Libanius→Heortius, of Themistius (a student)|libanius
To Heortius, father of Themistius (a student). (355)
I may be meddling when I urge a father to care for a son he has decided to neglect. But when I saw Themistius in tears, I preferred to seem intrusive rather than indifferent.
He said nothing harsh -- only that you seem to have forgotten him. If you were poor, I would have told you to collect money from friends to help the boy. But since you are, thankfully, among the wealthiest men around, I advise you to spend some of what you have on the most valuable thing you possess.
Going hungry is hardly good for a young man, perhaps. But this is not about his stomach -- it is about getting the young man books. Without them, he will be like someone trying to learn archery without a bow.
To Heortius, father of Themistius (a student). (355)
I may be meddling when I urge a father to care for a son he has decided to neglect. But when I saw Themistius in tears, I preferred to seem intrusive rather than indifferent.
He said nothing harsh -- only that you seem to have forgotten him. If you were poor, I would have told you to collect money from friends to help the boy. But since you are, thankfully, among the wealthiest men around, I advise you to spend some of what you have on the most valuable thing you possess.
Going hungry is hardly good for a young man, perhaps. But this is not about his stomach -- it is about getting the young man books. Without them, he will be like someone trying to learn archery without a bow.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.