From: Libanius, rhetorician in Antioch
To: Spectatus
Date: ~359 AD
Context: A recommendation for a soldier whose brother is a friend of Libanius -- featuring a touching scene with Spectatus's grieving mother.
Among the soldiers there is a brother of this Hesychius, and Hesychius himself has become a friend of ours for no small number of reasons. That's why he has the standing both to ask for a favor and to receive one. He enters your mother's house as confidently as you yourself do.
I was once sitting beside your mother, talking with her, when Hesychius asked her to write you a letter on his brother's behalf. She said she hadn't yet written to you since the family's recent misfortunes and couldn't bring herself to do it now. He was downcast, but she soothed his disappointment by asking me to write to you, explaining why she herself hadn't written -- believing that once you understood the reason for her silence, it would carry the same weight as a letter from her.
So do your best to help this man. You certainly have the power if you have the will.
**To the same correspondent.** (359/60)
There is among the soldiers a brother of Hesychius, and this Hesychius here is a man whom no small number of things have made a friend to us. For that reason, he has the standing both to ask a favor and to receive one. And he enters your mother's house no less boldly than you yourself would.
Once, I was sitting beside her in conversation when he came in requesting that a letter go from her to you on behalf of his brother. But she said that she had not yet written to you since the calamities, nor was she yet able to bring herself to do so. At this he grew disheartened, but she, wishing to remedy his distress, bade me write to you explaining why she herself had not written, believing that your learning the reason for her silence would carry the same weight as a letter from her.
Do, then, be eager to help the man — for you certainly have the power, if you have the will.
Context:A recommendation for a soldier whose brother is a friend of Libanius -- featuring a touching scene with Spectatus's grieving mother.
Among the soldiers there is a brother of this Hesychius, and Hesychius himself has become a friend of ours for no small number of reasons. That's why he has the standing both to ask for a favor and to receive one. He enters your mother's house as confidently as you yourself do.
I was once sitting beside your mother, talking with her, when Hesychius asked her to write you a letter on his brother's behalf. She said she hadn't yet written to you since the family's recent misfortunes and couldn't bring herself to do it now. He was downcast, but she soothed his disappointment by asking me to write to you, explaining why she herself hadn't written -- believing that once you understood the reason for her silence, it would carry the same weight as a letter from her.
So do your best to help this man. You certainly have the power if you have the will.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.