Letter 821
Libanius→Λεοντίῳ|libanius
To Leontius. (363 AD)
If you know Eutocius, you know he is a good man. If you do not, take my word for it and think of him so. And it is clear that a just governor will treat a good man well.
He also has a friendship with me founded on no small or few things. So here is a second obligation for you to do well by Eutocius — since of your two sons, you sent one back to me as a student of rhetoric, and the other you kept and made experienced in the courts yourself.
Λεοντίῳ. (363)
Εὐτόκιον εἰ μὲν οἶσθα, καὶ ὅτι χρηστός ἐστιν οἶσθα· εἰ
δ’ ἀγνοεῖς, ἀλλ’ ἐμοῦ μαρτυροῦντος οὕτω περὶ αὐτοῦ φρόνει.
χρηστὸν δὲ ἄνθρωπον ἄρχων δίκαιος ὡς εὖ ποιήσει δῆλον.
ἔστι δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ φιλία πρὸς ἡμᾶς οὐκ ἀπὸ σμικρῶν οὐδ’
ὀλίγων. οὐκοῦν αὕτη σοι δευτέρα τοῦ τὸν Εὐτόκιον εὖ ποιεῖν
ἀνάγκη, ἐπεὶ καὶ τοῖν νέοιν τὸν μὲν ἡμῖν ἀπέπεμψας ῥήτορα,
τὸν δὲ ἔχεις καὶ αὐτὸν ἔμπειρον καταστήσας δικῶν.
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To Leontius. (363 AD)
If you know Eutocius, you know he is a good man. If you do not, take my word for it and think of him so. And it is clear that a just governor will treat a good man well.
He also has a friendship with me founded on no small or few things. So here is a second obligation for you to do well by Eutocius — since of your two sons, you sent one back to me as a student of rhetoric, and the other you kept and made experienced in the courts yourself.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.