Letter 133: It isn't the letter-writing that needs forgiveness -- it's your failure to write that would have required it.
Libanius→Hypatius, former student|c. 326 AD|Libanius|AI-assisted
education booksfriendship
It isn't the letter-writing that needs forgiveness -- it's your failure to write that would have required it. You didn't sweat over your studies, and I didn't sweat over you, just so you could be silent. The hope of your future eloquence was what made all that effort bearable.
So use this skill of yours in everything, including your letters. You do it well, and you'll do it even better if you don't stop.
You seem to be proving the claim I've often made: that you're my child, not merely my student. You've heeded Solon's advice [about caring for one's parents] and now that you've left the classroom, you're feeding your father [i.e., supporting your teacher with loyalty].
But do me one more favor: run to us. Not for a long stay, but to bring joy for however long you can visit. And at the same time, if any of my affairs needs your official attention, you'll set it right.
You're right to consider Bacchius a friend. So come for this friend's sake, and for another friend besides. I wouldn't want Evagoras to outdo you in devotion -- he escaped his father's control and came all the way from Cilicia looking for you. Are you, a free man in Beroea, not going to make a move?
**To Hypatius** (358)
It is not the writing of a letter that deserves pardon — rather, had you *not* done so, that is when you would rightly have begged forgiveness. For it was not so that you might keep silent that you labored at eloquence, nor I at training you; no, it was the hope that you would one day speak that persuaded us to endure all that toil.
So make use of your acquisition in all other matters, and in letter-writing too. For you do it well, and you will do it still better if you do not leave off.
You seem to me, moreover, to confirm what I have often said — that you are my *child*, not merely my student. At any rate, you heed Solon's precept and nourish your father now that you have left the schoolroom.
But grant me this favor as well: run to visit us — not for a long stay, but to gladden me for whatever time you can spend with us. And at the same time, if any of your affairs should need the intervention of the governor, you will set them right.
In counting Bacchius a friend you show good judgment. Come, then, for the sake of this friend — and indeed for the sake of another friend besides. For I should not wish Evagoras to outdo you in devotion: he, after all, escaped his father's clutches and came all the way from Cilicia seeking you, yet you, a free man, will not bestir yourself from Beroea?
It isn't the letter-writing that needs forgiveness -- it's your failure to write that would have required it. You didn't sweat over your studies, and I didn't sweat over you, just so you could be silent. The hope of your future eloquence was what made all that effort bearable.
So use this skill of yours in everything, including your letters. You do it well, and you'll do it even better if you don't stop.
You seem to be proving the claim I've often made: that you're my child, not merely my student. You've heeded Solon's advice [about caring for one's parents] and now that you've left the classroom, you're feeding your father [i.e., supporting your teacher with loyalty].
But do me one more favor: run to us. Not for a long stay, but to bring joy for however long you can visit. And at the same time, if any of my affairs needs your official attention, you'll set it right.
You're right to consider Bacchius a friend. So come for this friend's sake, and for another friend besides. I wouldn't want Evagoras to outdo you in devotion -- he escaped his father's control and came all the way from Cilicia looking for you. Are you, a free man in Beroea, not going to make a move?
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.