My book was composed of various little pieces, in various metres; for thus it is that we who have not much confidence in our genius are wont to avoid the risk of surfeiting people. I recited two days. The approval of my audience exacted this of me; and yet, though other readers skip certain parts, and take credit for skipping them, I pass over nothing, and even aver to my audiences that I pass over nothing. Indeed, I read the whole that I may correct the whole; and this cannot be the case with those who recite extracts. But, you will say that the latter course is more modest, and perhaps more respectful. Yes; but the former is the more straightforward and the more friendly. For he is friendly who thinks the friendship felt for him to be such that he is not in dread of being wearisome. Otherwise, what is the use of intimates if they only come together for the sake of their own amusement? He is a mere fop, and resembles a stranger, who would rather hear his friend’s good book than make it a good one.
I do not doubt that, in accordance with your usual affection for me, you will desire to read, as soon as possible, this newly compounded book. You shall read it, but in a revised form, for this was the object of my recitation. Yet you are already acquainted with many parts of it. These, subsequently either improved, or — which occasionally happens through long delay — altered for the worse, you will discover again, in a new form as it were, and rewritten. For where many changes have been made, even what is left seems to have undergone a change likewise.
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22. C. PLINIUS GEMINO SUO S.
1 Nostine hos qui omnium libidinum servi, sic aliorum vitiis irascuntur quasi invideant, et gravissime puniunt, quos maxime imitantur? cum eos etiam, qui non indigent clementia ullius, nihil magis quam lenitas deceat. 2 Atque ego optimum et emendatissimum existimo, qui ceteris ita ignoscit, tamquam ipse cotidie peccet, ita peccatis abstinet tamquam nemini ignoscat. 3 Proinde hoc domi hoc foris hoc in omni vitae genere teneamus, ut nobis implacabiles simus, exorabiles istis etiam qui dare veniam nisi sibi nesciunt, mandemusque memoriae quod vir mitissimus et ob hoc quoque maximus Thrasea crebro dicere solebat: ‘Qui vitia odit, homines odit.’ Quaeris fortasse quo commotus haec scribam. 4 Nuper quidam — sed melius coram; quamquam ne tunc quidem. Vereor enim ne id quod improbo consectari carpere referre huic quod cum maxime praecipimus repugnet. Quisquis ille qualiscumque sileatur, quem insignire exempli nihil, non insignire humanitatis plurimum refert. Vale.
22. — TO GEMINUS.
You know them, don’t you, those men who, slaves to every evil passion, are as indignant at the vices of others as though they envied them, and who are for punishing most severely the persons whom they imitate most closely; whereas, even to those who need no one’s indulgence, nothing is more becoming than leniency. More than this, I esteem him the most excellent and the most faultless who so forgives others as though he himself sinned daily, and so abstains from sins as though he forgave no one. Accordingly let us hold to this, in private, in public, in every relation of life; to be implacable to ourselves and easy of entreaty even to those who are unable to make allowances for any but themselves. Let us commit to memory what one of the mildest, and, on that account, among others, one of the greatest of men, Thrasea, used frequently to say “He who hates vices hates mankind.”
You will perhaps ask what has moved me to write thus. A certain person recently — but it will be better to tell you when we meet; and yet, on second thoughts, not even then. For I fear that by inveighing against and censuring and recapitulating what I disapprove, I may be violating the very precepts which I am giving at this moment. Let the man, whoever and whatever he is, be nameless; by making him known, example would profit nothing; by leaving him unknown, good-nature will profit much.
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23. C. PLINIUS MARCELLINO SUO S.
