Letter 338
Libanius→Σελευκίω|libanius
To Seleukios. (358/59?)
If it were fitting to send you something lesser, I would have sent it already. But since what comes to you must be worthy of your desire, I will send it when it reaches that standard. Far better to receive something good slowly than something poor quickly.
Σελευκίω. (358/59?)
Εἰ μὲν ἐλάττω σοι πέμπειν εἶχε καλῶς, ἤδη ἂν ἔπεμπον·
ἐπεὶ δὲ δεῖ τι τῆς ὑμετέρας ἐπιθυμίας ἄξιον ὑμῖν ἐλθεῖν, 15
ἐπειδὰν τοσαῦτα γένηται, πέμψομεν. τοῦ δὲ ταχέως φαῦλα
λαβεῖν τὸ βραδέως ἀμείνω μακρῷ που βέλτιον.
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To Seleukios. (358/59?)
If it were fitting to send you something lesser, I would have sent it already. But since what comes to you must be worthy of your desire, I will send it when it reaches that standard. Far better to receive something good slowly than something poor quickly.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.