C. PLINIVS TRAIANO IMPERATORI
Commentary by Leanne Goulette, revised by J. Bailly
Text:
ad Traianum Imperatorem 10.41
(1) Intuenti mihi et fortunae tuae et animi magnitudinem
conuenientissimum
uidetur demonstrari opera non minus aeternitate tua quam gloria
digna,
quantumque pulchritudinis tantum utilitatis habitura.
(2) Est in Nicomedensium finibus amplissimus lacus. Per hunc marmora
fructus ligna materiae et sumptu modico et labore usque ad uiam
nauibus, inde magno labore maiore impendio uehiculis ad mare
deuehuntur
... hoc opus multas manus poscit. At eae porro non desunt. Nam et in
agris magna copia est hominum et maxima in civitate, certaque spes
omnes libentissime aggressuros opus omnibus fructuosum.
(3) Superest ut tu libratorem vel architectum si tibi videbitur
mittas,
qui diligenter exploret, sitne lacus altior mari, quem artifices
regionis huius quadraginta cubitis altiorem esse contendunt.
(4) Ego per eadem loca invenio fossam a rege percussam, sed incertum
utrum ad colligendum umorem circumiacentium agrorum an ad
committendum
flumini lacum; est enim imperfecta. Hoc quoque dubium, intercepto
rege
mortalitate an desperato operis effectu.
(5) Sed hoc ipso - feres enim me ambitiosum pro tua gloria - incitor
et
accendor, ut cupiam peragi a te quae tantum coeperant reges.
Text is from www.thelatinlibrary.com, as submitted by Hansulrich
Guhl
(Frauenfeld, Switzerland) from an unidentified edition.
Commentary
This letter was written from Pliny the Younger to the Emperor Trajan
around the middle of January in the year 104. The letter proposes
the
completion of a canal that would connect a lake in Nicomedia to the
sea
to transport natural resources such as timber and marble.
Intuenti mihi et fortunae tuae et animi magnitudinem
conuenientissimum uidetur demonstrari opera non minus aeternitate
tua
quam gloria digna, quantumque pulchritudinis tantum utilitatis
habitura.
Intuenti . . . habitura: the length of the phrases in this
sentence
make it potentially difficult. The basic sentence is simple:
an
infinitive phrase
('demonstrari' and what depends on it) acts as the subject of
the main
verb 'videtur.'
'convenientissimum' is a predicate nominative. Also dependent
on
'videtur' is the dative phrase 'intuenti mihi' (and
its direct object
phrase 'et fortunae tuae et animi magnitudinem').
intuenti mihi: The position of intuenti mihi is
emphatic, and so might
be translated "To me at least. . . ." This participle has a direct
object, and that direct object has two genitives that go with it in
turn. Everything between 'intuenti' and its object is part of
the same
phrase.
convenientissimum: why neuter? Remember that infinitives are
neuter.
videtur: the subject of videtur is the infinitive
phrase 'demonstrari
. . . habitura.'
opera . . . habitura: opera is the object of demonstrari,
and it is
modified by two phrases, each of which has correlatives (non
minus . .
. quam and tantum . . . quantum).
digna: what case does dignus, -a, -um take?
quantum . . . tantum: just as English 'as much . . . as . . .
.' can
take genitives (as in "he has as much of his mother's intelligence
as
of his father's wit"), so too quantum and tantum in
Latin can take
genitives.
(2) Est in Nicomedensium finibus amplissimus lacus. Per hunc marmora
fructus ligna materiae et sumptu modico et labore usque ad uiam
nauibus, inde magno labore maiore impendio uehiculis ad mare
deuehuntur
... hoc opus multas manus poscit. At eae porro non desunt. Nam et in
agris magna copia est hominum et maxima in civitate, certaque spes
omnes libentissime aggressuros opus omnibus fructuosum.
Nicomedensium: genitive plural of Nicomedenses, which
is literally 'the
people of
Nicomedia,' but here it means the place Nicomedia. Place names are
frequently plurals.
finibus: this word means 'territory' in the plural and
'border' in
the singular.
Per hunc . . . devehuntur: devehuntur is the verb for
both clauses.
English needs to repeat it, but Latin is happy to leave it out in
the
first clause.
marmora fructus ligna materiae: this is a list in asyndeton.
Where
English says 'x, y, and z,' Latin can have 'x et y et z'
or 'x y z' or
'x y et z.' When there is no 'et' (or other connecting
particle), it
is called 'asyndeton.'
modico: modifies both sumptu and labore.
magno labore maiore impendio: another asyndeton. You must
supply an
'et'
for translation.
devehuntur . . . hoc opus: scholars have suggested that there
may be a
problem with the text here. Perhaps something has been lost.
Sherwin-White suggests that section 4 may have originally been here,
because it would make good sense here, and it makes little sense at
the
end of the letter (eadem loca has no obvious antecedent
there, but here
it would).
certaque spes: supply an impersonal 'est' as the verb.
