Letter 130: Whatever kindness you do me, know that you'll have dealt not just with a relative but with someone who loves you.
Libanius→Eustolius|c. 326 AD|Libanius|AI-assisted
friendshipproperty economics
To the same man. (359/60)
In whatever way you do us a kindness, you will have laid up a benefit not only for a kinsman but also for one who loves you. And I judge this latter relation greater than the former, since I see that even now many men attempt the deeds of the sons of Oedipus, and kinship does not prevent them.
But I love you both on other grounds and because in a different walk of life you display the keenness of your father's mind, from which your power to prevail also comes to you.
To Mocimus I have given encouragement to take heart, that you will grant him the very thing for which he has come and will not look on while the produce of our land is being lost to us. For you are not unaware that whatever gain comes to us has passed into your own house.
**To the same person.** (359/60)
Know that in doing me a kindness, you will have obliged not merely a kinsman but also a friend. And I judge this latter bond the greater of the two, since I see many even now reenacting the example of the sons of Oedipus — blood relation does nothing to prevent it.
I am fond of you for many reasons, but especially because you display in a different walk of life the sharpness of your father's mind, from which comes your success.
As for Mocimus, I have urged him to take heart, assuring him that you will grant him the matter for which he has come and will not allow the produce of our land to go to waste. For you are well aware that whatever profit comes our way has found its way into your own household.
In whatever way you do us a kindness, you will have laid up a benefit not only for a kinsman but also for one who loves you. And I judge this latter relation greater than the former, since I see that even now many men attempt the deeds of the sons of Oedipus, and kinship does not prevent them.
But I love you both on other grounds and because in a different walk of life you display the keenness of your father's mind, from which your power to prevail also comes to you.
To Mocimus I have given encouragement to take heart, that you will grant him the very thing for which he has come and will not look on while the produce of our land is being lost to us. For you are not unaware that whatever gain comes to us has passed into your own house.
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.