Commentary on Pliny II. X
by Andrew Van Buskirk, revised by
J. Bailly
Introduction
In this letter Pliny prevails upon one of his literary friends, a
man named Octavius Rufus, to publish his
poems. Pliny warns Octavius that if he doesn’t publish them
quickly they may be plagiarized. There was apparently a wide
enough audience to make this a concern. Pliny wrote one other
letter to Octavius (1.7) and mentioned him briefly in another
(9.38).
Text:
C. Plinius Octavio Suo S.
I. Hominem te patientem vel potius durum ac paene crudelem, qui tam
insignes libros tam diu teneas! Quousque et tibi et nobis
invidebis, tibi maxima laude, nobis voluptate? Sine per ora
hominum ferantur isdemque quibus lingua Romana spatiis
pervagentur. Magna enim longaque exspectatio est, quam
frustrari adhuc et differre non debes. Enotuerunt quidam tui
versus et invito te claustra sua refregerunt. Hos nisi
retrahis in corpus, quandoque ut errones aliquem, cuius dicantur,
invenient. Habe ante oculos mortalitatem, a qua adserere te
hoc uno monimento potes; nam cetera fragilia et caduca non minus
quam ipsi homines occidunt desinuntque.
II. Dices, ut soles: ‘Amici mei viderint.’ Opto equidem amicos
tibi tam fideles, tam eruditos, tam laboriosos, ut tantum curae
intentionisque suscipere et possint et velint, sed dispice, ne sit
parum providum sperare ex aliis, quod tibi ipse non praestes.
Et de editione quidem interim, ut voles, recita saltem, quo magis
libeat emittere, utque tandem percipias gaudium, quod ego olim pro
te non temere praesumo. Imaginor enim, qui concursus, quae
admiratio te, qui clamor, quod etiam silentium maneat; quo ego, cum
dico vel recito, non minus quam clamore delector, sit modo silentium
acre et intentum et cupidum ulteriora audiendi. Hoc fructu
tanto, tam parato desine studia tua infinita ista cunctatione
fraudare; quae cum modum excedit, verendum est, ne inertiae et
desidiae vel etiam timiditatis nomen accipiat. Vale.
Commentary
I.
hominem te patientem etc.
exclamatory accusatives.
teneas subjunctive in
explanatory relative clause of characteristic.
Quousque = quo usque
Invidebis is taking here
dative of person and ablative of thing begrudged. It can take
variously the dat., abl., and gen.
sine per ora . . . pervagentur Sine is
the imperative of sino and is followed by two
semi-independent subjunctives, ferantur and pervagentur, whose
subject is the plural libri from the first sentence. Quibus
refers to isdemque and has an understood pervagentur.
isdem = eisdem
isdem ... spatiis
and quibus abl. of
place in which
quam a relative pronoun, not
to be confused with its use as the particle meaning "how" or as a
comparative "than."
quidam note the 'a'
in
quidam. Not a postpositive quidem meaning
"indeed." Modifies
versus, as does tui.
invito te concessive
ablative absolute
ut errones ut
does not introduce a subordinate clause here, but is simply
equivalent to the English "as."
aliquem cuius dicantur invenient there
is
a risk to not publishing. Sherwin-White p. 159: "Martial complains
persistently in his first book (29, 38, 52 53, &c) of a
plagiarus who recites Martial’s poems as his own."
dicantur present subjunctive
in relative clause of characteristic.
habe 2nd person sing.
imper.
a qua adserere
ablative of separation.
cetera fragilia et caduca
sc. occidunt desinuntque. fragilia and caduca
are predicative.
II.
viderint perfect
jussive subjunctive with present meaning. "Let them see to
that," but no direct object – an elliptical use of the verb.
equidem differs from quidem
in that it most often accompanies first person verbs and means ego
quidem. In Cicero it is confined to that sense. (A&G
322f)
tam . . . tam . . . tam
tam frequently prepares for a result clause. These phrases
are in asyndeton.
tantum takes a genitive ("so much of _____"),
where English uses an adjective "so much ___."
possint et velint
subjunctives in a result clause.
quod tibi ipse quod
refers to the entire preceding clause.
ne sit parum providum
subjunctive in a fear clause.
non praestes
subjunctive in a relative clause of characteristic.
editione – Sherwin-White p.
91: "This and other forms of edere refer to the final
placing of the much revised book in the hands of the librarii
or bibliopolae to copy and sell."
ut another use of ut
meaning "as."
quo magis libeat emittere
a
result clause containing a comparative must take quo instead
of ut. Sc. tibi as indirect object of libeat.
percipias subjunctive in result clause.
olim functions here like dum;
"for a long time now"
qui concursus, quae admiratio te
qui clamor another set of phrases in asyndeton.
maneat subjunctive in indirect question. Maneat
is normally not transitive, but here means "to wait for."
cum dico vel recito also see
Pliny 1.13 for a description of a recitation. Sherwin-White p.
