4 Accidit aliud ante pauculos dies simile. Recumbebat mecum vir egregius, Fadius Rufinus, super eum municeps ipsius, qui illo die primum venerat in urbem; cui Rufinus demonstrans me: ‘Vides hunc?’ Multa deinde de studiis nostris; et ille ‘Plinius est’ inquit. 5 Verum fatebor, capio magnum laboris mei fructum. An si Demosthenes iure laetatus est, quod illum anus Attica ita noscitavit: ‘Houtos esti Dêmosthenes’, celebritate nominis mei gaudere non debeo? Ego vero et gaudeo et gaudere me dico. 6 Neque enim vereor ne iactantior videar, cum de me aliorum iudicium non meum profero, praesertim apud te qui nec ullius invides laudibus et faves nostris. Vale.
23. — TO MAXIMUS.
Often has it happened to me, when pleading, that the Centumviri, after keeping for a long while to their judicial dignity and gravity, have suddenly — as though vanquished and compelled to the act — risen from their seats in a body and applauded me. Often have I obtained from the Senate the highest glory I had aspired to. Yet never have I received greater pleasure than lately from what was told me by Cornelius Tacitus. He related how a Roman knight was sitting by him at the last Circensian games. After a conversation of a varied and learned character, the gentleman asked him, “Are you from Italy or the provinces?” He replied, “You know me, and from your reading too.” Upon which the other inquired, “Are you Tacitus or Pliny?” I cannot express how delightful it is to me that our names, as though belonging to literature, and not to human beings, are thus connected with literature; that each of us is known by means of his pursuits, even to those to whom he is otherwise unknown.
Another similar occurrence took place a very few days ago. That distinguished man Fabius Rufinus was my neighbour at table, and above him was one of his townsmen, who had come to Rome that day for the first time. Rufinus, pointing me out to him, said, “Do you see this gentleman?” and proceeded to talk at length of my literary pursuits. Said the other, “It must he Pliny.” To acknowledge the truth, I enjoy a great reward from my labours. Why, if Demosthenes was rightly delighted because an old woman of Athens recognised him in these terms, “This is Demosthenes!” ought not I to rejoice in the celebrity of my name? And truly I do rejoice, and own that I rejoice. Nor indeed do I fear to seem too much puffed up, since it is the opinion of others about me, and not my own, that I am putting forward; and especially since this is to you, who not only do not grudge the praises bestowed on any man, but also favour those bestowed on me.
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24. C. PLINIUS SABINIANO SUO S.
Bene fecisti quod libertum aliquando tibi carum reducentibus epistulis meis in domum in animum recepisti. Iuvabit hoc te; me certe iuvat, primum quod te tam tractabilem video, ut in ira regi possis, deinde quod tantum mihi tribuis, ut vel auctoritati meae pareas vel precibus indulgeas. Igitur et laudo et gratias ago; simul in posterum moneo, ut te erroribus tuorum, etsi non fuerit qui deprecetur, placabilem praestes. Vale.
24. — TO SABINIANUS.
You have done well in taking back to your home and your heart the freedman formerly so dear to you, with my letter for his passport. This will be a satisfaction to you. It is certainly a satisfaction to me: first, because I see you to be so tractable that even in your anger you are capable of being ruled; in the next place, because you make so much account of me as either to yield to my authority or to comply with my prayers. So I praise as well as thank you. At the same time, I admonish you, as to the future, to show yourself placable in regard to the errors of those about you, even though there should be no one by to intercede in their behalf.
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25. C. PLINIUS MAMILIANO SUO S.
1 Quereris de turba castrensium negotiorum et, tamquam summo otio perfruare, lusus et ineptias nostras legis amas flagitas, meque ad similia condenda non mediocriter incitas. 2 Incipio enim ex hoc genere studiorum non solum oblectationem verum etiam gloriam petere, post iudicium tuum viri eruditissimi gravissimi ac super ista verissimi. 3 Nunc me rerum actus modice sed tamen distringit; quo finito aliquid earundem Camenarum in istum benignissimum sinum mittam. Tu passerculis et columbulis nostris inter aquilas vestras dabis pennas, si tamen et tibi placebunt; si tantum sibi, continendos cavea nidove curabis. Vale.
