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+
+
+
+Produced by David Reed and David Widger
+
+
+
+LETTERS OF PLINY
+
+By Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus
+
+Translated by William Melmoth
+
+
+Revised by F. C. T. Bosanquet
+
+
+
+GAIUS PLINIUS CAECILIUS SECUNDUS, usually known as Pliny the Younger,
+was born at Como in 62 A. D. He was only eight years old when his father
+Caecilius died, and he was adopted by his uncle, the elder Pliny, author
+of the Natural History. He was carefully educated, studying rhetoric
+under Quintilian and other famous teachers, and he became the most
+eloquent pleader of his time. In this and in much else he imitated
+Cicero, who had by this time come to be the recognized master of Latin
+style. While still young he served as military tribune in Syria, but he
+does not seem to have taken zealously to a soldier's life. On his return
+he entered politics under the Emperor Domitian; and in the year 100 A.
+D. was appointed consul by Trajan and admitted to confidential
+intercourse with that emperor. Later while he was governor of Bithynia,
+he was in the habit of submitting every point of policy to his master,
+and the correspondence between Trajan and him, which forms the last part
+of the present selection, is of a high degree of interest, both on
+account of the subjects discussed and for the light thrown on the
+characters of the two men. He is supposed to have died about 113 A. D.
+Pliny's speeches are now lost, with the exception of one, a panegyric on
+Trajan delivered in thanksgiving for the consulate. This, though diffuse
+and somewhat too complimentary for modern taste, became a model for this
+kind of composition. The others were mostly of two classes, forensic and
+political, many of the latter being, like Cicero's speech against
+Verres, impeachments of provincial governors for cruelty and extortion
+toward their subjects. In these, as in his public activities in general,
+he appears as a man of public spirit and integrity; and in his relations
+with his native town he was a thoughtful and munificent benefactor.
+
+The letters, on which to-day his fame mainly rests, were largely written
+with a view to publication, and were arranged by Pliny himself. They
+thus lack the spontaneity of Cicero's impulsive utterances, but to most
+modern readers who are not special students of Roman history they are
+even more interesting. They deal with a great variety of subjects: the
+description of a Roman villa; the charms of country life; the reluctance
+of people to attend author's readings and to listen when they were
+present; a dinner party; legacy-hunting in ancient Rome; the acquisition
+of a piece of statuary; his love for his young wife; ghost stories;
+floating islands, a tame dolphin, and other marvels. But by far the best
+known are those describing the great eruption of Vesuvius in which his
+uncle perished, a martyr to scientific curiosity, and the letter to
+Trajan on his attempts to suppress Christianity in Bithynia, with
+Trajan's reply approving his policy. Taken altogether, these letters
+give an absorbingly vivid picture of the days of the early empire, and
+of the interests of a cultivated Roman gentleman of wealth.
+Occasionally, as in the last letters referred to, they deal with
+important historical events; but their chief value is in bringing before
+us, in somewhat the same manner as "The Spectator" pictures the England
+of the age of Anne, the life of a time which is not so unlike our own as
+its distance in years might indicate. And in this time by no means the
+least interesting figure is that of the letter-writer himself, with his
+vanity and self-importance, his sensibility and generous affection, his
+pedantry and his loyalty.
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+
+LETTERS GAIUS PLINIUS CAECILIUS SECUNDUS
+
+I -- To SEPTITTUS
+
+II -- To ARRIANUS
+
+III -- To VOCONIUS ROMANUS
+
+IV -- To CORNELIUS TACITUS
+
+V -- To POMPEIUS SATURNINUS
+
+VI -- To ATRIUS CLEMENS
+
+VII -- To FABIUS JUSTUS
+
+VIII -- To CALESTRIUS TIRO
+
+IX -- To SOCIUS SENECIO
+
+X -- To JUNSUS MAURICUS
+
+XI -- To SEPTITIUS CLARUS
+
+XII -- To SUETONIUS TRANQUILLUS
+
+XIII -- To ROMANUS FIRMUS
+
+XIV -- TO CORNELIUS TACITUS
+
+XV -- To PATERNUS
+
+XVI -- To CATILIUS SEVERUS [27]
+
+XVII -- To VOCONIUS ROMANUS
+
+XVIII -- To NEPOS
+
+XIX -- To AVITUS
+
+XX -- To MACRINUS
+
+XXI -- To PAISCUS
+
+XXII -- To MAIMUS
+
+XXIII -- To GALLUS
+
+XXIV -- To CEREALIS
+
+XXV -- To CALVISIUS
+
+XXVI -- To CALVISIUS
+
+XXVII -- To BAEBIUS MACER
+
+XXVIII -- To ANNIUS SEVERUS
+
+XXIX -- To CANINIUS RUFUS
+
+XXX -- To SPURINNA AND COTTIA[53]
+
+XXXI -- To JULIUS GENITOR
+
+XXXII -- To CATILIUS SEVERUS
+
+XXXIII -- To ACILIUS
+
+XXXIV -- To NEPOS
+
+XXXV -- To SEVERUS
+
+XXXVI -- To CALVISIUS RUFUS
+
+XXXVII -- To CORNELIUS PRISCUS
+
+XXXVIII -- To FABATUS (HIS WIFE'S GRANDFATHER)
+
+XXXIX -- To ATTIUS CLEMENS
+
+XL -- To CATIUS LEPIDUS
+
+XLI -- To MATURUS ARRIANUS
+
+XLII -- To STATIUS SABINUS
+
+XLIII -- To CORNELIUS MINICIANUS
+
+XLV -- To ASINIUS
+
+XLVI -- To HISPULLA
+
+XLVII -- To ROMATIUS FIASIUS
+
+XLVIII -- To LICINIUS SURA
+
+XLIX -- To ANNIUS SEVERUS
+
+L -- To TITIUS ARISTO
+
+LI -- To NONIUS MAXIMUS
+
+LII -- To DOMITIUS APOLLINARIS
+
+LIII -- To CALVISIUS
+
+LIV -- To MARCELLINUS
+
+LV -- To SPURINNA
+
+LVI -- To PAULINUS
+
+LVII -- To RUFUS
+
+LVIII -- To ARRIANUS
+
+LIX -- To CALPURNIA[88]
+
+LX -- To CALPURNIA
+
+LXI -- To PRISCUS
+
+LXII -- To ALBINUS
+
+LXIII -- To MAXIMUS
+
+LXIV -- To ROMANUS
+
+LXV -- To TACITUS
+
+LXVI -- To CORNELIUS TACITUS
+
+LX VII -- To MACER
+
+LXVIII -- To SERVIANUS
+
+LXIX -- To SEVERUS
+
+LXX -- To FABATUS
+
+LXXI -- To CORNELIANUS
+
+LXXII -- To MAXIMUS
+
+LXXIII -- To RESTITUTUS
+
+LXXIV -- To CALPURNIA[111]
+
+LXXV -- To MACRINUS
+
+LXXVI -- To TUSCUS
+
+LXX VII -- To FABATUS (HIS WIFE'S GRANDFATHER)
+
+LXXVIII -- To CORELLIA
+
+LXXIX -- To CELER
+
+LXXX -- To PRISCUS
+
+LXXXI -- To GEMINIUS
+
+LXXXII -- To MAXIMUS
+
+LXXXIII -- To SURA
+
+LXXXIV -- To SEPTITIUS
+
+LXXXV -- To TACITUS
+
+LXXX VI -- To SEPTITIUS
+
+LXXXVII -- To CALVISIUS
+
+LXXX VIII -- To ROMANUS
+
+LXXXIX -- To ARISTO
+
+XC -- To PATERNUS
+
+XCI -- To MACRINUS
+
+XCII -- To RUFINUS
+
+XCIII -- To GALLUS
+
+XCIV -- To ARRIANUS
+
+XCV -- To MAXIMUS
+
+XCVI -- To PAULINUS
+
+XCVII -- To CALVISIUS
+
+XCVIII -- To ROMANUS
+
+XCIX -- To GEMINUS
+
+C -- To JUNIOR
+
+CI -- To QUADRATUS
+
+CII -- To GENITOR
+
+CIII -- To SABINIANUS
+
+CIV -- To MAXIMUS
+
+CV -- To SABINIANUS
+
+CVI -- To LUPERCUS
+
+CVII -- To CANINIUS
+
+CVIII -- To Fuscus
+
+CIX -- To PAULINUS
+
+CX -- To FUSCUS
+
+FOOTNOTES TO THE LETTERS OF PLINY]
+
+
+
+CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+I -- TO THE EMPEROR TRAJAN[1001]
+
+II -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+III -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+IV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+V -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+VI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+VII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+VIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+X -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+XIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XIV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+XVI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XVII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+XVIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XXI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XXII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XXIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XXIV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XXV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XXVI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XXVII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XXVIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XXIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XXX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XXXI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+XXXII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XXXIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+XXXIV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XXXV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+XXXVI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XXX VII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+XXXVIII To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XXXIX -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+XL -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XLI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+XLII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XLIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+XLIV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XLV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+XLVI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XLVII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+XLVIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XLIX -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+L -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+LI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+LII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+LIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+LIV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+LV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+LVI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+LVII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+LVIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+LIX -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+LX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+LXI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+LXII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+LXIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+LXIV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+LXV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+LXVI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+LXVII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+LX VIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+LXIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+LXX -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+LXXI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+LXXII TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+LXXIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+LXX IV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+LXXV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+LXXVI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+LXXVII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+LXXVIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+LXXIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+LXXX -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+LXXXI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+LXXXII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+LXXXIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+LXXXIV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+LXXXV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+LXXXVI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+LXXXVII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+LXXXVIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+LXXXIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XC -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+XCI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XCII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+XCIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XCIV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+XCV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XCVI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+XCVII To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+XCVIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+XCIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+C -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+CI To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+CII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+CIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+CIV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+CV -- To TIlE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+CVI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+CVII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+CVIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+CIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+CX -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+CXI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+CXII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+CXIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+CXIV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+CXV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+CXVI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+CXVII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+CXVIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+CXIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+CXX -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+CXXI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+CXXII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+FOOTNOTES TO THE CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+
+
+LETTERS GAIUS PLINIUS CAECILIUS SECUNDUS
+
+
+
+I -- To SEPTITTUS
+
+YOU have frequently pressed me to make a select collection of my Letters
+(if there really be any deserving of a special preference) and give them
+to the public. I have selected them accordingly; not, indeed, in their
+proper order of time, for I was not compiling a history; but just as
+each came to hand. And now I have only to wish that you may have no
+reason to repent of your advice, nor I of my compliance: in that case, I
+may probably enquire after the rest, which at present be neglected, and
+preserve those I shall hereafter write. Farewell.
+
+
+
+II -- To ARRIANUS
+
+I FORESEE your journey in my direction is likely to be delayed, and
+therefore send you the speech which I promised in my former; requesting
+you, as usual, to revise and correct it. I desire this the more
+earnestly as I never, I think, wrote with the same empressment in any of
+my former speeches; for I have endeavoured to imitate your old favourite
+Demosthenes and Calvus, who is lately become mine, at least in the
+rhetorical forms of the speech; for to catch their sublime spirit, is
+given, alone, to the "inspired few." My subject, indeed, seemed
+naturally to lend itself to this (may I venture to call it?) emulation;
+consisting, as it did, almost entirely in a vehement style of address,
+even to a degree sufficient to have awakened me (if only I am capable of
+being awakened) out of that indolence in which I have long reposed. I
+have not however altogether neglected the flowers of rhetoric of my
+favourite Marc-Tully, wherever I could with propriety step out of my
+direct road, to enjoy a more flowery path: for it was energy, not
+austerity, at which I aimed. I would not have you imagine by this that I
+am bespeaking your indulgence: on the contrary, to make your correcting
+pen more vigorous, I will confess that neither my friends nor myself are
+averse from the publication of this piece, if only you should join in
+the approval of what is perhaps my folly. The truth is, as I must
+publish something, I wish it might be this performance rather than any
+other, because it is already finished: (you hear the wish of laziness.)
+At all events, however, something I must publish, and for many reasons;
+chiefly because of the tracts which I have already sent in to the world,
+though they have long since lost all their recommendation from novelty,
+are still, I am told, in request; if, after all, the booksellers are not
+tickling my ears. And let them; since, by that innocent deceit, I am
+encouraged to pursue my studies. Farewell.
+
+
+
+III -- To VOCONIUS ROMANUS
+
+DID YOU ever meet with a more abject and mean-spirited creature than
+Marcus Regulus since the death of Domitian, during whose reign his
+conduct was no less infamous, though more concealed, than under Nero's?
+He began to be afraid I was angry with him, and his apprehensions were
+perfectly correct; I was angry. He had not only done his best to
+increase the peril of the position in which Rusticus Arulenus[1] stood,
+but had exulted in his death; insomuch that he actually recited and
+published a libel upon his memory, in which he styles him "The Stoics'
+Ape": adding, "stigmated[2] with the Vitellian scar."[3] You recognize
+Regulus' eloquent strain! He fell with such fury upon the
+character of Herennius Senecio that Metius Carus said to him, one day,
+"What business have you with my dead? Did I ever interfere in the affair
+of Crassus[4] or Camerinus?"[5] Victims, you know, to Regulus, in Nero's
+time. For these reasons he imagined I was highly exasperated, and so at
+the recitation of his last piece, I got no invitation. Besides, he had
+not forgotten, it seems, with what deadly purpose he had once attacked
+me in the Court of the Hundred.[6] Rusticus had desired me to act as
+counsel for Arionilla, Titnon's wife: Regulus was engaged against me. In
+one part of the case I was strongly insisting upon a particular judgment
+given by Metius Modestus, an excellent man, at that time in banishment
+by Domitian's order. Now then for Regulus. "Pray," says he, "what is
+your opinion of Modestus?" You see what a risk I should have run had I
+answered that I had a high opinion of him, how I should have disgraced
+myself on the other hand if I had replied that I had a bad opinion of
+him. But some guardian power, I am persuaded, must have stood by me to
+assist me in this emergency. "I will tell you my opinion," I said, "if
+that is a matter to be brought before the court." "I ask you," he
+repeated, "what is your opinion of Modestus?" I replied that it was
+customary to examine witnesses to the character of an accused man, not
+to the character of one on whom sentence had already been passed. He
+pressed me a third time. "I do not now enquire," said he, "your opinion
+of Modestus in general, I only ask your opinion of his loyalty." "Since
+you will have my opinion then," I rejoined, "I think it illegal even to
+ask a question concerning a person who stands convicted." He sat down at
+this, completely silenced; and I received applause and congratulation on
+all sides, that without injuring my reputation by an advantageous,
+perhaps, though ungenerous answer, I had not entangled myself in the
+toils of so insidious a catch-question. Thoroughly frightened upon this
+then, he first seizes upon Caecilius Celer, next he goes and begs of
+Fabius Justus, that they would use their joint interest to bring about a
+reconciliation between us. And lest this should not be sufficient, he
+sets off to Spurinna as well; to whom he came in the humblest way (for
+he is the most abject creature alive, where he has anything to be afraid
+of) and says to him, "Do, I entreat of you, call on Pliny to-morrow
+morning, certainly in the morning, no later (for I cannot endure this
+anxiety of mind longer), and endeavour by any means in your power to
+soften his resentment." I was already up, the next day, when a message
+arrived from Spurinna, "I am coming to call on you." I sent word back,
+"Nay, I will wait upon you;" however, both of us setting out to pay this
+visit, we met under Livia's portico. He acquainted me with the
+commission he had received from Regulus, and interceded for him as
+became so worthy a man in behalf of one so totally dissimilar, without
+greatly pressing the thing. "I will leave it to you," was my reply, "to
+consider what answer to return Regulus; you ought not to be deceived by
+me. I am waiting for Mauricus'[7] return" (for he had not yet come back
+out of exile), "so that I cannot give you any definite answer either
+way, as I mean to be guided entirely by his decision, for he ought to be
+my leader here, and I simply to do as he says." Well, a few days after
+this, Regulus met me as I was at the praetor's; he kept close to me
+there and begged a word in private, when he said he was afraid I deeply
+resented an expression he had once made use of in his reply to Satrius
+and myself, before the Court of the Hundred, to this effect, "Satrius
+Rufus, who does not endeavour to rival Cicero, and who is content with
+the eloquence of our own day." I answered, now I perceived indeed, upon
+his own confession, that he had meant it ill-naturedly; otherwise it
+might have passed for a compliment. "For I am free to own," I said,
+"that I do endeavour to rival Cicero, and am not content with the
+eloquence of our own day. For I consider it the very height of folly not
+to copy the best models of every kind. But, how happens it that you, who
+have so good a recollection of what passed upon this occasion, should
+have forgotten that other, when you asked me my opinion of the loyalty
+of Modestus?" Pale as he always is, he turned simply pallid at this, and
+stammered out, "I did not intend to hurt you when I asked this question,
+but Modestus." Observe the vindictive cruelty of the fellow, who made no
+concealment of his willingness to injure a banished man. But the reason
+he alleged in justification of his conduct is pleasant. Modestus, he
+explained, in a letter of his, which was read to Domitian, had used the
+following expression, "Regulus, the biggest rascal that walks upon two
+feet:" and what Modestus had written was the simple truth, beyond all
+manner of controversy. Here, about, our conversation came to an end, for
+I did not wish to proceed further, being desirous to keep matters open
+until Mauricus returns. It is no easy matter, I am well aware of that,
+to destroy Regulus; he is rich, and at the head of a party; courted[8]
+by many, feared by more: a passion that will sometimes prevail even
+beyond friendship itself. But, after all, ties of this sort are not so
+strong but they may be loosened; for a bad man's credit is as shifty as
+himself. However (to repeat), I am waiting until Mauricus comes back. He
+is a man of sound judgment and great sagacity formed upon long
+experience, and who, from his observations of the past, well knows how
+to judge of the future. I shall talk the matter over with him, and
+consider myself justified either in pursuing or dropping this affair, as
+he shall advise. Meanwhile I thought I owed this account to our mutual
+friendship, which gives you an undoubted right to know about not only
+all my actions but all my plans as well. Farewell.
+
+
+
+IV -- To CORNELIUS TACITUS
+
+You will laugh (and you are quite welcome) when I tell you that your old
+acquaintance is turned sportsman, and has taken three noble boars.
+"What!" you exclaim, "Pliny!"--Even he. However, I indulged at the same
+time my beloved inactivity; and, whilst I sat at my nets, you would have
+found me, not with boar spear or javelin, but pencil and tablet, by my
+side. I mused and wrote, being determined to return, if with all my
+hands empty, at least with my memorandums full. Believe me, this way of
+studying is not to be despised: it is wonderful how the mind is stirred
+and quickened into activity by brisk bodily exercise. There is
+something, too, in the solemnity of the venerable woods with which one
+is surrounded, together with that profound silence which is observed on
+these occasions, that forcibly disposes the mind to meditation. So for
+the future, let me advise you, whenever you hunt, to take your tablets
+along with you, as well as your basket and bottle, for be assured you
+will find Minerva no less fond of traversing the hills than Diana.
+Farewell.
+
+
+
+V -- To POMPEIUS SATURNINUS
+
+NOTHING could be more seasonable than the letter which I received from
+you, in which you so earnestly beg me to send you some of my literary
+efforts: the very thing I was intending to do. So you have only put
+spurs into a willing horse and at once saved yourself the excuse of
+refusing the trouble, and me the awkwardness of asking the favour.
+Without hesitation then I avail myself of your offer; as you must now
+take the consequence of it without reluctance. But you are not to expect
+anything new from a lazy fellow, for I am going to ask you to revise
+again the speech I made to my fellow-townsmen when I dedicated the
+public library to their use. You have already, I remember, obliged me
+with some annotations upon this piece, but only in a general way; and so
+I now beg of you not only to take a general view of the whole speech,
+but, as you usually do, to go over it in detail. When you have corrected
+it, I shall still be at liberty to publish or suppress it: and the delay
+in the meantime will be attended with one of these alternatives; for,
+while we are deliberating whether it is fit for publishing, a frequent
+revision will either make it so, or convince me that it is not. Though
+indeed my principal difficulty respecting the publication of this
+harangue arises not so much from the composition as out of the subject
+itself, which has something in it, I am afraid, that will look too like
+ostentation and self-conceit. For, be the style ever so plain and
+unassuming, yet, as the occasion necessarily led me to speak not only of
+the munificence of my ancestors, but of my own as well, my modesty will
+be seriously embarrassed. A dangerous and slippery situation this, even
+when one is led into it by plea of necessity! For, if mankind are not
+very favourable to panegyric, even when bestowed upon others, how much
+more difficult is it to reconcile them to it when it is a tribute which
+we pay to ourselves or to our ancestors? Virtue, by herself, is
+generally the object of envy, but particularly so when glory and
+distinction attend her; and the world is never so little disposed to
+detract from the rectitude of your conduct as when it passes unobserved
+and unapplauded. For these reasons, I frequently ask myself whether I
+composed this harangue, such as it is, merely from a personal
+consideration, or with a view to the public as well; and I am sensible
+that what may be exceedingly useful and proper in the prosecution of any
+affair may lose all its grace and fitness the moment the business is
+completed: for instance, in the case before us, what could be more to my
+purpose than to explain at large the motives of my intended bounty? For,
+first, it engaged my mind in good and ennobling thoughts; next, it
+enabled me, by frequent dwelling upon them, to receive a perfect
+impression of their loveliness, while it guarded at the same time
+against that repentance which is sure to follow on an impulsive act of
+generosity. There arose also a further advantage from this method, as it
+fixed in me a certain habitual contempt of money. For, while mankind
+seem to be universally governed by an innate passion to accumulate
+wealth, the cultivation of a more generous affection in my own breast
+taught me to emancipate myself from the slavery of so predominant a
+principle: and I thought that my honest intentions would be the more
+meritorious as they should appear to proceed, not from sudden impulse,
+but from the dictates of cool and deliberate reflection. I considered,
+besides, that I was not engaging myself to exhibit public games or
+gladiatorial combats, but to establish an annual fund for the support
+and education of young men of good families but scanty means. The
+pleasures of the senses are so far from wanting the oratorical arts to
+recommend them that we stand in need of all the powers of eloquence to
+moderate and restrain rather than stir up their influence. But the work
+of getting anybody to cheerfully undertake the monotony and drudgery of
+education must be effected not by pay merely, but by a skilfully worked-
+up appeal to the emotions as well. If physicians find it expedient to
+use the most insinuating address in recommending to their patients a
+wholesome though, perhaps, unpleasant regimen, how much more occasion
+had he to exert all the powers of persuasion who, out of regard to the
+public welfare, was endeavouring to reconcile it to a most useful though
+not equally popular benefaction? Particularly, as my aim was to
+recommend an institution, calculated solely for the benefit of those who
+were parents to men who, at present, had no children; and to persuade
+the greater number to wait patiently until they should be entitled to an
+honour of which a few only could immediately partake. But as at that
+time, when I attempted to explain and enforce the general design and
+benefit of my institution, I considered more the general good of my
+countrymen, than any reputation which might result to myself; so I am
+apprehensive lest, if I publish that piece, it may perhaps look as if I
+had a view rather to my own personal credit than the benefit of others.
+Besides, I am very sensible how much nobler it is to place the reward of
+virtue in the silent approbation of one's own breast than in the
+applause of the world. Glory ought to be the consequence, not the
+motive, of our actions; and although it happen not to attend the worthy
+deed, yet it is by no means the less fair for having missed the applause
+it deserved. But the world is apt to suspect that those who celebrate
+their own beneficent acts performed them for no other motive than to
+have the pleasure of extolling them. Thus, the splendour of an action
+which would have been deemed illustrious if related by another is
+totally extinguished when it becomes the subject of one's own applause.
+Such is the disposition of mankind, if they cannot blast the action,
+they will censure its display; and whether you do what does not deserve
+particular notice, or set forth yourself what does, either way you incur
+reproach. In my own case there is a peculiar circumstance that weighs
+much with me: this speech was delivered not before the people, but the
+Decurii;[9] not in the forum, but the senate; I am afraid therefore it
+will look inconsistent that I, who, when I delivered it, seemed to avoid
+popular applause, should now, by publishing this performance, appear to
+court it: that I, who was so scrupulous as not to admit even these
+persons to be present when I delivered this speech, who were interested
+in my benefaction, lest it might be suspected I was actuated in this
+affair by any ambitious views, should now seem to solicit admiration, by
+forwardly displaying it to such as have no other concern in my
+munificence than the benefit of example. These are the scruples which
+have occasioned my delay in giving this piece to the public; but I
+submit them entirely to your judgment, which I shall ever esteem as a
+sufficient sanction of my conduct. Farewell.
+
+
+
+VI -- To ATRIUS CLEMENS
+
+IF ever polite literature flourished at Rome, it certainly flourishes
+now; and I could give you many eminent instances: I will content myself,
+however, with naming only Euphrates[10] the philosopher. I first became
+acquainted with this excellent person in my youth, when I served in the
+army in Syria. I had an opportunity of conversing with him familiarly,
+and took some pains to gain his affection: though that, indeed, was not
+very difficult, for he is easy of access, unreserved, and actuated by
+those social principles he professes to teach. I should think myself
+extremely happy if I had as fully answered the expectations he, at that
+time, conceived of me, as he exceeds everything I had imagined of him.
+But, perhaps, I admire his excellencies more now than I did then,
+because I know better how to appreciate them; not that I sufficiently
+appreciate them even now. For as none but those who are skilled in
+painting, statuary, or the plastic art, can form a right judgment of any
+performance in those respective modes of representation, so a man must,
+himself, have made great advances in philosophy before he is capable of
+forming a just opinion of a philosopher. However, as far as I am
+qualified to determine, Euphrates is possessed of so many shining
+talents that he cannot fail to attract and impress the most ordinarily
+educated observer. He reasons with much force, acuteness, and elegance;
+and frequently rises into all the sublime and luxuriant eloquence of
+Plato. His style is varied and flowing, and at the same time so
+wonderfully captivating that he forces the reluctant attention of the
+most unwilling hearer. For the rest, a fine stature, a comely aspect,
+long hair, and a large silver beard; circumstances which, though they
+may probably be thought trifling and accidental, contribute, however, to
+gain him much reverence. There is no affected negligence in his dress
+and appearance; his countenance is grave but not austere; and his
+approach commands respect without creating awe. Distinguished as he is
+by the perfect blamelessness of his life, he is no less so by the
+courtesy and engaging sweetness of his manner. He attacks vices, not
+persons, and, without severity, reclaims the wanderer from the paths of
+virtue. You follow his exhortations with rapt attention, hanging, as it
+were, upon his lips; and even after the heart is convinced, the ear
+still wishes to listen to the harmonious reasoner. His family consists
+of three children (two of which are sons), whom he educates with the
+utmost care. His father-in-law, Pompeius Julianus, as he greatly
+distinguished himself in every other part of his life, so particularly
+in this, that though he was himself of the highest rank in his province,
+yet, among many considerable matches, he preferred Euphrates for his
+son-in-law, as first in merit, though not in dignity. But why do I dwell
+any longer upon the virtues of a man whose conversation I am so
+unfortunate as not to have time sufficiently to enjoy? Is it to increase
+my regret and vexation that I cannot enjoy it? My time is wholly taken
+up in the execution of a very honourable, indeed, but equally
+troublesome, employment; in hearing cases, signing petitions, making up
+accounts, and writing a vast amount of the most illiterate literature. I
+sometimes complain to Euphrates (for I have leisure at least to
+complain) of these unpleasing occupations. He endeavours to console me,
+by affirming that, to be engaged in the public service, to hear and
+determine cases, to explain the laws, and administer justice, is a part,
+and the noblest part, too, of philosophy; as it is reducing to practice
+what her professors teach in speculation. But even his rhetoric will
+never be able to convince me that it is better to be at this sort of
+work than to spend whole days in attending his lectures and learning his
+precepts. I cannot therefore but strongly recommend it to you, who have
+the time for it, when next you come to town (and you will come, I
+daresay, so much the sooner for this), to take the benefit of his
+elegant and refined instructions. For I do not (as many do) envy others
+the happiness I cannot share with them myself: on the contrary, it is a
+very sensible pleasure to me when I find my friends in possession of an
+enjoyment from which I have the misfortune to be excluded. Farewell.
+
+
+
+VII -- To FABIUS JUSTUS
+
+IT is a long time since I have had a letter from you, "There is nothing
+to write about," you say: well then write and let me know just this,
+that "there is nothing to write about," or tell me in the good old
+style, _If you are well that's right, I am quite well_. This will do for
+me, for it implies everything. You think I am joking? Let me assure you
+I am in sober earnest. Do let me know how you are; for I cannot remain
+ignorant any longer without growing exceedingly anxious about you.
+Farewell.
+
+
+
+VIII -- To CALESTRIUS TIRO
+
+I HAVE suffered the heaviest loss; if that word be sufficiently strong
+to express the misfortune which has deprived me of so excellent a man.
+Corellius Rufus is dead; and dead, too, by his own act! A circumstance
+of great aggravation to my affliction: as that sort of death which we
+cannot impute either to the course of nature, or the hand of Providence,
+is, of all others, the most to be lamented. It affords some consolation
+in the loss of those friends whom disease snatches from us that they
+fall by the general destiny of mankind; but those who destroy themselves
+leave us under the inconsolable reflection, that they had it in their
+power to have lived longer. It is true, Corellius had many inducements
+to be fond of life; a blameless conscience, high reputation, and great
+dignity of character, besides a daughter, a wife, a grandson, and
+sisters; and, amidst these numerous pledges of happiness, faithful
+friends. Still, it must be owned he had the highest motive (which to a
+wise man will always have the force of destiny), urging him to this
+resolution. He had long been tortured by so tedious and painful a
+complaint that even these inducements to living on, considerable as they
+are, were over-balanced by the reasons on the other side. In his thirty-
+third year (as I have frequently heard him say) he was seized with the
+gout in his feet. This was hereditary; for diseases, as well as
+possessions, are sometimes handed down by a sort of inheritance. A life
+of sobriety and continence had enabled him to conquer and keep down the
+disease while he was still young, latterly as it grew upon him with
+advancing years, he had to manfully bear it, suffering meanwhile the
+most incredible and undeserved agonies; for the gout was now not only in
+his feet, but had spread itself over his whole body. I remember, in
+Domitian's reign, paying him a visit at his villa, near Rome. As soon as
+I entered his chamber, his servants went out: for it was his rule, never
+to allow them to be in the room when any intimate friend was with him;
+nay, even his own wife, though she could have kept any secret, used to
+go too. Casting his eyes round the room, "Why," he exclaimed, "do you
+suppose I endure life so long under these cruel agonies? It is with the
+hope that I may outlive, at least for one day, that villain." Had his
+bodily strength been equal to his resolution, he would have carried his
+desire into practical effect. God heard and answered his prayer; and
+when he felt that he should now die a free, un-enslaved, Roman, he broke
+through those other great, but now less forcible, attachments to the
+world. His malady increased; and, as it now grew too violent to admit of
+any relief from temperance, he resolutely determined to put an end to
+its uninterrupted attacks, by an effort of heroism. He had refused all
+sustenance during four days when his wife Hispulla sent our common
+friend Geminius to me, with the melancholy news, that Corellius was
+resolved to die; and that neither her own entreaties nor her daughter's
+could move him from his purpose; I was the only person left who could
+reconcile him to life. I ran to his house with the utmost precipitation.
+As I approached it, I met a second messenger from Hispulla, Julius
+Atticus, who informed me there was nothing to be hoped for now, even
+from me, as he seemed more hardened than ever in his purpose. He had
+said, indeed to his physician, who pressed him to take some nourishment,
+"'Tis resolved": an expression which, as it raised my admiration of the
+greatness of his soul, so it does my grief for the loss of him. I keep
+thinking what a friend, what a man, I am deprived of. That he had
+reached his sixty-seventh year, an age which even the strongest seldom
+exceed, I well know; that he is released from a life of continual pain;
+that he has left his dearest friends behind him, and (what was dearer to
+him than all these) the state in a prosperous condition: all this I
+know. Still I cannot forbear to lament him, as if he had been in the
+prime and vigour of his days; and I lament him (shall I own my
+weakness?) on my account. And--to confess to you as I did to Calvisius,
+in the first transport of my grief--I sadly fear, now that I am no
+longer under his eye, I shall not keep so strict a guard over my
+conduct. Speak comfort to me then, not that he was old, he was infirm;
+all this I know: but by supplying me with some reflections that are new
+and resistless, which I have never heard, never read, anywhere else. For
+all that I have heard, and all that I have read, occur to me of
+themselves; but all these are by far too weak to support me under so
+severe an affliction. Farewell.
+
+
+
+IX -- To SOCIUS SENECIO
+
+This year has produced a plentiful crop of poets: during the whole month
+of April scarcely a day has passed on which we have not been entertained
+with the recital of some poem. It is a pleasure to me to find that a
+taste for polite literature still exists, and that men of genius do come
+forward and make themselves known, notwithstanding the lazy attendance
+they got for their pains. The greater part of the audience sit in the
+lounging-places, gossip away their time there, and are perpetually
+sending to enquire whether the author has made his entrance yet, whether
+he has got through the preface, or whether he has almost finished the
+piece. Then at length they saunter in with an air of the greatest
+indifference, nor do they condescend to stay through the recital, but go
+out before it is over, some slyly and stealthily, others again with
+perfect freedom and unconcern. And yet our fathers can remember how
+Claudius Cæsar walking one day in the palace, and hearing a great
+shouting, enquired the cause: and being informed that Nonianus[11] was
+reciting a composition of his, went immediately to the place, and
+agreeably surprised the author with his presence. But now, were one to
+bespeak the attendance of the idlest man living, and remind him of the
+appointment ever so often, or ever so long beforehand; either he would
+not come at all, or if he did would grumble about having "lost a day!"
+for no other reason but because he had not lost it. So much the more do
+those authors deserve our encouragement and applause who have resolution
+to persevere in their studies, and to read out their compositions in
+spite of this apathy or arrogance on the part of their audience. Myself
+indeed, I scarcely ever miss being present upon any occasion; though, to
+tell the truth, the authors have generally been friends of mine, as
+indeed there are few men of literary tastes who are not. It is this
+which has kept me in town longer than I had intended. I am now, however,
+at liberty to go back into the country, and write something myself;
+which I do not intend reciting, lest I should seem rather to have lent
+than given my attendance to these recitations of my friends, for in
+these, as in all other good offices, the obligation ceases the moment
+you seem to expect a return. Farewell.
+
+
+
+X -- To JUNSUS MAURICUS
+
+You desire me to look out a proper husband for your niece: it is with
+justice you enjoin me that office. You know the high esteem and
+affection I bore that great man her father, and with what noble
+instructions he nurtured my youth, and taught me to deserve those
+praises he was pleased to bestow upon me. You could not give me, then, a
+more important, or more agreeable, commission; nor could I be employed
+in an office of higher honour, than that of choosing a young man worthy
+of being father of the grandchildren of Rusticus Arulenus; a choice I
+should be long in determining, were I not acquainted with Minutius
+Aemilianus, who seems formed for our purpose. He loves me with all that
+warmth of affection which is usual between young men of equal years (as
+indeed I have the advance of him but by a very few), and reveres me at
+the same time, with all the deference due to age; and, in a word, he is
+no less desirous to model himself by my instructions than I was by those
+of yourself and your brother.
+
+He is a native of Brixia, one of those provinces in Italy which still
+retain much of the old modesty, frugal simplicity, and even rusticity,
+of manner. He is the son of Minutius Macrinus, whose humble desires were
+satisfied with standing at the head of the equestrian order: for though
+he was nominated by Vespasian in the number of those whom that prince
+dignified with the praetorian office, yet, with an inflexible greatness
+of mind, he resolutely preferred an honourable repose, to the ambitious,
+shall I call them, or exalted, pursuits, in which we public men are
+engaged. His grandmother, on the mother's side, is Serrana Procula, of
+Patavium:[12] you are no stranger to the character of its citizens; yet
+Serrana is looked upon, even among these correct people, as an exemplary
+instance of strict virtue. Acilius, his uncle, is a man of almost
+exceptional gravity, wisdom, and integrity. In short, you will find
+nothing throughout his family unworthy of yours. Minutius himself has
+plenty of vivacity, as well as application, together with a most amiable
+and becoming modesty. He has already, with considerable credit, passed
+through the offices of quaestor, tribune, and praetor; so that you will
+be spared the trouble of soliciting for him those honourable
+employments. He has a fine, well-bred, countenance, with a ruddy,
+healthy complexion, while his whole person is elegant and comely and his
+mien graceful and senatorian: advantages, I think, by no means to be
+slighted, and which I consider as the proper tribute to virgin
+innocence. I think I may add that his father is very rich. When I
+contemplate the character of those who require a husband of my choosing,
+I know it is unnecessary to mention wealth; but when I reflect upon the
+prevailing manners of the age, and even the laws of Rome, which rank a
+man according to his possessions, it certainly claims some regard; and,
+indeed, in establishments of this nature, where children and many other
+circumstances are to be duly weighed, it is an article that well
+deserves to be taken into the account. You will be inclined, perhaps, to
+suspect that affection has had too great a share in the character I have
+been drawing, and that I have heightened it beyond the truth: but I will
+stake all my credit, you will find everything far beyond what I have
+represented. I love the young fellow indeed (as he justly deserves) with
+all the warmth of a most ardent affection; but for that very reason I
+would not ascribe more to his merit than I know it will bear. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XI -- To SEPTITIUS CLARUS
+
+Ah! you are a pretty fellow! You make an engagement to come to supper
+and then never appear. Justice shall be exacted;--you shall reimburse me
+to the very last penny the expense I went to on your account; no small
+sum, let me tell you. I had prepared, you must know, a lettuce a-piece,
+three snails, two eggs, and a barley cake, with some sweet wine and
+snow, (the snow most certainly I shall charge to your account, as a
+rarity that will not keep.) Olives, beet-root, gourds, onions, and a
+thousand other dainties equally sumptuous. You should likewise have been
+entertained either with an interlude, the rehearsal of a poem, or a
+piece of music, whichever you preferred; or (such was my liberality)
+with all three. But the oysters, sows'-bellies, sea-urchins, and dancers
+from Cadiz of a certain--I know not who, were, it seems, more to your
+taste. You shall give satisfaction, how, shall at present be a secret.
+
+Oh! you have behaved cruelly, grudging your friend,--had almost said
+yourself;--and upon second thoughts I do say so;--in this way: for how
+agreeably should we have spent the evening, in laughing, trifling, and
+literary amusements! You may sup, I confess, at many places more
+splendidly; but nowhere with more unconstrained mirth, simplicity, and
+freedom: only make the experiment, and if you do not ever after excuse
+yourself to your other friends, to come to me, always put me off to go
+to them. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XII -- To SUETONIUS TRANQUILLUS
+
+You tell me in your letter that you are extremely alarmed by a dream;
+apprehending that it forebodes some ill success to you in the case you
+have undertaken to defend; and, therefore, desire that I would get it
+adjourned for a few days, or, at least, to the next. This will be no
+easy matter, but I will try:
+
+
+"For dreams descend from Jove."
+
+Meanwhile, it is very material for you to recollect whether your dreams
+generally represent things as they afterwards fall out, or quite the
+reverse. But if I may judge of yours by one that happened to myself,
+this dream that alarms you seems to portend that you will acquit
+yourself with great success. I had promised to stand counsel for Junius
+Pastor; when I fancied in my sleep that my mother-in-law came to me,
+and, throwing herself at my feet, earnestly entreated me not to plead. I
+was at that time a very young man; the case was to be argued in the four
+centumviral courts; my adversaries were some of the most important
+personages in Rome, and particular favourites of Cæsar;[13] any of which
+circumstances were sufficient, after such an inauspicious dream, to have
+discouraged me. Notwithstanding this, I engaged in the cause, reflecting
+that,
+
+
+"Without a sign, his sword the brave man draws, And asks no omen but his
+country's cause."<a href="#linknote-14" name="linknoteref-14"
+id="linknoteref-14">[14]</a>
+
+for I looked upon the promise I had given to be as sacred to me as my
+country, or, if that were possible, more so. The event happened as I
+wished; and it was that very case which first procured me the favourable
+attention of the public, and threw open to me the gates of Fame.
+Consider then whether your dream, like this one I have related, may not
+pre-signify success. But, after all, perhaps you will think it safer to
+pursue this cautious maxim: "Never do a thing concerning the rectitude
+of which you are in doubt;" if so, write me word. In the interval, I
+will consider of some excuse, and will so plead your cause that you may
+be able to plead it your self any day you like best. In this respect,
+you are in a better situation than I was: the court of the centumviri,
+where I was to plead, admits of no adjournment: whereas, in that where
+your case is to be heard, though no easy matter to procure one, still,
+however, it is possible. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XIII -- To ROMANUS FIRMUS
+
+As you are my towns-man, my school-fellow, and the earliest companion of
+my youth; as there was the strictest friendship between my mother and
+uncle and your father (a happiness which I also enjoyed as far as the
+great inequality of our ages would admit); can I fail (thus biassed as I
+am by so many and weighty considerations) to contribute all in my power
+to the advancement of your honours? The rank you bear in our province,
+as decurio, is a proof that you are possessed, at least, of an hundred
+thousand sesterces;[15] but that we may also have the satisfaction of
+seeing you a Roman Knight,[16] I present you with three hundred
+thousand, in order to make up the sum requisite to entitle you to that
+dignity. The long acquaintance we have had leaves me no room to
+apprehend you will ever be forgetful of this instance of my friendship.
+And I know your disposition too well to think it necessary to advise you
+to enjoy this honour with the modesty that becomes a person who receives
+it from me; for the advanced rank we possess through a friend's kindness
+is a sort of sacred trust, in which we have his judgment, as well as our
+own character, to maintain, and therefore to be guarded with the greater
+caution. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XIV -- TO CORNELIUS TACITUS
+
+I HAVE frequent debates with a certain acquaintance of mine, a man of
+skill and learning, who admires nothing so much in the eloquence of the
+bar as conciseness. I agree with him, that where the case will admit of
+this precision, it may with propriety be adopted; but insist that, to
+leave out what is material to be mentioned,--or only briefly and
+cursorily to touch upon those points which should be inculcated,
+impressed, and urged well home upon the minds of the audience, is a
+downright fraud upon one's client. In many cases, to deal with the
+subject at greater length adds strength and weight to our ideas, which
+frequently produce their impression upon the mind, as iron does upon
+solid bodies, rather by repeated strokes than a single blow. In answer
+to this, he usually has recourse to authorities, and produces Lysias[17]
+amongst the Grecians, together with Cato and the two Gracchi, among our
+own countrymen, many of whose speeches certainly are brief and
+curtailed. In return, I name Demosthenes, Aeschines, Hyperides,[18] and
+many others, in opposition to Lysias; while I confront Cato and the
+Gracchi with Cæsar, Pollio,[19] Caelius,[20] but, above all, Cicero,
+whose longest speech is generally considered his best. Why, no doubt
+about it, in good compositions, as in everything else that is valuable,
+the more there is of them, the better. You may observe in statues,
+basso-relievos, pictures, and the human form, and even in animals and
+trees, that nothing is more graceful than magnitude, if accompanied with
+proportion. The same holds true in pleading; and even in books a large
+volume carries a certain beauty and authority in its very size. My
+antagonist, who is extremely dexterous at evading an argument, eludes
+all this, and much more, which I usually urge to the same purpose, by
+insisting that those very individuals, upon whose works I found my
+opinion, made considerable additions to their speeches when they
+published them. This I deny; and appeal to the harangues of numberless
+orators, particularly to those of Cicero, for Murena and Varenus, in
+which a short, bare notification of certain charges is expressed under
+mere heads. Whence it appears that many things which he enlarged upon at
+the time he delivered those speeches were retrenched when he gave them
+to the public. The same excellent orator informs us that, agreeably to
+the ancient custom, which allowed only of one counsel on a side,
+Cluentius had no other advocate than himself; and he tells us further
+that he employed four whole days in defence of Cornelius; by which it
+plainly appears that those speeches which, when delivered at their full
+length, had necessarily taken up so much time at the bar were
+considerably cut down and pruned when he afterwards compressed them into
+a single volume, though, I must confess, indeed, a large one. But good
+pleading, it is objected, is one thing, just composition another. This
+objection, I am aware, has had some favourers; nevertheless, I am
+persuaded (though I may, perhaps, be mistaken) that, as it is possible
+you may have a good pleading which is not a good speech, so a good
+speech cannot be a bad pleading; for the speech on paper is the model
+and, as it were, the archetype of the speech that was delivered. It is
+for this reason we find, in many of the best speeches extant, numberless
+extemporaneous turns of expression; and even in those which we are sure
+were never spoken; as, for instance, in the following passage from the
+speech against Verres: --"A certain mechanic--what's his name? Oh, thank
+you for helping me to it: yes, I mean Polyclitus." It follows, then,
+that the nearer approach a speaker makes to the rules of just
+composition, the more perfect will he be in his art; always supposing,
+however, that he has his due share of time allowed him; for, if he be
+limited of that article, no blame can justly be fixed upon the advocate,
+though much certainly upon the judge. The sense of the laws, I am sure,
+is on my side, which are by no means sparing of the orator's time; it is
+not conciseness, but fulness, a complete representation of every
+material circumstance, which they recommend. Now conciseness cannot
+effect this, unless in the most insignificant cases. Let me add what
+experience, that unerring guide, has taught me: it has frequently been
+my province to act both as an advocate and a judge; and I have often
+also attended as an assessor.[21] Upon those occasions, I have ever
+found the judgments of mankind are to be influenced by different modes
+of application, and that the slightest circumstances frequently produce
+the most important consequences. The dispositions and understandings of
+men vary to such an extent that they seldom agree in their opinions
+concerning any one point in debate before them; or, if they do, it is
+generally from different motives. Besides, as every man is naturally
+partial to his own discoveries, when he hears an argument urged which
+had previously occurred to himself, he will be sure to embrace it as
+extremely convincing. The orator, therefore, should so adapt himself to
+his audience as to throw out something which every one of them, in turn,
+may receive and approve as agreeable to his own particular views. I
+recollect, once when Regulus and I were engaged on the same side, his
+remarking to me, "You seem to think it necessary to go into every single
+circumstance: whereas I always take aim at once at my adversary's
+throat, and there I press him closely." ('Tis true, he keeps a tight
+hold of whatever part he has once fixed upon; but the misfortune is, he
+is extremely apt to fix upon the wrong place.) I replied, it might
+possibly happen that what he called the throat was, in reality, the knee
+or the ankle. As for myself, said I, who do not pretend to direct my aim
+with so much precision, I test every part, I probe every opening; in
+short, to use a vulgar proverb, I leave no stone unturned. And as in
+agriculture, it is not my vineyards or my woods only, but my fields as
+well, that I look after and cultivate, and (to carry on the metaphor) as
+I do not content myself with sowing those fields simply with corn or
+white wheat, but sprinkle in barley, pulse, and the other kinds of
+grain; so, in my pleadings at the bar, I scatter broadcast various
+arguments like so many kinds of seed, in order to reap whatever may
+happen to come up. For the disposition of your judges is as hard to
+fathom as uncertain, and as little to be relied on as that of soils and
+seasons. The comic writer Eupolis,[22] I remember, mentions it in praise
+of that excellent orator Pericles, that
+
+
+"On his lips Persuasion hung, And powerful Reason rul'd his tongue: Thus
+he alone could boast the art To charm at once, and pierce the heart."
+
+[23] But could Pericles, without the richest variety of expression, and
+merely by the force of the concise or the rapid style, or both (for they
+are very different), have thus charmed and pierced the heart. To delight
+and to persuade requires time and great command of language; and to
+leave a sting in the minds of the audience is an effect not to be
+expected from an orator who merely pinks, but from him, and him only,
+who thrusts in. Another comic poet,[24] speaking of the same orator,
+says:
+
+
+"His mighty words like Jove's own thunder roll; Greece hears, and
+trembles to her inmost soul."
+
+But it is not the close and reserved; it is the copious, the majestic,
+and the sublime orator, who thunders, who lightens, who, in short, bears
+all before him in a confused whirl. There is, undeniably, a just mean in
+everything; but he equally misses the mark who falls short of it, as he
+who goes beyond it; he who is too limited as he who is too unrestrained.
+Hence it is as common a thing to hear our orators condemned for being
+too jejune and feeble as too excessive and redundant. One is said to
+have exceeded the bounds of his subject, the other not to have reached
+them. Both, no doubt, are equally in fault, with this difference,
+however, that in the one the fault arises from an abundance, in the
+other, from a deficiency; an error, in the former case, which, if it be
+not the sign of a more correct, is certainly of a more fertile genius.
