Libanius→Heortius, of Themistius (a student)|libanius
To Themistius.
Do you not think I would give anything to have delivered that speech with you in the audience? But I could not decently hold you back, and I was not yet able to perform.
I am concerned about how both this piece and quite a few others will sit with you. No one could better rescue the flawed passages, and the parts that are not badly done could not find a more discerning admirer.
You already knew Letoius from before, when I was staying with you and he was passing through on his way to the emperor. When you came here, you found him well regarded. If you now make him a close friend, you will not regret the decision. He knows how to be loyal, and -- what you especially practice and value -- he knows how to stay loyal.
He has been worth a great many things to me: speaking where speech was needed, acting where action was called for, giving where generosity was required -- and all without losing his goodwill. So let him be honored in your eyes, both for his own nature and for what he has done for me.
Do you not think I would give anything to have delivered that speech with you in the audience? But I could not decently hold you back, and I was not yet able to perform.
I am concerned about how both this piece and quite a few others will sit with you. No one could better rescue the flawed passages, and the parts that are not badly done could not find a more discerning admirer.
You already knew Letoius from before, when I was staying with you and he was passing through on his way to the emperor. When you came here, you found him well regarded. If you now make him a close friend, you will not regret the decision. He knows how to be loyal, and -- what you especially practice and value -- he knows how to stay loyal.
He has been worth a great many things to me: speaking where speech was needed, acting where action was called for, giving where generosity was required -- and all without losing his goodwill. So let him be honored in your eyes, both for his own nature and for what he has done for me.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.