Letter 758
Libanius→Ἱερακίῳ|libanius
To Hieracius. (362 AD)
Such has Diophantus been since boyhood: self-controlled, fair-minded, industrious, pleasing to the best men. If the greater part of virtue comes through the blood, then both I and Diophantus owe our thanks to you — he received your fine qualities through his mother.
I trust that he is and will continue to be good to me. But let him repay me by devoting himself to the practice of speaking, and let him be free from all other cares.
Ἱερακίῳ. (362)
Τοιοῦτος ἦν ἐκ παιδὸς ὁ Διόφαντος· σώφρων, ἐπιεικής,
ἐθελουργός, τοῖς βελτίστοις ἀρέσκων εἰ οὖν εἰς τὸ αἷμα τῆς
ἀρετῆς τὸ πλέον ἔρχεται, σοὶ δεῖ τὴν χάριν ἔχειν κἀμὲ καὶ
Διόφαντον τὰ σὰ καλὰ διὰ μέσης τῆς μητρὸς ἐδέξατο.
εἶναι μὲν οὖν αὐτὸν εἰς ἐμὲ χρηστὸν καὶ ἔσεσθαι πιστεύω·
ποιείσθω μέντοι πρὸς ἐμὲ τὰς ἀμοιβὰς ἀπὸ τοῦ πειρᾶσθαι
λέγειν, τῶν δ’ ἄλλων ἀφείσθω φροντίδων.
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To Hieracius. (362 AD)
Such has Diophantus been since boyhood: self-controlled, fair-minded, industrious, pleasing to the best men. If the greater part of virtue comes through the blood, then both I and Diophantus owe our thanks to you — he received your fine qualities through his mother.
I trust that he is and will continue to be good to me. But let him repay me by devoting himself to the practice of speaking, and let him be free from all other cares.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.