Ep. 10.37.1In aquae ductum, domine, Nīcomēdēnsēs impendērunt HS XXX CCCXVIII, quī imperfectus adhūc omissus, dēstrūctus etiam est;On an aqueduct, my lord, the people of Nicomedia have spent three million three hundred and eighteen thousand sesterces; it was abandoned while still unfinished, and has even been pulled down; Ep. 10.37.1rūrsus in alium ductum ērogāta sunt CC. Hōc quoque relictō novō impendiō est opus, ut aquam habeant, quī tantam pecūniam male perdidērunt.again, two hundred thousand were paid out on another aqueduct. This too has been abandoned, and new expenditure is needed if those who have wasted so much money are to have water. Ep. 10.37.2Ipse pervēnī ad fontem pūrissimum, ex quō vidētur aqua dēbēre perdūcī, sīcut initiō temptātum erat, arcuātō opere, nē tantum ad plāna cīvitātis et humilia perveniat.I have myself visited a very pure spring, from which it seems the water ought to be brought, as was attempted at the start, on an arched structure, so that it does not reach only the level and low-lying parts of the city. Ep. 10.37.2Manent adhūc paucissimī arcūs: possunt et ērigī quīdam lapide quadrātō, quī ex superiōre opere dētrāctus est;A very few arches still remain: some can also be built up from the squared stone which was removed from the earlier work; Ep. 10.37.2aliqua pars, ut mihi vidētur, testāceō opere agenda erit, id enim et facilius et vīlius.some part, as it seems to me, will have to be made of brickwork, for that is both easier and cheaper.
Ep. 10.37.3Sed in prīmīs necessārium est mittī ā tē vel aquilegem vel architectum, nē rūrsus ēveniat quod accidit.But first of all it is necessary that you send either a water engineer or an architect, so that what happened may not happen again. Ep. 10.37.3Ego illud ūnum affirmō, et ūtilitātem operis et pulchritūdinem saeculō tuō esse dignissimam.I affirm this one thing: both the usefulness and the beauty of the work are most worthy of your age.