115 "The ‘recitation’ as met in the Silver Latin writers is an
innovation of the Principate, due according to the elder Seneca to
Asinius Pollio, who in the time of Augustus began to invite guests
to the readings of his own works (Sen. Contr. 4, pref. 2; Isidore
Orig. 6.52). It became the popular form of initial publication,
providing the cheapest and quickest means of making works known to
the largest educated audience before the invention of printing"
sit modo silentium . . . subjunctive
in
a proviso clause (indicated by modo).
audiendi genitive
gerund taking for direct object ulteriora and dependent on cupidum.
fraudare + acc. of person +
abl. of thing. tua studia is in the accusative and is
metonymic for the poet. He is being defrauded of hoc
fructu tanto, tam parato. tua infinita ista cunctatione
= abl. of means.
verendum est passive
periphrastic construction.
ne . . . accipiat
subjunctive in a negative result clause.
Vocabulary
accipio, accipere, accepi, acceptum, acquire
acer, acris, acre, keen, piercing
adhuc, to this degree; up to now, still
admiratio, -onis f. admiration; wonder, astonishment
adsero, -serere, -serui, -sertum, to set free from, protect
caducus, -a, -um liable to fall, frail, perishable,
transitory
clamor, -oris m., shout of applause
claustrum, -i n. a means of shutting in; enclosure, prison,
den
concursus, -us, m., a rushing together, meeting
corpus, corporis, n., body (of an author's work)
crudelis, -is, -e, cruel
cunctatio, -onis f. a delay, lingering, hesitation
delecto, -are, delight
desidia, -ae f. idleness, inactivity, apathy
desino, -sinere, -sii, -situm to leave off, cease, give
over, desist
differro, -differre, -distuli, -dilatum to carry in
different directions, to delay
dispicio, -spicere, -spexi, -spectum, to see clearly, watch
out, esp. by an effort
editio, -onis f., the publishing of a book
emitto, -mittere, -misi, -missum, to send forth, send out;
to publish; to utter
enotesco, -notescere, -notui to become known, be made public
erro, -onis m. a wanderer, vagabond
eruditus, -a, -um instructed, educated, trained
excedo, excedere, excessi, excessum, exceed
exspectatio, -ionis f. a waiting for, expectation
fraudo (1), defraud (of), deprive (of) (+ acc. object +abl. of
separation)
fructus, -us, m., fruit, enjoyment
frustror, -ari to disappoint
imaginor, -ari, to imagine, conceive, picture to oneself
inertia, -ae f., slothfulness
insignis, -e adj. distinguished, remarkable
intentio, -onis f., effort, exertion
intentus, -a, -um, anxious, intent
interim meanwhile, in the meantime
invenio, invenire, inveni, inventum, find
invideo, invidere, invidi, invisum, begrudge (+abl. of thing, dat.
of person)
invitus, -a, -um, unwilling
laboriosus, -a, -um industrious, undergoing trouble and
hardship
libet, -bere, -buit or bitum it pleases, is agreeable
maneo, -ere, mansi, mansum trans. to wait for
minus, adv., less
modo, if only (indicating a proviso clause)
modus, -i, m. a measure, standard of measure
monimentum = monumentum, -i, n., a memorial, monument
occido, -cidere, -cidi, -cisum, to die, perish
opto,-are to choose, elect, select; to wish for, desire
os, oris, n., mouth
paratus, -a, -um, prepared, ready
patiens, -entis, easy-going, tolerant; capable of enduring
percipio, -cipere, -cipi, -ceptum to lay hold of, take
possession of; to feel, take in
pervagor, -ari, to wander through, to be widely spread
praesto, -stare, -stiti, -stitum to perform, execute,
fulfill, provide
praesumo, -sumere, -sumpsi, -sumptum, to anticipate
providus, -a, -um, providing, taking measures for
quandoque, at some time
quousque how long?, to what degree?
recito, are, to read aloud, read publicly
refringo, -fringere, -fregi, -fractum to break open
retraho, retrahere, retraxi, retractum, draw back, pull back
saltem, at least
spatium, -i n. space
suscipio, suscipere, suscepi, susceptum, undertake
temere adv. blindly, recklessly
teneo, tenere, tenui, tentum, hold; hold back, withhold
timiditas, -atis f., fearfulness, timidity
ulterior, ulterioris, additional, further
vereor, vereri, veritus, fear
versus, -us, m., verse
Bibliography
The Letters of Pliny: A Historical
and Social Commentary. A.N. Sherwin-White. Oxford at the
Clarendon Press. 1966