Letter 127

From: Libanius, rhetorician in Antioch To: Philagrius, sophist Date: ~359 AD Context: A brief, vivid note about a slave who has been working so hard on his writing that he's gone pale. I saw Dositheus after a long time, and he was pale. I asked whether illness had done this to him. Then I heard it wasn't illness but the toll of hard work. He said he'd been shut up writing. I praised the man and congratulated you -- even your servant is no slacker. Ask him about your sons, too. He won't lie.

**To Philagrius** (359/60) When I saw Dositheus after a long absence, looking pale, I asked whether illness had made him so. Then I heard that it was not illness, but the close confinement of his work — for he said he had shut himself up to write. I praised him for it and congratulated you that not even your household servant is idle. Ask him, too, about your sons — he will not tell you a lie.

Φιλαγρίῳ. (359/60) Χρόνιον ἰδὼν τὸν Δοσίθεον καὶ ὠχριῶντα ἠρόμην εἰ νόσῳ γένοιτο τοιοῦτος. ἔπειτ’ ἤκουον, ὡς ἐκείνῃ μὲν οὔ, συν- ἑλεία δὲ ἔργου. γράφειν γὰρ ἔφασκε καθείρξας αὑτόν. ἐΜ νόν τε οὖν ἐπῄνεσα καὶ σοὶ συνήσθην, ὅτι σοι μηδὲ ὁ οἰκέ- της ἀργός. πυνθάνου δὴ καὶ περὶ τῶν υἱέων, ψεῦδος δ’ οὐκ ἐρέει.