Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Younger (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics)
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11 Habes omnes fabulas urbis; nam sunt omnes fabulae Tullus. Exspectatur auctio: fuit enim tam copiosus, ut amplissimos hortos eodem quo emerat die instruxerit plurimis et antiquissimis statuis; tantum illi pulcherrimorum operum in horreis quae neglegebat. Invicem tu, si quid istic epistula dignum, ne gravare. 12 Nam cum aures hominum novitate laetantur, tum ad rationem vitae exemplis erudimur. Vale.
18. — TO RUFINUS.
False, without doubt, is the vulgar belief that the wills made by men reflect their characters, since Domitius Tullus has shown himself a far better man at his death than in his life. For though he had held himself out as a bait to fortune-hunters, he left as his heiress a daughter who was common to himself and his brother, that is to say, she was his brother’s child and he had adopted her. Upon his grandsons he bestowed many very acceptable legacies, and even one on his great-grandson. In short, all his dispositions are replete with just affection, and they seem all the more so in that they were unexpected. Accordingly, various are the comments which are being made all over the city: some speak of him as a hypocrite, without gratitude and without memory, and, while they inveigh against him, betray their own selves by their disgraceful avowals, complaining as they do of a man who was a father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, just as though he had been childless: others, on the contrary, laud him in this very particular that he has frustrated the impudent expectations of men whom thus to deceive, in the present state of society, is an act of prudence. They even add that he was not free to leave any other will behind him; for that he did not so much bequeath property to his daughter as restore that by which he had been enriched through the medium of this same daughter. For, Curtilius Mancia, detesting his son-in-law, Domitius Lucanus (the brother of Tullus), constituted the daughter of the latter — his own grandchild — his heiress, subject to the condition of her having been emancipated from the control of her father. Her father had emancipated her, upon which her uncle had adopted her, and the intention of the will having been cheated in this fashion, one brother — they being joint-owners of their estate — got the emancipated daughter back under the parental authority of the other brother, thanks to his fraudulent adoption, and that too with the most extensive property.
In other cases it seemed as it were the fate of these brothers to become rich even against the strongest inclinations of those who had made them so. Indeed, Domitius Afer, who adopted them, left a will declared before witnesses eighteen years previously, and so highly disapproved by him at a subsequent period that he caused their father’s property to be confiscated. Strange, ruthlessness on his part, and strange good fortune on theirs! Faithlessness in him to cut off from the roll of citizens a man who was his partner in such a matter as that of children: good fortune for them to have as successor in the place of father the very man who had taken off their father. But this property derived from Afer, together with everything else which he had acquired in company with his brother, Tullus was bound to transmit to the daughter of his brother, who had constituted him sole heir and preferred him to his daughter, in order to conciliate his favour. The more praiseworthy is this will which affection, good faith, and honour have dictated; in which, finally, all degrees of relationship are acknowledged according to their several obligations, and acknowledgment is made to the testator’s wife as well. She takes some charming country residences and a large sum of money, does this most excellent and long-suffering of wives: ay, and one who deserved all the better of her husband in proportion as she was blamed for marrying him. For this lady, who was of illustrious birth and spotless character, in the decline of life, after a long widowhood, and having aforetime borne children, was thought to have acted with no very good taste in prosecuting a marriage with a rich old man, such a prey to disease that he might well have been an object of disgust even to a wife whom he had wedded in his youth and strength. In fact, he was crippled and powerless in all his limbs, and could enjoy his vast wealth with his eyes alone: nor could he move on his couch even, save by the help of others. Moreover (indelicate as well as pitiable to relate) he had his teeth washed and brushed for him. He was often heard to say himself, when complaining of the miseries forced on him by his infirmities, that he “daily licked the fingers of his slaves.” Yet he lived on, and desired to live, kept up principally by his wife, who, by her steadfastness, had turned her fault in entering on such a marriage into a source of glory.
You have now all the talk of the town, for Tullus constitutes all the talk. The sale of his effects is looked for. Such indeed were his stores, that he has adorned the most extensive gardens, on the same day that he bought them, with statues in great profusion and of great antiquity; he had as many works of the highest art lying neglected in storerooms. In your turn, if there be anything in your parts worth a letter, don’t think it a trouble to write. For not only are men’s ears gladdened by news, but also we are instructed by examples to regulate our lives.
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19. C. PLINIUS MAXIMO SUO S.
1 Et gaudium mihi et solacium in litteris, nihilque tam laetum quod his laetius, tam triste quod non per has minus triste. Itaque et infirmitate uxoris et meorum periculo, quorundam vero etiam morte turbatus, ad unicum doloris levamentum studia confugi, quae praestant ut adversa magis intellegam sed patientius feram. 2 Est autem mihi moris, quod sum daturus in manus hominum, ante amicorum iudicio examinare, in primis tuo. Proinde si quando, nunc intende libro quem cum hac epistula accipies, quia vereor ne ipse ut tristis parum intenderim. Imperare enim dolori ut scriberem potui; ut vacuo animo laetoque, non potui. Porro ut ex studiis gaudium sic studia hilaritate proveniunt. Vale.
