Letter 715
Libanius→Celsus, governor of Cilicia|libanius
To Celsus, governor of Cilicia. (362)
The law requires of doctors only one public service: the practice of their art. Yet Philon is being dragged toward the council by the people of Rhosos, even though he has long been raising many from their sickbeds.
If they do not know that Philon is a doctor, let them learn and stop. If they know and use force anyway, well -- Philon may be weak, but the law is strong.
Τῷ αὐτῶ. (362)
Ὁ νόμος τοὺς ἰατροὺς μίαν ἀπαιτεῖ λειτουργίαν τὴν ἀπὸ
τῆς τέχνης, Φίλων δὲ πρὸς τὸ βουλεύειν ὑπὸ τῶν Ῥωσὸν
οἰκούντων ἕλκεται πάλαι πολλοὺς ἐκ νοσημάτων ἀναστήσας.
εἰ μὲν οὖν ἀγνοοῦσιν ὡς ἰατρὸς ὁ Φίλων, μαθόντες παυ-
έσθωσαν· εἰ δὲ εἰδότες βιάζονται, Φίλων μὲν ἴσως ἀσθενής,
ἰσχυρὸς δὲ ὁ νόμος.
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To Celsus, governor of Cilicia. (362)
The law requires of doctors only one public service: the practice of their art. Yet Philon is being dragged toward the council by the people of Rhosos, even though he has long been raising many from their sickbeds.
If they do not know that Philon is a doctor, let them learn and stop. If they know and use force anyway, well -- Philon may be weak, but the law is strong.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.