Plinii Epistula I.1
Commentary by J. Bailly
Text
C. Plinius Septicio Suo S.
Frequenter hortatus es ut epistulas, si quas paulo curatius
scripsissem, colligerem publicaremque. Collegi non servato temporis
ordine (neque enim historiam componebam), sed ut quaeque in manus
venerat. Superest ut nec te consilii nec me paeniteat obsequii. Ita
enim fiet, ut eas quae adhuc neglectae iacent requiram et si quas
addidero non supprimam. Vale.
Text is from www.thelatinlibrary.com, as submitted by
Hansulrich Guhl (Frauenfeld, Switzerland) from an unidentified edition.
Commentary
From the first two sentences, this letter seems obviously composed for
the purpose of introducing a collection of letters, and it also seems
that the collection has already been put in order and perhaps also made
available.
The reference in the last sentence to searching out overlooked
letters and revealing any future letters refers to the promise of
future collections, or addenda to the one already collected.
ut colligerem publicaremque: indirect command.
quas: remember that "after, si, nisi, num, and ne, all the 'ali's drop
away."
paulo curatius scripsissem: this is the criterion which Pliny gives for
how he selected which of his letters to include in the collection. The
manner of writing is important, but he does not mention subject matter
as a criterion.
neque enim historiam componebam: ironically, Pliny's letters are an
important source for history, especially for the social life of
upper-crust Rome.
ut . . . venerat: remember that not every ut introduces a subjunctive
clause.
superest ut . . . obsequii: the subject of the apparently impersonal
superest is actually the ut clause. The ut clause is a nominal clause.
Remember that paenitet me huius facti can be translated "I regret this
deed."
consilii: refers to the suggestion Septicius Clarus made to Pliny
that he should collect his letters.
ita . . ., ut . . . ita: prepares for the ut result clause. That ut
result clause is actually the subject of the passive verb fiet.
ut . . . requiram . . . si . . . addidero . . . supprimam: requiram and
supprimam can be translated as future. Morphologically, they could be
future indicative or present subjunctive, but they are in a result
clause, and so must be what mood? Addidero, on the other hand, can only
be one thing.
quas: remember that "after, si, nisi, num, and ne, all the 'ali's drop
away."
Vocabulary
addo, addere, addidi, additum, add, increase
adhuc, up to this point
colligo, colligere, collegi, collectum, gather
compono, componere, composui, compositum, put together
curatus, a, um, careful
fio, fieri, factus sum, happen, occur
frequenter, often
hortor (1), urge
iaceo, iacere, iacui, lie, be situated
manus, us, f., hand
neglego, neglegere, neglexi, neglectum, disregard, overlook
obsequium, i, n., compliance, obedience
ordo, ordinis, f., order
paenitet (impesonal + acc. of person +gen. of thing), regret
publico (1), publish
quisque, quaeque, quicque, each
requiro, requirere, requisivi, requisitum, look for
servo (1), preserve
superest, remain
supprimo, supprimere, suppressi, suppressum, keep secret