Letter 880: Libanius warns Peter that over-praising him in public is causing resentment and making enemies.
Knowing that our friend Eusebius is a man who truly understands the art of friendship - it is his specialty, just as other men have theirs - he has joined Cynegius on this journey. He will certainly come to greet you with the warmest affection, for he holds you in the highest regard. When the gods bring him back here, he will return with more joy than those merchants who have seen their capital multiply many times over. He also brings you a word of advice from me: do not create enemies for yourself by praising me so highly. I have received reports from people who have heard your compliments. While I certainly enjoy being honored by you, I would never want to be the reason you face hostility. Whenever you sense that people are becoming resentful because you are saying something good about me, just hold your tongue. Do them the favor of remaining silent.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
1. Εἰδὼς φιλεῖν Εὐσέβιος οὗτος καὶ τοῦτο μεμελετηκώς, ὥσπερ ἄλλος ἄλλο τι, κεκοινώνηκε μὲν τῆς ὁδοῦ Κυνηγίῳ, φιλήσει δέ σου κεφαλὴν καὶ ὄμματα, ἃ ἔστιν αὐτῷ περὶ πολλοῦ. θεοῦ δὲ αὐτὸν πάλιν δεῦρο ἄγοντος ἥξει μᾶλλον χαίρων ἐκείνων τῶν ἐμπόρων, οἷς πολλαπλάσια τὰ ὄντα γεγένηται. 2. κομίζει δέ σοι καὶ παραίνεσίν τινα, ἡ δέ ἐστι μὴ σαυτῷ ποιεῖν ἐχθροὺς ἐκ τῶν εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐπαίνων, ἦλθον γὰρ ἡμῖν οἱ ταῦθ' ἡμῖν λέγοντες. ἐγὼ δὲ χαίρω μὲν ὑπὸ σοῦ τιμώμενος, πολέμων δὲ αἴτιος οὐκ ἂν εἶναί σοι βουλοίμην. 3. ἀλλ' ὅταν αἰσθάνῃ τινῶν ἀλγούντων τὴν καρδίαν, εἰ καλόν τι λέγοιτο περὶ ἐμοῦ παρὰ σοῦ, κλεῖε τὸ στόμα καὶ τοῖς τοιούτοις χαρίζου τὸ σιγᾶν.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern libanius foerster vol11 batch3 gemini flash v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://archive.org/download/foerster-libanii-opera/Foerster%20%281922%29%2C%20Libanii%20opera%2011_djvu.xml
Related Letters
The question of how to live well in a world that is changing faster than one can adapt to it is one that occupies me...
Love conquers anger, envy, quarrels, and attachment to the world.
You ask what I'm up to.
1. Words cannot express the pleasure with which the recollection of you filled my heart after I parted with you, and has often filled my heart since then. For I remember that, notwithstanding the amazing ardour which pervaded your inquiries after truth, the bounds of proper moderation in debate were never transgressed by you.
Vigilantius on his return to the West after his visit to Jerusalem (whither he had gone as the bearer of letters from Paulinus of Nola — see Letter LVIII. §11.) had openly accused Jerome of a leaning to the heresy of Origen. Jerome now writes to him in the most severe tone repudiating the charge of Origenism and fastening upon his opponent those...