Letter 954: Libanius thanks Archelaus for a mention in a letter to Heraclius and expresses hope for Archelaus's continued success and eventual return.
While we were discussing you and praising your character, a letter arrived from you to Heraclius the physician, which also honored me with a mention. When Heraclius read the letter, I was glad, and our friends congratulated us on having such an ally—one whose hatred would cause great pain and whose friendship would bring great benefit. Even now, you seem to lead many to speak well of us who didn't do so before. I want you to do this while you are there; but I also want you to desire our company again, so that you may gladden us by your actions and your presence. If, by Zeus's gift, an office should be added, it would be a greater boon for us than the gold that fell from heaven in rain for the Rhodians.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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. Ἐν τοῖς περὶ σοῦ λόγοις διατριβόντων ἡμῶν, οἳ δὲ ἦσαν ἔπαινοι τῶν σῶν τρόπων, ἐπεισέρχεται γράμματα σὰ πεμφθέντα μὲν πρὸς Ἡράκλειον τὸν ἰατρόν, μνήμη δέ τινι καὶ ἐμὲ τιμῶντα. 2. τοῦ τοίνυν Ἡρακλείου τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἀναγνόντος ἔχαιρον μὲν αὐτός, συνέχαιρον δὲ ἡμῖν οἱ φίλοι τοιοῦτον κεκτημένοι σύμμαχον, ὃς μισῶν τε μέγιστα ἂν λυπήσαι καὶ φιλῶν μάλιστα ἂν ὀνήσαι· ἐπεὶ καὶ νῦν μοι δοκεῖς πολλοὺς εἰς τὸ λέγειν τι καλὸν περὶ ἡμῶν ἄγειν οὐ πάνυ τοῦτο πρόσθεν ποιοῦντας. 3. ἐκεῖ μὲν οὖν ὄντα σε τοῦτο ποιεῖν βούλομαι· βούλομαι δέ σε καὶ τῶν παρ' ἡμῖν ἐπιθυμῆσαι πάλιν, ὅπως ἡμᾶς εὐφραίνων οἷς ποιεῖς εὐφραίνοις καὶ ὁρώμενος. εἰ δὲ δὴ καὶ τὸ μετ' ἀρχῆς προσγένοιτο δόντος τοῦ Διός, μεῖζον ἡμῖν τοῦτ' ἀγαθὸν ἢ Ῥοδίοις ὁ καταβὰς ἐν ὑετοῖς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ χρυσός.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern libanius foerster vol11 batch6 gemini flash ocr reviewed 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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