Letter 623
Libanius→Φαυστιλλιανῷ|libanius
To Faustillianus. (361)
We have never met, yet from what we hear of each other we may reasonably trust one another. As a sign of my regard for you, I bring forward a request for a favor. And if, beyond granting it, you also give me a commission of your own, you will have bestowed two favors.
I began helping this man long ago, after hearing fine reports of him from the excellent Gaudentius. Now I asked him what I could do that would help him most, and he replied: make you his advocate.
So I send this letter to secure that alliance, and I trust it will succeed.
Φαυστιλλιανῷ. (361)
Οὔπω συγγεγόναμεν ἀλλήλοις, ἀλλ’ ὅμως ἐξ ὧν ἀκούο-
μεν περὶ ἀλλήλων εἰκότως ἂν θαρροίημεν ἀλλήλοις. ἐγὼ δὲ
τοῦ φιλεῖν σε σημεῖον ἐκφέρω τὸ καὶ χάριν αἰτεῖν· σὺ δ’, εἰ
πρὸς τῷ δοῦναι τὴν χάριν καὶ ἐπιτάξαις, δύ’ ἔσῃ χάριτας δε-
δωκώς.
τὸν ἄνθρωπον τοῦτον εὖ ποιεῖν ἠρξάμην πάλαι
λόγους ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ καλοὺς ἀκούσας παρὰ Γαυδεντίου τοῦ κα-
λοῦ. νῦν οὖν αὐτὸν ἠρόμην, τί ποιῶν μάλιστ’ ἂν αὐτῷ βοη-
θοίην, ὁ δ’ ἔφησεν· εἰ σὲ βοηθὸν αὐτῷ ποιοίην.
πέμπω
δὴ τὴν ἐπιστολὴν πράξουσαν τὴν συμμαχίαν καὶ πιστεύω δυ-
νήσεσθαι.
◆
To Faustillianus. (361)
We have never met, yet from what we hear of each other we may reasonably trust one another. As a sign of my regard for you, I bring forward a request for a favor. And if, beyond granting it, you also give me a commission of your own, you will have bestowed two favors.
I began helping this man long ago, after hearing fine reports of him from the excellent Gaudentius. Now I asked him what I could do that would help him most, and he replied: make you his advocate.
So I send this letter to secure that alliance, and I trust it will succeed.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.