Letter 503
Libanius→Heortius, of Themistius (a student)|libanius
To Themistius.
I am surprised that you sent no letter through Clearchus, nor when Iphicles came from you to us.
If this was simply laziness, then there is always hope for a letter -- you will make the effort eventually. But if it stems from some other cause, something unpleasant, then tell me, so I do not annoy you by writing. A man who would not welcome sending a letter would not welcome receiving one either.
Θεμιστίῳ. (356/57)
Θαυμάζω τὸ μήτε διὰ Κλεάρχου σε γράψαι τι μήθ’
ἡνίκα παρ’ ὑμῶν Ἰφικλῆς ὡς ἡμᾶς ἤρχετο.
εἰ μὲν οὖν
ῥᾳθυμίᾳ τοῦτ’ ἐγένετο, καὶ γράμματα ἐλπίζειν ἀεὶ ἔστι, προ-
θυμήσῃ γάρ ποτε· εἰ δ’ ἀπ’ ἄλλης αἰτίας ἐχούσης τι δυσχε-
ρές, δήλωσον, ὡς μή σε ἐνοχλοίην τῷ γράφειν. ὁ γὰρ οὐκ ἂν
ἡδέως ἐπιστείλας οὐδ’ ἄν ἡδέως λάβοι.
◆
To Themistius.
I am surprised that you sent no letter through Clearchus, nor when Iphicles came from you to us.
If this was simply laziness, then there is always hope for a letter -- you will make the effort eventually. But if it stems from some other cause, something unpleasant, then tell me, so I do not annoy you by writing. A man who would not welcome sending a letter would not welcome receiving one either.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.