1 Omnia mihi studia, omnes curas, omnia avocamenta exemit excussit eripuit dolor, quem ex morte Iuni Aviti gravissimum cepi. 2 Latum clavum in domo mea induerat, suffragio meo adiutus in petendis honoribus fuerat; ad hoc ita me diligebat, ita verebatur, ut me formatore morum, me quasi magistro uteretur. 3 Rarum hoc in adulescentibus nostris. Nam quotus quisque vel aetati alterius vel auctoritati ut minor cedit? Statim sapiunt, statim sciunt omnia, neminem verentur, neminem imitantur, atque ipsi sibi exempla sunt. Sed non Avitus, cuius haec praecipua prudentia, quod alios prudentiores arbitrabatur, haec praecipua eruditio quod discere volebat. 4 Semper ille aut de studiis aliquid aut de officiis vitae consulebat, semper ita recedebat ut melior factus; et erat factus vel eo quod audierat, vel quod omnino quaesierat. 5 Quod ille obsequium Serviano exactissimo viro praestitit! quem legatum tribunus ita et intellexit et cepit, ut ex Germania in Pannoniam transeuntem non ut commilito sed ut comes assectatorque sequeretur. Qua industria qua modestia quaestor, consulibus suis — et plures habuit — non minus iucundus et gratus quam utilis fuit! Quo discursu, qua vigilantia hanc ipsam aedilitatem cui praereptus est petiit! Quod vel maxime dolorem meum exulcerat. 6 Obversantur oculis cassi labores, et infructuosae preces, et honor quem meruit tantum; redit animo ille latus clavus in penatibus meis sumptus, redeunt illa prima illa postrema suffragia mea, illi sermones illae consultationes. 7 Afficior adulescentia ipsius, afficior necessitudinum casu. Erat illi grandis natu parens, erat uxor quam ante annum virginem acceperat, erat filia quam paulo ante sustulerat. Tot spes tot gaudia dies unus in diversa convertit. 8 Modo designatus aedilis, recens maritus recens pater intactum honorem, orbam matrem, viduam uxorem, filiam pupillam ignaram patris reliquit: Accedit lacrimis meis quod absens et impendentis mali nescius, pariter aegrum pariter decessisse cognovi, ne gravissimo dolori timore consuescerem. In tantis tormentis eram cum scriberem haec
23. — TO MARCELLINUS.
All literary pursuits, all serious occupations, all amusements, have been banished, driven out, rooted from my mind by the poignant grief which the death of Julius Avitus has caused me. It was at my house that he put on the Latus Clavus. I assisted him with my support when he was a candidate for office; add to this, that he so loved and revered me that he treated me as the moulder of his character — as his master, so to speak. A rare thing this in the case of our young men. For how few of them will yield, as being inferior, either to the age or the authority of another? They are all at once wise; they all at once know everything; they revere no one; they imitate no one, and are indeed themselves their own models. Not so Avitus, whose chief wisdom was in esteeming others wiser than himself, whose chief erudition was in his desire to learn. He was always seeking some advice, either on the subject of his studies or the duties of life, and he always went away with a sense of being made better. And so he was, either from what he had heard, or at any rate from having inquired. What deference he paid to that most accomplished man Servianus, when the latter was Legate and he was military tribune. He so appreciated and at the same time captivated Servianus that in his march across from Germania to Pannonia he followed him, not as being one of his army, but as a companion and personal attendant. Such was his industry, such his unassuming character, than in his capacity of Quæstor he was no less pleasant and agreeable than useful to his Consuls, of whom he served several. How active, how indefatigable he was in his pursuit of this very office of Ædile, from the enjoyment of which he has been prematurely snatched away! And this it is which greatly aggravates my grief. There present themselves to my eyes his vain labours and fruitless applications, and the honour which he succeeded in deserving only. There returns to my mind that Latus Clavus assumed in my house; those first, those last efforts of mine on his behalf; the discourses, the consultations which we held together. I am touched by his own youth; I am touched by the misfortune suffered by his family.
He had a mother of great age, a wife whom he had married in her maidenhood a year before, a daughter not long born to him. So many hopes, so many joys did a single day turn to mourning! Just nominated Ædile, a new-made husband, a new-made fa
ther, he has left behind him a dignity never assumed, a childless mother, a widowed wife, an infant daughter who never knew her father. My sorrow is augmented by the fact that it was during my absence from him, and when I was unprepared for the impending misfortune, that I learnt at one and the same time his illness and his decease. Such is my anguish while writing on this subject, and on this subject alone. For indeed just now I can neither think nor speak of anything else.
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24. C. PLINIUS MAXIMO SUO S.
