Ep. 10.39.1Theātrum, domine, Nīcaeae maximā iam parte cōnstrūctum, imperfectum tamen, sēstertium - ut audiō;The theatre at Nicaea, my lord, already for the most part built but still unfinished, has swallowed up, in sesterces — so I hear; Ep. 10.39.1neque enim ratiō operis excussa est - amplius centiēs hausit: vereor nē frūstrā.for the accounts of the work have not been examined — more than ten million: I fear to no purpose. Ep. 10.39.2Ingentibus enim rīmīs dēsēdit et hiat, sīve in causā sōlum ūmidum et molle, sīc lapis ipse gracilis et putris: dignum est certē dēlīberātiōne, sitne faciendum an sit relinquendum an etiam dēstruendum.For it has subsided and gapes with huge cracks, whether the cause is the damp, soft soil or the stone itself, which is thin and crumbly: it certainly deserves consideration whether it should be completed, or abandoned, or even demolished. Ep. 10.39.2Nam fultūrae ac substrūctiōnēs, quibus subinde suscipitur, nōn tam firmae mihi quam sūmptuōsaeuidentur uidentur.For the props and substructures by which it is shored up from time to time seem to me not so much solid as costly. Ep. 10.39.3Huic theātrō ex prīuātōrum pollicitātiōnibus multa dēbentur, ut basilicae circā, ut porticūs suprā caveam.Much is owed to this theatre from the promises of private persons, such as basilicas around it and a colonnade above the auditorium.
Ep. 10.39.3Quae nunc omnia differuntur cessante eō, quod ante peragendum est.All of these are now postponed, since the work that must be completed first is at a standstill. Ep. 10.39.4Iīdem Nīcaeēnsēs gymnasium incendiō āmissum ante aduentum meum restituere coepērunt, longē numerōsius laxiusque quam fuerat, et iam aliquantum ērogāuērunt;The same people of Nicaea began, before my arrival, to restore their gymnasium, which had been lost in a fire, on a far more extensive and spacious scale than before, and they have already spent a good deal; Ep. 10.39.4perīculum est, nē parum ūtiliter;there is a danger that it has been to little purpose; Ep. 10.39.4incompositum enim et sparsum est.for it is ill-planned and straggling. Ep. 10.39.4Praetereā architectus, sānē aemulus eius ā quō opus incohātum est, adfirmat parietēs quamquam uīgintī et duōs pedēs lātōs imposita onera sustinēre nōn posse, quia sunt caementō mediī fartī nec testāceō opere praecīnctī.Moreover, an architect — admittedly a rival of the one by whom the work was begun — asserts that the walls, although twenty-two feet thick, cannot bear the loads placed on them, because they are filled with rubble in the middle and not faced with brickwork.
Ep. 10.39.5Claudiopolītānī quoque in dēpressō locō, imminente etiam monte ingēns balineum dēfodiunt magis quam aedificant, et quidem ex eā pecūniā, quam būleutae additī beneficiō tuō aut iam obtulērunt ob introitum aut nōbīs exigentibus cōnferent.The people of Claudiopolis too are excavating rather than building a huge bath in a low-lying spot, with a mountain overhanging it, and indeed with the money which the councillors added by your kindness have either already offered for their admission or will contribute at our demand. Ep. 10.39.6Ergō cum timeam nē illīc pūblica pecūnia, hīc, quod est omnī pecūniā pretiōsius, mūnus tuum male collocētur, cōgor petere ā tē nōn sōlum ob theātrum, uērum etiam ob haec balinea mittās architectum, dispectūrum utrum sit ūtilius post sūmptum quī factus est quōquō modō cōnsummāre opera?So, since I fear that in the one place public money, and in the other your gift, which is more precious than any money, may be badly invested, I am compelled to ask you to send an architect not only for the theatre but also for these baths, to consider whether it is more useful, after the expense that has been incurred, to complete the works somehow or other, Ep. 10.39.6ut incohāta sunt, an quae uidentur ēmendanda corrigere, quae trānsferenda trānsferre, nē dum servāre uolumus quod impēnsum est, male impendāmus quod addendum est.as they were begun, or to correct what seems to need emending and move what needs moving, lest, while we wish to preserve what has been spent, we spend badly what must be added.