Letter 6009: A certain convention kept me from being the first to write — old custom requires that travelers initiate the...
My kinsman Censorinus is attempting to renew a boundary dispute over the Baiae estates, which he has learned was settled long ago between me and the agents of my son Pompeianus. For inspectors were brought in, and they declared that the wall running between the buildings from the top of the hill divided our properties. The new owner believes their judgment can be overturned. I therefore ask that, with our mutual friend Felix and Castor present, you be willing to serve as arbiter of the truth, and that this baseless attempt be put to rest by your authority speaking in person. Then, once the confirmation of the previous ruling has satisfied my kinsman Censorinus, let him be permitted an extension of only ten feet beyond his buildings for his construction and new works, on the condition that a formal agreement encompassing both parties' assent and an intervening structure mark the boundary between the properties. Farewell.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
15 Frater meus Censorinus de confinio Baianorum praetoriorum conquestionem temp-
tat iterare, quam didicit inter me et actores filii mei Pompeiani dudum esse finitam.
adhibiti namque inspectores muro, qui inter aedes a summo monte descendit, dividi
loca nostra dixerunt; quorum iudicium novus possessor credit posse rescindi. quaeso
igitur, adhibito Felice amico nostro et Castore veri arbiter esse digneris, et sanctitate
20 tua coram locuta inanis adtemptatio conprimatur. dehinc, cum fratri meo Censorino
satisfecerit praeteritae iudicationis adsertio, tunc operi eius et molitionibus novis de-
cem tantum pedum ultra aedificia sua permittatur adiectio, ita ut partium fines et
placito conprehensus adsensus et constructio interiecta discriminet. vale.
X a. 398.
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Source. Translated by Blomfield Jackson. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol.