Roman Letters

Letter 953: Libanius asks Eusebius to intercede with Proclus on behalf of Domninus's son, continuing the matter from Letter 952.

Libanius→Eusebius, correspondent of Libanius|c. 390 AD|Libanius|From Antioch|AI-assisted
patronagemourningintercessioneducation
Libanius balances his own grief for Olympius with his duty to protect his student, the son of Domninus.
◆

We are still mourning our friend Olympius. Yet even in this state, I could not ignore the ruin of a young man who was my friend's son and my own student. You will see him now for the first time; but Domninus, his father, you have often seen, I believe, and not only seen but praised as excellent—which you do everywhere. Be a good helper to his son by saying something to the noble Proclus to prevent the ruin of this house.

AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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. Ἡμεῖς ἐν τῷ δακρύειν ἔτι τὸν φίλον ἡμῶν Ὀλύμπιον. ἔδει δέ με κἂν τούτοις ὄντα μὴ περιιδεῖν ἀπολλύμενον νέον καὶ φίλου παῖδα καὶ ὁμιλητὴν ἐμόν. 2. τοῦτον μὲν οὖν νῦν πρῶτον ὄψει· Δομνῖνον δὲ τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ πολλάκις, ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν, <εἶδες> καὶ οὐκ εἶδές γε μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπήνεσας ὄντα ἄριστον, ὃ σὺ πανταχοῦ ποιεῖς. 2. τῷ τοίνυν ἐκείνου παιδὶ καλὸν σὲ γενέσθαι βοηθὸν εἰπόντα τι τοιοῦτον πρὸς τὸν γενναῖον Πρόκλον, ὃ κωλύσει τῷδε διαφθαρῆναι τὸν οἶκον.

Text source →View original manuscript →

Revision history

  1. 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→Eusebius, correspondent of Libaniusc. 388 AD · libanius #893

Libanius recommends Maximus for further assistance from Eusebius.

Libanius→Eusebius, correspondent of Libaniusc. 388 AD · libanius #870

Libanius asks Eusebius to protect a fellow sophist from illegal tax demands by the local council.

Libanius→Eusebius, correspondent of Libaniusc. 390 AD · libanius #958

Libanius thanks Eusebius for his concern over his grief but complains that another Eusebius is withholding important legal documents.

Libanius→Eusebius, correspondent of Libaniusc. 388 AD · libanius #854

Libanius introduces Hesychius to Eusebius and worries that Eusebius' city may keep so capable a legal advocate.

Libanius→Eusebius, correspondent of Libaniusc. 388 AD · libanius #886

Libanius asks an official to protect his most brilliant student from an excessive public service burden following the family's financial ruin.