Letter 877: Libanius writes to Celsinus in Beirut, praising his character and his impact on his friend Letoius.
Letoius has truly enjoyed the benefits of his wealth. Because he owns estates, gardens, and bathhouses, he was able to spend more time with you. In hosting you, he took less pride in his property than in the fact that he was sharing it with a man of your quality. You've made him wiser and more thoughtful than he already was. In fact, anyone you spend time with learns from you what they should and shouldn't do and say. As for me, my written speeches are just sitting here, waiting to be shown to the world. If you were here, they would be performed; but without your ears to listen, they are asleep. If they ever get hold of you, they will leap out of their boxes and rush into the open, seeing how much you have honored their 'brothers' [previous speeches] and encouraged others to do the same. I believe Beirut is guided by a better Fortune than we are. She has gained a son-in-law the likes of which this city has never seen, despite its long history. I don't think I'm wrong to say that Julian's plan was the work of Fortune herself. We pray to this all-powerful goddess that you will make Beirut your home and raise children there - a good seed for an immortal line in that city. But we also hope she finds some good excuses for you to visit us, so we can enjoy your friendship in person.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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. Τοῦ πλούτου Λητόιος καὶ τοῦτο ἀπολέλαυκε· πλείω σοι συνεγένετο χρόνον ἀγρὸν ἔχων καὶ κήπους καὶ βαλανεῖον, ἐν οἷς σε ξενίζων οὐ τούτοις ἐτρύφα μᾶλλον ἢ τῷ μετὰ τῶν σῶν καλῶν ἐν τούτοις εἶναι. 2. καὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ φρονιμώτερον ἡμῖν αὐτὸν ἐποίεις καὶ ἄλλως νοῦν ἔχοντα. καὶ γὰρ ἄλλῳ ὅτῳ ἂν ὁμιλῇς, κἀκείνῳ παρὰ σοῦ τοῦτο διδάσκοντος ἅ τε δεῖ ποιεῖν καὶ λέγειν ἅ τε μή. 3. ἐμοὶ δὲ κεῖνται μὲν γεγραμμένοι λόγοι καὶ βούλονται δειχθῆναι, δειχθέντες δ' ἄν, εἰ παρῆσθα, τῶν σῶν ὤτων ἐπιθυμίᾳ καθεύδουσι νῦν τὰ σὰ ζητοῦντες ὦτα ὧν εἴ ποτε λάβοιντο, τῶν κιβωτίων ἐκπηδήσαντες εἰς τὸ μέσον ἥξουσιν ὁρῶντες, ὁπόσον τι τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς τοῖς ἑαυτῶν γεγένησαι τιμῶν τε αὐτοὺς μεγάλοις καὶ τοὺς πλησίον ἀναπείθων. 4. καὶ ἔγωγέ φημι Βηρυτὸν ὑπὸ βελτίονος ἢ ἡμεῖς κυβερνᾶσθαι τῆς Τύχης· ἐκτήσατο γοῦν γαμβρόν, οἷον ἥδε οὔτε ἔσχεν οὔτε ἔχει καὶ ταῦτα μυρίους δεξαμένη. καὶ τὸ βούλευμα Ἰουλιανοῦ Τύχης ἔργον εἶναι λέγων οὐκ ἀδικεῖν οἴομαι. 5. παρὰ τοίνυν ταύτης τῆς ὅσα βούλεται δυναμένης αἰτοῦμεν οἰκεῖν μέν σε ἐκείνην καὶ παῖδας ποιεῖν, σπέρμα ἀγαθόν, Βηρυτῷ γένος ἀθάνατον, ἄγειν δέ σε καὶ παρ' ἡμᾶς εὑρίσκουσαν προφάσεις καλάς, ὁποία καὶ ἡ νῦν, φίλος τε καὶ τὰ φίλου.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern libanius foerster vol11 batch3 gemini flash v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://archive.org/download/foerster-libanii-opera/Foerster%20%281922%29%2C%20Libanii%20opera%2011_djvu.xml
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