Letter 681
Libanius→Μαξίμῳ|libanius
To Maximos. (361/62)
Stop saying great things about small matters — my letters. Stop also persuading others to say the same about them, fearing the law that stands against deceivers. Transfer the magnitude of your praises to the noble Photeinios, to whom god gave a sharp mind, a lofty spirit, harmonious grace, and a capable tongue.
You yourself benefit greatly from his tongue. For through every land he passes, he fills it all with your reputation, telling how you transformed the cities for the Armenians.
Pray then that the man may reach the ends of the earth — for then no one alive will be unaware of the fine deeds of Maximos.
Μαξίμῳ. (361/62)
Παῦσαι μεγάλα περὶ μικρῶν λέγωι, τῶν ἐμῶν ἐπιστολῶν
παῦσαι δὲ καὶ πείθων ἑτέρους ταὐτὰ περὶ αὐτῶν λέγειν δείσας
τὸν νόμον ὃς κεῖται περὶ τῶν ἀπατώντων, κοὶ μετένεγκε τὸ
τῶν ἐγκωμίων μέγεθος ἐπὶ τὸν γενναῖον Φωτεινόν, ᾧ φρένας
ὀξείας καὶ λῆμα ὑψηλὸν κοὶ χάριν ἐμμελῆ καὶ γλώτταν ἱκανὴν
ὁ θεὸς ἔδωκεν.
τῆς γλώττης δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ αὐτὸς εἰς τὰ
μέγιστα ἀπολαύεις· δι’ ὅσης γὰρ ἔρχεται, πᾶσαν τῆς περὶ σοῦ
δόξης πίμπλησι διηγούμενος, οἵας ἐποίησας Ἀρμενίοις τὰς
πόλεις.
εὔχου δὴ τὸν ἄνδρα μέχρι τερμάτων ἀφικέσθαι τῆς
γῆς· οἴτῳ γὰρ οὐδεὶς ἀνθρώπων ἀνήκοος ἔσται τῶν Μαξί-
μου καλῶν.
◆
To Maximos. (361/62)
Stop saying great things about small matters — my letters. Stop also persuading others to say the same about them, fearing the law that stands against deceivers. Transfer the magnitude of your praises to the noble Photeinios, to whom god gave a sharp mind, a lofty spirit, harmonious grace, and a capable tongue.
You yourself benefit greatly from his tongue. For through every land he passes, he fills it all with your reputation, telling how you transformed the cities for the Armenians.
Pray then that the man may reach the ends of the earth — for then no one alive will be unaware of the fine deeds of Maximos.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.