+When I say this, I would not be understood to approve that everlasting
+talker[25] mentioned in Homer, but that other' described in the
+following lines:
+
+
+"Frequent and soft, as falls the winter snow, Thus from his lips the
+copious periods flow."
+
+Not but that I extremely admire him,[26] too, of whom the poet says,
+
+
+"Few were his words, but wonderfully strong."
+
+Yet, if the choice were given me, I should give the preference to that
+style resembling winter snow, that is, to the full, uninterrupted, and
+diffusive; in short, to that pomp of eloquence which seems all heavenly
+and divine. But (it is replied) the harangue of a more moderate length
+is most generally admired. It is:--but only by indolent people; and to
+fix the standard by their laziness and false delicacy would be simply
+ridiculous. Were you to consult persons of this cast, they would tell
+you, not only that it is best to say little, but that it is best to say
+nothing at all. Thus, my friend, I have laid before you my opinions upon
+this subject, and I am willing to change them if not agreeable to yours.
+But should you disagree with me, pray let me know clearly your reasons
+why. For, though I ought to yield in this case to your more enlightened
+judgment, yet, in a point of such consequence, I had rather be convinced
+by argument than by authority. So if I don't seem to you very wide of
+the mark, a line or two from you in return, intimating your concurrence,
+will be sufficient to confirm me in my opinion: on the other hand, if
+you should think me mistaken, let me have your objections at full
+length. Does it not look rather like bribery, my requiring only a short
+letter, if you agree with me; but a very long one if you should be of a
+different opinion. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XV -- To PATERNUS
+
+As I rely very much upon the soundness of your judgment, so I do upon
+the goodness of your eyes: not because I think your discernment very
+great (for I don't want to make you conceited), but because I think it
+as good as mine: which, it must be confessed, is saying a great deal.
+Joking apart, I like the look of the slaves which were purchased for me
+on your recommendation very well; all I further care about is, that they
+be honest: and for this I must depend upon their characters more than
+their countenances. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XVI -- To CATILIUS SEVERUS [27]
+
+I AM at present (and have been a considerable time) detained in Rome,
+under the most stunning apprehensions. Titus Aristo,[28] whom I have a
+singular admiration and affection for, is fallen into a long and
+obstinate illness, which troubles me. Virtue, knowledge, and good sense,
+shine out with so superior a lustre in this excellent man that learning
+herself, and every valuable endowment, seem involved in the danger of
+his single person. How consummate his knowledge, both in the political
+and civil laws of his country! How thoroughly conversant is he in every
+branch of history or antiquity? In a word, there is nothing you might
+wish to know which he could not teach you. As for me, whenever I would
+acquaint myself with any abstruse point, I go to him as my store-house.
+What an engaging sincerity, what dignity in his conversation! how
+chastened and becoming is his caution! Though he conceives, at once,
+every point in debate, yet he is as slow to decide as he is quick to
+apprehend; calmly and deliberately sifting and weighing every opposite
+reason that is offered, and tracing it, with a most judicious
+penetration, from its source through all its remotest consequences. His
+diet is frugal, his dress plain; and whenever I enter his chamber, and
+view him reclined upon his couch, I consider the scene before me as a
+true image of ancient simplicity, to which his illustrious mind reflects
+the noblest ornament. He places no part of his happiness in ostentation,
+but in the secret approbation of his conscience, seeking the reward of
+his virtue, not in the clamorous applauses of the world, but in the
+silent satisfaction which results from having acted well. In short, you
+will not easily find his equal, even among our philosophers by outward
+profession. No, he does not frequent the gymnasia or porticoes[29] nor
+does he amuse his own and others' leisure with endless controversies,
+but busies himself in the scenes of civil and active life. Many has he
+assisted with his interest, still more with his advice, and withal in
+the practice of temperance, piety, justice, and fortitude, he has no
+superior. You would be astonished, were you there to see, at the
+patience with which he bears his illness, how he holds out against pain,
+endures thirst, and quietly submits to this raging fever and to the
+pressure of those clothes which are laid upon him to promote
+perspiration. He lately called me and a few more of his particular
+friends to his bedside, requesting us to ask his physicians what turn
+they apprehended his distemper would take; that, if they pronounced it
+incurable, he might voluntarily put an end to his life; but if there
+were hopes of a recovery, how tedious and difficult soever it might
+prove, he would calmly wait the event; for so much, he thought, was due
+to the tears and entreaties of his wife and daughter, and to the
+affectionate intercession of his friends, as not voluntarily to abandon
+our hopes, if they were not entirely desperate. A true hero's resolution
+this, in my estimation, and worthy the highest applause. Instances are
+frequent in the world, of rushing into the arms of death without
+reflection and by a sort of blind impulse but deliberately to weigh the
+reasons for life or death, and to be determined in our choice as either
+side of the scale prevails, shows a great mind. We have had the
+satisfaction to receive the opinion of his physicians in his favour: may
+heaven favour their promises and relieve me at length from this painful
+anxiety. Once easy in my mind, I shall go back to my favourite
+Laurentum, or, in other words, to my books, my papers and studious
+leisure. Just now, so much of my time and thoughts are taken up in
+attendance upon my friend, and anxiety for him, that I have neither
+leisure nor inclination for any reading or writing whatever. Thus you
+have my fears, my wishes, and my after-plans. Write me in return, but in
+a gayer strain, an account not only of what you are and have been doing,
+but of what you intend doing too. It will be a very sensible consolation
+to me in this disturbance of mind, to be assured that yours is easy.
+Farewell.
+
+
+
+XVII -- To VOCONIUS ROMANUS
+
+ROME has not for many years beheld a more magnificent and memorable
+spectacle than was lately exhibited in the public funeral of that great,
+illustrious, and no less fortunate man, Verginius Rufus. He lived thirty
+years after he had reached the zenith of his fame. He read poems
+composed in his honour, he read histories of his achievements, and was
+himself witness of his fame among posterity. He was thrice raised to the
+dignity of consul, that he might at least be the highest of subjects,
+who[30] had refused to be the first of princes. As he escaped the
+resentment of those emperors to whom his virtues had given umbrage and
+even rendered him odious, and ended his days when this best of princes,
+this friend of mankind[31] was in quiet possession of the empire, it
+seems as if Providence had purposely preserved him to these times, that
+he might receive the honour of a public funeral. He reached his eighty-
+fourth year, in full tranquillity and universally revered, having
+enjoyed strong health during his lifetime, with the exception of a
+trembling in his hands, which, however, gave him no pain. His last
+illness, indeed, was severe and tedious, but even that circumstance
+added to his reputation. As he was practising his voice with a view of
+returning his public acknowledgements to the emperor, who had promoted
+him to the consulship, a large volume he had taken into his hand, and
+which happened to be too heavy for so old a man to hold standing up,
+slid from his grasp. In hastily endeavouring to recover it, his foot
+slipped on the smooth pavement, and he fell down and broke his thigh-
+bone, which being clumsily set, his age as well being against him, did
+not properly unite again. The funeral obsequies paid to the memory of
+this great man have done honour to the emperor, to the age, and to the
+bar. The consul Cornelius Tacitus[32] pronounced his funeral oration and
+thus his good fortune was crowned by the public applause of so eloquent
+an orator. He has departed from our midst, full of years, indeed, and of
+glory; as illustrious by the honours he refused as by those he accepted.
+Yet still we shall miss him and lament him, as the shining model of a
+past age; I, especially, shall feel his loss, for I not only admired him
+as a patriot, but loved him as a friend. We were of the same province,
+and of neighbouring towns, and our estates were also contiguous. Besides
+these accidental connections, he was left my guardian, and always
+treated me with a parent's affection. Whenever I offered myself as a
+candidate for any office in the state, he constantly supported me with
+his interest; and although he had long since given up all such services
+to friends, he would kindly leave his retirement and come to give me his
+vote in person. On the day on which the priests nominate those they
+consider most worthy of the sacred office[33] he constantly proposed me.
+Even in his last illness, apprehending the possibility of the senate's
+appointing him one of the five commissioners for reducing the public
+expenses, he fixed upon me, young as I am, to bear his excuses, in
+preference to so many other friends, elderly men too, and of consular
+rank and said to me, "Had I a son of my own, I would entrust you with
+this matter." And so I cannot but lament his death, as though it were
+premature, and pour out my grief into your bosom; if indeed one has any
+right to grieve, or to call it death at all, which to such a man
+terminates his mortality, rather than ends his life. He lives, and will
+live on for ever; and his fame will extend and be more celebrated by
+posterity, now that he is gone from our sight. I had much else to write
+to you but my mind is full of this. I keep thinking of Verginius: I see
+him before me: I am for ever fondly yet vividly imagining that I hear
+him, am speaking to him, embrace him. There are men amongst us, his
+fellow-citizens, perhaps, who may rival him in virtue; but not one that
+will ever approach him in glory. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XVIII -- To NEPOS
+
+THE great fame of Isaeus had already preceded him here; but we find him
+even more wonderful than we had heard. He possesses the utmost
+readiness, copiousness, and abundance of language: he always speaks
+extempore, and his lectures are as finished as though he had spent a
+long time over their written composition. His style is Greek, or rather
+the genuine Attic. His exordiums are terse, elegant, attractive, and
+occasionally impressive and majestic. He suggests several subjects for
+discussion, allows his audience their choice, sometimes to even name
+which side he shall take, rises, arranges himself, and begins. At once
+he has everything almost equally at command. Recondite meanings of
+things are suggested to you, and words--what words they are! exquisitely
+chosen and polished. These extempore speeches of his show the wideness
+of his reading, and how much practice he has had in composition. His
+preface is to the point, his narrative lucid, his summing up forcible,
+his rhetorical ornament imposing. In a word, he teaches, entertains, and
+affects you; and you are at a loss to decide which of the three he does
+best. His reflections are frequent, his syllogisms also are frequent,
+condensed, and carefully finished, a result not easily attainable even
+with the pen. As for his memory, you would hardly believe what it is
+capable of. He repeats from a long way back what he has previously
+delivered extempore, without missing a single word. This marvellous
+faculty he has acquired by dint of great application and practice, for
+night and day he does nothing, hears nothing, says nothing else. He has
+passed his sixtieth year and is still only a rhetorician, and I know no
+class of men more single-hearted, more genuine, more excellent than this
+class. We who have to go through the rough work of the bar and of real
+disputes unavoidably contract a certain unprincipled adroitness. The
+school, the lecture-room, the imaginary case, all this, on the other
+hand, is perfectly innocent and harmless, and equally enjoyable,
+especially to old people, for what can be happier at that time of life
+than to enjoy what we found pleasantest in our young days? I consider
+Isaeus then, not only the most eloquent, but the happiest, of men, and
+if you are not longing to make his acquaintance, you must be made of
+stone and iron. So, if not upon my account, or for any other reason,
+come, for the sake of hearing this man, at least. Have you never read of
+a certain inhabitant of Cadiz who was so impressed with the name and
+fame of Livy that he came from the remotest corner of the earth on
+purpose to see him, and, his curiosity gratified, went straight home
+again. It is utter want of taste, shows simple ignorance, is almost an
+actual disgrace to a man, not to set any high value upon a proficiency
+in so pleasing, noble, refining a science. "I have authors," you will
+reply, "here in my own study, just as eloquent." True: but then those
+authors you can read at any time, while you cannot always get the
+opportunity of hearing eloquence. Besides, as the proverb says, "The
+living voice is that which sways the soul;" yes, far more. For
+notwithstanding what one reads is more clearly understood than what one
+hears, yet the utterance, countenance, garb, aye and the very gestures
+of the speaker, alike concur in fixing an impression upon the mind; that
+is, unless we disbelieve the truth of Aeschines' statement, who, after
+he had read to the Rhodians that celebrated speech of Demosthenes, upon
+their expressing their admiration of it, is said to have added, "Ah!
+what would you have said, could you have heard the wild beast himself?"
+And Aeschines, if we may take Demosthenes' word for it, was no mean
+elocutionist; yet, he could not but confess that the speech would have
+sounded far finer from the lips of its author. I am saying all this with
+a view to persuading you to hear Isaeus, if even for the mere sake of
+being able to say you have heard him. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XIX -- To AVITUS
+
+IT would be a long story, and of no great importance, to tell you by
+what accident I found myself dining the other day with an individual
+with whom I am by no means intimate, and who, in his own opinion, does
+things in good style and economically as well, but according to mine,
+with meanness and extravagance combined. Some very elegant dishes were
+served up to himself and a few more of us, whilst those placed before
+the rest of the company consisted simply of cheap dishes and scraps.
+There were, in small bottles, three different kinds of wine; not that
+the guest might take their choice, but that they might not have any
+option in their power; one kind being for himself, and for us; another
+sort for his lesser friends (for it seems he has degrees of friends),
+and the third for his own freedmen and ours. My neighbour,[34] reclining
+next me, observing this, asked me if I approved the arrangement. Not at
+all, I told him. "Pray then," he asked, "what is your method upon such
+occasions?" "Mine," I returned, "is to give all my visitors the same
+reception; for when I give an invitation, it is to entertain, not
+distinguish, my company: I place every man upon my own level whom I
+admit to my table." "Not excepting even your freedmen?" "Not excepting
+even my freedmen, whom I consider on these occasions my guests, as much
+as any of the rest." He replied, "This must cost you a great deal." "Not
+in the least." "How can that be?" "Simply because, although my freedmen
+don't drink the same wine as myself, yet I drink the same as they do."
+And, no doubt about it, if a man is wise enough to moderate his
+appetite, he will not find it such a very expensive thing to share with
+all his visitors what he takes himself. Restrain it, keep it in, if you
+wish to be true economist. You will find temperance a far better way of
+saving than treating other people rudely can be. Why do I say all this?
+Why, for fear a young man of your high character and promise should be
+imposed upon by this immoderate luxury which prevails at some tables,
+under the specious notion of frugality. Whenever any folly of this sort
+falls under my eye, I shall, just because I care for you, point it out
+to you as an example you ought to shun. Remember, then, nothing is more
+to be avoided than this modern alliance of luxury with meanness; odious
+enough when existing separate and distinct, but still more hateful where
+you meet with them together. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XX -- To MACRINUS
+
+THE senate decreed yesterday, on the emperor's motion, a triumphal
+statue to Vestricius Spurinna: not as they would to many others, who
+never were in action, or saw a camp, or heard the sound of a trumpet,
+unless at a show; but as it would be decreed to those who have justly
+bought such a distinction with their blood, their exertions, and their
+deeds. Spurinna forcibly restored the king of the Bructeri[35] to his
+throne; and this by the noblest kind of victory; for he subdued that
+warlike people by the terror of the mere display of his preparation for
+the campaign. This is his reward as a hero, while, to console him for
+the loss of his son Cottius, who died during his absence upon that
+expedition, they also voted a statue to the youth; a very unusual honour
+for one so young; but the services of the father deserved that the pain
+of so severe a wound should be soothed by no common balm. Indeed Cottius
+himself evinced such remarkable promise of the highest qualities that it
+is but fitting his short limited term of life should be extended, as it
+were, by this kind of immortality. He was so pure and blameless, so full
+of dignity, and commanded such respect, that he might have challenged in
+moral goodness much older men, with whom he now shares equal honours.
+Honours, if I am not mistaken, conferred not only to perpetuate the
+memory of the deceased youth, and in consolation to the surviving
+father, but for the sake of public example also. This will rouse and
+stimulate our young men to cultivate every worthy principle, when they
+see such rewards bestowed upon one of their own years, provided he
+deserve them: at the same time that men of quality will be encouraged to
+beget children and to have the joy and satisfaction of leaving a worthy
+race behind, if their children survive them, or of so glorious a
+consolation, should they survive their children. Looking at it in this
+light then, I am glad, upon public grounds, that a statue is decreed
+Cottius: and for my own sake too, just as much; for I loved this most
+favoured, gifted, youth, as ardently as I now grievously miss him
+amongst us. So that it will be a great satisfaction to me to be able to
+look at this figure from time to time as I pass by, contemplate it,
+stand underneath, and walk to and fro before it. For if having the
+pictures of the departed placed in our homes lightens sorrow, how much
+more those public representations of them which are not only memorials
+of their air and countenance, but of their glory and honour besides?
+Farewell.
+
+
+
+XXI To PAISCUS
+
+As I know you eagerly embrace every opportunity of obliging me, so there
+is no man whom I had rather be under an obligation to. I apply to you,
+therefore, in preference to anyone else, for a favour which I am
+extremely desirous of obtaining. You, who are commander-in-chief of a
+very considerable army, have many opportunities of exercising your
+generosity; and the length of time you have enjoyed that post must have
+enabled you to provide for all your own friends. I hope you will now
+turn your eyes upon some of mine: as indeed they are but a few Your
+generous disposition, I know, would be better pleased if the number were
+greater, but one or two will suffice my modest desires; at present I
+will only mention Voconius Romanus. His father was of great distinction
+among the Roman knights, and his father-in-law, or, I might more
+properly call him, his second father, (for his affectionate treatment of
+Voconius entitles him to that appellation) was still more conspicuous.
+His mother was one of the most considerable ladies of Upper Spain: you
+know what character the people of that province bear, and how remarkable
+they are for their strictness of their manners. As for himself, he
+lately held the post of flamen.[36] Now, from the time when we were
+first students together, I have felt very tenderly attached to him. We
+lived under the same roof, in town and country, we joked together, we
+shared each other's serious thoughts: for where indeed could I have
+found a truer friend or pleasanter companion than he? In his
+conversation, and even in his very voice and countenance, there is a
+rare sweetness; as at the bar he displays talents of a high order;
+acuteness, elegance, ease, and skill: and he writes such letters too
+that were you to read them you would imagine they had been dictated by
+the Muses themselves. I have a very great affection for him, as he has
+for me. Even in the earlier part of our lives, I warmly embraced every
+opportunity of doing him all the good services which then lay in my
+power, as I have lately obtained for him from our most gracious
+prince[37] the privilege[38] granted to those who have three children: a
+favour which, though Cæsar very rarely bestows, and always with great
+caution, yet he conferred, at my request, in such a matter as to give it
+the air and grace of being his own choice.
+
+The best way of showing that I think he deserves the kindnesses he has
+already received from me is by increasing them, especially as he always
+accepts my services so gratefully as to deserve more. Thus I have shown
+you what manner of man Romanus is, how thoroughly I have proved his
+worth, and how much I love him. Let me entreat you to honour him with
+your patronage in a way suitable to the generosity of your heart, and
+the eminence of your station. But above all let him have your affection;
+for though you were to confer upon him the utmost you have in your power
+to bestow, you can give him nothing more valuable than your friendship-
+That you may see he is worthy of it, even to the closest degree of
+intimacy, I send you this brief sketch of his tastes, character, his
+whole life, in fact. I should continue my intercessions in his behalf,
+but that I know you prefer not being pressed, and I have already
+repeated them in every line of this letter: for, to show a good reason
+for what one asks is true intercession, and of the most effectual kind.
+Farewell.
+
+
+
+XXII -- To MAIMUS
+
+You guessed correctly: I am much engaged in pleading before the Hundred.
+The business there is more fatiguing than pleasant. Trifling,
+inconsiderable cases, mostly; it is very seldom that anything worth
+speaking of, either from the importance of the question or the rank of
+the persons concerned, comes before them. There are very few lawyers
+either whom I take any pleasure in working with. The rest, a parcel of
+impudent young fellows, many of whom one knows nothing whatever about,
+come here to get some practice in speaking, and conduct themselves so
+forwardly and with such utter want of deference that my friend Attilius
+exactly hit it, I think, when he made the observation that "boys set out
+at the bar with cases in the Court of the Hundred as they do at school
+with Homer," intimating that at both places they begin where they should
+end. But in former times (so my elders tell me) no youth, even of the
+best families, was allowed in unless introduced by some person of
+consular dignity. As things are now, since every fence of modesty and
+decorum is broken down, and all distinctions are levelled and
+confounded, the present young generation, so far from waiting to be
+introduced, break in of their own free will. The audience at their heels
+are fit attendants upon such orators; a low rabble of hired mercenaries,
+supplied by contract. They get together in the middle of the court,
+where the dole is dealt round to them as openly as if they were in a
+dining-room: and at this noble price they run from court to court. The
+Greeks have an appropriate name in their language for this sort of
+people, importing that they are applauders by profession, and we
+stigmatize them with the opprobrious title of table-flatterers: yet the
+dirty business alluded to increases every day. It was only yesterday two
+of my domestic officers, mere striplings, were hired to cheer somebody
+or other, at three denarii apiece:[39] that is what the highest
+eloquence goes for. Upon these terms we fill as many benches as we
+please, and gather a crowd; this is how those rending shouts are raised,
+as soon as the individual standing up in the middle of the ring gives
+the signal. For, you must know, these honest fellows, who understand
+nothing of what is said, or, if they did, could not hear it, would be at
+a loss without a signal, how to time their applause: for many of them
+don't hear a syllable, and are as noisy as any of the rest. If, at any
+time, you should happen to be passing by when the court is sitting, and
+feel at all interested to know how any speaker is acquitting himself,
+you have no occasion to give yourself the trouble of getting up on the
+judge's platform, no need to listen; it is easy enough to find out, for
+you may be quite sure he that gets most applause deserves it the least.
+Largius Licinus was the first to introduce this fashion; but then he
+went no farther than to go round and solicit an audience. I know, I
+remember hearing this from my tutor Quinctilian. "I used," he told me,
+"to go and hear Domitius Afer, and as he was pleading once before the
+Hundred in his usual slow and impressive manner, hearing, close to him,
+a most immoderate and unusual noise, and being a good deal surprised at
+this, he left off: the noise ceased, and he began again: he was
+interrupted a second time, and a third. At last he enquired who it was
+that was speaking? He was told, Licinus. Upon which, he broke off the
+case, exclaiming, 'Eloquence is no more!'" The truth is it had only
+begun to decline then, when in Afer's opinion it no longer existed --
+whereas now it is almost extinct. I am ashamed to tell you of the
+mincing and affected pronunciation of the speakers, and of the shrill-
+voiced applause with which their effusions are received; nothing seems
+wanting to complete this sing-song performance except claps, or rather
+cymbals and tambourines. Howlings indeed (for I can call such applause,
+which would be indecent even in the theatre, by no other name) abound in
+plenty. Up to this time the interest of my friends and the consideration
+of my early time of life have kept me in this court, as I am afraid they
+might think I was doing it to shirk work rather than to avoid these
+indecencies, were I to leave it just yet: however, I go there less
+frequently than I did, and am thus effecting a gradual retreat.
+Farewell.
+
+
+
+XXIII -- To GALLUS
+
+You are surprised that I am so fond of my Laurentine, or (if you prefer
+the name) my Laurens: but you will cease to wonder when I acquaint you
+with the beauty of the villa, the advantages of its situation, and the
+extensive view of the sea-coast. It is only seventeen miles from Rome:
+so that when I have finished my business in town, I can pass my evenings
+here after a good satisfactory day's work. There are two different roads
+to it: if you go by that of Laurentum, you must turn off at the
+fourteenth mile-stone; if by Astia, at the eleventh. Both of them are
+sandy in places, which makes it a little heavier and longer by carriage,
+but short and easy on horseback. The landscape affords plenty of
+variety, the view in some places being closed in by woods, in others
+extending over broad meadows, where numerous flocks of sheep and herds
+of cattle, which the severity of the winter has driven from the
+mountains, fatten in the spring warmth, and on the rich pasturage. My
+villa is of a convenient size without being expensive to keep up. The
+courtyard in front is plain, but not mean, through which you enter
+porticoes shaped into the form of the letter D, enclosing a small but
+cheerful area between. These make a capital retreat for bad weather, not
+only as they are shut in with windows, but particularly as they are
+sheltered by a projection of the roof. From the middle of these
+porticoes you pass into a bright pleasant inner court, and out of that
+into a handsome hall running out towards the sea-shore; so that when
+there is a south-west breeze, it is gently washed with the waves, which
+spend themselves at its base. On every side of this hall there are
+either folding-doors or windows equally large, by which means you have a
+view from the front and the two sides of three different seas, as it
+were: from the back you see the middle court, the portico, and the area;
+and from another point you look through the portico into the courtyard,
+and out upon the woods and distant mountains beyond. On the left hand of
+this hall, a little farther from the sea, lies a large drawing-room, and
+beyond that, a second of a smaller size, which has one window to the
+rising and another to the setting sun: this as well has a view of the
+sea, but more distant and agreeable. The angle formed by the projection
+of the dining-room with this drawing-room retains and intensifies the
+warmth of the sun, and this forms our winter quarters and family
+gymnasium, which is sheltered from all the winds except those which
+bring on clouds, but the clear sky comes out again before the warmth has
+gone out of the place. Adjoining this angle is a room forming the
+segment of a circle, the windows of which are so arranged as to get the
+sun all through the day: in the walls are contrived a sort of cases,
+containing a collection of authors who can never be read too often. Next
+to this is a bed-room, connected with it by a raised passage furnished
+with pipes, which supply, at a wholesome temperature, and distribute to
+all parts of this room, the heat they receive. The rest of this side of
+the house is appropriated to the use of my slaves and freedmen; but most
+of the rooms in it are respectable enough to put my guests into. In the
+opposite wing is a most elegant, tastefully fitted up bed-room; next to
+which lies another, which you may call either a large bed-room or a
+modified dining-room; it is very warm and light, not only from the
+direct rays of the sun, but by their reflection from the sea. Beyond
+this is a bed-room with an ante-room, the height of which renders it
+cool in summer, its thick walls warm in winter, for it is sheltered,
+every way from the winds. To this apartment another anteroom is joined
+by one common wall. From thence you enter into the wide and spacious
+cooling-room belonging to the bath, from the opposite walls of which two
+curved basins are thrown out, so to speak; which are more than large
+enough if you consider that the sea is close at hand. Adjacent to this
+is the anointing-room, then the sweating-room, and beyond that the bath-
+heating room: adjoining are two other little bath-rooms, elegantly
+rather than sumptuously fitted up: annexed to them is a warm bath of
+wonderful construction, in which one can swim and take a view of the sea
+at the same time. Not far from this stands the tennis-court, which lies
+open to the warmth of the afternoon sun. From thence you go up a sort of
+turret which has two rooms below, with the same number above, besides a
+dining-room commanding a very extensive look-out on to the sea, the
+coast, and the beautiful villas scattered along the shore line. At the
+other end is a second turret, containing a room that gets the rising and
+setting sun. Behind this is a large store-room and granary, and
+underneath, a spacious dining-room, where only the murmur and break of
+the sea can be heard, even in a storm: it looks out upon the garden, and
+the gestatio,[40] running round the garden. The gestatio is bordered
+round with box, and, where that is decayed, with rosemary: for the box,
+wherever sheltered by the buildings, grows plentifully, but where it
+lies open and exposed to the weather and spray from the sea, though at
+some distance from the latter, it quite withers up. Next the gestatio,
+and running along inside it, is a shady vine plantation, the path of
+which is so soft and easy to the tread that you may walk bare-foot upon
+it. The garden is chiefly planted with fig and mulberry trees, to which
+this soil is as favourable as it is averse from all others. Here is a
+dining-room, which, though it stands away from the sea enjoys the garden
+view which is just as pleasant: two apartments run round the back part
+of it, the windows of which look out upon the entrance of the villa, and
+into a fine kitchen-garden. From here extends an enclosed portico which,
+from its great length, you might take for a public one. It has a range
+of windows on either side, but more on the side facing the sea, and
+fewer on the garden side, and these, single windows and alternate with
+the opposite rows. In calm, clear, weather these are all thrown open;
+but if it blows, those on the weather side are closed, whilst those away
+from the wind can remain open without any inconvenience. Before this
+enclosed portico lies a terrace fragrant with the scent of violets, and
+warmed by the reflection of the sun from the portico, which, while it
+retains the rays, keeps away the north-east wind; and it is as warm on
+this side as it is cool on the side opposite: in the same way it is a
+protection against the wind from the south-west; and thus, in short, by
+means of its several sides, breaks the force of the winds, from whatever
+quarter they may blow. These are some of its winter advantages, they are
+still more appreciable in the summer time; for at that season it throws
+a shade upon the terrace during the whole of the forenoon, and upon the
+adjoining portion of the gestatio and garden in the afternoon, casting a
+greater or less shade on this side or on that as the day increases or
+decreases. But the portico itself is coolest just at the time when the
+sun is at its hottest, that is, when the rays fall directly upon the
+roof. Also, by opening the windows you let in the western breezes in a
+free current, which prevents the place getting oppressive with close and
+stagnant air. At the upper end of the terrace and portico stands a
+detached garden building, which I call my favourite; my favourite
+indeed, as I put it up myself. It contains a very warm winter-room, one
+side of which looks down upon the terrace, while the other has a view of
+the sea, and both lie exposed to the sun. The bed-room opens on to the
+covered portico by means of folding-doors, while its window looks out
+upon the sea. On that side next the sea, and facing the middle wall, is
+formed a very elegant little recess, which, by means of transparent[41]
+windows, and a curtain drawn to or aside, can be made part of the
+adjoining room, or separated from it. It contains a couch and two
+chairs: as you lie upon this couch, from where your feet are you get a
+peep of the sea; looking behind you see the neighbouring villas, and
+from the head you have a view of the woods: these three views may be
+seen either separately, from so many different windows, or blended
+together in one. Adjoining this is a bed-room, which neither the
+servants' voices, the murmuring of the sea, the glare of lightning, nor
+daylight itself can penetrate, unless you open the windows. This
+profound tranquillity and seclusion are occasioned by a passage
+separating the wall of this room from that of the garden, and thus, by
+means of this intervening space, every noise is drowned. Annexed to this
+is a tiny stove-room, which, by opening or shutting a little aperture,
+lets out or retains the heat from underneath, according as you require.
+Beyond this lie a bed-room and ante-room, which enjoy the sun, though
+obliquely indeed, from the time it rises, till the afternoon. When I
+retire to this garden summer-house, I fancy myself a hundred miles away
+from my villa, and take especial pleasure in it at the feast of the
+Saturnalia,[42] when, by the licence of that festive season, every other
+part of my house resounds with my servants' mirth: thus I neither
+interrupt their amusement nor they my studies. Amongst the pleasures and
+conveniences of this situation, there is one drawback, and that is, the
+want of running water; but then there are wells about the place, or
+rather springs, for they lie close to the surface. And, altogether, the
+quality of this coast is remarkable; for dig where you may, you meet,
+upon the first turning up of the ground, with a spring of water, quite
+pure, not in the least salt, although so near the sea. The neighbouring
+woods supply us with all the fuel we require, the other necessaries
+Ostia furnishes. Indeed, to a moderate man, even the village (between
+which and my house there is only one villa) would supply all ordinary
+requirements. It has three public baths, which are a great convenience
+if it happen that friends come in unexpectedly, or make too short a stay
+to allow time in preparing my own. The whole coast is very pleasantly
+sprinkled with villas either in rows or detached, which whether looking
+at them from the sea or the shore, present the appearance of so many
+different cities. The strand is, sometimes, after a long calm, perfectly
+smooth, though, in general, through the storms driving the waves upon
+it, it is rough and uneven. I cannot boast that our sea is plentiful in
+choice fish; however, it supplies us with capital soles and prawns; but
+as to other kinds of provisions, my villa aspires to excel even inland
+countries, particularly in milk: for the cattle come up there from the
+meadows in large numbers, in pursuit of water and shade. Tell me, now,
+have I not good reason for living in, staying in, loving, such a
+retreat, which, if you feel no appetite for, you must be morbidly
+attached to town? And I only wish you would feel inclined to come down
+to it, that to so many charms with which my little villa abounds, it
+might have the very considerable addition of your company to recommend
+it. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XXIV -- To CEREALIS
+
+You advise me to read my late speech before an assemblage of my friends.
+I shall do so, as you advise it, though I have strong scruples.
+Compositions of this sort lose, I well know, all their force and fire,
+and even their very name almost, by a mere recital. It is the solemnity
+of the tribunal, the concourse of advocates, the suspense of the event,
+the fame of the several pleaders concerned, the different parties formed
+amongst the audience; add to this the gestures, the pacing, aye the
+actual running, to and fro, of the speaker, the body working[43] in
+harmony with every inward emotion, that conspire to give a spirit and a
+grace to what he delivers. This is the reason that those who plead
+sitting, though they retain most of the advantages possessed by those
+who stand up to plead, weaken the whole force of their oratory. The eyes
+and hands of the reader, those important instruments of graceful
+elocution, being engaged, it is no wonder that the attention of the
+audience droops, without anything extrinsic to keep it up, no
+allurements of gesture to attract, no smart, stinging impromptus to
+enliven. To these general considerations I must add this particular
+disadvantage which attends the speech in question, that it is of the
+argumentative kind; and it is natural for an author to infer that what
+he wrote with labour will not be read with pleasure. For who is there so
+unprejudiced as not to prefer the attractive and sonorous to the sombre
+and unornamented in style? It is very unreasonable that there should be
+any distinction; however, it is certain the judges generally expect one
+style of pleading, and the audience another; whereas an auditor ought to
+be affected only by those parts which would especially strike him, were
+he in the place of the judge. Nevertheless it is possible the objections
+which lie against this piece may be surmounted in consideration of the
+novelty it has to recommend it: the novelty I mean with respect to us;
+for the Greek orators have a method of reasoning upon a different
+occasion, not altogether unlike that which I have employed. They, when
+they would throw out a law, as contrary to some former one unrepealed,
+argue by comparing those together; so I, on the contrary, endeavour to
+prove that the crime, which I was insisting upon as falling within the
+intent and meaning of the law relating to public extortions, was
+agreeable, not only to that law, but likewise to other laws of the same
+nature. Those who are ignorant of the jurisprudence of their country can
+have no taste for reasonings of this kind, but those who are not ought
+to be proportionably the more favourable in the judgments they pass upon
+them. I shall endeavour, therefore, if you persist in my reciting it, to
+collect as learned an audience as I can. But before you determine this
+point, do weigh impartially the different considerations I have laid
+before you, and then decide as reason shall direct; for it is reason
+that must justify you; obedience to your commands will be a sufficient
+apology for me. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XXV -- To CALVISIUS
+
+GIVE me a penny, and I will tell you a story "worth gold," or, rather,
+you shall hear two or three; for one brings to my mind another. It makes
+no difference with which I begin. Verania, the widow of Piso, the Piso,
+I mean, whom Galba adopted, lay extremely ill, and Regulus paid her a
+visit. By the way, mark the assurance of the man, visiting a lady who
+detested him herself, and to whose husband he was a declared enemy! Even
+barely to enter her house would have been bad enough, but he actually
+went and seated himself by her bed-side and began enquiring on what day
+and hour she was born. Being informed of these important particulars, he
+composes his countenance, fixes his eyes, mutters something to himself,
+counts upon his fingers, and all this merely to keep the poor sick lady
+in suspense. When he had finished, "You are," he says, "in one of your
+climacterics; however, you will get over it. But for your greater
+satisfaction, I will consult with a certain diviner, whose skill I have
+frequently experienced." Accordingly off he goes, performs a sacrifice,
+and returns with the strongest assurances that the omens confirmed what
+he had promised on the part of the stars. Upon this the good woman,
+whose danger made her credulous, calls for her will and gives Regulus a
+legacy. She grew worse shortly after this; and in her last moments
+exclaimed against this wicked, treacherous, and worse than perjured
+wretch, who had sworn falsely to her by his own son's life. But
+imprecations of this sort are as common with Regulus as they are
+impious; and he continually devotes that unhappy youth to the curse of
+those gods whose vengeance his own frauds every day provoke.
+
+Velleius Blaesus, a man of consular rank, and remarkable for his immense
+wealth, in his last illness was anxious to make some alterations in his
+will. Regulus, who had lately endeavoured to insinuate himself into his
+good graces, hoped to get something from the new will, and accordingly
+addresses himself to his physicians, and conjures them to exert all
+their skill to prolong the poor man's life. But after the will was
+signed, he changes his character, reversing his tone: "How long," says
+he to these very same physicians, "do you intend keeping this man in
+misery? Since you cannot preserve his life, why do you grudge him the
+happy release of death?" Blaesus dies, and, as if he had overheard every
+word that Regulus had said, has not left him one farthing.--And now have
+you had enough? or are you for the third, according to rhetorical canon?
+If so, Regulus will supply you. You must know, then, that Aurelia, a
+lady of remarkable accomplishments, purposing to execute her will,[44]
+had put on her smartest dress for the occasion. Regulus, who was present
+as a witness, turned to the lady, and "Pray," says he, "leave me these
+fine clothes." Aurelia thought the man was joking: but he insisted upon
+it perfectly seriously, and, to be brief, obliged her to open her will,
+and insert the dress she had on as a legacy to him, watching as she
+wrote, and then looking over it to see that it was all down correctly.
+Aurelia, however, is still alive: though Regulus, no doubt, when he
+solicited this bequest, expected to enjoy it pretty soon. The fellow
+gets estates, he gets legacies, conferred upon him, as if he really
+deserved them! But why should I go on dwelling upon this in a city where
+wickedness and knavery have, for this time past, received, the same, do
+I say, nay, even greater encouragement, than modesty and virtue? Regulus
+is a glaring instance of this truth, who, from a state of poverty, has
+by a train of villainies acquired such immense riches that he once told
+me, upon consulting the omens to know how soon he should be worth sixty
+millions of sesterces,[45] he found them so favourable as to portend he
+should possess double that sum. And possibly he may, if he continues to
+dictate wills for other people in this way: a sort of fraud, in my
+opinion, the most infamous of any. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XXVI -- To CALVISIUS
+
+I NEVER, I think, spent any time more agreeably than my time lately with
+Spurinna. So agreeably, indeed, that if ever I should arrive at old age,
+there is no man whom I would sooner choose for my model, for nothing can
+be more perfect in arrangement than his mode of life. I look upon order
+in human actions, especially at that advanced age, with the same sort of
+pleasure as I behold the settled course of the heavenly bodies. In young
+men, indeed, a little confusion and disarrangement is all well enough:
+but in age, when business is unseasonable, and ambition indecent, all
+should be composed and uniform. This rule Spurinna observes with the
+most religious consistency. Even in those matters which one might call
+insignificant, were they not of every-day occurrence, he observes a
+certain periodical season and method. The early morning he passes on his
+couch; at eight he calls for his slippers, and walks three miles,
+exercising mind and body together. On his return, if he has any friends
+in the house with him, he gets upon some entertaining and interesting
+topic of conversation; if by himself, some book is read to him,
+sometimes when visitors are there even, if agreeable to the company.
+Then he has a rest, and after that either takes up a book or resumes his
+conversation in preference to reading. By-and-by he goes out for a drive
+in his carriage, either with his wife, a most admirable woman, or with
+some friend: a happiness which lately was mine.--How agreeable, how
+delightful it is getting a quiet time alone with him in this way! You
+could imagine you were listening to some worthy of ancient times! What
+deeds, what men you hear about, and with what noble precepts you are
+imbued! Yet all delivered with so modest an air that there is not the
+least appearance of dictating. When he has gone about seven miles, he
+gets out of his chariot and walks a mile more, after which he returns
+home, and either takes a rest or goes back to his couch and writing. For
+he composes most elegant lyrics both in Greek and Latin. So wonderfully
+soft, sweet, and gay they are, while the author's own unsullied life
+lends them additional charm. When the baths are ready, which in winter
+is about three o'clock, and in summer about two, he undresses himself
+and, if there happen to be no wind, walks for some time in the sun.
+After this he has a good brisk game of tennis: for by this sort of
+exercise too, he combats the effects of old age. When he has bathed, he
+throws himself upon his couch, but waits a little before he begins
+eating, and in the meanwhile has some light and entertaining author read
+to him. In this, as in all the rest, his friends are at full liberty to
+share; or to employ themselves in any other way, just as they prefer.
+You sit down to an elegant dinner, without extravagant display, which is
+served up in antique plate of pure silver. He has another complete
+service in Corinthian metal, which, though he admires as a curiosity, is
+far from being his passion. During dinner he is frequently entertained
+with the recital of some dramatic piece, by way of seasoning his very
+pleasures with study; and although he continues at the table, even in
+summer, till the night is somewhat advanced, yet he prolongs the
+entertainment with so much affability and politeness that none of his
+guests ever finds it tedious. By this method of living he has preserved
+all his senses entire, and his body vigorous and active to his seventy-
+eighth year, without showing any sign of old age except wisdom. This is
+the sort of life I ardently aspire after; as I purpose enjoying it when
+I shall arrive at those years which will justify a retreat from active
+life. Meanwhile I am embarrassed with a thousand affairs, in which
+Spurinna is at once my support and my example: for he too, so long as it
+became him, discharged his professional duties, held magistracies,
+governed provinces, and by toiling hard earned the repose he now enjoys.
+I propose to myself the same career and the same limits: and I here give
+it to you under my hand that I do so. If an ill-timed ambition should
+carry me beyond those bounds, produce this very letter of mine in court
+against me; and condemn me to repose, whenever I enjoy it without being
+reproached with indolence. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XXVII -- To BAEBIUS MACER
+
+IT gives me great pleasure to find you such a reader of my uncle's works
+as to wish to have a complete collection of them, and to ask me for the
+names of them all. I will act as index then, and you shall know the very
+order in which they were written, for the studious reader likes to know
+this. The first work of his was a treatise in one volume, "On the Use of
+the Dart by Cavalry"; this he wrote when in command of one of the
+cavalry corps of our allied troops, and is drawn up with great care and
+ingenuity. "The Life of Pomponius Secundus,"[46] in two volumes.
+Pomponius had a great affection for him, and he thought he owed this
+tribute to his memory. "The History of the Wars in Germany," in twenty
+books, in which he gave an account of all the battles we were engaged in
+against that nation. A dream he had while serving in the army in Germany
+first suggested the design of this work to him. He imagined that Drusus
+Nero[47] (who extended his conquest very far into that country, and
+there lost his life) appeared to him in his sleep, and entreated him to
+rescue his memory from oblivion. Next comes a work entitled "The
+Student," in three parts, which from their length spread into six
+volumes: a work in which is discussed the earliest training and
+subsequent education of the orator. "Questions of Grammar and Style," in
+eight books, written in the latter part of Nero's reign, when the
+tyranny of the times made it dangerous to engage in literary pursuits
+requiring freedom and elevation of tone. He has completed the history
+which Aufidius Bassus[48] left unfinished, and has added to it thirty
+books. And lastly he has left thirty-seven books on Natural History, a
+work of great compass and learning, and as full of variety as nature
+herself. You will wonder how a man as busy as he was could find time to
+compose so many books, and some of them too involving such care and
+labour. But you will be still more surprised when you hear that he
+pleaded at the bar for some time, that he died in his sixty-sixth year,
+that the intervening time was employed partly in the execution of the
+highest official duties, partly in attendance upon those emperors who
+honoured him with their friendship. But he had a quick apprehension,
+marvellous power of application, and was of an exceedingly wakeful
+temperament. He always began to study at midnight at the time of the
+feast of Vulcan, not for the sake of good luck, but for learning's sake;
+in winter generally at one in the morning, but never later than two, and
+often at twelve.[49] He was a most ready sleeper, insomuch that he would
+sometimes, whilst in the midst of his studies, fall off and then wake up
+again. Before day-break he used to wait upon Vespasian' (who also used
+his nights for transacting business in), and then proceed to execute the
+orders he had received. As soon as he returned home, he gave what time
+was left to study. After a short and light refreshment at noon
+(agreeably to the good old custom of our ancestors) he would frequently
+in the summer, if he was disengaged from business, lie down and bask in
+the sun; during which time some author was read to him, while he took
+notes and made extracts, for every book he read he made extracts out of,
+indeed it was a maxim of his, that "no book was so bad but some good
+might be got out of it." When this was over, he generally took a cold
+bath, then some light refreshment and a little nap. After this, as if it
+had been a new day, he studied till supper-time, when a book was again
+read to him, which he would take down running notes upon. I remember
+once his reader having mis-pronounced a word, one of my uncle's friends
+at the table made him go back to where the word was and repeat it again;
+upon which my uncle said to his friend, "Surely you understood it?" Upon
+his acknowledging that he did, "Why then," said he, "did you make him go
+back again? We have lost more than ten lines by this interruption." Such
+an economist he was of time! In the summer he used to rise from supper
+at daylight, and in winter as soon as it was dark: a rule he observed as
+strictly as if it had been a law of the state. Such was his manner of
+life amid the bustle and turmoil of the town: but in the country his
+whole time was devoted to study, excepting only when he bathed. In this
+exception I include no more than the time during which he was actually
+in the bath; for all the while he was being rubbed and wiped, he was
+employed either in hearing some book read to him or in dictating
+himself. In going about anywhere, as though he were disengaged from all
+other business, he applied his mind wholly to that single pursuit. A
+shorthand writer constantly attended him, with book and tablets, who, in
+the winter, wore a particular sort of warm gloves, that the sharpness of
+the weather might not occasion any interruption to my uncle's studies:
+and for the same reason, when in Rome, he was always carried in a chair.
+I recollect his once taking me to task for walking. "You need not," he
+said, "lose these hours." For he thought every hour gone that was not
+given to study. Through this extraordinary application he found time to
+compose the several treatises I have mentioned, besides one hundred and
+sixty volumes of extracts which he left me in his will, consisting of a
+kind of common-place, written on both sides, in very small hand, so that
+one might fairly reckon the number considerably more. He used himself to
+tell us that when he was comptroller of the revenue in Spain, he could
+have sold these manuscripts to Largius Licinus for four hundred thousand
+sesterces,[50] and then there were not so many of them. When you
+consider the books he has read, and the volumes he has written, are you
+not inclined to suspect that he never was engaged in public duties or
+was ever in the confidence of his prince? On the other hand, when you
+are told how indefatigable he was in his studies, are you not inclined
+to wonder that he read and wrote no more than he did? For, on one side,
+what obstacles would not the business of a court throw in his way? and
+on the other, what is it that such intense application might not effect?
+It amuses me then when I hear myself called a studious man, who in
+comparison with him am the merest idler. But why do I mention myself,
+who am diverted from these pursuits by numberless affairs both public
+and private? Who amongst those whose whole lives are devoted to literary
+pursuits would not blush and feel himself the most confirmed of
+sluggards by the side of him? I see I have run out my letter farther
+than I had originally intended, which was only to let you know, as you
+asked me, what works he had left behind him. But I trust this will be no
+less acceptable to you than the books themselves, as it may, possibly,
+not only excite your curiosity to read his works, but also your
+emulation to copy his example, by some attempts of a similar nature.
+Farewell.
+
+
+
+XXVIII -- To ANNIUS SEVERUS
+
+I HAVE lately purchased with a legacy that was left me a small statue of
+Corinthian brass. It is small indeed, but elegant and life-like, as far
+as I can form any judgment, which most certainly in matters of this
+sort, as perhaps in all others, is extremely defective. However, I do
+see the beauties of this figure: for, as it is naked the faults, if
+there be any, as well as the perfections, are the more observable. It
+represents an old man, in an erect attitude. The bones, muscles, veins,
+and the very wrinkles, give the Impression of breathing life. The hair
+is thin and failing, the forehead broad, the face shrivelled, the throat
+lank, the arms loose and hanging, the breast shrunken, and the belly
+fallen in, as the whole turn and air of the figure behind too is equally
+expressive of old age. It appears to be true antique, judging from the
+colour of the brass. In short, it is such a masterpiece as would strike
+the eyes of a connoisseur, and which cannot fail to charm an ordinary
+observer: and this induced me, who am an absolute novice in this art, to
+buy it. But I did so, not with any intention of placing it in my own
+house (for I have nothing of the kind there), but with a design of
+fixing it in some conspicuous place in my native province; I should like
+it best in the temple of Jupiter, for it is a gift well worthy of a
+temple, well worthy of a god. I desire therefore you would, with that
+care with which you always perform my requests, undertake this
+commission and give immediate orders for a pedestal to be made for it,
+out of what marble you please, but let my name be engraved upon it, and,
+if you think proper to add these as well, my titles. I will send the
+statue by the first person I can find who will not mind the trouble of
+it; or possibly (which I am sure you will like better) I may myself
+bring it along with me: for I intend, if business can spare me that is
+to say, to make an excursion over to you. I see joy in your looks when I
+promise to come; but you will soon change your countenance when I add,
+only for a few days: for the same business that at present keeps me here
+will prevent my making a longer stay. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XXIX -- To CANINIUS RUFUS
+
+I HAVE just been informed that Silius Italicus[51] has starved himself
+to death, at his villa near Naples. Ill-health was the cause. Being
+troubled with an incurable cancerous humour, he grew weary of life and
+therefore put an end to it with a determination not to be moved. He had
+been extremely fortunate all through his life with the exception of the
+death of the younger of his two sons; however, he has left behind him
+the elder and the worthier man of the two in a position of distinction,
+having even attained consular rank. His reputation had suffered a little
+in Nero's time, as he was suspected of having officiously joined in some
+of the informations in that reign; but he used his interest with
+Vitellius, with great discretion and humanity. He acquired considerable
+honour by his administration of the government of Asia, and, by his good
+conduct after his retirement from business, cleared his character from
+that stain which his former public exertions had thrown upon it. He
+lived as a private nobleman, without power, and consequently without
+envy. Though he was frequently confined to his bed, and always to his
+room, yet he was highly respected, and much visited; not with an
+interested view, but on his own account. He employed his time between
+conversing with literary men and composing verses; which he sometimes
+read out, by way of testing the public opinion: but they evidence more
+industry than genius. In the decline of his years he entirely quitted
+Rome, and lived altogether in Campania, from whence even the accession
+of the new emperor[52] could not draw him. A circumstance which I
+mention as much to the honour of Cæsar, who was not displeased with that
+liberty, as of Italicus, who was not afraid to make use of it. He was
+reproached with indulging his taste for the fine arts at an immoderate
+expense. He had several villas in the same province, and the last
+purchase was always the especial favourite, to the neglect of all the
+rest, These residences overflowed with books, statues, and pictures,
+which he more than enjoyed, he even adored; particularly that of Virgil,
+of whom he was so passionate an admirer that he celebrated the
+anniversary of that poet's birthday with more solemnity than his own, at
+Naples especially where he used to approach his tomb as if it had been a
+temple. In this tranquillity he passed his seventy-fifth year, with a
+delicate rather than an infirm constitution.
