40 (207). Julian to Basil
SAINT BASIL
conveyance. 8 When you have spent as much time with us as you please, you will be taken by us, as is proper, wherever you wish to go.
40. Julian to Basil1 Although up to the present time we have shown the gentleness and kindliness natural from childhood, nevertheless we have gathered in all peoples under the sun as our subjects.
For, lo! every nation of barbarians as far as the boundaries of the ocean has come, bringing gifts and placing them at our feet, as also have the Sagadares, who live along the Danube,2 that comely, parti-colored, beetle-shaped folk, wild in aspect, and unlike human beings in appearance. These at present are prostrate at my feet, promising to do whatever is due to my sovereignty. And not only by this alone am I drawn on, but I must speedily seize the country of the Persians and subdue the renowned Sapor, the grandson of Darius, until he becomes tributary and pays taxes to me. At the same
8 The privilege of free transport at the expense of the State. granted to ecclesiastics by Constantine in 314. was revoked by Julian in 362 (Codex
Theodos. 8.5.12) • who reserved to himself the right to make exceptions as a special mark of his favor. Cf. Wright, Introd. to Vol. 3, L.C.L. edition of Julian.
This letter and the following have been considered unauthentic even from Byzantine times. The manuscript tradition does not support their authenticity; besides. Letter 40 is written to St. Basil as to a person of influence at Caesarea, whereas St. Basil was at that time in seclusion at Pontus. not yet a presbyter; and Letter 41 is, in diction and subject matter, entirely unworthy of St. Basil. Moreover, the two ~ett~rs form a pair and, if Letter 40 falls, then Letter 41 must go With It.
The assumed date is June or July, 362.
2 Julian always uses the name 'Ister' for the Danube; d. Wright. op. cit.
III xlii.
LETTERS
time I must despoil the neighboring lands of both the Indians and Saracens, until all these become tributaries and tax-payers, holding second rank to me in my empire.
But you yourself have shown arrogance beyond the capacity of all these, claiming to have put on piety, but covering yourself with shamelessness, everywhere spreading abroad the report that I have become unworthy of the sovereignty of the Romans. Do you not yourself, indeed, know that I am the descendant of that mighty ruler Constantius?
Although we know these things about you, we have not changed in the previous esteem which you and I shared in our youth. But, in a spirit of gentleness, I decree that you send me one thousand pounds of gold to be given while I am on the highway passing through Caesarea, since I am going at great speed to the Persian War. If you do not do this, I am ready to destroy the whole country of Caesarea, to overthrow the beautiful structures erected long ago, and to build throughout the country both temples and statues of the gods, so as to persuade all men to yield to the emperor of the Romans and not to exalt themselves. Therefore, send to me safely by a servant who is faithful to you the gold already referred to, counted out, weighed by scale, steelyard, and balance, and duly measured, then sealed with your signet, so that I, recognizing at length, even though late, the inevitable state of affairs,3 may be gentle toward you in your failings. But what I have read I have understood and condemned.·
3 Julian had urgent business.-the Persian 'Var-ahead of him. Hence. if he received the money, he would leave Basil free.
4 Cf. last sentence in Letter 41. There is little manuscript authority for either remark.