὸς ἀπεδίδου, καὶ ἐθρασύνετο, καὶ ἠἡγνωμόνει τὴν εὐεργεσίαν, ὑπὲρ οὗ πατρὶ τῷ σῷ δίκας ἐπ᾿ αὐτοὺς ὠπλισμένῳ δίδοντες, αὖθιρ ἦσαν οἰκτροὶ καὶ ἱκέται.) σὺν γυναιξὶν ἐκαθίδον" ὁ δὲ τῷ πολέμῳ νικῶν ἐλέῳ παρὰ πλεὶῖ- 1ὅτον ἡττᾶτο, καὶ ἀνίτῃ τῇς ἱκετείας, καὶ συμμιάχους ἐποίει, καὶ πολιτείας ἠξίου, καὶ μετεδίδου γερῶν, καὶ Ὑῦ: τι ἰδάσατο τοῖς παλαμναίοι; ᾿Ρωμαϊκῇ:, ἀνὴρ τῷ μεγαλόφῥρονε! καὶ γενναίῳ τῇ: φύσεως ἐπὶ τὸ πρᾶον ἢ ### English translation (Claude) some were driven inward, others outward. And they do not stop until those who drive them hand them over in turn to the peoples opposite. But when they fall suddenly upon people who do not expect them, they cause trouble for a time, as long ago to the Assyrians and Medes and Palestinians. And now this people came to us not to make war but to beg, since they had been uprooted again. Meeting with gentler things — not the arms of the Romans but their customs, as was perhaps right toward suppliants — the ignorant race paid back the expected return: it grew insolent and was ungrateful for the kindness. For this they paid the penalty to your father when he armed himself against them, and were again pitiable suppliants and sat down with their women. And he, victor in the war, was for the most part defeated by pity: he raised them from their supplication, made them allies, thought them worthy of citizenship, gave them a share of privileges, and allotted to those bloodstained men some Roman land — a man who, through the greatness and nobility of his nature, inclined toward mildness ### Extrabiblical texts - Herodotus, Hist. 1.105 (Herodotus, Histories): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Synesius refers to the Gothic crossing of the Danube (376), the war that followed, and Theodosius's settlement with the Goths (382). The Scythian raid on the Assyrians, Medes and Palestinians is Herodotus 1.103–106. Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 61 (Krabinger 1:61; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/61). ## Krabinger p. 62 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-62 - Source: Krabinger 1:62 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The pardoned Goths despise Rome, and their example draws other barbarians; Rome must recover its glory and drive them out. ### Greek text χρησάμενοι. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἀρετῆς γε τὸ βάρβαρον οὐ ξυνίνσιν. ἀρξάμενοι γὰρ ἐκεῖθεν ),. τὸ μέχρι τοῦδε παταγελῶσιν ἡμῶν, εἰδότες ὧν τε ἦσαν (ἄξιοι παρ᾽ ἡμῶν, καὶ ὧν ἡξιωθησαν" τό τε κλέος τοῦτο γείτοσιν αὐτῶν ἤδη τὴν ἐφ᾽ ἡμὰς ὡδοποίησε. - ἴαί τινες ἐκφοιτῶσιν ἱπποτο- ᾿ξόται ξένοι παρὰ τοὺς ῥᾳδίου; ἀνθρώπονς, φιλοφροσύ- “μὴν αἰτοῦντες, παράδειγμα ἐκείνους τοὺς χείρους. ποιούμενοι. Καὶ προβαίνειν ἔοικε τὸ κακὸν εἷς τὴν καλου- Ἃ μένην; ὑπὸ τῶν πολλῶν πειθανάγκην. Φιλοσοφίᾳ 1τ0γὰρ οὐ διενεκτέον ὑπὲρ τῶν ὀνομάτων, ὑπηρεσίαν τῇ διανοίᾳ ξυτούσῃ, κἂν χαμιόθεν αὐτὴν εἰς τὰ πρά-,γματα. συμπορίξηται τρανύν τε καὶ ἐφαρμόξουσαν. Πῶς οὖν οὐ χαλεπὸν ἀναμαχεσαμένους τὸ κλέος, ᾿Εξελάᾳν ἐνθένδε κύνας ἢ Ἀηρεσσιφορήτου;; ### English translation (Claude) in his dealings. But the barbarian does not understand virtue. Beginning from then, they have laughed at us to this day, knowing what they deserved from us and what they were thought worthy of; and this fame of theirs has already made the road to us for their neighbours. And some foreign mounted archers now come out to these easy-going men, asking for kind treatment, taking those worse men as their example. And the evil seems to be advancing toward what most people call “persuasion by force”; for philosophy should not quarrel about names, if it seeks the service of thought, even if it fetches it from the ground, clear and fitting, for the matter in hand. How, then, shall we not, once we have fought back for our glory, “drive away from here the dogs borne on by the fates”? ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 8.527 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “Mounted archers” are probably the Huns. The quotation is Iliad 8.527. The construction of the last sentence is damaged; it is translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 62 (Krabinger 1:62; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/62). ## Krabinger p. 63 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-63 - Source: Krabinger 1:63 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: If the emperor turns his anger on the Goths, they will either farm as subjects or flee back across the Danube. ### Greek text τὸ γενόμενον ἀπ᾽ αὐτῇς ἐκλιπὲς. καὶ ἡθμηροι αὐτὸ τὔθυρίσι τοῖρ. ἀρίτο "ὁ.. ἶ. Θυμὸς δὲ μέγα!. ἐσὶ ἐρίων, βασιλήων. τς ' ᾿Θυμοῦ οὖν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας ὅ), καὶ ἢ᾽ γεωργήσονὅσιν ἐξ ἐπιτάγματοι, ὥπερ πάλαι Ἶ. Πᾳκεδαιμονίοις ΝΜῖεσύνιοι. ὅ τὰ ὅπλα καταβαλόντες. εἰλώτευον, καὶ φεύξονται τὴν αὐτὴν ὁδὸν αὖθις, τοῖς πέραν τοῦ Ἶ. ποταμρῦ διαγγέλλοντες, ὡς οὐκ ἐκεῖνα. ἔτι͵ παρὰ 'Ῥωμιαίοις͵ τὰ μείλιχα " ἀλλ᾽ ἐξηγεῖταί 1}) τις αὐτῶν, νέος τε καὶ γενναῖο!,; ἴ ἰ. ᾿Ζεινὸς ἀνὴρ, τάχα κεν καὶ ἀναίτιον αἰτιόῳτο.. σ ### English translation (Claude) … “Great is the wrath of kings.” Let the king, then, be wrathful against these men, and either they will farm under orders, as the Messenians of old laid down their arms and served the Lacedaemonians as helots, or they will flee again by the same road, bringing word to those beyond the river that the Romans' old mildness is no more, but that a young and noble man leads them — “a terrible man, who might even blame the blameless.” ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 2.196 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Il. 11.654 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The opening words are garbled in the scan (they seem to introduce Homer) and are marked …. The quotations are Iliad 2.196 and 11.654. The river is the Danube. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 63 (Krabinger 1:63; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/63). ## Krabinger p. 64 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-64 - Source: Krabinger 1:64 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: A king strong in war secures peace, which is war's goal; he should visit the civilian population and govern distant parts through embassies. ### Greek text ἘΠῚ μὲν ὁ πολεμικὸς παντὸς “ιᾶλλον.- "εἰρηνικός" μόνῳ γὰρ ἕξεςιν εἰρήνην ἄγειν τῷ δυναμένῳ" τὸν ἀδικοῦντα κακῶσαι, καὶ φαίην ἄν ἔγωγε, τὸν βασιλέα “τοῦτον. πάντα ἐκ ποντῶν' τὰ αἰ εἰρήνην συγμεπροςῦσθαι, ΩΝ ᾿πολιῤθδεεαὶ “ γὰρ," εἰ" μὴ πολεμήσει. Ἔει μὴν εἰρήνῃ πολέμου μαϊαριώτερον, ὅτι' καὶ "διὰ ἢ «ὃν! "εἰρήνην τὰ τοῦ". πολέμου παρασκευἄξεται.. Τέλος οὖν ὄν, τῶν δι᾽ αὐτὸ δικαίως ἂν προτιμῷτο. Παλῶ; “ἦν ἔχει τῷ σώματι τῇς ἡγεμονίας, διχῇ διαιρεθέντι κατὰ τὸν ὄχλον τὸν ὡπλισμένον καὶ ἄοπλον Ἢ, ἀνὰ μέρος ἑαυτὸν ἑκάτῳ διδόναι καὶ συνεῖναι μετὰ τὰς μαχίλιους ταῖς πόλεσι καὶ τοῖς; δήμοις, οἷς διὰ τῶν μαχίμων ἄδειαν “γεωργίας καὶ πολιτείας ἐἐπορισάμεθα. ΙΣυνέξαι δὲ τοῖς μὲν ἐπιφοιτῶν, ὅσοις οἷόν τε τῶν ἰθνῶν καὶ ὅσαὶϊς 5. οἷόν τε τῶν πόλεων" εἰς ὃ δὲ μὴ ἀφικνεῖται τοῦ ἀρχοῖ μέμου, καὶ τούτου ὃ) δὴ ἐπιμελήσεται τῷ πεφηνότι δυνατῷ καὶ καλλίετῳ τῶν,τρόπών. 1. Τὸ δὲ χρῆμα τῶν πρεσβειῶν ἄλλως τε ἱερὸν καὶ δεῦρο τοῦ παντὸς ἄξιον, αἷς ὁμιλῶν βασιλεὺ, οὐδέν. ### English translation (Claude) Such a man, then, being warlike, is more peaceful than anyone; for only one who is able to harm the wrongdoer can keep peace. And I would say that for this king all things from every side will contribute to peace; for [he would be besieged] if he will not make war. Yet peace is more blessed than war, because it is for the sake of peace that the things of war are prepared. Being the end, it would rightly be preferred to what exists for its sake. It would be well, since the body of the empire is divided in two, into the armed and the unarmed multitude, for him to give himself to each part in turn, and after the fighting men to be with the cities and the peoples, for whom, through the fighting men, we have secured safety for farming and civic life. He will be with them by visiting as many nations and as many cities as he can; and the part of his realm which he does not reach, this too he will care for by the means that has proved possible and finest. The business of embassies is both sacred in other ways and here worth everything: by meeting them the king will know nothing ### Translation notes - A few words in the third sentence are damaged and translated by sense. Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 64 (Krabinger 1:64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/64). ## Krabinger p. 65 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/34/#p-65 - Source: Krabinger 1:65 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Through embassies the king relieves distress throughout the empire; he must be accessible and gentle, and his soldiers must spare the civilians. ### Greek text τι.) μεῖον εἴσεται τῶν ἀγχοῦ τὰ. Χύῤῥω, οὐδὲ ὄψεως αἰσθύσει τὴν᾽ ὑπὲρ τῇς ἀρχῆς προμιήθειαν᾽ ὁριεῖται' ᾿ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐγερεῖ τὸ πεπτωκὸς, οὐκ ἰδὼν, καὶ ἐπιδώσει τοῖν. ἀπορουμένοις τῶψ. δήμων, καὶ «ἀνήσει «λειτουργιῶν.. τοὺς πάλαι λειτουργίαις πονοῦντας, καὶ ὑπισχνούμενον ἐκρήξει καὶ ὄντα ἀνελεῖ πόλεμον, καὶ, τὶ ὁ ἄλλο προ-Β διοικήσεται.. Ταῦτα παρὰ τῶν πρεσβειῶν ἕξει. δίκῦν θεοῦ λοτ το, ον τ ἄκος πάντ᾽ ἐφορᾷν καὶ πάντ᾽, ἑπακούειν ὃ)" αἷς εὐπρότοδος ἴστω καὶ πατὴρ ὧς 'ὕπιος,. τοῦτο μὲν ἤδη καὶ γείτοσι καὶ μιὴ γείτοσιν ). Ὁμήρου γάρ' αὐτὸ καθαπαξ περὶ τοῦ κατ᾽ αὐτὸν εἰρηνικοῦ βασιλέως λίγονεοι ἤκουσα ». Καὶ πρῶτόν γε ἐπιτετάχθων. καὶ δεδιδάχθων δι οἱ “ρατιῶται φείδεσθαὶ τε καὶ ἤκιτα λυπυηροὶ γίνεσθαι τοῖς ἀευπόλοις τε καὶ ἀγροδιαίτοις, μεμνημένοι πόνων ### English translation (Claude) less