Letter 947: Reflections on Hilarius' trip to Greece and Libanius' old age.

By the same measure that the good Hilarius made our city better by his coming, he has made it worse by running off to Greece—a land better than ours, or rather, superior to all others. For those who have been deprived of what they most wished to keep, this fact does nothing to diminish their grief, especially for those of us who are very old. For one who is in his youth, or even in old age but not so advanced, there is still the hope of making a similar voyage and being here again, to associate with the more clever, receiving those who come to him and returning the favor, speaking and listening, praising and being praised. But those things belong to them. As for my own case, I have become seventy-six years old, and what remains is not much. He will return bringing a fine narrative—for a story about Greece is surely fine—but while he gladdens others, he will find me gone. May the city eventually enjoy these stories. In the meantime, I am inclined to call Hilarius blessed, for he is about to see the most beautiful things under the sun: the many great cities of the Peloponnese, Phocis, Boeotia, the city that bore him, and that star of Greece, the city of the Athenians. And he will see another star: Priscus, who knows Plato well, and knows that man's pupil equally well, and who sends away those who associate with him wiser than they came—a benefit I myself know I have often gained. The same would have been said of him by that man whose soul the god filled with philosophy and to whom he gave it to rule over the Romans and drive out the barbarians; for he even met his end while driving out the Persians, considering it a great thing if he should seem to Priscus to be doing what was fitting. Make Hilarius, then, a better man, and let him write this back to us; for he is a just man and will not hide the truth.