Pliny
Epistula 7.20
Commentary by Jacques Bailly
In
this letter, Pliny tries to firmly tie his star to Tacitus.
Sherwin-White dates the letter to 106-107 and thinks that the
book mentioned here sent by Tacitus to Pliny is different from
the book mentioned in Pliny Epistula 8.7.
Text
from thelatinlibrary.com.
C. PLINIUS TACITO SUO S.
1
Librum tuum legi et, quam diligentissime potui, adnotavi quae
commutanda, quae eximenda arbitrarer. Nam et ego verum dicere
assuevi, et tu libenter audire. Neque enim ulli patientius
reprehenduntur, quam qui maxime laudari merentur. 2 Nunc a te
librum meum cum adnotationibus tuis exspecto. O iucundas, o
pulchras vices! Quam me delectat quod, si qua posteris cura
nostri, usquequaque narrabitur, qua concordia simplicitate fide
vixerimus! 3 Erit rarum et insigne, duos homines aetate
dignitate propemodum aequales, non nullius in litteris nominis —
cogor enim de te quoque parcius dicere, quia de me simul dico -,
alterum alterius studia fovisse. 4 Equidem adulescentulus, cum
iam tu fama gloriaque floreres, te sequi, tibi 'longo sed
proximus intervallo' et esse et haberi concupiscebam. Et erant
multa clarissima ingenia; sed tu mihi — ita similitudo naturae
ferebat — maxime imitabilis, maxime imitandus videbaris. 5 Quo
magis gaudeo, quod si quis de studiis sermo, una nominamur, quod
de te loquentibus statim occurro. Nec desunt qui utrique nostrum
praeferantur. 6 Sed nos, nihil interest mea quo loco, iungimur;
nam mihi primus, qui a te proximus. Quin etiam in testamentis
debes adnotasse: nisi quis forte alterutri nostrum amicissimus,
eadem legata et quidem pariter accipimus. 7 Quae omnia huc
spectant, ut invicem ardentius diligamus, cum tot vinculis nos
studia mores fama, suprema denique hominum iudicia constringant.
Vale.
§1-2
Pliny fawns on Tacitus. The principle that those who most
deserve to be praised accept criticism best is surely
empirically not true, but it sounds good and heightens Pliny's
praise of Tacitus, as does the claim that Pliny tells the truth,
truth which Tacitus gladly hears. The socially obligated
reciprocity of reading ("I'll read yours if you'll read mine")
is clearly a feature of literary society of the time: it is a
frequent subject of mirth in Martial's humorous epigrams (he
doesn't want to recite his poems, because he knows that then
he'll have to listen to someone else's poems).
1
Librum tuum legi et, quam diligentissime potui, adnotavi quae
commutanda, quae eximenda arbitrarer. Nam et ego verum dicere
assuevi, et tu libenter audire. Neque enim ulli patientius
reprehenduntur, quam qui maxime laudari merentur. 2 Nunc
a te librum meum cum adnotationibus tuis exspecto. O iucundas, o
pulchras vices! Quam me delectat quod, si qua posteris cura
nostri, usquequaque narrabitur, qua concordia simplicitate fide
vixerimus!
librum:
It is not precisely clear to which work this refers: likely Dialogues
or Histories, according to Sherwin-White's
commentary. | quam diligentissime: quam +
superlative = "as ____ as possible." | quae commutanda, quae
eximenda arbitrer: commutanda ... eximenda (sc. esse).
arbitrer subjunctive in indirect question. |
commutanda: the prefix com- often adds the
meaning "completely" or "thoroughly" to the verb it is
prefixed to. It does so later in this letter once again in
concupiscebam. | o iucundas, o pulchras vices:
accusatives of exclamation.
