Letter 703
Libanius→Polychronius, official|libanius
To Polychronius, friend. (362)
We have given up asking every person who arrives from your region when you are coming back. Most of them lie to cheer us up, saying "any day now." Then we pounce on every newcomer and make the road harder for the weary than the road itself, while you, it seems, have gotten hold of a stretch of sea rich in fish and judge the waves more pleasant than the mainland.
If we ever do get you back here, we will file charges -- and the mainland shall be judge.
Πολυχρονίῳ. (362)
Ἀπειρήκαμεν τοὺς ἐκεῖθεν ἀφικνουμένους ἐρωτῶντες,
πότε ἀφίζεσθε; καὶ γὰρ ἐξαπατῶντες οἱ πλείους, ἴν’ ἡμᾶς
εὐφραίνοιεν, αὐτίκα φασίν. εἶθ’ ἡμεῖς μὲν προσκείμεθα τοῖς
εἰσιοῦσι καὶ γιγνόμεθα τῆς ὁδοῦ χαλεπώτεροι τοῖς κεκομμένοις,
ὑμεῖς δὲ ἄρα λαβόμενοι θαλάττης πολλὰ βοσκούσης ἡδίω τὰ
κύματα τῆς ἠπείρου κρίνετε.
ἢν οὔ· ποτε ὑμᾶς ἐνταῦθα
λάβωμεν, γραφὴν ἀποίσομεν, ἡ δὲ ἤπειρος δικάσει.
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To Polychronius, friend. (362)
We have given up asking every person who arrives from your region when you are coming back. Most of them lie to cheer us up, saying "any day now." Then we pounce on every newcomer and make the road harder for the weary than the road itself, while you, it seems, have gotten hold of a stretch of sea rich in fish and judge the waves more pleasant than the mainland.
If we ever do get you back here, we will file charges -- and the mainland shall be judge.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.