1 Amor in te meus cogit, non ut praecipiam — neque enim praeceptore eges -, admoneam tamen, ut quae scis teneas et observes, aut nescire melius. 2 Cogita te missum in provinciam Achaiam, illam veram et meram Graeciam, in qua primum humanitas litterae, etiam fruges inventae esse creduntur; missum ad ordinandum statum liberarum civitatum, id est ad homines maxime homines, ad liberos maxime liberos, qui ius a natura datum virtute meritis amicitia, foedere denique et religione tenuerunt. 3 Reverere conditores deos et nomina deorum, reverere gloriam veterem et hanc ipsam senectutem, quae in homine venerabilis, in urbibus sacra. Sit apud te honor antiquitati, sit ingentibus factis, sit fabulis quoque. Nihil ex cuiusquam dignitate, nihil ex libertate, nihil etiam ex iactatione decerpseris. 4 Habe ante oculos hanc esse terram, quae nobis miserit iura, quae leges non victis sed petentibus dederit, Athenas esse quas adeas Lacedaemonem esse quam regas; quibus reliquam umbram et residuum libertatis nomen eripere durum ferum barbarum est. 5 Vides a medicis, quamquam in adversa valetudine nihil servi ac liberi differant, mollius tamen liberos clementiusque tractari. Recordare quid quaeque civitas fuerit, non ut despicias quod esse desierit; absit superbia asperitas. 6 Nec timueris contemptum. An contemnitur qui imperium qui fasces habet, nisi humilis et sordidus, et qui se primus ipse contemnit? Male vim suam potestas aliorum contumeliis experitur, male terrore veneratio acquiritur, longeque valentior amor ad obtinendum quod velis quam timor. Nam timor abit si recedas, manet amor, ac sicut ille in odium hic in reverentiam vertitur. 7 Te vero etiam atque etiam — repetam enim — meminisse oportet officii tui titulum ac tibi ipsum interpretari, quale quantumque sit ordinare statum liberarum civitatum. Nam quid ordinatione civilius, quid libertate pretiosius? 8 Porro quam turpe, si ordinatio eversione, libertas servitute mutetur! Accedit quod tibi certamen est tecum: onerat te quaesturae tuae fama, quam ex Bithynia optimam revexisti; onerat testimonium principis; onerat tribunatus, praetura atque haec ipsa legatio quasi praemium data. 9 Quo magis nitendum est ne in longinqua provincia quam suburbana, ne inter servientes quam liberos, ne sorte quam iudicio missus, ne rudis et incognitus quam exploratus probatusque humanior melior peritior fuisse videaris, cum sit alioqui, ut saepe audisti saepe legisti, multo deformius amittere quam non assequi laudem.
10 Haec velim credas, quod initio dixi, scripsisse me admonentem, non praecipientem; quamquam praecipientem quoque. Quippe non vereor, in amore ne modum excesserim. Neque enim periculum est ne sit nimium quod esse maximum debet. Vale.
24. — TO MAXIMUS.