+
+As he was the last person upon whom Nero conferred the consular office,
+so he was the last survivor of all those who had been raised by him to
+that dignity. It is also remarkable that, as he was the last to die of
+Nero's consuls, so Nero died when he was consul. Recollecting this, a
+feeling of pity for the transitory condition of mankind comes over me.
+Is there anything in nature so short and limited as human life, even at
+its longest? Does it not seem to you but yesterday that Nero was alive?
+And yet not one of all those who were consuls in his reign now remains!
+Though why should I wonder at this? Lucius Piso (the father of that Piso
+who was so infamously assassinated by Valerius Festus in Africa) used to
+say, he did not see one person in the senate whose opinion he had
+consulted when he was consul: in so short a space is the very term of
+life of such a multitude of beings comprised! so that to me those royal
+tears seem not only worthy of pardon but of praise. For it is said that
+Xerxes, on surveying his immense army, wept at the reflection that so
+many thousand lives would in such a short space of time be extinct. The
+more ardent therefore should be our zeal to lengthen out this frail and
+transient portion of existence, if not by our deeds (for the
+opportunities of this are not in our power) yet certainly by our
+literary accomplishments; and since long life is denied us, let us
+transmit to posterity some memorial that we have at least LIVED. I well
+know you need no incitements, but the warmth of my affection for you
+inclines me to urge you on in the course you are already pursuing, just
+as you have so often urged me. "Happy rivalry" when two friends strive
+in this way which of them shall animate the other most in their mutual
+pursuit of immortal fame. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XXX -- To SPURINNA AND COTTIA[53]
+
+I DID not tell you, when I paid you my last visit, that I had composed
+something in praise of your son; because, in the first place, I wrote it
+not for the sake of talking about my performance, but simply to satisfy
+my affection, to console my sorrow for the loss of him. Again, as you
+told me, my dear Spurinna, that you had heard I had been reciting a
+piece of mine, I imagined you had also heard at the same time what was
+the subject of the recital, and besides I was afraid of casting a gloom
+over your cheerfulness in that festive season, by reviving the
+remembrance of that heavy sorrow. And even now I have hesitated a little
+whether I should gratify you both, in your joint request, by sending
+only what I recited, or add to it what I am thinking of keeping back for
+another essay. It does not satisfy my feelings to devote only one little
+tract to a memory so dear and sacred to me, and it seemed also more to
+the interest of his fame to have it thus disseminated by separate
+pieces. But the consideration, that it will be more open and friendly to
+send you the whole now, rather than keep back some of it to another
+time, has determined me to do the former, especially as I have your
+promise that it shall not be communicated by either of you to anyone
+else, until I shall think proper to publish it. The only remaining
+favour I ask is, that you will give me a proof of the same unreserve by
+pointing out to me what you shall judge would be best altered, omitted,
+or added. It is difficult for a mind in affliction to concentrate itself
+upon such little cares. However, as you would direct a painter or
+sculptor who was representing the figure of your son what parts he
+should retouch or express, so I hope you will guide and inform my hand
+in this more durable or (as you are pleased to think it) this immortal
+likeness which I am endeavouring to execute: for the truer to the
+original, the more perfect and finished it is, so much the more lasting
+it is likely to prove. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XXXI -- To JULIUS GENITOR
+
+IT is just like the generous disposition of Artemidorus to magnify the
+kindnesses of his friends; hence he praises my deserts (though he is
+really indebted to me) beyond their due. It is true indeed that when the
+philosophers were expelled from Rome,[54] I visited him at his house
+near the city, and ran the greater risk in paying him that civility, as
+it was more noticeable then, I being praetor at the time. I supplied him
+too with a considerable sum to pay certain debts he had contracted upon
+very honourable occasions, without charging interest, though obliged to
+borrow the money myself, while the rest of his rich powerful friends
+stood by hesitating about giving him assistance. I did this at a time
+when seven of my friends were either executed or banished; Senecio,
+Rusticus, and Helvidius having just been put to death, while Mauricus,
+Gratilla, Arria, and Fannia, were sent into exile; and scorched as it
+were by so many lightning-bolts of the state thus hurled and flashing
+round me, I augured by no uncertain tokens my own impending doom. But I
+do not look upon myself, on that account, as deserving of the high
+praises my friend bestows upon me: all I pretend to is the being clear
+of the infamous guilt of abandoning him in his misfortunes. I had, as
+far as the differences between our ages would admit, a friendship for
+his father-in-law Musonius, whom I both loved and esteemed, while
+Artemidorus himself I entered into the closest intimacy with when I was
+serving as a military tribune in Syria. And I consider as a proof that
+there is some good in me the fact of my being so early capable of
+appreciating a man who is either a philosopher or the nearest
+resemblance to one possible; for I am sure that, amongst all those who
+at the present day call themselves philosophers, you will find hardly
+any one of them so full of sincerity and truth as he. I forbear to
+mention how patient he is of heat and cold alike, how indefatigable in
+labour, how abstemious in his food, and what an absolute restraint he
+puts upon all his appetites; for these qualities, considerable as they
+would certainly be in any other character, are less noticeable by the
+side of the rest of those virtues of his which recommended him to
+Musonius for a son-in-law, in preference to so many others of all ranks
+who paid their addresses to his daughter. And when I think of all these
+things, I cannot help feeling pleasurably affected by those unqualified
+terms of praise in which he speaks of me to you as well as to everyone
+else. I am only apprehensive lest the warmth of his kind feeling carry
+him beyond the due limits; for he, who is so free from all other errors,
+is apt to fall into just this one good-natured one, of overrating the
+merits of his friends. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XXXII -- To CATILIUS SEVERUS
+
+I WILL come to supper, but must make this agreement beforehand, that I
+go when I please, that you treat me to nothing expensive, and that our
+conversation abound only in Socratic discourse, while even that in
+moderation. There are certain necessary visits of ceremony, bringing
+people out before daylight, which Cato himself could not safely fall in
+with; though I must confess that Julius Cæsar reproaches him with that
+circumstance in such a manner as redounds to his praise; for he tells us
+that the persons who met him reeling home blushed at the discovery, and
+adds, "You would have thought that Cato had detected them, and not they
+Cato." Could he place the dignity of Cato in a stronger light than by
+representing him thus venerable even in his cups? But let our supper be
+as moderate in regard to hours as in the preparation and expense: for we
+are not of such eminent reputation that even our enemies cannot censure
+our conduct without applauding it at the same time. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XXXIII -- To ACILIUS
+
+THE atrocious treatment that Largius Macedo, a man of praetorian rank,
+lately received at the hands of his slaves is so extremely tragical that
+it deserves a place rather in public history than in a private letter;
+though it must at the same time be acknowledged there was a haughtiness
+and severity in his behaviour towards them which shewed that he little
+remembered, indeed almost entirely forgot, the fact that his own father
+had once been in that station of life. He was bathing at his Formian
+Villa, when he found himself suddenly surrounded by his slaves; one
+seizes him by the throat, another strikes him on the mouth, whilst
+others trampled upon his breast, stomach, and even other parts which I
+need not mention. When they thought the breath must be quite out of his
+body, they threw him down upon the heated pavement of the bath, to try
+whether he were still alive, where he lay outstretched and motionless,
+either really insensible or only feigning to be so, upon which they
+concluded him to be actually dead. In this condition they brought him
+out, pretending that he had got suffocated by the heat of the bath. Some
+of his more trusty servants received him, and his mistresses came about
+him shrieking and lamenting. The noise of their cries and the fresh air,
+together, brought him a little to himself; he opened his eyes, moved his
+body, and shewed them (as he now safely might) that he was not quite
+dead. The murderers immediately made their escape; but most of them have
+been caught again, and they are after the rest. He was with great
+difficulty kept alive for a few days, and then expired, having however
+the satisfaction of finding himself as amply revenged in his lifetime as
+he would have been after his death. Thus you see to what affronts,
+indignities, and dangers we are exposed. Lenity and kind treatment are
+no safeguard; for it is malice and not reflection that arms such
+ruffians against their masters. So much for this piece of news. And what
+else? What else? Nothing else, or you should hear it, for I have still
+paper, and time too (as it is holiday time with me) to spare for more,
+and I can tell you one further circumstance relating to Macedo, which
+now occurs to me. As he was in a public bath once, at Rome, a
+remarkable, and (judging from the manner of his death) an ominous,
+accident happened to him. A slave of his, in order to make way for his
+master, laid his hand gently upon a Roman knight, who, turning suddenly
+round, struck, not the slave who had touched him, but Macedo, so violent
+a blow with his open palm that he almost knocked him down. Thus the bath
+by a kind of gradation proved fatal to him; being first the scene of an
+indignity he suffered, afterwards the scene of his death. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XXXIV -- To NEPOS
+
+I HAVE constantly observed that amongst the deeds and sayings of
+illustrious persons of either sex, some have made more noise in the
+world, whilst others have been really greater, although less talked
+about; and I am confirmed in this opinion by a conversation I had
+yesterday with Fannia. This lady is a grand-daughter to that celebrated
+Arria, who animated her husband to meet death, by her own glorious
+example. She informed me of several particulars relating to Arria, no
+less heroic than this applauded action of hers, though taken less notice
+of, and I think you will be as surprised to read the account of them as
+I was to hear it. Her husband Caecinna Paetus, and her son, were both
+attacked at the same time with a fatal illness, as was supposed; of
+which the son died, a youth of remarkable beauty, and as modest as he
+was comely, endeared indeed to his parents no less by his many graces
+than from the fact of his being their son. His mother prepared his
+funeral and conducted the usual ceremonies so privately that Paetus did
+not know of his death. Whenever she came into his room, she pretended
+her son was alive and actually better: and as often as he enquired after
+his health, would answer, "He has had a good rest, and eaten his food
+with quite an appetite." Then when she found the tears, she had so long
+kept back, gushing forth in spite of herself, she would leave the room,
+and having given vent to her grief, return with dry eyes and a serene
+countenance, as though she had dismissed every feeling of bereavement at
+the door of her husband's chamber. I must confess it was a brave
+action[55] in her to draw the steel, plunge it into her breast, pluck
+out the dagger, and present it to her husband with that ever memorable,
+I had almost said that divine, expression, "Paetus, it is not painful."
+But when she spoke and acted thus, she had the prospect of glory and
+immortality before her; how far greater, without the support of any such
+animating motives, to hide her tears, to conceal her grief, and
+cheerfully to act the mother, when a mother no more!
+
+Scribonianus had taken up arms in Illyria against Clatidius, where he
+lost his life, and Paetus, who was of his party, was brought a prisoner
+to Rome. When they were going to put him on board ship, Arria besought
+the soldiers that she might be permitted to attend him: "For surely,"
+she urged, "you will allow a man of consular rank some servants to dress
+him, attend to him at meals, and put his shoes on for him; but if you
+will take me, I alone will perform all these offices." Her request was
+refused; upon which she hired a fishing-boat, and in that small vessel
+followed the ship. On her return to Rome, meeting the wife of
+Scribonianus in the emperor's palace, at the time when this woman
+voluntarily gave evidence against the conspirators--"What," she
+exclaimed, "shall I hear you even speak to me, you, on whose bosom your
+husband Scribonianus was murdered, and yet you survive him?"--an
+expression which plainly shews that the noble manner in which she put an
+end to her life was no unpremeditated effect of sudden passion.
+Moreover, when Thrasea, her son-in-law, was endeavouring to dissuade her
+from her purpose of destroying herself, and, amongst other arguments
+which he used, said to her, "Would you then advise your daughter to die
+with me if my life were to be taken from me?" "Most certainly I would,"
+she replied, "if she had lived as long, and in as much harmony with you,
+as I have with my Paetus." This answer greatly increased the alarm of
+her family, and made them watch her for the future more narrowly; which,
+when she perceived, "It is of no use," she said, "you may oblige me to
+effect my death in a more painful way, but it is impossible you should
+prevent it." Saying this, she sprang from her chair, and running her
+head with the utmost violence against the wall, fell down, to all
+appearance, dead; but being brought to herself again, "I told you," she
+said, "if you would not suffer me to take an easy path to death, I
+should find a way to it, however hard." Now, is there not, my friend,
+something much greater in all this than in the so-much-talked-of
+"Paetus, it is not painful," to which these led the way? And yet this
+last is the favourite topic of fame, while all the former are passed
+over in silence. Whence I cannot but infer, what I observed at the
+beginning of my letter, that some actions are more celebrated, whilst
+others are really greater. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XXXV -- To SEVERUS
+
+I WAS obliged by my consular office to compliment the emperor[56] in the
+name of the republic; but after I had performed that ceremony in the
+senate in the usual manner, and as fully as the time and place would
+allow, I thought it agreeable to the affection of a good subject to
+enlarge those general heads, and expand them into a complete discourse.
+My principal object in doing so was, to confirm the emperor in his
+virtues, by paying them that tribute of applause which they so justly
+deserve; and at the same time to direct future princes, not in the
+formal way of lecture, but by his more engaging example, to those paths
+they must pursue if they would attain the same heights of glory. To
+instruct princes how to form their conduct, is a noble, but difficult
+task, and may, perhaps, be esteemed an act of presumption: but to
+applaud the character of an accomplished prince, and to hold out to
+posterity, by this means, a beacon-light as it were, to guide succeeding
+monarchs, is a method equally useful, and much more modest. It afforded
+me a very singular pleasure that when I wished to recite this panegyric
+in a private assembly, my friends gave me their company, though I did
+not solicit them in the usual form of notes or circulars, but only
+desired their attendance, "should it be quite convenient to them," and
+"if they should happen to have no other engagement." You know the
+excuses generally made at Rome to avoid invitations of this kind; how
+prior invitations are usually alleged; yet, in spite of the worst
+possible weather, they attended the recital for two days together; and
+when I thought it would be unreasonable to detain them any longer, they
+insisted upon my going through with it the next day. Shall I consider
+this as an honour done to myself or to literature? Rather let me suppose
+to the latter, which, though well-nigh extinct, seems to be now again
+reviving amongst us. Yet what was the subject which raised this uncommon
+attention? No other than what formerly, even in the senate, where we had
+to submit to it, we used to grudge even a few moments' attention to. But
+now, you see, we have patience to recite and to attend to the same topic
+for three days together; and the reason of this is, not that we have
+more eloquent writing now than formerly, but we write under a fuller
+sense of individual freedom, and consequently more genially than we used
+to. It is an additional glory therefore to our present emperor that this
+sort of harangue, which was once as disgusting as it was false, is now
+as pleasing as it is sincere. But it was not only the earnest attention
+of my audience which afforded me pleasure; I was greatly delighted too
+with the justness of their taste: for I observed, that the more nervous
+parts of my discourse gave them peculiar satisfaction. It is true,
+indeed, this work, which was written for the perusal of the world in
+general, was read only to a few; however, I would willingly look upon
+their particular judgment as an earnest of that of the public, and
+rejoice at their manly taste as if it were universally spread. It was
+just the same in eloquence as it was in music, the vitiated ears of the
+audience introduced a depraved style; but now, I am inclined to hope, as
+a more refined judgment prevails in the public, our compositions of both
+kinds will improve too; for those authors whose sole object is to please
+will fashion their works according to the popular taste. I trust,
+however, in subjects of this nature the florid style is most proper; and
+am so far from thinking that the vivid colouring I have used will be
+esteemed foreign and unnatural that I am most apprehensive that censure
+will fall upon those parts where the diction is most simple and
+unornate. Nevertheless, I sincerely wish the time may come, and that it
+now were, when the smooth and luscious, which has affected our style,
+shall give place, as it ought, to severe and chaste composition. -- Thus
+have I given you an account of my doings of these last three days, that
+your absence might not entirely deprive you of a pleasure which, from
+your friendship to me, and the part you take in everything that concerns
+the interest of literature, I know you would have received, had you been
+there to hear. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XXXVI -- To CALVISIUS RUFUS
+
+I MUST have recourse to you, as usual, in an affair which concerns my
+finances. An estate adjoining my land, and indeed running into it, is
+for sale. There are several considerations strongly inclining me to this
+purchase, while there are others no less weighty deterring me from it.
+Its first recommendation is, the beauty which will result from uniting
+this farm to my own lands; next, the advantage as well as pleasure of
+being able to visit it without additional trouble and expense; to have
+it superintended by the same steward, and almost by the same sub-agents,
+and to have one villa to support and embellish, the other just to keep
+in common repair. I take into this account furniture, housekeepers,
+fancy-gardeners, artificers, and even hunting-apparatus, as it makes a
+very great difference whether you get these altogether into one place or
+scatter them about in several. On the other hand, I don't know whether
+it is prudent to expose so large a property to the same climate, and the
+same risks of accident happening; to distribute one's possessions about
+seems a safer way of meeting the caprice of fortune, besides, there is
+something extremely pleasant in the change of air and place, and the
+going about between one's properties. And now, to come to the chief
+consideration:--the lands are rich, fertile, and well-watered,
+consisting chiefly of meadow-ground, vineyard, and wood, while the
+supply of building timber and its returns, though moderate, still, keep
+at the same rate. But the soil, fertile as it is, has been much
+impoverished by not having been properly looked after. The person last
+in possession used frequently to seize and sell the stock, by which
+means, although he lessened his tenants' arrears for the time being, yet
+he left them nothing to go on with and the arrears ran up again in
+consequence. I shall be obliged, then, to provide them with slaves,
+which I must buy, and at a higher than the usual price, as these will be
+good ones; for I keep no fettered slaves[57] myself, and there are none
+upon the estate. For the rest, the price, you must know, is three
+millions of sesterces.[58] It has formerly gone over five millions,[59]
+but owing, partly to the general hardness of the times, and partly to
+its being thus stripped of tenants, the income of this estate is
+reduced, and consequently its value. You will be inclined perhaps to
+enquire whether I can easily raise the purchase-money? My estate, it is
+true, is almost entirely in land, though I have some money out at
+interest; but I shall find no difficulty in borrowing any sum I may
+want. I can get it from my wife's mother, whose purse I may use with the
+same freedom as my own; so that you need not trouble yourself at all
+upon that point, should you have no other objections, which I should
+like you very carefully to consider: for, as in everything else, so,
+particularly in matters of economy, no man has more judgment and
+experience than yourself. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XXXVII -- To CORNELIUS PRISCUS
+
+I HAVE just heard of Valerius Martial's death, which gives me great
+concern. He was a man of an acute and lively genius, and his writings
+abound in equal wit, satire, and kindliness. On his leaving Rome I made
+him a present to defray his travelling expenses, which I gave him, not
+only as a testimony of friendship, but also in return for the verses
+with which he had complimented me. It was the custom of the ancients to
+distinguish those poets with honours or pecuniary rewards, who had
+celebrated particular individuals or cities in their verses; but this
+good custom, along with every other fair and noble one, has grown out of
+fashion now; and in consequence of our having ceased to act laudably, we
+consider praise a folly and impertinence. You may perhaps be curious to
+see the verses which merited this acknowledgment from me, and I believe
+I can, from memory, partly satisfy your curiosity, without referring you
+to his works: but if you should be pleased with this specimen of them,
+you must turn to his poems for the rest. He addresses himself to his
+muse, whom he directs to go to my house upon the Esquiline,[60] but to
+approach it with respect.
+
+
+"Go, wanton muse, but go with care, Nor meet, ill-tim'd, my Pliny's ear;
+He, by sage Minerva taught, Gives the day to studious thought, And plans
+that eloquence divine, Which shall to future ages shine, And rival,
+wondrous Tully! thine. Then, cautious, watch the vacant hour, When
+Bacchus reigns in all his pow'r; When, crowned with rosy chaplets gay,
+Catos might read my frolic lay."<a href="#linknote-61"
+name="linknoteref-61" id="linknoteref-61">[61]</a>
+
+Do you not think that the poet who wrote of me in such terms deserved
+some friendly marks of my bounty then, and of my sorrow now? For he gave
+me the very best he had to bestow, and would have given more had it been
+in his power. Though indeed what can a man have conferred on him more
+valuable than the honour of never-fading praise? But his poems will not
+long survive their author, at least I think not, though he wrote them in
+the expectation of their doing so. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XXXVIII -- To FABATUS (HIS WIFE'S GRANDFATHER)
+
+You have long desired a visit from your grand-daughter[62] accompanied
+by me. Nothing, be assured, could be more agreeable to either of us; for
+we equally wish to see you, and are determined to delay that pleasure no
+longer. For this purpose we are already packing up, and hastening to you
+with all the speed the roads will permit of. We shall make only one,
+short, stoppage, for we intend turning a little out of our way to go
+into Tuscany: not for the sake of looking upon our estate, and into our
+family concerns, which we can postpone to another opportunity, but to
+perform an indispensable duty. There is a town near my estate, called
+Tifernum-upon-the-Tiber,[63] which, with more affection than wisdom, put
+itself under my patronage when I was yet a youth. These people celebrate
+my arrival among them, express the greatest concern when I leave them,
+and have public rejoicings whenever they hear of my preferments. By way
+of requiting their kindnesses (for what generous mind can bear to be
+excelled in acts of friendship?) I have built a temple in this place, at
+my own expense, and as it is finished, it would be a sort of impiety to
+put off its dedication any longer. So we shall be there on the day on
+which that ceremony is to be performed, and I have resolved to celebrate
+it with a general feast. We may possibly stay on there for all the next
+day, but shall make so much the greater haste in our journey afterwards.
+May we have the happiness to find you and your daughter in good health!
+In good spirits I am sure we shall, should we get to you all safely.
+Farewell.
+
+
+
+XXXIX -- To ATTIUS CLEMENS
+
+REGULUS has lost his son; the only undeserved misfortune which could
+have befallen him, in that I doubt whether he thinks it a misfortune.
+The boy had quick parts, but there was no telling how he might turn out;
+however, he seemed capable enough of going right, were he not to grow up
+like his father. Regulus gave him his freedom,[64] in order to entitle
+him to the estate left him by his mother; and when he got into
+possession of it, (I speak of the current rumours, based upon the
+character of the man,) fawned upon the lad with a disgusting shew of
+fond affection which in a parent was utterly out of place. You may
+hardly think this credible; but then consider what Regulus is. However,
+he now expresses his concern for the loss of this youth in a most
+extravagant manner. The boy had a number of ponies for riding and
+driving, dogs both big and little, together with nightingales, parrots,
+and blackbirds in abundance. All these Regulus slew round the funeral
+pile. It was not grief, but an ostentatious parade of grief. He is
+visited upon this occasion by a surprising number of people, who all
+hate and detest the man, and yet are as assiduous in their attendance
+upon him as if they really esteemed and loved him, and, to give you my
+opinion in a word, in endeavouring to do Regulus a kindness, make
+themselves exactly like him. He keeps himself in his park on the other
+side the Tiber, where he has covered a vast extent of ground with his
+porticoes, and crowded all the shore with his statues; for he unites
+prodigality with excessive covetousness, and vain-glory with the height
+of infamy. At this very unhealthy time of year he is boring society, and
+he feels pleasure and consolation in being a bore. He says he wishes to
+marry,--a piece of perversity, like all his other conduct. You must
+expect, therefore, to hear shortly of the marriage of this mourner, the
+marriage of this old man; too early in the former case, in the latter,
+too late. You ask me why I conjecture this? Certainly not because he
+says so himself (for a greater liar never stepped), but because there is
+no doubt that Regulus will do whatever ought not to be done. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XL -- To CATIUS LEPIDUS
+
+I OFTEN tell you that there is a certain force of character about
+Regulus: it is wonderful how he carries through what he has set his mind
+to. He chose lately to be extremely concerned for the loss of his son:
+accordingly he mourned for him as never man mourned before. He took it
+into his head to have an immense number of statues and pictures of him;
+immediately all the artisans in Rome are set to work. Canvas, wax,
+brass, silver, gold, ivory, marble, all exhibit the figure of the young
+Regulus. Not long ago he read, before a numerous audience, a memoir of
+his son: a memoir of a mere boy! However he read it. He wrote likewise a
+sort of circular letter to the several Decurii desiring them to choose
+out one of their order who had a strong clear voice, to read this eulogy
+to the people; it has been actually done. Now had this force of
+character or whatever else you may call a fixed determination in
+obtaining whatever one has a mind for, been rightly applied, what
+infinite good it might have effected! The misfortune is, there is less
+of this quality about good people than about bad people, and as
+ignorance begets rashness, and thoughtfulness produces deliberation, so
+modesty is apt to <DW36> the action of virtue, whilst confidence
+strengthens vice. Regulus is a case in point: he has a weak voice, an
+awkward delivery, an indistinct utterance, a slow imagination, and no
+memory; in a word, he possesses nothing but a sort of frantic energy:
+and yet, by the assistance of a flighty turn and much impudence, he
+passes as an orator. Herennius Senecio admirably reversed Cato's
+definition of an orator, and applied it to Regulus: "An orator," he
+said, "is a bad man, unskilled in the art of speaking." And really
+Cato's definition is not a more exact description of a true orator than
+Seneclo's is of the character of this man. Would you make me a suitable
+return for this letter? Let me know if you, or any of my friends in your
+town, have, like a stroller in the marketplace, read this doleful
+production of Regulus's, "raising," as Demosthenes says, "your voice
+most merrily, and straining every muscle in your throat." For so absurd
+a performance must excite laughter rather than compassion; and indeed
+the composition is as puerile as the subject. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XLI -- To MATURUS ARRIANUS
+
+Mv advancement to the dignity of augur[65] is an honour that justly
+indeed merits your congratulations; not only because it is highly
+honourable to receive, even in the slightest instances, a testimony of
+the approbation of so wise and discreet a prince,[66] but because it is
+moreover an ancient and religious institution, which has this sacred and
+peculiar privilege annexed to it, that it is for life. Other sacerdotal
+offices, though they may, perhaps, be almost equal to this one in
+dignity, yet as they are given so they may be taken away again: but
+fortune has no further power over this than to bestow it. What
+recommends this dignity still more highly is, that I have the honour to
+succeed so illustrious a person as Julius Frontinus. He for many years,
+upon the nomination-day of proper persons to be received into the sacred
+college, constantly proposed me, as though he had a view to electing me
+as his successor; and since it actually proved so in the event, I am
+willing to look upon it as something more than mere accident. But the
+circumstance, it seems, that most pleases you in this affair, is, that
+Cicero enjoyed the same post; and you rejoice (you tell me) to find that
+I follow his steps as closely in the path of honours as I endeavour to
+do in that of eloquence. I wish, indeed, that as I had the advantage of
+being admitted earlier into the same order of priesthood, and into the
+consular office, than Cicero, that so I might, in my later years, catch
+some spark, at least, of his divine genius! The former, indeed, being at
+man's disposal, may be conferred on me and on many others, but the
+latter it is as presumptuous to hope for as it is difficult to reach,
+being in the gift of heaven alone. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XLII -- To STATIUS SABINUS
+
+YOUR letter informs me that Sabina, who appointed you and me her heirs,
+though she has nowhere expressly directed that Modestus shall have his
+freedom, yet has left him a legacy in the following words, "I give, &c.-
+-To Modestus, whom I have ordered to have his freedom": upon which you
+desire my opinion. I have consulted skilful lawyers upon the point, and
+they all agree Modestus is not entitled to his liberty, since it is not
+expressly given, and consequently that the legacy is void, as being
+bequeathed to a slave.[67] But it evidently appears to be a mistake in
+the testatrix; and therefore I think we ought to act in this case as
+though Sabina had directed, in so many words, what, it is clear, she had
+ordered. I am persuaded you will go with me in this opinion, who so
+religiously regard the will of the deceased, which indeed where it can
+be discovered will always be law to honest heirs. Honour is to you and
+me as strong an obligation as the compulsion of law is to others. Let
+Modestus then enjoy his freedom and his legacy as fully as if Sabina had
+observed all the requisite forms, as indeed they effectually do who make
+a judicious choice of their heirs. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XLIII -- To CORNELIUS MINICIANUS
+
+[68] Have you heard--I suppose, not yet, for the news has but just
+arrived -- that Valerius Licinianus has become a professor in Sicily?
+This unfortunate person, who lately enjoyed the dignity of praetor, and
+was esteemed the most eloquent of our advocates, is now fallen from a
+senator to an exile, from an orator to a teacher of rhetoric.
+Accordingly in his inaugural speech he uttered, sorrowfully and
+solemnly, the following words: "Oh! Fortune, how capriciously dost thou
+sport with mankind! Thou makest rhetoricians of senators, and senators
+of rhetoricians!" A sarcasm so poignant and full of gall that one might
+almost imagine he fixed upon this profession merely for the sake of an
+opportunity of applying it. And having made his first appearance in
+school, clad in the Greek cloak (for exiles have no right to wear the
+toga), after arranging himself and looking down upon his attire, "I am,
+however," he said, "going to declaim in Latin." You will think, perhaps,
+this situation, wretched and deplorable as it is, is what he well
+deserves for having stained the honourable profession of an orator with
+the crime of incest. It is true, indeed, he pleaded guilty to the
+charge; but whether from a consciousness of his guilt, or from an
+apprehension of worse consequences if he denied it, is not clear; for
+Domitian generally raged most furiously where his evidence failed him
+most hopelessly. That emperor had determined that Cornelia, chief of the
+Vestal Virgins, should be buried alive, from an extravagant notion that
+exemplary severities of this kind conferred lustre upon his reign.
+Accordingly, by virtue of his office as supreme pontiff, or, rather, in
+the exercise of a tyrant's cruelty, a despot's lawlessness, he convened
+the sacred college, not in the pontifical court where they usually
+assemble, but at his villa near Alba; and there, with a guilt no less
+heinous than that which he professed to be punishing, he condemned her,
+when she was not present to defend herself, on the charge of incest,
+while he himself had been guilty, not only of debauching his own
+brother's daughter, but was also accessory to her death: for that lady,
+being a widow, in order to conceal her shame, endeavoured to procure an
+abortion, and by that means lost her life. However, the priests were
+directed to see the sentence immediately executed upon Cornelia. As they
+were leading her to the place of execution, she called upon Vesta, and
+the rest of the gods, to attest her innocence; and, amongst other
+exclamations, frequently cried out, "Is it possible that Cæsar can think
+me polluted, under the influence of whose sacred functions he has
+conquered and triumphed?"[69] Whether she said this in flattery or
+derision; whether it proceeded from a consciousness of her innocence, or
+contempt of the emperor, is uncertain; but she continued exclaiming in
+this manner, till she came to the place of execution, to which she was
+led, whether innocent or guilty I cannot say, at all events with every
+appearance and demonstration of innocence. As she was being lowered down
+into the subterranean vault, her robe happening to catch upon something
+in the descent, she turned round and disengaged it, when, the
+executioner offering his assistance, she drew herself back with horror,
+refusing to be so much as touched by him, as though it were a defilement
+to her pure and unspotted chastity: still preserving the appearance of
+sanctity up to the last moment; and, among all the other instances of
+her modesty,
+
+
+"She took great care to fall with decency."<a href="#linknote-70"
+name="linknoteref-70" id="linknoteref-70">[70]</a>
+
+Celer likewise, a Roman knight, who was accused of an intrigue with her,
+while they were scourging him with rods[71] in the Forum, persisted in
+exclaiming, "What have I done?--I have done nothing." These declarations
+of innocence had exasperated Domitian exceedingly, as imputing to him
+acts of cruelty and injustice, accordingly Licinianus being seized by
+the emperor's orders for having concealed a freedwoman of Cornelia's in
+one of his estates, was advised, by those who took him in charge, to
+confess the fact, if he hoped to obtain a remission of his punishment,
+circumstance to add further, that a young nobleman, having had his tunic
+torn, an ordinary occurrence in a crowd, stood with his gown thrown over
+him, to hear me, and that during the seven hours I was speaking, whilst
+my success more than counterbalanced the fatigue of so long a speech. So
+let us set to and not screen our own indolence under pretence of that of
+the public. Never, be very sure of that, will there be wanting hearers
+and readers, so long as we can only supply them with speakers and
+writers worth their attention. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XLV -- To ASINIUS
+
+You advise me, nay you entreat me, to undertake, in her absence, the
+cause of Corellia, against C. Caecilius, consul elect. For your advice I
+am grateful, of your entreaty I really must complain; without the first,
+indeed, I should have been ignorant of this affair, but the last was
+unnecessary, as I need no solicitations to comply, where it would be
+ungenerous in me to refuse; for can I hesitate a moment to take upon
+myself the protection of a daughter of Corellius? It is true, indeed,
+though there is no particular intimacy between her adversary and myself,
+still we are upon good enough terms. It is also true that he is a person
+of rank, and one who has a high claim upon my especial regard, as
+destined to enter upon an office which I have had the honour to fill;
+and it is natural for a man to be desirous those dignities should be
+held in the highest esteem which he himself once possessed. Yet all
+these considerations appear indifferent and trifling when I reflect that
+it is the daughter of Corellius whom I am to defend. The memory of that
+excellent person, than whom this age has not produced a man of greater
+dignity, rectitude, and acuteness, is indelibly imprinted upon my mind.
+My regard for him sprang from my admiration of the man, and contrary to
+what is usually the case, my admiration increased upon a thorough
+knowledge of him, and indeed I did know him thoroughly, for he kept
+nothing back from me, whether gay or serious, sad or joyous. When he was
+but a youth, he esteemed, and (I will even venture to say) revered, me
+as if I had been his equal. When I solicited any post of honour, he
+supported me with his interest, and recommended me with his testimony;
+when I entered upon it, he was my introducer and my companion; when I
+exercised it, he was my guide and my counsellor. In a word, whenever my
+interest was concerned, he exerted himself, in spite of his weakness and
+declining years, with as much alacrity as though he were still young and
+lusty. In private, in public, and at court, how often has he advanced
+and supported my credit and interest! It happened once that the
+conversation, in the presence of the emperor Nerva, turned upon the
+promising young men of that time, and several of the company present
+were pleased to mention me with applause; he sat for a little while
+silent, which gave what he said the greater weight; and then, with that
+air of dignity, to which you are no stranger, "I must be reserved," said
+he, "in my praises of Pliny, because he does nothing without advice." By
+which single sentence he bestowed upon me more than my most extravagant
+wishes could aspire to, as he represented my conduct to be always such
+as wisdom must approve, since it was wholly under the direction of one
+of the wisest of men. Even in his last moments he said to his daughter
+(as she often mentions), "I have in the course of a long life raised up
+many friends to you, but there are none in whom you may more assuredly
+confide than Pliny and Cornutus." A circumstance I cannot reflect upon
+without being deeply sensible how incumbent it is upon me to endeavour
+not to disappoint the confidence so excellent a judge of human nature
+reposed in me. I shall therefore most readily give my assistance to
+Corellia in this affair, and willingly risk any displeasure I may incur
+by appearing in her behalf. Though I should imagine, if in the course of
+my pleadings I should find an opportunity to explain and enforce more
+fully and at large than the limits of a letter allow of the reasons I
+have here mentioned, upon which I rest at once my apology and my glory;
+her adversary (whose suit may perhaps, as you say, be entirely without
+precedent, as it is against a woman) will not only excuse, but approve,
+my conduct. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XLVI -- To HISPULLA
+
+As you are a model of all virtue, and loved your late excellent brother,
+who had such a fondness for you, with an affection equal to his own;
+regarding too his daughter[72] as your child, not only shewing her an
+aunt's tenderness but supplying the place of the parent she had lost; I
+know it will give you the greatest pleasure and joy to hear that she
+proves worthy of her father, her grandfather, and yourself. She
+possesses an excellent understanding together with a consummate
+prudence, and gives the strongest evidence of the purity of her heart by
+her fondness of her husband. Her affection for me, moreover, has given
+her a taste for books, and my productions, which she takes a pleasure in
+reading, and even in getting by heart, are continually in her hands. How
+full of tender anxiety is she when I am going to speak in any case, how
+rejoiced she feels when it is got through. While I am pleading, she
+stations persons to inform her from time to time how I am heard, what
+applauses I receive, and what success attends the case. When I recite my
+works at any time, she conceals herself behind some curtain, and drinks
+in my praises with greedy ears. She sings my verses too, adapting them
+to her lyre, with no other master but love, that best of instructors,
+for her guide. From these happy circumstances I derive my surest hopes,
+that the harmony between us will increase with our days, and be as
+lasting as our lives. For it is not my youth or person, which time
+gradually impairs; it is my honour and glory that she cares for. But
+what less could be expected from one who was trained by your hands, and
+formed by your instructions; who was early familiarized under your roof
+with all that is pure and virtuous, and who learnt to love me first
+through your praises? And as you revered my mother with all the respect
+due even to a parent, so you kindly directed and encouraged my tender
+years, presaging from that early period all that my wife now fondly
+imagines I really am. Accept therefore of our mutual thanks, mine, for
+your giving me her, hers for your giving her me; for you have chosen us
+out, as it were, for each other. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XLVII -- To ROMATIUS FIASIUS
+
+Look here! The next time the court sits, you must, at all events, take
+your place there. In vain would your indolence repose itself under my
+protection, for there is no absenting oneself with impunity. Look at
+that severe, determined, praetor, Licinius Nepos, who fined even a
+senator for the same neglect! The senator pleaded his cause in person,
+but in suppliant tone. The fine, it is true, was remitted, but sore was
+his dismay, humble his intercession, and he had to ask pardon. "All
+praetors are not so severe as that," you will reply; you are mistaken --
+for though indeed to be the author and reviver of an example of this
+kind may be an act of severity, yet, once introduced, even lenity
+herself may follow the precedent. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XLVIII -- To LICINIUS SURA
+
+I HAVE brought you as a little present out of the country a query which
+well deserves the consideration of your extensive knowledge. There is a
+spring which rises in a neighbouring mountain, and running among the
+rocks is received into a little banqueting-room, artificially formed for
+that purpose, from whence, after being detained a short time, it falls
+into the Larian lake. The nature of this spring is extremely curious; it
+ebbs and flows regularly three times a day. The increase and decrease is
+plainly visible, and exceedingly interesting to observe. You sit down by
+the side of the fountain, and while you are taking a repast and drinking
+its water, which is extremely cool, you see it gradually rise and fall.
+If you place a ring, or anything else at the bottom, when it is dry, the
+water creeps gradually up, first gently washing, finally covering it
+entirely, and then little by little subsides again. If you wait long
+enough, you may see it thus alternately advance and recede three
+successive times. Shall we say that some secret current of air stops and
+opens the fountain-head, first rushing in and checking the flow and
+then, driven back by the counter-resistance of the water, escaping
+again; as we see in bottles, and other vessels of that nature, where,
+there not being a free and open passage, though you turn their necks
+perpendicularly or obliquely downwards, yet, the outward air obstructing
+the vent, they discharge their contents as it were by starts? Or, may
+not this small collection of water be successively contracted and
+enlarged upon the same principle as the ebb and flow of the sea? Or,
+again, as those rivers which discharge themselves into the sea, meeting
+with contrary winds and the swell of the ocean, are forced back in their
+channels, so, in the same way, may there not be something that checks
+this fountain, for a time, in its progress? Or is there rather a certain
+reservoir that contains these waters in the bowels of the earth, and
+while it is recruiting its discharges, the stream in consequence flows
+more slowly and in less quantity, but, when it has collected its due
+measure, runs on again in its usual strength and fulness? Or lastly, is
+there I know not what kind of subterranean counterpoise, that throws up
+the water when the fountain is dry, and keeps it back when it is full?
+You, who are so well qualified for the enquiry, will examine into the
+causes of this wonderful phenomenon; it will be sufficient for me if I
+have given you an adequate description of it. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XLIX -- To ANNIUS SEVERUS
+
+A SMALL legacy was lately left me, yet one more acceptable than a far
+larger bequest would have been. How more acceptable than a far larger
+one? In this way. Pomponia Gratilla, having disinherited her son
+Assidius Curianus, appointed me of one of her heirs, and Sertorius
+Severus, of pretorian rank, together with several eminent Roman knights,
+co-heirs along with me. The son applied to me to give him my share of
+the inheritance, in order to use my name as an example to the rest of
+the joint-heirs, but offered at the same time to enter into a secret
+agreement to return me my proportion. I told him, it was by no means
+agreeable to my character to seem to act one way while in reality I was
+acting another, besides it was not quite honourable making presents to a
+man of his fortune, who had no children; in a word, this would not at
+all answer the purpose at which he was aiming, whereas, if I were to
+withdraw my claim, it might be of some service to him, and this I was
+ready and willing to do, if he could clearly prove to me that he was
+unjustly disinherited.
+
+"Do then," he said, "be my arbitrator in this case." After a short pause
+I answered him, "I will, for I don't see why I should not have as good
+an opinion of my own impartial disinterestedness as you seem to have.
+But, mind, I am not to be prevailed upon to decide the point in question
+against your mother, if it should appear she had just reason for what
+she has done." "As you please," he replied, "which I am sure is always
+to act according to justice." I called in, as my assistants, Corellius
+and Frontinus, two of the very best lawyers Rome at that time afforded.
+With these in attendance, I heard the case in my own chamber. Curianus
+said everything which he thought would favour his pretensions, to whom
+(there being nobody but myself to defend the character of the deceased)
+I made a short reply; after which I retired with my friends to
+deliberate, and, being agreed upon our verdict, I said to him,
+"Curianus, it is our opinion that your conduct has justly drawn upon you
+your mother's displeasure." Sometime afterwards, Curianus commenced a
+suit in the Court of the Hundred against all the co-heirs except myself.
+The day appointed for the trial approaching, the rest of the co-heirs
+were anxious to compromise the affair and have done with it, not out of
+any diffidence of their cause, but from a distrust of the times. They
+were apprehensive of what had happened to many others, happening to
+them, and that from a civil suit it might end in a criminal one, as
+there were some among them to whom the friendship of Gratilla and
+Rusticus[73] might be extremely prejudicial: they therefore desired me
+to go and talk with Curianus. We met in the temple of Concord; "Now
+supposing," I said, "your mother had left you the fourth part of her
+estate, or even suppose she had made you sole heir, but had exhausted so
+much of the estate in legacies that there would not be more than a
+fourth part remaining to you, could you justly complain? You ought to be
+content, therefore, if, being absolutely disinherited as you are, the
+heirs are willing to relinquish to you a fourth part, which however I
+will increase by contributing my proportion. You know you did not
+commence any suit against me, and two years have now elapsed, which
+gives me legal and indisputable possession. But to induce you to agree
+to the proposals on the part of the other co-heirs, and that you may be
+no sufferer by the peculiar respect you shew me, I offer to advance my
+proportion with them." The silent approval of my own conscience is not
+the only result out of this transaction; it has contributed also to the
+honour of my character. For it is this same Cunianus who has left me the
+legacy I have mentioned in the beginning of my letter, and I received it
+as a very notable mark of his approbation of my conduct, if I do not
+flatter myself. I have written and told you all this, because in all my
+joys and sorrows I am wont to look upon you as myself, and I thought it
+would be unkind not to communicate to so tender a friend whatever
+occasions me a sensible gratification; for I am not philosopher enough
+to be indifferent, when I think I have acted like an honour-able man,
+whether my actions meet with that approval which is in some sort their
+due. Farewell.
+
+
+
+L -- To TITIUS ARISTO
+
+AMONG the many agreeable and obliging instances I have received of your
+friendship, your not concealing from me the long conversations which
+lately took place at your house concerning my verses, and the various
+judgments passed upon them (which served to prolong the talk,) is by no
+means the least. There were some, it seems, who did not disapprove of my
+poems in themselves, but at the same time censured me in a free and
+friendly way, for employing myself in composing and reciting them. I am
+so far, however, from desiring to extenuate the charge that I willingly
+acknowledge myself still more deserving of it, and confess that I
+sometimes amuse myself with writing verses of the gayer sort. I compose
+comedies, divert myself with pantomimes, read the lyric poets, and enter
+into the spirit of the most wanton muse, besides that, I indulge myself
+sometimes in laughter, mirth, and frolic, and, to sum up every kind of
+innocent relaxation in one word, I am a man. I am not in the least
+offended, though, at their low opinion of my morals, and that those who
+are ignorant of the fact that the most learned, the wisest, and the best
+of men have employed themselves in the same way, should be surprised at
+the tone of my writings: but from those who know what noble and numerous
+examples I follow, I shall, I am confident, easily obtain permission to
+err with those whom it is an honour to imitate, not only in their most
+serious occupations but their lightest triflings. Is it unbecoming me (I
+will not name any living example, lest I should seem to flatter), but is
+it unbecoming me to practise what became Tully, Calvus, Pollio, Messala,
+Hortensius, Brutus, Sulla, Catulus, Scaevola, Sulpitius, Varro, the
+Torquati, Memmius, Gaetulicus, Seneca, Lucceius, and, within our own
+memory, Verginius Rufus? But if the examples of private men are not
+sufficient to justify me, I can cite Julius Casar, Augustus, Nerva, and
+Tiberius Casar. I forbear to add Nero to the catalogue, though I am
+aware that what is practised by the worst of men does not therefore
+degenerate into wrong: on the contrary, it still maintains its credit,
+if frequently countenanced by the best. In that number, Virgil,
+Cornelius Nepos, and prior to these, Ennius and Attius, justly deserve
+the most distinguished place. These last indeed were not senators, but
+goodness knows no distinction of rank or title. I recite my works, it is
+true, and in this instance I am not sure I can support myself by their
+examples. They, perhaps, might be satisfied with their own judgment, but
+I have too humble an opinion of mine to suppose my compositions perfect,
+because they appear so to my own mind. My reason then for reciting are,
+that, for one thing, there is a certain deference for one's audience,
+which excites a somewhat more vigorous application, and then again, I
+have by this means an opportunity of settling any doubts I may have
+concerning my performance, by observing the general opinion of the
+audience. In a word, I have the advantage of receiving different hints
+from different persons: and although they should not declare their
+meaning in express terms, yet the expression of the countenance, the
+movement of the head, the eyes, the motion of a hand, a whisper, or even
+silence itself will easily distinguish their real opinion from the
+language of politeness. And so if any one of my audience should have the
+curiosity to read over the same performance which he heard me read, he
+may find several things altered or omitted, and perhaps too upon his
+particular judgment, though he did not say a single word to me. But I am
+not defending my conduct in this particular, as if I had actually
+recited my works in public, and not in my own house before my friends, a
+numerous appearance of whom has upon many occasions been held an honour,
+but never, surely, a reproach. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LI -- To NONIUS MAXIMUS
+
+I AM deeply afflicted with the news I have received of the death of
+Fannius; in the first place, because I loved one so eloquent and
+refined, in the next, because I was accustomed to be guided by his
+judgment--and indeed he possessed great natural acuteness, improved by
+practice, rendering him able to see a thing in an instant. There are
+some circumstances about his death, which aggravate my concern. He left
+behind him a will which had been made a considerable time before his
+decease, by which it happens that his estate is fallen into the hands of
+those who had incurred his displeasure, whilst his greatest favourites
+are excluded. But what I particularly regret is, that he has left
+unfinished a very noble work in which he was employed. Notwithstanding
+his full practice at the bar, he had begun a history of those persons
+who were put to death or banished by Nero, and completed three books of
+it. They are written with great elegance and precision, the style is
+pure, and preserves a proper medium between the plain narrative and the
+historical: and as they were very favourably received by the public, he
+was the more desirous of being able to finish the rest. The hand of
+death is ever, in my opinion, too untimely and sudden when it falls upon
+such as are employed in some immortal work. The sons of sensuality, who
+have no outlook beyond the present hour, put an end every day to all
+motives for living, but those who look forward to posterity, and
+endeavour to transmit their names with honour to future generations by
+their works--to such, death is always immature, as it still snatches
+them from amidst some unfinished design. Fannius, long before his death,
+had a presentiment of what has happened: he dreamed one night that as he
+was lying on his couch, in an undress, all ready for his work, and with
+his desk,[74] as usual, in front of him, Nero entered, and placing
+himself by his side, took up the three first books of this history,
+which he read through and then departed. This dream greatly alarmed him,
+and he regarded it as an intimation, that he should not carry on his
+history any farther than Nero had read, and so the event has proved. I
+cannot reflect upon this accident without lamenting that he was
+prevented from accomplishing a work which had cost him so many toilsome
+vigils, as it suggests to me, at the same time, reflections on my own
+mortality, and the fate of my writings: and I am persuaded the same
+apprehensions alarm you for those in which you are at present employed.
