Letter 301
Libanius→Andronicus, a general|libanius
To Andronicus. (361?)
I have long admired how you handle the affairs entrusted to you, and this admiration only grows with each report I receive. The present request is modest: look after the interests of the bearer of this letter, who has been wronged in ways he can explain better than I can in writing. A brief meeting will suffice for you to understand the case, and I trust your sense of justice to do the rest.
What I ask is not that you favor him beyond his merits, but that you hear him without prejudice and act accordingly. That alone will be enough to earn my gratitude.
Πάππω. (361?)
Ἓν αἰτοῦντι δύο πέπομφας. τί τοῦτο; πότερον ὑπὸ τοῦ
παιδὸς ἐξηπατήθης, ὅτι δεοίμην δυοῖν, ἢ διδάξαι τὸν υἱὸν
ἐθέλων ὧν αἰτηθείη διδόναι πλείω δύο ἔπεμψας ἀνθ’ ἑνός;
ἀλλ’ εἴτε ἐκεῖνος ἠπάτησε, φιλολόγου τὸ πάθος, εἴτε σὸν ἡ
προσθήκη, πατρὸς ἡ νουθεσία.
τὸν δὲ ἄργυρον ὃν τοῖς
ἄκροις περιήλασας ἐμεμψάμην. οὔτε γὰρ ἐπ’ ἀγορᾶς χρησαί-
μην ἂν τοῖς ὧδε κεκαλλωπισμένοις ἀποκοσμῆσαί τε τὰ παρὰ
σοῦ δῶρα δίκαιον οὐκ ἐδόκει. μένει τοίνυν εἴσω θυρῶν.
παρακλήσεις δὲ πρὸς ἡμᾶς ὑπὲρ Εὐσεβίου ποιούμενος καὶ
παρ’ ἡμῶν ἴσως αὐτὸς ἀξιώσεις ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ δέχεσθαι. εἰ δ
ἐκεῖνο λόγον οὐ ἂν ἔχοι, μηδὲ τοῦτο νόμιζε.
◆
To Andronicus. (361?)
I have long admired how you handle the affairs entrusted to you, and this admiration only grows with each report I receive. The present request is modest: look after the interests of the bearer of this letter, who has been wronged in ways he can explain better than I can in writing. A brief meeting will suffice for you to understand the case, and I trust your sense of justice to do the rest.
What I ask is not that you favor him beyond his merits, but that you hear him without prejudice and act accordingly. That alone will be enough to earn my gratitude.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.