Letter 892: Libanius praises Gessius's letters and urges him to marry.

I love sacred Egypt for this reason too: it sends me your letters, and such excellent ones at that. I do not admire them in some private corner, pressed up against a wall, but among many companions who can recognize such beauty. The result is exactly what you would expect: applause, and the question, 'What sort of man would Gessius be, if he were not forced by poverty into teaching?' So we praise you, but we blame Fortune because we are not educating your own children in the same studies in which we once educated you - even though we are training other men's children as we trained their fathers before them. Do your part to stay clear of that reproach: marry, instead of merely debating marriage. The land is full of girls; all that is needed is for you to choose. I am afraid that certain clever speakers, some present and speaking to you, others absent and writing, are praising to you the life without wife or children.

1. Αἴγυπτον τὴν ἱεράν καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο φιλῶ, ὅτι μοι καὶ πέμπει σὰς ἐπιστολὰς καὶ τοιαύτας. θαυμάζω δὲ αὐτὰς οὐκ ἀποστὰς τῶν φίλων ἐν γωνίᾳ τινὶ τοίχῳ προσθεὶς ἐμαυτόν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν πολλοῖς ἑταίροις τοῖς ὁρᾶν κάλλη τοιαῦτα δυναμένοις. καὶ ἅπερ εἰκὸς ἀκολουθεῖ, κρότος τε καὶ τὸ τίς ἂν ἦν ὁ Γέσσιος ἀνάγκην ἔχων τὸ μὴ πλουτεῖν εἰς τὸ διδάσκειν; 2. σὲ μὲν οὖν ἐπαινοῦμεν, τῇ Τύχῃ δὲ ἐγκαλοῦμεν, ὅτι μὴ παῖδάς σοι τρέφομεν ἐν οἷσπερ σὲ πρότερον, καὶ ταῦτα τρέφοντες ἑτέρους ἐν οἷσπερ αὐτῶν τοὺς πατέρας. 3. ποίει δὲ καὶ σαυτὸν αἰτίας ἔξω γάμῳ χρώμενος μᾶλλον ἢ περὶ γάμου βουλαῖς. ἔχει δὲ ἡ γῆ κόρας καὶ ἀρκεῖ βουληθῆναι. δέδοικα δὲ μὴ δεινοί τινες ἐν λόγοις, οἱ μὲν παρόντες λέγοντες, οἱ δὲ καὶ ἀπόντες γράφοντες, ἐπαινῶσι πρὸς σὲ τὸν ἄνευ γυναικός τε καὶ παίδων βίον.