To Lysimachus. (361 AD)
Lysimachus is truly my pupil, to judge by what he says and writes — both in panegyrics of governors and in practice declamations. No wonder Eros came flying to us, when such a tongue set his wings in motion.
As for that sycophant, that beast — he has paid one penalty and will pay another. I foresaw this and told Lysimachus the wretch would come to a wretched end.
Since you are a friend of the Muses and they possess your soul and you give birth to beautiful verses, honor with epigrams a splendid and grand house built at Daphne [the suburb of Antioch] by a friend of ours. His name is Olympius. He has no children and never has, but he consoles himself for that misfortune with the marvel of his house.
Make use of the material, and add to the beauty of the colonnades and fountains the beauty that comes from verse.
Lysimachus is truly my pupil, to judge by what he says and writes — both in panegyrics of governors and in practice declamations. No wonder Eros came flying to us, when such a tongue set his wings in motion.
As for that sycophant, that beast — he has paid one penalty and will pay another. I foresaw this and told Lysimachus the wretch would come to a wretched end.
Since you are a friend of the Muses and they possess your soul and you give birth to beautiful verses, honor with epigrams a splendid and grand house built at Daphne [the suburb of Antioch] by a friend of ours. His name is Olympius. He has no children and never has, but he consoles himself for that misfortune with the marvel of his house.
Make use of the material, and add to the beauty of the colonnades and fountains the beauty that comes from verse.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.