Letters to Atticus Passage 1

ante quam a te proxime discessi, numquam mihi venit in mentem, quo plus insumptum in monimentum esset quam nescio quid quod lege conceditur, tantundem populo dandum esse. quod non magno opere moveret, nisi nescio quo modo, ἀλόγωσ fortasse, nollem illud ullo nomine nisi fani appellari. quod si volumus, vereor ne adsequi non possimus nisi mutato loco. hoc quale sit, quaeso, considera. nam etsi minus urgeor meque ipse prope modum conlegi, tamen indigeo tui consili. itaque te vehementer etiam atque etiam rogo magis quam a me vis aut pateris te rogari ut hanc cogitationem toto pectore amplectare.

Before I most recently left you, it never occurred to me that if more than the sum permitted by some law I do not know were spent on a monument, an equal amount would have to be given to the people. That would not greatly concern me, except that somehow, perhaps irrationally, I do not want the place called anything but a shrine. If that is what we want, I fear we cannot attain it unless we change the location. Please consider the nature of this difficulty. Although the pressure upon me is less and I have almost recovered my composure, I still need your advice. Therefore I earnestly beg you again and again, more urgently than you wish or allow me to beg, to embrace this project with your whole heart.

Avant de te quitter la dernière fois, il ne m’était jamais venu à l’esprit que, si la dépense consacrée à un monument dépassait je ne sais quelle somme permise par la loi, il fallait donner au peuple un montant égal. Cela ne me troublerait pas beaucoup si, je ne sais comment, ἀλόγως peut-être, je ne refusais de donner à ce monument un autre nom que celui de sanctuaire. Si nous maintenons cette volonté, je crains que nous ne puissions réussir sans changer de lieu. Examine, je te prie, ce qu’il en est. Bien que je sois moins oppressé et me sois presque ressaisi, j’ai néanmoins besoin de ton conseil. Aussi te demandé-je instamment, encore et encore, bien plus que tu ne veux ou ne permets qu’on te le demande, d’embrasser cette réflexion de tout ton cœur.