Letter 94 (372)
THE FATHERS SPEAK
BASIL TO ILLAS, ARCHON OF THE EPARCHY.
LETTER 94 (372)
I wanted to meet personally with Your Excellency lest I be forestalled by those who calumniate me, but I was hindered by a bodily weakness which afflicted me more cruelly than usual, and I had to write to you instead .... I thought that our great emperor, having learned of our problems, had permitted us to administer the churches ourselves.
But those who harass your impartial ears, I would like that they be asked in what the public good suffers on OUf account, or which common interest, small or big, is being wronged by our administration of the churches, unless one says that damage is done to the republic if a house of prayers of a noble structure is built unto our God, and around its dwellings, a large residence for the presiding bishop [KOpUqxx(cpJ, and another one of lesser elevation, distributed in apartments for those in charge of the divine office, and of which you, the archontes, shall have free disposition with your retinue. Whom will we wrong if we build rest houses
[KOtOYWYLO] for the foreigners, occasional travelers as well as persons in ill health who need to be taken care of, and of establishing whatever is necessary for their relief, medics, physicians, pack animals [vG)'[oq>6po], and convoy personnel [n:Opcrn:EI:ln:OvrO<J? It would be also necessary to add arts and crafts, those that are needed for life, and those that have been invented in order to ensure a gracious living; and again, other houses suitable for working, all things which are an adornment to the place and would be an object of pride to our archon, for the praise returns to him.
The addressee of Basil's letter 88, probably the provincial governor, was not identified in the earlier editions. The title given by the Greek manuscript reads: "An epigraph,
Priests and Hierarchs: Shepherds of Sheep
concerning a collector of revenues." The eastern provinces of the empire were taxed in gold for the purchase of military equipment; the bullion thus collected was to be deposited in the treasury not later than Aprill. Basil writes on behalf of the citizens of Caesaraea, who found themselves unable to meet their obligation in time, and suggests a postponement of the date due.
SAINT BASIL, LETTER 88 (March 372) The difficulty to collect the gold bullion Your Excellency knows better than anyone else, and we have no better witness of our own indigence than yourself, who in your great humanity [cptAav9pc.:rrrLa] had compassion with us, and to this day assisted and sustained us, never relaxing your kindness, for fear that your conscience be disturbed from on high. There is stilI, after our announcement, a small amount of gold to be paid by the entire city. We beg from your consideration to postpone somewhat the date due, so that those living outside the city might be notified, for most of the collectors reside in the countryside, as you know yourself. If it were possible that we send the contribution minus a few poundsthis is the point of our request-the remainder would be sent later. But if it is necessary that the payment to the treasury be made as a single sum, let the date be deferred, as we have just suggested.
Basil, in letter 110, asks for some relief from the heavy taxes on iron, imposed upon the inhabitants of the Taurus districts. He had wished he could write to the prefect Modestos, but did not dare. This Modestos seems to have been