Letter 3013: I count it a personal credit that you've announced your long-desired return.
I count it a personal credit that you've announced your long-desired return. But I'm seriously worried that a shortage of housing might delay you — and I ask you to take what I'm about to say in good faith.
I swear by the gods: the houses you asked about, one of which you requested, were already promised to guests some time ago. So please take my word for it — you should have trusted my intentions alone — and hurry back to your own home. The house that satisfied you when you were younger and ambitious, living there with your children, ought not to offend a man of mature moderation now that the children have moved to homes of their own. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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Iamblichus left us in tears, saying, "Will I ever see the East again?
I appreciate the sweet-tempered way you reproach me.