E01908: Gregory of Nazianzus in his Letter 203, of the late 380s, mentions a shrine of martyrs on his estate of Karbale in Cappadocia (central Asia Minor), and refers to the land attached to it. Written in Greek in Arianzos (central Asia Minor).

Gregory of Nazianzus, Letters (CPG 3032), Letter 203.

203. ΟΥΑΛΕΝΤΙΝΙΑΝΩΙ

(1.) Ἐξελαυνόμεθα Καρβάλης ἀνοσιώτατα, συγχρήσομαι γὰρ τῷ τῆς τραγῳδίας, μικρὸν ἐναλλάξας. Ἐξελαυνόμεθα δὲ λόγῳ μὲν οὐδαμῶς, ἔργῳ δὲ καὶ πάνυ σφοδρῶς. (2.) Πολλῷ γὰρ βέλτιον ἦν προγράμματι κηρύξαι τὴν ὑποχώρησιν ἢ γυναιξίν, ἃς ἀντιπροσώπους ἡμῶν συνῴκισας, τὸ σεμνὸν τοῦ βίου περικόπτων καὶ καθημερινὴν ἀσχημοσύνην καὶ βλασφημίαν παραζευγνὺς παρὰ τῶν ῥᾳδίως ἐπηρεαζόντων τοῖς οὕτω ζῆν ἑλομένοις, ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς. (3.) Εἰ δὲ μὴ τολμηρὸν εἰπεῖν, καὶ ἡμᾶς τοῦ παραδείσου διὰ τῆς Εὔας ἐκβέβληκας. Ῥᾴδιον μὲν γὰρ εὑρεῖν εὐπρεπές τι καὶ ἀφοσιώσασθαι καὶ δόξαι δίκαια λέγειν, ὡς οὔτε ἐξωθούμεθα παρὰ σοῦ καὶ τιμώμεθα γειτνιᾶν ἡμῖν θέλοντος· (4.) προσθήσεις δὲ ἴσως, ὅτι καὶ δεξιοῦσθαι φιλικῶς τε καὶ συγγενικῶς καί τι παραπολαύειν τῆς φιλίας τῆς ἡμετέρας. Τὸ δὲ λόγος, οὐκ ἔργον ἐστίν. (5.) Ὑμᾶς μὲν γὰρ ἐπιδημοῦντας τῷ τόπῳ καὶ δεχόμεθα καὶ ἀσπαζόμεθα· οἰκαρχίαις δὲ γυναικῶν οὕτως ὑποχωρήσομεν ὥσπερ ἐχιδναίοις ἐπιδρομαῖς. (6.) Τὸ μὲν οὖν ἡμέτερον ἔχει πέρας. Κατεσοφίσθημεν, συνεστάλημεν, ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς τετιμήκαμεν, ἀφέντες καὶ πόνους χειρῶν ἡμῶν καὶ ἐλπίδας καὶ πολλὰ τοῖς ἁγίοις ἀπολογησάμενοι μάρτυσι. (7.) Πάντως εἰ καὶ βαρέα ταῦτα καὶ δύσφορα, ἀλλὰ καθ’ ὁδόν γε τοῦ καθ’ ἡμᾶς βίου φιλοσοφούμενα, καὶ οὔπω τοῦ πόλεις ἐκ πόλεων ἀμείβειν (ὃ φέρειν ἐκελεύσθημεν) φορτικώτερα. (8.) Σὺ δὲ τὸν τόπον οἰκοίης μακρότερα μὲν ἢ κατὰ τοὺς προενοικήσαντας, σωφρονέστερον δὲ ἢ ἐλπίζομεν, ὡς ἂν μήτε τοὺς ἁγίους ὑβρίζοιτε μάρτυρας, μήτε αὐτοὶ πλήσσοισθε τῇ παροικίᾳ. (9.) Ἐκεῖνο δὲ πρὸ πάντων ἀσφαλίσασθε, τῶν καθιερωμένων τοῖς μάρτυσι φείσασθε, ἵνα μὴ κακῶς περί τε ὑμῶν αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν ὑμετέρων βουλεύσησθε, πονηρῷ τῷ ἐπεισοδίῳ τὰ ὄντα φθείροντες.

'To Oualentinianos

We are being driven out of Karbale most disgracefully, or to use a quote from the tragedy slightly altered, we are being driven away, not at all in words, but most forcefully in reality [Euripides, Phoenician Women]. It would have been much better, had you mandated our departure in writing than by those women whom you have installed in our face, depriving us of the decency of our life, and subjecting us to daily abuse and insult by persons eager to pester people who have chosen to live the way we do. Or, to say something bold, you have driven us too out of Paradise by using Eve! You will easily devise some nicety, and declare your innocence, and will think that you you have said the right thing: that we by no means are being driven out by you, and that it is an honour for us that you wish to be our neighbour. And you may also add that you regard us as both a friend and a relative, and that you enjoy our friendship most thoroughly. But that’s just words, not the reality: for we both accept and welcome you to stay at the place, but women taking charge of the house is something we avoid like attacks of vipers. So, as far as we are concerned, that was it. We have accepted our defeat, we have confined ourselves, we have kept our dignity, having given up both our manual work and our hopes, and having long excused ourselves from the holy martyrs. At any rate, these things may be hard and unpleasant, but bearable on our path of living, and certainly not heavier than having to go from town to town, as we have been ordered to do. As for yourself, may you live in this place longer than those who inhabited it before you, and with greater prudence than we would hope, so that you may neither offend the holy martyrs, nor be afflicted by being their neighbours. Above all, however, take care of one thing: that you keep away from the property consecrated to the martyrs, lest you dare anything vile against both yourselves and your property, and destroy by an evil caprice what you already have.’

Text: Gallay 1964.
Translation: Efthymios Rizos.