of what is far off than of what is near, nor will he limit his forethought for the empire to what his eyes perceive; he will raise up what has fallen without seeing it, give to those peoples who are in need, relieve of public burdens those long worn out by them, break off a threatened war and end one in progress, and arrange anything else beforehand. These things he will have from the embassies … “who sees all and hears all.” To them let him be easy of access, and “gentle as a father,” to neighbours and those not neighbours alike; for I have heard Homer say this, once and for all, of the peaceful king of his time. And first let the soldiers be commanded and taught to spare the townspeople and the country-dwellers and to be least burdensome to them, remembering for the sake of whose toils ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 3.277 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, medium confidence - Homer, Od. 2.47 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - A line in the middle is garbled (marked …); it compared the king to the sun, “who sees all and hears all” (Iliad 3.277). “Gentle as a father” is Odyssey 2.47 and 2.234. Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 65 (Krabinger 1:65; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/65). ## Krabinger p. 66 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/66/#p-66 - Source: Krabinger 1:66 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Soldiers who plunder those they protect are like dogs that ravage the flock; a good king needs no heavy taxes. ### Greek text οὗν δέ’ αὐτοὺς ἀνείλοντο. “ἵνα γὰρ σώξηται τὰ πόλεων τε καὶ γῇ: ἀγαθὰ, βασιλεύς τε προπολεμεῖ' καὶ καταλέγεν. τὰφτ προπολεμήσοντας “. “Ὅκιρ οὖν ἐμοῦ ὅ) τὸν ἐν" ᾿ἀλλόφυλον ἐχθρὸν ἀπερύκει, αὐτὸ δὲ οὐ τὰ μὲέτριά' "ιθι χρῆται, οὗτος: οὐδέν. μοι δοκεὶ διαφέρειν κυνὸς, δι᾽ ναὐτὸ τοῦτο. τοὺς λύκους ὡς ποῤῥωτάτω διώκοντοῖς, ἵνα αὐτὸς “ἢ ἐπὶ σχολῆς" κεραΐδη᾽ Ἱτὴν ποίμνην, δέον ἀπίχειν τὴς φυλακῆς ὅ τὸν μισθὸν, τοῦ γάλακτος ἐμφορούμενον. ᾿Ακρεβὴς. οὖν εἰρήνη πεπαιδεῦσθαι τοὺς εραειώτα; τοῖς; ἀύπλοις ὡς ἀδελφοῖς χρῆσθαι, μόνα φεῥομένους ὅσα ἐβάχθηδαν, ἜΣ ΡΒ τς Οὐδὲ τὸ τρύχειν εἰςφοραῖ; τὰς πόλεις ἦ βασιλικόν. ᾿Αγαθῷ Ἶ γὰρ ὄντι ποῦ καὶ δεῖ χρημάτων πολλῶν, οὔτε χαυνότητι γνώμης ὅ) εἰς ἔργα δαπανηρὰ καθιέντι, τῷ καὶ ἀντὶ σώφρονος χρείας ἀλαξόνα φιλοτιμίαν πρεσβεύοντι, οὔτε μειρακιώδει γνώμῃ καταχαριδομένῳ ταῖς ### English translation (Claude) they took up arms. For it is so that the goods of the cities and of the land may be kept safe that the king fights in front of them and enlists those who will fight in front of them. Whoever, then, wards off the foreign enemy from my flock but himself uses it immoderately seems to me no different from a dog that chases the wolves as far away as possible for this very reason, that it may itself ravage the flock at leisure, when it ought to take as the wage of its watch its fill of the milk. Strict peace requires that the soldiers be trained to treat the unarmed as brothers, taking only what they have been assigned. Nor is it kingly to wear out the cities with taxes. For where does a good king need much money? He is neither one who through looseness of mind lets himself into costly works, preferring boastful ambition to sober need, nor one who with a boy's mind lavishes on ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Resp. 416a (Plato (works)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The dog that guards and then ravages the flock recalls Plato, Republic 416a. A few stray letters after “assigned” are left untranslated. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 66 (Krabinger 1:66; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/66). ## Krabinger p. 67 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/66/#p-67 - Source: Krabinger 1:67 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: A good king avoids extravagance and needless wars, and taxes gently; love of money is shameful in anyone and worst in a king. ### Greek text ἐπὶ σκηνῇ: -} παϊδιαὶξ τοὺς τῶν σπουδαίων ἱδρῶτας" ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ εἰς ἀνάγκην ἀφικνοὐμένῳ συχνῶν πολέμων, οὗ, ὁ Μάκων ) φησὶν οὐ ξετανμένα σιτεῖσθαι; ἀνεπιβούλευτὸν γὰρ καὶ ἀνεπιχείρητον ὁ λόγοι ἔ ἐποίει τὸν ἐἰγα- κα 5, θόν, Συνεταλμένων οὖν αὐτῷ τῶν ἐφ᾽ ἃ δεῖ, πέριττῶν. ΗΠ. οὐδὲν δεῖ. Τούτων ἔξεςι ὅ) γίνεσθαι ποριτὴν ἀἁλυπότατον, τὰ μὲν ἀναγκαῖα τῶν ἐλλειμμάτων ἀνιέντα, τὰ δὲ σύμμετρα ταῖς τῶν εἰφερόντων δυνάμεσιν ἀγαπῶντα. Βασιλεὺς δ᾽ ἐρασιχρήματος αἰσχίων καπήλου" ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἔνδειαν οἴκου παραμυθεῖται, τῷ δὲ ἀπροφάσιςος τὴ κακία τῆς γνώμλιῃ:. ᾿Εγωγέ τοι θαμὰ ἐπισκοπούμενος ἕκατα τῶν παθῶν, ὀποίους ἡμῖν τοὺς προιτετηκότας ἄνδρας παρέχεται, κατιδεῖν ἐμοὶ δοκῶ καὶ τοῖς ἰδιώταις τὸ χρηματιεικὸν τοῦτο φῦλον, ὥς ἅπαντος μᾶλλον ἀγεν- Β χηνέ τέ ἔσι καὶ κακόηθες καὶ ἀκριβῶς