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21. C. PLINIUS POMPEIO SATURNINO SUO S.
1 Varie me affecerunt litterae tuae; nam partim laeta partim tristia continebant: laeta quod te in urbe teneri nuntiabant— ‘nollem’ inquis; sed ego volo -, praeterea quod recitaturum statim ut venissem pollicebantur; ago gratias quod exspector. 2 Triste illud, quod Iulius Valens graviter iacet; quamquam ne hoc quidem triste, si illius utilitatibus aestimetur, cuius interest quam maturissime inexplicabili morbo liberari. 3 Illud plane non triste solum verum etiam luctuosum, quod Iulius Avitus decessit dum ex quaestura redit, decessit in nave, procul a fratre amantissimo, procul a matre a sororibus 4 — nihil ista ad mortuum pertinent, sed pertinuerunt cum moreretur, pertinent ad hos qui supersunt -; iam quod in flore primo tantae indolis iuvenis exstinctus est summa consecuturus, si virtutes eius maturuissent. 5 Quo ille studiorum amore flagrabat! quantum legit, quantum etiam scripsit! quae nunc omnia cum ipso sine fructu posteritatis abierunt. 6 Sed quid ego indulgeo dolori? Cui si frenos remittas, nulla materia non maxima est. Finem epistulae faciam, ut facere possim etiam lacrimis quas epistula expressit. Vale.
XXI. — TO SATURNINUS.
Your letter has aroused in me conflicting emotions, for part of the news it contained made me glad, and part made me sorrowful. I was glad to hear that you were detained in town, for though you say it was much against your will, it was not against mine, especially as you promise that you will give a reading as soon as I arrive. So I thank you for waiting my coming. The bad news was that Julius Valens is lying seriously ill, although even this should not sadden us, if we only think of what is best for him, for it will be much better for him to obtain as speedy a release as possible from a disease which is past all cure. No, the real sad news, or rather heartrending news is that Julius Avitus died on ship-board while returning from his quaestorship, miles away from the brother who was devoted to him, and from his mother and sisters. Those are circumstances which do not affect him now that he is dead, but they did affect him on his death-bed, and they are a great trouble to his surviving relatives, especially as he was a young man of such promise and would have reached the highest offices in the State if only his qualities had had time to ripen. And now he has been cut down in the very flower of manhood! What a keen and enthusiastic student he was, how well read, and what a number of essays he had made in writing! Yet all have perished with him and left no fruit for posterity to reap. But it is useless for me to indulge my sorrow, for if once one gives it free play, even the slightest occasions for grief are magnified into crushing blows. I will write no more, and so check the tears which this letter has made to flow. Farewell.
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LIBER SEXTVS
BOOK VI.
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1. C. PLINIUS TIRONI SUO S.
1 Quamdiu ego trans Padum tu in Piceno, minus te requirebam; postquam ego in urbe tu adhuc in Piceno, multo magis, seu quod ipsa loca in quibus esse una solemus acrius me tui commonent, seu quod desiderium absentium nihil perinde ac vicinitas acuit, quoque propius accesseris ad spem fruendi, hoc impatientius careas. 2 Quidquid in causa, eripe me huic tormento. Veni, aut ego illuc unde inconsulte properavi revertar, vel ob hoc solum, ut experiar an mihi, cum sine me Romae coeperis esse, similes his epistulas mittas. Vale.
1. — TO TIRO.
So long as I was on the other side of the Po, and you were in the district of Picenum, I missed you less; since I am in town, while you are still in Picenum, I miss you a great deal more; whether it is that the very spots where we are accustomed to be together bring you more keenly to my remembrance; or else that nothing sharpens one’s longing after absent friends so much as vicinity to them, and so, the nearer you come to the hope of enjoying their society, the more impatient are you at being deprived of it. Whatever be the cause, deliver me from this misery. Come to me, or else I shall return to the place whence I rashly hurried, if only for this purpose, in order to learn by experience whether you, when you first find yourself in Rome without me, will write me such a letter as this.
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2. C. PLINIUS ARRIANO SUO S.
1 Soleo non numquam in iudiciis quaerere M. Regulum; nolo enim dicere desiderare. 2 Cur ergo quaero? Habebat studiis honorem, timebat pallebat scribebat, quamvis non posset ediscere. Illud ipsum, quod oculum modo dextrum modo sinistrum circumlinebat — dextrum si a petitore, alterum si a possessore esset acturus -, quod candidum splenium in hoc aut in illud supercilium transferebat, quod semper haruspices consulebat de actionis eventu, a nimia superstitione sed tamen et a magno studiorum honore veniebat. 3 Iam illa perquam iucunda una dicentibus, quod libera tempora petebat, quod audituros corrogabat. Quid enim iucundius quam sub alterius invidia quamdiu velis, et in alieno auditorio quasi deprehensum commode dicere?
