Letter 616: I know you were disappointed at not meeting Acacius — both for other reasons and because you were unable to...

LibaniusThemistios|c. 372 AD|Libanius|AI-assisted
friendship

To Themistius. (361 AD)

I know you were disappointed at not meeting Acacius — both for other reasons and because you were unable to accomplish what you knew we very much desired. And the fallback option doesn't seem available either: I mean delivering the letter to Maximus.

So explain to us, my good friend, what happened to that letter — so that we can either blame the one who received it but won't admit to it, or else stop asking favors of you as if we have been neglected.

AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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

Θεμιστίῳ. (361)

Οἶδα ὡς ἠθύμησας οὐκ ἐντυχὼν Ἀκακίῳ τῶν τε ἄλλων
εἴνεκα καὶ ὅτι ἡμῖν οὐκ ἔπραξας ὧν ᾔδεις σφόδρα ἐπιθυ-
μοῦντας· ἀλλὰ οὐδὲ ὁ δεύτερος ἡμῖν φαίνεται πλοῦς, ὁ δὲ ἦν
Μαξίμῳ δοθῆναι τὴν ἐπιστολὴν.

δίδασκε οὖν, ὦ ’γαθέ,
τὴν περὶ τὰ γράμματα τύχην, ὅπως ἢ τὸν λαβόντα μέν, οὐχ
ὁμολογοῦντα δὲ μεμφώμεθα ἢ παυσώμεθά σε χάριν αἰτοῦντες
ὡς ἀπημελημένοι.

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