Letter 896: Libanius apologizes for a long silence and asks about Aristaenetus's health.
For many who have been wronged, it is enough just to hear the wrongdoers admit it. So, let it be enough for you when I say the same regarding my delay in writing - a delay of four months or more. I could have invented plausible excuses, but I didn't think it right to defend myself that way to a man who is a relative, a gentleman, a companion, and a friend. Let the truth be told: I made a mistake. However, I have never stopped asking the gods for some improvement in your health. Polybius also makes the same request of them; he is a good man who delights in books, loves literature, and lives with a man who produces it. Tell that 'craftsman' [Leontius] to keep making more 'statues' [speeches] and adding to the ones he has already shown, so that while the one [life/time] flows away, we may be made famous through Leontius, along with Leontius himself.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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. Ἤρκεσε πολλοῖς ἀδικηθεῖσιν ἀκοῦσαι παρὰ τῶν ἠδικηκότων ὅτι ἠδικήκασιν. ἀρκείτω τοίνυν καὶ σοὶ λεγόμενον ταὐτὸ τοῦτο παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ περὶ τῆς βραδυτῆτος τῆς περὶ τὰ γράμματα· μῆνες δὲ ἡ βραδυτὴς τέτταρες ἢ καὶ πλείους. 2. καὶ ἦν μέντοι πλάττειν εὐπροσώπους αἰτίας· οὐ μὴν ἠξίωσά γε οὕτως ἀπολογεῖσθαι πρὸς ἄνδρα καὶ συγγενῆ καὶ γενναῖον καὶ ὁμιλητὴν καὶ ἐραστήν. ἀλλ᾽ εἰρήσθω τό γε ἀληθές, ὡς ἡμάρτηται τοῦθ᾽ ἡμῖν. 3. τοῦ μέντοι παρὰ τῶν θεῶν αἰτεῖν ἐπανόρθωσίν τινά σοι τοῦ σώματος οὐκ ἔστιν ὅτε ἐπαυσάμην· ᾔτει δέ σοι καὶ Πολύβιος ταῦτα παρὰ τῶν αὐτῶν χρηστῷ τε ὄντι καὶ χαίροντι βιβλίοις καὶ λόγους ἀσπαζομένῳ καὶ ζῶντι μετ᾽ ἀνδρὸς λόγους ἐργαζομένου. πεῖθε δὴ τὸν δημιουργὸν ἕτερα ποιεῖν ἀγάλματα καὶ ἀεὶ προστιθέναι τοῖς ἤδη δεδειγμένοις, ὅπως ὁ μὲν ῥέῃ, λαμπροὶ δὲ ἡμεῖς διὰ Λεόντιον ὦμεν μετὰ τοῦ Λεοντίου.
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
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