Letter 685: Even when you were staging those remarkable spectacles, purchasing glory with money, I considered it an honor to be...
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.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
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.
Revision history
- 2026-03-20v2.1.0-import
Initial corpus import from AI-assisted translation from original text.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/First1KGreek/blob/master/volume_xml/libanius_10.xml
Related Letters
1. You have done quite right in sending me a letter, and in sending it by the hands of one who, even if you had not written, would have been perfectly competent to give me considerable comfort in all my anxieties, and an authentic report as to the position of affairs. Many vague rumours were continually reaching me, and therefore I was desirous ...
May this custom endure, and may the mutual assurance of well-being be renewed between us year after year.
Our friendship had led me to expect your visit.
I am delighted at receiving what you write, but when you ask me to reply, I am in a difficulty. What could I say in answer to so Attic a tongue, except that I confess, and confess with joy, that I am a pupil of fishermen? About this page Source.
It is the mark of youthful vigor to rouse wild beasts from their woodland lairs and to pursue liberal studies with...