35. — TO ATRIUS.
I have received the book you sent me, and thank you for it. I am, however, at the present time greatly occupied. Consequently I have not yet read it, though for the rest extremely anxious to do so. But I owe such respect not only to literature itself, but also to your writings, as to deem it impiety to take them in hand save with a mind quite disengaged. I strongly approve your diligence in the revision of your works. Yet there is a certain limit to this; in the first place, because too much care serves to impair rather than to emend; next, because it calls us off from newer attempts, and, while it does not make perfect what went before, prevents us from commencing what ought to come after.
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36. C. PLINIUS FUSCO SUO S.
1 Quaeris, quemadmodum in Tuscis diem aestate disponam. Evigilo cum libuit, plerumque circa horam primam, saepe ante, tardius raro. Clausae fenestrae manent; mire enim silentio et tenebris ab iis quae avocant abductus et liber et mihi relictus, non oculos animo sed animum oculis sequor, qui eadem quae mens vident, quotiens non vident alia. 2 Cogito, si quid in manibus, cogito ad verbum scribenti emendantique similis, nunc pauciora nunc plura, ut vel difficile vel facile componi tenerive potuerunt. Notarium voco et die admisso quae formaveram dicto; abit rursusque revocatur rursusque dimittitur. 3 Ubi hora quarta vel quinta — neque enim certum dimensumque tempus -, ut dies suasit, in xystum me vel cryptoporticum confero, reliqua meditor et dicto. Vehiculum ascendo. Ibi quoque idem quod ambulans aut iacens; durat intentio mutatione ipsa refecta. Paulum redormio, dein ambulo, mox orationem Graecam Latinamve clare et intente non tam vocis causa quam stomachi lego; pariter tamen et illa firmatur. 4 Iterum ambulo ungor exerceor lavor. Cenanti mihi, si cum uxore vel paucis, liber legitur; post cenam comoedia aut lyristes; mox cum meis ambulo, quorum in numero sunt eruditi. Ita variis sermonibus vespera extenditur, et quamquam longissimus dies bene conditur. 5 Non numquam ex hoc ordine aliqua mutantur; nam, si diu iacui vel ambulavi, post somnum demum lectionemque non vehiculo sed, quod brevius quia velocius, equo gestor. Interveniunt amici ex proximis oppidis, partemque diei ad se trahunt interdumque lasso mihi opportuna interpellatione subveniunt. 6 Venor aliquando, sed non sine pugillaribus, ut quamvis nihil ceperim non nihil referam. Datur et colonis, ut videtur ipsis, non satis temporis, quorum mihi agrestes querelae litteras nostras et haec urbana opera commendant. Vale.
36. — TO FUSCUS.
You ask how I dispose of my day in summer-time at my place in Tuscany. I wake when I choose, generally about six o’clock, often before that, rarely later. My window’s remain closed; for, thus marvellously withdrawn from all distractions, by means of the silence and the darkness, I am my own master and am left to myself; I make my eyes wait on my mind, not my mind on the eyes; and the eyes will see the same things as the mind, when they have nothing else to see. I ponder whatever I have in hand, ponder it just as if writing it out word for word and correcting it, at one time a shorter, at another a longer portion, according as it has been difficult or easy to compose or to recollect. I call for my amanuensis, and, letting in the daylight, dictate what I have put together; he goes away, is recalled, is dismissed afresh. At ten or eleven o’clock (for the time is not fixed or subject to regulation), according to the weather, I betake myself to the terrace-walk or else to the cloisters, where I meditate and dictate the sequel; then I get into my carriage. There, too, I employ myself in the same way as when walking or lying on my couch; my attention remains constant, being refreshed by the change itself. Next, I go to sleep again for a short time, then walk, and presently read a Greek or Latin oration aloud and with emphasis, not so much for the sake of my voice as my digestion, yet my voice is also strengthened at the same time. Again I walk, am anointed, exercise myself and bathe. At dinner, if taken in company with my wife or a small party, a book is read out. After dinner comes the comedian or a performer on the lyre; shortly afterwards, I take a stroll with my attendants, in the number of whom are some persons of cultivation. In this way the evening is occupied by varied conversation, and the day, however long, is soon brought to an end.