Sentence Structure (each indentation = one level of
subordination)
quam:
not a relative pronoun. | quod: also not a
relative pronoun. | si qua posteris cura nostri: 1) qua:
remember, after si, nisi, num, and ne, every ali-
drops away. 2) posteris dative of possession dependent
on cura (arma sunt mihi means "I have arms"); 3)
cura (sc. fuerit); 4) the genitive pronouns
nostri, vestri, sui, tui, and mei are most
often objective/subjective genitives (there are, however, adjective
forms that are identical in spelling but can be either genitive
sg. or nominative pl.). | qua concordia simplicitate fide:
asyndeton.
§3-4
Pliny hitched his star to Tacitus', because as an adulescentulus,
he thought he was able to follow in Tacitus' footsteps and
thought that was a most worthwhile thing to do. The relative
ages of Tacitus and Pliny are not precisely known, but this
passage offers vague evidence that Tacitus was older, although
not by much: Tacitus was praetor in 88 and Pliny in 93, and
there is not much other evidence for their relative ages.
3
Erit rarum et insigne, duos homines aetate dignitate
propemodum aequales, non nullius in litteris nominis — cogor
enim de te quoque parcius dicere, quia de me simul dico -,
alterum alterius studia fovisse. 4 Equidem
adulescentulus, cum iam tu fama gloriaque floreres, te sequi,
tibi 'longo sed proximus intervallo' et esse et haberi
concupiscebam. Et erant multa clarissima ingenia; sed tu mihi —
ita similitudo naturae ferebat — maxime imitabilis, maxime
imitandus videbaris.
erit rarum et insigne: aside from this main clause,
everything else in this sentence is a longish acc. + inf. (homines
... fovisse) with a parenthetical sentence inside of it (cogor
... dico). The acc. + inf. is the subject of erit;
rarum et insigne is thus a predicate nominative.
Alternatively, with no difference in meaning, rarum et
insigne could be the subject and the large acc. + inf.
could be the predicate nominative. | aetate dignitate propemodum aequales: aetate
and dignitate in asyndeton, dependent on aequales.
| non nullius nominis: litotes, genitive of description,
and alliterative, describing the homines.| parcius:
comparative adverb: the rule is that the accusative neuter sg.
of the comparative adjective is used as the comparative adverb.
| cum ... floreres: cum clauses referring to the
past have subjunctives if they primarily specify circumstances
in which, the indicative if they primarily specify time at which
the main verb occurred (A&G §546). The difference
between circumstances and time at which is often just a matter
of how the writer presents it, not something that we can decide
independently of the author's intention. | te sequi ... tibi
... proximus ... et esse et haberi: complementary
infinitives dependent on concupiscebam. | tibi
'longo sed proximus intervallo': 1) proximus takes
dat.; 2) longo intervallo is an ablative of degree
of difference; 3) the quotation is from Aeneid 5.320. |
Et erant multa clarissima ingenia: sc. tum cum
adulescentulus eram. | similitudo ferebat:
"require, demand" is a rare meaning of fero which
typically occurs with an abstract subject.
§5-7
And now it gives Pliny joy to find that he and Tacitus' are
often mentioned in the same breath. And society confirms their
bond by the fact that they tend to be mentioned equally in
people's wills (one extant will, in Fontes Iuris Romani
Anteiustiniani 3.48, mentions both).
5 Quo magis gaudeo, quod si quis de studiis sermo, una
nominamur, quod de te loquentibus statim occurro. Nec desunt qui
utrique nostrum praeferantur. 6 Sed nos, nihil interest
mea quo loco, iungimur; nam mihi primus, qui a te proximus. Quin
etiam in testamentis debes adnotasse: nisi quis forte alterutri
nostrum amicissimus, eadem legata et quidem pariter accipimus. 7
Quae omnia huc spectant, ut invicem ardentius diligamus, cum
tot vinculis nos studia mores fama, suprema denique hominum
iudicia constringant. Vale.