+Let us then, my friend, while life permits, exert all our endeavours,
+that death, whenever it arrives, may find as little as possible to
+destroy. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LII -- To DOMITIUS APOLLINARIS
+
+THE kind concern you expressed on hearing of my design to pass the
+summer at my villa in Tuscany, and your obliging endeavours to dissuade
+me from going to a place which you think unhealthy, are extremely
+pleasing to me. It is quite true indeed that the air of that part of
+Tuscany which lies towards the coast is thick and unwholesome: but my
+house stands at a good distance from the sea, under one of the Apennines
+which are singularly healthy. But, to relieve you from all anxiety on my
+account, I will give you a description of the temperature of the
+climate, the situation of the country, and the beauty of my villa,
+which, I am persuaded, you will hear with as much pleasure as I shall
+take in giving it. The air in winter is sharp and frosty, so that
+myrtles, olives, and trees of that kind which delight in constant
+warmth, will not flourish here: but the laurel thrives, and is
+remarkably beautiful, though now and then the cold kills it--though not
+oftener than it does in the neighbourhood of Rome. The summers are
+extraordinarily mild, and there is always a refreshing breeze, seldom
+high winds. This accounts for the number of old men we have about, you
+would see grandfathers and great-grandfathers of those now grown up to
+be young men, hear old stories and the dialect of our ancestors, and
+fancy yourself born in some former age were you to come here. The
+character of the country is exceedingly beautiful. Picture to yourself
+an immense amphitheatre, such as nature only could create. Before you
+lies a broad, extended plain bounded by a range of mountains, whose
+summits are covered with tall and ancient woods, which are stocked with
+all kinds of game.
+
+The descending <DW72>s of the mountains are planted with underwood, among
+which are a number of little risings with a rich soil, on which hardly a
+stone is to be found. In fruitfulness they are quite equal to a valley,
+and though their harvest is rather later, their crops are just as good.
+At the foot of these, on the mountain-side, the eye, wherever it turns,
+runs along one unbroken stretch of vineyards terminated by a belt of
+shrubs. Next you have meadows and the open plain. The arable land is so
+stiff that it is necessary to go over it nine times with the biggest
+oxen and the strongest ploughs. The meadows are bright with flowers, and
+produce trefoil and other kinds of herbage as fine and tender as if it
+were but just sprung up, for all the soil is refreshed by never failing
+streams. But though there is plenty of water, there are no marshes; for
+the ground being on a <DW72>, whatever water it receives without
+absorbing runs off into the Tiber. This river, which winds through the
+middle of the meadows, is navigable only in the winter and spring, at
+which seasons it transports the produce of the lands to Rome: but in
+summer it sinks below its banks, leaving the name of a great river to an
+almost empty channel: towards the autumn, however, it begins again to
+renew its claim to that title. You would be charmed by taking a view of
+this country from the top of one of our neighbouring mountains, and
+would fancy that not a real, but some imaginary landscape, painted by
+the most exquisite pencil, lay before you, such an harmonious variety of
+beautiful objects meets the eye, whichever way it turns. My house,
+although at the foot of a hill, commands as good a view as if it stood
+on its brow, yet you approach by so gentle and gradual a rise that you
+find yourself on high ground without perceiving you have been making an
+ascent. Behind, but at a great distance, is the Apennine range. In the
+calmest days we get cool breezes from that quarter, not sharp and
+cutting at all, being spent and broken by the long distance they have
+travelled. The greater part of the house has a southern aspect, and
+seems to invite the afternoon sun in summer (but rather earlier in the
+winter) into a broad and proportionately long portico, consisting of
+several rooms, particularly a court of antique fashion. In front of the
+portico is a sort of terrace, edged with box and shrubs cut into
+different shapes. You descend, from the terrace, by an easy <DW72>
+adorned with the figures of animals in box, facing each other, to a lawn
+overspread with the soft, I had almost said the liquid, Acanthus: this
+is surrounded by a walk enclosed with evergreens, shaped into a variety
+of forms. Beyond it is the gestation laid out in the form of a circus
+running round the multiform box-hedge and the dwarf-trees, which are cut
+quite close. The whole is fenced in with a wall completely covered by
+box cut into steps all the way up to the top. On the outside of the wall
+lies a meadow that owes as many beauties to nature as all I have been
+describing within does to art; at the end of which are open plain and
+numerous other meadows and copses. From the extremity of the portico a
+large dining-room runs out, opening upon one end of the terrace, while
+from the windows there is a very extensive view over the meadows up into
+the country, and from these you also see the terrace and the projecting
+wing of the house together with the woods enclosing the adjacent
+hippodrome. Almost opposite the centre of the portico, and rather to the
+back, stands a summer-house, enclosing a small area shaded by four
+plane-trees, in the midst of which rises a marble fountain which gently
+plays upon the roots of the plane-trees and upon the grass-plots
+underneath them. This summer-house has a bed-room in it free from every
+sort of noise, and which the light itself cannot penetrate, together
+with a common dining-room I use when I have none but intimate friends
+with me. A second portico looks upon this little area, and has the same
+view as the other I have just been describing. There is, besides,
+another room, which, being situate close to the nearest plane-tree,
+enjoys a constant shade and green. Its sides are encrusted with carved
+marble up to the ceiling, while above the marble a foliage is painted
+with birds among the branches, which has an effect altogether as
+agreeable as that of the carving, at the foot of which a little
+fountain, playing through several small pipes into a vase it encloses,
+produces a most pleasing murmur. From a corner of the portico you enter
+a very large bed-chamber opposite the large dining-room, which from some
+of its windows has a view of the terrace, and from others, of the
+meadow, as those in the front look upon a cascade, which entertains at
+once both the eye and the ear; for the water, dashing from a great
+height, foams over the marble basin which receives it below. This room
+is extremely warm in winter, lying much exposed to the sun, and on a
+cloudy day the heat of an adjoining stove very well supplies his
+absence. Leaving this room, you pass through a good-sized, pleasant,
+undressing-room into the cold-bath-room, in which is a large gloomy
+bath: but if you are inclined to swim more at large, or in warmer water,
+in the middle of the area stands a wide basin for that purpose, and near
+it a reservoir from which you may be supplied with cold water to brace
+yourself again, if you should find you are too much relaxed by the warm.
+Adjoining the cold bath is one of a medium degree of heat, which enjoys
+the kindly warmth of the sun, but not so intensely as the hot bath,
+which projects farther. This last consists of three several
+compartments, each of different degrees of heat; the two former lie open
+to the full sun, the latter, though not much exposed to its heat,
+receives an equal share of its light. Over the undressing-room is built
+the tennis-court, which admits of different kinds of games and different
+sets of players. Not far from the baths is the staircase leading to the
+enclosed portico, three rooms intervening. One of these looks out upon
+the little area with the four plane-trees round it, the other upon the
+meadows, and from the third you have a view of several vineyards, so
+that each has a different one, and looks towards a different point of
+the heavens. At the upper end of the enclosed portico, and indeed taken
+off from it, is a room that looks out upon the hippodrome, the
+vineyards, and the mountains; adjoining is a room which has a full
+exposure to the sun, especially in winter, and out of which runs another
+connecting the hippodrome with the house. This forms the front. On the
+side rises an enclosed portico, which not only looks out upon the
+vineyards, but seems almost to touch them. From the middle of this
+portico you enter a dining-room cooled by the wholesome breezes from the
+Apennine valleys: from the windows behind, which are extremely large,
+there is a close view of the vineyards, and from the folding doors
+through the summer portico. Along that side of the dining-room where
+there are no windows runs a private staircase for greater convenience in
+serving up when I give an entertainment; at the farther end is a
+sleeping-room with a look-out upon the vineyards, and (what is equally
+agreeable) the portico. Underneath this room is an enclosed portico
+resembling a grotto, which, enjoying in the midst of summer heats its
+own natural coolness, neither admits nor wants external air. After you
+have passed both these porticoes, at the end of the dining-room stands a
+third, which according as the day is more or less advanced, serves
+either for Winter or summer use. It leads to two different apartments,
+one containing four chambers, the other, three, which enjoy by turns
+both sun and shade. This arrangement of the different parts of my house
+is exceedingly pleasant, though it is not to be compared with the beauty
+of the hippodrome,' lying entirely open in the middle of the grounds, so
+that the eye, upon your first entrance, takes it in entire in one view.
+It is set round with plane-trees covered with ivy, so that, while their
+tops flourish with their own green, towards the roots their verdure is
+borrowed from the ivy that twines round the trunk and branches, spreads
+from tree to tree, and connects them together. Between each plane-tree
+are planted box-trees, and behind these stands a grove of laurels which
+blend their shade with that of the planes. This straight boundary to the
+hippodrome[75] alters its shape at the farther end, bending into a
+semicircle, which is planted round, shut in with cypresses, and casts a
+deeper and gloomier shade, while the inner circular walks (for there are
+several), enjoying an open exposure, are filled with plenty of roses,
+and correct, by a very pleasant contrast, the coolness of the shade with
+the warmth of the sun. Having passed through these several winding
+alleys, you enter a straight walk, which breaks out into a variety of
+others, partitioned off by box-row hedges. In one place you have a
+little meadow, in another the box is cut in a thousand different forms,
+sometimes into letters, expressing the master's name, sometimes the
+artificer's, whilst here and there rise little obelisks with fruit-trees
+alternately intermixed, and then on a sudden, in the midst of this
+elegant regularity, you are surprised with an imitation of the negligent
+beauties of rural nature. In the centre of this lies a spot adorned with
+a knot of dwarf plane-trees. Beyond these stands an acacia, smooth and
+bending in places, then again various other shapes and names. At the
+upper end is an alcove of white marble, shaded with vines and supported
+by four small Carystian columns. From this semicircular couch, the
+water, gushing up through several little pipes, as though pressed out by
+the weight of the persons who recline themselves upon it, falls into a
+stone cistern underneath, from whence it is received into a fine
+polished marble basin, so skilfully contrived that it is always full
+without ever overflowing. When I sup here, this basin serves as a table,
+the larger sort of dishes being placed round the margin, while the
+smaller ones swim about in the form of vessels and water-fowl. Opposite
+this is a fountain which is incessantly emptying and filling, for the
+water which it throws up to a great height, falling back again into it,
+is by means of consecutive apertures returned as fast as it is received.
+Facing the alcove (and reflecting upon it as great an ornament as it
+borrows from it) stands a summer-house of exquisite marble, the doors of
+which project and open into a green enclosure, while from its upper and
+lower windows the eye falls upon a variety of different greens. Next to
+this is a little private closet (which, though it seems distinct, may
+form part of the same room), furnished with a couch, and notwithstanding
+it has windows on every side, yet it enjoys a very agreeable gloom, by
+means of a spreading vine which climbs to the top, and entirely
+overshadows it. Here you may lie and fancy yourself in a wood, with this
+only difference, that you are not exposed to the weather as you would be
+there. Here too a fountain rises and instantly disappears--several
+marble seats are set in different places, which are as pleasant as the
+summer-house itself after one is tired out with walking. Near each is a
+little fountain, and throughout the whole hippodrome several small rills
+run murmuring along through pipes, wherever the hand of art has thought
+proper to conduct them, watering here and there different plots of
+green, and sometimes all parts at once. I should have ended before now,
+for fear of being too chatty, had I not proposed in this letter to lead
+you into every corner of my house and gardens. Nor did I apprehend your
+thinking it a trouble to read the description of a place which I feel
+sure would please you were you to see it; especially as you can stop
+just when you please, and by throwing aside my letter, sit down as it
+were, and give yourself a rest as often as you think proper. Besides, I
+gave my little passion indulgence, for I have a passion for what I have
+built, or finished, myself. In a word, (for why should I conceal from my
+friend either my deliberate opinion or my prejudice?) I look upon it as
+the first duty of every writer to frequently glance over his title-page
+and consider well the subject he has proposed to himself; and he may be
+sure, if he dwells on his subject, he cannot justly be thought tedious,
+whereas if, on the contrary, he introduces and drags in anything
+irrelevant, he will be thought exceedingly so. Homer, you know, has
+employed many verses in the description of the arms of Achilles, as
+Virgil has also in those of Aeneas, yet neither 'of them is prolix,
+because they each keep within the limits of their original design.
+Aratus, you observe, is not considered too circumstantial, though he
+traces and enumerates the minutest stars, for he does not go out of his
+way for that purpose, but only follows where his subject leads him. In
+the same way (to compare small things with great), so long as, in
+endeavouring to give you an idea of my house, I have not introduced
+anything irrelevant or superfluous, it is not my letter which describes,
+but my villa which is described, that is to be considered large. But to
+return to where I began, lest I should justly be condemned by my own
+law, if I continue longer in this digression, you see now the reasons
+why I prefer my Tuscan villa to those which I possess at Tusculum,
+Tiber, and Praeneste.[76] Besides the advantages already mentioned, I
+enjoy here a cozier, more profound and undisturbed retirement than
+anywhere else, as I am at a greater distance from the business of the
+town and the interruption of troublesome clients. All is calm and
+composed; which circumstances contribute no less than its clear air and
+unclouded sky to that health of body and mind I particularly enjoy in
+this place, both of which I keep in full swing by study and hunting. And
+indeed there is no place which agrees better with my family, at least I
+am sure I have not yet lost one (may the expression be allowed![77]) of
+all those I brought here with me. And may the gods continue that
+happiness to me, and that honour to my villa. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LIII -- To CALVISIUS
+
+IT is certain the law does not allow a corporate city to inherit any
+estate by will, or to receive a legacy. Saturninus, however, who has
+appointed me his heir, had left a fourth part of his estate to our
+corporation of Comum; afterwards, instead of a fourth part, he
+bequeathed four hundred thousand sesterces.[78] This bequest, in the eye
+of the law, is null and void, but, considered as the clear and express
+will of the deceased, ought to stand firm and valid. Myself, I consider
+the will of the dead (though I am afraid what I say will not please the
+lawyers) of higher authority than the law, especially when the interest
+of one's native country is concerned. Ought I, who made them a present
+of eleven hundred thousand sesterces[79] out of my own patrimony, to
+withhold a benefaction of little more than a third part of that sum out
+of an estate which has come quite by a chance into my hands? You, who
+like a true patriot have the same affection for this our common country,
+will agree with me in opinion, I feel sure. I wish therefore you would,
+at the next meeting of the Decurii, acquaint them, just briefly and
+respectfully, as to how the law stands in this case, and then add that I
+offer them four hundred thousand sesterces according to the direction in
+Saturninus' will. You will represent this donation as his present and
+his liberality; I only claim the merit of complying with his request. I
+did not trouble to write to their senate about this, fully relying as I
+do upon our intimate friendship and your wise discretion, and being
+quite satisfied that you are both able and willing to act for me upon
+this occasion as I would for myself; besides, I was afraid I should not
+seem to have so cautiously guarded my expressions in a letter as you
+will be able to do in a speech. The countenance, the gesture, and even
+the tone of voice govern and determine the sense of the speaker, whereas
+a letter, being without these advantages, is more liable to malignant
+misinterpretation. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LIV -- To MARCELLINUS
+
+I WRITE this to you in the deepest sorrow: the youngest daughter of my
+friend Fundanus is dead! I have never seen a more cheerful and more
+lovable girl, or one who better deserved to have enjoyed a long, I had
+almost said an immortal, life! She was scarcely fourteen, and yet there
+was in her a wisdom far beyond her years, a matronly gravity united with
+girlish sweetness and virgin bashfulness. With what an endearing
+fondness did she hang on her father's neck! How affectionately and
+modestly she used to greet us his friends! With what a tender and
+deferential regard she used to treat her nurses, tutors, teachers, each
+in their respective offices! What an eager, industrious, intelligent,
+reader she was! She took few amusements, and those with caution. How
+self-controlled, how patient, how brave, she was, under her last
+illness! She complied with all the directions of her physicians; she
+spoke cheerful, comforting words to her sister and her father; and when
+all her bodily strength was exhausted, the vigour of her mind sustained
+her. That indeed continued even to her last moments, unbroken by the
+pain of a long illness, or the terrors of approaching death; and it is a
+reflection which makes us miss her, and grieve that she has gone from
+us, the more. 0 melancholy, untimely, loss, too truly! She was engaged
+to an excellent young man; the wedding-day was fixed, and we were all
+invited. How our joy has been turned into sorrow! I cannot express in
+words the inward pain I felt when I heard Fundanus himself (as grief is
+ever finding out fresh circumstances to aggravate its affliction)
+ordering the money he had intended laying out upon clothes, pearls, and
+jewels for her marriage, to be employed in frankincense, ointments, and
+perfumes for her funeral. He is a man of great learning and good sense,
+who has applied himself from his earliest youth to the deeper studies
+and the fine arts, but all the maxims of fortitude which he has received
+from books, or advanced himself, he now absolutely rejects, and every
+other virtue of his heart gives place to all a parent's tenderness. You
+will excuse, you will even approve, his grief, when you consider what he
+has lost. He has lost a daughter who resembled him in his manners, as
+well as his person, and exactly copied out all her father. So, if you
+should think proper to write to him upon the subject of so reasonable a
+grief, let me remind you not to use the rougher arguments of
+consolation, and such as seem to carry a sort of reproof with them, but
+those of kind and sympathizing humanity. Time will render him more open
+to the dictates of reason: for as a fresh wound shrinks back from the
+hand of the surgeon, but by degrees submits to, and even seeks of its
+own accord the means of its cure, so a mind under the first impression
+of a misfortune shuns and rejects all consolations, but at length
+desires and is lulled by their gentle application. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LV -- To SPURINNA
+
+KNOWING, as I do, how much you admire the polite arts, and what
+satisfaction you take in seeing young men of quality pursue the steps of
+their ancestors, I seize this earliest opportunity of informing you that
+I went to-day to hear Calpurnius Piso read a beautiful and scholarly
+production of his, entitled the Sports of Love. His numbers, which were
+elegiac, were tender, sweet, and flowing, at the same time that they
+occasionally rose to all the sublimity of diction which the nature of
+his subject required. He varied his style from the lofty to the simple,
+from the close to the copious, from the grave to the florid, with equal
+genius and judgment. These beauties were further recommended by a most
+harmonious voice; which a very becoming modesty rendered still more
+pleasing. A confusion and concern in the countenance of a speaker
+imparts a grace to all he utters; for diffidence, I know not how, is
+infinitely more engaging than assurance and self-sufficiency. I might
+mention several other circumstances to his advantage, which I am the
+more inclined to point out, as they are exceedingly striking in one of
+his age, and are most uncommon in a youth of his quality: but not to
+enter into a farther detail of his merit, I will only add that, when he
+had finished his poem, I embraced him very heartily, and being persuaded
+that nothing is a greater encouragement than applause, I exhorted him to
+go on as he had begun, and to shine out to posterity with the same
+glorious lustre, which was reflected upon him from his ancestors. I
+congratulated his excellent mother, and particularly his brother, who
+gained as much honour by the generous affection he manifested upon this
+occasion as Calpurnius did by his eloquence; so remarkable a solicitude
+he showed for him when he began to recite his poem, and so much pleasure
+in his success. May the gods grant me frequent occasions of giving you
+accounts of this nature! for I have a partiality to the age in which I
+live, and should rejoice to find it not barren of merit. I ardently
+wish, therefore, our young men of quality would have something else to
+show of honourable memorial in their houses than the images[80] of their
+ancestors. As for those which are placed in the mansion of these
+excellent youths, I now figure them to myself as silently applauding and
+encouraging their pursuits, and (what is a sufficient degree of honour
+to both brothers) as recognizing their kindred. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LVI -- To PAULINUS
+
+As I know the humanity with which you treat your own servants, I have
+less reserve in confessing to you the indulgence I shew to mine. I have
+ever in my mind that line of Homer's --
+
+"Who swayed his people with a father's love":
+
+and this expression of ours, "father of a family." But were I harsher
+and harder than I really am by nature, the ill state of health of my
+freedman Zosimus (who has the stronger claim upon my tenderness, in that
+he now stands in more especial need of it) would be sufficient to soften
+me. He is a good, honest fellow, attentive in his services, and well-
+read; but his chief talent, and indeed his distinguishing qualification,
+is that of a comedian, in which he highly excels. His pronunciation is
+distinct, correct in emphasis, pure, and graceful: he has a very skilled
+touch, too, upon the lyre, and performs with better execution than is
+necessary for one of his profession. To this I must add, he reads
+history, oratory, and poetry, as well as if these had been the sole
+objects of his study. I am the more particular in enumerating his
+qualifications, to let you see how many agreeable services I receive
+from this one servant alone. He is indeed endeared to me by the ties of
+a long affection, which are strengthened by the danger he is now in. For
+nature has so formed our hearts that nothing contributes more to incite
+and kindle affection than the fear of losing the object of it: a fear
+which I have suffered more than once on his account. Some years ago he
+strained himself so much by too strong an exertion of his voice, that he
+spit blood, upon which account I sent him into Egypt;[81] from whence,
+after a long absence, belately returned with great benefit to his
+health. But having again exerted himself for several days together
+beyond his strength, he was reminded of his former malady by a slight
+return of his cough, and a spitting of blood. For this reason I intend
+to send him to your farm at Forum-Julii,[82] having frequently heard you
+mention it as a healthy air, and recommend the milk of that place as
+very salutary in disorders of his nature. I beg you would give
+directions to your people to receive him into your house, and to supply
+him with whatever he may have occasion for: which will not be much, for
+he is so sparing and abstemious as not only to abstain from delicacies,
+but even to deny himself the necessaries his ill state of health
+requires. I shall furnish him towards his journey with what will be
+sufficient for one of his moderate requirements, who is coming under
+your roof. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LVII -- To RUFUS
+
+I WENT into the Julian[83] court to hear those lawyers to whom,
+according to the last adjournment, I was to reply. The judges had taken
+their seats, the decemviri[84] were arrived, the eyes of the audience
+were fixed upon the counsel, and all was hushed silence and expectation,
+when a messenger arrived from the praetor, and the Hundred are at once
+dismissed, and the case postponed: an accident extremely agreeable to
+me, who am never so well prepared but that I am glad of gaining further
+time. The occasion of the court's rising thus abruptly was a short edict
+of Nepos, the praetor for criminal causes, in which he directed all
+persons concerned as plaintiffs or defendants in any cause before him to
+take notice that he designed strictly to put in force the decree of the
+senate annexed to his edict. Which decree was expressed in the following
+words:
+
+
+ALL PERSONS WHOSOEVER THAT HAVE ANY LAW-SUITS DEPENDING ARE HEREBY
+REQUIRED AND COMMANDED, BEFORE ANY PROCEEDINGS BE HAD THEREON, TO TAKE
+AN OATH THAT THEY HAVE NOT GIVEN, PROMISED, OR ENGAGED TO GIVE, ANY FEE
+OR REWARD TO ANY ADVOCATE, UPON ACCOUNT OF HIS UNDERTAKING THEIR CAUSE.
+
+In these terms, and many others equally full and express, the lawyers
+were prohibited to make their professions venal. However, after the case
+is decided, they are permitted to accept a gratuity of ten thousand
+sesterces.[85] The praetor for civil causes, being alarmed at this order
+of Nepos, gave us this unexpected holiday in order to take time to
+consider whether he should follow the example. Meanwhile the whole town
+is talking, and either approving or condemning this edict of Nepos. We
+have got then at last (say the latter with a sneer) a redressor of
+abuses. But pray was there never a praetor before this man? Who is he
+then who sets up in this way for a public reformer? Others, on the
+contrary, say, "He has done perfectly right upon his entry into office;
+he has paid obedience to the laws; considered the decrees of the senate,
+repressed most indecent contracts, and will not suffer the most
+honourable of all professions to be debased into a sordid lucre
+traffic." This is what one hears all around one; but which side may
+prevail, the event will shew. It is the usual method of the world
+(though a very unequitable rule of estimation) to pronounce an action
+either right or wrong, according as it is attended with good or ill
+success; in consequence of which you may hear the very same conduct
+attributed to zeal or folly, to liberty or licentiousness, upon
+different several occasions. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LVIII -- To ARRIANUS
+
+SOMETIMES I miss Regulus in our courts. I cannot say I deplore his loss.
+The man, it must be owned, highly respected his profession, grew pale
+with study and anxiety over it, and used to write out his speeches
+though he could not get them by heart. There was a practice he had of
+painting round his right or left eye,[86] and wearing a white patch[87]
+over one side or the other of his forehead, according as he was to plead
+either for the plaintiff or defendant; of consulting the soothsayers
+upon the issue of an action; still, all this excessive superstition was
+really due to his extreme earnestness in his profession. And it was
+acceptable enough being concerned in the same cause with him, as he
+always obtained full indulgence in point of time, and never failed to
+get an audience together; for what could be more convenient than, under
+the protection of a liberty which you did not ask yourself, and all the
+odium of the arrangement resting with another, and before an audience
+which you had not the trouble of collecting, to speak on at your ease,
+and as long as you thought proper? Nevertheless Regulus did well in
+departing this life, though he would have done much better had he made
+his exit sooner. He might really have lived now without any danger to
+the public, in the reign of a prince under whom he would have had no
+opportunity of doing any harm. I need not scruple therefore, I think, to
+say I sometimes miss him: for since his death the custom has prevailed
+of not allowing, nor indeed of asking more than an hour or two to plead
+in, and sometimes not above half that time. The truth is, our advocates
+take more pleasure in finishing a cause than in defending it; and our
+judges had rather rise from the bench than sit upon it: such is their
+indolence, and such their indifference to the honour of eloquence and
+the interest of justice! But are we wiser than our ancestors? are we
+more equitable than the laws which grant so many hours and days of
+adjournments to a case? were our forefathers slow of apprehension, and
+dull beyond measure? and are we clearer of speech, quicker in our
+conceptions, or more scrupulous in our decisions, because we get over
+our causes in fewer hours than they took days? O Regulus! it was by zeal
+in your profession that you secured an advantage which is but rarely
+given to the highest integrity. As for myself, whenever I sit upon the
+bench (which is much oftener than I appear at the bar), I always give
+the advocates as much time as they require: for I look upon it as highly
+presuming to pretend to guess, before a case is heard, what time it will
+require, and to set limits to an affair before one is acquainted with
+its extent; especially as the first and most sacred duty of a judge is
+patience, which constitutes an important part of justice. But this, it
+is objected, would give an opening to much superfluous matter: I grant
+it may; yet is it not better to hear too much than not to hear enough?
+Besides, how shall you know that what an advocate has farther to offer
+will be superfluous, until you have heard him? But this, and many other
+public abuses, will be best reserved for a conversation when we meet;
+for I know your affection to the commonwealth inclines you to wish that
+some means might be found out to check at least those grievances, which
+would now be very difficult absolutely to remove. But to return to
+affairs of private concern: I hope all goes well in your family; mine
+remains in its usual situation. The good which I enjoy grows more
+acceptable to me by its continuance; as habit renders me less sensible
+of the evils I suffer. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LIX -- To CALPURNIA[88]
+
+NEVER was business more disagreeable to me than when it prevented me not
+only from accompanying you when you went into Campania for your health,
+but from following you there soon after; for I want particularly to be
+with you now, that I may learn from my own eyes whether you are growing
+stronger and stouter, and whether the tranquillity, the amusements, and
+plenty of that charming country really agree with you. Were you in
+perfect health, yet I could ill support your absence; for even a
+moment's uncertainty of the welfare of those we tenderly love causes a
+feeling of suspense and anxiety: but now your sickness conspires with
+your absence to trouble me grievously with vague and various anxieties.
+I dread everything, fancy everything, and, as is natural to those who
+fear, conjure up the very things I most dread. Let me the more earnestly
+entreat you then to think of my anxiety, and write to me every day, and
+even twice a day: I shall be more easy, at least while I am reading your
+letters, though when I have read them, I shall immediately feel my fears
+again. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LX -- To CALPURNIA
+
+You kindly tell me my absence very sensibly affects you, and that your
+only consolation is in conversing with my works, which you frequently
+substitute in my stead. I am glad that you miss me; I am glad that you
+find some rest in these alleviations. In return, I read over your
+letters again and again, and am continually taking them up, as if I had
+just received them; but, alas! this only stirs in me a keener longing
+for you; for how sweet must her conversation be whose letters have so
+many charms? Let me receive them, however, as often as possible,
+notwithstanding there is still a mixture of pain in the pleasure they
+afford me. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXI -- To PRISCUS
+
+You know Attilius Crescens, and you love him; who is there, indeed, of
+any rank or worth, that does not? For myself, I profess to have a
+friendship for him far exceeding ordinary attachments of the world. Our
+native towns are separated only by a day's journey; and we got to care
+for each other when we were very young; the season for passionate
+friendships. Ours improved by years; and so far from being chilled, it
+was confirmed by our riper judgments, as those who know us best can
+witness. He takes pleasure in boasting everywhere of my friendship; as I
+do to let the world know that his reputation, his ease, and his interest
+are my peculiar concern. Insomuch that upon his expressing to me some
+apprehension of insolent treatment from a certain person who was
+entering upon the tribuneship of the people, I could not forbear
+answering, --
+
+
+"Long as Achilles breathes this vital air, To touch thy head no impious
+hand shall dare."<a href="#linknote-89" name="linknoteref-89"
+id="linknoteref-89">[89]</a>
+
+What is my object in telling you these things? Why, to shew you that I
+look upon every injury offered to Attilius as done to myself. "But what
+is the object of all this?" you repeat. You must know then, Valerius
+Varus, at his death, owed Attilius a sum of money. Though I am on
+friendly terms with Maximus, his heir, yet there is a closer friendship
+between him and you. I beg therefore, and entreat you by the affection
+you have for me, to take care that Attilius is not only paid the capital
+which is due to him, but all the long arrears of interest too. He
+neither covets the property of others nor neglects the care of his own;
+and as he is not engaged in any lucrative profession, he has nothing to
+depend upon but his own frugality: for as to literature, in which he
+greatly distinguishes himself, he pursues this merely from motives of
+pleasure and ambition. In such a situation, the slightest loss presses
+hard upon a man, and the more so because he has no opportunities of
+repairing any injury done to his fortune. Remove then, I entreat you,
+our uneasiness, and suffer me still to enjoy the pleasure of his wit and
+bonhommie; for I cannot bear to see the cheerfulness of my friend over-
+clouded, whose mirth and good humour dissipates every gloom of
+melancholy in myself. In short, you know what a pleasant entertaining
+fellow he is, and I hope you will not suffer any injury to engloom and
+embitter his disposition. You may judge by the warmth of his affection
+how severe his resentments would prove; for a generous and great mind
+can ill brook an injury when coupled with contempt. But though he could
+pass it over, yet cannot I: on the contrary, I shall regard it as a
+wrong and indignity done to myself, and resent it as one offered to my
+friend; that is, with double warmth. But, after all, why this air of
+threatening? rather let me end in the same style in which I began,
+namely, by begging, entreating you so to act in this affair that neither
+Attilius may have reason to imagine (which I am exceedingly anxious he
+should not) that I neglect his interest, nor that I may have occasion to
+charge you with carelessness of mine: as undoubtedly I shall not if you
+have the same regard for the latter as I have for the former. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXII -- To ALBINUS
+
+I WAS lately at Alsium,[90] where my mother-in-law has a villa which
+once belonged to Verginius Rufus. The place renewed in my mind the
+sorrowful remembrance of that-great and excellent man. He was extremely
+fond of this retirement, and used to call it the nest of his old age.
+Whichever way I looked, I missed him, I felt his absence. I had an
+inclination to visit his monument; but I repented having seen it,
+afterwards: for I found it still unfinished, and this, not from any
+difficulty residing in the work itself, for it is very plain, or rather
+indeed slight; but through the neglect of him to whose care it was
+entrusted. I could not see without a concern, mixed with indignation,
+the remains of a man, whose fame filled the whole world, lie for ten
+years after his death without an inscription, or a name. He had however
+directed that the divine and immortal action of his life should be
+recorded upon his tomb in the following lines:
+
+
+"Here Rufus lies, who Vindex' arms withstood, Not for himself, but for
+his country's good."
+
+But faithful friends are so rare, and the dead so soon forgotten, that
+we shall be obliged ourselves to build even our very tombs, and
+anticipate the office of our heirs. For who is there that has no reason
+to fear for himself what we see has happened to Verginius, whose
+eminence and distinction, while rendering such treatment more shameful,
+so, in the same way, make it more notorious? Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXIII -- To MAXIMUS
+
+O WHAT a happy day I lately spent! I was called by the prefect of Rome,
+to assist him in a certain case, and had the pleasure of hearing two
+excellent young men, Fuscus Salinator and Numidius Quadratus, plead on
+the opposite sides: their worth is equal, and each of them will one day,
+I am persuaded, prove an ornament not only to the present age, but to
+literature itself. They evinced upon this occasion an admirable probity,
+supported by inflexible courage: their dress was decent, their elocution
+distinct, their tones were manly, their memory retentive, their genius
+elevated, and guided by an equal solidity of judgment. I took infinite
+pleasure in observing them display these noble qualities; particularly
+as I had the satisfaction to see that, while they looked upon me as
+their guide and model, they appeared to the audience as my imitators and
+rivals. It was a day (I cannot but repeat it again) which afforded me
+the most exquisite happiness, and which I shall ever distinguish with
+the fairest mark. For what indeed could be either more pleasing to me on
+the public account than to observe two such noble youths building their
+fame and glory upon the polite arts; or more desirable upon my own than
+to be marked out as a worthy example to them in their pursuits of
+virtue? May the gods still grant me the continuance of that pleasure!
+And I implore the same gods, you are my witness, to make all these who
+think me deserving of imitation far better than I am, Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXIV -- To ROMANUS
+
+You were not present at a very singular occurrence here lately: neither
+was I, but the story reached me just after it had happened. Passienus
+Paulus, a Roman knight, of good family, and a man of peculiar learning
+and culture besides, composes elegies, a talent which runs in the
+family, for Propertius is reckoned by him amongst his ancestors, as well
+as being his countryman. He was lately reciting a poem which began thus:
+
+
+"Priscus, at thy command"--
+
+Whereupon Javolenus Priscus, who happened to be present as a particular
+friend of the poet's, cried out--"But he is mistaken, I did not command
+him." Think what laughter and merriment this occasioned. Priscus's wits,
+you must know, are reckoned rather unsound,[91] though he takes a share
+in public business, is summoned to consultations, and even publicly acts
+as a lawyer, so that this behaviour of his was the more remarkable and
+ridiculous: meanwhile Paulus was a good deal disconcerted by his
+friend's absurdity. You see how necessary it is for those who are
+anxious to recite their works in public to take care that the audience
+as well as the author are perfectly sane. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXV -- To TACITUS
+
+YOUR request that I would send you an account of my uncle's death, in
+order to transmit a more exact relation of it to posterity, deserves my
+acknowledgments; for, if this accident shall be celebrated by your pen,
+the glory of it, I am well assured, will be rendered forever
+illustrious. And notwithstanding he perished by a misfortune, which, as
+it involved at the same time a most beautiful country in ruins, and
+destroyed so many populous cities, seems to promise him an everlasting
+remembrance; notwithstanding he has himself composed many and lasting
+works; yet I am persuaded, the mentioning of him in your immortal
+writings, will greatly contribute to render his name immortal. Happy I
+esteem those to be to whom by provision of the gods has been granted the
+ability either to do such actions as are worthy of being related or to
+relate them in a manner worthy of being read; but peculiarly happy are
+they who are blessed with both these uncommon talents: in the number of
+which my uncle, as his own writings and your history will evidently
+prove, may justly be ranked. It is with extreme willingness, therefore,
+that I execute your commands; and should indeed have claimed the task if
+you had not enjoined it. He was at that time with the fleet under his
+command at Misenum.[92] On the 24th of August, about one in the
+afternoon, my mother desired him to observe a cloud which appeared of a
+very unusual size and shape. He had just taken a turn in the sun[93]
+and, after bathing himself in cold water, and making a light luncheon,
+gone back to his books: he immediately arose and went out upon a rising
+ground from whence he might get a better sight of this very uncommon
+appearance. A cloud, from which mountain was uncertain, at this distance
+(but it was found afterwards to come from Mount Vesuvius), was
+ascending, the appearance of which I cannot give you a more exact
+description of than by likening it to that of a pine tree, for it shot
+up to a great height in the form of a very tall trunk, which spread
+itself out at the top into a sort of branches; occasioned, I imagine,
+either by a sudden gust of air that impelled it, the force of which
+decreased as it advanced upwards, or the cloud itself being pressed back
+again by its own weight, expanded in the manner I have mentioned; it
+appeared sometimes bright and sometimes dark and spotted, according as
+it was either more or less impregnated with earth and cinders. This
+phenomenon seemed to a man of such learning and research as my uncle
+extraordinary and worth further looking into. He ordered a light vessel
+to be got ready, and gave me leave, if I liked, to accompany him. I said
+I had rather go on with my work; and it so happened, he had himself
+given me something to write out. As he was coming out of the house, he
+received a note from Rectina, the wife of Bassus, who was in the utmost
+alarm at the imminent danger which threatened her; for her villa lying
+at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, there was no way of escape but by sea;
+she earnestly entreated him therefore to come to her assistance. He
+accordingly changed his first intention, and what he had begun from a
+philosophical, he now carries out in a noble and generous spirit. He
+ordered the galleys to be put to sea, and went himself on board with an
+intention of assisting not only Rectina, but the several other towns
+which lay thickly strewn along that beautiful coast. Hastening then to
+the place from whence others fled with the utmost terror, he steered his
+course direct to the point of danger, and with so much calmness and
+presence of mind as to be able to make and dictate his observations upon
+the motion and all the phenomena of that dreadful scene. He was now so
+close to the mountain that the cinders, which grew thicker and hotter
+the nearer he approached, fell into the ships, together with pumice-
+stones, and black pieces of burning rock: they were in danger too not
+only of being aground by the sudden retreat of the sea, but also from
+the vast fragments which rolled down from the mountain, and obstructed
+all the shore. Here he stopped to consider whether he should turn back
+again; to which the pilot advising him, "Fortune," said he, "favours the
+brave; steer to where Pomponianus is." Pomponianus was then at
+Stabiae,[94] separated by a bay, which the sea, after several insensible
+windings, forms with the shore. He had already sent his baggage on
+board; for though he was not at that time in actual danger, yet being
+within sight of it, and indeed extremely near, if it should in the least
+increase, he was determined to put to sea as soon as the wind, which was
+blowing dead in-shore, should go down. It was favourable, however, for
+carrying my uncle to Pomponianus, whom he found in the greatest
+consternation: he embraced him tenderly, encouraging and urging him to
+keep up his spirits, and, the more effectually to soothe his fears by
+seeming unconcerned himself, ordered a bath to be got ready, and then,
+after having bathed, sat down to supper with great cheerfulness, or at
+least (what is just as heroic) with every appearance of it. Meanwhile
+broad flames shone out in several places from Mount Vesuvius, which the
+darkness of the night contributed to render still brighter and clearer.
+But my uncle, in order to soothe the apprehensions of his friend,
+assured him it was only the burning of the villages, which the country
+people had abandoned to the flames: after this he retired to rest, and
+it is most certain he was so little disquieted as to fall into a sound
+sleep: for his breathing, which, on account of his corpulence, was
+rather heavy and sonorous, was heard by the attendants outside. The
+court which led to his apartment being now almost filled with stones and
+ashes, if he had continued there any time longer, it would have been
+impossible for him to have made his way out. So he was awoke and got up,
+and went to Pomponianus and the rest of his company, who were feeling
+too anxious to think of going to bed. They consulted together whether it
+would be most prudent to trust to the houses, which now rocked from side
+to side with frequent and violent concussions as though shaken from
+their very foundations; or fly to the open fields, where the calcined
+stones and cinders, though light indeed, yet fell in large showers, and
+threatened destruction. In this choice of dangers they resolved for the
+fields: a resolution which, while the rest of the company were hurried
+into by their fears, my uncle embraced upon cool and deliberate
+consideration. They went out then, having pillows tied upon their heads
+with napkins; and this was their whole defence against the storm of
+stones that fell round them. It was now day everywhere else, but there a
+deeper darkness prevailed than in the thickest night; which however was
+in some degree alleviated by torches and other lights of various kinds.
+They thought proper to go farther down upon the shore to see if they
+might safely put out to sea, but found the waves still running extremely
+high, and boisterous. There my uncle, laying himself down upon a sail
+cloth, which was spread for him, called twice for some cold water, which
+he drank, when immediately the flames, preceded by a strong whiff of
+sulphur, dispersed the rest of the party, and obliged him to rise. He
+raised himself up with the assistance of two of his servants, and
+instantly fell down dead; suffocated, as I conjecture, by some gross and
+noxious vapour, having always had a weak throat, which was often
+inflamed. As soon as it was light again, which was not till the third
+day after this melancholy accident, his body was found entire, and
+without any marks of violence upon it, in the dress in which he fell,
+and looking more like a man asleep than dead. During all this time my
+mother and I, who were at Miscnum--but this has no connection with your
+history, and you did not desire any particulars besides those of my
+uncle's death; so I will end here, only adding that I have faithfully
+related to you what I was either an eye-witness of myself or received
+immediately after the accident happened, and before there was time to
+vary the truth. You will pick out of this narrative whatever is most
+important: for a letter is one thing, a history another; it is one thing
+writing to a friend, another thing writing to the public. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXVI -- To CORNELIUS TACITUS
+
+THE letter which, in compliance with your request, I wrote to you
+concerning the death of my uncle has raised, it seems, your curiosity to
+know what terrors and dangers attended me while I continued at Misenum;
+for there, I think, my account broke off:
+
+
+"Though my shock'd soul recoils, my tongue shall tell."
+
+My uncle having left us, I spent such time as was left on my studies (it
+was on their account indeed that I had stopped behind), till it was time
+for my bath. After which I went to supper, and then fell into a short
+and uneasy sleep. There had been noticed for many days before a
+trembling of the earth, which did not alarm us much, as this is quite an
+ordinary occurrence in Campania; but it was so particularly violent that
+night that it not only shook but actually overturned, as it would seem,
+everything about us. My mother rushed into my chamber, where she found
+me rising, in order to awaken her. We sat down in the open court of the
+house, which occupied a small space between the buildings and the sea.
+As I was at that time but eighteen years of age, I know not whether I
+should call my behaviour, in this dangerous juncture, courage or folly;
+but I took up Livy, and amused myself with turning over that author, and
+even making extracts from him, as if I had been perfectly at my leisure.
+Just then, a friend of my uncle's, who had lately come to him from
+Spain, joined us, and observing me sitting by my mother with a book in
+my hand, reproved her for her calmness, and me at the same time for my
+careless security: nevertheless I went on with my author. Though it was
+now morning, the light was still exceedingly faint and doubtful; the
+buildings all around us tottered, and though we stood upon open ground,
+yet as the place was narrow and confined, there was no remaining without
+imminent danger: we therefore resolved to quit the town. A panic-
+stricken crowd followed us, and (as to a mind distracted with terror
+every suggestion seems more prudent than its own) pressed on us in dense
+array to drive us forward as we came out. Being at a convenient distance
+from the houses, we stood still, in the midst of a most dangerous and
+dreadful scene. The chariots, which we had ordered to be drawn out, were
+so agitated backwards and forwards, though upon the most level ground,
+that we could not keep them steady, even by supporting them with large
+stones. The sea seemed to roll back upon itself, and to be driven from
+its banks by the convulsive motion of the earth; it is certain at least
+the shore was considerably enlarged, and several sea animals were left
+upon it. On the other side, a black and dreadful cloud, broken with
+rapid, zigzag flashes, revealed behind it variously shaped masses of
+flame: these last were like sheet-lightning, but much larger. Upon this
+our Spanish friend, whom I mentioned above, addressing himself to my
+mother and me with great energy and urgency: "If your brother," he said,
+"if your uncle be safe, he certainly wishes you may be so too; but if he
+perished, it was his desire, no doubt, that you might both survive him:
+why therefore do you delay your escape a moment?" We could never think
+of our own safety, we said, while we were uncertain of his. Upon this
+our friend left us, and withdrew from the danger with the utmost
+precipitation. Soon afterwards, the cloud began to descend, and cover
+the sea. It had already surrounded and concealed the island of Capreae
+and the promontory of Misenum. My mother now besought, urged, even
+commanded me to make my escape at any rate, which, as I was young, I
+might easily do; as for herself, she said, her age and corpulency
+rendered all attempts of that sort impossible; however, she would
+willingly meet death if she could have the satisfaction of seeing that
+she was not the occasion of mine. But I absolutely refused to leave her,
+and, taking her by the hand, compelled her to go with me. She complied
+with great reluctance, and not without many reproaches to herself for
+retarding my flight. The ashes now began to fall upon us, though in no
+great quantity. I looked back; a dense dark mist seemed to be following
+us, spreading itself over the country like a cloud. "Let us turn out of
+the high-road," I said, "while we can still see, for fear that, should
+we fall in the road, we should be pressed to death in the dark, by the
+crowds that are following us." We had scarcely sat down when night came
+upon us, not such as we have when the sky is cloudy, or when there is no
+moon, but that of a room when it is shut up, and all the lights put out.
+You might hear the shrieks of women, the screams of children, and the
+shouts of men; some calling for their children, others for their
+parents, others for their husbands, and seeking to recognise each other
+by the voices that replied; one lamenting his own fate, another that of
+his family; some wishing to die, from the very fear of dying; some
+lifting their hands to the gods; but the greater part convinced that
+there were now no gods at all, and that the final endless night of which
+we have heard had come upon the world.[95] Among these there were some
+who augmented the real terrors by others imaginary or wilfully invented.
+I remember some who declared that one part of Misenum had fallen, that
+another was on fire; it was false, but they found people to believe
+them. It now grew rather lighter, which we imagined to be rather the
+forerunner of an approaching burst of flames (as in truth it was) than
+the return of day: however, the fire fell at a distance from us: then
+again we were immersed in thick darkness, and a heavy shower of ashes
+rained upon us, which we were obliged every now and then to stand up to
+shake off, otherwise we should have been crushed and buried in the heap.
+I might boast that, during all this scene of horror, not a sigh, or
+expression of fear, escaped me, had not my support been grounded in that
+miserable, though mighty, consolation, that all mankind were involved in
+the same calamity, and that I was perishing with the world itself. At
+last this dreadful darkness was dissipated by degrees, like a cloud or
+smoke; the real day returned, and even the sun shone out, though with a
+lurid light, like when an eclipse is coming on. Every object that
+presented itself to our eyes (which were extremely weakened) seemed
+changed, being covered deep with ashes as if with snow. We returned to
+Misenum, where we refreshed ourselves as well as we could, and passed an
+anxious night between hope and fear; though, indeed, with a much larger
+share of the latter: for the earthquake still continued, while many
+frenzied persons ran up and down heightening their own and their
+friends' calamities by terrible predictions. However, my mother and I,
+notwithstanding the danger we had passed, and that which still
+threatened us, had no thoughts of leaving the place, till we could
+receive some news of my uncle.
+
+And now, you will read this narrative without any view of inserting it
+in your history, of which it is not in the least worthy; and indeed you
+must put it down to your own request if it should appear not worth even
+the trouble of a letter. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LX VII -- To MACER
+
+How much does the fame of human actions depend upon the station of those
+who perform them! The very same conduct shall be either applauded to the
+skies or entirely overlooked, just as it may happen to proceed from a
+person of conspicuous or obscure rank. I was sailing lately upon our
+lake,[96] with an old man of my acquaintance, who desired me to observe
+a villa situated upon its banks, which had a chamber overhanging the
+water. "From that room," said he, "a woman of our city threw herself and
+her husband." Upon enquiring into the cause, he informed me, "That her
+husband having been long afflicted with an ulcer in those parts which
+modesty conceals, she prevailed with him at last to let her inspect the
+sore, assuring him at the same time that she would most sincerely give
+her opinion whether there was a possibility of its being cured.