At times some changes are made in the above disposition. For if I have been a long while on my couch, or walking, it is only after a nap and a reading that I take the air, not in a carriage, but — which takes less time, as being more rapid — on horseback. Friends drop in with their visits from the neighbouring villages, engrossing to themselves part of my day; and now and then, when I am wearied with study, these seasonable interruptions are of service to me. Occasionally I hunt, but not without my note-books, so that, if I fail in taking something, I may at any rate have some to bring home. Some time, though not, as they think, enough, is given to my tenants, whose rustic grumblings enhance the pleasures of my literary pursuits, and of those occupations which smack of the city.
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37. C. PLINIUS PAULINO SUO S.
1 Nec tuae naturae est translaticia haec et quasi publica officia a familiaribus amicis contra ipsorum commodum exigere, et ego te constantius amo quam ut verear, ne aliter ac velim accipias, nisi te Kalendis statim consulem videro, praesertim cum me necessitas locandorum praediorum plures annos ordinatura detineat, in qua mihi nova consilia sumenda sunt. 2 Nam priore lustro, quamquam post magnas remissiones, reliqua creverunt: inde plerisque nulla iam cura minuendi aeris alieni, quod desperant posse persolvi; rapiunt etiam consumuntque quod natum est, ut qui iam putent se non sibi parcere. 3 Occurrendum ergo augescentibus vitiis et medendum est. Medendi una ratio, si non nummo sed partibus locem ac deinde ex meis aliquos operis exactores, custodes fructibus ponam. Et alioqui nullum iustius genus reditus, quam quod terra caelum annus refert. 4 At hoc magnam fidem acres oculos numerosas manus poscit. Experiundum tamen et quasi in veteri morbo quaelibet mutationis auxilia temptanda sunt. 5 Vides, quam non delicata me causa obire primum consulatus tui diem non sinat; quem tamen hic quoque ut praesens votis gaudio gratulatione celebrabo. Vale.
37. — TO PAULINUS.
It is not in your nature to exact customary and, as it were, conventional services from your intimates, against their own convenience; and, moreover, my affection for you is too steadfast to make me fear that you will take it otherwise than I could wish if I fail to attend immediately on the Kalends -to see you made Consul, particularly as I am detained by the necessity of letting my farms, a business which will settle matters for several years, and in connection with which I shall have to make fresh arrangements. For during the last five years, though the tenants have had large remissions made them, their arrears have grown: hence most of them have ceased to take any pains to diminish debts which they despair of being able to pay in full. They even ravage and consume the produce, as though they began to think that if they spared it it would not be for their own benefit. These increasing abuses must consequently be met and remedied. The only plan for remedying them is to let the farms, not at a fixed rent, but for a share of the produce, and then to set some of my servants to supervise the work and guard the crops; and in any case, there is no fairer return than that which the soil, the climate, and the seasons bring in. This plan, it is true, requires great honesty, sharp eyes, and numerous hands. Yet the experiment must be made; and, as in the case of a disease of long standing, we must try and resort to any kind of change. You see it is no fanciful reason which prevents me from attending on the first day of your Consulship, which I shall nevertheless celebrate here, just as if I were there, with prayers and joy and congratulations.
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38. C. PLINIUS SATURNINO SUO S.
Ego vero Rufum nostrum laudo, non quia tu ut ita facerem petisti sed quia est ille dignissimus. Legi enim librum omnibus numeris absolutum, cui multum apud me gratiae amor ipsius adiecit. Iudicavi tamen; neque enim soli iudicant qui maligne legunt. Vale.
38. — TO SATURNINUS.
I do praise our friend Rufus, not because you begged me to do so, but because he is most worthy o
f praise. For I have read his book, so perfect in all points, and my love for the writer added much to its favour with me. Yet I exercised my judgment on it; nor indeed do those only exercise their judgments who read with ill-natured intent.
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39. C. PLINIUS MUSTIO SUO S.
