Letter 134: Here's how it happened: Hermogenes didn't slam the door shut like some savage -- he just fell idle.
Libanius→Demetrius|c. 326 AD|Libanius|AI-assisted
diplomatic
Here's how it happened: Hermogenes didn't slam the door shut like some savage -- he just fell idle. He treated us the same way later, though at first we got along.
I gave the document to the men appointed to the embassy -- they had the access that came with their mission.
Then Argyrius received the letters from his own servant and said he had them. But when the time came to hand them over, he searched and couldn't find them. Slaves accused slaves and free men alike; free men accused slaves and each other. There was shouting and confusion, but the letters were nowhere to be found.
Can you imagine how that stung? But I didn't think it right to ask for forgiveness while the wound was still fresh. Instead, I set about finding a cure and made use of Hermogenes's hand. This was after his term of office.
As for you -- the dates you sent were sweeter than honey. I looked down on them at first sight, but once I tasted them, I was amazed. And sweeter still than those dates were the words you sent from Celsus.
To Demetrius. (359/60?)
Here, then, is how the matter stands: Hermogenes has not barred his doors like some savage — it was mere laziness. This was how he later behaved toward me as well, though at first we were on close terms.
So I gave the letter to the men appointed to the embassy, who had access by virtue of their ambassadorial role.
In that affair you received no less than you suppose — except that you received only as much as your inferiors.
Now, Argyrius took the letters from his own slave, and though he claimed to have them, when the time came to hand them over, he searched and searched but could not produce them. Slaves accused slaves and free men alike, and free men in turn accused slaves and one another — shouting and uproar everywhere, but the letters were nowhere to be found.
How deeply stung do you think my soul was? Yet I did not see fit to beg forgiveness while the wound still stood open. Instead, pressing toward a cure, I made use of Hermogenes' hand. These things came after his term of office.
As for you — the dates you sent were sweeter than honey. When I first saw them I thought nothing of them, but upon tasting them I was amazed. And sweeter still than those dates are the speeches of Celsus that you have sent me.
Here's how it happened: Hermogenes didn't slam the door shut like some savage -- he just fell idle. He treated us the same way later, though at first we got along.
I gave the document to the men appointed to the embassy -- they had the access that came with their mission.
Then Argyrius received the letters from his own servant and said he had them. But when the time came to hand them over, he searched and couldn't find them. Slaves accused slaves and free men alike; free men accused slaves and each other. There was shouting and confusion, but the letters were nowhere to be found.
Can you imagine how that stung? But I didn't think it right to ask for forgiveness while the wound was still fresh. Instead, I set about finding a cure and made use of Hermogenes's hand. This was after his term of office.
As for you -- the dates you sent were sweeter than honey. I looked down on them at first sight, but once I tasted them, I was amazed. And sweeter still than those dates were the words you sent from Celsus.
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.