Letter 669: I have heard of your loss, and I grieve with you.
Do not seek a finer witness to the fact that this Aetius is a man of noble character than the judgment of Anatolius [likely a provincial official known to both Libanius and Magnus].
Now, if Anatolius were still alive, this man would have dwelt in Phoenicia and been prosperous. But since he has departed, you should become the heir of his affection — not so as to persuade Aetius to relocate, nor to fulfill those grand hopes, but so as not to stand by and watch him lose what is his own.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Μάγνῳ. (361)
Τοῦ καλὸν κἀγαθὸν Ἀέτιον εἶναι τουτονὶ μὴ ζήτει καλ-
λίω μάρτυρα τῆς Ἀνατολίου γνώμης.
εἰ μὲν οὖν ἐκεῖνος
περιῆν, Φοινίκην τ’ ἂν οὗτος ᾤκει καὶ ἦν εὐδαίμων· οἰχο-
μένου δὲ σὺ γενοῦ τοῦ φίλτρου κληρονόμος οὐκ εἰς τὸ πεῖσαι
μετοικεῖν οὐδ’ ὥστε πληρῶσαι τὰς μεγάλας ἐλπίδας, ἀλλ’ εἰς
τὸ μὴ τὰ αὑτοῦ περιιδεῖν ἀποβαλόντα.
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