Letter 14: I received your earlier letter with more pleasure than you can imagine.
Libanius→Leontius|c. 315 AD|Libanius|AI-assisted
friendshiptravel mobility
To Calliopius. (388)
Which of the gods or divinities has made Tatianus [praetorian prefect], who is admired everywhere, gentle toward us? Tell me, Calliopius; for you know his affairs well. But if you are unwilling to speak, it is necessary that I divine it for myself.
The god indeed I would not be able to discover, as Homer perceived that Athena came to Achilles from Hera, the goddess who checked his anger; but the man, through whom the gods accomplished these things, I have found out most excellently.
This man is a fellow citizen of mine and among the first men of the city, and one who has drunk from the same mixing-bowl as I in the gardens of the Muses, and who first pleaded cases in court, but now writes letters—both functions in the service of emperors, the one for the father, the other for the son—having done me a very great wrong; yet perhaps not even wronging me in a small matter [...] thinking no small thoughts, so that you were made conspicuous by [...] from that man's cleverness, and what is still more formidable, with Themistius coming to his aid. The rhetorical skill, then, he employed in the matters in which he brought the accusation, but his humanity in the matters in which he promised to lend his assistance.
**To Calliopius** (388)
Which of the gods or spirits has made Tatianus — admired everywhere — gracious toward us? You tell me, Calliopius, for you know his affairs well. But if you will not say, I must resort to divination.
The god himself I could not discover — just as Homer knew that Athena came from Hera to Achilles to restrain his anger — but the man through whom the gods accomplished this, him I have found out most excellently.
He is a fellow citizen of mine, a leading man of the city, one who drank from the same bowl as I in the gardens of the Muses. First he pleaded cases in court, and now he writes letters — both in the service of emperors, the father and the son — having perhaps done me a great wrong, or perhaps not even a small one. He takes no small pride in the fact that your reputation was made brilliant by that man's cleverness, and — what is still more formidable — with Themistius lending his support. His rhetorical skill we saw in the charges he brought; his humanity, in what he promised to do on our behalf.
Which of the gods or divinities has made Tatianus [praetorian prefect], who is admired everywhere, gentle toward us? Tell me, Calliopius; for you know his affairs well. But if you are unwilling to speak, it is necessary that I divine it for myself.
The god indeed I would not be able to discover, as Homer perceived that Athena came to Achilles from Hera, the goddess who checked his anger; but the man, through whom the gods accomplished these things, I have found out most excellently.
This man is a fellow citizen of mine and among the first men of the city, and one who has drunk from the same mixing-bowl as I in the gardens of the Muses, and who first pleaded cases in court, but now writes letters—both functions in the service of emperors, the one for the father, the other for the son—having done me a very great wrong; yet perhaps not even wronging me in a small matter [...] thinking no small thoughts, so that you were made conspicuous by [...] from that man's cleverness, and what is still more formidable, with Themistius coming to his aid. The rhetorical skill, then, he employed in the matters in which he brought the accusation, but his humanity in the matters in which he promised to lend his assistance.
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.