Letter 68
To Theophilus
The man to whom I have given this letter is being dispatched to carry out a piece of business which piety does not allow me to specify; but that he has cultivated virtue from his youth upwards, this is just for me to say, and it is the truth itself. You will honour him therefore as a good man. In regard to the accusation he has made, let that fulfil its own destiny, for you surely would never meddle with a justifiable homicide.
Letter 69
To Theophilus
You care even for Pentapolis, you do indeed. You will, therefore, read the official correspondence, but further than this you will learn from the words of the messenger that greater and more numerous misfortunes have already come to pass than those which the letters menace. For he was sent to solicit military co-operation from thence, but the enemy did not wait even for his departure, and they have already spread en masse over the country. All is lost, all is destroyed. At the moment of writing, there is nothing left but the cities, nothing. What may befall tomorrow, God alone knows. In the face of this calamity your prayers are needed; I speak of such prayers as wont to sir the Almighty. As to myself, many times in private and in public have I already prayed in vain. Why do I say 'in vain'? Everything is turning against me, so many and so heavy are our sins.