Letter 137: The inheritance is a fine one, and I accept it -- and neither rhetorical cleverness nor forgery of documents will...
To Marcellinus. (359/60)
A fine inheritance indeed, and I take up this one too, of which neither cleverness of speech nor imitation of letters shall rob me. And you gratify me no less when you remember your uncle than when you choose to love me, since this too is from him, that seed sown in me through the things by which he prevailed upon others as well to love me.
But as for what favor I gave you, when I reckon it up I have not found it; yet you give me one by declaring that you have received it, and you will give still others. And I for my part will join in praying for you, for this is what my power amounts to.
And how was the gifts of hospitality not bound to bring me pleasure, coming as they did from a man both good and a steadfast friend?
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Μαρκελλίνῳ. (359/60)
Καλός γε ὁ κλῆρος καὶ διαδέχομαι καὶ τοῦτον οὔτε λό-
γων ἀφαιρήσεταί με δεινότης οὔτε μίμησις γραμμάτων. σὺ δ’
οὐχ ἥττω μοι χαρίζῃ τοῦ θείου μεμνημένος ἢ φιλεῖν ἐμὲ προ-
αἱρούμενος, ἐπεὶ καὶ τοῦτο παρ’ ἐκείνου μοι τὸ σπέρμα τοῦ
δι’ ὧν προσέκειτο καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἀναπείθοντος φιλεῖν.
χά-
ριν δὲ ἐγὼ μὲν ἥντινα ἔδωκά σοι λογιζόμενος οὐχ εὗρον, σὺ
δὲ ἐμοὶ δίδως τῷ φάσκειν ἔχειν, δώσεις δὲ καὶ ἄλλας. ἐγὼ δέ
σοι συνεύξομαι, τοῦτο γὰρ ἡ ἐμὴ δύναμις.
τὰ ξένια δὲ
πῶς οὐκ ἔμελλεν ἡδονὴν οἴσειν ἀνδρός τε ὄντα χρηστοῦ καὶ
βεβαίου φίλου;
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern libanius retranslated v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/First1KGreek/blob/master/volume_xml/libanius_10.xml
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