Letter 572
Libanius→Olympius and Jovinus|libanius
To Olympius and Jovinus.
I did not have to ask Iamblichus to carry this letter to you -- he asked me to send it. When he was about to leave, he told me to write to my friends, and I obeyed.
Of all the others, he mentioned none by name. But he singled out Olympius and his brother, calling you "the lovers of the Muses," and said: "If I carry letters to them, everything will go well for me."
So I had three sources of pleasure: that you enjoy such a reputation; that you, who are good men, are my friends; and that this kinsman and friend of mine is not ignorant of who the good men are.
Ὀλυμπίῳ καὶ Ἰοβίνῳ. (357)
Ταύτην τὴν ἐπιστολὴν οὐκ αὐτὸς ἐδεήθην Ἰαμβλίχου
κομίζειν ὑμῖν, ἀλλ’ αὐτὸς ἐδεήθη μου πέμπειν ὑμῖν. ὡς γὰρ
ἀπαίρειν μέλλων κελεύσας ἐπιστεῖλαι τοῖς φίλοις εἶχε πειθό-
μενον.
τῶν μὲν <οὖν> ἄλλων οὐδενὸς ὀνομαστὶ πρὸς
ἐμνήσθη, τὸν Ὀλύμπιον δὲ καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν εἰπὼν τοὺς φιλο-
μούσους, εἰ τούτοις ἔφη φέροιμι γράμματα, πάντα
ἕξει μοι καλῶς.
τρεῖς οὖν εἶχον ἡδονὴν ἀφορμάς, τὸ
ὑμᾶς ἐν τούτῳ δόξης εἶναι τό τε ἐμοὶ φίλους μὲν ὑμᾶς εἶναι
τοὺς ἀγαθούς, συγγενῆ δὲ τοῦτον καὶ φίλον τὸν οὐκ ἀγνοοῦντα
τοὺς ἀγαθούς.
◆
To Olympius and Jovinus.
I did not have to ask Iamblichus to carry this letter to you -- he asked me to send it. When he was about to leave, he told me to write to my friends, and I obeyed.
Of all the others, he mentioned none by name. But he singled out Olympius and his brother, calling you "the lovers of the Muses," and said: "If I carry letters to them, everything will go well for me."
So I had three sources of pleasure: that you enjoy such a reputation; that you, who are good men, are my friends; and that this kinsman and friend of mine is not ignorant of who the good men are.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.