To Modestus. (360?)
I return to the subject of your building projects, not because I wish to criticize -- you know my admiration for your energy and vision -- but because new information has reached me that I think you should have.
The demand for columns from the cities under your jurisdiction has created resentment in places where you would least expect it. Men who are genuinely loyal to you and proud of your achievements feel they are being treated as quarries rather than partners. The distinction matters. A willing contributor takes pride in the finished work; a conscripted one curses it.
I know this is not what you intended. You are a builder, not a tyrant, and the stoa you envision will be a glory to the city for generations. But great works have been ruined by the resentment of those forced to pay for them, and I would hate to see that happen here.
My suggestion remains what it was: invite contributions rather than demanding them. The result may be a smaller building, but it will be one that no citizen has reason to resent. And a building that stands with the goodwill of an entire city behind it will last longer than one erected over the complaints of its people.
I return to the subject of your building projects, not because I wish to criticize -- you know my admiration for your energy and vision -- but because new information has reached me that I think you should have.
The demand for columns from the cities under your jurisdiction has created resentment in places where you would least expect it. Men who are genuinely loyal to you and proud of your achievements feel they are being treated as quarries rather than partners. The distinction matters. A willing contributor takes pride in the finished work; a conscripted one curses it.
I know this is not what you intended. You are a builder, not a tyrant, and the stoa you envision will be a glory to the city for generations. But great works have been ruined by the resentment of those forced to pay for them, and I would hate to see that happen here.
My suggestion remains what it was: invite contributions rather than demanding them. The result may be a smaller building, but it will be one that no citizen has reason to resent. And a building that stands with the goodwill of an entire city behind it will last longer than one erected over the complaints of its people.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.