Letter 634
Libanius→Εὐσεβίῳ|libanius
To Eusebius. (361 AD)
Who could blame a man for fleeing fire? The rivalry here is no different from fire. Whether nature drives them or circumstances compel them, shame has departed, no one feels embarrassment, they bite one another, and they heap envy upon me.
My brother is not free from the evils surrounding these matters — he has not yet been called to public service, but he has not escaped mention in discussions about it.
I am disgusted with the city, and I look elsewhere — and this after having tasted old age. Such are the fruits we reap from the present times.
Εὐσεβίῳ. (361)
Τί ἄν τις αἰτιῷτο φεύγοντα πῦρ; πυρὸς γὰρ οὐδὲν ἡ
τῶν ἐνταῦθα διαφέρει φιλονεικία. εἴτε τῆς φύσεως ἐναγούσης
εἴτε τῶν πραγμάτων βιαζομένων οἴχεται μὲν αἰδώς, αἰσχύνεται
δὲ οὐδείς, δάκνουσι δὲ ἀλλήλους, φθόνον δὲ ἐμοὶ συνάγουσιν.
ὁ δὲ ἀδελφός μοι τῶν περὶ ταῦτα κακῶν οὐκ ἔστιν ἐλεύ-
θερος, ἀλλ’ οὔπω μὲν λειτουργεῖ, τὴν μνήμην δὲ οὐ διέφυγεν
ἐν τῷ περὶ τούτων λόγῳ.
δυσχεραίνω δὲ τὴν πόλιν, βλέπω
δὲ ἑτέρωσε καὶ ταῦτα γήρως γεγευμένος. τοιαῦτα τοῦ παρόντος
ἀπολαύομεν καιροῦ.
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To Eusebius. (361 AD)
Who could blame a man for fleeing fire? The rivalry here is no different from fire. Whether nature drives them or circumstances compel them, shame has departed, no one feels embarrassment, they bite one another, and they heap envy upon me.
My brother is not free from the evils surrounding these matters — he has not yet been called to public service, but he has not escaped mention in discussions about it.
I am disgusted with the city, and I look elsewhere — and this after having tasted old age. Such are the fruits we reap from the present times.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.