Catastasis 1-2

[1] [1565] I for one do not know what I ought to say about the misfortunes that are happening before our very eyes, nor could words be commensurate with the events. Nay, even the power of weeping has failed some men, so terrified are they by the magnitude of the evils befalling them. But since God hath regard to those that lament, and since they who wield the scepter of the Romans ought, themselves also, to know this, do you write to whomsoever you may of those empowered to bring a statement before the council of the emperor.

Let someone announce to this body, in brief, that until the other day Pentapolis was still a province valuable to an emperor. If it is outdistanced in power by other states, none the less it is more loyal than those greater in power. This is known to such as have entered into public life with a mind turned upon administration; [1568] and among these, as I hear and am persuaded, the great Anthemius^note[Praetorian prefect of the east since 405.] holds the first place. He has seen in how many moments of crisis we have given ready support to our emperor, and of these how many were moments of tyranny.

Until the other day the state of Pentapolis belonged to the Romans, who have now, to the nation's cost, passed her over in enumerating their provinces. Pentapolis has now quite clearly vanished; she has reached a state of extremity. Prolonging her agony to the seventh year,^note[The Catastasis was written immediately after 411, so the implied period is 406-412.] as some animal tenacious of life, she was drawing in and gathering together what breath remained to her.

[2] The propitious memory of Anysius has made her time of life a year younger; he it was who used the lances of all men and the ands of the Unnigardae at the critical moment. There came, in consequence, a certain postponement of disaster. For they^note[The nomads.] were not poured over the country in a compact mass. They changed their formation to that of marauding bands. They kept retreating and advancing. But after changing their minds when already three times drawn up for battle, the plains are captured by their horse, while our own troops are shut up within walled towns, scattered apart, some here, some there - the mistake this of Cerealis' time^note[The military leader (dux) Cerealis appears to have been in charge of the region in c.405, when the Libyan war broke out.] - and are useless to each other because they are not concentrated.

The position of the enemy is therefore brilliant. They who last year were on the alert and always ready to retreat, are now besiegers, are now tearing down the walls of villages, are now investing cities with a large force at their disposal. What indeed has not turned out to their advantage! The Ausurians^note[The Ausurians were a tribe. The Thracians and Marcomanni were Roman military units.] have put on the breastplates of the Thracian cavalry, not of necessity, but to mock at the uniform. Besides these they employed the shields of the Marcomanni. The heavy-armed Roman force has degenerated into light infantry. They find their safety in the compassion of their enemies. I weep for these men, I do not reproach them with the calamity.

Catastasis 3-4

[3] What could the Unnigardae have done against a force so vastly superior, and at moments when a small detachment of them encounters its serried masses? They are preserved on the one hand by the grace of God, by their strength and by their training; on the other hand by generalship; for what great harm could they have inflicted on an enemy, if dispatched against them by unwilling leaders? As often as, like young hounds, they got out of hand, these leaders would take them by the throat, and call them in, even before they had sated themselves with their charge and their wild-beast slaughter. And moreover, the Unnigardae were in need of a rear-guard and of an army drawn up in order of battle.

We had need, I think, of a phalanx,^note[A common archaism in Synesius' time to describe heavy armed infantry.] as an efficient sword, the more vigorous part to thrust out with and the stouter to give the second blow. In this way the stroke becomes more disruptive. In any case, the number of these troops is a small one wherewith to finish the war, a war which could not be fought to finish in such a country as ours.

But unless someone can transport Unnigardae into the enemy's country, we shall need a force of four hundred to protect us against them. Nay, already had we need of such a force and commander before we were so completely routed and before the resources of the enemy had increased to such an extent.

[4] For this final struggle even women joined in the campaign. I have seen, yes I have often seen, a woman carrying a sword and suckling infants at the same time. Who does not desire the war that is free from danger? I am full of shame at my fears for myself, for the times and for the Empire.

O for the spirit of the Romans of old! [1569] Winners of all their battles everywhere, they who united the continents by their victories, are now in danger of losing through a wretched nomadic tribe the Libyan cities, as well as the Greek, and Egyptian Alexandria also! The former loss is greater from the point of view of wealth, the latter is not less so from that of renown, if anyone knows the meaning of shame and sets any store on decency.

Alas for the audacity with which they have taken the land as if in a dragnet! No mountain is impassable for them nor is any fort secure. They have traversed and explored every country, and they have reduced young and old to slavery. I have long been listening to Greek historians:

The enemy left the women and children behind as a token of the devastation they had wreaked in the war.

Catastasis 5-6

[5] Quite otherwise have matters turned out for Pentapolis. For what possession is fairer to the Ausurian than wife and child, that the former may bear him sons, and that the latter, when of age, may serve in the army? For the children become fond of those who filled the place of parents in their upbringing. Alas for the ill-fated colony that we are sending out! Our youth is being carried off captive to augment the armies of our foe; a people will come with enmity against their native land.

A young man will devastate the land which when still a stripling he cultivated with his father. Now he is on the march, now he is led away. Now the youth of Pentapolis is still in chains. Not one comes to the rescue or is able to do so. And yet they say that the general is full of zeal, but the Alexandrians^note[An army unit.] who direct the campaign there, with evil destiny for Pentapolis, do not allow him to act.