10.38

cūrandum est: "it must be taken care of"; impersonal passive periphrastic construction expressing necessity or obligation. (AG §500.2) (AG §208.d)

Nicomedēnsem cīvitātem: Nicomedia was the capital city of Bithynia in Asia Minor (modern Turkey), an important administrative center in the eastern Roman Empire.

perdūcātur: "may be conducted"; subjunctive in a noun clause expressing purpose after cūrandum est.

medius fīdius: "by the god of faith"; an oath formula invoking the god Dius Fidius, associated with Jupiter as protector of oaths.

pertinet: "it pertains to"; with ad + accusative to indicate responsibility or relevance.

quōrum vitiō: "through whose fault"; ablative of cause. Trajan wants Pliny to investigate who is responsible for the waste of money on the failed aqueduct project. (AG §404.0)

grātificantur: "they do favors for each other"; deponent verb suggesting political favoritism or corruption. Merrill notes this implies that the failure of the aqueduct was due to corrupt political influence.

incohāverint: "they have begun"; perfect subjunctive in a subordinate clause within indirect discourse. (AG §578)

aquae ductūs: "aqueducts"; literally "water channels," the Roman engineering system for transporting water to cities.

reliquerint: "they abandoned"; perfect subjunctive in an indirect question after inquirere. (AG §574.0)

compererīs: "you will have found out"; future perfect tense indicating action completed before another future action.

perfer: "report"; imperative expressing command, literally "carry through."

nōtitiam: "knowledge"; with in + accusative meaning "to my attention."