Letter 753
Libanius→Μαξίμῳ|libanius
To Maximus. (362 AD)
I am not introducing these doctors to you as strangers — I write on behalf of men already known to you, and loved too, I believe.
As their friend, I trust you will receive both with goodwill, but will give active help to one of them. The first needs only a kind look; the second needs an ally. For he faces a war amid his hopes — one he can escape only with the help of Athena [i.e., your wise patronage], whom he will find when he comes home.
Μαξίμῳ. (362)
Οὐκ ἀγνοουμένους συνίστημί σοι τοὺς ἰατρούς, ἀλλὰ δι’
ἀνδρῶν ἐγνωσμένων, οἶμαι δὲ καὶ φιλουμένων, γράφω.
φι-
λῶν δέ, οἶμαι, μετὰ μὲν εὐνοίας ἀμφοτέρους ὄψει, θατέρῳ δὲ
βοηθήσεις. δεῖ γὰρ τῷ μὲν ἡμέρου βλέμματος, τῷ δὲ καὶ συκ-
μαχίας. ἐν γὰρ ἐλπίσι πόλεμος, ὃν μετὰ μόνης ἂν διαφύγοι
τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς, ἣν οἴκαδε ἐλθὼν εὑρήσει.
◆
To Maximus. (362 AD)
I am not introducing these doctors to you as strangers — I write on behalf of men already known to you, and loved too, I believe.
As their friend, I trust you will receive both with goodwill, but will give active help to one of them. The first needs only a kind look; the second needs an ally. For he faces a war amid his hopes — one he can escape only with the help of Athena [i.e., your wise patronage], whom he will find when he comes home.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.