Libanius→Aristainetus; and separately to Silanus|libanius
To Aristainetus.
Leontius never delivered the letter. Either he claimed to have received it when he had not, or he took it and lost it. And Themistius, who said he would bring one the next day, turned around and said he had nothing after all -- you had written it, apparently, but never sealed it. What am I supposed to make of all this? Explain it to me, because I cannot solve these riddles.
Spectatus left us slowly, but he left things here in good order, following the example of our ancestor Nicias [the 5th-century BC Athenian general]. He has gone to see Babylon -- not taken by war, but opened by the peaceful custom of the times.
Leontius never delivered the letter. Either he claimed to have received it when he had not, or he took it and lost it. And Themistius, who said he would bring one the next day, turned around and said he had nothing after all -- you had written it, apparently, but never sealed it. What am I supposed to make of all this? Explain it to me, because I cannot solve these riddles.
Spectatus left us slowly, but he left things here in good order, following the example of our ancestor Nicias [the 5th-century BC Athenian general]. He has gone to see Babylon -- not taken by war, but opened by the peaceful custom of the times.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.