1On the advice of the soothsayers I must rebuild the temple of Ceres on my estate, making it better and larger, since it is certainly old and cramped, though on its fixed day it is extremely crowded. 2For on the Ides of September a great crowd gathers from the whole region, much business is done, many vows are taken and many fulfilled; 2but there is no shelter nearby from either rain or sun. 3So I think I shall be acting both generously and piously if I build the temple as beautifully as possible and add colonnades to it, the temple for the use of the goddess, the colonnades for that of men.
4So I should like you to buy four marble columns, of whatever kind you think fit, and to buy marble with which to adorn the floor and the walls. 4A statue of the goddess herself will also have to be made, because the old wooden one has lost some of its parts through age. 5As for the colonnades, nothing occurs to me for the moment that seems to need fetching from where you are, unless you would draw up a plan to suit the site. 5For they cannot be built around the temple: the temple ground is bounded on one side by a river with very steep banks, on the other by a road.
6Beyond the road there is a very wide meadow, in which the colonnades can be laid out quite suitably facing the temple itself; 6unless you find something better, you who are used to overcoming the difficulties of a site by your skill. 6Farewell.