Letter 685
Libanius→Αὐξεντίῳ|libanius
To Auxentios. (361/62)
Even when you were staging those remarkable spectacles, purchasing glory with money, I considered it an honor to be associated with you. And now I delight in the honor conveyed by the skin, and though I was not present to witness the beasts' exploits, I can judge from the hide what the leopard did to the hunters.
I pray to Artemis that she make your future shows splendid too, both in the ferocity of the beasts and the skill of those who face them.
Αὐξεντίῳ. (361/32)
Καὶ ὅτε τὰ θαυμαστὰ ἴνα ἐποίεις δόξαν ὠνούμενος
χρημάτων, αὐτὸς ἡγούμην ἐν τιμῇ καθίστασθαι μετὰ σαυτοῦ
καὶ νῦν χαίρω τε τῇ διὰ τοῦ δέρματος τιμῇ καὶ τῶν τεθεαμέ-
νων τὰ ἔργα τῶν θηρίων οὐ πόρρω γεγένημαι τῇ δορᾷ τε-
κμαιρόμενος, οἷα ἡ πάρδαλις ἔδρα τοὺς κυνηγέτας
εὔχομαι
δὴ τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι καὶ τὰ λοιπά σοι θεῖναι λαμπρὰ θηρίων τι
χαλεπότητι καὶ τῇ τῶν πρὸς ταῦτα εἰσιόντων σοφίᾳ.
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To Auxentios. (361/62)
Even when you were staging those remarkable spectacles, purchasing glory with money, I considered it an honor to be associated with you. And now I delight in the honor conveyed by the skin, and though I was not present to witness the beasts' exploits, I can judge from the hide what the leopard did to the hunters.
I pray to Artemis that she make your future shows splendid too, both in the ferocity of the beasts and the skill of those who face them.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.