From: Libanius, rhetorician in Antioch
To: Aristaenetus
Date: ~357 AD
Context: A substantial letter on the state of education in Antioch, with news of friends and local affairs.
I received your letter with great pleasure, and the pleasure was doubled by its length -- for you are one of the few people whose long letters I never find tedious. Everything you wrote was worth reading, and much of it was worth reading twice.
The young men here continue their studies, though the quality varies as it always does. Some have talent without discipline, others discipline without talent, and the rare ones who combine both are the ones I take pride in. The school is alive, even if the times are difficult.
As for the business you asked about, I am seeing to it personally. The courts are slow and the officials not always competent, but there are honest men among them, and I have enlisted those I could find. Januarius, in particular, served with distinction -- winning praise from everyone by handling delays with such grace that no one could hold them against him. He treated your interests as his own and mine alike, and his departure is a genuine loss to the better sort of people here.
I should add that the earthquake that destroyed Nicomedia [358 AD] has cast a shadow over everything. I mourned for the city itself, and even more for Aristaenetus -- a different man from you -- who perished in it. The lament I wrote for him has been passed around and seems to have made an impression, though I never intended it for wide circulation.
**To Zenobius** (352 or 354?)
We resolved to avenge your silence with silence of our own. And yet I knew full well that the punishment fell short of the offense. For it was not an equal thing for me to be deprived of your letters and for you to receive none from us. On the contrary, the finer yours are, the greater my loss exceeds your penalty.
**To Thalassius** (352 or 353)
Admirable enough were the qualities I witnessed in you when we were together, but what I hear of you now approaches philosophy itself: a tongue that speaks freely, a character that loathes villainy, a passion for men of merit, and the courage to reward the worthy while driving out the wicked — and, greatest of all, gold held in contempt, that thing which wields the greatest power among men, yet before you stands defeated.
As for Gorgonius, when I heard this one thing — that he admires you — I was struck with wonder myself. For he would never feel so unless he were a man much like you.
Work then, through him, to secure what I am told is already underway — my recall. For I long to see with my own eyes what I now only hear of.
**To Florentius** (365)
The man who delivers this letter to you is the one who wrote it. For the man who persuaded me to take heart might most justly be said to have composed it himself. I was held back by hesitation, but the excellent Tatianus laid my hand upon the paper, declaring I would not regret having written. You, then, will show whether yielding to his persuasion and writing was better than not daring to write at all.
Context:A substantial letter on the state of education in Antioch, with news of friends and local affairs.
I received your letter with great pleasure, and the pleasure was doubled by its length -- for you are one of the few people whose long letters I never find tedious. Everything you wrote was worth reading, and much of it was worth reading twice.
The young men here continue their studies, though the quality varies as it always does. Some have talent without discipline, others discipline without talent, and the rare ones who combine both are the ones I take pride in. The school is alive, even if the times are difficult.
As for the business you asked about, I am seeing to it personally. The courts are slow and the officials not always competent, but there are honest men among them, and I have enlisted those I could find. Januarius, in particular, served with distinction -- winning praise from everyone by handling delays with such grace that no one could hold them against him. He treated your interests as his own and mine alike, and his departure is a genuine loss to the better sort of people here.
I should add that the earthquake that destroyed Nicomedia [358 AD] has cast a shadow over everything. I mourned for the city itself, and even more for Aristaenetus -- a different man from you -- who perished in it. The lament I wrote for him has been passed around and seems to have made an impression, though I never intended it for wide circulation.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.