Letter 397
Libanius→Γυμνασίῳ|libanius
To Gymnasios. (355 AD)
You have permission to come to us. And I won't boast that I'm the one saying so. But when Strategios — who proves every bit of self-praise true — heard that Gymnasios was in love with Syria, he immediately launched into an encomium worthy of a sophist's labor, so lengthy and so fine. He left us no chance to exert ourselves, since he did everything at once.
You, however, seem to desire what we have here while being held back by things there.
Γυμνασίῳ. (355)
Ἐξουσία σοι παρ’ ἡμᾶς ἰέναι. καὶ οὐκ ἀλαζονεύσομαί γε,
ὅτι ταῦτα λέγω. ἀλλ’ ὡς ἤκουσε Στρατήγιος ὁ πάντα ἐπαινέτην
αὑτοῦ δεικνὺς ἀληθῆ, ὅτι Γυμνάσιος ἐρῴη Συρίας, εὐθὺς μὲν
ἐγκώμιον κατέτεινε, σοφιστοῦ πόνον, οὕτως ἦν πολύ τε καὶ
καλόν, ἡμῖν δὲ οὐ δέδωκε σπουδάσαι πάντα εὐθὺς ποιῶν.
σὺ δ’ ἔοικας τῶν μὲν παρ’ ἡμῖν ἐπιθυμεῖν, ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν
ἐκεῖθεν κατέχεσθαι.
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To Gymnasios. (355 AD)
You have permission to come to us. And I won't boast that I'm the one saying so. But when Strategios — who proves every bit of self-praise true — heard that Gymnasios was in love with Syria, he immediately launched into an encomium worthy of a sophist's labor, so lengthy and so fine. He left us no chance to exert ourselves, since he did everything at once.
You, however, seem to desire what we have here while being held back by things there.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.