4 Sed utcumque se habent ista, bene fecit Regulus quod est mortuus: melius, si ante. Nunc enim sane poterat sine malo publico vivere, sub eo principe sub quo nocere non poterat. 5 Ideo fas est non numquam eum quaerere. Nam, postquam obiit ille, increbruit passim et invaluit consuetudo binas vel singulas clepsydras, interdum etiam dimidias et dandi et petendi. Nam et qui dicunt, egisse malunt quam agere, et qui audiunt, finire quam iudicare. Tanta neglegentia tanta desidia, tanta denique irreverentia studiorum periculorumque est. 6 An nos sapientiores maioribus nostris, nos legibus ipsis iustiores, quae tot horas tot dies tot comperendinationes largiuntur? Hebetes illi et supra modum tardi; nos apertius dicimus, celerius intellegimus, religiosius iudicamus, quia paucioribus clepsydris praecipitamus causas quam diebus explicari solebant. 7 O Regule, qui ambitione ab omnibus obtinebas quod fidei paucissimi praestant! Equidem quotiens iudico, quod vel saepius facio quam dico, quantum quis plurimum postulat aquae do. 8 Etenim temerarium existimo divinare quam spatiosa sit causa inaudita, tempusque negotio finire cuius modum ignores, praesertim cum primam religioni suae iudex patientiam debeat, quae pars magna iustitiae est. At quaedam supervacua dicuntur. Etiam: sed satius est et haec dici quam non dici necessaria. 9 Praeterea, an sint supervacua, nisi cum audieris scire non possis. Sed de his melius coram ut de pluribus vitiis civitatis. Nam tu quoque amore communium soles emendari cupere quae iam corrigere difficile est.
10 Nunc respiciamus domos nostras. Ecquid omnia in tua recte? in mea novi nihil. Mihi autem et gratiora sunt bona quod perseverant, et leviora incommoda quod assuevi. Vale.
2. — TO ARRIANUS.
It happens to me not unfrequently, in our law courts, to miss M. Regulus: I would not say, to regret him. Why, then, to miss him? Because he held our profession in honour, and used to be solicitous, and wan with study, and to write out his speeches, though he never could learn them by heart. The very fact that he used to paint round, sometimes his right, sometimes his left eye, the right one if he was going to speak for a plaintiff, and the left if for a defendant; that he used to transfer a white plaster from one eyebrow to another; that he always consulted the soothsayers on the result of his pleadings: all this originated, it is true, in excessive superstition, and yet at the same time in a great regard for the profession. This, to begin with, was particularly pleasant to those who were engaged in the same causes, that he always asked for unlimited time, and got together an audience by invitation; for what can be more pleasant than to speak as long as you like, while the annoyance is laid to another’s charge, and to speak at your ease, yet with an appearance of being surprised by an audience which others have got together. But, however all this may be, Regulus did well to die, and he would have done better if he had died sooner. Now, certainly, he might have lived without injury to the public, under a Prince in whose reign he could have done no mischief. So it is allowable to miss him sometimes. For since his death a custom has extensively and increasingly prevailed of demanding, as well as allotting, two water-clocks per speaker or even one, sometimes as little as half a one; since the bar want to have done with their speeches rather than to speak, and the
bench to have finished their business rather than to judge. Such is the negligence, the apathy, and in short the irreverence, with which our profession and its perils are regarded. Pray, are we wiser than our ancestors? Are we more just than the laws themselves, which freely accord so many hours, so many days, so many adjournments? Were those ancestors of ours dullards and beyond measure slow, and do we speak more clearly, understand more rapidly, and decide more conscientiously, because we hurry through our causes with a smaller number of water-clocks than they used to take days to settle them in? O Regulus, you used to obtain from all the judges by your artifices that which extremely few of them accord to integrity! I at all events, whenever I sit as judge (which is my place even more often than at the bar), allow as much water as any one asks for; inasmuch as I deem it an act of temerity to predict the length of a cause still unheard, and to place a limit of time on a matter whose proportions are unknown, particularly since the first thing which a judge owes to the faithful discharge of his duty is patience, which indeed is a large ingredient in justice. But a good deal that is superfluous is spoken! Be it so: yet it is better that even this should be spoken, than that what is essential should be unspoken. Besides you cannot possibly know whether it is superfluous or not, till you have heard what it is. However it will be better to talk of this, and of many other public abuses, when we meet. For you too, with your regard for the common interests, are in general desirous that matters which it would now be difficult to set straight may be at any rate amended.
