Letter 707

To Celsus, governor of Cilicia. (362) There is nothing surprising about falling in love with Attica. The place is naturally dear to all who have seen it and all who have not. Fathers imagine their sons will come back from there either with real eloquence or at least the reputation of possessing it. As for Acacius -- because I respect him, I would have praised him even if he had sent his son. But because I care for him, I would rather he had not. Some of the teachers there are so old they need nothing but a soft bed after a full meal. Others may themselves need teachers -- men who will first teach them to settle disputes with words rather than weapons. As things stand, they are turning out soldiers instead of orators, and I have seen many men bearing scars from wounds received in the Lyceum [the famous Athenian philosophical school -- Libanius implies its students now fight rather than study]. Titianus might not have become one of them, but it is not a good look even to be a classmate of men who think that way. So know that you have helped both sides -- me and them. Me, by not letting someone else be adorned with the fruits of my labor. Them, by not wasting a great deal of their time on what may amount to very little -- to put it kindly. Now add to blocking the road to Athens the opening of the road to us.

Τῷ αὐτῶ. (362) Οὐδὲν θαυμαστὸν εἴ τις ἠράσθη τῆς Ἀττικῆς· φύσει γὰρ φίλτατον τὸ χωρίον τοῖς τε ἰδοῦσι τοῖς τε οὔπω. κοὶ νομίζουσιν οἱ πατέρες ἢ λόγους αὑτοῖς ἐκεῖθεν τοὺς υἱεῖς κομιεῖν ἡ δόξαν γε τοῦ λόγους ἔχειν. Ἀκάκιον δέ, διότι μὲν αἰδοῦμαι, κἂν πέμψαντα τὸν υἱὸν ἐπῄνουν· διότι δὲ φιλῶ. βουλοίμην ἂν μὴ πέμψαι τὸν παῖδα. τῶν γὰρ αὐτόθι δι- δασκάλων οἱ μὲν διὰ γῆρας δέοιντ’ ἂν τοῦ καθεύδειν μαλακῶς ἐπὶ πλησμονῇ, τοῖς δ’ ἴσως δεῖ διδασκάλων, οἳ τοῦτο πρατὸν αὐτοὺς παιδεύσουσι λόγοις κρίνεσθαι καὶ μὴ ὅπλοις. νῦν δ’ ἡμῖν στρατιώτας ἀντὶ ῥητόρων ἐκκροτοῦσι, καὶ πολλοὺς εἶδον οὐλὰς ἐνηνοχότας ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν Λυκείῳ τραυμάτων. ὧν ἴσως μὲν οὐκ ἂν ἐγένετο Τιτιανός, ἔστι δὲ οὐδὲ συμφοιτητὴν τῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα λογιζομένων δόξαι καλόν. ἀμφοτέροις οὖν ἴσθι βεβοηθηκώς, καὶ ἐμοὶ καὶ ἐκείνοις· ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐκ ἐάσας ἄλλον τοῖς ἐμοῖς κοσμηθῆναι πόνοις· ἐκείνοις δὲ τῷ μὴ πολὺν αὐτοῖς ἀναλωθῆναι χρόνον ἴσως ὑπὲρ μικρῶν· οὕτω γὰρ εἰπεῖν βέλτιον. πρόσθες δὴ τῷ τὴν ὁδὸν ἐκείνην κωλύσαι τὸ τὴν ὡς ἡμᾶς ἐπεῖξαι. ἐρχέσθω δέ, εἰ μὲν βούλεται, προσληψό- μενος λόγων· εἰ δὲ ἐθέλει, χρησόμενος οἷς ἔχει. πάντως ὅ γε ἄρχων πάσῃ δέξεται τὸν νεανίσκον εὐνοίᾳ. σωφρονούντων δέ, οἶμαι, καρποῦσθαι καιρόν. τούτων μὲν οὖν οὐκ ἀμελή- σεις, τὸν δὲ Ἀλέξανδρον ἡμῖν ἀπάλλαττε δεσμοῦ δευτέρου· πρὶν γὰρ ἀναπνεῦσαι πιέζεται καὶ κῦμα τὸ μὲν διαπέφευγε, τῷ δὲ παλαίει. τὸ γάρτοι προεισφέρειν τὸν τηλικοῦτον οὐ πολὺ κουφότερον τῆς περὶ τὸ κοινὸν βαλανεῖον δαπάνης. ποιοῦ δὴ τὴν βοήθειαν διὰ πάντων καὶ μηδὲν τῶν ἐκεῖθεν ταραττέτω τὸν νέον.