Pliny 10.7 and 10.37 (chunking)

Civitatem Alexandrinam secundum institutionem principium non temere dare proposui.

I have not offered to causally give Alexandrian citizenship according to the established practice of the leaders.

Sed cum Arpocrati, iatraliptae tuo, iam civitatem Romanam impetraveris,

But since you have already obtained Roman citizenship for Arpocras, your doctor,

huic quoque petitioni tuae negare non sustineo.

I am not able to deny your petition for this also.

Tu ex quo nomo sit, notum mihi facere debebis,

You will have to make known to me out of which district he might be from

ut epistulam tibi ad Pompeium Plantam praefectum Aegypti amicum meum mittam.

so that i might send a letter for you to Pompeii’s plants, the prefect of Egypt, my friend

In aquae ductum, domine, Nicomedenses impenderunt HS XXX CCCXVIII,

The Nicomedians, master, have spent 3,318,000 sesterces on the aquaduct,

qui imperfectus adhuc omissus, destructus etiam est;

which still unfinished was abandoned, even demolished;

rursus in alium ductum erogata sunt CC.

Again 200,000 was spent on another aquaduct.

Hoc quoque relicto novo impendio est opus,

With this also having been abandoned, there is a need for a new expense,

ut aquam habeant, qui tantam pecuniam male perdiderunt.

so that those who have lost so much money badly may have water

Ipse perveni ad fontem purissimum, ex quo videtur aqua debere perduci,

I myself arrived to a very clean spring, from which water seems should be brought,

sicut initio temptatum erat, arcuato opere,

just as it had been tried in the beginning with an arched work,

ne tantum ad plana civitatis et humilia perveniat.

so that it would not only reach the flat and low parts of the city.

Manent adhuc paucissimi arcus:

Up to this point very few arches remained:

possunt et erigi quidam lapide quadrato,

and certain ones are able to be erected with a squared stone,

qui ex superiore opere detractus est;

which was taken away from the earlier work;

aliqua pars, ut mihi videtur,

another part, as it seems to me,

testaceo opere agenda erit, id enim et facilius et vilius.

will have to be done with brick work, for it is both easier and cheaper.

Sed in primis necessarium est mitti a te vel aquilegem vel architectum,

But first and foremost it is necessary that either a water engineer or architect be sent by you,

ne rursus eveniat quod accidit.

so that which happened may not come out again.

Ego illud unum affirmo,

I affirm that one thing,

et utilitatem operis et pulchritudinem saeculo tuo esse dignissimam.

that both the usefulness and the beauty of the work is most worthy of your age.