Letter 255
Libanius→Eutherius, governor of Armenia|libanius
To Eutherius. (358/359)
Your love has made you a slanderer -- you think nobody is anything compared to me. But it is equally absurd to praise worthless men and to refuse to admire good ones. By not recognizing Acacius as one of the servants of Hermes [god of eloquence], you hurt me and, before me, the god himself.
We will certainly not cast out what Philopatris has learned from that man. Rather, we will try to build upon it, and he will receive instruction that is a sibling to what came before.
Εὐθηρίῳ. (358/59)
Συκοφάντην σε τὸ ἐρᾶν πεποίηκε καὶ πάντας πλὴν ἐμοῦ
νομίζεις οὐδέν. ἔστι δὲ ὁμοίως ἄτοπον καὶ φαύλους ἐπαινεῖν
καὶ μὴ θαυμάζειν τοὺς ἀγαθούς. Ἀκάκιον δὲ μὴ νομίζων ἴνα
τῶν περὶ τὸν Ἑρμῆν ἐμέ τε λυπεῖς καὶ πρὸ ἐμοῦ τὸν θεόν
οὔκουν ἐκβαλοῦμεν ἅττα ἔχει μαθὼν παρ’ ἐκείνου Φιλόπα-
τρις, ἀλλ’ ἐποικοδομεῖν πειρασόμεθα καὶ δέξεται λόγους τοῖς
ἔμπροσθεν ἀδελφούς.
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To Eutherius. (358/359)
Your love has made you a slanderer -- you think nobody is anything compared to me. But it is equally absurd to praise worthless men and to refuse to admire good ones. By not recognizing Acacius as one of the servants of Hermes [god of eloquence], you hurt me and, before me, the god himself.
We will certainly not cast out what Philopatris has learned from that man. Rather, we will try to build upon it, and he will receive instruction that is a sibling to what came before.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.