19. — TO MAXIMUS.
My delight and my solace is in literary pursuits. There is nothing so joyful that it is not made more joyful, nothing so sad that it is not made less sad, through their means. Hence, when disordered by the sickness of my wife and the critical condition of my servants — indeed, by the deaths of some of them — I fled for refuge to my one comfort in sorrow — my studies. These furnish me with a keener sense of misfortunes, but at the same time with the power of bearing them more patiently. Now, it is my habit, when proposing to give anything to the public, to test it previously by the help of my friends’ judgment, and above all of yours. Accordingly, now, if ever, apply yourself to the book which you will receive with this letter; for I fear that I in my sorrowful condition have not sufficiently applied myself to it. I was indeed able to command my grief so far as to write, but not so as to write with a disengaged and cheerful mind. Now, as joy is the profit derived from letters, so do letters in their turn derive a profit from cheerfulness.
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20. C. PLINIUS GALLO SUO S.
1 Ad quae noscenda iter ingredi, transmittere mare solemus, ea sub oculis posita neglegimus, seu quia ita natura comparatum, ut proximorum incuriosi longinqua sectemur, seu quod omnium rerum cupido languescit, cum facilis occasio, seu quod differimus tamquam saepe visuri, quod datur videre quotiens velis cernere. 2 Quacumque de causa, permulta in urbe nostra iuxtaque urbem non oculis modo sed ne auribus quidem novimus, quae si tulisset Achaia Aegyptos Asia aliave quaelibet miraculorum ferax commendatrixque terra, audita perlecta lustrata haberemus. 3 Ipse certe nuper, quod nec audieram ante nec videram, audivi pariter et vidi. Exegerat prosocer meus, ut Amerina praedia sua inspicerem. Haec perambulanti mihi ostenditur subiacens lacus nomine Vadimonis; simul quaedam incredibilia narrantur. 4 Perveni ad ipsum. Lacus est in similitudinem iacentis rotae circumscriptus et undique aequalis: nullus sinus, obliquitas nulla, omnia dimensa paria, et quasi artificis manu cavata et excisa. Color caerulo albidior, viridior et pressior; sulpuris odor saporque medicatus; vis qua fracta solidantur. Spatium modicum, quod tamen sentiat ventos, et fluctibus intumescat. 5 Nulla in hoc navis — sacer enim -, sed innatant insulae, herbidae omnes harundine et iunco, quaeque alia fecundior palus ipsaque illa extremitas lacus effert. Sua cuique figura ut modus; cunctis margo derasus, quia fre
quenter vel litori vel sibi illisae terunt terunturque. Par omnibus altitudo, par levitas; quippe in speciem carinae humili radice descendunt. 6 Haec ab omni latere perspicitur, eadem aqua pariter suspensa et mersa. Interdum iunctae copulataeque et continenti similes sunt, interdum discordantibus ventis digeruntur, non numquam destitutae tranquillitate singulae fluitant. 7 Saepe minores maioribus velut cumbulae onerariis adhaerescunt, saepe inter se maiores minoresque quasi cursum certamenque desumunt; rursus omnes in eundem locum appulsae, qua steterunt promovent terram, et modo hac modo illa lacum reddunt auferuntque, ac tum demum cum medium tenuere non contrahunt. 8 Constat pecora herbas secuta sic in insulas illas ut in extremam ripam procedere solere, nec prius intellegere mobile solum quam litori abrepta quasi illata et imposita circumfusum undique lacum paveant; mox quo tulerit ventus egressa, non magis se descendisse sentire, quam senserint ascendisse. 9 Idem lacus in flumen egeritur, quod ubi se paulisper oculis dedit specu mergitur alteque conditum meat ac, si quid antequam subduceretur accepit, servat et profert. 10 Haec tibi scripsi, quia nec minus ignota quam mihi nec minus grata credebam. Nam te quoque ut me nihil aeque ac naturae opera delectant. Vale.
20. — TO GALLUS.
Objects such as we are in the habit of undertaking journeys and traversing the sea to make acquaintance with, we neglect when they are situated under our eyes; whether it has been so provided by nature, that, while careless of what is close to us, we run after what is distant, or because the desire for all objects languishes where the opportunity is easy; or else that we defer, as being sure to see them often, sights which it is given us to enjoy whenever we choose. Whatever be the reason, there are a quantity of things in our city, and the neighbourhood of the city, which we do not even know by hearsay, let alone eyesight. Yet if Achaia, Egypt, Asia, had produced these, or any other land fruitful in marvels, and giving them repute too, we should have heard all about, and read all about and explored them. What, at any rate, I had never heard of or seen, I for my part lately heard of and saw at the same time.
