Ep. 10.41.1Intuentī mihi et fortūnae tuae et animī magnitūdinem conuenientissimum uidētur dēmōnstrārī opera nōn minus aeternitāte tuā quam glōriā digna, quantumque pulchritūdinis tantum ūtilitātis habitūra.As I contemplate the greatness both of your fortune and of your mind, it seems most fitting that works should be pointed out to you worthy no less of your immortality than of your glory, works that will have as much usefulness as beauty. Ep. 10.41.2Est in Nīcomēdēnsium fīnibus amplissimus lacus.In the territory of Nicomedia there is a very large lake. Ep. 10.41.2Per hunc marmora frūctūs ligna māteriae et sūmptū modicō et labōre ūsque ad uiam nāuibus, inde magnō labōre maiōre impendiō uehiculīs ad mare dēuehuntur ...Across it marble, produce, firewood and timber are carried by boat with little expense and labour as far as the road, but from there by carriage to the sea with great labour and greater expense ... Ep. 10.41.2hoc opus multās manūs poscit.this work requires many hands. Ep. 10.41.2At eae porrō nōn dēsunt.But these, in turn, are not lacking. Ep. 10.41.2Nam et in agrīs magna cōpia est hominum et maxima in cīvitāte, certaque spēs omnēs libentissimē aggressūrōs opus omnibus frūctuōsum.For there is a great abundance of people in the countryside and a very great one in the city, and a sure hope that all will most gladly take on a work profitable to all.
Ep. 10.41.3Superest ut tū lībrātōrem vel architectum sī tibi vidēbitur mittās, quī dīligenter explōret, sitne lacus altior marī, quem artificēs regiōnis huius quadrāgintā cubitīs altiōrem esse contendunt.It remains for you to send a leveller or an architect, if you see fit, to investigate carefully whether the lake is higher than the sea, which the experts of this region maintain is higher by forty cubits. Ep. 10.41.4Ego per eadem loca inveniō fossam ā rēge percussam, sed incertum utrum ad colligendum ūmōrem circumiacentium agrōrum an ad committendum flūminī lacum;In the same area I find a canal dug by a king, but it is uncertain whether it was to collect the moisture of the surrounding fields or to connect the lake to the river; Ep. 10.41.4est enim imperfecta.for it is unfinished. Ep. 10.41.4Hoc quoque dubium, interceptō rēge mortālitāte an dēspērātō operis effectū.This too is doubtful: whether the king was cut off by death or gave up hope of completing the work. Ep. 10.41.5Sed hōc ipsō - ferēs enim mē ambitiōsum prō tuā glōriā - incitor et accendor, ut cupiam peragī ā tē quae tantum coeperant rēgēs.But by this very fact — for you will bear with my ambition for your glory — I am spurred and fired to wish that what kings had only begun should be completed by you.