+Accordingly, upon viewing the ulcer, she found the case hopeless, and
+therefore advised him to put an end to his life: she herself
+accompanying him, even leading the way by her example, and being
+actually the means of his death; for tying herself to her husband, she
+plunged with him into the lake." Though this happened in the very city
+where I was born, I never heard it mentioned before; and yet that this
+action is taken less notice of than that famous one of Arria's, is not
+because it was less remarkable, but because the person who performed it
+was more obscure. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXVIII -- To SERVIANUS
+
+I AM extremely glad to hear that you intend your daughter for Fuscus
+Salinator, and congratulate you upon it. His family is patrician,[97]
+and both his father and mother are persons of the most distinguished
+merit. As for himself, he is studious, learned, and eloquent, and, with
+all the innocence of a child, unites the sprightliness of youth and the
+wisdom of age. I am not, believe me, deceived by my affection, when I
+give him this character; for though I love him, I confess, beyond
+measure (as his friendship and esteem for me well deserve), yet
+partiality has no share in my judgment: on the contrary, the stronger my
+affection for him, the more exactingly I weigh his merit. I will
+venture, then, to assure you (and I speak it upon my own experience) you
+could not have, formed to your wishes, a more accomplished son-in-law.
+May he soon present you with a grandson, who shall be the exact copy of
+his father! and with what pleasure shall I receive from the arms of two
+such friends their children or grand-children, whom I shall claim a sort
+of right to embrace as my own! Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXIX -- To SEVERUS
+
+You desire me to consider what turn you should give to your speech in
+honour of the emperor,[98] upon your being appointed consul elect.[99]
+It is easy to find copies, not so easy to choose out of them; for his
+virtues afford such abundant material. However, I will write and give
+you my opinion, or (what I should prefer) I will let you have it in
+person, after having laid before you the difficulties which occur to me.
+I am doubtful, then, whether I should advise you to pursue the method
+which I observed myself on the same occasion. When I was consul elect, I
+avoided running into the usual strain of compliment, which, however far
+from adulation, might yet look like it. Not that I affected firmness and
+independence; but, as well knowing the sentiments of our amiable prince,
+and being thoroughly persuaded that the highest praise I could offer to
+him would be to show the world I was under no necessity of paying him
+any. When I reflected what profusion of honours had been heaped upon the
+very worst of his predecessors, nothing, I imagined, could more
+distinguish a prince of his real virtues from those infamous emperors
+than to address him in a different manner. And this I thought proper to
+observe in my speech, lest it might be suspected I passed over his
+glorious acts, not out of judgment, but inattention. Such was the method
+I then observed; but I am sensible the same measures are neither
+agreeable nor indeed suitable to all alike. Besides the propriety of
+doing or omitting a thing depends not only upon persons, but time and
+circumstances; and as the late actions of our illustrious prince afford
+materials for panegyric, no less just than recent and glorious, I doubt
+(as I said before) whether I should persuade you in the present instance
+to adopt the same plan as I did myself. In this, however, I am clear,
+that it was proper to offer you by way of advice the method I pursued.
+Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXX -- To FABATUS
+
+I HAVE the best reason, certainly, for celebrating your birthday as my
+own, since all the happiness of mine arises from yours, to whose care
+and diligence it is owing that I am gay here and at my ease in town. --
+Your Camillian villa[100] in Campania has suffered by the injuries of
+time, and is falling into decay; however, the most valuable parts of the
+building either remain entire or are but slightly damaged, and it shall
+be my care to see it put into thorough repair. -- Though I flatter
+myself I have many friends, yet I have scarcely any of the sort you
+enquire after, and which the affair you mention demands. All mine lie
+among those whose employments engage them in town; whereas the conduct
+of country business requires a person of a robust constitution, and bred
+up to the country, to whom the work may not seem hard, nor the office
+beneath him, and who does not feel a solitary life depressing. You think
+most highly of Rufus, for he was a great friend of your son's; but of
+what use he can be to us upon this occasion, I cannot conceive; though I
+am sure he will be glad to do all he can for us. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXXI -- To CORNELIANUS
+
+I RECEIVED lately the most exquisite satisfaction at Centumcellae[101]
+(as it is now called), being summoned thither by Cæsar[102] to attend a
+council. Could anything indeed afford a higher pleasure than to see the
+emperor exercising his justice, his wisdom, and his affability, even in
+retirement, where those virtues are most observable? Various were the
+points brought in judgment before him, and which proved, in so many
+different instances, the excellence of the judge. The cause of Claudius
+Ariston came on first. He is an Ephesian nobleman, of great munificence
+and unambitious popularity, whose virtues have rendered him obnoxious to
+a set of people of far different characters; they had instigated an
+informer against him, of the same infamous stamp with themselves; but he
+was honourably acquitted. The next day, the case of Galitta, accused of
+adultery, was heard. Her husband, who is a military tribune, was upon
+the point of offering himself as a candidate for certain honours at
+Rome, but she had stained her own good name and his by an intrigue with
+a centurion.[103] The husband informed the consul's lieutenant, who
+wrote to the emperor about it. Cæsar, having thoroughly sifted the
+evidence, cashiered the centurion, and sentenced him to banishment. It
+remained that some penalty should be inflicted likewise upon the other
+party, as it is a crime of which both must necessarily be equally
+guilty. But the husband's affection for his wife inclined him to drop
+that part of the prosecution, not without some reflections on his
+forbearance; for he continued to live with her even after he had
+commenced this prosecution, content, it would seem, with having removed
+his rival. But he was ordered to proceed in the suit: and, though he
+complied with great reluctance, it was necessary, nevertheless, that she
+should be condemned. Accordingly, she was sentenced to the punishment
+directed by the Julian law.[104] The emperor thought proper to specify,
+in his decree, the name and office of the centurion, that it might
+appear he passed it in virtue of military discipline; lest it should be
+imagined he claimed a particular cognizance in every cause of the same
+nature. The third day was employed in examining into an affair which had
+occasioned a good deal of talk and various reports; it was concerning
+the codicils of Julius Tiro, part of which was plainly genuine, while
+the other part, it was alleged, was forged. The persons accused of this
+fraud were Sempronius Senecio, a Roman knight, and Eurythmus, Cæsar's
+freedman and procurator.[105] The heirs jointly petitioned the emperor,
+when he was in Dacia,[106] that he would reserve to himself the trial of
+this cause; to which he consented. On his return from that expedition,
+he appointed a day for the hearing; and when some of the heirs, as
+though out of respect to Eurythmus, offered to withdraw the suit, the
+emperor nobly replied, "He is not Polycletus,[107] nor am I Nero."
+However, he indulged the petitioners with an adjournment, and the time
+being expired, he now sat to hear the cause. Two of the heirs appeared,
+and desired that either their whole number might be compelled to plead,
+as they had all joined in the information, or that they also might have
+leave to withdraw. Cæsar delivered his opinion with great dignity and
+moderation; and when the counsel on the part of Senecio and Eurythmus
+had represented that unless their clients were heard, they would remain
+under the suspicion of guilt,--"I am not concerned," said the emperor,
+"what suspicions they may lie under, it is I that am suspected;" and
+then turning to us, "Advise me," said he, "how to act in this affair,
+for you see they complain when allowed to withdraw their suit." At
+length, by the advice of the counsel, he 'ordered notice to be given to
+the heirs that they should either proceed with the case or each of them
+justify their reasons for not doing so; otherwise that he would pass
+sentence upon them as calumniators.[108] Thus you see how usefully and
+seriously we spent our time, which however was diversified with
+amusements of the most agreeable kind. We were every day invited to
+Cæsar's table, which, for so great a prince, was spread with much
+plainness and simplicity. There we were either entertained with
+interludes or passed the night in the most pleasing conversation. When
+we took our leave of him the last day, he made each of us presents; so
+studiously polite is Cæsar! As for myself, I was not only charmed with
+the dignity and wisdom of the judge, the honour done to the assessors,
+the ease and unreserved freedom of our social intercourse, but with the
+exquisite situation of the place itself. This delightful villa is
+surrounded by the greenest meadows, and overlooks the shore, which bends
+inwards, forming a complete harbour. The left arm of this port is
+defended by exceedingly strong works, while the right is in process of
+completion. An artificial island, which rises at the mouth of the
+harbour, breaks the force of the waves, and affords a safe passage to
+ships on either side. This island is formed by a process worth seeing:
+stones of a most enormous size are transported hither in a large sort of
+pontoons, and being piled one upon the other, are fixed by their own
+weight, gradually accumulating in the manner, as it were, of a natural
+mound. It already lifts its rocky back above the ocean, while the waves
+which beat upon it, being broken and tossed to an immense height, foam
+with a prodigious noise, and whiten all the surrounding sea. To these
+stones are added wooden piers, which in process of time will give it the
+appearance of a natural island. This haven is to be called by the name
+of its great author,[109] and will prove of infinite benefit, by
+affording a secure retreat to ships on that extensive and dangerous
+coast. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXXII -- To MAXIMUS
+
+You did perfectly right in promising a gladiatorial combat to our good
+friends the citizens of Verona, who have long loved, looked up to, and
+honoured, you; while it was from that city too you received that amiable
+object of your most tender affection, your late excellent wife. And
+since you owed some monument or public representation to her memory,
+what other spectacle could you have exhibited more appropriate to the
+occasion? Besides, you were so unanimously pressed to do so that to have
+refused would have looked more like hardness than resolution. The
+readiness too with which you granted their petition, and the magnificent
+manner in which you performed it, is very much to your honour; for a
+greatness of soul is seen in these smaller instances, as well as in
+matters of higher moment. I wish the African panthers, which you had
+largely provided for this purpose, had arrived on the day appointed, but
+though they were delayed by the stormy weather, the obligation to you is
+equally the same, since it was not your fault that they were not
+exhibited. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXXIII -- To RESTITUTUS
+
+THIS obstinate illness of yours alarms me; and though I know how
+extremely temperate you are, yet I fear lest your disease should get the
+better of your moderation. Let me entreat you then to resist it with a
+determined abstemiousness: a remedy, be assured, of all others the most
+laudable as well as the most salutary. Human nature itself admits the
+practicability of what I recommend: it is a rule, at least, which I
+always enjoin my family to observe with respect to myself. "I hope," I
+say to them, "that should I be attacked with any disorder, I shall
+desire nothing of which I ought either to be ashamed or have reason to
+repent; however, if my distemper should prevail over my resolution, I
+forbid that anything be given me but by the consent of my physicians;
+and I shall resent your compliance with me in things improper as much as
+another man would their refusal." I once had a most violent fever; when
+the fit was a little abated, and I had been anointed,[110] my physician
+offered me something to drink; I held out my hand, desiring he would
+first feel my pulse, and upon his not seeming quite satisfied, I
+instantly returned the cup, though it was just at my lips. Afterwards,
+when I was preparing to go into the bath, twenty days from the first
+attack of my illness, perceiving the physicians whispering together, I
+enquired what they were saying. They replied they were of opinion I may
+possibly bathe with safety, however that they were not without some
+suspicion of risk. "What need is there," said I, "of my taking a bath at
+all?" And so, with perfect calmness and tranquillity, I gave up a
+pleasure I was upon the point of enjoying, and abstained from the bath
+as serenely and composedly as though I were going into it. I mention
+this, not only by way of enforcing my advice by example, but also that
+this letter may be a sort of tie upon me to persevere in the same
+resolute abstinence for the future. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXXIV -- To CALPURNIA[111]
+
+You will not believe what a longing for you possesses me. The chief
+cause of this is my love; and then we have not grown used to be apart.
+So it comes to pass that I lie awake a great part of the night, thinking
+of you; and that by day, when the hours return at which I was wont to
+visit you, my feet take me, as it is so truly said, to your chamber, but
+not finding you there, I return, sick and sad at heart, like an excluded
+lover. The only time that is free from these torments is when I am being
+worn out at the bar, and in the suits of my friends. Judge you what must
+be my life when I find my repose in toil, my solace in wretchedness and
+anxiety. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXXV -- To MACRINUS
+
+A VERY singular and remarkable accident has happened in the affair of
+Varenus,[112] the result of which is yet doubtful. The Bithynians, it is
+said, have dropped their prosecution of him being convinced at last that
+it was rashly undertaken. A deputy from that province is arrived, who
+has brought with him a decree of their assembly; copies of which he has
+delivered to Cæsar,[113] and to several of the leading men in Rome, and
+also to us, the advocates for Varenus. Magnus,[114] nevertheless, whom I
+mentioned in my last letter to you, persists in his charge, to support
+which he is incessantly teasing the worthy Nigrinus. This excellent
+person was counsel for him in his former petition to the consuls, that
+Varenus might be compelled to produce his accounts. Upon this occasion,
+as I attended Varenus merely as a friend, I determined to be silent. I
+thought it highly imprudent for me, as I was appointed his counsel by
+the senate, to attempt to defend him as an accused person, when it was
+his business to insist that there was actually no charge subsisting
+against him. However, when Nigrinus had finished his speech, the consuls
+turning their eyes upon me, I rose up, and, "When you shall hear," I
+said, "what the real deputies from the province have to object against
+the motion of Nigrinus, you will see that my silence was not without
+just reason." Upon this Nigrinus asked me, "To whom are these deputies
+sent?" I replied, "To me among others; I have the decree of the province
+in my hands." He returned, "That is a point which, though it may be
+clear to you, I am not so well satisfied of." To this I answered,
+"Though it may not be so evident to you, who are concerned to support
+the accusation, it may be perfectly clear to me, who am on the more
+favourable side." Then Polyaenus, the deputy from the province,
+acquainted the senate with the reasons for superseding the prosecution,
+but desired it might be without prejudice to Cæsar's determination.
+Magnus answered him; Polyaenus replied; as for myself, I only now and
+then threw in a word, observing in general a complete silence. For I
+have learned that upon some occasions it is as much an orator's business
+to be silent as to speak, and I remember, in some criminal cases, to
+have done even more service to my clients by a discreet silence than I
+could have expected from the most carefully prepared speech. To enter
+into the subject of eloquence is indeed very foreign to the purpose of
+my letter, yet allow me to give you one instance in proof of my last
+observation. A certain lady having lost her son suspected that his
+freedmen, whom he had appointed coheirs with her, were guilty of forging
+the will and poisoning him. Accordingly she charged them with the fact
+before the emperor, who directed Julianus Suburanus to try the cause. I
+was counsel for the defendants, and the case being exceedingly
+remarkable, and the counsel engaged on both sides of eminent ability, it
+drew together a very numerous audience. The issue was, the servants
+being put to the torture, my clients were acquitted. But the mother
+applied a second time to the emperor, pretending she had discovered some
+new evidence. Suburanus was therefore directed to hear the cause, and
+see if she could produce any fresh proofs. Julius Africanus was counsel
+for the mother, a young man of good parts, but slender experience. He is
+grandson to the famous orator of that name, of whom it is reported that
+Passienus Crispus, hearing him one day plead, archly said, "Very fine, I
+must confess, very fine; but is all this fine speaking to the purpose?"
+Julius Africanus, I say, having made a long harangue, and exhausted the
+portion of time allotted to him, said, "I beg you, Suburanus, to allow
+me to add one word more." When he had concluded, and the eyes of the
+whole assembly had been fixed a considerable time upon me, I rose up. "I
+would have answered Africanus," said I, "if he had added that one word
+he begged leave to do, in which I doubt not he would have told us all
+that we had not heard before." I do not remember to have gained so much
+applause by any speech that I ever made as I did in this instance by
+making none. Thus the little that I had hitherto said for Varenus was
+received with the same general approbation. The consuls, agreeably to
+the request of Polyaenus, reserved the whole affair for the
+determination of the emperor, whose resolution I impatiently wait for;
+as that will decide whether I may be entirely secure and easy with
+respect to Varenus, or must again renew all my trouble and anxiety upon
+his account. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXXVI -- To TUSCUS
+
+You desire my opinion as to the method of study you should pursue, in
+that retirement to which you have long since withdrawn. In the first
+place, then, I look upon it as a very advantageous practice (and it is
+what many recommend) to translate either from Greek into Latin or from
+Latin into Greek. By this means you acquire propriety and dignity of
+expression, and a variety of beautiful figures, and an ease and strength
+of exposition, and in the imitation of the best models a facility of
+creating such models for yourself. Besides, those things which you may
+possibly have overlooked in an ordinary reading over cannot escape you
+in translating: and this method will also enlarge your knowledge, and
+improve your judgment. It may not be amiss, after you have read an
+author, to turn, as it were, to his rival, and attempt something ol your
+own upon the same topic, and then make a careful comparison between your
+performance and his, in order to see in what points either you or he may
+be the happier. You may congratulate yourself indeed if you shall find
+in some things that you have the advantage of him, while it will be a
+great mortification if he is always superior. You may sometimes select
+very famous passages and compete with what you select. The competition
+is daring enough, but, as it is private, cannot be called impudent. Not
+but that we have seen instances of persons who have publicly entered
+this sort of lists with great credit to themselves, and, while they did
+not despair of overtaking, have gloriously outstripped those whom they
+thought it sufficient honour to follow. A speech no longer fresh in your
+memory, you may take up again. You will find plenty in it to leave
+unaltered, but still more to reject; you will add a new thought here,
+and alter another there. It is a laborious and tedious task, I own, thus
+to re-enflame the mind after the first heat is over, to recover an
+impulse when its force has been checked and spent, and, worse than all,
+to put new limbs into a body already complete without disturbing the
+old; but the advantage attending this method will overbalance the
+difficulty. I know the bent of your present attention is directed
+towards the eloquence of the bar; but I would not for that reason advise
+you never to quit the polemic, if I may so call it, and contentious
+style. As land is improved by sowing it with various seeds, constantly
+changed, so is the mind by exercising it now with this subject of study,
+now with that. I would recommend you, therefore, sometimes to take a
+subject from history, and you might give more care to the composition of
+your letters. For it frequently happens that in pleading one has
+occasion to make use not only of historical, but even poetical, styles
+of description; and then from letters you acquire a concise and simple
+mode of expression. You will do quite right again in refreshing yourself
+with poetry: when I say so, I do not mean that species of poetry which
+turns upon subjects of great length and continuity (such being suitable
+only for persons of leisure), but those little pieces of the sprightly
+kind of poesy, which serve as proper reliefs to, and are consistent
+with, employments of every sort. They commonly go under the title of
+poetical amusements; but these amusements have sometimes gained their
+authors as much reputation as works of a more serious nature; and thus
+(for while I am exhorting you to poetry, why should I not turn poet
+myself?)
+
+
+"As yielding wax the artist's skill commands, Submissive shap'd beneath
+his forming hands; Now dreadful stands in arms a Mars confest; Or now
+with Venus's softer air imprest; A wanton Cupid now the mould belies;
+Now shines, severely chaste, a Pallas wife: As not alone to quench the
+raging flame, The sacred fountain pours her friendly stream; But sweetly
+gliding through the flow'ry green, Spreads glad refreshment o'er the
+smiling scene: So, form'd by science, should the ductile mind Receive,
+distinct, each various art refin'd."
+
+In this manner the greatest men, as well as the greatest orators, used
+either to exercise or amuse themselves, or rather indeed did both. It is
+surprising how much the mind is enlivened and refreshed by these little
+poetical compositions, as they turn upon love, hatred, satire,
+tenderness, politeness, and everything, in short, that concerns life and
+the affairs of the world. Besides, the same advantage attends these, as
+every other sort of poems, that we turn from them to prose with so much
+the more pleasure after having experienced the difficulty of being
+constrained and fettered by metre. And now, perhaps, I have troubled you
+upon this subject longer than you desired; however, there is one thing I
+have left out: I have not told you what kind of authors you should read;
+though indeed that was sufficiently implied when I told you on what you
+should write. Remember to be careful in your choice of authors of every
+kind: for, as it has been well observed, "though we should read much, we
+should not read many books." Who those authors are, is so clearly
+settled, and so generally known, that I need not particularly specify
+them; besides, I have already extended this letter to such an immoderate
+length that, while suggesting how you ought to study, I have, I fear,
+been actually interrupting your studies. I will here resign you
+therefore to your tablets, either to resume the studies in which you
+were before engaged or to enter upon some of those I have recommended.
+Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXX VII -- To FABATUS (HIS WIFE'S GRANDFATHER)
+
+You are surprised, I find, that my share of five-twelfths of the estate
+which lately fell to me, and which I had directed to be sold to the best
+bidder, should have been disposed of by my freedman Hermes to Corellia
+(without putting it up to auction) at the rate of seven hundred thousand
+sesterces[115] for the whole. And as you think it might have fetched
+nine hundred thousand,[116] you are so much the more desirous to know
+whether I am inclined to ratify what he has done. I am; and listen,
+while I tell you why, for I hope that not only you will approve, but
+also that my fellow-coheirs will excuse me for having, upon a motive of
+superior obligation, separated my interest from theirs. I have the
+highest esteem for Corellia, both as the sister of Rufus, whose memory
+will always be a sacred one to me, and as my mother's intimate friend.
+Besides, that excellent man Minutius Tuscus, her husband, has every
+claim to my affection that a long friendship can give him; as there was
+likewise the closest intimacy between her son and me, so much so indeed
+that I fixed upon him to preside at the games which I exhibited when I
+was elected praetor. This lady, when I was last in the country,
+expressed a strong desire for some place upon the borders of our lake of
+Comum; I therefore made her an offer, at her own price, of any part of
+my land there, except what came to me from my father and mother; for
+that I could not consent to part with, even to Corellia, and accordingly
+when the inheritance in question fell to me, I wrote to let her know it
+was to be sold. This letter I sent by Hermes, who, upon her requesting
+him that he would immediately make over to her my proportion of it,
+consented. Am I not then obliged to confirm what my freedman has thus
+done in pursuance of my inclinations? I have only to entreat my fellow-
+coheirs that they will not take it ill at my hands that I have made a
+separate sale of what I had certainly a right to dispose of. They are
+not bound in any way to follow my example, since they have not the same
+connections with Corellia. They are at full liberty therefore to be
+guided by interest, which in my own case I chose to sacrifice to
+friendship. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXXVIII -- To CORELLIA
+
+You are truly generous to desire and insist that I take for my share of
+the estate you purchased of me, not after the rate of seven hundred
+thousand sesterces for the whole, as my freedman sold it to you; but in
+the proportion of nine hundred thousand, agreeably to what you gave to
+the farmers of the twentieths for their part. But I must desire and
+insist in my turn that you would consider not only what is suitable to
+your character, but what is worthy of mine; and that you would suffer me
+to oppose your inclination in this single instance, with the same warmth
+that I obey it in all others. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXXIX -- To CELER
+
+EVERY author has his particular reasons for reciting his works; mine, I
+have often said, are, in order, if any error should have escaped my own
+observation (as no doubt they do escape it sometimes), to have it
+pointed out to me. I cannot therefore but be surprised to find (what
+your letter assures me) that there are some who blame me for reciting my
+speeches: unless, perhaps, they are of opinion that this is the single
+species of composition that ought to be held exempt from any correction.
+If so, I would willingly ask them why they allow (if indeed they do
+allow) that history may be recited, since it is a work which ought to be
+devoted to truth, not ostentation? or why tragedy, as it is composed for
+action and the stage, not for being read to a private audience? or lyric
+poetry, as it is not a reader, but a chorus of voices and instruments
+that it requires? They will reply, perhaps, that in the instances
+referred to custom has made the practice in question usual: I should be
+glad to know, then, if they think the person who first introduced this
+practice is to be condemned? Besides the rehearsal of speeches is no
+unprecedented thing either with us or the Grecians. Still, perhaps, they
+will insist that it can answer no purpose to recite a speech which has
+already been delivered. True; if one were immediately to repeat the very
+same speech word for word, and to the very same audience; but if you
+make several additions and alterations; if your audience is composed
+partly of the same, and partly of different persons, and the recital is
+at some distance of time, why is there less propriety in rehearsing your
+speech than in publishing it? "But it is difficult," the objectors urge,
+"to give satisfaction to an audience by the mere recital of a speech;"
+that is a consideration which concerns the particular skill and pains of
+the person who rehearses, but by no means holds good against recitation
+in general. The truth is, it is not whilst I am reading, but when I am
+read, that I aim at approbation; and upon this principle I omit no sort
+of correction. In the first place, I frequently go carefully over what I
+have written, by myself, after this I read it out to two or three
+friends, and then give it to others to make their remarks. If after this
+I have any doubt concerning the justness of their observations, I
+carefully weigh them again with a friend or two; and, last of all, I
+recite them to a larger audience, then is the time, believe me, when I
+correct most energetically and unsparingly; for my care and attention
+rise in proportion to my anxiety; as nothing renders the judgment so
+acute to detect error as that deference, modesty, and diffidence one
+feels upon those occasions. For tell me, would you not be infinitely
+less affected were you to speak before a single person only, though ever
+so learned, than before a numerous assembly, even though composed of
+none but illiterate people? When you rise up to plead, are you not at
+that juncture, above all others, most self-distrustful? and do you not
+wish, I will not say some particular parts only, but that the whole
+arrangement of your intended speech were altered? especially if the
+concourse should be large in which you are to speak? for there is
+something even in a low and vulgar audience that strikes one with awe.
+And if you suspect you are not well received at the first opening of
+your speech, do you not find all your energy relaxed, and feel yourself
+ready to give way? The reason I imagine to be that there is a certain
+weight of collective opinion in a multitude, and although each
+individual judgment is, perhaps, of little value, yet when united it
+becomes considerable. Accordingly, Pomponius Secundus, the famous tragic
+poet, whenever some very intimate friend and he differed about the
+retaining or rejecting anything in his writings, used to say, "I
+appeal[117] to the people"; and thus, by their silence or applause,
+adopted either his own or his friend's opinion; such was the deference
+he paid to the popular judgment! Whether justly or not, is no concern of
+mine, as I am not in the habit of reciting my works publicly, but only
+to a select circle, whose presence I respect, and whose judgment I
+value; in a word, whose opinions I attend to as if they were so many
+individuals I had separately consulted, at the same time that I stand in
+as much awe before them as I should before the most numerous assembly.
+What Cicero says of composing will, in my opinion, hold true of the
+dread we have of the public: "Fear is the most rigid critic imaginable."
+The very thought of reciting, the very entrance into an assembly, and
+the agitated concern when one is there; each of these circumstances
+tends to improve and perfect an author's performance. Upon the whole,
+therefore, I cannot repent of a practice which I have found by
+experience so exceedingly useful; and am so far from being discouraged
+by the trifling objections of these censors that I request you would
+point out to me if there is yet any other kind of correction, that I may
+also adopt it; for nothing can sufficiently satisfy my anxiety to render
+my compositions perfect. I reflect what an undertaking it is resigning
+any work into the hands of the public; and I cannot but be persuaded
+that frequent revisals, and many consultations, must go to the
+perfecting of a performance, which one desires should universally and
+forever please. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXXX -- To PRISCUS
+
+THE illness of my friend Fannia gives me great concern. She contracted
+it during her attendance on Junia, one of the Vestal virgins, engaging
+in this good office at first voluntarily, Junia being her relation, and
+afterwards being appointed to it by an order from the college of
+priests: for these virgins, when excessive ill-health renders it
+necessary to remove them from the temple of Vesta, are always delivered
+over to the care and custody of some venerable matron. It was owing to
+her assiduity in the execution of this charge that she contracted her
+present dangerous disorder, which is a continual fever, attended with a
+cough that increases daily. She is extremely emaciated, and every part
+of her seems in a total decay except her spirits: those, indeed, she
+fully keeps up; and in a way altogether worthy the wife of Helvidius,
+and the daughter of Thrasea. In all other respects there is such a
+falling away that I am more than apprehensive upon her account; I am
+deeply afflicted. I grieve, my friend, that so excellent a woman is
+going to be removed from the eyes of the world, which will never,
+perhaps, again behold her equal. So pure she is, so pious, so wise and
+prudent, so brave and steadfast! Twice she followed her husband into
+exile, and the third time she was banished herself upon his account. For
+Senecio, when arraigned for writing the life of Helvidius, having said
+in his defence that he composed that work at the request of Fannia,
+Metius Carus, with a stern and threatening air, asked her whether she
+had made that request, and she replied, "I made it." Did she supply him
+likewise with materials for the purpose? "I did." Was her mother privy
+to this transaction? "She was not." In short, throughout her whole
+examination, not a word escaped her which betrayed the smallest fear. On
+the contrary, she had preserved a copy of those very books which the
+senate, over-awed by the tyranny of the times, had ordered to be
+suppressed, and at the same time the effects of the author to be
+confiscated, and carried with her into exile the very cause of her
+exile. How pleasing she is, how courteous, and (what is granted to few)
+no less lovable than worthy of all esteem and admiration! Will she
+hereafter be pointed out as a model to all wives; and perhaps be
+esteemed worthy of being set forth as an example of fortitude even to
+our sex; since, while we still have the pleasure of seeing and
+conversing with her, we contemplate her with the same admiration, as
+those heroines who are celebrated in ancient story? For myself, I
+confess, I cannot but tremble for this illustrious house, which seems
+shaken to its very foundations, and ready to fall; for though she will
+leave descendants behind her, yet what a height of virtue must they
+attain, what glorious deeds must they perform, ere the world will be
+persuaded that she was not the last of her family! It is an additional
+affliction and anguish to me that by her death I seem to lose her mother
+a second time; that worthy mother (and what can I say higher in her
+praise?) of so noble a woman! who, as she was restored to me in her
+daughter, so she will now again be taken from me, and the loss of Fannia
+will thus pierce my heart at once with a fresh, and at the same time re-
+opened, wound. I so truly loved and honoured them both, that I know not
+which I loved the best; a point they desired might ever remain
+undetermined. In their prosperity and their adversity I did them every
+kindness in my power, and was their comforter in exile, as well as their
+avenger at their return. But I have not yet paid them what I owe, and am
+so much the more solicitous for the recovery of this lady, that I may
+have time to discharge my debt to her. Such is the anxiety and sorrow
+under which I write this letter! But if some divine power should happily
+turn it into joy, I shall not complain of the alarms I now suffer.
+Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXXXI -- To GEMINIUS
+
+NUMIDIA QUADRATILLA is dead, having almost reached her eightieth year.
+She enjoyed, up to her last illness, uninterrupted good health, and was
+unusually stout and robust for one of her sex. She has left a very
+prudent will, having disposed of two-thirds of her estate to her
+grandson, and the rest to her grand-daughter. The young lady I know very
+slightly, but the grandson is one of my most intimate friends. He is a
+remarkable young man, and his merit entitles him to the affection of a
+relation, even where his blood does not. Notwithstanding his remarkable
+personal beauty, he escaped every malicious imputation both whilst a boy
+and when a youth: he was a husband at four-and-twenty, and would have
+been a father if Providence had not disappointed his hopes. He lived in
+the family with his grandmother, who was exceedingly devoted to the
+pleasures of the town, yet observed great severity of conduct himself,
+while always perfectly deferential and submissive to her. She retained a
+set of pantomimes, and was an encourager of this class of people to a
+degree inconsistent with one of her sex and rank. But Quadratus never
+appeared at these entertainments, whether she exhibited them in the
+theatre or in her own house; nor indeed did she require him to be
+present. I once heard her say, when she was recommending to me the
+supervision of her grandson's studies, that it was her custom, in order
+to pass away some of those unemployed hours with which female life
+abounds, to amuse herself with playing at chess, or seeing the mimicry
+of her pantomimes; but that, whenever she engaged in either of those
+amusements, she constantly sent away her grandson to his studies: she
+appeared to me to act thus as much out of reverence for the youth as
+from affection. I was a good deal surprised, as I am sure you will be
+too, at what he told me the last time the Pontifical games[118] were
+exhibited. As we were coming out of the theatre together, where we had
+been entertained with a show of these pantomimes, "Do you know," said
+he, "to-day is the first time I ever saw my grandmother's freedman
+dance?" Such was the grandson's speech! while a set of men of a far
+different stamp, in order to do honour to Quadratilla (am ashamed to
+call it honour), were running up and down the theatre, pretending to be
+struck with the utmost admiration and rapture at the performances of
+those pantomimes, and then imitating in musical chant the mien and
+manner of their lady patroness. But now all the reward they have got, in
+return for their theatrical performances, is just a few trivial
+legacies, which they have the mortification to receive from an heir who
+was never so much as present at these shows.--I send you this account,
+knowing you do not dislike hearing town news, and because, too, when any
+occurrence has given me pleasure, I love to renew it again by relating
+it. And indeed this instance of affection in Quadratilla, and the honour
+done therein to that excellent youth her grandson, has afforded me a
+very sensible satisfaction; as I extremely rejoice that the house which
+once belonged to Cassius,[119] the founder and chief of the Cassian
+school, is come into the possession of one no less considerable than its
+former master. For my friend will fill it and become it as he ought, and
+its ancient dignity, lustre, and glory will again revive under
+Quadratus, who, I am persuaded, will prove as eminent an orator as
+Cassius was a lawyer. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXXXII -- To MAXIMUS
+
+THE lingering disorder of a friend of mine gave me occasion lately to
+reflect that we are never so good as when oppressed with illness. Where
+is the sick man who is either solicited by avarice or inflamed with
+lust? At such a season he is neither a slave of love nor the fool of
+ambition; wealth he utterly disregards, and is content with ever so
+small a portion of it, as being upon the point of leaving even that
+little. It is then he recollects there are gods, and that he himself is
+but a man: no mortal is then the object of his envy, his admiration, or
+his contempt; and the tales of slander neither raise his attention nor
+feed his curiosity: his dreams are only of baths and fountains. These
+are the supreme objects of his cares and wishes, while he resolves, if
+he should recover, to pass the remainder of his days in ease and
+tranquillity, that is, to live innocently and happily. I may therefore
+lay down to you and myself a short rule, which the philosophers have
+endeavoured to inculcate at the expense of many words, and even many
+volumes; that "we should try and realise in health those resolutions we
+form in sickness." Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXXXIII -- To SURA
+
+THE present recess from business we are now enjoying affords you leisure
+to give, and me to receive, instruction. I am extremely desirous
+therefore to know whether you believe in the existence of ghosts, and
+that they have a real form, and are a sort of divinities, or only the
+visionary impressions of a terrified imagination. What particularly
+inclines me to believe in their existence is a story which I heard of
+Curtius Rufus. When he was in low circumstances and unknown in the
+world, he attended the governor of Africa into that province. One
+evening, as he was walking in the public portico, there appeared to him
+the figure of a woman, of unusual size and of beauty more than human.
+And as he stood there, terrified and astonished, she told him she was
+the tutelary power that presided over Africa, and was come to inform him
+of the future events of his life: that he should go back to Rome, to
+enjoy high honours there, and return to that province invested with the
+pro-consular dignity, and there should die. Every circumstance of this
+prediction actually came to pass. It is said farther that upon his
+arrival at Carthage, as he was coming out of the ship, the same figure
+met him upon the shore. It is certain, at least, that being seized with
+a fit of illness, though there were no symptoms in his case that led
+those about him to despair, he instantly gave up all hope of recovery;
+judging, apparently, of the truth of the future part of the prediction
+by what had already been fulfilled, and of the approaching misfortune
+from his former prosperity. Now the following story, which I am going to
+tell you just as I heard it, is it not more terrible than the former,
+while quite as wonderful? There was at Athens a large and roomy house,
+which had a bad name, so that no one could live there. In the dead of
+the night a noise, resembling the clashing of iron, was frequently
+heard, which, if you listened more attentively, sounded like the
+rattling of chains, distant at first, but approaching nearer by degrees:
+immediately afterwards a spectre appeared in the form of an old man, of
+extremely emaciated and squalid appearance, with a long beard and
+dishevelled hair, rattling the chains on his feet and hands. The
+distressed occupants meanwhile passed their wakeful nights under the
+most dreadful terrors imaginable. This, as it broke their rest, ruined
+their health, and brought on distempers, their terror grew upon them,
+and death ensued. Even in the day time, though the spirit did not
+appear, yet the impression remained so strong upon their imaginations
+that it still seemed before their eyes, and kept them in perpetual
+alarm, Consequently the house was at length deserted, as being deemed
+absolutely uninhabitable; so that it was now entirely abandoned to the
+ghost. However, in hopes that some tenant might be found who was
+ignorant of this very alarming circumstance, a bill was put up, giving
+notice that it was either to be let or sold. It happened that
+Athenodorus[120] the philosopher came to Athens at this time, and,
+reading the bill, enquired the price. The extraordinary cheapness raised
+his suspicion; nevertheless, when he heard the whole story, he was so
+far from being discouraged that he was more strongly inclined to hire
+it, and, in short, actually did so. When it grew towards evening, he
+ordered a couch to be prepared for him in the front part of the house,
+and, after calling for a light, together with his pencil and tablets,
+directed all his people to retire. But that his mind might not, for want
+of employment, be open to the vain terrors of imaginary noises and
+spirits, he applied himself to writing with the utmost attention. The
+first part of the night passed in entire silence, as usual; at length a
+clanking of iron and rattling of chains was heard: however, he neither
+lifted up his eyes nor laid down his pen, but in order to keep calm and
+collected tried to pass the sounds off to himself as something else. The
+noise increased and advanced nearer, till it seemed at the door, and at
+last in the chamber. He looked up, saw, and recognized the ghost exactly
+as it had been described to him: it stood before him, beckoning with the
+finger, like a person who calls another. Athenodorus in reply made a
+sign with his hand that it should wait a little, and threw his eyes
+again upon his papers; the ghost then rattled its chains over the head
+of the philosopher, who looked up upon this, and seeing it beckoning as
+before, immediately arose, and, light in hand, followed it. The ghost
+slowly stalked along, as if encumbered with its chains, and, turning
+into the area of the house, suddenly vanished. Athenodorus, being thus
+deserted, made a mark with some grass and leaves on the spot where the
+spirit left him. The next day he gave information to the magistrates,
+and advised them to order that spot to be dug up. This was accordingly
+done, and the skeleton of a man in chains was found there; for the body,
+having lain a considerable time in the ground, was putrefied and
+mouldered away from the fetters. The bones being collected together were
+publicly buried, and thus after the ghost was appeased by the proper
+ceremonies, the house was haunted no more. This story I believe upon the
+credit of others; what I am going to mention, I give you upon my own. I
+have a freedman named Marcus, who is by no means illiterate. One night,
+as he and his younger brother were lying together, he fancied he saw
+somebody upon his bed, who took out a pair of scissors, and cut off the
+hair from the top part of his own head, and in the morning, it appeared
+his hair was actually cut, and the clippings lay scattered about the
+floor. A short time after this, an event of a similar nature contributed
+to give credit to the former story. A young lad of my family was
+sleeping in his apartment with the rest of his companions, when two
+persons clad in white came in, as he says, through the windows, cut off
+his hair as he lay, and then returned the same way they entered. The
+next morning it was found that this boy had been served just as the
+other, and there was the hair again, spread about the room. Nothing
+remarkable indeed followed these events, unless perhaps that I escaped a
+prosecution, in which, if Domitian (during whose reign this happened)
+had lived some time longer, I should certainly have been involved. For
+after the death of that emperor, articles of impeachment against me were
+found in his scrutore, which had been exhibited by Carus. It may
+therefore be conjectured, since it is customary for persons under any
+public accusation to let their hair grow, this cutting off the hair of
+my servants was a sign I should escape the imminent danger that
+threatened me. Let me desire you then to give this question your mature
+consideration. The subject deserves your examination; as, I trust, I am
+not myself altogether unworthy a participation in the abundance of your
+superior knowledge. And though you should, as usual, balance between two
+opinions, yet I hope you will lean more on one side than on the other,
+lest, whilst I consult you in order to have my doubt settled, you should
+dismiss me in the same suspense and indecision that occasioned you the
+present application. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXXXIV -- To SEPTITIUS
+
+You tell me certain persons have blamed me in your company, as being
+upon all occasions too lavish in the praise I give my friends. I not
+only acknowledge the charge, but glory in it; for can there be a nobler
+error than an overflowing benevolence? But still, who are these, let me
+ask, that are better acquainted with my friends than I am myself? Yet
+grant there are any such, why will they deny me the satisfaction of so
+pleasing a mistake? For supposing my friends not to deserve the highest
+encomiums I give them, yet I am happy in believing they do. Let them
+recommend then this malignant zeal to those (and their number is not
+inconsiderable) who imagine they show their judgment when they indulge
+their censure upon their friends. As for myself, they will never be able
+to persuade me I can be guilty of an excess[121] in friendship,
+Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXXXV -- To TACITUS
+
+I PREDICT (and I am persuaded I shall not be deceived) that your
+histories will be immortal. I frankly own therefore I so much the more
+earnestly wish to find a place in them. If we are generally careful to
+have our faces taken by the best artists, ought we not to desire that
+our actions may be celebrated by an author of your distinguished
+abilities? I therefore call your attention to the following matter,
+which, though it cannot have escaped your notice, as it is mentioned in
+the public journals, still I call your attention to, that you may the
+more readily believe how agreeable it will be to me that this action,
+greatly heightened by the risk which attended it, should receive
+additional lustre from the testimony of a man of your powers. The senate
+appointed Herennius Senecio, and myself, counsel for the province of
+Baetica, in their impeachment of Boebius Massa. He was condemned, and
+the house ordered his effects to be seized into the hands of the public
+officer. Shortly after, Senecio, having learnt that the consuls intended
+to sit to hear petitions, came and said to me, "Let us go together, and
+petition them with the same unanimity in which we executed the office
+which had been enjoined us, not to suffer Massa's effects to be
+dissipated by those who were appointed to preserve them." I answered,
+"As we were counsel in this affair by order of the senate, I recommend
+it to your consideration whether it would be proper for us, after
+sentence passed, to interpose any farther." "You are at liberty," said
+he, "to prescribe what bounds you please to yourself, who have no
+particular connections with the province, except what arise from your
+late services to them; but then I was born there, and enjoyed the post
+of quaestor among them." "If such," I replied, "is your determined
+resolution, I am ready to accompany you, that whatever resentment may be
+the consequence of this affair, it may not fall singly upon yourself."
+We accordingly proceeded to the consuls, where Senecio said what was
+pertinent to the affair, and I added a few words to the same effect.
+Scarcely had we ended when Massa, complaining that Senecio had not acted
+against him with the fidelity of an advocate, but the bitterness of an
+enemy, desired he might be at liberty to prosecute him for treason. This
+occasioned general consternation. Whereupon I rose up; "Most noble
+consuls," said I, "I am afraid it should seem that Massa has tacitly
+charged me with having favoured him in this cause, since he did not
+think proper to join me with Senecio in the desired prosecution." This
+short speech was immediately received with applause, and afterwards got
+much talked about everywhere. The late emperor Nerva (who, though at
+that time in a private station, yet interested himself in every
+meritorious action performed in public) wrote a most impressive letter
+to me upon the occasion, in which he not only congratulated me, but the
+age which had produced an example so much in the spirit (as he was
+pleased to call it) of the good old days. But, whatever be the actual
+fact, it lies in your power to raise it into a grander and more
+conspicuously illustrious position, though I am far from desiring you in
+the least to exceed the bounds of reality. History ought to be guided by
+strict truth, and worthy actions require nothing more. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXXX VI -- To SEPTITIUS
+
+I HAD a good journey here, excepting only that some of my servants were
+upset by the excessive heat. Poor Encolpius, my reader,[122] who is so
+indispensable to me in my studies and amusements, was so affected with
+the dust that it brought on a spitting of blood: an accident which will
+prove no less unpleasant to me than unfortunate to himself, should he be
+thereby rendered unfit for the literary work in which he so greatly
+excels. If that should unhappily result, where shall I find one who will
+read my works so well, or appreciate them so thoroughly as he? Whose
+tones will my ears drink in as they do his? But the gods seem to favour
+our better hopes, as the bleeding is stopped, and the pain abated.
+Besides, he is extremely temperate; while no concern is wanting on my
+part or care on his physician's. This, together with the wholesomeness
+of the air, and the quiet of retirement, gives us reason to expect that
+the country will contribute as much to the restoration of his health as
+to his rest. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXXXVII -- To CALVISIUS
+
+OTHER people visit their estates in order to recruit their purses;
+whilst I go to mine only to return so much the poorer. I had sold my
+vintage to the merchants, who were extremely eager to purchase it,
+encouraged by the price it then bore, and what it was probable it would
+rise to: however they were disappointed in their expectations. Upon this
+occasion to have made the same general abatement to all would have been
+much the easiest, though not so equitable a method. Now I hold it
+particularly worthy of a man of honour to be governed by principles of
+strict equity in his domestic as well as public conduct; in little
+matters as in great ones; in his own concerns as well as in those of
+others. And if every deviation from rectitude is equally criminal,[123]
+every approach to it must be equally praiseworthy. So accordingly I
+remitted to all in general one-eighth part of the price they had agreed
+to give me, that none might go away without some compensation: next, I
+particularly considered those who had advanced the largest sums towards
+their purchase, and done me so much the more service, and been greater
+sufferers themselves. To those, therefore, whose purchase amounted to
+more than ten thousand sesterces,[124] I returned (over and above that
+which I may call the general and common eighth) a tenth part of what
+they had paid beyond that sum. I fear I do not express myself
+sufficiently clearly; I will endeavour to explain my meaning more fully:
+for instance, suppose a man had purchased of me to the value of fifteen
+thousand sesterces,[125] I remitted to him one-eighth part of that whole
+sum, and likewise one-tenth of five thousand.[126] Besides this, as
+several had deposited, in different proportions, part of the price they
+had agreed to pay, whilst others had advanced nothing, I thought it
+would not be at all fair that all these should be favoured with the same
+undistinguished remission. To those, therefore, who had made any
+payments, I returned a tenth part upon the sums so paid. By this means I
+made a proper acknowledgment to each, according to their respective
+deserts, and likewise encouraged them, not only to deal with me for the
+future, but to be prompt in their payments. This instance of my good-
+nature or my judgment (call it which you please) was a considerable
+expense to me. However, I found my account in it; for all the country
+greatly approved both of the novelty of these abatements and the manner
+in which I regulated them. Even those whom I did not "mete" (as they
+say) "by the same measure," but distinguished according to their several
+degrees, thought themselves obliged to me, in proportion to the probity
+of their principles, and went away pleased with having experienced that
+not with me
+
+
+"The brave and mean an equal honour find."<a href="#linknote-127"
+name="linknoteref-127" id="linknoteref-127">[127]</a>
+
+Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXXX VIII -- To ROMANUS
+
+HAVE you ever seen the source of the river Clitumnus? If you have not
+(and I hardly think you can have seen it yet, or you would have told
+me), go there as soon as possible. I saw it yesterday, and I blame
+myself for not having seen it sooner. At the foot of a little hill, well
+wooded with old cypress trees, a spring gushes out, which, breaking up
+into different and unequal streams, forms itself, after several
+windings, into a large, broad basin of water, so transparently clear
+that you may count the shining pebbles, and the little pieces of money
+thrown into it, as they lie at the bottom. From thence it is carried off
+not so much by the declivity of the ground as by its own weight and
+exuberance. A mere stream at its source, immediately, on quitting this,
+you find it expanded into a broad river, fit for large vessels even,
+allowing a free passage by each other, according as they sail with or
+against the stream. The current runs so strong, though the ground is
+level, that the large barges going down the river have no occasion to
+make use of their oars; while those going up find it difficult to make
+headway even with the assistance of oars and poles: and this alternate
+interchange of ease and toil, according as you turn, is exceedingly
+amusing when one sails up and down merely for pleasure. The banks are
+well covered with ash and poplar, the shape and colour of the trees
+being as clearly and distinctly reflected in the stream as if they were
+actually sunk in it. The water is cold as snow, and as white too. Near
+it stands an ancient and venerable temple, in which is placed the river-
+god Clitumnus clothed in the usual robe of state; and indeed the
+prophetic oracles here delivered sufficiently testify the immediate
+presence of that divinity. Several little chapels are scattered round,
+dedicated to particular gods, distinguished each by his own peculiar
+name and form of worship, and some of them, too, presiding over
+different fountains. For, besides the principal spring, which is, as it
+were, the parent of all the rest, there are several other lesser
+streams, which, taking their rise from various sources, lose themselves
+in the river; over which a bridge is built that separates the sacred
+part from that which lies open to common use. Vessels are allowed to
+come above this bridge, but no person is permitted to swim except below
+it. The Hispellates, to whom Augustus gave this place, furnish a public
+bath, and likewise entertain all strangers, at their own expense.