My affection for you compels me, not to instruct you, for indeed you need no instructor, yet to remind you to bear in memory and practice what you already know, else it were better unknown. Reflect that you are sent to the province of Achaia, that true and genuine Greece, in which civilisation, letters, and even the fruits of the earth, are believed to have been discovered; that you are sent to order the status of free communities — that is, to men who are in the highest sense,. men, to freemen who are in the highest sense free, who have preserved their natural rights by their virtues, their services, their friendship for us, and, lastly, by compacts and religious sanctions. Respect the gods, their founders, and the names of their gods. Respect their ancient glory, and their very age itself, venerable in the case of men, sacred in the case of cities. Let their antiquity, their great deeds, their fables even, find honour with you. Rifle nothing from any man’s dignity or liberty, or even vainglory. Keep before your eyes that this is the land which sent us our legislation, which gave laws, not to the conquered, but to those who asked for them; that this is Athens to which you go; that this is Lacedaemon which you govern: that to rob these of the shadow still left them, and relics of their liberty, would be harsh, cruel, and barbarous. You see that doctors — although in sickness there is no difference between slave and free — yet treat freemen with greater tenderness and consideration. (Bear in mind what each community has been, not (with the view of despising it) what it has ceased to be. Far from you be all arrogance and asperity. Do not be afraid of contempt. Can he be contemned who holds the supreme power and the fasces, unless he be a mean, paltry creature, who begins by contemning himself. Power tries its strength ill by injuring others; veneration is ill acquired by terror; and love is far more efficacious for obtaining one’s ends than fear. For, fear vanishes when you have taken your departure, love remains; and as the former turns to hatred, so does the latter to reverence. You, for your part, ought assuredly again and again (for I will repeat myself) to call to mind the title of your office, and to interpret for your own self what and how great a matter it is “to order the status of free communities.” For what can be more to the interest of the citizens than order of government? Or what more precious than freedom? Again, what a disgrace if order be exchanged for anarchy and freedom for servitude! Add to this, that you have yourself for a rival; you are weighted by the admirable report of your Quæstorship which you brought back from Bithynia; you are weighted by the testimony of the Emperor, by your Tribuneship and your Prætorship, and by this very legation which has been conferred on you as a kind of recompense. Hence you must the more earnestly strive that you be not reputed to have acted with greater courtesy, integrity, and judgment in a distant province than in a nearer one; among those who are our subjects than among freemen; when despatched by lot than when despatched by the result of deliberate choice; when inexperienced and unknown than when tried and approved; since, as you have often heard and read, it is, in a general way, more disgraceful to lose reputation than not to acquire it.
I beg you to believe (as was said at the beginning) that I have written all this by way of reminder and not of instruction. And yet, after all, by way of instruction too. I am not afraid, forsooth, of having exceeded the limits of affection; nor, seeing that affection should be so strong, is there any danger of its being excessive.
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LIBER NONVS
BOOK IX.
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1. C. PLINIUS MAXIMO SUO S.
1 Saepe te monui, ut libros quos vel pro te vel in Plantam, immo et pro te et in illum — ita enim materia cogebat -, composuisti quam maturissime emitteres; quod nunc praecipue morte eius audita et hortor et moneo. 2 Quamvis enim legeris multis legendosque dederis, nolo tamen quemquam opinari defuncto demum incohatos, quos incolumi eo peregisti. Salva sit tibi constantiae fama. Erit autem, si notum aequis iniquisque fuerit non post inimici mortem scribendi tibi natam esse fiduciam, sed iam paratam editionem morte praeventam. 3 Et simul vitabis illud ‘ouch hosiê phthimenoisi’. Nam quod de vivente scriptum de vivente recitatum est, in defunctum quoque tamquam viventem adhuc editur, si editur statim. Igitur si quid aliud in manibus, interim differ; hoc perfice, quod nobis qui legimus olim absolutum videtur. Sed iam videatur et tibi, cuius cunctationem nec res ipsa desiderat, et temporis ratio praecidit. Vale.
1. — TO MAXIMUS.
I HAVE often recommended you to issue with all speed the productions you have composed whether, in your own defence, or against Plauta — or rather both in your own defence and against him, for so the occasion required — and now, especially, having heard of his death, I strongly urge, as well as recommend you, to the same effect. For, although you have read them and given them to read to many, yet I would not have any person whatever suppose that you have begun only after his decease what in fact you had completed in his life-time. Let your reputation for intrepidity be intact. And so it will be, if it be known
to friends and foes that it was not merely after your enemy’s death that the courage to write was born in you, but that you were quite ready for publication and were only forestalled by his death. At the same time you will avoid the reproach
“Unjust are all the insults o’er the dead.” (Homer, Odyssey xxii. 412. —
For that which has been written and read aloud on the subject of a living person, if published, even after his decease, is published, as it were, against a person still living, provided this be done at once. Consequently, if you have anything else in hand, lay it aside for the time. Put the finishing touch to this work, which to me, who have read it formerly, seems long since complete; however, let it now seem so to you too, since not only does the matter itself require no delay on your part, but a consideration of the particular juncture should cut all delay short.
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Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Younger (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics) Page 122
