Letter 155: We have received a wonderful report about both of you -- Hypatius and yourself -- and you should know that you fully...
Libanius→Andronicus, a general|c. 328 AD|Libanius|AI-assisted
property economics
To Andronicus. (358-361)
We have received a wonderful report about both of you -- Hypatius and yourself -- and you should know that you fully deserve the title you bear: true governors.
We congratulate those your subjects are saving, and you, as is natural, congratulate each other -- he because such a man is tending his homeland, you because you govern a city that produced such a man.
I was surprised, though, that he needed my intervention with you on behalf of his own people. If he did this so that, in receiving a benefit, he might know that I too was doing him a favor -- then he did well. But if he had not yet experienced your goodwill, he cannot be blamed for not knowing what he had not yet felt. You should consider that you owe a debt to a man who governs as you do. For if he honors the same things you do, he is doing you a favor, and you owe him thanks for that favor.
Imagine yourself owning property in Palestine and farming it. If he showed no concern for your affairs, would we not rightly accuse him? That is exactly what would come back to us if we were neglectful. So let us be seen giving what we would then demand.
To Andronicus. (358–361)
We have received a wonderful report concerning both of you, Hypatius and yourself, and you are in truth what you are called: governors in the fullest sense.
We therefore rejoice with those whose welfare you safeguard, and you, as is only natural, rejoice in one another — he, because such a man as you tends to his homeland; you, because you govern a city that produced such a man as he.
I was surprised, however, that he felt he needed an appeal from me to you on behalf of his interests. If he did this while already enjoying your favor, so that he might learn that you are also obliging me in the process, then he did well. But if he has not yet had experience of your goodwill, he cannot be blamed for not knowing the source from which he has not yet benefited. For you should consider that you owe a debt to the man who mirrors you in his governance. If he honors the same principles, he is surely doing you a favor — and to one who does you a favor, you owe a favor in return.
Suppose that you yourself owned estates in Palestine and were farming them there — if he took no care for your affairs, would we not rightly accuse him? This very charge, this very one, will fall upon us if we are negligent. Let us therefore be seen giving what we would then have demanded.
We have received a wonderful report about both of you -- Hypatius and yourself -- and you should know that you fully deserve the title you bear: true governors.
We congratulate those your subjects are saving, and you, as is natural, congratulate each other -- he because such a man is tending his homeland, you because you govern a city that produced such a man.
I was surprised, though, that he needed my intervention with you on behalf of his own people. If he did this so that, in receiving a benefit, he might know that I too was doing him a favor -- then he did well. But if he had not yet experienced your goodwill, he cannot be blamed for not knowing what he had not yet felt. You should consider that you owe a debt to a man who governs as you do. For if he honors the same things you do, he is doing you a favor, and you owe him thanks for that favor.
Imagine yourself owning property in Palestine and farming it. If he showed no concern for your affairs, would we not rightly accuse him? That is exactly what would come back to us if we were neglectful. So let us be seen giving what we would then demand.
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.