Letter 353

353. Basil to Libanius

I have read the speech, most wise of men, and I am beyond admiration. O Muses, and eloquence, and Athens! What gifts you bestow upon your lovers — what fruits do they carry away who keep company with you even for a little while! O fountain of many streams, what manner of men you have shown those to be who draw from you! For in the speech I seemed to see the very man, in converse with a chattering little woman. A living speech upon the earth Libanius has written — he who alone has granted a soul to oratory.