Agr. 19.1Cēterum animōrum prōvinciae prūdēns, simulque doctus per aliēna experīmenta parum prōficī armīs, sī iniūriae sequerentur, causās bellōrum statuit excīdere.But understanding the feelings of the province, and taught at the same time by others' experience that little is achieved by arms if injustices follow, he decided to cut out the causes of wars. Agr. 19.2Ā sē suīsque orsus prīmum domum suam coercuit, quod plērīsque haud minus arduum est quam prōvinciam regere.Beginning with himself and his own people, he first kept his own household in check, which for most men is no less difficult than governing a province. Agr. 19.2Nihil per lībertōs servōsque pūblicae reī, nōn studiīs prīvātīs nec ex commendātiōne aut precibus centuriōnem mīlitēsve adscīre, sed optimum quemque fīdissimum putāre.He did no public business through freedmen and slaves, he took on no centurion or soldiers from personal liking or on recommendation or entreaty, but thought the best men the most trustworthy. Agr. 19.3Omnia scīre, nōn omnia exsequī.He knew everything, but did not act on everything. Agr. 19.3Parvīs peccātīs veniam, magnīs sevēritātem commodāre;He granted pardon for small offences, severity for great ones; Agr. 19.3nec poena semper, sed saepius paenitentiā contentus esse;nor was he always satisfied with punishment, but more often with repentance; Agr. 19.3officiīs et administrātiōnibus potius nōn peccātūrōs praepōnere, quam damnāre cum peccāssent.he preferred to put in charge of offices and administration men who would not do wrong, rather than to condemn them when they had done wrong.
Agr. 19.4Frūmentī et tribūtōrum exāctiōnem aequālitāte mūnerum mollīre, circumcīsīs quae in quaestum reperta ipsō tribūtō gravius tolerābantur.He lightened the exaction of grain and tribute by sharing the burdens fairly, cutting out the devices invented for profit, which were borne more resentfully than the tribute itself. Agr. 19.4Namque per lūdibrium adsidēre clausīs horreīs et emere ultrō frūmenta ac lūdere pretiō cōgēbantur.For the provincials had been forced, as a mockery, to wait by locked granaries, to buy grain into the bargain, and to sell it back at a sham price. Agr. 19.5Dīvortia itinerum et longinquitās regiōnum indīcēbātur, ut cīvitātēs proximīs hībernīs in remōta et āvia dēferrent, dōnec quod omnibus in prōmptū erat paucīs lucrōsum fieret.Out-of-the-way routes and distant districts were prescribed, so that states would deliver from the nearest winter quarters to remote and trackless places, until what was readily available to all became a source of profit to a few.