Pliny, Letter 10.67

Ep. 10.67.1Lēgātō Sauromatae rēgis;As for the envoy of King Sauromates; Ep. 10.67.1cum suā sponte Nīcaeae, ubi mē invēnerat, bīduō substitisset, longiōrem moram faciendam, domine, nōn putāvī, prīmum quod incertum adhūc erat, quandō lībertus tuus Lycormās ventūrus esset, deinde quod ipse proficīscēbar in dīversam prōvinciae partem, ita officiī necessitāte exigente.since he had of his own accord stayed two days at Nicaea, where he had found me, I did not think, sir, that he should be made to wait longer, first because it was still uncertain when your freedman Lycormas would come, and secondly because I myself was setting out for a different part of the province, as the demands of duty required. Ep. 10.67.2Haec in nōtitiam tuam perferenda exīstimāvī, quia proximē scrīpseram petīsse Lycormam, ut lēgātiōnem, sī qua vēnisset ā Bosporō, ūsque in adventum suum retinērem.I thought this should be brought to your notice, because I had recently written that Lycormas had asked me to hold back any embassy that might come from the Bosporus until his arrival. Ep. 10.67.2Quod diūtius faciendī nūlla mihi probābilis ratiō occurrit, praesertim cum epistulae Lycormae, quās dētinēre, ut ante praedīxī, nōluī, aliquot diēbus hinc lēgātum antecessūrae vidērentur.No convincing reason occurred to me for doing this any longer, especially since the letters of Lycormas, which, as I said before, I was unwilling to detain, seemed likely to arrive some days ahead of the envoy.