Letter 942: Thanks for helping Athanasius.

LibaniusTheodorus, correspondent of Libanius|c. 390 AD|Libanius|From Antioch|AI-assisted
GratitudeAthanasiusMarianusPhilanthropy
Illustrates Libanius' role as an intercessor for students and subordinates.

You have done a good deed for Athanasius, granting me no small favor, and he, being a just man, has told us in writing of what he has received. We shared in the joy of both: his for what he received, and yours for what you gave. For indeed, the man who does such a thing gains from the very act of doing it. Therefore, toward such a person, there should be no need for repeated exhortation, for surely his own deeds persuade him to imitate himself. Since Marianus said he would be discouraged if this were not included in my letter, let it be here. And pray, continue to be such a man toward the youth that your subsequent kindness does not fall short of the first.

AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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. Σύ τε εὖ πεποίηκας Ἀθανάσιον οὐκ ὀλίγα διδοὺς ἐμοὶ τὴν χάριν ἐκεῖνός τε δίκαιος ὢν εἶπε πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐν γράμμασιν ὧν τετύχηκεν. ἡμεῖς δὲ συνήσθημεν ἀμφοῖν, τῷ μὲν ὧν ἔλαβε, σοὶ δὲ ὧν ἔδωκας. καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς ὁ τοιοῦτόν τι ποιῶν ἐν οἷς ποιεῖ κερδαίνει. 2. πρὸς οὖν τόν γε τοιοῦτον οὐδὲν ἂν δέοι παρακλήσεως εἶναι τὸν αὐτόν. αὐτὸν γὰρ δήπου πείθει τὰ αὑτοῦ μιμεῖσθαι. 3. Μαριανοῦ δὲ εἰπόντος ἀθυμήσειν, εἰ μὴ καὶ τοῦτ᾿ ἐνέσται τοῖς γράμμασιν, ἔστω καὶ τοῦτο. καὶ μοι γίγνου περὶ τὸν νέον τοιοῦτος ὡς μὴ τῶν προτέρων λείπεσθαι τὰ δεύτερα.

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

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