+Several villas, attracted by the beauty of this river, stand about on
+its borders. In short, every surrounding object will afford you
+entertainment. You may also amuse yourself with numberless inscriptions
+upon the pillars and walls, by different persons, celebrating the
+virtues of the fountain, and the divinity that presides over it. Many of
+them you will admire, while some will make you laugh; but I must correct
+myself when I say so; you are too humane, I know, to laugh upon such an
+occasion. Farewell.
+
+
+
+LXXXIX -- To ARISTO
+
+As you are no less acquainted with the political laws of your country
+(which include the customs and usages of the senate) than with the
+civil, I am particularly desirous to have your opinion whether I was
+mistaken in an affair which lately came before the house, or not. This I
+request, not with a view of being directed in my judgment as to what is
+passed (for that is now too late), but in order to know how to act in
+any possible future case of the kind. You will, ask, perhaps, "Why do
+you apply for information concerning a point on which you ought to be
+well instructed?" Because the tyranny of former reigns,[128] as it
+introduced a neglect and ignorance of all other parts of useful
+knowledge, so particularly of what relates to the customs of the senate;
+for who is there so tamely industrious as to desire to learn what he can
+never have an opportunity of putting in practice? Besides, it is not
+very easy to retain even the knowledge one has acquired where no
+opportunity of employing it occurs. Hence it was that Liberty, on her
+return[129] found us totally ignorant and inexperienced; and thus in the
+warmth of our eagerness to taste her sweets, we are sometimes hurried
+off to action, ere we are well instructed how we ought to act. But by
+the institution of our ancestors, it was wisely provided that the young
+should learn from the old, not only by precept, but by their own
+observation, how to behave in that sphere in which they were one day
+themselves to move; while these, again, in their turn, transmitted the
+same mode of instruction to their children. Upon this principle it was
+that the youth were sent early into the army, that by being taught to
+obey they might learn to command, and, whilst they followed others,
+might be trained by degrees to become leaders themselves. On the same
+principle, when they were candidates for any office, they were obliged
+to stand at the door of the senate-house, and were spectators of the
+public council before they became members of it. The father of each
+youth was his instructor upon these occasions, or if he had none, some
+person of years and dignity supplied the place of a father. Thus they
+were taught by that surest method of discipline, Example; how far the
+right of proposing any law to the senate extended; what privileges a
+senator had in delivering his opinion in the house; the power of the
+magistrates in that assembly, and the rights of the rest of the members;
+where it is proper to yield, and where to insist; when and how long to
+speak, and when to be silent; how to make necessary distinctions between
+contrary opinions, and how to improve upon a former motion: in a word,
+they learnt by this means every senatorial usage. As for myself, it is
+true indeed, I served in the army when I was a youth; but it was at a
+time when courage was suspected, and want of spirit rewarded; when
+generals were without authority, and soldiers without modesty; when
+there was neither discipline nor obedience, but all was riot, disorder,
+and confusion; in short, when it was happier to forget than to remember
+what one learnt. I attended likewise in my youth the senate, but a
+senate shrinking and speechless; where it was dangerous to utter one's
+opinion, and mean and pitiable to be silent. What pleasure was there in
+learning, or indeed what could be learnt, when the senate was convened
+either to do nothing whatever or to give their sanction to some
+consummate infamy! when they were assembled either for cruel or
+ridiculous purposes, and when their deliberations were never serious,
+though often sad! But I was not only a witness to this scene of
+wretchedness, as a spectator; I bore my share of it too as a senator,
+and both saw and suffered under it for many years; which so broke and
+damped my spirits that they have not even yet been able fully to recover
+themselves. It is within quite recently (for all time seems short in
+proportion to its happiness) that we could take any pleasure in knowing
+what relates to or in setting about the duties of our station. Upon
+these considerations, therefore, I may the more reasonably entreat you,
+in the first place, to pardon my error (if I have been guilty of one),
+and, in the next, to lead me out of it by your superior knowledge: for
+you have always been diligent to examine into the constitution of your
+country, both with respect to its public and private, its ancient and
+modern, its general and special laws. I am persuaded indeed the point
+upon which I am going to consult you is such an unusual one that even
+those whose great experience in public business must have made them, one
+would have naturally supposed, acquainted with everything were either
+doubtful or absolutely ignorant upon it. I shall be more excusable,
+therefore, if I happen to have been mistaken; as you will earn the
+higher praise if you can set me right in an affair which it is not clear
+has ever yet fallen within your observation. The enquiry then before the
+house was concerning the freedmen of Afranius Dexter, who being found
+murdered, it was uncertain whether he fell by his own hands, or by those
+of his household; and if the latter, whether they committed the fact in
+obedience to the commands of Afranius, or were prompted to it by their
+own villainy. After they had been put to the question, a certain senator
+(it is of no importance to mention his name, but if you are desirous to
+know, it was myself) was for acquitting them; another proposed that they
+should be banished for a limited time; and a third that they should
+suffer death.
+
+These several opinions were so extremely different that it was
+impossible either of them could stand with the other. For what have
+death and banishment in common with one another? Why, no more than
+banishment and acquittal have together. Though an acquittal approaches
+rather nearer a sentence of exile than a sentence of death does: for
+both the former agree at least in this that they spare life, whereas the
+latter takes it away. In the meanwhile, those senators who were for
+punishing with death, and those who proposed banishment, sat together on
+the same side of the house: and thus by a present appearance of
+unanimity suspended their real disagreement. I moved, therefore, that
+the votes for each of the three opinions should be separately taken, and
+that two of them should not, under favour of a short truce between
+themselves, join against the third. I insisted that such of the members
+who were for capital punishment should divide from the others who voted
+for banishment; and that these two distinct parties should not be
+permitted to form themselves into a body, in opposition to those who
+declared for acquittal, when they would immediately after disunite
+again: for it was not material that they agreed in disliking one
+proposal, since they differed with respect to the other two. It seemed
+very extraordinary that he who moved the freedmen should be banished,
+and the slaves suffer death, should not be allowed to join these two in
+one motion, but that each question should be ordered to be put to the
+house separately; and yet that the votes of one who was for inflicting
+capital punishment upon the freedmen should be taken together with that
+of one who was for banishing them. For if, in the former instance, it
+was reasonable that the motion should be divided, because it
+comprehended two distinct propositions, I could not see why, in the
+latter case, suffrages so extremely different should be thrown into the
+same scale. Permit me, then, notwithstanding the point is already
+settled, to go over it again as if it were still undecided, and to lay
+before you those reasons at my ease, which I offered to the house in the
+midst of much interruption and clamour. Let us suppose there had been
+only three judges appointed to hear this cause, one of whom was of
+opinion that the parties in question deserved death; the other that they
+should only be banished; and the third that they ought to be acquitted:
+should the two former unite their weight to overpower the latter, or
+should each be separately balanced? For the first and second are no more
+compatible than the second and third. They ought therefore in the same
+manner to be counted in the senate as contrary opinions, since they were
+delivered as different ones. Suppose the same person had moved that they
+should both have been banished and put to death, could they possibly, in
+pursuance of this opinion, have suffered both punishments? Or could it
+have been looked upon as one consistent motion when it united two such
+different decisions? Why then should the same opinion, when delivered by
+distinct persons, be considered as one and entire, which would not be
+deemed so if it were proposed by a single man? Does not the law
+manifestly imply that a distinction is to be made between those who are
+for a capital conviction, and those who are for banishment, in the very
+form of words made use of when the house is ordered to divide? You who
+are of such an opinion, come to this side; you who are of any other, go
+over to the side of him whose opinion you follow. Let us examine this
+form, and weigh every sentence: You who are of this opinion: that is,
+for instance, you who are for banishment, come on this side; namely, on
+the side of him who moved for banishment. From whence it is clear he
+cannot remain on this side of those who are for death. You who are for
+any other: observe, the law is not content with barely saying another,
+but it adds any. Now can there be a doubt as to whether they who declare
+for a capital conviction are of any other opinion than those who propose
+exile! Go over to the side of him whose opinion you follow: does not the
+law seem, as it were, to call, compel, drive over, those who are of
+different opinions, to contrary sides? Does not the consul himself point
+out, not only by this solemn form of words, but by his hand and gesture,
+the place in which every man is to remain, or to which he is to go over?
+"But," it is objected, "if this separation is made between those who
+vote for inflicting death, and those who are on the side of exile, the
+opinion for acquitting the prisoners must necessarily prevail." But how
+does that affect the parties who vote? Certainly it does not become them
+to contend by every art, and urge every expedient, that the milder
+sentence may not take place. "Still," say they, "those who are for
+condemning the accused either capitally or to banishment should be first
+set in opposition to those who are for acquitting them, and afterwards
+weighed against each other." Thus, as, in certain public games, some
+particular combatant is set apart by lot and kept to engage with the
+conqueror; so, it seems, in the senate there is a first and second
+combat, and of two different opinions, the prevailing one has still a
+third to contend with. What? when any particular opinion is received, do
+not all the rest fall of course? Is it reasonable, then, that one should
+be thrown into the scale merely to weigh down another? To express my
+meaning more plainly: unless the two parties who are respectively for
+capital punishment and exile immediately separate upon the first
+division of the house it would be to no purpose afterwards to dissent
+from those with whom they joined before. But I am dictating instead of
+receiving instruction. -- Tell me then whether you think these votes
+should have been taken separately? My motion, it is true, prevailed;
+nevertheless I am desirous to know whether you think I ought to have
+insisted upon this point, or have yielded as that member did who
+declared for capital punishment? For convinced, I will not say of the
+legality, but at least of the equity of my proposal, he receded from his
+opinion, and went over to the party for exile: fearing perhaps, if the
+votes were taken separately (which he saw would be the case), the
+freedmen would be acquitted: for the numbers were far greater on that
+side than on either of the other two, separately counted. The
+consequence was that those who had been influenced by his authority,
+when they saw themselves forsaken by his going over to the other party,
+gave up a motion which they found abandoned by the first proposer, and
+deserted, as it were, with their leader. Thus the three opinions were
+resolved at length into two; and of those two, one prevailed, and the
+other was rejected; while the third, as it was not powerful enough to
+conquer both the others, had only to choose to which of the two it would
+yield. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XC -- To PATERNUS
+
+THE sickness lately in my family, which has carried off several of my
+servants, some of them, too, in the prime of their years, has been a
+great affliction to me. I have two consolations, however, which, though
+by no means equivalent to such a grief, still are consolations. One is,
+that as I have always readily manumitted my slaves, their death does not
+seem altogether immature, if they lived long enough to receive their
+freedom: the other, that I have allowed them to make a kind of
+will,[130] which I observe as religiously as if they were legally
+entitled to that privilege. I receive and obey their last requests and
+injunctions as so many authoritative commands, suffering them to dispose
+of their effects to whom they please; with this single restriction, that
+they leave them to some one in my household, for to slaves the house
+they are in is a kind of state and commonwealth, so to speak. But though
+I endeavor to acquiesce under these reflections, yet the same tenderness
+which led me to show them these indulgences weakens and gets the better
+of me. However, I would not wish on that account to become harder:
+though the generality of the world, I know, look upon losses of this
+kind in no other view than as a diminution of their property, and fancy,
+by cherishing such an unfeeling temper, they show a superior fortitude
+and philosophy. Their fortitude and philosophy I will not dispute. But
+humane, I am sure, they are not; for it is the very criterion of true
+manhood to feel those impressions of sorrow which it endeavors to
+resist, and to admit not to be above the want of consolation. But
+perhaps I have detained you too long upon this subject, though not so
+long as I would. There is a certain pleasure even in giving vent to
+one's grief; especially when we weep on the bosom of a friend who will
+approve, or, at least, pardon, our tears. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XCI -- To MACRINUS
+
+Is the weather with you as rude and boisterous as it is with us? All
+here is in tempest and inundation. The Tiber has swelled its channel,
+and overflowed its banks far and wide. Though the wise precaution of the
+emperor had guarded against this evil, by cutting several outlets to the
+river, it has nevertheless flooded all the fields and valleys and
+entirely overspread the whole face of the flat country. It seems to have
+gone out to meet those rivers which it used to receive and carry off in
+one united stream, and has driven them back to deluge those countries it
+could not reach itself. That most delightful of rivers, the Anio, which
+seems invited and detained in its course by the villas built along its
+banks, has almost entirely rooted up and carried away the woods which
+shaded its borders. It has overthrown whole mountains, and, in
+endeavouring to find a passage through the mass of ruins that obstructed
+its way, has forced down houses, and risen and spread over the
+desolation it has occasioned. The inhabitants of the hill countries, who
+are situated above the reach of this inundation, have been the
+melancholy spectators of its dreadful effects, having seen costly
+furniture, instruments of husbandry, ploughs, and oxen with their
+drivers, whole herds of cattle, together with the trunks of trees, and
+beams of the neighbouring villas, floating about in different parts. Nor
+indeed have these higher places themselves, to which the waters could
+not reach up, escaped the calamity. A continued heavy rain and
+tempestuous hurricane, as destructive as the river itself, poured down
+upon them, and has destroyed all the enclosures which divided that
+fertile country. It has damaged likewise, and even overturned, some of
+the public buildings, by the fall of which great numbers have been
+maimed, smothered, bruised. And thus lamentation over the fate of
+friends has been added to losses. I am extremely uneasy lest this
+extensive ruin should have spread to you: I beg therefore, if it has
+not, you will immediately relieve my anxiety; and indeed I desire you
+would inform me though it should have done so; for the difference is not
+great between fearing a danger, and feeling it; except that the evil one
+feels has some bounds, whereas one's apprehensions have none. For we can
+suffer no more than what actually has happened but we fear all that
+possibly could happen. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XCII -- To RUFINUS
+
+The common notion is certainly quite a false one, that a man's will is a
+kind of mirror in which we may clearly discern his real character, for
+Domitius Tullus appears a much better man since his death than he did
+during his lifetime. After having artfully encouraged the expectations
+of those who paid court to him, with a view to being his heirs, he has
+left his estate to his niece whom he adopted. He has given likewise
+several very considerable legacies among his grandchildren, and also to
+his great-grandson. In a word, he has shown himself a most kind relation
+throughout his whole will; which is so much the more to be admired as it
+was not expected of him. This affair has been very much talked about,
+and various opinions expressed: some call him false, ungrateful, and
+forgetful, and, while thus railing at him in this way as if they were
+actually disinherited kindred, betray their own dishonest designs:
+others, on the contrary, applaud him extremely for having disappointed
+the hopes of this infamous tribe of men, whom, considering the
+disposition of the times, it is but prudence to deceive. They add that
+he was not at liberty to make any other will, and that he cannot so
+properly be said to have bequeathed, as returned, his estate to his
+adopted daughter, since it was by her means it came to him. For
+Curtilius Mancia, whose daughter Domitius Lucanus, brother to this
+Tullus, married, having taken a dislike to his son-in-law, made this
+young lady (who was the issue of that marriage) his heiress, upon
+condition that Lucanus her father would emancipate her. He accordingly
+did so, but she being afterwards adopted by Tullus, her uncle, the
+design of Mancia's will was entirely frustrated. For these two brothers
+having never divided their patrimony, but living together as joint-
+tenants of one common estate, the daughter of Lucanus, notwithstanding
+the act of emancipation, returned back again, together with her large
+fortune, under the dominion of her father, by means of this fraudulent
+adoption. It seems indeed to have been the fate of these two brothers to
+be enriched by those who had the greatest aversion to them. For Domitius
+Afer, by whom they were adopted, left a will in their favour, which he
+had made eighteen years before his death; though it was plain he had
+since altered his opinion with regard to the family, because he was
+instrumental in procuring the confiscation of their father's estate.
+There is something extremely singular in the resentment of Afer, and the
+good fortune of the other two; as it was very extraordinary, on the one
+hand, that Domitius should endeavour to extirpate from the privileges of
+society a man whose children he had adopted, and, on the other, that
+these brothers should find a parent in the very person that ruined their
+father. But Tullus acted justly, after having been appointed sole heir
+by his brother, in prejudice to his own daughter, to make her amends by
+transferring to her this estate, which came to him from Afer, as well as
+all the rest which he had gained in partnership with his brother. His
+will therefore deserves the higher praise, having been dictated by
+nature, justice, and sense of honour; in which he has returned his
+obligations to his several relations, according to their respective good
+offices towards him, not forgetting his wife, having bequeathed to that
+excellent woman, who patiently endured much for his sake, several
+delightful villas, besides a large sum of money. And indeed she deserved
+so much the more at his hands, in proportion to the displeasure she
+incurred on her marriage with him. It was thought unworthy a person of
+her birth and repute, so long left a widow by her former husband, by
+whom she had issue, to marry, in the decline of her life, an old man,
+merely for his wealth, and who was so sickly and infirm that, even had
+he passed the best years of his youth and health with her, she might
+well have been heartily tired of him. He had so entirely lost the use of
+all his limbs that he could not move himself in bed without assistance;
+and the only enjoyment he had of his riches was to contemplate them. He
+was even (sad and disgusting to relate) reduced to the necessity of
+having his teeth washed and scrubbed by others: in allusion to which he
+used frequently to say, when he was complaining of the indignities which
+his infirmities obliged him to suffer, that he was every day compelled
+to lick his servant's fingers. Still, however, he lived on, and was
+willing to accept of life upon such terms. That he lived so long as he
+did was particularly owing, indeed, to the care of his wife, who,
+whatever reputation she might lose at first by her marriage, acquired
+great honour by her unwearied devotion as his wife. -- Thus I have given
+you all the news of the town, where nothing is talked of but Tullus. It
+is expected his curiosities will shortly be sold by auction. He had such
+an abundant collection of very old statues that he actually filled an
+extensive garden with them, the very same day he purchased it; not to
+mention numberless other antiques, lying neglected in his lumber-room.
+If you have anything worth telling me in return, I hope you will not
+refuse the trouble of writing to me: not only as we are all of us
+naturally fond, you know, of news, but because example has a very
+beneficial influence upon our own conduct. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XCIII -- To GALLUS
+
+THOSE works of art or nature which are usually the motives of our
+travels are often overlooked and neglected if they lie within our reach:
+whether it be that we are naturally less inquisitive concerning those
+things which are near us, while our curiosity is excited by remote
+objects; or because the easiness of gratifying a desire is always sure
+to damp it; or, perhaps, that we put off from time to time going and
+seeing what we know we have an opportunity of seeing when we please.
+Whatever the reason be, it is certain there are numberless curiosities
+in and near Rome which we have not only never seen, but even never so
+much as heard of: and yet had they been the produce of Greece, or Egypt,
+or Asia, or any other country which we admire as fertile and productive
+of belief in wonders, we should long since have heard of them, read of
+them, and enquired into them. For myself at least, I confess, I have
+lately been entertained with one of these curiosities, to which I was an
+entire stranger before. My wife's grandfather desired I would look over
+his estate near Ameria.[131] As I was walking over his grounds, 1 was
+shown a lake that lies below them, called Vadirnon,[132] about which
+several very extraordinary things are told. I went up to this lake. It
+is perfectly circular in form, like a wheel lying on the ground; there
+is not the least curve or projection of the shore, but all is regular,
+even, and just as if it had been hollowed and cut out by the hand of
+art. The water is of a clear sky-blue, though with somewhat of a
+greenish tinge; its smell is sulphurous, and its flavour has medicinal
+properties, and is deemed of great efficacy in all fractures of the
+limbs, which it is supposed to heal. Though of but moderate extent, yet
+the winds have a great effect upon it, throwing it into violent
+agitation. No vessels are suffered to sail here, as its waters are held
+sacred; but several floating islands swim about it, covered with reeds
+and rushes, and with whatever other plants the surrounding marshy ground
+and the edge itself of the lake produce in greater abundance. Each
+island has its peculiar shape and size, but the edges of all of them are
+worn away by their frequent collision with the shore and one another.
+They are all of the same height and motion; as their respective roots,
+which are formed like the keel of a boat, may be seen hanging not very
+far down in the water, and at an equal depth, on whichever side you
+stand. Sometimes they move in a cluster, and seem to form one entire
+little continent; sometimes they are dispersed into different quarters
+by the wind; at other times, when it is calm, they float up and down
+separately. You may frequently see one of the larger islands sailing
+along with a lesser joined to it, like a ship with its long boat; or,
+perhaps, seeming to strive which shall out-swim the other: then again
+they are all driven to the same spot, and by joining themselves to the
+shore, sometimes on one side and sometimes on the other, lessen or
+restore the size of the lake in this part or that, accordingly, till at
+last uniting in the centre they restore it to its usual size. The sheep
+which graze upon the borders of this lake frequently go upon these
+islands to feed, without perceiving that they have left the shore, until
+they are alarmed by finding themselves surrounded with water; as though
+they had been forcibly conveyed and placed there. Afterwards, when the
+wind drives them back again, they as little perceive their return as
+their departure. This lake empties itself into a river, which, after
+running a little way, sinks under ground, and, if anything is thrown in,
+it brings it up again where the stream emerges.--I have given you this
+account because I imagined it would not be less new, nor less agreeable,
+to you than it was to me; as I know you take the same pleasure as myself
+in contemplating the works of nature. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XCIV -- To ARRIANUS
+
+NOTHING, in my opinion, gives a more amiable and becoming grace to our
+studies, as well as manners, than to temper the serious with the gay,
+lest the former should degenerate into melancholy, and the latter run up
+into levity. Upon this plan it is that I diversify my graver works with
+compositions of a lighter nature. I had chosen a convenient place and
+season for some productions of that sort to make their appearance in;
+and designing to accustom them early to the tables of the idle, I fixed
+upon the month of July, which is usually a time of vacation to the
+courts of justice, in order to read them to some of my friends I had
+collected together; and accordingly I placed a desk before each couch.
+But as I happened that morning to be unexpectedly called away to attend
+a cause, I took occasion to preface my recital with an apology. I
+entreated my audience not to impute it to me as any want of due regard
+for the business to which I had invited them that on the very day I had
+appointed for reading my performances to a small circle of my friends I
+did not refuse my services to others in their law affairs. I assured
+them I would observe the same rule in my writings, and should always
+give the preference to business, before pleasure; to serious engagements
+before amusing ones; and to my friends before myself. The poems I
+recited consisted of a variety of subjects in different metres. It is
+thus that we who dare not rely for much upon our abilities endeavour to
+avoid satiating our readers. In compliance with the earnest solicitation
+of my audience, I recited for two days successively; but not in the
+manner that several practise, by passing over the feebler passages, and
+making a merit of so doing: on the contrary, I omitted nothing, and
+freely confessed it. I read the whole, that I might correct the whole;
+which it is impossible those who only select particular passages can do.
+The latter method, indeed, may have more the appearance of modesty, and
+perhaps respect; but the former shows greater simplicity, as well as a
+more affectionate disposition towards the audience. For the belief that
+a man's friends have so much regard for him as not to be weary on these
+occasions, is a sure indication of the love he bears them. Otherwise,
+what good do friends do you who assemble merely for their own amusement?
+He who had rather find his friend's performance correct, than make it
+so, is to be regarded as a stranger, or one who is too lackadaisical to
+give himself any trouble. Your affection for me leaves me no room to
+doubt that you are impatient to read my book, even in its present very
+imperfect condition. And so you shall, but not until I have made those
+corrections which were the principal inducement of my recital. You are
+already acquainted with some parts of it; but even those, after they
+have been improved (or perhaps spoiled, as is sometimes the case by the
+delay of excessive revision) will seem quite new to you. For when a
+piece has undergone various changes, it gets to look new, even in those
+very parts which remain unaltered. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XCV -- To MAXIMUS
+
+My affection for you obliges me, not indeed to direct you (for you are
+far above the want of a guide), but to admonish you carefully to observe
+and resolutely to put in practice what you already know, that is, in
+other words, to know it to better purpose. Consider that you are sent to
+that noble province, Achaia, the real and genuine Greece, where
+politeness, learning, and even agriculture itself, are supposed to have
+taken their first rise; sent to regulate the condition of free cities;
+sent, that is, to a society of men who breathe the spirit of true
+manhood and liberty; who have maintained the rights they received from
+Nature, by courage, by virtue, by alliances; in a word, by civil and
+religious faith. Revere the gods their founders; their ancient glory,
+and even that very antiquity itself which, venerable in men, is sacred
+in states. Honour them therefore for their deeds of old renown, nay,
+their very legendary traditions. Grant to every one his full dignity,
+privileges, yes, and the indulgence of his very vanity. Remember it was
+from this nation we derived our laws; that she did not receive ours by
+conquest, but gave us hers by favour. Remember, it is Athens to which
+you go; it is Lacedaemon you govern; and to deprive such a people of the
+declining shadow, the remaining name of liberty, would be cruel,
+inhuman, barbarous. Physicians, you see, though in sickness there is no
+difference between freedom and slavery, yet treat persons of the former
+rank with more tenderness than those of the latter. Reflect what these
+cities once were; but so reflect as not to despise them for what they
+are now. Far be pride and asperity from my friend; nor fear, by a proper
+condescension, to lay yourself open to contempt. Can he who is vested
+with the power and bears the ensigns of authority, can he fail of
+meeting with respect, unless by pursuing base and sordid measures, and
+first breaking through that reverence he owes to himself? Ill, believe
+me, is power proved by insult; ill can terror command veneration, and
+far more effectual is affection in obtaining one's purpose than fear.
+For terror operates no longer than its object is present, but love
+produces its effects with its object at a distance: and as absence
+changes the former into hatred, it raises the latter into respect. And
+therefore you ought (and I cannot but repeat it too often), you ought to
+well consider the nature of your office, and to represent to yourself
+how great and important the task is of governing a free state. For what
+can be better for society than such government, what can be more
+precious than freedom? How ignominious then must his conduct be who
+turns good government into anarchy, and liberty into slavery? To these
+considerations let me add, that you have an established reputation to
+maintain: the fame you acquired by the administration of the
+quaestorship in Bithynia,[133] the good opinion of the emperor, the
+credit you obtained when you were tribune and praetor, in a word, this
+very government, which may be looked upon as the reward of your former
+services, are all so many glorious weights which are incumbent upon you
+to support with suitable dignity. The more strenuously therefore you
+ought to endeavour that it may not be said you showed greater urbanity,
+integrity, and ability in a province remote from Rome, than in one which
+lies so much nearer the capital; in the midst of a nation of slaves,
+than among a free people; that it may not be remarked, that it was
+chance, and not judgment, appointed you to this office; that your
+character was unknown and unexperienced, not tried and approved. For
+(and it is a maxim which your reading and conversation must have often
+suggested to you) it is a far greater disgrace losing the name one has
+once acquired than never to have attained it. I again beg you to be
+persuaded that I did not write this letter with a design of instruction,
+but of reminder. Though indeed, if I had, it would have only been in
+consequence of the great affection I bear you: a sentiment which I am in
+no fear of carrying beyond its just bounds: for there can be no danger
+of excess where one cannot love too well. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XCVI -- To PAULINUS
+
+OTHERS may think as they please; but the happiest man, in my opinion, is
+he who lives in the conscious anticipation of an honest and enduring
+name, and secure of future glory in the eyes of posterity. I confess, if
+I had not the reward of an immortal reputation in view, I should prefer
+a life of uninterrupted ease and indolent retirement to any other. There
+seems to be two points worthy every man's attention: endless fame, or
+the short duration of life. Those who are actuated by the former motive
+ought to exert themselves to the very utmost of their power; while such
+as are influenced by the latter should quietly resign themselves to
+repose, and not wear out a short life in perishable pursuits, as we see
+so many doing--and then sink at last into utter self-contempt, in the
+midst of a wretched and fruitless course of false industry. These are my
+daily reflections, which I communicate to you, in order to renounce them
+if you do not agree with them; as undoubtedly you will, who are for ever
+meditating some glorious and immortal enterprise. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XCVII -- To CALVISIUS
+
+I HAVE spent these several days past, in reading and writing, with the
+most pleasing tranquillity imaginable. You will ask, "How that can
+possibly be in the midst of Rome?" It was the time of celebrating the
+Circensian games; an entertainment for which I have not the least taste.
+They have no novelty, no variety to recommend them, nothing, in short,
+one would wish to see twice. It does the more surprise me therefore that
+so many thousand people should be possessed with the childish passion of
+desiring so often to see a parcel of horses gallop, and men standing
+upright in their chariots. If, indeed, it were the swiftness of the
+horses, or the skill of the men that attracted them, there might be some
+pretence of reason for it. But it is the dress[134] they like; it is the
+dress that takes their fancy. And if, in the midst of the course and
+contest, the different parties were to change colours, their different
+partisans would change sides, and instantly desert the very same men and
+horses whom just before they were eagerly following with their eyes, as
+far as they could see, and shouting out their names with all their
+might. Such mighty charms, such wondrous power reside in the colour of a
+paltry tunic! And this not only with the common crowd (more contemptible
+than the dress they espouse), but even with serious-thinking people.
+When I observe such men thus insatiably fond of so silly, so low, so
+uninteresting, so common an entertainment, I congratulate myself on my
+indifference to these pleasures: and am glad to employ the leisure of
+this season upon my books, which others throw away upon the most idle
+occupations. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XCVIII -- To ROMANUS
+
+I AM pleased to find by your letter that you are engaged in building;
+for I may now defend my own conduct by your example. I am myself
+employed in the same sort of work; and since I have you, who shall deny
+I have reason on my side? Our situations too are not dissimilar; your
+buildings are carried on upon the sea-coast, mine are rising upon the
+side of the Larian lake. I have several villas upon the borders of this
+lake, but there are two particularly in which, as I take most delight,
+so they give me most employment. They are both situated like those at
+Baiae:[135] one of them stands upon a rock, and overlooks the lake; the
+other actually touches it. The first, supported as it were by the lofty
+buskin,[136] I call my tragic; the other, as resting upon the humble
+rock, my comic villa. Each has its own peculiar charm, recommending it
+to its possessor so much more on account of this very difference. The
+former commands a wider, the latter enjoys a nearer view of the lake.
+One, by a gentle curve, embraces a little bay; the other, being built
+upon a greater height, forms two. Here you have a strait walk extending
+itself along the banks of the lake; there, a spacious terrace that falls
+by a gentle descent towards it. The former does not feel the force of
+the waves; the latter breaks them; from that you see the fishing-
+vessels; from this you may fish yourself, and throw your line out of
+your room, and almost from your bed, as from off a boat. It is the
+beauties therefore these agreeable villas possess that tempt me to add
+to them those which are wanting.--But I need not assign a reason to you;
+who, undoubtedly, will think it a sufficient one that I follow your
+example. Farewell.
+
+
+
+XCIX -- To GEMINUS
+
+YOUR letter was particularly acceptable to me, as it mentioned your
+desire that I would send you something of mine, addressed to you, to
+insert in your works. I shall find a more appropriate occasion of
+complying with your request than that which you propose, the subject you
+point out to me being attended with some objections; and when you
+reconsider it, you will think so.--As I did not imagine there were any
+booksellers at Lugdunum,[137] I am so much the more pleased to learn
+that my works are sold there. I rejoice to find they maintain the
+character abroad which they raised at home, and I begin to flatter
+myself they have some merit, since persons of such distant countries are
+agreed in their opinion with regard to them. Farewell.
+
+
+
+C -- To JUNIOR
+
+A CERTAIN friend of mine lately chastised his son, in my presence, for
+being somewhat too expensive in the matter of dogs and horses. "And
+pray," I asked him, when the youth had left us, "did you never commit a
+fault yourself which deserved your father's correction? Did you never? I
+repeat. Nay, are you not sometimes even now guilty of errors which your
+son, were he in your place, might with equal gravity reprove? Are not
+all mankind subject to indiscretions? And have we not each of us our
+particular follies in which we fondly indulge ourselves?"[138]
+
+The great affection I have for you induced me to set this instance of
+unreasonable severity before you--a caution not to treat your son with
+too much harshness and severity. Consider, he is but a boy, and that
+there was a time when you were so too. In exerting, therefore, the
+authority of a father, remember always that you are a man, and the
+parent of a man. Farewell.
+
+
+
+CI -- To QUADRATUS
+
+THE pleasure and attention with which you read the vindication I
+published of Helvidius,[139] has greatly raised your curiosity, it
+seems, to be informed of those particulars relating to that affair,
+which are not mentioned in the defence; as you were too young to be
+present yourself at that transaction. When Domitian was assassinated, a
+glorious opportunity, I thought, offered itself to me of pursuing the
+guilty, vindicating the injured, and advancing my own reputation. But
+amidst an infinite variety of the blackest crimes, none appeared to me
+more atrocious than that a senator, of praetorian dignity, and invested
+with the sacred character of a judge, should, even in the very senate
+itself, lay violent hands upon a member[140] of that body, one of
+consular rank, and who then stood arraigned before him. Besides this
+general consideration, I also happened to be on terms of particular
+intimacy with Helvidius, as far as this was possible with one who,
+through fear of the times, endeavoured to veil the lustre of his fame,
+and his virtues, in obscurity and retirement. Arria likewise, and her
+daughter Fannia, who was mother-in-law to Helvidius, were in the number
+of my friends. But it was not so much private attachments as the honour
+of the public, a just indignation at the action, and the danger of the
+example if it should pass unpunished, that animated me upon the
+occasion. At the first restoration of liberty every man singled out his
+own particular enemy (though it must be confessed, those only of a lower
+rank), and, in the midst of much clamour and confusion, no sooner
+brought the charge than procured the condemnation. But for myself, I
+thought it would be more reasonable and more effectual, not to take
+advantage of the general resentment of the public, but to crush this
+criminal with the single weight of his own enormous guilt. When
+therefore the first heat of public indignation began to cool, and
+declining passion gave way to justice, though I was at that time under
+great affliction for the loss of my wife,[142] I sent to Anteia, the
+widow of Helvidius, and desired her to come to me, as my late misfortune
+prevented me from appearing in public. When she arrived, I said to her,
+"I am resolved not to suffer the injuries your husband has received, to
+pass unrevenged; let Arria and Fannia" (who were just returned from
+exile) "know this; and consider together whether you would care to join
+with me in the prosecution. Not that I want an associate, but I am not
+so jealous of my own glory as to refuse to share it with you in this
+affair." She accordingly carried this message; and they all agreed to
+the proposal without the least hesitation. It happened very opportunely
+that the senate was to meet within three days. It was a general rule
+with me to consult, in all my affairs, with Corellius, a person of the
+greatest far-sightedness and wisdom this age has produced. However, in
+the present case, I relied entirely upon my own discretion, being
+apprehensive he would not approve of my design, as he was very cautious
+and deliberate. But though I did not previously take counsel with him
+(experience having taught me, never to do so with a person concerning a
+question we have already determined, where he has a right to expect that
+one shall be decided by his judgment), yet I could not forbear
+acquainting him with my resolution at the time I intended to carry it
+into execution. The senate being assembled, I came into the house, and
+begged I might have leave to make a motion; which I did in few words,
+and with general assent. When I began to touch upon the charge, and
+point out the person I intended to accuse (though as yet without
+mentioning him by name), I was attacked on all sides. "Let us know,"
+exclaims one, "who is the subject of this informal motion?" "Who is it,"
+(asked another) "that is thus accused, without acquainting the house
+with his name, and his crime?" "Surely," (added a third) "we who have
+survived the late dangerous times may expect now, at least, to remain in
+security." I heard all this with perfect calmness, and without being in
+the least alarmed. Such is the effect of conscious integrity; and so
+much difference is there with respect to inspiring confidence or fear,
+whether the world had only rather one should forbear a certain act, or
+absolutely condemn it. It would be too tedious to relate all that was
+advanced, by different parties, upon this occasion. At length the consul
+said, "You will be at liberty, Secundus, to propose what you think
+proper when your turn comes to give your opinion upon the order of the
+day."[143] I replied, "You must allow me a liberty which you never yet
+refused to any;" and so sat down: when immediately the house went upon
+another business. In the meanwhile, one of my consular friends took me
+aside, and, with great earnestness telling me he thought I had carried
+on this affair with more boldness than prudence, used every method of
+reproof and persuasion to prevail with me to desist; adding at the same
+time that I should certainly, if I persevered, render myself obnoxious
+to some future prince. "Be it so," I returned, "should he prove a bad
+one." Scarcely had he left me when a second came up: "Whatever," said
+he, "are you attempting? Why ever will you ruin yourself? Do you
+consider the risks you expose yourself to? Why will you presume too much
+on the present situation of public affairs, when it is so uncertain what
+turn they may hereafter take? You are attacking a man who is actually at
+the head of the treasury, and will shortly be consul. Besides, recollect
+what credit he has, and with what powerful friendships he is supported?"
+Upon which he named a certain person, who (not without several strong
+and suspicious rumours) was then at the head of a powerful army in the
+east. I replied,
+
+"'All I've foreseen, and oft in thought revolv'd;[144] and am willing,
+if fate shall so decree, to suffer in an honest cause, provided I can
+draw vengeance down upon a most infamous one." The time for the members
+to give their opinions was now arrived. Domitius Apollinaris, the consul
+elect, spoke first; after him Fabricius Vejento, then Fabius Maximinus,
+Vettius Proculus next (who married my wife's mother, and who was the
+colleague of Publicius Certus, the person on whom the debate turned),
+and last of all Ammius Flaccus. They all defended Certus, as if I had
+named him (though I had not yet so much as once mentioned him), and
+entered upon his justification as if I had exhibited a specific charge.
+It is not necessary to repeat in this place what they respectively said,
+having given it all at length in their words in the speech above-
+mentioned. Avidius Quietus and Cornutus Tertullus answered them. The
+former observed, "that it was extremely unjust not to hear the
+complaints of those who thought themselves injured, and therefore that
+Arria and Fannia ought not to be denied the privilege of laying their
+grievances before the house; and that the point for the consideration of
+the senate was not the rank of the person, but the merit of the cause."
+
+Then Cornutus rose up and acquainted the house, "that, as he was
+appointed guardian to the daughter of Helvidius by the consuls, upon the
+petition of her mother and her father-in-law, he felt himself compelled
+to fulfil the duty of his trust. In the execution of which, however, he
+would endeavour to set some bounds to his indignation by following that
+great example of moderation which those excellent women[145] had set,
+who contented themselves with barely informing the senate of the
+cruelties which Certus committed in order to carry on his infamous
+adulation; and therefore," he said, "he would move only that, if a
+punishment due to a crime so notoriously known should be remitted,
+Certus might at least be branded with some mark of the displeasure of
+that august assembly." Satrius Rufus spoke next, and, meaning to steer a
+middle course, expressed himself with considerable ambiguity. "I am of
+opinion," said he, "that great injustice will be done to Certus if he is
+not acquitted (for I do not scruple to mention his name, since the
+friends of Arria and Fannia, as well as his own, have done so too), nor
+indeed have we any occasion for anxiety upon this account. We who think
+well of the man shall judge him with the same impartiality as the rest;
+but if he is innocent, as I hope he is, and shall be glad to find, I
+think this house may very justly deny the present motion till some
+charge has been proved against him." Thus, according to the respective
+order in which they were called upon, they delivered their several
+opinions. When it came to my turn, I rose up, and, using the same
+introduction to my speech as I have published in the defence, I replied
+to them severally. It is surprising with what attention, what clamorous
+applause I was heard, even by those who just before were loudest against
+me: such a wonderful change was wrought either by the importance of the
+affair, the successful progress of the speech, or the resolution of the
+advocate. After I had finished, Vejento attempted to reply; but the
+general clamour raised against him not permitting him to go on, "I
+entreat you, conscript fathers,"[146] said he, "not to oblige me to
+implore the assistance of the tribunes."[147] Immediately the tribune
+Murena cried out, "You have my permission, most illustrious Vejento, to
+go on." But still the clamour was renewed. In the interval, the consul
+ordered the house to divide, and having counted the voices, dismissed
+the senate, leaving Vejento in the midst, still attempting to speak. He
+made great complaints of this affront (as he called it), applying the
+following lines of Homer to himself:
+
+
+"Great perils, father, wait the unequal fight; Those younger champions
+will thy strength o'ercome."<a href="#linknote-148" name="linknoteref-
+148" id="linknoteref-148">[148]</a>
+
+There was hardly a man in the senate that did not embrace and kiss me,
+and all strove who should applaud me most, for having, at the cost of
+private enmities, revived a custom so long disused, of freely consulting
+the senate upon affairs that concern the honour of the public; in a
+word, for having wiped off that reproach which was thrown upon it by
+other orders in the state, "that the senators mutually favoured the
+members of their own body, while they were very severe in animadverting
+upon the rest of their fellow-citizens." All this was transacted in the
+absence of Certus; who kept out of the way either because he suspected
+something of this nature was intended to be moved, or (as was alleged in
+his excuse) that he was really unwell. Cæsar, however, did not refer the
+examination of this matter to the senate. But I succeeded, nevertheless,
+in my aim, another person being appointed to succeed Certus in the
+consulship, while the election of his colleague to that office was
+confirmed. And thus, the wish with which I concluded my speech, was
+actually accomplished: "May he be obliged," said I, "to renounce, under
+a virtuous prince,[149] that reward he received from an infamous
+one!"[150] Some time after I recollected, as well as I could, the speech
+I had made upon this occasion; to which I made several additions. It
+happened (though indeed it had the appearance of being something more
+than casual) that a few days after I had published this piece, Certus
+was taken ill and died. I was told that his imagination was continually
+haunted with this affair, and kept picturing me ever before his eyes, as
+a man pursuing him with a drawn sword. Whether there was any truth in
+this rumour, I will not venture to assert; but, for the sake of example,
+however, I could wish it might gain credit. And now I have sent you a
+letter which (considering it is a letter) is as long as the defence you
+say you have read: but you must thank yourself for not being content
+with such information as that piece could afford you. Farewell.
+
+
+
+CII -- To GENITOR
+
+I HAVE received your letter, in which you complain of having been highly
+disgusted lately at a very splendid entertainment, by a set of buffoons,
+mummers, and wanton prostitutes, who were dancing about round the
+tables.[151] But let me advise you to smooth your knitted brow somewhat.
+I confess, indeed, I admit nothing of this kind at my own house;
+however, I bear with it in others. "And why, then," you will be ready to
+ask, "not have them yourself?"
+
+The truth is, because the gestures of the wanton, the pleasantries of
+the buffoon, or the extravagancies of the mummer, give me no pleasure,
+as they give me no surprise. It is my particular taste, you see, not my
+judgment, that I plead against them. And indeed, what numbers are there
+who think the entertainments with which you and I are most delighted no
+better than impertinent follies! How many are there who, as soon as a
+reader, a lyrist, or a comedian is introduced, either take their leave
+of the company or, if they remain, show as much dislike to this sort of
+thing as you did to those monsters, as you call them! Let us bear
+therefore, my friend, with others in their amusements, that they, in
+return, may show indulgence to ours. Farewell.
+
+
+
+CIII -- To SABINIANUS
+
+YOUR freedman, whom you lately mentioned to me with displeasure, has
+been with me, and threw himself at my feet with as much submission as he
+could have fallen at yours. He earnestly requested me with many tears,
+and even with all the eloquence of silent sorrow, to intercede for him;
+in short, he convinced me by his whole behaviour that he sincerely
+repents of his fault. I am persuaded he is thoroughly reformed, because
+he seems deeply sensible of his guilt. I know you are angry with him,
+and I know, too, it is not without reason; but clemency can never exert
+itself more laudably than when there is the most cause for resentment.
+You once had an affection for this man, and, I hope, will have again;
+meanwhile, let me only prevail with you to pardon him. If he should
+incur your displeasure hereafter, you will have so much the stronger
+plea in excuse for your anger as you show yourself more merciful to him
+now. Concede something to his youth, to his tears, and to your own
+natural mildness of temper: do not make him uneasy any longer, and I
+will add too, do not make yourself so; for a man of your kindness of
+heart cannot be angry without feeling great uneasiness. I am afraid,
+were I to join my entreaties with his, I should seem rather to compel
+than request you to forgive him. Yet I will not scruple even to write
+mine with his; and in so much the stronger terms as I have very sharply
+and severely reproved him, positively threatening never to interpose
+again in his behalf. But though it was proper to say this to him, in
+order to make him more fearful of offending, I do not say so to you. I
+may perhaps, again have occasion to entreat you upon this account, and
+again obtain your forgiveness; supposing, I mean, his fault should be
+such as may become me to intercede for, and you to pardon. Farewell.
+
+
+
+CIV -- To MAXIMUS
+
+IT has frequently happened, as I have been pleading before the Court of
+the Hundred, that these venerable judges, after having preserved for a
+long period the gravity and solemnity suitable to their character, have
+suddenly, as though urged by irresistible impulse, risen up to a man and
+applauded me. I have often likewise gained as much glory in the senate
+as my utmost wishes could desire: but I never felt a more sensible
+pleasure than by an account which I lately received from Cornelius
+Tacitus. He informed me that, at the last Circensian games, he sat next
+to a Roman knight, who, after conversation had passed between them upon
+various points of learning, asked him, "Are you an Italian, or a
+provincial?" Tacitus replied, "Your acquaintance with literature must
+surely have informed you who I am." "Pray, then, is it Tacitus or Pliny
+I am talking with?" I cannot express how highly I am pleased to find
+that our names are not so much the proper appellatives of men as a kind
+of distinction for learning herself; and that eloquence renders us known
+to those who would otherwise be ignorant of us. An accident of the same
+kind happened to me a few days ago. Fabius Rufinus, a person of
+distinguished merit, was placed next to me at table; and below him a
+countryman of his, who had just then come to Rome for the first time.
+Rufinus, calling his friend's attention to me, said to him, "You see
+this man?" and entered into a conversation upon the subject of my
+pursuits: to whom the other immediately replied, "This must undoubtedly
+be Pliny." To confess the truth, I look upon these instances as a very
+considerable recompense of my labours. If Demosthenes had reason to be
+pleased with the old woman of Athens crying out, "This is Demosthenes!"
+may not I, then, be allowed to congratulate myself upon the celebrity my
+name has acquired? Yes, my friend, I will rejoice in it, and without
+scruple admit that I do. As I only mention the judgment of others, not
+my own, I am not afraid of incurring the censure of vanity; especially
+from you, who, whilst envying no man's reputation, are particularly
+zealous for mine. Farewell.
+
+
+
+CV -- To SABINIANUS
+
+I GREATLY approve of your having, in compliance with my letter,[152]
+received again into your favour and family a discarded freedman, who you
+once admitted into a share of your affection. This will afford you, I
+doubt not, great satisfaction. It certainly has me, both as a proof that
+your passion can be controlled, and as an instance of your paying so
+much regard to me, as either to yield to my authority or to comply with
+my request. Let me, therefore, at once both praise and thank you. At the
+same time I must advise you to be disposed for the future to pardon the
+faults of your people, though there should be none to intercede in their
+behalf. Farewell.
+
+
+
+CVI -- To LUPERCUS
+
+I SAID once (and, I think, not inaptly) of a certain orator of the
+present age, whose compositions are extremely regular and correct, but
+deficient in grandeur and embellishment, "His only fault is that he has
+none." Whereas he, who is possessed of the true spirit of oratory,
+should be bold and elevated, and sometimes even flame out, be hurried
+away, and frequently tread upon the brink of a precipice: for danger is
+generally near whatever is towering and exalted. The plain, it is true,
+affords a safer, but for that reason a more humble and inglorious, path:
+they who run are more likely to stumble than they who creep; but the
+latter gain no honour by not slipping, while the former even fall with
+glory. It is with eloquence as with some other arts; she is never more
+pleasing than when she risks most. Have you not observed what
+acclamations our rope-dancers excite at the instant of imminent danger?
+Whatever is most entirely unexpected, or as the Greeks more strongly
+express it, whatever is most perilous, most excites our admiration. The
+pilot's skill is by no means equally proved in a calm as in a storm: in
+the former case he tamely enters the port, unnoticed and unapplauded;
+but when the cordage cracks, the mast bends, and the rudder groans, then
+it is that he shines out in all his glory, and is hailed as little
+inferior to a sea-god.
+
+The reason of my making this observation is, because, if I mistake not,
+you have marked some passages in my writings for being tumid, exuberant,
+and over-wrought, which, in my estimation, are but adequate to the
+thought, or boldly sublime. But it is material to consider whether your
+criticism turns upon such points as are real faults, or only striking
+and remarkable expressions. Whatever is elevated is sure to be observed;
+but it requires a very nice judgment to distinguish the bounds between
+true and false grandeur; between loftiness and exaggeration. To give an
+instance out of Homer, the author who can, with the greatest propriety,
+fly from one extreme of style to another.
+
+
+"Heav'n in loud thunder bids the trumpet sound; And wide beneath them
+groans the rending ground."<a href="#linknote-153" name="linknoteref-
+153" id="linknoteref-153">[153]</a>
+
+Again,
+
+
+"Reclin'd on clouds his steed and armour lay."<a href="#linknote-154"
+name="linknoteref-154" id="linknoteref-154">[154]</a>
+
+So in this passage:
+
+
+"As torrents roll, increas'd by numerous rills, With rage impetuous down
+their echoing hills, Rush to the vales, and pour'd along the plain, Roar
+through a thousand channels to the main."
