Letter 673
Libanius→Βασσιαωῷ|libanius
To Bassianus. (~361 AD)
You did well to quench a great deal of nonsense with a few words—of which I was already laughing before your letter arrived, and once it came, everyone joined me. I am glad that you clearly take pleasure in being ruled by a ruler who knows how to rule. For in saying the scepter was given to him by the son of Kronos [Zeus], you reveal the virtue of the one who received it. Take care of yourself, and consider night and day how there may be a better account of you.
Βασσιαωῷ. (361)
Καλῶς ἐποίησας ὀλίγοις γράμμασι πολλὴν φλυαρίαν
σβέσας, ἧς ἐγὼ μὲ. καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἐπιστολῆς κατεγέλων, ὡς δὲ
ἧκεν ἐκείνη, πάντες. χαίρω δὲ ὅτι δῆλος εἶ χαίρων βασι-
λεύοντος τοῦ βασιλεύειν εἰδότος. ἐν γὰρ τῷ φάναι τὸ σκῆπτρον
αὐτῷ δεδόσθαι παρὰ τοῦ παιδὸς τοῦ Κρόνου τὴν τοῦ λαβόν-
τος ἀρετὴν μηνύεις.
ἐπιμελοῦ δὴ σαυτοῦ καὶ ὅπως ἔσται
περὶ σοῦ λόγος βελτίων καὶ νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν σκόπει.
◆
To Bassianus. (~361 AD)
You did well to quench a great deal of nonsense with a few words—of which I was already laughing before your letter arrived, and once it came, everyone joined me. I am glad that you clearly take pleasure in being ruled by a ruler who knows how to rule. For in saying the scepter was given to him by the son of Kronos [Zeus], you reveal the virtue of the one who received it. Take care of yourself, and consider night and day how there may be a better account of you.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.