Remember that
words of hoping can take indirect speech (as in English "I hope THAT
you like
it" or "There is hope THAT she likes it"): in Latin, the verb in
indirect speech dependent on verbs of hoping is most frequently
infinitive (aggressuros [esse]).
omnes...adgressuros...(esse)...fructuosum:
indirect statement set up by
spes.
(3) Superest ut tu libratorem vel architectum si tibi videbitur
mittas,
qui diligenter exploret, sitne lacus altior mari, quem artifices
regionis huius quadraginta cubitis altiorem esse contendunt.
superest: although verbs like this are often called
'impersonal,' the
subject is the ut clause, called a 'nominal ut
clause' because it
performs the function of a noun.
mittas: present subjunctive in a nominal ut clause.
si tibi videtur: videtur can mean 'it seems
good/right' as well as 'it
seems.'
exploret: present subjunctive in a relative clause of
purpose.
sit: why subjunctive? Hint: -ne.
quadraginta cubitis: from cubitum (lit. elbow); here
it is used as a
measurement from the elbow to the end of the middle finger, similar
to
the measurement of a foot. Ablative of degree of difference.
(4) Ego per eadem loca invenio fossam a rege percussam, sed incertum
utrum ad colligendum umorem circumiacentium agrorum an ad
committendum
flumini lacum; est enim imperfecta. Hoc quoque dubium, intercepto
rege
mortalitate an desperato operis effectu.
eadem loca: this phrase has no clear referent in the
preceding, which
led
Sherwin-White to suspect that the whole section might have
originally
been in Section 2 between devehuntur and hoc opus.
incertum: supply est.
utrum . . . an: used to introduce alternative indirect
questions.
ad colligendum . . . ad committendum. . . : one of several
ways to
express purpose in Latin.
dubium: supply a verb.
intercepto . . . effectu: compressed speech. You need to
supply a verb
from what precedes. The verb would be subjunctive if it were
expressed,
because this is another set of two alternative indirect questions.
(5) Sed hoc ipso - feres enim me ambitiosum pro tua gloria - incitor
et
accendor, ut cupiam peragi a te quae tantum coeperant reges.
feres: here the verb means 'tolerate' or 'forgive.'
feres me ambitiosum: a double accusative construction.
English does not
use a double accusative with 'tolerate' or 'forgive,' so you have to
find a different, but appropriate, English construction for the
thought.
cupiam: is this subjunctive in a purpose or a result clause?
tantum: what word does 'only' modify? (Compare English 'only
kings had
begun' and 'kings had only begun).
Vocabulary
accendo, accendere, accendi, accensum, kindle; excite
adgre-dior, -di, -ssus, undertake, take up (a task)
aeternitas, aeternitatis, f., eternity
altior, altioris, higher
ambitios-us, -a, -um, ambitious
amplissim-us, -a, -um, most splendid, extensive
architect-us, -i, m., architect
artifex, artificis, m., expert, master (lit. artist)
cert-us, -a, -um, assured, certain
circumiacen-s, -tis, neighbouring
comm-itto -ittere, -isi, -issum, join, connect
contendo, contendere, contendi, contentum, assert, maintain
conveniens, convenientis, appropriate
cubit-um, -i, n., elbow; measurement from elbow to the end of
middle
finger
demonstro (1), state clearly; prove, show
desperat-us, -a, -um, desperate, hopeless
de-sum, -esse, -fui, be missing, lacking
deve-ho, -here, -xi, -ctum, carry down
dign-us, -a, -um, (+abl.), worthy (of)
effectus, effectus, m., completion; operation; consequence
explor-o (1), survey (lit. investigate)
finis, finis, m., boundary; (m. pl.) territory
foss-a, ae, f., canal (lit. ditch or trench)
fructuos-us, -a, -um, profitable
impendium, impendii, n., expense
imperfect-us, -a, -um, unfinished
incit-or (1), impel, inspire
inde, from there
intercipio, intercipere, intercepi, interceptus, interrupt, cut
off
intu-eor, -eri, -itus, consider, examine
lacus, lacus, m., lake
libentissime, most willingly
librator, libratoris, m., surveyor
lignum, ligni, n., wood, firewood
magnitudo, magnitudinis, f., greatness
marmor, marmoris, n., marble
minus, less
modic-us, -a, -um, moderate, reasonable
mortalitas, mortalitatis, f., death, mortality
Nicomedenses, m.pl., people from Nicomedia; Nicomedia
opus, operis, n., work; structure, building
per-ago, -agere, -egi, -actum, complete (lit. carry through)
percu-tio, -tere, -ssi, -ssum, cut/strike through
porro, moreover, then
posc-o, -ere, poposci, require, demand
pulchritudo, pulchritudinis, f., beauty
regio, regionis, f., province
super-sum, -esse, -fui, remain, survive
umor, umoris, m., moisture, water
vehiculum, vehiculi, n., cart