Letter 205
Libanius→Calliopius|libanius
To Calliopius. (360)
I send you these small tokens not because they match the scale of my affection -- nothing could -- but because they are what I have to hand. Judge them by the spirit of the sender, not by the value of the gift. And if the spirit counts for anything, then you are receiving something priceless from a man who would give you the world if he had it.
Write soon and tell me you are well. That is the only return I ask.
Δομνίωνι. (360)
Δόγμα νενίκηκε παρ’ ἡμῖν τὸ παρ’ ὑμῖν καλὸν καὶ τῇδε
φυτεῦσαι, νόμων μάθησιν. τὸν μὲν οὖν ἄριστον ζητῶν σὲ τοῦ-
τον εὑρίσκω, τὸ δ’ ἄκοντα ἀναστῆσαι νομίζων οὐκ εὐσεβὲς
βουλῆς ἀφίημι κύριον ἐπιθυμῶν μὲν ἔχειν, ἕλκειν δὲ οὐκ ἀξιῶν.
φράζε δὴ τὸ δοκοῦν καὶ φράσαις γε ὅ βούλομαι. νικῶντος
δὲ θατέρου τίνα καλοῦντες οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοιεν μήνυε.
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To Calliopius. (360)
I send you these small tokens not because they match the scale of my affection -- nothing could -- but because they are what I have to hand. Judge them by the spirit of the sender, not by the value of the gift. And if the spirit counts for anything, then you are receiving something priceless from a man who would give you the world if he had it.
Write soon and tell me you are well. That is the only return I ask.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.