Letter 10111: Though it is true my edicts forbid the grants of public money to individuals, yet it does not follow that grants...
Trajan to Pliny.
Though it is true my edicts forbid the grants of public money to individuals, yet it does not follow that grants made years ago ought to be inquired into anew and revoked and annulled, for to do so would shatter the position of a host of persons. Let us therefore ignore all such donations that are twenty years old, for I wish to do what is best, not only for the public funds of each city, but for the individuals living in it.
Human translation — Attalus.org
Latin / Greek Original
TRAIANUS PLINIO
Sicut largitiones ex publico fieri mandata prohibent, ita, ne multorum securitas subruatur, factas ante aliquantum temporis retractari atque in irritum vindicari non oportet. Quidquid ergo ex hac causa actum ante viginti annos erit, omittamus. Non minus enim hominibus cuiusque loci quam pecuniae publicae consultum volo.
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