Letter 11: The grief we felt over your illness has itself made us ill -- what pleasure can we have when you're suffering?

LibaniusJulian of Antioch|c. 315 AD|Libanius|AI-assisted
friendshipillness

The grief we felt over your illness has itself made us ill -- what pleasure can we have when you're suffering? It fell to Seleucus, it seems, to bring this news as well: that you've passed the worst of the crisis.

On that account I consider Entrechiοs a lucky man, since he'll see Bithynia [a province in northwest Asia Minor] at a better time -- and it's a better time when your health has been restored.

We're grateful for your affection toward him, and we ask one further kindness: invite him to your table.

AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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

Ἰουλιανῷ. (363 vel 353/54?)

Τῇ διὰ τὴν σὴν ἀρρωστίαν λύπῃ καὶ αὐτοὶ πεπτώκαμεν
εἰς ἀρρωστίαν. τί γὰρ ἡμῖν ἡδὺ σοῦ γε ἀνιωμένου Σελεύκῳ
δὲ ἄρα ἔπρεπε καὶ τοῦτο ἀγγεῖλαι τὸ ὡς ἐκπέφευγας τοῦ κα-
κοῦ τὴν ἀκμήν.

ᾗ δὴ καὶ πείθομαι τὸν Ἐντρέχιον εὐτυχῆ
νομίζειν. ὄψεται γὰρ Βιθυνίαν, ὅτε βέλτιον. βέλτιον δέ, ὅτε
καὶ σοὶ τὸ σῶμα ἐν ὑγιείᾳ

χάριν δὲ εἰδότες σοι τοῦ φιλεῖν
τὸν ἄνδρα χάριν ἑτέραν αἰτοῦμεν προσθεῖναι τὸ τόνδε καλεῖν.

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