Letter 18: I was about to scold you for your fondness for the countryside, convinced that you could have no excuse for rushing...
Libanius→Auxentius|c. 316 AD|Libanius|AI-assisted
barbarian invasionfriendshipproperty economics
To Auxentius. (358)
I was about to reproach you for your delight in the countryside, and I considered that you had no argument which could show that your journey out there was reasonable—until I received the autumn fruit and saw what sort of fruit the trees bear at your place; whereupon I changed my mind and marveled that you ever depart from such a land even for a short time.
Perhaps the garden that was reputed to have produced golden apples was something of this kind—apples which were not in fact gold (for that is not the law of growing things), but which won their reputation for gold on account of their beauty. Yet even though your autumn fruit was of such a quality, your letter surpassed it according to the season; so great was the share of bloom it had.
Therefore pay service to the gods who watch over agriculture. But you must not trouble yourself over offerings. Let them not be of the kind that the goldsmith's craft fashions, but rather let the gods be honored from the very things they have given; for I know well that clusters of grapes hung up for them are more pleasing to them than statues of gold.
**To Auxentius** (358)
I was about to reproach you for delighting in the countryside, supposing you could offer no argument to justify your rush out there. But since I received the fruit you sent and saw what manner of things the trees produce on your estate, I have reversed my judgment entirely — how can you bear to leave such land even for a short time?
Surely this is what that famous garden must have been like, the one reputed to have yielded golden apples — which were not actually gold, for that is not the way of growing things, but which earned their golden reputation through sheer beauty. And yet, fine as your fruit was in its ripeness, your letter surpassed it: so much did it partake of bloom.
Do tend to the gods who watch over agriculture. And you need not trouble yourself over the offerings — let them not be the sort that goldsmiths' craft produces, but rather let the gods be honored from what they themselves have given. For I know well that clusters of grapes hung upon their statues please them more than golden vessels.
I was about to reproach you for your delight in the countryside, and I considered that you had no argument which could show that your journey out there was reasonable—until I received the autumn fruit and saw what sort of fruit the trees bear at your place; whereupon I changed my mind and marveled that you ever depart from such a land even for a short time.
Perhaps the garden that was reputed to have produced golden apples was something of this kind—apples which were not in fact gold (for that is not the law of growing things), but which won their reputation for gold on account of their beauty. Yet even though your autumn fruit was of such a quality, your letter surpassed it according to the season; so great was the share of bloom it had.
Therefore pay service to the gods who watch over agriculture. But you must not trouble yourself over offerings. Let them not be of the kind that the goldsmith's craft fashions, but rather let the gods be honored from the very things they have given; for I know well that clusters of grapes hung up for them are more pleasing to them than statues of gold.
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.