Now, let us cast a glance at our households. Pray, is all well in yours? In mine, there is nothing new; and for me, the blessings I enjoy are rendered more grateful by their continuance, while incommodities are lightened by habit.
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3. C. PLINIUS VERO SUO S.
1 Gratias ago, quod agellum quem nutrici meae donaveram colendum suscepisti. Erat, cum donarem, centum milium nummum; postea decrescente reditu etiam pretium minuit, quod nunc te curante reparabit. 2 Tu modo memineris commendari tibi a me non arbores et terram, quamquam haec quoque, sed munusculum meum, quod esse quam fructuosissimum non illius magis interest quae accepit, quam mea qui dedi. Vale.
3. — TO VERUS.
I thank you for undertaking the cultivation of the farm given by me to my nurse. It was worth a hundred thousand sesterces when I gave it her. Subsequently, the returns diminishing, its value fell with them; but now under your management it will recover itself. Only please to bear in mind that I am entrusting to you not trees and soil merely — though I do entrust these as well — but my small present. And that this should be as productive as possible is not of greater interest to her who received than to me who bestowed it.
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4. C. PLINIUS CALPURNIAE SUAE S.
1 Numquam sum magis de occupationibus meis questus, quae me non sunt passae aut proficiscentem te valetudinis causa in Campaniam prosequi aut profectam e vestigio subsequi. 2 Nunc enim praecipue simul esse cupiebam, ut oculis meis crederem quid viribus quid corpusculo apparares, ecquid denique secessus voluptates regionisque abundantiam inoffensa transmitteres. 3 Equidem etiam fortem te non sine cura desiderarem; est enim suspensum et anxium de eo quem ardentissime diligas interdum nihil scire. 4 Nunc vero me cum absentiae tum infirmitatis tuae ratio incerta et varia sollicitudine exterret. Vereor omnia, imaginor omnia, quaeque natura metuentium est, ea maxime mihi quae maxime abominor fingo. 5 Quo impensius rogo, ut timori meo cottidie singulis vel etiam binis epistulis consulas. Ero enim securior dum lego, statimque timebo cum legero. Vale.
4. — TO CULPURNIA, HIS WIFE.
I never complained more than now of my occupations, which did not suffer me either to accompany you when you started for Campania for your health’s sake, or to follow close after your departure. For at this time particularly I desired to be with you, in order to judge with my own eyes how far you are recruiting your strength and your dear little body, and, in short, whether you have passed through that delightful retreat and rich country without receiving any hurt. Indeed, if you were quite strong, my longing after you would not be unmingled with anxiety: for to be sometimes without news of an ardently beloved object is fraught with suspense and uneasiness. Now, however, the consideration of your delicate health, as well as your absence, torments me with vague disquietudes of various kinds. I apprehend everything, conjure up everything, and, as the nature of frightened people is, the things which of all others I deprecate are precisely those which I picture to myself. Wherefore, I the more urgently beseech you to have regard for my fears by writing me one, or even two letters a day. For I shall be more comfortable while reading them, and shall straightway fall to fear again, as soon as they are read.
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5. C. PLINIUS URSO SUO S.
1 Scripseram tenuisse Varenum, ut sibi evocare testes liceret; quod pluribus aequum, quibusdam iniquum et quidem pertinaciter visum, maxime Licinio Nepoti, qui sequenti senatu, cum de rebus aliis referretur, de proximo senatus consulto disseruit finitamque causam retractavit. 2 Addidit etiam petendum a consulibus ut referrent sub exemplo legis ambitus de lege repetundarum, an placeret in futurum ad eam legem adici, ut sicut accusatoribus inquirendi testibusque denuntiandi potestas ex ea lege esset, ita reis quoque fieret. 3 Fuerunt quibus haec eius oratio ut sera et intempestiva et praepostera displiceret, quae omisso contra dicendi tempore castigaret peractum, cui potuisset occurrere. 4 Iuventius quidem Celsus praetor tamquam emendatorem senatus et multis et vehementer increpuit. Respondit Nepos rursusque Celsus; neuter contumeliis temperavit. 5 Nolo referre quae dici ab ipsis moleste tuli. Quo magis quosdam e numero nostro improbavi, qui modo ad Celsum modo ad Nepotem, prout hic vel ille diceret, cupiditate audiendi cursitabant, et nunc quasi stimularent et accenderent, nunc quasi reconciliarent ac recomponerent, frequentius singulis, ambobus interdum propitium Caesarem ut in ludicro aliquo precabantur. 6 Mihi quidem illud etiam peracerbum fuit, quod sunt alter alteri quid pararent indicati. Nam et Celsus Nepoti ex libello respondit et Celso Nepos ex pugillaribus. 7 Tanta loquacitas amicorum, ut homines iurgaturi id ipsum invicem scierint, tamquam convenisset. Vale.