My wife’s grandfather had pressed me to make an inspection of his estate near Ameria, As I was going over it, a lake lying under us was pointed out to me, named Vadimon; at the same time some incredible circumstances connected with it were related. I reached the lake itself. It is rounded into the shape of a horizontal wheel, regular on all sides, without a bay or obliquity of any kind; everything is measured to scale and even, as though hollowed and cut out by the hand of an artist. The colour of the water is lighter than dark blue but deeper than bluish green. It has an odour and a taste of sulphur, and the healing property of mending broken articles. Its size is small, yet such that it can feel the winds and swell into waves. There is no ship on it (for it is sacred), but floating on it are islands, all of them grassy with reeds and rushes, and other herbage which the swampy soil in its productiveness, or the banks of the lake themselves, bring forth. Each of them has its individual shape and dimensions, but all have their outer edges worn, in consequence of frequently striking either against the shore or against each other, and so rubbing and getting rubbed. All of them are of a like elevation and buoyancy, since their roots descend but a little way below the surface, after the fashion of a ship’s keel. These roots can be seen on every side, suspended and at the same time submerged in the water. Occasionally these islands are joined and coupled together, resembling a continent; occasionally they are dispersed by discordant winds; not infrequently, left to themselves, they float in single tranquillity. Often the smaller ones hang on to the larger, like little boats on to ships of burden; often larger and smaller ones take to a trial, as it were, of each other’s speed; then, again, all of them, driven upon the same part of the shore, form, where they have stopped, a promontory, and, sometimes here, sometimes there, conceal or restore to view portions of the lake. It is only when they are in the middle that they do not contract its circumference. It is certain that cattle in pursuit of herbage are in the habit of advancing into these islands, fancying them the edge of the lake, and do not perceive that the soil is moveable till reft from the shore — put on hoard and shipped, so to speak — they see with affright the lake all round them: presently going ashore wherever the wind has carried them, they no more know that they have disembarked than they knew that they had embarked. This same lake discharges itself into a river, which, after presenting itself to the eyes for a short time, loses itself underground, and flows on out of sight. If anything has been thrown into it before its disappearance it will preserve and reproduce the object.
All this I have written to you, believing that it would be no less new and no less agreeable to you than it was to me. For as with me, so with you, too, nothing is so delightful as the works of nature.
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21. C. PLINIUS ARRIANO SUO S.
1 Ut in vita sic in studiis pulcherrimum et humanissimum existimo severitatem comitatemque miscere, ne illa in tristitiam, haec in petulantiam excedat. 2 Qua ratione ductus graviora opera lusibus iocisque distinguo. Ad hos proferendos et tempus et locum opportunissimum elegi, utque iam nunc assuescerent et ab otiosis et in triclinio audiri, Iulio mense, quo maxime lites interquiescunt, positis ante lectos cathedris amicos collocavi. 3 Forte accidit ut eodem die mane in advocationem subitam rogarer, quod mihi causam praeloquendi dedit. Sum enim deprecatus, ne quis ut irreverentem operis argueret, quod recitaturus, quamquam et amicis et paucis, id est iterum amicis, foro et negotiis non abstinuissem. Addidi hunc ordinem me et in scribendo sequi, ut necessitates voluptatibus, seria iucundis anteferrem, ac primum amicis tum mihi scriberem. 4 Liber fuit et opusculis varius et metris. Ita solemus, qui ingenio parum fidimus, satietatis periculum fugere. Recitavi biduo. Hoc assensus audientium exegit; et tamen ut alii transeunt quaedam imputantque quod transeant, sic ego nihil praetereo atque etiam non praeterire me dico. Lego enim omnia ut omnia emendem, quod contingere non potest electa recitantibus. 5 At illud modestius et fortasse reverentius; sed hoc simplicius et amantius. Amat enim qui se sic amari putat, ut taedium non pertimescat; et alioqui quid praestant sodales, si conveniunt voluptatis suae causa? Delicatus ac similis ignoto est, qui amici librum bonum mavult audire quam facere. 6 Non dubito cupere te pro cetera mei caritate quam maturissime legere hunc adhuc musteum librum. Leges, sed retractatum, quae causa recitandi fuit; et tamen non nulla iam ex eo nosti. Haec emendata postea vel, quod interdum longiore mora solet, deteriora facta quasi nova rursus et rescripta cognosces. Nam plerisque mutatis ea quoque mutata videntur, quae manent. Vale.
21. — TO ARRIANUS.
Just as in life, so in literature, I deem it the most excellent course, and the one most in accord with human nature, to mingle the grave with the gay, lest the former should degenerate into morbidness and the latter into sauciness. Led by this consideration, I vary my more serious works with sportive and jocular effusions. For the production in public of these latter, I chose the most fitting time as well as place, and — that they might without delay grow accustomed to a hearing from persons with nothing else to do, and at the dinner-table — in the month of July (when, for the most part, there is an interval of rest from the lawsuits), I arranged my friends with seats furnished with desks in front of the dining-couches. It so chanced that, on the morning of that day, I was unexpectedly called to assist a friend in court, and this furnished me with a ground for making some prefatory remarks. For I entreated that no one would charge me with want of respect for the work in hand, because, when intending to recite (even though only to friends, and to a small audience, which means to friends again), I had not refrained from the courts and from business. I added that, even in the matter of my writings, I followed this order of preferring duty to pleasure, the serious to the agreeable, and of writing for my friends first, for myself afterwards.