147 (356). To Aburgius
LETTERS
if that great man2 should permit himself a journey to us, it will be no small profit for us to see you with him in our land.
147. To Aburgius1 Formerly, I used to think that the tales of Homer were a fable whenever I read the second part of the poem in which he narrates the sufferings of Odysseus. But, the sudden disaster befalling Maximus, a most excellent man in all respects, has taught us to consider as entirely probable those things until now regarded as fabulous and incredible. For, he was governor over no very insignificant people, just as Odysseus was leader of the Cephallenians. Now, Odysseus, although he took with him much money, returned stripped of all. Misfortune has also reduced this man to such a state that he runs the risk of appearing at home in borrowed garments. And he has endured these sufferings because, perhaps, he provoked against himself Laestrygones, or encountered Scylla, who, under the form of a woman, possessed the inhumanity and savagery of a dog. Since, then, he has scarcely been able to swim through this inescapable flood of troubles, through us he makes his supplication to you. He begs you to respect our common nature, and with compassion for his undeserved calamities not to conceal in silence his misfortunes but to make them known to those in power, so that he will, above all, have some assistance against the calumny that has been fabricated.
2 I.e., Eus.ebius of Samosata.
I This appeal to Aburgius is in behalf of Maximus, the former Governor of Cappadocia, who had been unjustly accused of embezzlement, stripped of his office, and forced to flee to Caesarea. Aburgius was a wealthy layman whose intercession St. Basil often asked in behalf of unfortunate acquaintances and friends. Other letters to Aburgius are Letters
33, 75, 178. 196. and 304. On Maximus. d. Letter 9fl. This letter was written in 373.