Letter 74: When I told the philosopher I would write to him, Andronicus said, "And will you not write to the doctor?
Libanius→Hygieinus|c. 321 AD|Libanius|AI-assisted
friendshipillness
To Hygieinus. (359)
When I told the philosopher I would write to him, Andronicus said, "And will you not write to the doctor?" He added how much you love me -- speaking, of course, to someone who already knows the depth of that affection. For just as parents love their children because they brought them into the world, so those who have saved someone's life love the person they saved, because they saved them.
Your name is remembered among us as long as there are sick people in our midst -- and in a city this large, there will always be sick people. Whenever the doctors come in, your name enters with them, whether they are able to help or not. In the one case people say, "It would have been handled faster if you had been treating him." In the other, "It would not have happened at all if you had been caring for him."
Recently this talk grew especially loud when my uncle escaped a severe fever but could not regain the use of his body. As for me, drawing on all the times you brought me back from illness, I now find myself able to argue with the local doctors.
**To Hygienus** (359)
When I told Andronicus that I would write to the philosopher, he said, "And will you not write to the physician?" He added, too, how fond you are of me — though he was telling this to one who knows that affection perfectly well. For just as parents love their children because they brought them into the world, so too do those who have saved a life love the one they have saved, because they restored him to health.
Your memory lives on among us for as long as there are sick people in our midst — and in a city as great as this, there is never a shortage of the ailing. Whenever physicians come to attend us, your name enters with them on both counts: whether those doctors prove equal to the task or not. For in the one case it is said, "This would have been resolved sooner had Hygienus been the one treating it," and in the other, "This would never have happened had Hygienus been in charge of the care."
And this refrain has been especially loud just now on account of my uncle, who escaped a violent fever but has been unable to recover the full use of his body.
As for me, having learned well from the many times you restored me to my feet, I now presume to argue with our local physicians.
When I told the philosopher I would write to him, Andronicus said, "And will you not write to the doctor?" He added how much you love me -- speaking, of course, to someone who already knows the depth of that affection. For just as parents love their children because they brought them into the world, so those who have saved someone's life love the person they saved, because they saved them.
Your name is remembered among us as long as there are sick people in our midst -- and in a city this large, there will always be sick people. Whenever the doctors come in, your name enters with them, whether they are able to help or not. In the one case people say, "It would have been handled faster if you had been treating him." In the other, "It would not have happened at all if you had been caring for him."
Recently this talk grew especially loud when my uncle escaped a severe fever but could not regain the use of his body. As for me, drawing on all the times you brought me back from illness, I now find myself able to argue with the local doctors.
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.