1 Haruspicum monitu reficienda est mihi aedes Cereris in praediis in melius et in maius, vetus sane et angusta, cum sit alioqui stato die frequentissima. 2 Nam Idibus Septembribus magnus e regione tota coit populus, multae res aguntur, multa vota suscipiuntur, multa redduntur; sed nullum in proximo suffugium aut imbris aut solis. 3 Videor ergo munifice simul religioseque facturus, si aedem quam pulcherrimam exstruero, addidero porticus aedi, illam ad usum deae has ad hominum. 4 Velim ergo emas quattuor marmoreas columnas, cuius tibi videbitur generis, emas marmora quibus solum, quibus parietes excolantur. Erit etiam faciendum ipsius deae signum, quia antiquum illud e ligno quibusdam sui partibus vetustate truncatum est. 5 Quantum ad porticus, nihil interim occurrit, quod videatur istinc esse repetendum, nisi tamen ut formam secundum rationem loci scribas. Neque enim possunt circumdari templa: nam solum templi hinc flumine et abruptissimis ripis, hinc via cingitur. 6 Est ultra viam latissimum pratum, in quo satis apte contra templum ipsum porticus explicabuntur; nisi quid tu melius invenies, qui soles locorum difficultates arte superare. Vale.
39. — TO MUSTIUS.
By the advice of the Haruspices, the temple of Ceres, which stands on my property, will have to be repaired, embellished, and enlarged. It is, to be sure, old and small, though, for all that, it is very crowded on a particular day. FŸR, on the Ides of September, a large assemblage is gathered there from the whole district, much business is transacted, many vows are undertaken, and many are paid, yet there is no refuge near at hand against either the rain or the sun. It seems to me, therefore, that I shall be acting in accordance with the dictates of generosity as well as of religion by constructing the temple in the handsomest style, and adding to it a colonnade — the former for the use of the goddess, the latter for the use of men. Consequently I should be obliged by your buying four columns of marble, of whatever sort you think fit; also by your buying marble for the adornment of the floor and the walls. Moreover, there will have to be either made or bought a statue of the goddess herself, because the old one which is there, and which is of wood, is in some of its parts mutilated through age. As to the colonnade, nothing occurs to me in the interval which seems to be required from your neighbourhood, unless indeed you would draw up a plan in accordance with the locality. It cannot be built round the temple, for the ground on which the temple stands is closed in on one side by a river with extremely steep banks, and on the other by a road. Beyond the road there is an extensive meadow, in which the colonnade might find space conveniently enough, opposite to the temple itself; unless you shall discover anything better, who are accustomed to overcome difficulties of locality by your art.
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40. C. PLINIUS FUSCO SUO S.
1 Scribis pergratas tibi fuisse litteras meas, quibus cognovisti quemadmodum in Tuscis otium aestatis exigerem; requiris quid ex hoc in Laurentino hieme permutem. 2 Nihil, nisi quod meridianus somnus eximitur multumque de nocte vel ante vel post diem sumitur, et, si agendi necessitas instat, quae frequens hieme, non iam comoedo vel lyristae post cenam locus, sed illa, quae dictavi, identidem retractantur, ac simul memoriae frequenti emendatione proficitur. 3 Habes aestate hieme consuetudinem; addas huc licet ver et autumnum, quae inter hiemem aestatemque media, ut nihil de die perdunt, de nocte parvolum acquirunt. Vale.
40. — TO FUSCUS.
You write that you were much pleased with my letter, from which you learnt how I spend my summer holidays on my Tuscan estate, and you inquire what of all this is changed in winter-time at my Laurentine villa. Nothing, except that my midday siesta is cut off, and a good deal is taken from the night, either before sunrise or after sunset and if there is any pressing necessity for appearing in court (as there often is in winter) there is no longer place for a comedian or a lyrical performer after dinner, but I often go over again what I have dictated, and at the same time my memory is helped by this frequent revision. You now know my habits in summer and in winter. You may add to this, spring and autumn, in which, as being the intermediate seasons between summer and winter, I lose nothing of my working day, and gain a little from the night.
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LIBER X. C. PLINII CAECILII SECVNDI EPISTVLARVM LIBER DECIMVS AD TRAIANVM IMPERATOREM CVM EIVSDEM RESPONSIS
BOOK X. CORRESPONDENCE WITH TRAJAN.
