Letter 192: May you complete this stoa of yours -- that broad, long, lofty colonnade, dear to Dionysus -- exactly as you...

To Modestus. (358/59) May you complete to your heart's content this portico [colonnade], wide and long and high and dear to Dionysus, and may it stand firmly, as long as the human race endures, preserving the name of the man who raised it. But, my blessed friend, let us not look to this one thing alone, how we may accomplish great works, but also how, in the things we do, we may grieve no one; since at present there are some who are groaning, of whom I myself have become aware, and I will not hide it from you, so that, if I should appear to be saying anything to the point, you may put a stop to what is happening. You ordered some men to bring columns from Seleucia, and from others you requested them as a favor. And the man who arranged matters in this way has made the one who was asked master over both parties. The council renders its service in silence, but of those who have held office some do the same as those men and bring the columns, while there are others to whom the affair seems dreadful, men who have the worth but do not have the power. And the wall that is [...] they call the portico, and there is no small fear that what is now called a favor may at once advance into a compulsion for those who afterward claim to be following a precedent, and that someone later may blame the man who first devised the practice. But, if it seems good, let us do it this way: make a proclamation, in case anyone is willing, for you will find those who are willing, because they are able, and you will not distress those who are not able. And in this way no one will curse the man who carries out the work. And may it be yours to build small structures with all rejoicing together with you, rather than the walls of the Babylonians while all are weighed down.

Μοδέστῳ. (358/59) Εἴη σε τὴν στοὰν ταυτηνὶ τὴν εὐρεῖάν τε καὶ μακρὰν καὶ ὑψηλὴν καὶ τῷ Διονύσῳ φίλην ἐπιτελέσαι κατὰ νοῦν καὶ σταίη γε παγίως, ἕως ἀνθρώπων γένος, σώζουσα τῷ γε ἐγεί- ραντι τοὔνομα. ἀλλ’, ὦ μακάριε, μὴ τοῦθ’ ἓν μόνον σκο- πῶμεν, ὅπως μεγάλα ποιήσωμεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅπως μηδένα ἐν οἷς ποιοῦμεν λυπήσωμεν· ὡς νῦν γε εἰσὶν οἱ στένουσιν, ὧν αὐτὸς ᾐσθόμην, καὶ οὔ σε ἀποκρύψομαι, ἴν’ εἴ τι φαινοίμην λέγων, παύσαις τὸ γιγνόμενον. κίονας ἐκ Σελευκείας τοῖς μὲν ἐπέ- ταξας κομίζειν, κομίζειν, τοὺς δὲ ᾔτησας χάριν. ὁ δὲ οὕτω διειλεγμένος κύριον πεποίηκε τὸν αἰτηθέντα ἀμφοῖν. ἡ βουλὴ μὲν ὑπηρε- τεῖ σιγῇ, τῶν δὲ ἐν ἀρχαῖς γεγενημένων οἱ μὲν ταὐτὸν ἐκεί- νοις ποιοῦσι καὶ κομίζουσιν, εἰσὶ δὲ οἷς δοκεῖ τὸ πρᾶγμα δει- νόν, οἷς ἀξία μέν ἐστι, δύναμις δὲ οὐκ ἔστι. καὶ τὸ ὑπάρ- χοῦ τειχίον ὀνομάζουσι τὴν στοάν, φόβος δὲ οὐ μικρὸς μὴ ἡ νῦν καλουμένη χάρις εἰς ἀνάγκην ὁμοῦ προβῇ τῶν ἔπειτα φασκόντων ἀκολουθεῖν παραδείγματι καί τις ὕστερον μέμψη- τᾶι τῷ τὴν ἀρχὴν εὑρόντι. ἀλλ’, εἰ δοκεῖ, τῇδε ποιῶμεν· κήρυξον, εἴ τις βούλεται, τούς τε γὰρ βουλομένους εὑρή- σεις διὰ τὸ δύνασθαι τούς τε οὐ δυναμένους οὐκ ἀνιάσεις. καὶ οὕτως οὐδεὶς καταράσεται τῷ ποιουμένῳ. εἴη δέ σοι μικρὰ κατασκευάζεσθαι συνηδομένων ἁπάντων ἢ βαρυνομένων τὰ τείχη Βαβυλωνίων.