Libanius→Olympius, physician and philosopher|libanius
To Olympius, physician and philosopher. (355)
We are gaping in expectation -- not for Aeschylus [i.e., a theatrical production], but for your letters and those of our good emperor: his granting the release, and yours confirming that it was granted through your efforts.
Know also that a second letter has arrived from there with the same orders, though it is unclear whether it came before or after the decree.
But it falls to you to resolve these compulsions, just as you resolve illnesses. I am keeping the agreements despite everyone having conspired against them, save two -- for it is not right to undo what you brought together. But see to it that our taxes are not enforced. Let this be my contest: to preserve the one; and yours: to remove the other.
You know the president of the Olympic games -- a man whose resources do not match the scale of the obligation. The ally in such matters is a generous emperor. In the name of Zeus, show the emperor to be such a man by rousing Datianus's spirit to come to his aid. A good word from a friend goes a long way.
We are gaping in expectation -- not for Aeschylus [i.e., a theatrical production], but for your letters and those of our good emperor: his granting the release, and yours confirming that it was granted through your efforts.
Know also that a second letter has arrived from there with the same orders, though it is unclear whether it came before or after the decree.
But it falls to you to resolve these compulsions, just as you resolve illnesses. I am keeping the agreements despite everyone having conspired against them, save two -- for it is not right to undo what you brought together. But see to it that our taxes are not enforced. Let this be my contest: to preserve the one; and yours: to remove the other.
You know the president of the Olympic games -- a man whose resources do not match the scale of the obligation. The ally in such matters is a generous emperor. In the name of Zeus, show the emperor to be such a man by rousing Datianus's spirit to come to his aid. A good word from a friend goes a long way.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.