Letter 2047: They say that Socrates, whenever his plans were thwarted or his intentions went awry, considered whatever happened...

They say that Socrates, whenever he failed to obtain what he had wished or intended, reckoned that whatever had happened was useful to him; for, an interpreter secure in his own merit, he surmised that the things which chance gave were better than those which his mind had sought. I follow the example of the wise man and put a favorable construction upon it, that the number of the Saxons, reduced by death, stayed within the total decreed for the people's entertainments, so that nothing might be added to our public show if any surplus had remained over. For when would private custody have restrained the impious hands of that desperate nation, since the very first day of the gladiatorial games saw twenty-nine Saxons with their throats broken without a noose? I therefore make no delay over a band more worthless than Spartacus, and I could wish, if it were so easy to do, that this munificence of the emperor might be exchanged for a largess of Libyan beasts. For he will, by the common provision, see to men suitable for the gladiatorial combat -- which is the prior matter in the quaestorian preparation -- so that he may, by the payment of a fee, establish chosen men for long [...]. As for our men, to whom the selection and procurement of bears was long ago entrusted, I do not doubt, judging by the time, that they have been conveyed through to you. But if they are delayed by the greed of the [...] officers set over them, it will belong to your beneficence to release the delays by which they are held back. Farewell.