ἀνελεύθερον, ἐν μιόνῃ τε ἂν τῇ νοσούσῃ πολιτείᾳ χώραν εὐρίσκοι τἂν οὐ παντάπασιν ἄτιμον. Οἷ γε καὶ ᾿φθάσαντες᾽ ὑφ᾽ αὐτῶν ") αὐτοὶ κατεφρονήθησαν, ὅτι τῷ βουλήματι τῇς ### English translation (Claude) the amusements of the stage the sweat of serious men; nor one driven to the need of many wars, which, as the Laconian says, do not feed on fixed rations; for our argument made the good king one whom no one plots against or attacks. With his expenses, then, held to what is needed, he needs nothing superfluous. He can become the gentlest of revenue-raisers, remitting arrears that are unavoidable and content with what is proportionate to the means of those who pay. A money-loving king is more shameful than a huckster; for the huckster relieves the want of his household, but the king's vice of mind has no excuse. For my part, often examining each of the passions and what sort of men it makes of those who are given to it, I think I see even among private persons that this money-making tribe is more ignoble than any other, malicious and thoroughly illiberal, and would find a place not wholly dishonoured only in a diseased commonwealth. They have already been despised even by themselves, because, against the will of ### Extrabiblical texts - Plutarch, Cleom. 27 (Plutarch): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - “War does not feed on fixed rations” is a saying attributed to the Spartan king Archidamus (Plutarch, Cleomenes 27). ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 67 (Krabinger 1:67; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/67). ## Krabinger p. 68 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/66/#p-68 - Source: Krabinger 1:68 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Lovers of money invert the order of soul, body and possessions; the king should banish greed and set up contests in virtue. ### Greek text φύσεως ἀντικειμένως διενοήθησαν περὶ τὸ πρῶτον καὶ πολλοςόν" ἐπεὶ τὸ μὲν σῶμα συνέταξεν εἰς ὑπηρεσίαν 'ψυχῇ:, τὰ δὲ ἐκτὸς εἰς χρείαν σώματος, τῷ "δὲ ὑξέρῳ δέδωκε δεύτερα" οἱ δὲ καὶ σῶμα καὶ ψυχὴν τῷ δτρίτῳ συνάπτουσι. Σφὰ, ὃν αὐτοὺς ἀτιμάσαντες : καὶ τὸ ἐν αὐτοῖς ἡγούμενον δοῦλον ποιήσαντες, τί ἂν ( ἔθ᾽ οὗτοι μέγα καὶ σεμνὸν κὶ πράξειαν κὶ βουλεύσειαν; Οὗς ἐγὼ καὶ μυρμήκων ἀγεννεξέρους ἀποφηνάμενος καὶ μᾶλλον ὀλιγογνώμονας, οὐκ αἰσχύνομαι τὴν ἀλήθειαν" οἱ μὲν γὰρ χρείᾳ δωῇς μετροῦσι τὸν πόρον, οἱ δὲ τὴν δωὴν μετρεῖν ἀξιοῦσι τῇ χρεία τοῦ πόρου. ᾿Ελατίον οὖν αὐτοῦ τε καὶ τῶν ἀρχομένων τὴν χαλεπὴν ταύτην κῇρα, ἵν᾽ ἀγαθὸ; ἀγαθῶν ἄρχῃς καὶ δῆλον ἀρετῆς ἀντειξενεκτέον, ἦι αὐτὸς βασιλεὺς καὶ ἀγωνιςὴς καὶ ἀγωνοθέτης γενέσθω 3, αὶ γὰρ αἰσχρὸν, ἔφη διακοντίδεσθαι μὲν δημοσίᾳ καὶ διαπληκτίδε- ἢ τὶς, σθαι, καὶ Ξεφάνου; εἶναι τοῖς ταῦτα νικῶσι, μὴ διασωφρονίδεσθαι δὲ μηδένα, μηδὲ διαρετίξεσθαι. Εἰκὸς δήπου, ### English translation (Claude) nature, they think in reverse about what is first and what is last. For nature ordered the body to the service of the soul, and external things to the use of the body, and gave the last the second place; but they subject both body and soul to the third. Having dishonoured themselves and made a slave of what should rule in them, what great and noble thing could they still do or plan? I declare them more ignoble than ants and smaller of mind, and I am not ashamed of the truth; for the ants measure their gathering by the needs of life, while these men think fit to measure life by the need of gathering. Drive away, then, from yourself and from your subjects this grievous plague, so that, being good, you may rule over the good; and let a rivalry in virtue be set up, in which the king himself is both contestant and judge of the games. For it is shameful, someone said, that people compete in public at javelin-throwing and boxing, and that there are crowns for those who win at these, while no one competes in temperance or in virtue. It is likely, surely, ### Extrabiblical texts - Isocrates, Paneg. 1-2 (Isocrates (orations)): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The complaint that athletes are crowned while no one competes in virtue echoes Isocrates, Panegyricus 1–2; the speaker Synesius quotes is not named. Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 68 (Krabinger 1:68; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/68). ## Krabinger p. 69 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/66/#p-69 - Source: Krabinger 1:69 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: A virtuous, pious emperor who prays publicly to the common King of all brings back the golden age and becomes a lover of mankind. ### Greek text μᾶλλον δὲ πλέον εἰκότος, καὶ ἀνάγκῃ γε πᾶσα π τοιαύτῃ διαθέσει βασιλέως; ἐπομένας τὰς πόλεις βίον βιοτεῦσαι τὸν πάλαι, τὸν χρυσοῦν, τὸν ὑμνούμενον, ἀσχολίαν ἐχούσας κακῶν, σχολὴν δὲ ἀγαθῶν καὶ πρώτης 6. τῇς εὐσεβείας, εἰς ἣν ἡγεμὼν αὐτὸς ἔται βασιλεὺς, ἅπαντος ἀρχὴν καὶ μείονο; ἔργου καὶ μείξδονος; θεόθεν Ἀ αἰτῶν 3. Ὡς ἔξσι παντὸς δήπου σεμνότερον θέαμά τε καὶ ἄκουσμα βασιλεὺς ἐν τῷ δήμῳ τὼ χεῖρε αἴρων. καὶ “προικυνῶν τὸν κοινὸν ἑαυτοῦ τε καὶ τοῦ δήμου βασιλέα" λόγον τε ἔχει καὶ τὸ θεῖον γανύσκεσθαι 3} κυδαινόμενον βασιλέως; εὐσεβοῦς θεραπείᾳ, καὶ ἀῤῥήτοις συναφαῖ; τὸν τοιοῦτον, οἰκειοῦσθαι. Ταντεῦθεν οὖν παρὰ 'τὸ θεοφιλὴς εἶναι φιλάνθρωπό; ἕξι παντὸς μαλλον, οἵου τυγχάνει τοῦ βασιλέως, τοιοῦτος τοῖς βασιλευομένοις φαινόμενος. ᾿Αλλ' ἐν τούτῳ τί οὐκ ἂν εἰκὸς τῶν δεόντων παρεῖναι; Καί μοι πάλιν ὁ λόγο, ἐπὶ τὰ μικρῷ πρόσθεν ἀνακαάλμπτει. ### English translation (Claude) or rather more than likely, indeed altogether necessary, that the cities, following such a disposition in their king, will live the life of old, the golden, the much-sung life, with no leisure for evils and leisure for good things, and above all for piety, in which the king himself will be their leader, asking from God the beginning of every work, lesser and greater. For there is no sight or sound more august than an emperor among his people lifting up his hands and worshipping the King common to himself and his people. And it is reasonable that the divine should rejoice when glorified by the service of a pious emperor, and should make such a man its own by ineffable bonds. From this, then — from being dear to God — he is above all a lover of mankind, showing himself to his subjects such as the King is to him. And with this, what that is needed would not likely be present? And again my speech turns back to what was said a little before. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 69 (Krabinger 1:69; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/69). ## Krabinger p. 70 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/66/#p-70 - Source: Krabinger 1:70 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The statue is completed: the king, like the sun, gives good things tirelessly and forms his ministers in the same likeness. ### Greek text Χαρακτῆρα βασιλείας εὐεργεσίαν ἐτίθεμεν, τὸν δωρητικὸν. πάλιν τῶν ἀγαθῶν ᾽), τὸν ἴλεων, τὰς ὀμωνυμίας Ὗ ἀναπεμπαξδόμενοι τοῷ θεοῦ. Αὐτὰ τε οὖν ταῦτα καὶ ὅσα μετὰ τούτων ἐλέγετο, πρὶν ἐπαγγείλασθαι πλάτὕτειν τὸν ἐν τῷ λόγῳ βασιλέα, συντετάχθω νῦν εἰς μέρῃ καὶ πληρούτω τὸ ἄγαλμα. Ὥν δήπου κεφάλαίον' ἦν, ὅτι παρεκτικὸς ὧν ἀγαθῶν οὐ καμεῖται ὅ) τοῦτο ποιῶν, οὐ μᾶλλον, ἢ τὰς ἀκτῖνας ὁ ἥλιος φυτοῖς καὶ δώοι; δωρούμενος" οὐ γὰρ πόνος αὐτῷ 1θκαταλάμπειν, ἐν οὐσίᾳ τὸ λαμπρὸν ἔχοντι καὶ πηγῇ φωτὸς ὄντι ὅ). Αὐτός τε οὖν ἑαυτὸν ἐμβιβάσας τῷ τοιῷδε τῆς δωῆς εἴδει δι᾽ ἑαυτοῦ κοσμήσει πᾶν, εἰς ὅσον ἀφικνεῖται.) τοῦ ἀρχομένου" καὶ τοὺς ἀγχοῦ. τι καθέδρα,, οἱ μόνου μὲν αὐτοῦ ) δευτερεύρυσι, τῶν δὲ ἄλλων πρωτεύουσι, τῷ βασιλικῷ τῇς ψυχῆς κόσμῳ συντάξει, ὠφελητικοὺς ἀνθρώπων ὄντας πρὸς μέτρον ἕκατον τῆς νεμηθείσῃς αὐτῷ δυνάμεως. Ἑαὶ πρόεισι ### English translation (Claude) We set down beneficence as the mark of kingship — the bestower of good things, again, the gracious one — recounting the names the king shares with God. Let these very things, then, and all that was said with them before I promised to mould the king in the speech, now be fitted into their parts and complete the statue. Its chief point was that, being a provider of good things, he will not grow tired of doing this, any more than the sun grows tired of giving its rays to plants and animals; for it is no toil for it to shine, since it has brightness in its essence and is a source of light. Setting himself, then, upon such a form of life, he will through himself bring order to everything his rule reaches; and those who sit near him, who are second to him alone and first of all others, he will order by the kingly adornment of his soul, so that they are benefactors of men each to the measure of the power allotted to him. And so ### Translation notes - Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 70 (Krabinger 1:70; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/70). ## Krabinger p. 71 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/66/#p-71 - Source: Krabinger 1:71 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Rule over a vast empire must be delegated to governors and judges, since no one man can know every place and case. ### Greek text μὲν ἐπὶ πλεῖον οὕτω τὴν πρώτην καὶ ἐπιμέλεια τῶν ἀνθρώπων, πλεόνων ᾽Ἶ αὐτὴν. διὰ χειρὸς ἐχόντων. ᾽᾿Αλλά τοι δὴ ᾽) δεῖ καὶ ὑπερορίους ἁρμοτὰς ἐκπέμε., πεῖν ἐν ἀρχῆς μεγέθει τοσῷδε. Τὸ δὴ μετὰ τοῦτο ὅ τοὺς ἐπὶ τῇς δίκης ἄρχοντας φιλοκρινητέον. “Ὧ; ἔσιω αὕτη θεία καὶ μεγαλομερὴς ἡ πρόνοια" ἕκατον μὲν γὰρ τόπον καὶ ἄνδρα καὶ ἀμφιυιβήτησιν ἐθέλειν εἰδέναι πολλὴ: γε τῇς ἐκπεριϊξεως, καὶ οὐδ᾽ ἂν Ζ]ιονύσιο; ἦρκεσεν ὁ νήσου μιᾶς καὶ οὐδὲ ὅλη ταύτης ) ἀρχὴν καταςτησάμενος ἐπιμελήσασθαι 5. ᾿ἘἘπιμελητῶν δὲ -διε᾽ ὀλίγων ὃ) ἔσει τῶν πολλῶν φροντίσαι. Ταύτην ἐκάλε- ### English translation (Claude) the first care for human beings advances further, with more people having it in hand. But in an empire of such greatness governors must also be sent out to the provinces. After this, great care must be taken in choosing the magistrates set over justice. For this is a divine and magnificent providence: to wish to know every place and man and dispute oneself requires much going round, and not even Dionysius, who established his rule over a single island and not even the whole of it, would have been able to take care of it. But through a few overseers it is possible to care for the many. This [the wise] called ### Translation notes - Dionysius is the tyrant of Syracuse, who ruled only part of Sicily. Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 71 (Krabinger 1:71; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/71). ## Krabinger p. 72 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/66/#p-72 - Source: Krabinger 1:72 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: As God governs through nature, the king should govern through a few just officials, chosen for merit rather than wealth. ### Greek text σαν θεοπρεπῇ τε καὶ καθολικὴν κηδεμονίαν, ἣν ἐν ἀδρῷ 1.) μένουσαν ἤθει, καὶ μὴ ᾽) συγκύπτουσαν ἐπὶ τὰ τυχόντα τῶν μερῶν, οὐδὲ τὰ τυχόντα διαπέφευγε τῶν μερῶν. Ταύτῃ χρώμενος ( θεὸς οὐκ αὐτὸς ἐκλεἡ πτουργεὶ τῶν δεῦρο͵ τὰ ἕκατα, ἀλλὰ χρῆται χειρὶ τῇ φύσει, μένων ἐν ἤθει τῷ αὐτοῦ., καὶ ἔσιν αἴτιοι μέχρι ἐσχάτου τῶν ἀγαθῶν, τῶν αἰτίων γινόμενος αἴτιος.-. Ἑαὶ βασιλεῖ ταύτῃ μετιτέον τῶν ὅλων τὴν ἐπιμελειαν.᾿ “Διανεμίτω τὴν ἀρχὴν, ὡς͵ δυνατὸν, ἐπιτάταις δικαιοτάτῦτοις ᾽ τε καὶ ἀρίφοιρ" καὶ γὰρ ῥᾷον ὀλίγους πολλοὺς γνώσεται, καὶ ῥᾷον ὀλίγων ἁμαρτανόντων ἢ κατορθούντων αἰσθήσεται. ᾿Αριείνδην οὖν, ἀλλὰ μὴ πλουτίνδην, ὥςπερ νῦν, ἡ τῶν ἀρξόντων αἵρεσις γινέσθω, ἐπεὶ καὶ ἰατροῖς τὸ σῶμα ἐπιτρέπομεν οὐ τοῖς πλουσιωτάτοις, ἀλλ᾽ οἵτινες ἂν ὦσι τῇ: τέχνη: ἐπηβολώτατοι " ἄρχοντα δὲ δὴ καὶ μᾶλλον ἀνθαιρετέον τοῦ πλουσίου τὸν ἔχοντα τὴν ἀρχικὴν ἐπιτήμην, ὅτι πλείω παρ᾽ αὐτὸν κινδυνεύεται χεῖρον ἢ βέλτιον κεῖσθαι. Τί γὰρ, εἴ τις παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ τοῦ κακὸς εἶναι πλοῦτον συνείλοχεν, Ο ἄρα ἄξιον ἄρχειν αὐτὸν, ἀλλὰ μὴ τὸν πένητα μὲν, ### English translation (Claude) a godlike and universal care, which, remaining in a steady character and not stooping to whatever parts it chances on, lets none of the parts escape it, whatever they may be. Using this, God does not himself work out in detail each of the things here, but uses nature as his hand, remaining in his own character, and is the cause of good things down to the last, becoming the cause of the causes. In this way the king too should pursue his care of the whole. Let him distribute his rule, as far as possible, among the most just and best overseers; for it is easier for him to know a few than many, and easier to perceive the failures or successes of a few. Let magistrates, then, be chosen by merit and not, as now, by wealth; since we entrust the body to physicians, not to the richest, but to those most skilled in the art, and still more must one prefer, as magistrate, the man who has the science of ruling to the rich man, because more is at stake with him of things being worse or better. What then? If someone has gathered wealth from his very wickedness, is he therefore worthy to rule, and not the man who is poor but ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 72 (Krabinger 1:72; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/72). ## Krabinger p. 73 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/66/#p-73 - Source: Krabinger 1:73 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: A rich man who buys his office will sell justice, embracing the gold to which he owes his rank. ### Greek text νόμιμον δὲ 3.) ἄνδρα καὶ δίκαιον, ὃς δι᾽ αὐτὸ [τοῦτο] τὸ δίκαιος εἶναι πενίᾳ συνοικῶν οὐκ. αἰσχύνεται; ᾿Α4λλ᾽ ἐκεῖνός τε ὁ πλουτῶν ὁπωιοῦν, ἐωνημένος δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν οὐκ ἂν εἰδείη ὁποῖος ἂν γένοιτο νεμητὴς τοῦ ὅ δικαίου" φαίνεται γὰρ, ὡς οὕτως εἰπεῖν, οὐ ῥᾷτα ὁ τοιοῦτος ἀδικίαν μισῆσαι σχολῇ δ᾽ ἂν ὑπεριδεῖν χρημάτων, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀποδείξειν τὸ ἀρχεῖον δικῶν πωλῃητύήριον" ὦ; οὐκ εἰκός; γε αὐτὸν διαράμενον. βλοσυ- Ὠ ροῖς ὀφθαλμοῖ; ἀντιβλέψαι χρυσίῳ. τοὐναντίον μὲν αἰδεσθῆναί τε καὶ ἐνδοῦναι καὶ τελευτῶντα περιπτύξασθαι, ᾧ καὶ κατ᾽ αὐτὸ τοῦτο χάριν οἷδεν, ὅτι ἄρα πλούτου μοίρας τὴν πολιτείαν ἠλλάξατο "καὶ ὥ!περ ἄλλο τι τὰς πόλεις μεμίσθωται., Οἶδεν. οὖν ὅτι διὰ τοῦτο σεμνὸς τέ ἔσι καὶ ὑψοῦ κάθηται, πε- ### English translation (Claude) lawful and just, who is not ashamed to live with poverty precisely because he is just? But that rich man, however he became rich, who has bought his office, would not know what sort of dispenser of justice he might become. For such a man, so to speak, would not easily hate injustice and would hardly disdain money, but would surely turn the court into a market for lawsuits; for it is not likely that he would open his eyes wide and look fiercely back at gold. On the contrary, he would be abashed and give in and at last embrace it, being grateful to it for this very reason, that he has exchanged his share of wealth for public office and has hired the cities as he would anything else. He knows, then, that it is because of this that he is venerable and sits on high, gazed ### Translation notes - Krabinger brackets τοῦτο in the first sentence as a deletion. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 73 (Krabinger 1:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/73). ## Krabinger p. 74 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/66/#p-74 - Source: Krabinger 1:74 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The emperor should seek out virtuous poor men for office; this will win him lasting fame and change public esteem. ### Greek text ριβλεπόμενος ὑπὸ πολλοῦ τε ἄλλου λεὼ καὶ τῶν εὖ ἡκόντων δικαίων τε καὶ πενήτων. ᾿Αλλὰ σύ τοι ᾽) ποίει δηλωτὸν ἀρετὴν, κἂν πε-,»ίᾳ συνῇ" μὴ λανθανέτω σὲ φρόνησις ἀνδρὸς, καὶ δι- »καιοσύνη, καὶ ὁ λοιπὸς ἐσμὸς τῶν ψυχικῶν ἀγαθῶν, ἐσθῆτι φαύλῃ κρυπτόμενος" ἀλλ᾽ ἕλκειν τε αὐτὸν ἐν ᾿μέσῳ, καὶ ἀξιοῦν δημοσιεῦσαι τὴν ἀρετὴν, ἣν οὐκ ἄξιον οἰκουρεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ὕπαιθρον εἶναι καὶ ἐναγώνιον ἢ. Εὖ γὰρ ἰἴσθι, σὺ μὲν ἐκείνους ὅ ἐν τῷ παραυτίκα Ἀηῃρύἔξει ὁ δὲ ἀνακεκηρυγμένος αὐτὸς ἔσῃ διὰ παντὸς, δεῖγμα δοὺς τῇ διαδοχῇ τοῦ χρόνου βασιλείας εὐδαίμιονο;. Ἐὰν οὕτω ποιύήσῃ;."), ταχὺ πολλοὺς ὄψει πλοῦτον εἰργασμένον αἰσχυνομένους, καὶ ἄλλους ἐγκαλλω-Β ### English translation (Claude) upon by many other people and by the just and poor who come before him. But you, make virtue conspicuous, even when it lives with poverty. Let not a man's prudence escape you, nor his justice, nor the rest of the swarm of the soul's goods, hidden under a poor garment; but draw him into the open and require him to make his virtue public, for it ought not to keep at home but to be in the open air and in the contest. For know well: you will proclaim such men for the moment, but you yourself will be proclaimed for ever, having given to the succession of time an example of a happy kingship. If you do this, you will soon see many ashamed of having made money, and others ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 74 (Krabinger 1:74; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/74). ## Krabinger p. 75 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/66/#p-75 - Source: Krabinger 1:75 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: By honouring poverty and virtue the king can change his subjects' values; Synesius now prays for his own beloved, philosophy. ### Greek text πιξδομένου; αὐθαιρέτῳ πτωχείᾳ" καὶ μεταπεαοῦνται ὅ) τοῖς ἀνθρώποις αἱ νῦν περὶ αὐτὸν ὑπολήψεις; τῷ πλοῦτον ἐξευρεῖν ὄνειδος εἶναι, καὶ ἐν σεμινότητος μοίρᾳ πενίᾳ τηρῆσαι.. ᾿Ὥς πολλῶν ὄντων. ἃ δέδωκεν. ὁ θεὸς ὅ βασιλείᾳ 1.) ἐηλωτὰ καὶ μακάρια, οὐδενὸς ἧττον, εἰ “ἢ καὶ παντὸς μᾶλλον ἀγασθείη τις ἂν αὐτῇς, καὶ ὑμνήσειε τὴν ἐν ταῖρ ψυχαῖς τῶν ἀρχομένων ἰσχὺν," ὅτι ᾿ιετατίθησι βασιλεὺς δόξαν ἤθουι, ἐγκεκαυμένην ἔθει ᾿ παλαιῷ καὶ τροφῇ τῇ πῤώτῃ, τῷ φαίνεσθαι, τἀναντία τιμῶν καὶ περὶ πλείστου ποιούμενος" ὅτῳ γὰρ " βασιλεὺς χαίρει, τοῦτ᾽ εὐθὺς αὐξειν ἀνάγκῃ, καὶ ὑπὸ πλείων ἐπιτηδεύεσθαι. ᾿Αλλ' ἐνταῦθα τοῦ λόγου γενόμενος, ἐθέλω τι καὶ ὑπὲρ τῶν αὐτὸς ἢ ἐμαυτοῦ παιδικῶν εὔξασθαι. ᾽Ἔρα-: ### English translation (Claude) priding themselves on voluntary poverty; and men's present opinions on the matter will change, so that to have acquired wealth will be a reproach, and to have kept to poverty will count as dignity. Of the many enviable and blessed things God has given to kingship, one would admire none less than, and perhaps more than all, the power it has in the souls of its subjects, and would sing of it: that a king changes men's opinion of character, burned in by old habit and earliest upbringing, simply by being seen to honour the opposite and to value it most; for whatever a king delights in must at once grow and be practised by more. But having come to this point in my speech, I wish also to pray for my own beloved. May you fall in love, ### Translation notes - Krabinger's critical apparatus at the foot of the page has been removed by a logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 75 (Krabinger 1:75; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/75). ## Krabinger p. 76 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/66/#p-76 - Source: Krabinger 1:76 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Synesius prays that the emperor love philosophy, not for her sake, since she dwells with God, but for the sake of human affairs. ### Greek text σθείης ᾽ν ὦ βασιλιῦ, φιλοσοφία! καὶ παιδείας ἀληθινήφ, ἀνάγκῃ γὰρ ἐκ τῶν ἐβρρμένων συνεραφά; σοι γενέσθαι πολλοὺς, ὧν τὶ καὶ ᾿ὄφελοτ" ἐπεὶ νῦν γε, ὡς; ἠμέληται, κίνδυνος