+
+It requires, I say, the nicest balance to poise these metaphors, and
+determine whether they are incredible and meaningless, or majestic and
+sublime. Not that I think anything which I have written, or can write,
+admits of comparison with these. I am not quite so foolish; but what I
+would be understood to contend for is, that we should give eloquence
+free rein, and not restrain the force and impetuosity of genius within
+too narrow a compass. But it will be said, perhaps, that one law applies
+to orators, another to poets. As if, in truth, Marc Tully were not as
+bold in his metaphors as any of the poets! But not to mention particular
+instances from him, in a point where, I imagine, there can be no
+dispute; does Demosthenes[155] himself, that model and standard of true
+oratory, does Demosthenes check and repress the fire of his indignation,
+in that well-known passage which begins thus: "These wicked men, these
+flatterers, and these destroyers of mankind," &c. And again: "It is
+neither with stones nor bricks that I have fortified this city," &c. --
+And afterwards: "I have thrown up these out-works before Attica, and
+pointed out to you all the resources which human prudence can suggest,"
+&c.--And in another place: "O Athenians, I swear by the immortal gods
+that he is intoxicated with the grandeur of his own actions," &c.[156] -
+- But what can be more daring and beautiful than that long digression,
+which begins in this manner: "A terrible disease?" -- The following
+passage likewise, though somewhat shorter, is equally boldly conceived:
+-- "Then it was I rose up in opposition to the daring Pytho, who poured
+forth a torrent of menaces against you," &c.[157] -- The subsequent
+stricture is of the same stamp: "When a man has strengthened himself, as
+Philip has, in avarice and wickedness, the first pretence, the first
+false step, be it ever so inconsiderable, has overthrown and destroyed
+all," &c.[158]--So in the same style with the foregoing is this: --
+"Railed off, as it were, from the privileges of society, by the
+concurrent and just judgments of the three tribunals in the city." --
+And in the same place: "O Aristogiton! you have betrayed that mercy
+which used to be shown to offences of this nature, or rather, indeed,
+you have wholly destroyed it. In vain then would you fly for refuge to a
+port, which you have shut up, and encompassed with rocks."--He has said
+before: "I am afraid, therefore, you should appear in the judgment of
+some, to have erected a public seminary of faction: for there is a
+weakness in all wickedness which renders it apt to betray itself!" --
+And a little lower: "I see none of these resources open to him; but all
+is precipice gulf, and profound abyss."--And again: "Nor do I imagine
+that our ancestors erected those courts of judicature that men of his
+character should be planted there, but on the contrary', eradicated,
+that none may emulate their evil actions."--And afterwards: "If he is
+then the artificer of every wickedness, if he only makes it his trade
+and traffic," &c.--And a thousand other passages which I might cite to
+the same purpose; not to mention those expressions which Aeschines calls
+not words, but wonders.--You will tell me, perhaps, I have unwarily
+mentioned Aeschines, since Demosthenes is condemned even by him, for
+running into these figurative expressions. But observe, I entreat you,
+how far superior the former orator is to his critic, and superior too in
+the very passage to which he objects; for in others, the force of his
+genius, in those above quoted, its loftiness, makes itself manifest. But
+does Aeschines himself avoid those errors which he reproves in
+Demosthenes? "The orator," says he, "Athenians, and the law, ought to
+speak the same language; but when the voice of the law declares one
+thing, and that of the orator another we should give our vote to the
+justice of the law, not to the impudence of the orator."[159]--And in
+another place: "He afterwards manifestly discovered the design he had,
+of concealing his fraud under cover of the decree, having expressly
+declared therein that the ambassadors sent to the Oretae gave the five
+talents, not to you, but to Callias. And that you may be convinced of
+the truth of what I say (after having stripped the decree of its
+gallies, its trim, and its arrogant ostentation) the clause itself." --
+And in another part: "Suffer him not to break cover and escape out of
+the limits of the question." A metaphor he is so fond of that he repeats
+it again. "But remaining firm and confident in the assembly, drive him
+into the merits of the question, and observe well how he doubles."--Is
+his style more reserved and simple when he says: "But you are ever
+wounding our ears, and are more concerned in the success of your daily
+harangues than for the salvation of the city?"--What follows is
+conceived in a yet higher strain of metaphor: "Will you not expel this
+man as the common calamity of Greece? Will you not seize and punish this
+pirate of the state, who sails about in quest of favourable
+conjunctures," &c.--With many other passages of a similar nature. And
+now I expect you will make the same attacks upon certain expressions in
+this letter as you did upon those I have been endeavouring to defend.
+The rudder that groans, and the pilot compared to a sea-god, will not, I
+imagine, escape your criticism: for I perceive, while I am suing for
+indulgence to my former style, I have fallen into the same kind of
+figurative diction which you condemn. But attack them if you please
+provided you will immediately appoint a day when we may meet to discuss
+these matters in person: you will then either teach me to be less daring
+or I shall teach you to be more bold. Farewell.
+
+
+
+CVII -- To CANINIUS
+
+I HAVE met with a story, which, although authenticated by undoubted
+evidence, looks very like fable, and would afford a worthy field for the
+exercise of so exuberant, lofty, and truly poetical a genius as your
+own. It was related to me the other day over the dinner table, where the
+conversation happened to run upon various kinds of marvels. The person
+who told the story was a man of unsuspected veracity:--but what has a
+poet to do with truth? However, you might venture to rely upon his
+testimony, even though you had the character of a faithful historian to
+support. There is in Africa a town called Hippo, situated not far from
+the sea-coast: it stands upon a navigable lake, communicating with an
+estuary in the form of a river, which alternately flows into the lake,
+or into the ocean, according to the ebb and flow of the tide. People of
+all ages amuse themselves here with fishing, sailing, or swimming;
+especially boys, whom love of play brings to the spot. With these it is
+a fine and manly achievement to be able to swim the farthest; and he
+that leaves the shore and his companions at the greatest distance gains
+the victory. It happened, in one of these trials of skill, that a
+certain boy, bolder than the rest, launched out towards the opposite
+shore. He was met by a dolphin, who sometimes swam before him, and
+sometimes behind him, then played round him, and at last took him upon
+his back, and set him down, and afterwards took him up again; and thus
+he carried the poor frightened fellow out into the deepest part; when
+immediately he turns back again to the shore, and lands him among his
+companions. The fame of this remarkable accident spread through the
+town, and crowds of people flocked round the boy (whom they viewed as a
+kind of prodigy) to ask him questions and hear him relate the story. The
+next day the shore was thronged with spectators, all attentively
+watching the ocean, and (what indeed is almost itself an ocean) the
+lake. Meanwhile the boys swam as usual, and among the rest, the boy I am
+speaking of went into the lake, but with more caution than before. The
+dolphin appeared again and came to the boy, who, together with his
+companions, swam away with the utmost precipitation. The dolphin, as
+though to invite and call them back, leaped and dived up and down, in a
+series of circular movements. This he practised the next day, the day
+after, and for several days together, till the people (accustomed from
+their infancy to the sea) began to be ashamed of their timidity. They
+ventured, therefore, to advance nearer, playing with him and calling him
+to them, while he, in return, suffered himself to be touched and
+stroked. Use rendered them courageous. The boy, in particular, who first
+made the experiment, swam by the side of him, and, leaping upon his
+back, was carried backwards and forwards in that manner, and thought the
+dolphin knew him and was fond of him, while he too had grown fond of the
+dolphin. There seemed, now, indeed, to be no fear on either side, the
+confidence of the one and tameness of the other mutually increasing; the
+rest of the boys, in the meanwhile, surrounding and encouraging their
+companion. It is very remarkable that this dolphin was followed by a
+second, which seemed only as a spectator and attendant on the former;
+for he did not at all submit to the same familiarities as the first, but
+only escorted him backwards and forwards, as the boys did their comrade.
+But what is further surprising, and no less true than what I have
+already related, is that this dolphin, who thus played with the boys and
+carried them upon his back, would come upon the shore, dry himself in
+the sand, and, as soon as he grew warm, roll back into the sea. It is a
+fact that Octavius Avitus, deputy governor of the province, actuated by
+an absurd piece of superstition, poured some ointment[160] over him as
+he lay on the shore: the novelty and smell of which made him retire into
+the ocean, and it was not till several days after that he was seen
+again, when he appeared dull and languid; however, he recovered his
+strength and continued his usual playful tricks. All the magistrates
+round flocked hither to view this sight, whose arrival, and prolonged
+stay, was an additional expense, which the slender finances of this
+little community would ill afford; besides, the quiet and retirement of
+the place was utterly destroyed. It was thought proper, therefore, to
+remove the occasion of this concourse, by privately killing the poor
+dolphin. And now, with what a flow of tenderness will you describe this
+affecting catastrophe![161] and how will your genius adorn and heighten
+this moving story! Though, indeed, the subject does not require any
+fictitious embellishments; it will be sufficient to describe the actual
+facts of the case without suppression or diminution. Farewell.
+
+
+
+CVIII -- TO FUSCUS
+
+You want to know how I portion out my day, in my summer villa at Tuscum?
+I get up just when I please; generally about sunrise, often earlier, but
+seldom later than this. I keep the shutters closed, as darkness and
+silence wonderfully promote meditation. Thus free and abstracted from
+these outward objects which dissipate attention, I am left to my own
+thoughts; nor suffer my mind to wander with my eyes, but keep my eyes in
+subjection to my mind, which, when they are not distracted by a
+multiplicity of external objects, see nothing but what the imagination
+represents to them. If I have any work in hand, this is the time I
+choose for thinking it out, word for word, even to the minutest accuracy
+of expression. In this way I compose more or less, according as the
+subject is more or less difficult, and I find myself able to retain it.
+I then call my secretary, and, opening the shutters, dictate to him what
+I have put into shape, after which I dismiss him, then call him in
+again, and again dismiss him. About ten or eleven o'clock (for I do not
+observe one fixed hour), according to the weather, I either walk upon my
+terrace or in the covered portico, and there I continue to meditate or
+dictate what remains upon the subject in which I am engaged. This
+completed, I get into my chariot, where I employ myself as before, when
+I was walking, or in my study; and find this change of scene refreshes
+and keeps up my attention. On my return home, I take a little nap, then
+a walk, and after that repeat out loud and distinctly some Greek or
+Latin speech, not so much for the sake of strengthening my voice as my
+digestion;[162] though indeed the voice at the same time is strengthened
+by this practice. I then take another walk, am anointed, do my
+exercises, and go into the bath. At supper, if I have only my wife or a
+few friends with me, some author is read to us; and after supper we are
+entertained either with music or an interlude. When that is finished, I
+take my walk with my family, among whom I am not without some scholars.
+Thus we pass our evenings in varied conversation; and the day, even when
+at the longest, steals imperceptibly away. Upon some occasions I change
+the order in certain of the articles abovementioned. For instance, if I
+have studied longer or walked more than usual, after my second sleep,
+and reading a speech or two aloud, instead of using my chariot I get on
+horseback; by which means I ensure as much exercise and lose less time.
+The visits of my friends from the neighbouring villages claim some part
+of the day; and sometimes, by an agreeable interruption, they come in
+very seasonably to relieve me when I am feeling tired. I now and then
+amuse myself with hunting, but always take my tablets into the field,
+that, if I should meet with no game, I may at least bring home
+something. Part of my time too (though not so much as they desire) is
+allotted to my tenants; whose rustic complaints, along with these city
+occupations, make my literary studies still more delightful to me.
+Farewell. --
+
+
+
+CIX -- To PAULINUS
+
+As you are not of a disposition to expect from your friends the ordinary
+ceremonial observances of society when they cannot observe them without
+inconvenience to themselves, so I love you too steadfastly to be
+apprehensive of your taking otherwise than I wish you should my not
+waiting upon you on the first day of your entrance upon the consular
+office, especially as I am detained here by the necessity of letting my
+farms upon long leases. I am obliged to enter upon an entirely new plan
+with my tenants: for under the former leases, though I made them very
+considerable abatements, they have run greatly in arrear. For this
+reason several of them have not only taken no sort of care to lessen a
+debt which they found themselves incapable of wholly discharging, but
+have even seized and consumed all the produce of the land, in the belief
+that it would now be of no advantage to themselves to spare it. I must
+therefore obviate this increasing evil, and endeavour to find out some
+remedy against it. The only one I can think of is, not to reserve my
+rent in money, but in kind, and so place some of my servants to overlook
+the tillage, and guard the stock; as indeed there is no sort of revenue
+more agreeable to reason than what arises from the bounty of the soil,
+the seasons, and the climate. It is true, this method will require great
+honesty, sharp eyes, and many hands. However, I must risk the
+experiment, and, as in an inveterate complaint, try every change of
+remedy. You see, it is not any pleasurable indulgence that prevents my
+attending you on the first day of your consulship. I shall celebrate it
+nevertheless, as much as if I were present, and pay my vows for you
+here, with all the warmest tokens of joy and congratulation. Farewell.
+
+
+
+CX -- To FUSCUS
+
+You are much pleased, I find, with the account I gave you in my former
+letter of how I spend the summer season at Tuscum, and desire to know
+what alteration I make in my method when I am at Laurentum in the
+winter. None at all, except abridging myself of my sleep at noon, and
+borrowing a good piece of the night before daybreak and after sunset for
+study: and if business is very urgent (which in winter very frequently
+happens), instead of having interludes or music after supper, I
+reconsider whatever I have previously dictated, and improve my memory at
+the same time by this frequent mental revision. Thus I have given you a
+general sketch of my mode of life in summer and winter; to which you may
+add the intermediate seasons of spring and autumn, in which, while
+losing nothing out of the day, I gain but little from the night.
+Farewell.
+
+]
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES TO THE LETTERS OF PLINY] 1 (return) [ A pupil and intimate
+friend of Paetus Thrasea, the distinguished Stoic philosopher. Arulenus
+was put to death by Domitian for writing a panegyric upon Thrasea.]
+
+
+2 (return) [ The impropriety of this expression, in the original, seems
+to be in the word stigmosum, which Regulus, probably either coined
+through affectation or used through ignorance. It is a word, at least,
+which does not occur in any author of authority: the translator has
+endeavoured, therefore, to preserve the same sort of impropriety, by
+using an expression of like unwarranted stamp in his own tongue. M.]
+
+
+3 (return) [ An allusion to a wound he had received in the war between
+Vitellius and Vespasian.]
+
+
+4 (return) [ A brother of Piso Galba's adopted son. He was put to death
+by Nero.]
+
+
+5 (return) [ Sulpicius Camerinus, put to death by the same emperor, upon
+some frivolous charge.]
+
+
+6 (return) [ A select body of men who formed a court of judicature,
+called the centurnviral court. Their jurisdiction extended chiefly, if
+not entirely, to questions of wills and intestate estates. Their number,
+it would seem, amounted to 100. M.]
+
+
+7 (return) [ Junius Mauricus, the brother of Rusticus Arulenus. Both
+brothers were sentenced on the same day, Arulenue to execution and
+Mauricui to banishment.]
+
+
+8 (return) [ There seems to have been a cast of uncommon blackness in
+the character of this Regulus; otherwise the benevolent Pliny would
+scarcely have singled him out, as he has in this and some following
+letters, for the subject of his warmest contempt and indignation. Yet,
+infamous as he was, he had his flatterers and admirers; and a
+contemporary poet frequently represents him as one of the most finished
+characters of the age, both in eloquence and virtue. M.]
+
+
+9 (return) [ The Decurii were a sort of senators in the municipal or
+corporate cities of Italy. M.]
+
+
+10 (return) [ "Euphrates was a native of Tyre, or, according to others,
+of Byzantium. He belonged to the Stoic school of philosophy. In his old
+age he became tired of life, and asked and obtained from Hadrian
+permission to put an end to himself by poison." Smith's Dict. of Greek
+and Roman Biog.]
+
+
+11 (return) [ A pleader and historian of some distinction, mentioned by
+Tacitus, Ann. XIV. 19, and by Quintilian, X, I, 102.]
+
+
+12 (return) [ Padua.]
+
+
+13 (return) [ Domitian]
+
+
+14 (return) [ Iliad, XII. 243. Pope.]
+
+
+15 (return) [ Equal to about $4,000 of our money. After the reign of
+Augustus the value of the sesterces.]
+
+
+16 (return) [ "The equestrian dignity, or that order of the Roman people
+which we commonly call knights, had nothing in it analogous to any order
+of modern knighthood, but depended entirely upon a valuation of their
+estates; and every citizen, whose entire fortune amounted to 400,000
+sesterces, that is, to about $16,000 of our money, was enrolled, of
+course, in the list of knights, who were considered as a middle order
+between the senators and common people, yet, without any other
+distinction than the privilege of wearing a gold ring, which was the
+peculiar badge of their order." Life of Cicero, Vol. I. III. in note.
+M.]
+
+
+17 (return) [ An elegant Attic orator, remarkable for the grace and
+lucidity of his style, also for his vivid and accurate delineations of
+character.]
+
+
+18 (return) [ A graceful and powerful orator, and friend of
+Densosthenes.]
+
+
+19 (return) [ A Roman orator of the Augustan age. He was a poet and
+historian as well, but gained most distinction as an orator.]
+
+
+20 (return) [ A man of considerable taste, talent, and eloquence, but
+profligate and extravagant. He was on terms of some intimacy with
+Cicero.]
+
+
+21 (return) [ The praetor was assisted by ten assessors, five of whom
+were senators, and the rest knights. With these he was obliged to
+consult before he pronounced sentence. M.]
+
+
+22 (return) [ A contemporary and rival of Aristophanes.]
+
+
+23 (return) [ Aristophanes, Ach. 531]
+
+
+24 (return) [ Thersites. Iliad, II. V. 212.]
+
+
+25 (return) [ Ulysses. Iliad, III. V. 222.]
+
+
+26 (return) [ Menelaua. Iliad, III. V. 214.]
+
+
+27 (return) [ Great-grandfather of the Emperor M. Aurelius.]
+
+
+28 (return) [ An eminent lawyer of Trajan's reign.]
+
+
+29 (return) [ The philosophers used to hold their disputations in the
+gymnasia and porticoes, being places of the most public resort for
+walking, &c. M.]
+
+
+30 (return) [ "Verginius Rufus was governor of Upper Germany at the time
+of the revolt of Julius Vindex in Gaul. A.D. 68. The soldiers of
+Verginius wished to raise him to the empire, but he refused the honour,
+and marched against Vindex, who perished before Vesontio. After the
+death of Nero, Verginius supported the claims of Galba, and accompanied
+him to Rome. Upon Otho's death, the soldiers again attempted to proclaim
+Verginius emperor, and in consequence of his refusal of the honour, he
+narrowly escaped with his life." (See Smith's Dict. of Greek and Rom.
+Biog., &c.)]
+
+
+31 (return) [ Nerva.]
+
+
+32 (return) [ The historian,]
+
+
+33 (return) [ Namely, of augurs. "This college, as regulated by Sylla,
+consisted of fifteen, who were all persons of the first distinction in
+Rome; it was a priesthood for life, of a character indelible, which no
+crime or forfeiture could efface; it was necessary that every candidate
+should be nominated to the people by two augurs, who gave a solemn
+testimony upon, oath of his dignity and fitness for that office."
+Middleton's Life of Cicero, I. 547. M.]
+
+
+34 (return) [ The ancient Greeks and Romans did not sit up at the table
+as we do, but reclined round it on couches, three and sometimes even
+four occupying one conch, at least this latter was the custom among the
+Romans. Each guest lay flat upon his chest while eating, reaching out
+his hand from time to time to the table, for what he might require. As
+soon as he had made a sufficient meal, he turned over upon his left
+side, leaning on the elbow.]
+
+
+35 (return) [ A people of Germany.]
+
+
+36 (return) [ "Any Roman priest devoted to the service of one particular
+god was designated Flamen, receiving a distinguishing epithet from the
+deity to whom he ministered. The office was understood to last for life;
+but a flamen might be compelled to resign for a breach of duty, or even
+on account of the occurrence of an ill-omened accident while discharging
+his functions." Smith's Dictionary of Antiquities.]
+
+
+37 (return) [ Trajan.]
+
+
+38 (return) [ By a law passed A. D. 76, it was enacted that every
+citizen of Rome who had three children should be excused from all
+troublesome offices where he lived. This privilege the emperors
+sometimes extended to those who were not legally entitled to it.]
+
+
+39 (return) [ About 54 cents.]
+
+
+40 (return) [ Avenue]
+
+
+41 (return) [ "Windows made of a transparent stone called lapis
+specularis (mica), which was first found in Hispania Citerior, and
+afterwards in Cyprus, Cappadocia, Sicily, and Africa; but the best caine
+from Spain and Cappadocia. It was easily split into the thinnest sheets.
+Windows, made of this stone were called specularia." Smith's Dictionary
+of Antiquities.]
+
+
+42 (return) [ A feast held in honour of the god Saturn, which began on
+the 19th of December, and continued as some say, for seven days. It was
+a time of general rejoicing, particularly among the slaves, who had at
+this season the privilege of taking great liberties with their masters.
+M.]
+
+
+43 (return) [ Cicero and Quintilian have laid down rules how far, and in
+what instances, this liberty was allowable, and both agree it ought to
+be used with great sagacity and judgment. The latter of these excellent
+critics mentions a witticism of Flavius Virginius, who asked one of
+these orators, "Quot nillia assuum deciamassett." How many miles he had
+declaimed. M.]
+
+
+44 (return) [ This was an act of great ceremony; and if Aurelia's dress
+was of the kind which some of the Roman ladies used, the legacy must
+have been considerable which Regulus had the impudence to ask. M.]
+
+
+45 (return) [ $3,350,000.]
+
+
+46 (return) [ A poet to whom Quintilian assigns the highest rank, as a
+Writer of tragedies, among his contemporaries (book X. C. I. 98).
+Tacitus also speaks of him in terms of high appreciation (Annals, v.
+8).]
+
+
+47 (return) [ Stepson of Augustus and brother to Tiberius. An amiable
+and popular prince. He died at the close of his third campaign, from a
+fracture received by falling from his horse.]
+
+
+48 (return) [ A historian under Augustus and Tiberius. He wrote part of
+a history of Rome, which was continued by the elder Pliny; also an
+account of the German war, to which Quintilian makes allusion (Inst. X.
+103), pronouncing him, as a historian, "estimable in all respects, yet
+in some things failing to do himself justice."]
+
+
+49 (return) [ The distribution of time among the Romans was very
+different from ours. They divided the night into four equal parts, which
+they called watches, each three hours in length; and part of these they
+devoted either to the pleasures of the table or to study. The natural
+day they divided into twelve hours, the first beginning with sunrise,
+and the last ending with sunset; by which means their hours were of
+unequal length, varying according to the different seasons of the year.
+The time for business began with sunrise, and continued to the fifth
+hour, being that of dinner, which with them was only a slight repast.
+From thence to the seventh hour was a time of repose; a custom which
+still prevails in Italy. The eighth hour was employed in bodily
+exercises; after which they constantly bathed, and from thence went to
+supper. M.]
+
+
+50 (return) [ $16,000.]
+
+
+51 (return) [ Born about A. D. 25. He acquired some distinction as an
+advocate. The only poem of his which has come down to us is a heavy
+prosaic performance in seventeen books, entitled "Tunica," and
+containing an account of the events of the Second Punic War, from the
+capture of Saguntum to the triumph of Scipio Africanus. See Smith's
+Dict. of Gr. and Roin. Biog.]
+
+
+52 (return) [ Trajan.]
+
+
+53 (return) [ Spurinna's wife.]
+
+
+54 (return) [ Domitian banished the philosophers not only from Rome, but
+Italy, as Suetonius (Dom. C. X.) and Aulus Gellius (Noct. Att. b. XV.
+CXI. 3, 4, 5) Inform us among these was the celebrated Epictetus. M.]
+
+
+55 (return) [ The following is the story, as related by several of the
+ancient historians. Paetus, having joined Scribonianus, who was in arms,
+in Illyria, against Claudius, was taken after the death of Scribonianus,
+and condemned to death. Arria having, in vain, solicited his life,
+persuaded him to destroy himself, rather than suffer the ignominy of
+falling by the executioner's hands; and, in order to encourage him to an
+act, to which, it seems, he was not particularly inclined, she set him
+the example in the manner Pliny relates. M.]
+
+
+56 (return) [ Trajan.]
+
+
+57 (return) [ The Roman, used to employ their criminals in the lower
+ones of husbandry, such as ploughing, &c. Pun. H. N. 1. 18, 3. M.]
+
+
+58 (return) [ About $500,000.]
+
+
+59 (return) [ About $800,000.]
+
+
+60 (return) [ One of the famous seven hills upon which Rome was
+situated.]
+
+
+61 (return) [ Mart. LX. 19.]
+
+
+62 (return) [ Calpurnia, Pliny's wife.]
+
+
+63 (return) [ Now Citta di Castello.]
+
+
+64 (return) [ The Romans had an absolute power over their children, of
+which no age or station of the latter deprived them.]
+
+
+65 (return) [ Their business was to interpret dreams, oracles,
+prodigies, &c., and to foretell whether any action should be fortunate
+or prejudicial, to particular persons, or to the whole commonwealth.
+Upon this account, they very often occasioned the displacing of
+magistrates, the deferring of public assemblies, &c. Kennet's Ron,.
+Antig. M.]
+
+
+66 (return) [ Trajan.]
+
+
+67 (return) [ A slave was incapable of property; and, therefore,
+whatever he acquired became the right of his master. M.]
+
+
+68 (return) [ "Their office was to attend upon the rites of Vests, the
+chief part of which was the preservation of the holy fire. If this fire
+happened to go out, it was considered impiety to light it at any common
+flame, but they made use of the pure and unpolluted rays of the sun for
+that purpose. There were various other duties besides connected with
+their office. The chief rules prescribed them were, to vow the strictest
+chastity, for the space of thirty years. After this term was completed,
+they had liberty to leave the order. If they broke their vow of
+virginity, they were buried alive in a place allotted to that peculiar
+use." Kennet's Antiq. Their reputation for sanctity was so high that
+Livy mentions the fact of two of those virgins having violated their
+vows, as a prodigy that, threatened destruction to the Roman state. Lib.
+XXII. C. 57. And Suetonius inform, us that Augiastus had so high an
+opinion of this religious order, that he consigned the care of his will
+to the Vestal Virgins. Suet, in vit. Aug. C. XCI. M.]
+
+
+69 (return) [ It was usual with Domitian to triumph, not only without a
+victory, but even after a defeat, M.]
+
+
+70 (return) [ Euripides' Hecuba,]
+
+
+71 (return) [ The punishment inflicted upon the violators of Vestal
+chastity was to be scourged to death. M.]
+
+
+72 (return) [ Calpurnia, Pliny's wife.]
+
+
+73 (return) [ Gratilla was the wife of Rusticus: Rusticus was put to
+death by Domitian, and Gratilla banished. It was sufficient crime in the
+reign of that execrable prince to be even a friend of those who were
+obnoxious to him. M.]
+
+
+74 (return) [ In the original, scrinium, box for holding MSS.]
+
+
+75 (return) [ The hippodromus, in its proper signification, was a place,
+among the Grecians, set apart for horse-racing and other exercises of
+that kind. But it seems here to be nothing more than a particular walk,
+to which Pliny perhaps gave that name, from its bearing some resemblance
+in its form to the public places so called. M.]
+
+
+76 (return) [ Now called Frascati, Tivoli, and Palestrina, all of them
+situated in the Campagna di Roma, and at no great distance from Rome.
+M.]
+
+
+77 (return) [ "This is said in allusion to the idea of Nemesis supposed
+to threaten excessive prosperity." (Church and Brodribb.)]
+
+
+78 (return) [ About $15,000.]
+
+
+79 (return) [ About $42,000.]
+
+
+80 (return) [ None had the right of using family pictures or statues but
+those whose ancestors or themselves had borne some of the highest
+dignities. So that the jus imaginis was much the same thing among the
+Romans as the right of bearing a coat of arms among us. Ken. Antiq. M.]
+
+
+81 (return) [ The Roman physicians used to send their patients in
+consumptive cases into Egypt, particularly to Alexandria. M.]
+
+
+82 (return) [ Frejus, in Provence, the southern part of France. M.]
+
+
+83 (return) [ A court of justice erected by Julius Cæsar in the forum,
+and opposite to the basilica Aemilia.]
+
+
+84 (return) [ The deceniviri seem to have been magistrates for the
+administration of justice, subordinate to the praetors, who (to give the
+English reader a general notion of their office) may be termed lords
+chief justices, as the judges here mentioned were something in the
+nature of our juries. M.]
+
+
+85 (return) [ About $400.]
+
+
+86 (return) [ This silly piece of superstition seems to have been
+peculiar to Regulus, and not of any general practice; at least it is a
+custom of which we find no other mention in antiquity. M.]
+
+
+87 (return) [ "We gather from Martial that the wearing of these was not
+an unusual practice with <DW2>s and dandies." See Epig. II. 29, in which
+he ridicules a certain Rufus, and hints that if you were to "strip off
+the 'splenia (plasters)' from his face, you would find out that he was a
+branded runaway slave." (Church and Brodribb.)]
+
+
+88 (return) [ His wife.]
+
+
+89 (return) [ Hom. II. lib, I. V. 88.]
+
+
+90 (return) [ Now Alzia, not far from Corno.]
+
+
+91 (return) [ Nevertheless, Javolentis Priscus was one of the most
+eminent lawyers of his time, and is frequently quoted in the Digesta of
+Justinian.]
+
+
+92 (return) [ In the Bay of Naples.]
+
+
+93 (return) [ The Romans used to lie or walk naked in the sun, after
+anointing their bodies with oil, which was esteemed as greatly
+contributing to health, and therefore daily practised by them. This
+custom, however, of anointing themselves, is inveighed against by the
+Satirists as in the number of their luxurious indulgences: but since we
+find the elder Pliny here, and the amiable Spurinna in a former letter,
+practising this method, we can not suppose the thing itself was esteemed
+unmanly, but only when it was attended with some particular
+circumstances of an over-refined delicacy. M.]
+
+
+94 (return) [ Now called Castelamare, in the Bay of Naples. M.]
+
+
+95 (return) [ The Stoic and Epicurean philosophers held that the world
+was to be destroyed by fire, and all things fall again into original
+chaos; not excepting even the national gods themselves from the
+destruction of this general conflagration. M.]
+
+
+96 (return) [ The lake Larius.]
+
+
+97 (return) [ Those families were styled patrician whose ancestors had
+been members of the senate in the earliest times of the regal or
+consular government. M.]
+
+
+98 (return) [ Trajan]
+
+
+99 (return) [ The consuls, though they were chosen in August, did not
+enter upon their office till the first of January, during which interval
+they were styled consules designati, consuls elect. It was usual for
+them upon that occasion to compliment the emperor, by whose appointment,
+after the dissolution of the republican government, they were chosen.
+M.]
+
+
+100 (return) [ So called, because it formerly belonged to Camillus. M.]
+
+
+101 (return) [ Civita Vecchia.]
+
+
+102 (return) [ Trajan.]
+
+
+103 (return) [ An officer in the Roman legions, answering in some sort
+to a captain In our companies. M.]
+
+
+104 (return) [ This law was made by Augustus Cæsar; but it nowhere
+clearly appears what was the peculiar punishment it inflicted. M.]
+
+
+105 (return) [ An officer employed by the emperor to receive and
+regulate the public revenue in the provinces. M.]
+
+
+106 (return) [ Comprehending Transylvania, Moldavia, and Walaehia. M.]
+
+
+107 (return) [ Polycletus was a freedman, and great favourite of Nero.
+M.]
+
+
+108 (return) [ Memmius, or Rhemmius (the critics are not agreed which),
+was author of a law by which it was enacted that whosoever was convicted
+of calumny and false accusation should be stigmatised with a mark in his
+forehead; and by the law of the twelve tables, false accusers were to
+suffer the same punishment as would have been inflicted upon the person
+unjustly accused if the crime had been proved. M.]
+
+
+109 (return) [ Trajan.]
+
+
+110 (return) [ Unction was much esteemed and prescribed by the ancients.
+Celsus expressly recommends it in the remission of acute distempers:
+"ungi leniterque pertractari corpus, etiam in acutic et recentibus
+niorbis opartet; us rernissione fumen," &c. Celsi Med. ed. Aliucloveen,
+p. 88. M.]
+
+
+111 (return) [ His wife.]
+
+
+112 (return) [ See book V. letter XX.]
+
+
+113 (return) [ Trajan.]
+
+
+114 (return) [ One of the Bithynians employed to manage the trial. M.]
+
+
+115 (return) [ About $28,000.]
+
+
+116 (return) [ About $26,000.]
+
+
+117 (return) [ There is a kind of witticism in this expression, which
+will be lost to the mere English reader unless he be informed that the
+Romans had a privilege, confirmed to them by several laws which passed
+in the earlier ages of the republic, of appealing from the decisions of
+the magistrates to the general assembly of the people: and they did so
+in the form of words which Pomponius here applies to a different
+purpose. M.]
+
+
+118 (return) [ The priests, as well as other magistrates, exhibited
+public games to the people when they entered upon their office. M.]
+
+
+119 (return) [ A famous lawyer who flourished in the reign of the
+emperor Claudius: those who followed his opinions were said to be
+Cassians, or of the school of Cassius. M.]
+
+
+120 (return) [ A Stoic philosopher and native of Tarsus. He was tutor
+for some time to Octavius, afterwards Augustus, Cæsar.]
+
+
+121 (return) [ Balzac very prettily observes: "Il y a des riviere: qui
+ne font jamais tact de bien que quand elles se dibordent; de eneme,
+l'amitie n'a mealleur quo l'exces." M.]
+
+
+122 (return) [ Persons of rank and literature among the Romans retained
+in their families a domestic whose sole business was to read to them.
+M.]
+
+
+123 (return) [ It was a doctrine maintained by the Stoics that all
+crimes are equal M.]
+
+
+124 (return) [ About $400.]
+
+
+125 (return) [ About $600.]
+
+
+126 (return) [ About $93.]
+
+
+127 (return) [ Hom. II. lib. IX. V. 319.]
+
+
+128 (return) [ Those of Nero and Domitian. M.]
+
+
+129 (return) [ When Nerva and Trajan received the empire. M.]
+
+
+130 (return) [ A slave could acquire no property, and consequently was
+incapable bylaw of making a will. M.]
+
+
+131 (return) [ Now called Amelia, a town in Ombria. M.]
+
+
+132 (return) [ Now Laghetto di Bassano. M.]
+
+
+133 (return) [ A province in Anatolia, or Asia Minor. M.]
+
+
+134 (return) [ The performers at these games were divided into
+companies, distinguished by the particular colour of their habits; the
+principal of which were the white, the red, the blue, and the green.
+Accordingly the spectators favoured one or the other colour, as humour
+and caprice inclined them. In the reign of Justinian a tumult arose in
+Constantinople, occasioned merely by a contention among the partisans of
+these several colours, wherein no less than 30,000 men lost their lives.
+M.]
+
+
+135 (return) [ Now called Castello di Baia, in Terra di Lavoro. It was
+the place the Romans chose for their winter retreat; and which they
+frequented upon account of its warm baths. Some few ruins of the
+beautiful villas that once covered this delightful coast still remain;
+and nothing can give one a higher idea of the prodigious expense and
+magnificence of the Romans in their private buildings than the manner in
+which some of these were situated. It appears from this letter, as well
+as from several other passages in the classic writers, that they
+actually projected into the sea, being erected upon vast piles, sunk for
+that purpose.]
+
+
+136 (return) [ The buskin was a kind of high shoe worn upon the stage by
+the actors of tragedy, in order to give them a more heroical elevation
+of stature; as the sock was something between a shoe and stocking, it
+was appropriated to the comic players. M.]
+
+
+137 (return) [ Lyons.]
+
+
+138 (return) [ He was accused of treason, under pretence that in a
+dramatic piece which he composed he had, in the characters of Paris and
+Oenone, reflected upon Domitian for divorcing his wife Domitia. Suet, in
+Vit. Domit. C. 10. M.]
+
+
+139 (return) [ Helvidius.]
+
+
+140 (return) [ Upon the accession of Nerva to the empire, after the
+death of Domitian. M.]
+
+
+142 (return) [ Our authors first wife; of whom we have no particular
+account. After her death, he married his favourite Calpurnia. M.]
+
+
+143 (return) [ It is very remarkable that, when any senator was asked
+his opinion in the house, he had the privilege of speaking as long as he
+pleased upon any other affair before he came to the point in question.
+Aul. Gell. IV. C. 10. M.]
+
+
+144 (return) [ Aeneid, LIB. VI. V. 105.]
+
+
+145 (return) [ Arria and Fannia.]
+
+
+146 (return) [ The appellation by which the senate was addressed. M.]
+
+
+147 (return) [ The tribunes were magistrates chosen at first out of the
+body of the commons, for the defence of their liberties, and to
+interpose in all grievances offered by their superiors. Their authority
+extended even to the deliberations of the senate. M.]
+
+
+148 (return) [ Diomed's speech to Nestor, advising him to retire from
+the field of battle. Iliad, VIII. 302. Pope. M.]
+
+
+149 (return) [ Nerva.]
+
+
+150 (return) [ Domitian; by whom he had been appointed consul elect,
+though he had not yet entered upon that office. M.]
+
+
+151 (return) [ These persons were introduced at most of the tables of
+the great, for the purposes of mirth and gaiety, and constituted an
+essential part in all polite entertainments among the Romans. It is
+surprising how soon this great people fell off from their original
+severity of manners, and were tainted with the stale refinements of
+foreign luxury. Livy dates the rise of this and other unmanly delicacies
+from the conquest of Scipio Asiaticus over Antiochus; that is when the
+Roman name had scarce subsisted above a hundred and threescore years.
+"Luxuriae peregrinae origio," says he, "exercitu Asiatico in urbem
+invecta est." This triumphant army caught, it seems, the contagious
+softness of the people it subdued; and, on its return to Rome, spread an
+infection among their countrymen, which worked by slow degrees, till it
+effected their total destruction. Thus did Eastern luxury revenge itself
+on Roman arms. It may be wondered that Pliny should keep his own temper,
+and check the indignation of his friends at a scene which was fit only
+for the dissolute revels of the infamous Trimalchio. But it will not,
+perhaps, be doing justice to our author to take an estimate of his real
+sentiments upon this point from the letter before us. Genitor, it seems,
+was a man of strict, but rather of too austere morals for the free turn
+of the age: "emendatus et gravis: paulo etiam horridior et durior ut in
+hac licentia teniporuni" (Ep. III. 1. 3). But as there is a certain
+seasonable accommodation to the manners of the times, not only extremely
+Consistent with, but highly conducive to, the interests of virtue,
+Pliny, probably, may affect a greater latitude than he in general
+approved, in order to draw off his friend from that stiffness and
+unyielding disposition which might prejudice those of a gayer turn
+against him, and consequently lessen the beneficial influence of his
+virtues upon the world. M.]
+
+
+152 (return) [ See letter CIII.]
+
+
+153 (return) [ Iliad, XXI. 387. Pope. M.]
+
+
+154 (return) [ Iliad, V. 356, speaking of Mars. M.; Iliad, IV. 452.
+Pope.]
+
+
+155 (return) [ The design of Pliny in this letter is to justify the
+figurative expressions he had employed, probably, in same oration, by
+instances of the same warmth of colouring from those great masters of
+eloquence, Demosthenes and his rival Aesehines. But the force of the
+passages which he produces from those orators must necessarily be
+greatly weakened to a mere modern reader, some of them being only hinted
+at, as generally well known; and the metaphors in several of the others
+have either lost much of their original spirit and boldness, by being
+introduced and received in Common language, or cannot, perhaps, he
+preserved in an English translation. M.]
+
+
+156 (return) [ See 1st Philippic.]
+
+
+157 (return) [ See Demosthenes' speech in defence of Cteisphon.]
+
+
+158 (return) [ See end Olynthiac.]
+
+
+159 (return) [ See Aesehines' speech against Ctesiphon.]
+
+
+160 (return) [ It was a religious ceremony practised by the ancients to
+pour precious ointments upon the statues of their gods: Avitus, it is
+probable, imagined this dolphin was some sea-divinity, and therefore
+expressed his veneration of him by the solemnity of a sacred unction.
+M.]
+
+
+161 (return) [ The overflowing humanity of Pliny's temper breaks out
+upon all occasions, but he discovers it in nothing more strongly than by
+the impression which this little story appears to have made upon him.
+True benevolence, indeed, extends itself through the whole compass of
+existence, and sympathises with the distress of every creature of
+sensation. Little minds may be apt to consider a compassion of this
+inferior kind as an instance of weakness; but it is undoubtedly the
+evidence of a noble nature. Homer thought it not unbecoming the
+character even of a hero to melt into tears at a distress of this sort,
+and has given us a most amiable and affecting picture of Ulysses weeping
+over his faithful dog Argus, when he expires at his feet:
+
+
+"Soft pity touch'd the mighty master's soul; Adown his cheek the tear
+unbidden stole, Stole unperceived; he turn'd his head and dry'd The drop
+humane.". (Odyss. XVII. Pope.) M.]
+
+162 (return) [ By the regimen which Pliny here follows, one would
+imagine, if he had not told us who were his physicians, that the
+celebrated Celsus was in the number. That author expressly recommends
+reading aloud, and afterwards walking, as beneficial in disorders of the
+stomach: "Si quis stomacho laborat, leqere clare debet; post lectionem
+ambulare," &c. Celsi Medic. 1. I. C. 8. M.]
+
+
+
+CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+
+
+I -- TO THE EMPEROR TRAJAN[1001]
+
+THE pious affection you bore, most sacred Emperor, to your august father
+induced you to wish it might be late ere you succeeded him. But the
+immortal gods thought proper to hasten the advancement of those virtues
+to the helm of the commonwealth which had already shared in the
+steerage.[1002] May you then, and the world through your means, enjoy
+every prosperity worthy of your reign: to which let me add my wishes,
+most excellent Emperor, upon a private as well as public account, that
+your health and spirits may be preserved firm and unbroken.
+
+
+
+II -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+You have occasioned me, Sir, an inexpressible pleasure in deeming me
+worthy of enjoying the privilege which the laws confer on those who have
+three children. For although it was from an indulgence to the request of
+the excellent Julius Servianus, your own most devoted servant, that you
+granted this favour, yet I have the satisfaction to find by the words of
+your rescript that you complied the more willingly as his application
+was in my behalf. I cannot but look upon myself as in possession of my
+utmost wish, after having thus received, at the beginning of your most
+auspicious reign, so distinguishing a mark of your peculiar favour; at
+the same time that it considerably heightens my desire of leaving a
+family behind me. I was not entirely without this desire even in the
+late most unhappy times: as my two marriages will induce you to believe.
+But the gods decreed it better, by reserving every valuable privilege to
+the bounty of your generous dispensations. And indeed the pleasure of
+being a father will be so much more acceptable to me now, that I can
+enjoy it in full security and happiness.
+
+
+
+III -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+THE experience, most excellent Emperor, I have had of your unbounded
+generosity to me, in my own person, encourages me to hope I may be yet
+farther obliged to it, in that of my friends. Voconius Romanus (who was
+my schoolfellow and companion from our earliest years) claims the first
+rank in that number; in consequence of which I petitioned your sacred
+father to promote him to the dignity of the senatorial order. But the
+completion of my request is reserved to your goodness; for his mother
+had not then advanced, in the manner the law directs, the liberal
+gift[1003] of four hundred thousand sesterces, which she engaged to give
+him, in her letter to the late emperor, your father. This, however, by
+my advice she has since done, having made over certain estates to him,
+as well as completed every other act necessary to make the conveyance
+valid. The difficulties therefore being removed which deferred the
+gratification of our wishes, it is with full confidence I venture to
+assure you of the worth of my friend Romanus, heightened and adorned as
+it is not only by liberal culture, but by his extraordinary tenderness
+to his parents as well. It is to that virtue he owes the present
+liberality of his mother; as well as his immediate succession to his
+late father's estate, and his adoption by his father-in-law. To these
+personal qualifications, the wealth and rank of his family give
+additional lustre; and I persuade myself it will be some further
+recommendation that I solicit in his behalf. Let me, then, entreat you,
+Sir, to enable me to congratulate Romanus on so desirable an occasion,
+and at the same time to indulge an eager and, I hope, laudable ambition,
+of having it in my power to boast that your favourable regards are
+extended not only to myself, but also to my friend.
+
+
+
+IV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+WHEN by your gracious indulgence, Sir, I was appointed to preside at the
+treasury of Saturn, I immediately renounced all engagements of the bar
+(as indeed I never blended business of that kind with the functions of
+the state), that no avocations might call off my attention from the post
+to which I was appointed. For this reason, when the province of Africa
+petitioned the senate that I might undertake their cause against Marius
+Priscus, I excused myself from that office; and my excuse was allowed.
+But when afterwards the consul elect proposed that the senate should
+apply to us again, and endeavour to prevail with us to yield to its
+inclinations, and suffer our names to be thrown into the urn, I thought
+it most agreeable to that tranquillity and good order which so happily
+distinguishes your times not to oppose (especially in so reasonable an
+instance) the will of that august assembly. And, as I am desirous that
+all my words and actions may receive the sanction of your exemplary
+virtue, I hope you approve of my compliance.
+
+
+
+V -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+You acted as became a good citizen and a worthy senator, by paying
+obedience to the just requisition of that august assembly: and I have
+full confidence you will faithfully discharge the business you have
+undertaken.
+
+
+
+VI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+HAVING been attacked last year by a very severe and dangerous illness, I
+employed a physician, whose care and diligence, Sir, I cannot
+sufficiently reward, but by your gracious assistance. I entreat you
+therefore to make him a denizen of Rome; for as he is the freedman of a
+foreign lady, he is, consequently, himself also a foreigner. His name is
+Harpocras; his patroness (who has been dead a considerable time) was
+Thermuthis, the daughter of Theon. I further entreat you to bestow the
+full privileges of a Roman citizen upon Hedia and Antonia Harmeris, the
+freedwomen of Antonia Maximilla, a lady of great merit. It is at her
+desire I make this request.
+
+
+
+VII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+I RETURN YOU thanks, Sir, for your ready compliance with my desire, in
+granting the complete privileges of a Roman to the freedwomen of a lady
+to whom I am allied and also for making Harpocras, my physician, a
+denizen of Rome. But when, agreeably to your directions, I gave in an
+account of his age, and estate, I was informed by those who are better
+skilled in the affairs than I pretend to be that, as he is an Egyptian,
+I ought first to have obtained for him the freedom of Alexandria before
+he was made free of Rome. I confess, indeed, as I was ignorant of any
+difference in this case between those of Egypt and other countries, I
+contented myself with only acquainting you that he had been manumitted
+by a foreign lady long since deceased. However, it is an ignorance I
+cannot regret, since it affords me an opportunity of receiving from you
+a double obligation in favour of the same person. That I may legally
+therefore enjoy the benefit of your goodness, I beg you would be pleased
+to grant him the freedom of the city of Alexandria, as well as that of
+Rome. And that your gracious intentions may not meet with any further
+obstacles, I have taken care, as you directed, to send an account to
+your freedman of his age and possessions.
+
+
+
+VIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+IT is my resolution, in pursuance of the maxim observed by the princes
+my predecessors, to be extremely cautious in granting the freedom of the
+city of Alexandria: however, since you have obtained of me the freedom
+of Rome for your physician Harpocras, I cannot refuse you this other
+request. You must let me know to what district he belongs, that I may
+give you a letter to my friend Pompeius Planta, governor of Egypt.
+
+
+
+IX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+I CANNOT express, Sir, the pleasure your letter gave me, by which I am
+informed that you have made my physician Harpocras a denizen of
+Alexandria; notwithstanding your resolution to follow the maxim of your
+predecessors in this point, by being extremely cautious in granting that
+privilege. Agreeably to your directions, I acquaint you that Harpocras
+belongs to the district of Memphis.[1004] I entreat you then, most
+gracious Emperor, to send me, as you promised, a letter to your friend
+Pompeius Planta, governor of Egypt. As I purpose (in order to have the
+earliest enjoyment of your presence, so ardently wished for here) to
+come to meet you, I beg, Sir, you would permit me to extend my journey
+as far as possible.
