Letter 462
Libanius→Βάσσῳ|libanius
To Bassus. (355/56)
I am well aware of the efforts you have made on my behalf, and from me you receive a reward greater than any you could ask for. I am trying to make your son the kind of man who will be thought to resemble his grandfather and his uncle, and who will bring honor to his father.
Let us both, then, hold to the same course and never stop giving each other what matters most.
Βάσσῳ. (355/56)
Τούς τε σοὺς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν οὐκ ἀγνοοῦμεν ἄθλους παρ’
ἡμῶν τε σοὶ μισθὸς οὗ μείζονα οὐκ ἂν ζητήσαις. τὸν γὰρ
υἱόν σοι ποιεῖν πειρώμεθα τοιοῦτον, οἶος ὢν τῷ πάππῳ προσ-
όμοιος εἶναι δόξει καὶ τῷ θείῳ καὶ τὸν πατέρα κοσμήσει.
τῶν αὐτῶν τοίνυν ἐχώμεθα ἀμφότεροι καὶ τὰ τιμιώτατα
παρέχωμεν διὰ τέλους ἀλλήλοις.
◆
To Bassus. (355/56)
I am well aware of the efforts you have made on my behalf, and from me you receive a reward greater than any you could ask for. I am trying to make your son the kind of man who will be thought to resemble his grandfather and his uncle, and who will bring honor to his father.
Let us both, then, hold to the same course and never stop giving each other what matters most.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.