Letter 269
Libanius→Clearchus; then Elebocius|libanius
To Clearchus. (360?)
The man carrying this letter deserves your attention -- not because I say so, though that should count for something, but because his own character will speak louder than my recommendation. He came to me as a student and left as a friend, and that transformation says more about him than any endorsement I could write.
Help him with what he needs, and you will have done me a greater kindness than if you had helped me directly. For there is no surer way to a teacher's heart than through the welfare of his students.
Εὐσεβίῳ. (358)
Ἤρκεσέ μοι γνῶναι ὅτι δοίης ἄν, ἐπεί τοι καὶ τὴν
ἀρχὴν πείρας εἵνεκα ᾔτουν, ὅπως εἰδείην εἰ καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα
δώσεις. μνήμη δὲ μισθῶν ὀφειλομένων οὐκ ἦν ἐσπουδακότος
λόγος, ἀλλ’ ἀνδρὸς ἡδομένου τῇ μνήμῃ τῆς συνουσίας. εἰ γὰρ
δὴ καὶ σφόδρα ὀφείλων ἐτύγχανες, τριπλῇ τετραπλῇ τ’
ἀπέτισας ἔργοις μείζοσι καὶ καλλίοσι τῶν Γύγου χρημάτων.
τοῦτόν τε οὖν ἔχε τὸν ἵππον ἕτερόν τε μὴ ζήτει. πᾶς δὲ ὁ
τῶν ὑποσχέσεων ἀκούσας ἀκούσεται τὸ ἔργον καὶ κοσμήσει σὲ
μὲν τῷ πέμψαι, τῷ μὴ λαβεῖν δὲ ἐμέ.
◆
To Clearchus. (360?)
The man carrying this letter deserves your attention -- not because I say so, though that should count for something, but because his own character will speak louder than my recommendation. He came to me as a student and left as a friend, and that transformation says more about him than any endorsement I could write.
Help him with what he needs, and you will have done me a greater kindness than if you had helped me directly. For there is no surer way to a teacher's heart than through the welfare of his students.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.