25. — TO MAMILIANUS.
You complain of the mass of business in the camp, and yet, as though you were in entire enjoyment of the most complete repose, you read my sportive effusions and trifles, you delight in them, call for them, and strongly urge me to the composition of others like them. Indeed I begin to seek, not only recreation, but even glory, from this kind of pursuit, after the favourable judgment of a man so learned, so respected, and above all so truthful, as yourself. At present, business in court, though it does not entirely occupy me, still does so to some extent. When it is concluded, I shall despatch some product of these same Muses to that kindliest bosom of yours. You will suffer my little sparrows and doves to fly among your eagles, on condition, however, of their being approved by you as well as by themselves. If the latter only, you will take care and shut them up in their cages or nests.
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26. C. PLINIUS LUPERCO SUO S.
1 Dixi de quodam oratore saeculi nostri recto quidem et sano, sed parum grandi et ornato, ut opinor, apte: ‘Nihil peccat, nisi quod nihil peccat.’ 2 Debet enim orator erigi attolli, interdum etiam effervescere ecferri, ac saepe accedere ad praeceps; nam plerumque altis et excelsis adiacent abrupta. Tutius per plana sed humilius et depressius iter; frequentior currentibus quam reptantibus lapsus, sed his non labentibus nulla, illis non nulla laus etiamsi labantur. 3 Nam ut quasdam artes ita eloquentiam nihil magis quam ancipitia commendant. Vides qui per funem in summa nituntur, quantos soleant excitare clamores, cum iam iamque casuri videntur. 4 Sunt enim maxime mirabilia quae maxime insperata, maxime opericulosa utque Graeci magis exprimunt, ‘parabola’. Ideo nequaquam par gubernatoris est virtus, cum placido et cum turbato mari vehitur: tunc admirante nullo, illaudatus inglorius subit portum, at cum stridunt funes curvatur arbor gubernacula gemunt, tunc ille clarus et dis maris proximus.
5 Cur haec? Quia visus es mihi in scriptis meis adnotasse quaedam ut tumida quae ego sublimia, ut improba quae ego audentia, ut nimia quae ego plena arbitrabar. Plurimum autem refert, reprehendenda adnotes an insignia. 6 Omnis enim advertit, quod eminet et exstat; sed acri intentione diiudicandum est, immodicum sit an grande, altum an enorme. Atque ut Homerum potissimum attingam, quem tandem alterutram in partem potest fugere ‘amphi de salpinxen megas ouranos, êeri d’ enchos ekeklito’ et totum illud ‘oute thalassês kyma toson boaa’? 7 Sed opus est examine et libra, incredibile sint haec et inania an magnifica caelestia. Nec nunc ego me his similia aut dixisse aut posse dicere puto — non ita insanio -, sed hoc intellegi volo, laxandos esse eloquentiae frenos, nec angustissimo gyro ingeniorum impetus refringendos.
8 ‘At enim alia condicio oratorum, alia poetarum. Quasi vero M. Tullius minus audeat! Quamquam hunc omitto; neque enim ambigi puto. Sed Demosthenes ipse, ille norma oratoris et regula, num se cohibet et comprimit, cum dicit illa notissima: ‘anthrôpoi miaroi, kolakes kai alastores’ et rursus ‘ou lithois eteichisa tên polin oude plinthois egô’ et statim ‘ouk ek men thalassês tên Euboian probebalesthai pro tês Attikês’ et alibi:íegô de oimai men, ô andres Athênaioi, nê tous theous ekeinon methyein tô megethei tôn pepragmenôn’? 9 Iam quid audentius illo pulcherrimo ac longissimo excessu: ‘nosêma gar ...’? Quid haec breviora superioribus, sed audacia paria: ‘tote egô men tô Pythôni thrasynomenô kai pollô reonti kath’ hêmôn’? Ex eadem nota ‘hotan de ek pleonexias kai ponêrias
n onta, alla panta apokrêmna, pharangas, barathra’. Et deinceps ‘dedoika, mê doxête tisi ton aei boulomenon einai ponêron tôn en tê polei paidotribein’, nec satis: ‘oude gar tous progonous hypolambanô ta dikastêria tauta hymin oikodomêsai, hina tous toioutous en autois moscheuête’, ad hoc: ‘ei de kapêlos esti ponêrias kai palinkapêlos kai metaboleus’ et mille talia, ut praeteream quae ab Aeschine ‘thaumata’, non ‘rêmata’ vocantur.
