Letter 156: So you will not collect taxes twice, yet you keep asking for letters on matters about which you already have...
Libanius→Priscianus|c. 328 AD|Libanius
barbarian invasionfriendship
To Priscianus (359/60)
So then — you would not exact the same tribute twice, yet on matters about which you already have a letter, you see fit to receive another. Mikkalus, at any rate, was carrying a letter concerning the poverty both there and here.
But that is not enough for you. Your wife's brother — a man most dear to me — came rushing in yesterday to where I was sitting with my companions, declaring that he was under accusation and in fear, on the grounds that he seemed to you not to be serving you well with regard to the letters you send. He claimed that *you* were being wronged by *me*, since I had written nothing about the poverty. But I am among those who have written, as you yourself know and as Mikkalus can attest. I shall not, therefore, pay the same tribute a second time.
But there is something you ought to know. When I hear that great labors beset you — labors not entirely free from danger — I immediately ask whether you are succeeding, and I take joy in the magnitude of those labors whenever I hear that you are indeed succeeding.
For these labors of yours — someone will one day set them down in narrative, and someone will stand in wonder at them, and a certain reward will follow, one which you do not seek, but which I expect on your behalf.
So then — you would not exact the same tribute twice, yet on matters about which you already have a letter, you see fit to receive another. Mikkalus, at any rate, was carrying a letter concerning the poverty both there and here.
But that is not enough for you. Your wife's brother — a man most dear to me — came rushing in yesterday to where I was sitting with my companions, declaring that he was under accusation and in fear, on the grounds that he seemed to you not to be serving you well with regard to the letters you send. He claimed that *you* were being wronged by *me*, since I had written nothing about the poverty. But I am among those who have written, as you yourself know and as Mikkalus can attest. I shall not, therefore, pay the same tribute a second time.
But there is something you ought to know. When I hear that great labors beset you — labors not entirely free from danger — I immediately ask whether you are succeeding, and I take joy in the magnitude of those labors whenever I hear that you are indeed succeeding.
For these labors of yours — someone will one day set them down in narrative, and someone will stand in wonder at them, and a certain reward will follow, one which you do not seek, but which I expect on your behalf.