Libanius & Modestus

I delight in this kind of slander.

I hear that the danger has reached its peak -- that bridges have been built for the Persian [Shapur II] and the...

Domnus -- the man whose penalty you deferred by advising him to appeal to the emperor's mercy for relief -- has done...

Every effort I make on your behalf is a pleasure to me.

May you continue doing what you do best -- confirming just decisions, saving cities, hating sycophants, and...

People who ask for a first favor think the very fact that it's their first request entitles them to it, invoking...

I don't abandon friends when they're in trouble, the way most people do.

How much Eudaemon is worth to anyone who cares about Greek culture, how close a friend he is to us, and how much he...

Don't worry -- you won't be deceived, and Eupeithius won't turn out to be a villain.

Those colts of mine, whom I have led from the meadows of the Muses and given to you -- some were summoned by you,...

A fine set of rewards awaits governors, it seems -- if they are to wear themselves out, neglect their own interests...

Neither of these things is new -- neither your constant traveling nor your sending of gifts.

At first we had no way of knowing where exactly you were.

While we were lamenting what has happened to Procopius and praying for his darkness to be lifted, the Cilicians --...

May you complete this stoa of yours -- that broad, long, lofty colonnade, dear to Dionysus -- exactly as you...

Here is another matter that needs correction.

I know you are overwhelmed with business -- the kind that admits no postponement and offers no rest.

I know that you welcome frankness, so I shall not waste your time with flattery before coming to the point.

I return to the subject of your building projects, not because I wish to criticize -- you know my admiration for...

I commend your war on thieves.

The poets, I think, were right about Eros when they called him invincible [a reference to the famous Sophocles...

I send you greetings through Hyperechius, who will tell you everything about us more clearly than any letter could.

You have long known how much I care about Dulcitius.

My companions -- your rhetors -- the men I gave to you and you admired -- these very men who carry this letter are...

The brevity of this letter should not be taken as a measure of the favor being asked.

Many people write to governors on behalf of friends, and most of those letters say the same thing: "This man is...

Well, this particular labor has ended well -- the helmsman's skill proved stronger than the wild winds.