Letter 648
Libanius→Δημητρίῳ|libanius
To Demetrios. (361)
That man who sold portions of the farmland — when we wished to buy, he claimed he was selling Thessaly and Boeotia, and there was nothing moderate in his price, so we declined. But when so-and-so needed to buy, he considered even a small sum large — harming himself and setting a precedent against us, for one perhaps cannot recall a higher price than the example compels us to accept.
It seems to me we should use a division for now, so that the buyer does not get the whole instead of a part; and if someone appears offering a persuasive price, sell. That is what your partner advises.
Δημητρίῳ. (361)
Ὁ τὰ μέρη τῶν ἀγρῶν ἀποδόμενος ἐκεῖνος, ὅτε μὶν
ἡμεῖς ἠξιοῦμεν ὠνεῖσθαι, Θετταλίαν ἔφασκε καὶ Βοιωτίαν
πωλεῖν, καὶ ἦν οὐδὲν ἐν τῇ τιμῇ μέτριον, ὥστε ἐφεύγομεν·
ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸν δεῖνα ἴδει πρίασθαι, καὶ τὸ μικρὸν ἡγήσατο μέγα
βλάψας μὲν αὐτὸς αὑτόν, θεὶς δὲ ἐφ’ ἡμῖν νόμον· μνησθῆναι
γὰρ ἴσως οὐκ ἔνεστι πλείονος ἢ τοῦ παραδείγματος ἀκούειν
ἀνάγκη.
δοκεῖ οὖν μοι χρῆναι χρήσασθαι μὲν μερισμῷ τὸ
νῦν τοῦ μὴ τὸ πᾶν ἀντὶ τοῦ μέρους εἶναι τῷ πριαμένῳ, τιμὴν
δὲ τὴν πείθουσαν ὁ διδοὺς εἰ φανείη, πωλεῖν. ὁ γὰρ κοινω-
νὸς παραινεῖ.
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To Demetrios. (361)
That man who sold portions of the farmland — when we wished to buy, he claimed he was selling Thessaly and Boeotia, and there was nothing moderate in his price, so we declined. But when so-and-so needed to buy, he considered even a small sum large — harming himself and setting a precedent against us, for one perhaps cannot recall a higher price than the example compels us to accept.
It seems to me we should use a division for now, so that the buyer does not get the whole instead of a part; and if someone appears offering a persuasive price, sell. That is what your partner advises.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.