Sentence Structure (indentation = one level of
subordination)
Vocabulary
accipio,
accipere, accepi, acceptus, receive
adnotatio,
-onis, f., remark
adnoto
(1), remark, observe
adulescentulus,
-e, m., youth
aequalis,
-e, equal
aetas,
-atis, f., age
alteruter,
alterutra, alterutrum, one or the other
amicus,
-a, um, friendly; friend (as a substantive)
arbitror
(1), think, judge
ardeo,
ardere, arsi, arsum, be
on fire, burn
assuesco,
assuescere, assuevi, assuetum, be accustomed to, be used to
clarus,
-a, -um, illustrious, brilliant
cogo,
cogere, coegi, coactum, constrain, compel, force
commuto
(1), change, revise
concordia,
-ae, f., harmony, concord
concupisco,
concupiscere, concupi(v)i, concupitum, desire very much
constringo,
constringere, constrinxi, constrictum, tie together, bind
together
debeo,
debere, debui, debitum, ought, should
delecto
(1), delight
denique,
finally
dignitas,
-atis, f., dignity
diligens,
-entis, careful
diligo,
diligere, dilexi, dilectum, love, value, esteem
equidem
= ego + quidem
eximo,
eximere, exemi, exemptum, remove, delete
exspecto
(1), await
fama,
ae, f., reputation
fero, ferre, tuli, latus, require, demand (with an abstract
subject: a rare meaning)
floreo,
florere, florui, flourish, be in top condition
forte,
adv., perhaps
foveo,
fovere, fovi, fotum, cherish, foster
gaudeo,
gaudere, gavisus sum, enjoy (+abl.)
gloria,
-ae, f., renown, glory
huc,
to this place, hither
iam,
at the time (whatever time, whether it is present or past or
future)
imitabilis,
-e, imitable
imitor/imito
(1), imitate, copy
ingenium,
-i, n., nature, character, intellect
insignis,
-e, distinguished, eminent, noted
interest
mea, it matters to me
intervallum,
-i, n., distance, difference
invicem,
by turns, one after another, alternately
iucundus,
-a, -um, joyful, pleasant, pleasurable
iudicium,
-i, n., decision, opinion
iungo,
iungere, iunxi, iunctum, join
lego
(1), leave as a legacy, appoint in a will
lego,
legere, legi, lectum, read
libenter,
willingly, gladly
liber,
libri, m., book
loquor,
loqui, locutus sum, speak, talk
maxime,
especially
mereor,
mereri, meritus, deserve, merit
mos,
moris, m., habit; mores, morum, m. pl., character
narro
(1), tell, narrate
nihil,
nothing; not at all (adverbial use)
nisi,
if ... not, unless
nomino
(1), name, mention
occurro,
occurrere, occurri, occursum, suggest itself to one's mind,
occur,
parcus,
-a, -um, sparing, frugal
pariter,
equally
patiens,
-entis, patient
posteri,
-orum, m. pl., those who follow, posterity
praefero,
praeferre, praetuli, praelatus, esteem more, prefer
propemodum,
nearly, almost
proximus,
-a, -um, very near, very close; nearest
pulcher,
pulchra, pulchrum, beautiful, pretty
quam, how much, to what degree
quia,
because
quidem,
indeed
quin
etiam, yes, indeed; no, indeed
quod,
the fact that
reprehendo,
reprehendere, reprehendi, reprehensum, criticize
sermo,
-onis, m., conversation, discourse
similitudo,
-inis, f., similarity
simplicitas,
-atis, f., candor, frankness, naturalness
specto
(1), look at), gaze at
statim,
immediately, at once
studium,
-i,. n., study, zeal
supremus,
-a, -um, last, final, extreme
testamentum,
-i, n., will
tot,
so many
una,
adv., together, in the same place
usquequaque,
everywhere, at every time
uterque,
utraque, utrumque, each
vicis,
(no genitive occurs, but it is 3rd declension), f., exchange,
alternating (often in plural)
vinculum,
-i, n., bond
vivo,
vivere, vixi, victum, live