Resultados25 letters/passages
libanius · c. 381 · score 0.02
… the defendant look the prosecutor in the eye. Before, the sheer grandeur of the imperial office made me hesitate to write. Now the beauty of the emperor's own letters doubles my fear. For even if everything else is on our side, we lack the light that blazes in his writing. More than anyone I know, the man has blended p …
libanius · c. 356 · score 0.02
You have reached the rank your good sense was always going to bring you -- a good sense that is both genuine and not lost on the emperor's attention. You were already well-disposed toward me before, and now you might reasonably add affection to goodwill, on account of our family connection. As for the ambassadors, I wo …
libanius · c. 348 · score 0.02
… uly yours alone, sprung from no precedent. While others, the moment they attain imperial power, take on a love of money — some beginning to crave what they never desired before, others intensifying a passion already dwelling in them — you alone, upon entering into power, gave away your patrimony to your companions: a h …
libanius · c. 366 · score 0.02
"What great thing?" I asked. Strategius then said: "When he was about to take leave of the emperor, after many fine exchanges, he added: 'Your Majesty, no one's rank will shield them from punishment for wrongdoing. Whether it is a judge or a military commander who breaks the law, I will not tolerate neglect.'" He said …
libanius · c. 341 · score 0.02
To Eutherius. (357-358) I would not beg you to do well by Heraclides -- I command you. For you seem to me to prefer commands to pleas. The reason? You know how to love no less than how to govern. He would have won some good from you even without a letter, if he had simply stood before you and done what he usually does. …
libanius · c. 363 · score 0.02
That Alexander was appointed to the government at first, I confess, gave me some concern, as the principal persons among us were dissatisfied. I thought it dishonourable, injurious, and unbecoming a prince; and that repeated fines would rather weaken than improve the city. But now the good effects of this severity are …
libanius · c. 333 · score 0.01
To Domnio. (360) A resolution has won out here: to transplant your fine institution to this place -- the study of law. Seeking the best teacher, I find that man is you, but thinking it impious to uproot an unwilling man, I leave you master of your own decision -- desiring to have you, but not deigning to drag you. Tell …
libanius · c. 365 · score 0.01
To Spectatus. Three things need to happen through you: one for a kinsman, one for an orator, and one for a rhetorician. My cousin needs the emperor's approval to confirm the liturgy he has been called to. Sabinus needs a letter of appointment conferring a more distinguished rank, so that the man who prevails in eloquen …
libanius · c. 331 · score 0.01
To Andronicus, a general. (360) The admirable Mares was both my fellow student and my teacher -- for having grown alongside me, he rose to that rank. With these two claims on me, he has the right to command and I am bound to serve. He is concerned about Zeno, who belongs to the prefect's staff and now comes to you. Zen …
libanius · c. 356 · score 0.01
There is no need to tell you about the ambassadors -- you know them both. One you met when he was passing through your territory; the other, when he traveled as far as your city. But I would add this: you have no small claim on them. Each has a son studying with me, and each son gives cause for high hopes.
libanius · c. 334 · score 0.01
To Julian. (360?) Have you forgotten us? We cannot suffer that, for Phoenicia sings your governorship in immortal hymns, and from your territory a stream of reports flows to us.
libanius · c. 361 · score 0.01
However much I condemned that journey, fatiguing as it was , I no less, or rather more, condemned myself for returning so soon instead of going to the place appointed and there indulging my eyes the next morning at sun-rising, with the sight of his divine visage. And so unfortunate is the city that she could not afford …
libanius · c. 362 · score 0.01
Accept, then, letters from both of us on behalf of a single matter -- the one asking, the other demanding. Acacius asks; I collect what is owed, having already asked before. As long as persuasion was needed, I did that. But since you made a promise, I now count you among my debtors. Show us the deed, then, and put an e …
libanius · c. 334 · score 0.01
To Eusebius. (360) Let the wild beasts be preserved, let no one slaughter them, let someone provide the spectacle without that, and let the master not be lord of his own property. Such is the letter that has come from the prefect. And we, who used to admire the man for his other qualities, are astonished at this novelt …
libanius · c. 393 · score 0.01
We hear that many governors have made many obscure men famous, gaining renown for themselves in the process. Even now, those who point out fine orators say: "This one was made by Rufinus, that one by Himerius, the other by someone else." For if a man who knows how to speak lacks the opportunity, how will his talent bec …
libanius · c. 381 · score 0.01
The governor took part in your festival in the same way I did -- he missed nothing I had heard. When he learned about the armor, the sacrifices, the expense, and the splendor that ran through everything, he was so delighted -- rejoicing with both the priest and the city -- that he said the emperor himself would hear of …
libanius · c. 354 · score 0.01
After suffering many physical ailments -- having barely recovered from some and still bearing others -- I have one consolation: my hopes for you. Do not imagine that people talk of anything else. The word everywhere is that very soon you will hold the position that has long been rightfully yours, and that the state wil …
libanius · c. 354 · score 0.01
If I had written before saying I have little influence with Dionysius, you might not have believed me -- and that is why I did not write. But now is the time to admit the weakness. Clematius will confirm I am not lying. Know, then, that I have not improved my own situation, and all the friends who tried to obtain somet …
libanius · c. 325 · score 0.01
The verses you sent along with your letter -- you, who are truly both "a fine poet and a mighty orator" [a Homeric quotation, modified] -- seem to have inspired Hermogenes with eagerness to address our concerns. As it happened, he received your letter the very same day he was relieved of his command. But even at the bo …
libanius · c. 358 · score 0.01
To Eutherius. (358/359) It pleases me more than winning a province myself that this has happened under your governorship. I congratulate Caesarius on his character and on his reputation -- which grows greater by your endorsement -- and above all I congratulate him on his sons. For there is in those young men such devot …
libanius · c. 384 · score 0.01
My first letter was an appeal for you to do justice by the son of my teacher. This one is both praise for what you have done and another appeal to keep doing the same. The good Gaudentius came to me with his pleasure written all over his face. Delighted to see him so cheerful, I asked where this mood came from. He said …
libanius · c. 358 · score 0.01
Many blessing attend you for showing that when I celebrated your talents I was not a liar, or rather for having shown that I was a liar in promising nothing equal to what you have performed! This is all your own, and copied from no model. For though some, together with the empire, have assumed the love of money, contra …
libanius · c. 378 · score 0.01
To Julian. (~361 AD) As for the most villainous slave—how he will pay the penalty for both what he said and what he did—that is a matter for the laws and for me. But with your office, also take over the goodwill which the admirable Priscianus held toward Seleukos. In doing this you will make the teachers Kalliopios and …
libanius · c. 367 · score 0.01
… are the man who saved Greece [by his administration] and who has now opened the imperial palace to the art of rhetoric. And I myself, if not among those who produce fine speeches, am at least among those who love fine speeches. So it is likely I will find you gracious -- both toward this letter and toward the man who c …
libanius · c. 324 · score 0.01
The son of Boethus -- also named Boethus -- manages my affairs, and his father, through our willingness to help however we can, has always been well served by us. I'd be ashamed if the father were more useful to my household than I was to his, even if another person were to help the old man on my account. Now this youn …