Letter 950: Libanius encourages Strategius to return home from his travels in Rome and Greece, while noting his own feeling of being forgotten.
You have likely been affected by Rome's grandeur, and now you enjoy the beauties of Greece. It is a great loss not to see them, and a great gain to behold them. But we have heard from the Greeks themselves that one should value one's birthplace and not flee death for one's country. You, however, would have no need to take up arms or fight and suffer whatever war wills; you only need to wish to see your own land and people, from whom you have been separated for so long. Do not think I will include myself in this; I have long felt neglected. If this were not the case, you would have written. Now, your silence teaches me that I count for little with you, and it seems you won't even ask the wonderful Hilarius how we are doing. But he, even to one who does not wish to hear, will speak gladly of us both—having enjoyed our company when he was here, and enjoying our memory while away.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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. Εἰκὸς μέν τι πέπονθας καὶ τῷ μεγέθει Ῥώμης γοητευθείς καὶ νῦν ἡδόμενος τοῖς τῆς Ἑλλάδος καλοῖς· ἃ γὰρ οὐκ ἰδεῖν ζημία πολλή, ταῦθ' ὁρᾶν κέρδος μέγα. 2. ἀλλ' αὐτοὶ καὶ παρ' αὐτῶν τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἀκηκόαμεν τὴν ἐνεγκοῦσαν τίμιόν τι νομίζειν καὶ μηδὲ θάνατον φεύγειν τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς πατρίδος. σὲ δὲ ὅπλα μὲν οὐδὲν ἂν δέοι λαβεῖν καὶ συμπεσόντα μάχεσθαι καὶ πάσχειν ὅ τι ἂν ὁ πόλεμος ἐθέλῃ, βουληθῆναι δὲ τοσοῦτον, ἰδεῖν τήν τε σαυτοῦ καὶ τοὺς σεαυτοῦ πολὺν δή τινα χρόνον ἐστερημένους τῶν παρὰ σοῦ. 3. καὶ μήτοι νομίσῃς ὅτι προσθήσω καὶ ἐμαυτόν· πάλαι γὰρ αἰσθάνομαι καταπεφρονημένος. εἰ γὰρ μὴ τοῦτο τοιοῦτον ἦν, κἂν ἐπέστειλας. νῦν δὲ ἡ σιγή με διδάσκει τὸ μηδὲ μικρὸν εἶναι λόγον παρὰ σοὶ περὶ ἡμῶν, καὶ δή μοι δοκεῖς οὐδ' ἐρήσεσθαι τὸν θαυμαστὸν Ἱλάριον, τί δρῶμεν ἢ πάσχομεν. 4. ὁ δὲ καὶ πρὸς οὐ βουλόμενον ἀκούειν ἐρεῖ περὶ ἀμφοῖν ἡδέως μέν, ἡνίκα παρῆν, συνών, ἡδέως δὲ καὶ ἀπὼν ἐν μνήμη τῇ περὶ ἡμῶν διατρίβων.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern libanius foerster vol11 batch6 gemini flash ocr reviewed v1.
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