10 In contrarium incidi: dices hunc quoque ob ista culpari. Sed vide, quanto maior sit, qui reprehenditur, ipso reprehendente et maior ob haec quoque; in aliis enim vis, in his granditas eius elucet. 11 Num autem Aeschines ipse eis, quae in Demosthene carpebat, abstinuit? <ëChrê gar, ô andres Athênaioi, to auto> phthengesthai ton rêtora kai ton nomon® hotan de heteran men phônên aphiê ho nomos, heteran de ho rêtôr ...’. Alio loco: ‘epeita anaphainetai peri pantôn en tô psêphismati.’ Iterum alio: ‘all’ enkathêmenoi kai enedreuontes en tê akroasei eiselaunete auton eis tous paranomous logous’. 12 Quod adeo probavit, ut repetat: ‘all’ hôsper en tais hippodromiais eis ton tou pragmatos auton dromon eiselaunete’. Iam illa custoditius pressiusque: ‘sy de helkopoieis,
26. — TO LUPERCUS.
I once said — aptly, as I think — of a certain orator of our epoch, who, though correct and sensible, was lacking in grandeur and ornamentation, “His only sin is that he does not sin.” Indeed, an orator ought to be excited and elevated, at times even to boil over and be hurried along, and so, often to approach a precipice; for what is high and lofty generally has a chasm adjoining it. The road over a plain is safer, but at the same time humbler and lower; runners meet with more falls than crawlers, but the latter get no credit for not falling, while the former get some, even though they do fall. For, as in the case of certain accomplishments, so in that of eloquence — nothing commends it so much as its hazards. You see what applause dancers on a lofty tight-rope generally elicit when they seem on the point of falling; for we most admire what is most unexpected and dangerous, and, as the Greeks more strongly express it, most “dare-devilish.” Hence the worth of a helmsman is by no means the same when sailing on a quiet as when on a stormy sea. In the former case he enters the harbour without being admired by any one — without praise, without glory. But when the cordage creaks, and the mast bends, and the rudder groans, then what a great man he is, and how near to a sea-god!
Why all this? Because you seem to me to have noted certain passages in my writings as being turgid which I thought elevated, as audacious which I thought bold, as extravagant which I thought full. Now, it makes a great difference whether what you note be reprehensible or merely conspicuous. For every one has his attention attracted by what is prominent and stands out in relief; only, diligent attention is necessary for judging between what is sublime and what exceeds the bounds, what is lofty and what is extravagant. And, to quote Homer for choice, pray who can forget, whichever way they be judged, the words —
“All around
The mighty heaven gave out a trumpet sound;”
and
“His spear upon a cloud reclined;”
and all that passage,
“Nor such the shout of Ocean’s wave.”
But you want a tongued-balance and scales to ascertain whether these expressions are impossible and unmeaning, or on the other hand glorious and divine. Not that I am now supposing myself to have ever uttered or to be capable of uttering anything like this. I am not such a madman. But I only wish this to be understood, that the reins of eloquence should be left loose, and the flights of genius should not be restrained in the narrowest of circles.
