Letter 941: Apology and explanation regarding a promised letter.
When Erethius previously asked me for letters to you, I promised to give them and expressed my gratitude to him for the offer; however, as time went on, I said I would no longer give them and begged him not to compel me. To him, I explained the obstacle and the reason for my change of heart, but to you, I could not even put it in writing. I am so ashamed of what has happened, though I am conscious of no wrong on my part, except that a friend has failed to see what he should have seen first. I will stop here, but you should listen to the man standing by me, who will explain what this matter is all about.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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.
Latin / Greek Original
1. Ἐρεθίῳ πρότερον αἰτοῦντι παρ᾿ ἐμοῦ πρὸς σὲ γράμματα δώσειν ὑποσχόμενος καὶ χάριν εἰπὼν ἕξειν αὐτῷ τοῦ φέρειν χρόνου προϊόντος οὐκέτ᾿ ἔφην δώσειν καὶ ἐδεόμην αὐτοῦ μή με ἀναγκάζειν. 2. καὶ πρὸς μὲν ἐκεῖνον εἶπόν τε τὸ κωλῦον καὶ ὁπόθεν ἡ μεταβολή, πρὸς σὲ δ᾿ οὐδ᾿ ἐν γράμμασι δυναίμην ἄν· οὕτω τοῖς πεπραγμένοις αἰσχύνομαι κακὸν μὲν ἐμαυτῷ συνειδὼς οὐδέν, φίλου δὲ οὐκ ἰδόντος ὃ πρῶτον ἐχρῆν ἰδεῖν. 3. καὶ ἐγὼ μὲν ἐνταυθοῖ στήσομαι, τὸν δ᾿ ὅ τι τοῦτο ἔστι φράσοντα ἐγγὺς ἔχων ἄκουε.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern libanius foerster vol11 batch6 gemini flash ocr reviewed v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://archive.org/download/foerster-libanii-opera/Foerster%20%281922%29%2C%20Libanii%20opera%2011_djvu.xml
Related Letters
Libanius praises the Prefect Tatianus for his governance and his excellent choice of provincial governors.
Libanius praises Tatianus' patronage of Hesychius and cautiously asks for renewed letters while his own case awaits judgment.
Libanius recommends the philosopher Macedonius to Tatianus, praising the Prefect as a 'savior of cities.'
Libanius thanks Tatianus for quietly helping clear him from a political accusation and renews affection through Tatianus' son.
Libanius petitions Tatianus to grant his son Cimon an official post to protect him from the burdens and physical dangers of the municipal council.