Ep. 4.13.1Salvum in urbem vēnisse gaudeō;I am glad you have arrived safely in the city; Ep. 4.13.1vēnistī autem, sī quandō aliās, nunc maximē mihi dēsīderātus.and you have come, now more than ever before, very much missed by me. Ep. 4.13.1Ipse pauculīs adhūc diēbus in Tusculānō commorābor, ut opusculum quod est in manibus absolvam.I myself shall stay a few more days at my Tusculan villa, to finish the little work I have in hand. Ep. 4.13.2Vereor enim nē, sī hanc intentiōnem iam in fīne laxāverō, aegrē resūmam.For I fear that, if I relax this concentration now, at the end, I shall find it hard to take it up again. Ep. 4.13.2Interim nē quid festīnātiōnī meae pereat, quod sum praesēns Petītūrus, hāc quasi praecursōriā epistulā rogō.Meanwhile, so that my haste may lose nothing, what I am going to ask of you in person I ask in this letter, sent ahead as a kind of forerunner. Ep. 4.13.2Sed prius accipe causās rogandī, deinde ipsum quod petō.But first hear the reasons for my request, and then what I am asking.
Ep. 4.13.3Proximē cum in patriā meā fuī, vēnit ad mē salūtandum mūnicipis meī fīlius praetextātus.When I was recently in my home town, the son of a fellow townsman, still wearing the boy's toga, came to pay his respects to me. Ep. 4.13.3Huic ego "Studēs?"And I to him: 'Are you studying?' Ep. 4.13.3inquam.I said. Ep. 4.13.3Respondit: "Etiam."He answered: 'Yes.' Ep. 4.13.3"Ubi?"'Where?' Ep. 4.13.3"Mediolānī."'At Milan.' Ep. 4.13.3"Cūr nōn hīc?"'Why not here?' Ep. 4.13.3Et pater eius - erat enim ūnā atque etiam ipse addūxerat puerum -: "Quia nūllōs hīc praeceptōrēs habēmus."And his father — for he was with him, and had in fact brought the boy himself — said: 'Because we have no teachers here.' Ep. 4.13.4"Quārē nūllōs?'Why none? Ep. 4.13.4Nam vehementer intererat vestrā, quī patrēs estis" - et opportūnē complūrēs patrēs audiēbant - "līberōs vestrōs hīc potissimum discere.For it would be very much in your interest, you who are fathers' — and, conveniently, several fathers were listening — 'that your children should study here above all. Ep. 4.13.4Ubi enim aut iūcundius morārentur quam in patriā aut pudīcius continērentur quam sub oculīs parentum aut minōre sūmptū quam domī?For where could they stay more pleasantly than in their home town, or be kept more decently than under their parents' eyes, or at less expense than at home?
Ep. 4.13.5Quantulum est ergō collātā pecūniā condūcere praeceptōrēs, quodque nunc in habitātiōnēs, in viātica, in ea quae peregrē emuntur - omnia autem peregrē emuntur - impenditis, adicere mercēdibus?How small a matter is it, then, to put money together and hire teachers, and to add to their salaries what you now spend on lodgings, on travel, on the things that are bought away from home — and everything is bought away from home? Ep. 4.13.5Atque adeō ego, quī nōndum līberōs habeō, parātus sum prō rē pūblicā nostrā, quasi prō fīlia vel parente, tertiam partem eius quod cōnferre vōbīs placēbit dare.Indeed I, who have no children yet, am ready, on behalf of our community, as if for a daughter or a parent, to give a third of whatever you decide to contribute. Ep. 4.13.6Tōtum etiam pollicērer, nisi timērem nē hoc mūnus meum quandōque ambitū corrumperētur, ut accidere multīs in locīs videō, in quibus praeceptōrēs pūblicē condūcuntur.I would even promise the whole, were I not afraid that this gift of mine might some day be corrupted by favour-seeking, as I see happen in many places where teachers are hired at public expense.
Ep. 4.13.7Huic vitiō occurrī ūnō remediō potest, sī parentibus sōlīs iūs condūcendī relinquātur, īsdemque religiō rēctē iūdicandī necessitāte collātiōnis addātur.This fault can be met by one remedy: if the right of hiring is left to the parents alone, and the obligation to contribute adds to them a scruple about choosing rightly. Ep. 4.13.8Nam quī fortasse dē aliēnō neglegentēs, certē dē suō dīligentēs erunt dabuntque operam, nē ā mē pecūniam nōn nisi dignus accipiat, sī acceptūrus et ab ipsīs erit.For those who might perhaps be careless with another's money will certainly be careful with their own, and will take pains that no one unworthy receives money from me, if he is also to receive it from them. Ep. 4.13.9Proinde cōnsentīte cōnspīrāte maiōremque animum ex meō sūmite, quī cupiō esse quam plūrimum, quod dēbeam cōnferre.So agree, act together, and take greater spirit from mine; for I want what I shall have to contribute to be as large as possible. Ep. 4.13.9Nihil honestius praestāre līberīs vestrīs, nihil grātius patriae potestis.You can give nothing more honourable to your children, nothing more welcome to your home town.
Ep. 4.13.9Ēducentur hīc quī hīc nāscuntur, statimque ab īnfantiā nātāle sōlum amāre frequentāre cōnsuēscant.Let those who are born here be brought up here, and from earliest childhood grow used to loving and frequenting their native soil. Ep. 4.13.9Atque utinam tam clārōs praeceptōrēs indūcātis, ut in fīnitimīs oppidīs studia hinc petantur, utque nunc līberī vestrī aliēna in loca ita mox aliēnī in hunc locum cōnfluant!"And I only wish you may bring in teachers so famous that the neighbouring towns come here for their education, and that, as your children now flock to other places, so others' children may soon flock to this place!' Ep. 4.13.10Haec putāvī altius et quasi ā fonte repetenda, quō magis scīrēs, quam grātum mihi foret sī susciperēs quod iniungō.I thought I should go back over this at some length, and as if from the source, so that you might know better how welcome it would be to me if you undertook what I am charging you with. Ep. 4.13.10Iniungō autem et prō reī magnitūdine rogō, ut ex cōpiā studiōsōrum, quae ad tē ex admīrātiōne ingeniī tuī convenit, circumspiciās praeceptōrēs, quōs sollicitāre possīmus, sub eā tamen condiciōne nē cui fidem meam obstringam.I charge you, and, in view of the importance of the matter, I ask you, to look about among the crowd of students who gather round you out of admiration for your talent for teachers whom we might approach, but on this condition, that I bind myself by a promise to no one.
Ep. 4.13.10Omnia enim lībera parentibus servō: illī iūdicent illī ēligant, ego mihi cūram tantum et impendium vindicō.For I leave everything free for the parents: let them judge, let them choose; I claim for myself only the care and the expense. Ep. 4.13.11Proinde sī quis fuerit repertus, quī ingeniō suō fīdat, eat illūc eā lēge ut hinc nihil aliud certum quam fīdūciam suam ferat.So if anyone is found who trusts in his own talent, let him go there on the understanding that he takes nothing certain from here except his own self-confidence. Ep. 4.13.11Valē.Farewell.