Ep. 7.11.1Mīrāris quod Hermēs lībertus meus hērēditāriōs agrōs, quōs ego iusseram prōscrībī, nōn exspectātā auctiōne prō meō quīncūnce ex septingentīs mīlibus Corelliae addīxerit.You are surprised that my freedman Hermes, without waiting for the auction, knocked down to Corellia for seven hundred thousand sesterces my five-twelfths share of the inherited lands which I had ordered to be advertised. Ep. 7.11.1Adicis hōs nōngentīs mīlibus posse vēnīre, ac tantō magis quaeris, an quod gessit ratum servem.You add that they could fetch nine hundred thousand, and so all the more you ask whether I am ratifying what he has done. Ep. 7.11.2Ego vērō servō: quibus ex causīs, accipe.Indeed I am: hear for what reasons. Ep. 7.11.2Cupiō enim et tibi probātum et cohērēdibus meīs excūsātum esse, quod mē ab illīs maiōre officiō iubente sēcernō.For I want both to have your approval and to be excused by my co-heirs for separating myself from them at the bidding of a greater duty. Ep. 7.11.3Corelliam cum summā reverentiā dīligō, prīmum ut sorōrem Corellī Rūfī, cuius mihi memoria sacrōsāncta est, deinde ut mātrī meae familiārissimam.I love Corellia with the deepest respect, first as the sister of Corellius Rufus, whose memory is sacred to me, and then as a very close friend of my mother.
Ep. 7.11.4Sunt mihi et cum marītō eius Miniciō Iūstō, optimō virō, vetera iūra;I also have long-standing ties with her husband Minicius Justus, an excellent man; Ep. 7.11.4fuērunt et cum fīliō maxima, adeō quidem ut praetōre mē lūdīs meīs praesēderit.and there were very strong ones with her son too, so much so that he presided over my games when I was praetor. Ep. 7.11.5Haec, cum proximē istīc fuī, indicāvit mihi cupere sē aliquid circā Lārium nostrum possidēre.When I was there lately, she told me that she wished to own something near our Lake Larius. Ep. 7.11.5Ego illī ex praediīs meīs quod vellet et quantī vellet obtulī exceptīs māternīs paternīsque;I offered her whatever she wished of my estates, at whatever price she wished, except those that came from my mother and father; Ep. 7.11.5hīs enim cēdere nē Corelliae quidem possum.for these I cannot give up even to Corellia. Ep. 7.11.6Igitur cum obvēnisset mihi hērēditās in quā praedia ista, scrīpsī eī vēnālia futūra.So when an inheritance came to me which included those estates, I wrote to her that they would be for sale. Ep. 7.11.6Hās epistulās Hermēs tulit exigentīque, ut statim portiōnem meam sibi addīceret, pāruit.Hermes carried this letter, and when she demanded that he knock down my share to her at once, he obeyed.
Ep. 7.11.6Vidēs quam ratum habēre dēbeam, quod lībertus meus meīs mōribus gessit.You see how bound I am to ratify what my freedman has done in keeping with my own character. Ep. 7.11.7Superest ut cohērēdēs aequō animō ferant sēparātim mē vēndidisse, quod mihi licuit omnīnō nōn vēndere.It remains for my co-heirs to bear it calmly that I have sold separately what I was free not to sell at all. Ep. 7.11.8Nec vērō cōguntur imitārī meum exemplum: nōn enim illīs eadem cum Corelliā iūra.Nor indeed are they compelled to imitate my example: for they do not have the same ties with Corellia. Ep. 7.11.8Possunt ergō intuērī ūtilitātem suam, prō quā mihi fuit amīcitia.They may, therefore, look to their own advantage, in place of which I had friendship. Ep. 7.11.8Valē.Farewell.