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1. C. PLINIUS TRAIANO IMPERATORI
1 Tua quidem pietas, imperator sanctissime, optaverat, ut quam tardissime succederes patri; sed di immortales festinaverunt virtutes tuas ad gubernacula rei publicae quam susceperas admovere. 2 Precor ergo ut tibi et per te generi humano prospera omnia, id est digna saeculo tuo contingant. Fortem te et hilarem, imperator optime, et privatim et publice opto.
1. — TO TRAJAN.
THOUGH your dutiful affection had made you desire, most august Emperor, to succeed your father at as late a period as possible, yet the immortal gods have hastened to advance your great virtues to the helm of the State, of which you had already undertaken the administration. I pray, then, that all prosperity — in other words, all that is worthy of your epoch — may fall to your lot, and, through you, to that of the human race. I offer private as well as public aspirations for your health and spirits, most noble Emperor.
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2. C. PLINIUS TRAIANO IMPERATORI
1 Exprimere, domine, verbis non possum, quantum mihi gaudium attuleris, quod me dignum putasti iure trium liberorum. Quamvis enim Iuli Serviani, optimi viri tuique amantissimi, precibus indulseris, tamen etiam ex rescripto intellego libentius hoc ei te praestitisse, quia pro me rogabat. 2 Videor ergo summam voti mei consecutus, cum inter initia felicissimi principatus tui probaveris me ad peculiarem indulgentiam tuam pertinere; eoque magis liberos concupisco, quos habere etiam illo tristissimo saeculo volui, sicut potes duobus matrimoniis meis credere. 3 Sed di melius, qui omnia integra bonitati tuae reservarunt; malui hoc potius tempore me patrem fieri, quo futurus essem et securus et felix.
2. — TO TRAJAN.
I cannot express in words, my Liege, what joy you have conferred on me, in that you have deemed me worthy of the rights belonging to the father of three children; for though you have conceded this to the prayers of Julius Servianus, an admirable man, most devoted to you, yet I understand from your rescript itself that you have granted it all the more willingly, because he was asking on my account. I seem, then, to have attained the summit of my wishes, now that at the commencement of your most auspicious reign you have proved me to be an object of your especial favour. And all the greater is my longing for children, whom I wished to have even in the dismal period that is past, as you may judge from my two marriages. But the gods have decreed better, who reserved things as they were till your kindly reign. They preferred that I should become a father, rather at this time, when I should be destined to be one in security and happiness.
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3 A. C. PLINIUS TRAIANO IMPERATORI
1 Ut primum me, domine, indulgentia vestra promovit ad praefecturam aerarii Saturni, omnibus advocationibus, quibus alioqui numquam eram promiscue functus, renuntiavi, ut toto animo delegato mihi officio vacarem. 2 Qua ex causa, cum patronum me provinciales optassent contra Marium Priscum, et petii veniam huius muneris et impetravi. Sed cum postea consul designatus censuisset agendum nobiscum, quorum erat excusatio recepta, ut essemus in senatus potestate pateremurque nomina nostra in urnam conici, convenientissimum esse tranquillitati saeculi tui putavi praesertim tam moderatae voluntati amplissimi ordinis non repugnare. 3 Cui obsequio meo opto, ut existimes constare rationem, cum omnia facta dictaq
ue mea probare sanctissimis moribus tuis cupiam.
3 A (20.) — TO TRAJAN.
The moment, sir, I was promoted by your favour, and that of your father, to the post of Prefect of the Treasury of Saturn, I renounced all employment as an advocate (which, independently of this, I had never exercised in a promiscuous fashion), in order to devote my whole attention to the functions delegated to me. For which reason, when the Provincials chose me as their patron against Marius Priscus, I begged to be excused this office, and obtained my wish. But when subsequently the Consul-Elect gave it as his opinion that we, whose excuse had been accepted, should be urged to place ourselves at the disposal of the Senate, and to suffer our names to be thrown with others into the urn, I deemed it most in accord with the even tenor of your reign not to resist the desire, especially such a moderate one, of the most honourable House. I hope that this compliance of mine will be thought by you to be justified, since it is my wish to make all my acts and deeds approved to your most noble disposition.
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Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Younger (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics) Page 128
