Att. 13.1Neque vērō ille minus bonus pater familiās habitus est quam cīvis.Nor indeed was he thought any less good as a head of a household than as a citizen. Att. 13.1Nam cum esset pecūniōsus, nēmō illō minus fuit ēmāx, minus aedificātor.For though he was wealthy, no one was less given to buying, less given to building, than he. Att. 13.1Neque tamen nōn inprīmīs bene habitāvit omnibusque optimīs rēbus ūsus est.Yet he lived in a particularly fine house and enjoyed all the best things. Att. 13.2Nam domum habuit in colle Quirīnālī Tamphiliānam, ab avunculō hērēditāte relictam, cuius amoenitās nōn aedificiō, sed silvā cōnstābat: ipsum enim tēctum antīquitus cōnstitūtum plūs salis quam sūmptūs habēbat: in quō nihil commūtāvit, nisi sī quid vetustāte coāctus est.For he had a house on the Quirinal hill, the Tamphilian house, left to him by inheritance from his uncle, whose charm lay not in the building but in its grove: for the house itself, built long ago, had more wit than expense about it: in it he changed nothing, except where he was compelled by its age. Att. 13.3Ūsus est familiā, sī ūtilitāte iūdicandum est, optimā, sī fōrmā, vix mediocrī.He had a household of slaves which, if one is to judge by usefulness, was excellent, but if by looks, barely average.
Att. 13.3Namque in eā erant puerī litterātissimī, anagnōstae optimī et plūrimī librāriī, ut nē pedisequus quidem quisquam esset, quī nōn utrumque hōrum pulchrē facere posset, parī modō artificēs cēterī, quōs cultus domesticus dēsīderat, apprīmē bonī.For in it there were very well-educated slaves, excellent readers and a great many copyists, so that there was not even a single footman who could not do both of these things finely; likewise the other craftsmen whom domestic upkeep requires were exceptionally good. Att. 13.4Neque tamen hōrum quemquam nisi domī nātum domīque factum habuit: quod est signum nōn sōlum continentiae, sed etiam dīligentiae.Yet he had none of these except those born and trained in his own house: which is a mark not only of self-restraint but also of diligence. Att. 13.4Nam et nōn intemperanter concupīscere, quod ā plūrimīs videās, continentis dēbet dūcī, et potius industriā quam pretiō parāre nōn mediocris est dīligentiae.For not to desire immoderately what you see desired by most people must be counted the mark of a self-restrained man, and to acquire things by effort rather than by price is a mark of no ordinary diligence. Att. 13.5Ēlegāns, nōn magnificus, splendidus, nōn sūmptuōsus: omnisque dīligentia munditiam, nōn affluentiam affectābat.He was elegant, not magnificent, splendid, not extravagant: and with all his care he aimed at neatness, not profusion.
Att. 13.5Supellex modica, nōn multa, ut in neutram partem cōnspicī posset.His furniture was modest, not abundant, so that it could not attract notice in either direction. Att. 13.6Nec praeterībō, quamquam nōnnūllīs leve vīsum īrī putem, cum inprīmīs lautus esset eques Rōmānus et nōn parum līberāliter domum suam omnium ōrdinum hominēs invītāret, nōn amplius quam terna mīlia peraequē in singulōs mēnsēs ex ephēmeride eum expēnsum sūmptuī ferre solitum.Nor shall I pass over this, though I suppose it will seem trivial to some, that although he was a particularly well-to-do Roman knight and invited men of all ranks to his house quite generously, he was accustomed, as his daybook shows, to enter as spent on outgoings no more than three thousand sesterces a month, evenly month by month. Att. 13.7Atque hoc nōn audītum, sed cognitum praedicāmus: saepe enim propter familiāritātem domesticīs rēbus interfuimus.And this we report not from hearsay but from knowledge: for because of our friendship we were often present at his domestic affairs.