Pliny, Letter 10.6

Ep. 10.6.1Agō grātiās, domine, quod et iūs Quirītium lībertīs necessāriae mihi fēminae et cīvitātem Rōmānam Arpocrātī, iatralīptae meō, sine morā indulsistī.I thank you, my lord, for having granted without delay both the right of Quirites to the freedwomen of a lady closely connected with me and Roman citizenship to Harpocras, my masseur. Ep. 10.6.1Sed cum annōs eius et cēnsum sīcut praecēperās ēderem, admonitus sum ā perītiōribus dēbuisse mē ante eī Alexandrīnam cīvitātem impetrāre, deinde Rōmānam, quoniam esset Aegyptius.But when I was giving his age and property, as you had instructed, I was advised by those more expert that I ought first to have obtained Alexandrian citizenship for him, and then Roman, since he was an Egyptian. Ep. 10.6.2Ego autem, quia inter Aegyptiōs cēterōsque peregrīnōs nihil interesse crēdēbam, contentus fueram hoc sōlum scrībere tibi, esse eum ā peregrīnā manūmissum patrōnamque eius iam prīdem dēcessisse.I, however, because I believed there was no difference between Egyptians and other foreigners, had been content to write to you only this: that he had been freed by a foreign woman and that his patroness had died long ago.

Ep. 10.6.2Dē quā ignōrantiā meā nōn queror, per quam stetit ut tibi prō eōdem homine saepius obligārer.Yet I do not complain of this ignorance of mine, through which it has come about that I am indebted to you more than once for the same man. Ep. 10.6.2Rogō itaque, ut beneficiō tuō lēgitimē fruī possim, tribuās eī et Alexandrīnam cīvitātem .I ask, therefore, that, so that I may enjoy your kindness lawfully, you grant him Alexandrian citizenship as well. Ep. 10.6.2Annōs eius et cēnsum, nē quid rūrsus indulgentiam tuam morārētur, lībertīs tuīs quibus iusserās mīsī.His age and property, so that nothing may again delay your indulgence, I have sent to those freedmen of yours to whom you had told me to send them.