Letter 542: If I write something complimentary about Themistius [one of Libanius's students], you will show the letter to...
To Heortius. (356/57)
If I write anything favorable about Themistius, you will display the letter to many, but in his case not a few will say that you are being deceived; for they will say that this is just what teachers do, to praise their pupils, even when they are worthless.
I therefore, letting go of writing the things I know about the young man, ask you to come yourself to observe the eloquence that is in him.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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.
Latin / Greek Original
Ἑορτίῳ. (356/57)
Ἂν γράψω τι χρηστὸν περὶ τοῦ Θεμιστίου, σὺ μὲν πολ-
λοῖς τὰ γράμματα δείξεις, ἐκείνῳ δὲ οὐκ ὀλίγοι φήσουσι σὲ
ἐξαπατᾶσθαι· ταυτὶ γὰρ εἶναι τῶν διδασκάλων ἐπαινεῖν τοὺς
ὁμιλητάς, κἂν ὦσι φαῦλοι.
ἐγὼ οὖν ἃ σύνοιδα τῷ νεανί-
σκῳ γράφειν ἀφεὶς αὐτόν σε ἥκειν ἀξιῶ τοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ λόγους
ὀψόμενον.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern libanius retranslated v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/First1KGreek/blob/master/volume_xml/libanius_10.xml
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