ἀποσβῆναι; καὶ μὲτὰ μικρὸν. οὐδ᾽ ᾿εμπύπρευμα λείπεσθαι βουλομένοις ἐναῦσαι. Ὦρ᾽ ὁ ὗν ὑπὲρ Ὠ φιλοσοφίας ηὖγμαι τανῦν; ἢ τῇ μὲν οὐδὲν μεῖον, κἂν ἀποικῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐσίαν γὰρ ἔχει παρὰ τῷ θεῷ, περὶ ὃν, "καὶ δεῦρο οὖσα, τὰ πολλὰ πραγματεύεται, καὶ, ὅταν αὐτὴν μὴ χωρῇ κατιοῦσαν ὁ χθόνιο; 'χῶ- 10ρος δ), μένει παρὰ τῷ πατρὶ, πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐνδίκως ἄν ] εἰποῦσα τὸ ] } οὔτι μὲ ἢ ταύτης | Χριτὼ τιμῇ" φρονέω δὲ τετιμῦσθαι. “ιὸς αἴσῃ ὃ). Τὰ δὲ ἀνθρώπινα πράγματα, παρούσῃς τε αὐτὴ: καὶ ἀπούσῃς, χείρω καὶ βελτίω καὶ παντελῶς εὐδαίμονα 1ὅ καὶ κακοδαίμονα γίνεται. ὋὙπὲρ τούτων οὖν, καὶ οὐχ ὑπὲρ φιλοσοφίας ηὖγμαι. ᾿ Καὶ εἴη γε τυχεῖν τῇς εὐχῆ!, ἣν Πλάτων εὐξάμενος ἐκ εὐτύχῃσεν. ### English translation (Claude) O emperor, with philosophy and true education; for then, from what has been said, many must become your fellow lovers, and of them there would be some benefit. For now, as it has been neglected, there is danger that it may be put out, and that in a little while not even a spark will be left for those who wish to kindle it. Have I, then, been praying for philosophy? Or is it no loss to her, even if she departs from mankind? For she has her hearth with God, about whom she is mostly occupied even while here, and when the earthly region does not receive her as she comes down, she stays with the Father, and might justly say to us: “I have no need of this honour; I think I am honoured by the portion of Zeus.” But human affairs become worse and better, wholly happy and wretched, as she is present or absent. It is for these, then, and not for philosophy, that I have prayed. And may I obtain the prayer which Plato prayed and did not obtain. ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 9.607-608 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence - Plato, Resp. 473c-d (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Iliad 9.607–608 (Achilles), with Zeus standing for God. Plato's prayer is for a philosopher-king (Republic 473c–d; Letter 7). ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 76 (Krabinger 1:76; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/76). ## Krabinger p. 77 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/synesius-de-regno/66/#p-77 - Source: Krabinger 1:77 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Synesius closes: if the emperor joins philosophy to kingship, the statue drawn in words will come alive, and Cyrene's requests will be heard. ### Greek text ᾿Ιδοιμὶ σε τῇ βασιλείᾳ προρειλρφότα φιλοσοφίαν, καὶ οὐκέτι ἄν μου πρόσω τις λέγοντός τι περὶ βασιλείας ἀκούσεται. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ὥρα γὰρ ἤδη σιγᾷν, ὦ; ἑνὶ τούτῳ πάντα συνήρηκα. Ἐὰν γένηται τοῦτο,Β ὅ δίδωκά σοι ὅπερ᾽ ἀρχόμενος ἤτησα, λόγῳ μὲν αὐτὸς ὑποσχόμενος ἀνδρίαντα βασιλέως σοι δεῖξαι" καὶ γάρ ἐσι λόγος ὄντως ἔργου σκιή᾽ παρὰ σοῦ δὲ αὐτὸν ἄντύτουν ἔμβιον ἀπολαβεῖν καὶ κινούμενον. Καὶ ὄψομαί γε οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν, καὶ ἀποδώσεις μοι τοῦ βασιλέως τὸ ἔργον, εἰ μὴ θυραυλύήσουσιν οἱ λόγοι περὶ τὰ ὦτα 3,}ρ,᾿ ἀλλ᾽ εἰρυφσονταί τε καὶ τοῖς μυχοῖς τῇ: ψυχῆς ἐνὶ διαιτήσονται. Οὐ μὴν ἀθεεὶ πείθομαι [τὴν] φιλο-᾿ συφίαν ἐπὶ τὴν παραΐνεσιν ἐξωρμῇῆσθαι᾽ σὺν σπουδῇ τῷ θεῷ προθυμουμένῳ τὰ σὰ αὔξειν, ὥς εἰκάσαι ῥᾳδιον, ᾿Εγὼ δ᾽ ἂν δίκαιος εἴγυν ἀπολαῦσαι πρῶτος, τῶν᾽ ἐμαυτοῦ σκερμάτων τῇς βλάξεης, οἱόν σε πλάττω βασιλίὰ, τοιούτου πειρώμενος, ὅταν περὶ ὧν αἱ πόλει, αἱτοῦσι παρέχω λόγον καὶ δέχωμαι. ### English translation (Claude) May I see you with philosophy joined to kingship, and no one will hear me speak any further about kingship. But it is now time to be silent, since in this one thing I have summed up everything. If this comes to pass, I have given you what I asked at the beginning: I myself promised to show you in words the statue of a king — for speech is truly the shadow of deed — and to receive it back from you living and moving. And I shall see it before long, and you will render to me the work of a king, if my words do not stay outside around your ears, but enter in and make their home in the recesses of your soul. Indeed I am persuaded that it is not without God that philosophy has been roused to this exhortation, since God, as is easy to guess, is eager to increase your fortunes. And I should rightly be the first to enjoy the harvest of my own seeds, finding you such a king as I fashion, when I give and receive account of what the cities ask. ### Translation notes - “Speech is the shadow of deed” is a saying of Democritus (frag. B 145 Diels–Kranz). Krabinger brackets τήν before “philosophy” as a deletion. The last sentence alludes to Synesius's mission as Cyrene's envoy, which sought relief for the cities of the province. ### Citation (SBL) Synesius, Regn. 77 (Krabinger 1:77; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/synesius-de-regno/77).