Letter 935: Libanius tells Iullus that he trusts his judgment but thinks fear shaped his decision.
Let it be as you say, far-shooting one, and whatever else seems honorable to you should have the same reputation with me. You would not miss the better course out of ignorance, nor would you know the better course and then choose the worse. So I say it is likely that you did what you did because you feared the matter, since those who were frightening you were such men.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Ὧδ᾽ ἔστω, ἑκάεργε, καὶ ἄλλο δὲ ὅ τι ἂν εἶναί σοι δόξῃ καλόν, τοῦτο δεῖ καὶ παρ᾽ ἡμῖν τῆς αὐτῆς δόξης τυγχάνειν. οὔτε γὰρ ἀγνοίᾳ σύ γε τοῦ βελτίονος ἁμάρτοις ἂν οὔτ᾽ εἰδὼς τὸ βέλτιον ἔλθοις ἂν ἐπὶ τὸ φαυλότερον. εἰκὸς δή τί φημί σε πεποιηκέναι δείσαντα τὸ πρᾶγμα τοιούτων ὄντων τῶν φοβούντων.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern libanius foerster vol11 batch5 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
I write to you about a matter that has long concerned me: the speed with which imperial sentences are carried out.
When Christ said, "Unless you turn and become like children" [Matthew 18:3], he was not demanding a return to...
You'll never lead me, by your silence, to follow your example.
Libanius thanks Ablabius for hosting Eusebius, praises his home and intellect, and explains a long silence between teacher and former pupils.
...so you should know that these friends were hand-picked by the distinguished consul himself, and that you are the...