But it will be said that the conditions of oratory are one thing and those of poetry another. Just as if M. Tullius were less daring! However, I pass him by, for indeed I do not think the subject admits of doubt. But Demosthenes himself, that pattern and model orator, pray does he contain or restrain himself when he utters those well-known words, “Base, fawning, accursed wretches of men!” or again, “It is not with stones or bricks that I have fortified the city;” and directly afterwards, “Ought not Euboea to have been made to flank Attica on the sea-board?” and elsewhere, “For my part, Athenians, by the Gods, I think that the man is drunk with the magnitude of his own exploits.” What indeed can be more daring than that most exquisite and lengthy digression beginning with “’Tis a terrible malady”? How about this, shorter than the preceding, but equal in boldness, “Then I (yielded not) to Python in his insolence and flowing with his full tide against you”? Of the same stamp is this, “When a man is powerful through rapacity and wickedness, like this one, the first occasion, the smallest stumble, will altogether unseat and destroy him.” A similar expression is “Roped off from all civic rights,” and in the same place, “You, Aristogeiton, have surrendered all the pity that might have been felt for such deeds as these, or rather you have entirely extinguished it. Do not, therefore, come for anchorage to harbours which you have yourself blocked up and filled with piles.” He had previously said, “For I fear lest some may think that you are engaged in training such of the citizens as are desirous of turning out scoundrels.” And afterwards, “I see that none of these topics can offer a passage for this man, nothing but precipices and chasms and yawning pits.” It is not enough to say, “For I do not understand that our ancestors built these courts for you in order that you might plant in them such fellows as these;” he adds, “If he is a dealer and a retailer and a huckster in villainy,” and a thousand things of the same kind, to pass over what Æschines called “monstrosities,” not “expressions.”
I have chanced upon what seems to contradict me. You will say that even Demosthenes is found fault with in these respects; but just see how much greater is the person criticised than the critic himself, and greater actually on account of these very things. For in other points his power, in these his sublimity shines forth. And pray did Æschines himself abstain from what he reproved in Demosthenes? “For the orator and the law should speak in unison; but when the law sends out one voice and the orator another....” Elsewhere, “Since it appears that concerning everything, in the decree... Again elsewhere, “But, sitting and lying in wait for him at the hearing, drive him into lawless language,” which he so much approved as to repeat, “But as in the horse-races, drive him to the same course in the business.” Pray is this more guarded or temperate, “You are irritating the wound,... seizing him as a political pirate sailing through the state,” and the rest of it?
I expect that some things in this very letter, as, for instance, the expression, “The rudder groans,” and “Near to a sea-god,” will be spitted by you with the same marks of disapproval as those about which I write. For I am aware that while apologising for previous passages of mine I have fallen into the very things which you had set your mark to. However, I give you leave to spit them, provided only you at once appoint a day when we may treat in person both of the other passages and of these. For either you shall make me cautious or else I shall make you rash.
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27. C. PLINIUS PATERNO SUO S.
1 Quanta potestas, quanta dignitas, quanta maiestas, quantum denique numen sit historiae, cum frequenter alias tum proxime sensi. Recitaverat quidam verissimum librum, partemque eius in alium diem reservaverat. 2 Ecce amici cuiusdam orantes obsecrantesque, ne reliqua recitaret. Tantus audiendi quae fecerint pudor, qu
ibus nullus faciendi quae audire erubescunt. Et ille quidem praestitit quod rogabatur — sinebat fides -; liber tamen ut factum ipsum manet manebit legeturque semper, tanto magis quia non statim. Incitantur enim homines ad noscenda quae differuntur. Vale.
27. — TO PATERNUS.
What power, what dignity, what majesty, what divinity, in short, there is in history! This I have lately, as well as on numerous other occasions, experienced. A gentleman had recited a composition strongly marked by truth, and had reserved a portion of it for another day. Lo and behold the friends of a certain personage begged and entreated him not to recite the remainder. Such is the shame of listening to what they have done, on the part of the very people who are not in the least ashamed of doing what they blush to listen to. As for the writer, he granted their request, a thing which honour permitted him to do. The composition, however, like the deed itself, remains, and will remain, and will always be read, and that all the more because not immediately. For men are stimulated to make acquaintance with what is deferred.
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Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Younger (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics) Page 126
