Ep. 10.8.1Cum dīvus pater tuus, domine, et ōrātiōne pulcherrimā et honestissimō exemplō omnēs cīvēs ad mūnificentiam esset cohortātus, petiī ab eō, ut statuās prīncipum, quās in longinquīs agrīs per plūrēs successiōnēs trāditās mihi quālēs accēperam custōdiēbam, permitteret in mūnicipium trānsferre adiectā suā statuā.When your deified father, my lord, had encouraged all citizens to generosity both by a most splendid speech and by a most honourable example, I asked him to allow me to move into my town the statues of emperors which, handed down to me through several successions, I was keeping on my distant estates just as I had received them, and to add his own statue to them. Ep. 10.8.2Quod quidem ille mihi cum plēnissimō testimōniō indulserat;This he had indeed granted me, with the fullest testimonial; Ep. 10.8.2ego statim decuriōnibus scrīpseram, ut assignārent sōlum in quō templum pecūniā meā exstruerem;I had at once written to the town councillors asking them to assign a site on which I might build a temple at my own expense; Ep. 10.8.2illī in honōrem operis ipsīus ēlēctiōnem locī mihi obtulerant.they, in honour of the work itself, had offered me the choice of the place.
Ep. 10.8.3Sed prīmum meā, deinde patris tuī valētūdine, posteā cūrīs dēlēgātī ā vōbīs officiī retentus, nunc videor commodissimē posse in rem praesentem excurrere.But held back first by my own health, then by your father's, and afterwards by the cares of the office you entrusted to me, I think I can now most conveniently make a trip to the spot. Ep. 10.8.3Nam et mēnstruum meum Kalendīs Septembribus fīnītur, et sequēns mēnsis complūrēs diēs fēriātōs habet.For my month of duty ends on the Kalends of September, and the following month has a good many holidays. Ep. 10.8.4Rogō ergō ante omnia permittās mihi opus quod incohātūrus sum exōrnāre et tuā statuā;I ask, then, first of all, that you allow me to adorn the work I am about to begin with your statue as well; Ep. 10.8.4deinde, ut hoc facere quam mātūrissimē possim, indulgeās commeātum.and secondly, so that I may do this as soon as possible, that you grant me leave. Ep. 10.8.5Nōn est autem simplicitātis meae dissimulāre apud bonitātem tuam obiter tē plūrimum collātūrum ūtilitātibus reī familiāris meae.It is not, however, in keeping with my candour to conceal from your kindness that you will at the same time be greatly assisting the interests of my private affairs.
Ep. 10.8.5Agrōrum enim, quōs in eādem regiōne possideō, locātiō, cum aliōquī CCCC excēdat, adeō nōn potest differrī, ut proximam putātiōnem novus colōnus facere dēbeat.For the letting of the lands which I own in the same region, since it amounts in any case to more than four hundred thousand sesterces, is so far from admitting delay that the next pruning must be done by a new tenant. Ep. 10.8.5Praetereā continuae sterilitātēs cōgunt mē dē remissiōnibus cōgitāre;Besides, a succession of poor harvests is forcing me to think about reductions of rent; Ep. 10.8.5quārum ratiōnem nisi praesēns inīre nōn possum.and I cannot work out the reckoning of these unless I am there in person. Ep. 10.8.6Dēbēbō ergō, domine, indulgentiae tuae et pietātis meae celeritātem et statūs ōrdinātiōnem, sī mihi ob utraque haec dederis commeātum XXX diērum.So I shall owe to your indulgence, my lord, both the speed of my dutiful act and the settling of my affairs, if you give me thirty days' leave for both these purposes. Ep. 10.8.6Neque enim angustius tempus praefīnīre possum, cum et mūnicipium et agrī dē quibus loquor sint ultrā centēsimum et quīnquāgēsimum lapidem.For I cannot fix a shorter time, since both the town and the lands I speak of are beyond the hundred and fiftieth milestone.