5. — TO URSUS.
I wrote you word that Varenus had obtained leave to compel the attendance of witnesses on his behalf; which seemed to most to be fair, though some were obstinate in thinking it unjust, particularly Licinius Nepos, who, at the next meeting of the Senate, when other matters were before it, discussed the recent decree, thus reopening a cause which had been disposed of. He went so far as to add that the Consuls should be asked to submit a motion (after the precedent of the Bribery Laws) on the subject of that against extortion. “Was it their pleasure that, for the future, an addition should be made to that law to the effect that, as the law in question gave power to accusers to collect materials and to enforce the attendance of witnesses, so a similar power should be given to the accused?” There were some who were displeased by this speech of his, as coming too late, out of season, and in the wrong place; inasmuch as the proper time for speaking against the decree had been neglected, and now fault was found with that which had been settled and which might have been opposed. Indeed Juventius Celsus, the Prætor, reproved him at length and with vigour for setting himself up as a corrector of the Senate. Nepos replied, and Celsus retorted; and neither of them refrained from insults. I don’t choose to record words which I was vexed to hear them utter, so as to make me all the more indignant at some of our order, who were running backwards and forwards from Celsus to Nepos, according as one or the other was speaking, from curiosity to hear; and who by way of egging them on and inflaming them at one time, of reconciling and making it up between them at another, invoked “the approval of Cæsar,” generally on behalf of each singly, but at times in favour of both, as at some spectacle for the public amusement! What to my mind was a most painful feature in all this, was that each had got information of what the other was preparing for him; for Celsus
replied to Nepos from a written paper, and Nepos to Celsus from his note-book. Such was the loquacity of their friends that these men, on the point of wrangling, had a mutual knowledge of the event, just as though it had been arranged between them.
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6. C. PLINIUS FUNDANO SUO S.
1 Si quando, nunc praecipue cuperem esse te Romae, et sis rogo. Opus est mihi voti laboris sollicitudinis socio. Petit honores Iulius Naso; petit cum multis, cum bonis, quos ut gloriosum sic est difficile superare. 2 Pendeo ergo et exerceor spe, afficior metu et me consularem esse non sentio; nam rursus mihi videor omnium quae decucurri candidatus. 3 Meretur hanc curam longa mei caritate. Est mihi cum illo non sane paterna amicitia — neque enim esse potuit per meam aetatem -; solebat tamen vixdum adulescentulo mihi pater eius cum magna laude monstrari. Erat non studiorum tantum verum etiam studiosorum amantissimus ac prope cotidie ad audiendos, quos tunc ego frequentabam, Quintilianum Niceten Sacerdotem ventitabat, vir alioqui clarus et gravis et qui prodesse filio memoria sui debeat. 4 Sed multi nunc in senatu quibus ignotus ille, multi quibus notus, sed non nisi viventes reverentur. Quo magis huic, omissa gloria patris in qua magnum ornamentum gratia infirma, ipsi enitendum ipsi elaborandum est. 5 Quod quidem semper, quasi provideret hoc tempus, sedulo fecit: paravit amicos, quos paraverat coluit, me certe, ut primum sibi iudicare permisit, ad amorem imitationemque delegit. 6 Dicenti mihi sollicitus assistit, assidet recitanti; primis etiam et cum maxime nascentibus opusculis meis interest, nunc solus ante cum fratre, cuius nuper amissi ego suscipere partes, ego vicem debeo implere. 7 Doleo enim et illum immatura morte indignissime raptum, et hunc optimi fratris adiumento destitutum solisque amicis relictum. 8 Quibus ex causis exigo ut venias, et suffragio meo tuum iungas. Permultum interest mea te ostentare, tecum circumire. Ea est auctoritas tua, ut putem me efficacius tecum etiam meos amicos rogaturum. 9 Abrumpe si qua te retinent: hoc tempus meum, hoc fides, hoc etiam dignitas postulat. Suscepi candidatum, et suscepisse me notum est; ego ambio, ego periclitor; in summa, si datur Nasoni quod petit, illius honor, si negatur, mea repulsa est. Vale.
Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Younger (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics) Page 105