+
+
+
+X -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+I WAS greatly obliged, Sir, in my late illness, to Posthumius Marinus,
+my physician; and I cannot make him a suitable return, but by the
+assistance of your wonted gracious indulgence. I entreat you then to
+make Chrysippus Mithridates and his wife Stratonica (who are related to
+Marinus) denizens of Rome. I entreat likewise the same privilege in
+favour of Epigonus and Mithridates, the two sons of Chrysippus; but with
+this restriction [1005] that they may remain under the dominion of their
+father, and yet reserve their right of patronage over their own
+freedmen. I further entreat you to grant the full privileges of a Roman
+to L. Satrius Abascantius, P. Caesius Phosphorus, and Pancharia Soteris.
+This request I make with the consent of their patrons.[1005]
+
+
+
+XI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+AFTER your late sacred father, Sir, had, in a noble speech, as well as
+by his own generous example, exhorted and encouraged the public to acts
+of munificence, I implored his permission to remove the several statues
+which I had of the former emperors to my corporation, and at the same
+time requested permission to add his own to the number. For as I had
+hitherto let them remain in the respective places in which they stood
+when they were left to me by several different inheritances, they were
+dispersed in distant parts of my estate. He was pleased to grant my
+request, and at the same time to give me a very ample testimony of his
+approbation. I immediately, therefore, wrote to the decurii, to desire
+they would allot a piece of ground, upon which I might build a temple at
+my own expense; and they, as a mark of honour to my design, offered me
+the choice of any site I might think proper. However, my own ill-health
+in the first place, and later that of your father, together with the
+duties of that employment which you were both pleased to entrust me,
+prevented my proceeding with that design. But I have now, I think, a
+convenient opportunity of making an excursion for the purpose, as my
+monthly attendances ends on the 1st of September, and there are several
+festivals in the month following. My first request, then, is that you
+would permit me to adorn the temple I am going to erect with your
+statue, and next (in order to the execution of my design with all the
+expedition possible) that you would indulge me with leave of absence. It
+would ill become the sincerity I profess, were I to dissemble that your
+goodness in complying with this desire will at the same time be
+extremely serviceable to me in my own private affairs. It is absolutely
+necessary I should not defer any longer the letting of my lands in that
+province; for, besides that they amount to above four hundred thousand
+sesterces,[1006] the time for dressing the vineyards is approaching, and
+that business must fall upon my new tenants.[1007] The unfruitfulness of
+the seasons besides, for several years past, obliges me to think of
+making some abatements in my rents; which I cannot possibly settle
+unless I am present. I shall be indebted then to your indulgence, Sir,
+for the expedition of my work of piety, and the settlement of my own
+private affairs, if you will be pleased to grant me leave of
+absence[1008] for thirty days. I cannot give myself a shorter time, as
+the town and the estate of which I am speaking lie above a hundred and
+fifty miles from Rome.
+
+
+
+XII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+You have given me many private reasons, and every public one, why you
+desire leave of absence; but I need no other than that it is your
+desire: and I doubt not of your returning as soon as possible to the
+duty of an office which so much requires your attendance. As I would not
+seem to check any instance of your affection towards me, I shall not
+oppose your erecting my statue in the place you desire; though in
+general I am extremely cautious in giving any encouragement to honours
+of that kind.
+
+
+
+XIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+[1009] As I am sensible, Sir, that the highest applause my actions can
+receive is to be distinguished by so excellent a prince, I beg you would
+be graciously pleased to add either the office of augur or septemvir [1009]
+(both which are now vacant) to the dignity I already enjoy by your
+indulgence; that I may have the satisfaction of publicly offering up
+those vows for your prosperity, from the duty of my office, which I
+daily prefer to the gods in private, from the affection of my heart.
+
+
+
+XIV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+HAVING safely passed the promontory of Malea, I am arrived at Ephesus
+with all my retinue, notwithstanding I was detained for some time by
+contrary winds: a piece of information, Sir, in which, I trust, you will
+feel yourself concerned. I propose pursuing the remainder of my journey
+to the province[1010] partly in light vessels, and partly in post-
+chaises: for as the excessive heats will prevent my travelling
+altogether by land, so the Etesian winds,[1011] which are now set in,
+will not permit me to proceed entirely by sea.
+
+
+
+XV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+YOUR information, my dear Pliny, was extremely agreeable to mc, as it
+does concern me to know in what manner you arrive at your province. It
+is a wise intention of yours to travel either by sea or land, as you
+shall find most convenient.
+
+
+
+XVI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+As I had a very favourable voyage to Ephesus, so in travelling by post-
+chaise from thence I was extremely troubled by the heats, and also by
+some slight feverish attacks, which kept me some time at Pergamus. From
+there, Sir, I got on board a coasting vessel, but, being again detained
+by contrary winds, did not arrive at Bithynia so soon as I had hoped.
+However, I have no reason to complain of this delay, since (which indeed
+was the most auspicious circumstance that could attend me) I reached the
+province in time to celebrate your birthday. I am at present engaged in
+examining the finances of the Prusenses,[1012] their expenses, revenues,
+and credits; and the farther I proceed in this work, the more I am
+convinced of the necessity of my enquiry. Several large sums of money
+are owing to the city from private persons, which they neglect to pay
+upon various pretences; as, on the other hand, I find the public funds
+are, in some instances, very unwarrantably applied. This, Sir, I write
+to you immediately on my arrival. I entered this province on the 17th of
+September,[1013] and found in it that obedience and loyalty towards
+yourself which you justly merit from all mankind. You will consider,
+Sir, whether it would not be proper to send a surveyor here; for I am
+inclined to think much might be deducted from what is charged by those
+who have the conduct of the public works if a faithful admeasurement
+were to be taken: at least I am of that opinion from what I have already
+seen of the accounts of this city, which I am now going into as fully as
+is possible.
+
+
+
+XVII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+I SHOULD have rejoiced to have heard that you arrived at Bithynia
+without the smallest inconvenience to yourself or any of your retinue,
+and that your journey from Ephesus had been as easy as your voyage to
+that place was favourable. For the rest, your letter informs me, my
+dearest Secundus, on what day you reached Bithynia. The people of that
+province will be convinced, I persuade myself, that I am attentive to
+their interest: as your conduct towards them will make it manifest that
+I could have chosen no more proper person to supply my place. The
+examination of the public accounts ought certainly to be your first
+employment, as they are evidently in great disorder. I have scarcely
+surveyors sufficient to inspect those works[1014] which I am carrying on
+at Rome, and in the neighbourhood; but persons of integrity and skill in
+this art may be found, most certainly, in every province, so that they
+will not fail you if only you will make due enquiry.
+
+
+
+XVIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+THOUGH I am well assured, Sir, that you, who never omit any opportunity
+of exerting your generosity, are not unmindful of the request I lately
+made to you, yet, as you have often indulged me in this manner, give me
+leave to remind and earnestly entreat you to bestow the praetorship now
+vacant upon Attius Sura. Though his ambition is extremely moderate, yet
+the quality of his birth, the inflexible integrity he has preserved in a
+very narrow fortune, and, more than all, the felicity of your times,
+which encourages conscious virtue to claim your favour, induce him to
+hope he may experience it in the present instance.
+
+
+
+XIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+I CONGRATULATE both you and the public, most excellent Emperor, upon the
+great and glorious victory you have obtained; so agreeable to the
+heroism of ancient Rome. May the immortal gods grant the same happy
+success to all your designs, that, under the administration of so many
+princely virtues, the splendour of the empire may shine out, not only in
+its former, but with additional lustre.[1015]
+
+
+
+XX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+Mv lieutenant, Servilius Pudens, came to Nicomedia,[1016] Sir, on the
+24th of November, and by his arrival freed me, at length, from the
+anxiety of a very uneasy expectation.
+
+
+
+XXI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+YOUR generosity to me, Sir, was the occasion of uniting me to Rosianus
+Geminus, by the strongest ties; for he was my quaestor when I was
+consul. His behaviour to me during the continuance of our offices was
+highly respectful, and he has treated me ever since with so peculiar a
+regard that, besides the many obligations I owe him upon a public
+account, I am indebted to him for the strongest pledges of private
+friendship. I entreat you, then, to comply with my request for the
+advancement of one whom (if my recommendation has any weight) you will
+even distinguish with your particular favour; and whatever trust you
+shall repose in him, he will endeavour to show himself still deserving
+of an higher. But I am the more sparing in my praises of him, being
+persuaded his integrity, his probity, and his vigilance are well known
+to you, not only from those high posts which he has exercised in Rome
+within your immediate inspection, but from his behaviour when he served
+under you in the army. One thing, however, my affection for him inclines
+me to think, I have not yet sufficiently done; and therefore, Sir, I
+repeat my entreaties that you will give me the pleasure, as early as
+possible, of rejoicing in the advancement of my quaestor, or, in other
+words, of receiving an addition to my own honours, in the person of my
+friend.
+
+
+
+XXII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+IT is not easy, Sir, to express the joy I received when I heard you had,
+in compliance with the request of my mother-in-law and myself, granted
+Coelius Clemens the proconsulship of this province after the expiration
+of his consular office; as it is from thence I learn the full extent of
+your goodness towards me, which thus graciously extends itself through
+my whole family. As I dare not pretend to make an equal return to those
+obligations I so justly owe you, I can only have recourse to vows, and
+ardently implore the gods that I may not be found unworthy of those
+favours which you are repeatedly conferring upon me.
+
+
+
+XXIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+I RECEIVED, Sir, a dispatch from your freedman, Lycormas, desiring me,
+if any embassy from Bosporus[1017] should come here on the way to Rome,
+that I would detain it till his arrival. None has yet arrived, at least
+in the city[1018] where I now am. But a courier passing through this
+place from the king of Sarmatia,[1019] I embrace the opportunity which
+accidentally offers itself, of sending with him the messenger which
+Lycormas despatched hither, that you might be informed by both their
+letters of what, perhaps, it may be expedient you should be acquainted
+with at one and the same time.
+
+
+
+XXIV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+I AM informed by a letter from the king of Sarmatia that there are
+certain affairs of which you ought to be informed as soon as possible.
+In order, therefore, to hasten the despatches which his courier was
+charged with to you, I granted him an order to make use of the public
+post.[1020]
+
+
+
+XXV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+THE ambassador from the king of Sarmatia having remained two days, by
+his own choice, at Nicea, I did not think it reasonable, Sir, to detain
+him any longer: because, in the first place, it was still uncertain when
+your freedman, Lycormas, would arrive, and then again some indispensable
+affairs require my presence in a different part of the province. Of this
+I thought it necessary that you should be informed, because I lately
+acquainted you in a letter that Lycormas had desired, if any embassy
+should come this way from Bosporus, that I would detain it till his
+arrival. But I saw no plausible pretext for keeping him back any longer,
+especially as the despatches from Lycormas, which (as I mentioned
+before) I was not willing to detain, would probably reach you some days
+sooner than this ambassador.
+
+
+
+XXVI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+I RECEIVED a letter, Sir, from Apuleius, a military man, belonging to
+the garrison at Nicomedia, informing me that one Callidromus, being
+arrested by Maximus and Dionysius (two bakers, to whom he had hired
+himself), fled for refuge to your statue;[1021] that, being brought
+before a magistrate, he declared he, was formerly slave to Laberius
+Maximus, but being taken prisoner by Susagus[1022] in Moesia,[1023] he
+was sent as a present from Decebalus to Pacorus, king of Parthia, in
+whose service he continued several years, from whence he made his
+escape, and came to Nicomedia. When he was examined before me, he
+confirmed this account, for which reason I thought it necessary to
+send[1024] him to you. This I should have done sooner, but I delayed his
+journey in order to make an inquiry concerning a seal ring which he said
+was taken from him, upon which was engraven the figure of Pacorus in his
+royal robes; I was desirous (if it could have been found) of
+transmitting this curiosity to you, with a small gold nugget which he
+says he brought from out of the Parthian mines. I have affixed my seal
+to it, the impression of which is a chariot drawn by four horses.
+
+
+
+XXVII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+YOUR freedman and procurator,[1025] Maximus, behaved, Sir, during all
+the time we were together, with great probity, attention, and diligence;
+as one strongly attached to your interest, and strictly observant of
+discipline. This testimony I willingly give him; and I give it with all
+the fidelity I owe you.
+
+
+
+XXVIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+AFTER having experienced, Sir, in Gabius Bassus, who commands on the
+Pontic[1026] coast, the greatest integrity, honour, and diligence, as
+well as the most particular respect to myself, I cannot refuse him my
+best wishes and suffrage; and I give them to him with all that fidelity
+which is due to you. I have found him abundantly qualified by having
+served in the army under you; and it is owing to the advantages of your
+discipline that he has learned to merit your favour. The soldiery and
+the people here, who have had full experience of his justice and
+humanity, rival each other in that glorious testimony they give of his
+conduct, both in public and in private; and I certify this with all the
+sincerity you have a right to expect from me.
+
+
+
+XXIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+NYMPHIDIUS Lupus,[1027] Sir, and myself, served in the army together; he
+commanded a body of the auxiliary forces at the same time that I was
+military tribune; and it was from thence my affection for him began. A
+long acquaintance has since mutually endeared and strengthened our
+friendship. For this reason I did violence to his repose, and insisted
+upon his attending me into Bithynia, as my assessor in council. He most
+readily granted me this proof of his friendship; and without any regard
+to the plea of age, or the ease of retirement, he shared, and continues
+to share, with me, the fatigue of public business. I consider his
+relations, therefore, as my own; in which number Nymphidius Lupus, his
+son, claims my particular regard. He is a youth of great merit and
+indefatigable application, and in every respect well worthy of so
+excellent a father. The early proof he gave of his merit, when he
+commanded a regiment of foot, shows him to be equal to any honour you
+may think proper to confer upon him; and it gained him the strongest
+testimony of approbation from those most illustrious personages, Julius
+Ferox and Fuscus Salinator. And I will add, Sir, that I shall rejoice in
+any accession of dignity which he shall receive as an occasion of
+particular satisfaction to myself.
+
+
+
+XXX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+I BEG your determination, Sir, on a point I am exceedingly doubtful
+about: it is whether I should place the public slaves[1028] as sentries
+round the prisons of the several cities in this province (as has been
+hitherto the practice) or employ a party of soldiers for that purpose?
+On the one hand, I am afraid the public slaves will not attend this duty
+with the fidelity they ought; and on the other, that it will engage too
+large a body of the soldiery. In the meanwhile I have joined a few of
+the latter with the former. I am apprehensive, however, there may be
+some danger that this method will occasion a general neglect of duty, as
+it will afford them a mutual opportunity of throwing the blame upon each
+other.
+
+
+
+XXXI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+THERE is no occasion, my dearest Secundus, to draw off any soldiers in
+order to guard the prisons. Let us rather persevere in the ancient
+customs observed in this province, of employing the public slaves for
+that purpose; and the fidelity with which they shall execute their duty
+will depend much upon your care and strict discipline. It is greatly to
+be feared, as you observe, if the soldiers should be mixed with the
+public slaves, they will mutually trust to each other, and by that means
+grow so much the more negligent. But my principal objection is that as
+few soldiers as possible should be withdrawn from their standard.
+
+
+
+XXXII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+GABIUS BASSUS, who commands upon the frontiers of Pontica, in a manner
+suitable to the respect and duty which he owes you, came to me, and has
+been with me, Sir, for several days. As far as I could observe, he is a
+person of great merit and worthy of your favour. I acquainted him it was
+your order that he should retain only ten beneficiary[1029] soldiers,
+two horse-guards, and one centurion out of the troops which you were
+pleased to assign to my command. He assured me those would not be
+sufficient, and that he would write to you accordingly; for which reason
+I thought it proper not immediately to recall his supernumeraries.
+
+
+
+XXXIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+I HAVE received from Gabius Bassus the letter you mention, acquainting
+me that the number of soldiers I had ordered him was not sufficient; and
+for your information I have directed my answer to be hereunto annexed.
+It is very material to distinguish between what the exigency of affairs
+requires and what an ambitious desire of extending power may think
+necessary. As for ourselves, the public welfare must be our only guide:
+accordingly it is incumbent upon us to take all possible care that the
+soldiers shall not be absent from their standard.
+
+
+
+XXXIV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+THE PRUSENSES, Sir, having an ancient bath which lies in a ruinous
+state, desire your leave to repair it; but, upon examination, I am of
+opinion it ought to be rebuilt. I think, therefore, you may indulge them
+in this request, as there will be a sufficient fund for that purpose,
+partly from those debts which are due from private persons to the public
+which I am now collecting in; and partly from what they raise among
+themselves towards furnishing the bath with oil, which they are willing
+to apply to the carrying on of this building; a work which the dignity
+of the city and the splendour of your times seem to demand.
+
+
+
+XXXV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+IF the erecting a public bath will not be too great a charge upon the
+Prusenses, we may comply with their request; provided, however, that no
+new tax be levied for this purpose, nor any of those taken off which are
+appropriated to necessary services.
+
+
+
+XXXVI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+I AM assured, Sir, by your freedman and receiver-general Maximus, that
+it is necessary he should have a party of soldiers assigned to him, over
+and besides the beneficiarii, which by your orders I allotted to the
+very worthy Gemellinus. Those therefore which I found in his service, I
+thought proper he should retain, especially as he was going into
+Paphlagonia,[1030] in order to procure corn. For his better protection
+likewise, and because it was his request, I added two of the cavalry.
+But I beg you would inform me, in your next despatches, what method you
+would have me observe for the future in points of this nature.
+
+
+
+XXX VII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+As my freedman Maximus was going upon an extraordinary commission to
+procure corn, I approve of your having supplied him with a file of
+soldiers. But when he shall return to the duties of his former post, I
+think two from you and as many from his coadjutor, my receiver-general
+Virdius Gemelhinus, will be sufficient.
+
+
+
+XXXVIII To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+THE very excellent young man Sempronius Caelianus, having discovered two
+slaves[1031] among the recruits, has sent them to me. But I deferred
+passing sentence till I had consulted you, the restorer and upholder of
+military discipline, concerning the punishment proper to be inflicted
+upon them. My principal doubt is that, whether, although they have taken
+the military oath, they are yet entered into any particular legion. I
+request you therefore, Sir, to inform me what course I should pursue in
+this affair, especially as it concerns example.
+
+
+
+XXXIX -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+SEMPRONIUS CAELINUS has acted agreeably to my orders, in sending such
+persons to be tried before you as appear to deserve capital punishment.
+It is material however, in the case in question, to inquire whether
+these slaves in-listed themselves voluntarily, or were chosen by the
+officers, or presented as substitutes for others. If they were chosen,
+the officer is guilty; if they are substitutes, the blame rests with
+those who deputed them; but if, conscious of the legal inabilities of
+their station, they presented themselves voluntarily, the punishment
+must fall upon their own heads. That they are not yet entered into any
+legion, makes no great difference in their case; for they ought to have
+given a true account of themselves immediately, upon their being
+approved as fit for the service.
+
+
+
+XL -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+As I have your permission, Sir, to address myself to you in all my
+doubts, you will not consider it beneath your dignity to descend to
+those humbler affairs which concern my administration of this province.
+I find there are in several cities, particularly those of Nicomedia and
+Nicea, certain persons who take upon themselves to act as public slaves,
+and receive an annual stipend accordingly; notwithstanding they have
+been condemned either to the mines, the public games,[1032] or other
+punishments of the like nature. Having received information of this
+abuse I have been long debating with myself what I ought to do. On the
+one hand, to send them back again to their respective punishments (many
+of them being now grown old, and behaving, as I am assured, with
+sobriety and modesty) would, I thought, be proceeding against them too
+severely; on the other, to retain convicted criminals in the public
+service, seemed not altogether decent. I considered at the same time to
+support these people in idleness would be an useless expense to the
+public; and to leave them to starve would be dangerous. I was obliged
+therefore to suspend the determination of this matter till I could
+consult with you. You will be desirous, perhaps, to be informed how it
+happened that these persons escaped the punishments to which they were
+condemned. This enquiry I have also made, but cannot return you any
+satisfactory answer. The decrees against them were indeed produced; but
+no record appears of their having ever been reversed. It was asserted,
+however, that these people were pardoned upon their petition to the
+proconsuls, or their lieutenants; which seems likely to be the truth, as
+it is improbable any person would have dared to set them at liberty
+without authority.
+
+
+
+XLI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+You will remember you were sent into Bithynia for the particular purpose
+of correcting those many abuses which appeared in need of reform. Now
+none stands more so than that of criminals who have been sentenced to
+punishment should not only be set at liberty (as your letter informs me)
+without authority; but even appointed to employments which ought only to
+be exercised by persons whose characters are irreproachable. Those
+therefore among them who have been convicted within these ten years, and
+whose sentence has not been reversed by proper authority, must be sent
+back again to their respective punishments: but where more than ten
+years have elapsed since their conviction, and they are grown old and
+infirm, let them he disposed of in such employments as are but few
+degrees removed from the punishments to which they were sentenced; that
+is, either to attend upon the public baths, cleanse the common sewers,
+or repair the streets and highways, the usual offices assigned to such
+persons.
+
+
+
+XLII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+WHILE I was making a progress in a different part of the province, a
+most extensive fire broke out at Nicomedia, which not only consumed
+several private houses, but also two public buildings; the town-house
+and the temple of Isis, though they stood on contrary sides of the
+street. The occasion of its spreading thus far was partly owing to the
+violence of the wind, and partly to the indolence of the people, who,
+manifestly, stood idle and motionless spectators of this terrible
+calamity. The truth is the city was not furnished with either engines,
+[1033]buckets, or any single instrument suitable for extinguishing
+fires; which I have now however given directions to have prepared. You
+will consider, Sir, whether it may not be advisable to institute a
+company of fire-men, consisting only of one hundred and fifty members. I
+will take care none but those of that business shall be admitted into
+it, and that the privileges granted them shall not be applied to any
+other purpose. As this corporate body will be restricted to so small a
+number of members, it will be easy to keep them under proper regulation.
+
+
+
+XLIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+You are of opinion it would be proper to establish a company of firemen
+in Nicomedia, agreeably to what has been practised in several other
+cities. But it is to be remembered that societies of this sort have
+greatly disturbed the peace of the province in general, and of those
+cities in particular. Whatever name we give them, and for whatever
+purposes they may be founded, they will not fail to form themselves into
+factious assemblies, however short their meetings may be. It will
+therefore be safer to provide such machines as are of service in
+extinguishing fires, enjoining the owners of houses to assist in
+preventing the mischief from spreading, and, if it should be necessary,
+to call in the aid of the populace.
+
+
+
+XLIV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+WE have acquitted, Sir, and renewed our annual vows[1034] for your
+prosperity, in which that of the empire is essentially involved,
+imploring the gods to grant us ever thus to pay and thus to repeat them.
+
+
+
+XLV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+I RECEIVED the satisfaction, my dearest Secundus, of being informed by
+your letter that you, together with the people under your government,
+have both discharged and renewed your vows to the immortal gods for my
+health and happiness.
+
+
+
+XLVI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+THE citizens of Nicomedia, Sir, have expended three millions three
+hundred and twenty-nine sesterces[1035] in building an aqueduct; but,
+not being able to finish it, the works are entirely falling to ruin.
+They made a second attempt in another place, where they laid out two
+millions.[1036] But this likewise is discontinued; so that, after having
+been at an immense charge to no purpose, they must still be at a further
+expense, in order to be accommodated with water. I have examined a fine
+spring from whence the water may be conveyed over arches (as was
+attempted in their first design) in such a manner that the higher as
+well as level and low parts of the city may be supplied. There are still
+remaining a very few of the old arches; and the square stones, however,
+employed in the former building, may be used in turning the new arches.
+I am of opinion part should be raised with brick, as that will be the
+easier and cheaper material. But that this work may not meet with the
+same ill-success as the former, it will be necessary to send here an
+architect, or some one skilled in the construction of this kind of
+waterworks. And I will venture to say, from the beauty and usefulness of
+the design, it will be an erection well worthy the splendour of your
+times.
+
+
+
+XLVII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+CARE must be taken to supply the city of Nicomedia with water; and that
+business, I am well persuaded, you will perform with all the diligence
+you ought. But really it is no less incumbent upon you to examine by
+whose misconduct it has happened that such large sums have been thrown
+away upon this, lest they apply the money to private purposes, and the
+aqueduct in question, like the preceding, should be begun, and
+afterwards left unfinished. You will let me know the result of your
+inquiry.
+
+
+
+XLVIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+THE citizens of Nicea, Sir; are building a theatre, which, though it is
+not yet finished, has already exhausted, as I am informed (for I have
+not examined the account myself), above ten millions of sesterces;[1037]
+and, what is worse, I fear to no purpose. For either from the foundation
+being laid in soft, marshy ground, or that the stone itself is light and
+crumbling, the walls are sinking, and cracked from top to bottom. It
+deserves your consideration, therefore, whether it would be best to
+carry on this work, or entirely discontinue it, or rather, perhaps,
+whether it would not be most prudent absolutely to destroy it: for the
+buttresses and foundations by means of which it is from time to time
+kept up appear to me more expensive than solid. Several private persons
+have undertaken to build the compartment of this theatre at their own
+expense, some engaging to erect the portico, others the galleries over
+the pit:[1038] but this design cannot be executed, as the principal
+building which ought first to be completed is now at a stand. This city
+is also rebuilding, upon a far more enlarged plan, the gymnasium,[1039]
+which was burnt down before my arrival in the province. They have
+already been at some (and, I rather fear, a fruitless) expense. The
+structure is not only irregular and ill-proportioned, but the present
+architect (who, it must be owned, is a rival to the person who was first
+employed) asserts that the walls, although twenty-two feet[1040] in
+thickness, are not strong enough to support the superstructure, as the
+interstices are filled up with quarrystones, and the walls are not
+overlaid with brickwork. Also the inhabitants of Claudiopolis[1041] are
+sinking (I cannot call it erecting) a large public bath, upon a low spot
+of ground which lies at the foot of a mountain. The fund appropriated
+for the carrying on of this work arises from the money which those
+honorary members you were pleased to add to the senate paid (or, at
+least, are ready to pay whenever I call upon them) for their
+admission.[1042] As I am afraid, therefore, the public money in the city
+of Nicea, and (what is infinitely more valuable than any pecuniary
+consideration) your bounty in that of Nicopolis, should be ill applied,
+I must desire you to send hither an architect to inspect, not only the
+theatre, but the bath; in order to consider whether, after all the
+expense which has already been laid out, it will be better to finish
+them upon the present plan, or alter the one, and remove the other, in
+as far as may seem necessary: for otherwise we may perhaps throw away
+our future cost in endeavoring not to lose what we have already
+expended.
+
+
+
+XLIX -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+You, who are upon the spot, will best be able to consider and determine
+what is proper to be done concerning the theatre which the inhabitants
+of Nicea are building; as for myself, it will be sufficient if you let
+me know your determination. With respect to the particular parts of this
+theatre which are to be raised at a private charge, you will see those
+engagements fulfilled when the body of the building to which they are to
+be annexed shall be finished. -- These paltry Greeks[1043] are, I know,
+immoderately fond of gymnastic diversions, and therefore, perhaps, the
+citizens of Nicea have planned a more magnificent building for this
+purpose than is necessary; however, they must be content with such as
+will be sufficient to answer the purpose for which it is intended. I
+leave it entirely to you to persuade the Claudiopolitani as you shall
+think proper with regard to their bath, which they have placed, it
+seems, in a very improper situation. As there is no province that is not
+furnished with men of skill and ingenuity, you cannot possibly want
+architects; unless you think it the shortest way to procure them from
+Rome, when it is generally from Greece that they come to us.
+
+
+
+L -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+WHEN I reflect upon the splendour of your exalted station, and the
+magnanimity of your spirit, nothing, I am persuaded, can be more
+suitable to both than to point out to you such works as are worthy of
+your glorious and immortal name, as being no less useful than
+magnificent. Bordering upon the territories of the city of Nicomedia is
+a most extensive lake; over which marbles, fruits, woods, and all kinds
+of materials, the commodities of the country, are brought over in boats
+up to the high-road, at little trouble and expense, but from thence are
+conveyed in carriages to the sea-side, at a much greater charge and with
+great labour. To remedy this inconvenience, many hands will be in
+request; but upon such an occasion they cannot be wanting: for the
+country, and particularly the city, is exceedingly populous; and one may
+assuredly hope that every person will readily engage in a work which
+will be of universal benefit. It only remains then to send hither, if
+you shall think proper, a surveyor or an architect, in order to examine
+whether the lake lies above the level of the sea; the engineers of this
+province being of opinion that the former is higher by forty
+cubits,[1044] I find there is in the neighbourhood of this place a large
+canal, which was cut by a king of this country; but as it is left
+unfinished, it is uncertain whether it was for the purpose of draining
+the adjacent fields, or making a communication between the lake and the
+river. It is equally doubtful too whether the death of the king, or the
+despair of being able to accomplish the design, prevented the completion
+of it. If this was the reason, I am so much the more eager and warmly
+desirous, for the sake of your illustrious character (and I hope you
+will pardon me the ambition), that you may have the glory of executing
+what kings could only attempt.
+
+
+
+LI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+THERE is something in the scheme you propose of opening a communication
+between the lake and the sea, which may, perhaps, tempt me to consent.
+But you must first carefully examine the situation of this body of
+water, what quantity it contains, and from whence it is supplied; lest,
+by giving it an opening into the sea, it should be totally drained. You
+may apply to Calpurnius Macer for an engineer, and I will also send you
+from hence some one skilled in works of this nature.
+
+
+
+LII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+UPON examining into the public expenses of the city of Byzantium, which,
+I find, are extremely great, I was informed, Sir, that the appointments
+of the ambassador whom they send yearly to you with their homage, and
+the decree which passes in the senate upon that occasion, amount to
+twelve thousand sesterces.[1045] But knowing the generous maxims of your
+government, I thought proper to send the decree without the ambassador,
+that, at the same time they discharged their public duty to you, their
+expense incurred in the manner of paying it might be lightened. This
+city is likewise taxed with the sum of three thousand sesterces[1046]
+towards defraying the expense of an envoy, whom they annually send to
+compliment the governor of Moesia: this expense I have also directed to
+be spared. I beg, Sir, you would deign either to confirm my judgment or
+correct my error in these points, by acquainting me with your
+sentiments.
+
+
+
+LIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+I ENTIRELY approve, my dearest Secundus, of your having excused the
+Byzantines that expense of twelve thousand sesterces in sending an
+ambassador to me. I shall esteem their duty as sufficiently paid, though
+I only receive the act of their senate through your hands. The governor
+of Moesia must likewise excuse them if they compliment him at a less
+expense.
+
+
+
+LIV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+I BEG, Sir, you would settle a doubt I have concerning your
+diplomas;[1047] whether you think proper that those diplomas the dates
+of which are expired shall continue in force, and for how long? For I am
+apprehensive I may, through ignorance, either confirm such of these
+instruments as are illegal or prevent the effect of those which are
+necessary.
+
+
+
+LV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+THE diplomas whose dates are expired must by no means be made use of.
+For which reason it is an inviolable rule with me to send new
+instruments of this kind into all the provinces before they are
+immediately wanted.
+
+
+
+LVI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+UPON intimating, Sir, my intention to the city of Apamea,[1048] of
+examining into the state of their public dues, their revenue and
+expenses, they told me they were all extremely willing I should inspect
+their accounts, but that no proconsul had ever yet looked them over, as
+they had a privilege (and that of a very ancient date) of administering
+the affairs of their corporation in the manner they thought proper. I
+required them to draw up a memorial of what they then asserted, which I
+transmit to you precisely as I received it; though I am sensible it
+contains several things foreign to the question. I beg you will deign to
+instruct me as to how I am to act in this affair, for I should be
+extremely sorry either to exceed or fall short of the duties of my
+commission.
+
+
+
+LVII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+THE memorial of the Apanieans annexed to your letter has saved me the
+necessity of considering the reasons they suggest why the former
+proconsuls forbore to inspect their accounts, since they are willing to
+submit them to your examination. Their honest compliance deserves to be
+rewarded; and they may be assured the enquiry you are to make in
+pursuance of my orders shall be with a full reserve to their privileges.
+
+
+
+LVIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+THE Nicomedians, Sir, before my arrival in this province, had begun to
+build a new forum adjoining their former, in a corner of which stands an
+ancient temple dedicated to the mother of the gods.[1049] This fabric
+must either be repaired or removed, and for this reason chiefly, because
+it is a much lower building than that very lofty one which is now in
+process of erection. Upon enquiry whether this temple had been
+consecrated, I was informed that their ceremonies of dedication differ
+from ours. You will be pleased therefore, Sir, to consider whether a
+temple which has not been consecrated according to our rites may be
+removed,[1040b] consistently with the reverence due to religion: for, if
+there should be no objection from that quarter, the removal in every
+other respect would be extremely convenient.
+
+
+
+LIX -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+You may without scruple, my dearest Secundus, if the situation requires
+it, remove the temple of the mother of the gods, from the place where it
+now stands, to any other spot more convenient. You need be under no
+difficulty with respect to the act of dedication; for the ground of a
+foreign city [1041b] is not capable of receiving that kind of
+consecration which is sanctified by our laws.
+
+
+
+LX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+WE have celebrated, Sir (with those sentiments of joy your virtues so
+justly merit), the day of your accession to the empire, which was also
+its preservation, imploring the gods to preserve you in health and
+prosperity; for upon your welfare the security and repose of the world
+depends. I renewed at the same time the oath of allegiance at the head
+of the army, which repeated it after me in the usual form, the people of
+the province zealously concurring in the same oath.
+
+
+
+LXI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+YOUR letter, my dearest Secundus, was extremely acceptable, as it
+informed me of the zeal and affection with which you, together with the
+army and the provincials, solemnised the day of my accession to the
+empire.
+
+
+
+LXII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+THE debts which we are owing to the public are, by the prudence, Sir, of
+your counsels, and the care of my administration, either actually paid
+in or now being collected: but I am afraid the money must lie
+unemployed. For as on one side there are few or no opportunities of
+purchasing land, so, on the other, one cannot meet with any person who
+is willing to borrow of the public [1042b] (especially at 12 per cent,
+interest) when they can raise money upon the same terms from private
+sources. You will consider then, Sir, whether it may not be advisable,
+in order to invite responsible persons to take this money, to lower the
+interest; or if that scheme should not succeed, to place it in the hands
+of the decurii, upon their giving sufficient security to the public. And
+though they should not be willing to receive it, yet as the rate of
+interest will be diminished, the hardship will be so much the less.
+
+
+
+LXIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+I AGREE with you, my dear Pliny, that there seems to be no other method
+of facilitating the placing out of the public money than by lowering the
+interest; the measure of which you will determine according to the
+number of the borrowers. But to compel persons to receive it who are not
+disposed to do so, when possibly they themselves may have no opportunity
+of employing it, is by no means consistent with the justice of my
+government.
+
+
+
+LXIV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+I RETURN you my warmest acknowledgments, Sir, that, among the many
+important occupations in which you are engaged you have condescended to
+be my guide on those points on which I have consulted you: a favour
+which I must now again beseech you to grant me. A certain person
+presented himself with a complaint that his adversaries, who had been
+banished for three years by the illustrious Servilius Calvus, still
+remained in the province: they, on the contrary, affirmed that Calvus
+had revoked their sentence, and produced his edict to that effect. I
+thought it necessary therefore to refer the whole affair to you. For as
+I have your express orders not to restore any person who has been
+sentenced to banishment either by myself or others so I have no
+directions with respect to those who, having been banished by some of my
+predecessors in this government, have by them also been restored. It is
+necessary for me, therefore, to beg you would inform me, Sir, how I am
+to act with regard to the above- mentioned persons, as well as others,
+who, after having been condemned to perpetual banishment, have been
+found in the province without permission to return; for cases of that
+nature have likewise fallen under my cognisance. A person was brought
+before me who had been sentenced to perpetual exile by the proconsul
+Julius Bassus, but knowing that the acts of Bassus, during his
+administration, had been rescinded, and that the senate had granted
+leave to all those who had fallen under his condemnation of appealing
+from his decision at any time within the space of two years, I enquired
+of this man whether he had, accordingly, stated his case to the
+proconsul. He replied he had not. I beg then you would inform me whether
+you would have him sent back into exile or whether you think some more
+severe and what kind of punishment should be inflicted upon him, and
+such others who may hereafter be found under the same circumstances. I
+have annexed to my letter the decree of Calvus, and the edict by which
+the persons above-mentioned were restored, as also the decree of Bassus.
+
+
+
+LXV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+I WILL let you know my determination concerning those exiles which were
+banished for three years by the proconsul P. Servilius Calvus, and soon
+afterwards restored to the province by his edict, when I shall have
+informed myself from him of the reasons of this proceeding. With respect
+to that person who was sentenced to perpetual banishment by Julius
+Bassus, yet continued to remain in the province, without making his
+appeal if he thought himself aggrieved (though he had two years given
+him for that purpose), I would have sent in chains to my praetorian
+prefects: [1043b] for, only to remand him back to a punishment which he
+has contumaciously eluded will by no means be a sufficient punishment.
+
+
+
+LXVI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+WHEN I cited the judges, Sir, to attend me at a sessions [1044b] which I
+was going to hold, Flavius Archippus claimed the privilege of being
+excused as exercising the profession of a philosopher. [1045b] It was
+alleged by some who were present that he ought not only to be excused
+from that office, but even struck out of the rolls of judges, and
+remanded back to the punishment from which he had escaped, by breaking
+his chains. At the same time a sentence of the proconsul Velius Paullus
+was read, by which it appeared that Archippus had been condemned to the
+mines for forgery. He had nothing to produce in proof of this sentence
+having ever been reversed. He alleged, however, in favour of his
+restitution, a petition which he presented to Domitian, together with a
+letter from that prince, and a decree of the Prusensians in his honour.
+To these he subjoined a letter which he had received from you; as also
+an edict and a letter of your august father confirming the grants which
+had been made to him by Domitian. For these reasons, notwithstandng
+crimes of so atrocious a nature were laid to his charge, I did not think
+proper to determine anything concerning him, without first consulting
+with you, as it is an affair which seems to merit your particular
+decision. I have transmitted to you, with this letter, the several
+allegations on both sides.
+
+DOMITIAN'S LETTER TO TERENTIUS MAXIMUS
+
+"Flavius Archippus the philosopher has prevailed with me to give an
+order that six hundred thousand sesterces [1046b] be laid out in the
+purchase of an estate for the support of him and his family, in the
+neighbourhood of Prusias, [1047b] his native country. Let this be
+accordingly done; and place that sum to the account of my benefactions."
+
+FROM THE SAME TO L. APPIUS MAXIMUS
+
+"I recommend, my dear Maximus, to your protection that worthy
+philosopher Archippus; a person whose moral conduct is agreeable to the
+principles of the philosophy he professes; and I would have you pay
+entire regard to whatever he shall reasonably request."
+
+THE EDICT OF THE EMPEROR NERVA
+
+"There are some points no doubt, Quirites, concerning which the happy
+tenour of my government is a sufficient indication of my sentiments; and
+a good prince need not give an express declaration in matters wherein
+his intention cannot but be clearly understood. Every citizen in the
+empire will bear me witness that I gave up my private repose to the
+security of the public, and in order that I might have the pleasure of
+dispensing new bounties of my own, as also of confirming those which had
+been granted by predecessors. But lest the memory of him [1048b] who
+conferred these grants, or the diffidence of those who received them,
+should occasion any interruption to the public joy, I thought it as
+necessary as it is agreeable to me to obviate these suspicions by
+assuring them of my indulgence. I do not wish any man who has obtained a
+private or a public privilege from one of the former emperors to imagine
+he is to be deprived of such a privilege, merely that he may owe the
+restoration of it to me; nor need any who have received the
+gratifications of imperial favour petition me to have them confirmed.
+Rather let them leave me at leisure for conferring new grants, under the
+assurance that I am only to be solicited for those bounties which have
+not already been obtained, and which the happier fortune of the empire
+has put it in my power to bestow."
+
+FROM THE SAME TO TULLIUS JUSTUS
+
+"Since I have publicly decreed that all acts begun and accomplished in
+former reigns should be confirmed, the letters of Domitian must remain
+valid."
+
+
+
+LXVII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+FLAVIUS ARCHIPPUS has conjured me, by all my vows for your prosperity,
+and by your immortal glory, that I would transmit to you the memorial
+which he presented to me. I could not refuse a request couched in such
+terms; however, I acquainted the prosecutrix with this my intention,
+from whom I have also received a memorial on her part. I have annexed
+them both to this letter; that by hearing, as it were, each party, you
+may the better be enabled to decide.
+
+
+
+LX VIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+IT is possible that Domitian might have been ignorant of the
+circumstances in which Archippus was when he wrote the letter so much to
+that philosopher's credit. However, it is more agreeable to my
+disposition to suppose that prince designed he should be restored to his
+former situation; especially since he so often had the honour of a
+statue decreed to him by those who could not be ignorant of the sentence
+pronounced against him by the proconsul Paullus. But I do not mean to
+intimate, my dear Pliny, that if any new charge should be brought
+against him, you should be the less disposed to hear his accusers. I
+have examined the memorial of his prosecutrix, Furia Prima, as well as
+that of Archippus himself, which you sent with your last letter.
+
+
+
+LXIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+THE apprehensions you express, Sir, that the lake will be in danger of
+being entirely drained if a communication should be opened between that
+and the sea, by means of the river, are agreeable to that prudence and
+forethought you so eminently possess; but I think I have found a method
+to obviate that inconvenience. A channel may be cut from the lake up to
+the river so as not quite to join them, leaving just a narrow strip of
+land between, preserving the lake; by this means it will not only be
+kept quite separate from the river, but all the same purposes will be
+answered as if they were united: for it will be extremely easy to convey
+over that little intervening ridge whatever goods shall be brought down
+by the canal. This is a scheme which may be pursued, if it should be
+found necessary; but I hope there will be no occasion to have recourse
+to it. For, in the first place, the lake itself is pretty deep; and in
+the next, by damming up the river which runs from it on the opposite
+side and turning its course as we shall find expedient, the same
+quantity of water may be retained. Besides, there are several brooks
+near the place where it is proposed the channel shall be cut which, if
+skilfully collected, will supply the lake with water in proportion to
+what it shall discharge. But if you should rather approve of the
+channel's being extended farther and cut narrower, and so conveyed
+directly into the sea, without running into the river, the reflux of the
+tide will return whatever it receives from the lake. After all, if the
+nature of the place should not admit of any of these schemes, the course
+of the water may be checked by sluices. These, however, and many other
+particulars, will be more skilfully examined into by the engineer, whom,
+indeed, Sir, you ought to send, according to your promise, for it is an
+enterprise well worthy of your attention and magnificence. In the
+meanwhile, I have written to the illustrious Calpurnius Macer, in
+pursuance of your orders, to send me the most skilful engineer to be
+had.
+
+
+
+LXX -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+IT is evident, my dearest Secundus, that neither your prudence nor your
+care has been wanting in this affair of the lake, since, in order to
+render it of more general benefit, you have provided so many expedients
+against the danger of its being drained. I leave it to your own choice
+to pursue whichever of the schemes shall be thought most proper.
+Calpurnius Macer will furnish you, no doubt, with an engineer, as
+artificers of that kind are not wanting in his province.
+
+
+
+LXXI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+A VERY considerable question, Sir, in which the whole province is
+interested, has been lately started, concerning the state [1049b] and
+maintenance of deserted children.[1050] I have examined the
+constitutions of former princes upon this head, but not finding anything
+in them relating, either in general or particular, to the Bithynians, I
+thought it necessary to apply to you for your directions: for in a point
+which seems to require the special interposition of your authority, I
+could not content myself with following precedents. An edict of the
+emperor Augustus (as pretended) was read to me, concerning one Annia; as
+also a letter from Vespasian to the Lacedaemonians, and another from
+Titus to the same, with one likewise from him to the Achaeans, also some
+letters from Domitian, directed to the proconsuls Avidius Nigrinus and
+Armenius Brocchus, together with one from that prince to the
+Lacedaemonians: but I have not transmitted them to you, as they were not
+correct (and some of them too of doubtful authenticity), and also
+because I imagine the true copies are preserved in your archives.
+
+
+
+LXXII TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+THE question concerning children who were exposed by their parents, and
+afterwards preserved by others, and educated in a state of servitude,
+though born free, has been frequently discussed; but I do not find in
+the constitutions of the princes my predecessors any general regulation
+upon this head, extending to all the provinces. There are, indeed, some
+rescripts of Domitian to Avidius Nigrinus and Armenhis Brocchus, which
+ought to be observed; but Bithynia is not comprehended in the provinces
+therein mentioned. I am of opinion therefore that the claims of those
+who assert their right of freedom upon this footing should be allowed;
+without obliging them to purchase their liberty by repaying the money
+advanced for their maintenance.[1051]
+
+
+
+LXXIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+HAVING been petitioned by some persons to grant them the liberty
+(agreeably to the practice of former proconsuls) of removing the relics
+of their deceased relations, upon the suggestion that either their
+monuments were decayed by age or ruined by the inundations of the river,
+or for other reasons of the same kind, I thought proper, Sir, knowing
+that in cases of this nature it is usual at Rome to apply to the college
+of priests, to consult you, who are the sovereign of that sacred order,
+as to how you would have me act in this case.
+
+
+
+LXX IV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+IT will be a hardship upon the provincials to oblige them to address
+themselves to the college of priests whenever they may have just reasons
+for removing the ashes of their ancestors. In this case, therefore, it
+will be better you should follow the example of the governors your
+predecessors, and grant or deny them this liberty as you shall see
+reasonable.
+
+
+
+LXXV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+I HAVE enquired, Sir, at Prusa, for a proper place on which to erect the
+bath you were pleased to allow that city to build, and I have found one
+to my satisfaction. It is upon the site where formerly, I am told, stood
+a very beautiful mansion, but which is now entirely fallen into ruins.
+By fixing upon that spot, we shall gain the advantage of ornamenting the
+city in a part which at present is exceedingly deformed, and enlarging
+it at the same time without removing any of the buildings; only
+restoring one which is fallen to decay. There are some circumstances
+attending this structure of which it is proper I should inform you.
+Claudius Polyaenus bequeathed it to the emperor Claudius Cæsar, with
+directions that a temple should be erected to that prince in a
+colonnade-court, and that the remainder of the house should be let in
+apartments. The city received the rents for a considerable time; but
+partly by its having been plundered, and partly by its being neglected,
+the whole house, colonnade-court, and all, is entirely gone to ruin, and
+there is now scarcely anything remaining of it but the ground upon which
+it stood. If you shall think proper, Sir, either to give or sell this
+spot of ground to the city, as it lies so conveniently for their
+purpose, they will receive it as a most particular favour. I intend,
+with your permission, to place the bath in the vacant area, and to
+extend a range of porticoes with seats in that part where the former
+edifice stood. This new erection I purpose dedicating to you, by whose
+bounty it will rise with all the elegance and magnificence worthy of
+your glorious name. I have sent you a copy of the will, by which, though
+it is inaccurate, you will see that Polyaenus left several articles of
+ornament for the embellishment of this house; but these also are lost
+with all the rest: I will, however, make the strictest enquiry after
+them that I am able.
+
+
+
+LXXVI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+1 HAVE no objection to the Prusenses making use of the ruined court and
+house, which you say are untenanted, for the erection of their bath. But
+it is not sufficiently clear by your letter whether the temple in the
+centre of the colonnade-court was actually dedicated to Claudius or not;
+for if it were, it is still consecrated ground.[1052]
+
+
+
+LXXVII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+I HAVE been pressed by some persons to take upon myself the enquiry of
+causes relating to claims of freedom by birth-right, agreeably to a
+rescript of Domitian's to Minucius Rufus, and the practice of former
+proconsuls. But upon casting my eye on the decree of the senate
+concerning cases of this nature, I find it only mentions the proconsular
+provinces.[1053] I have therefore, Sir, deferred interfering in this
+affair, till I shall receive your instructions as to how you would have
+me proceed.
+
+
+
+LXXVIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+IF you will send me the decree of the senate, which occasioned your
+doubt, I shall be able to judge whether it is proper you should take
+upon yourself the enquiry of causes relating to claims of freedom by
+birth-right.
+
+
+
+LXXIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+JULIUS LARGUS, of Ponus[1054] (a person whom I never saw nor indeed ever
+heard his name till lately), in confidence, Sir, of your distinguishing
+judgment in my favour, has entrusted me with the execution of the last
+instance of his loyalty towards you. He has left me, by his will, his
+estate upon trust, in the first place to receive out of it fifty
+thousand sesterces[1055] for my own use, and to apply the remainder for
+the benefit of the cities of Heraclea and Tios,[1056] either by erecting
+some public edifice dedicated to your honour or instituting athletic
+games, according as I shall judge proper. These games are to be
+celebrated every five years, and to be called Trajan's games. My
+principal reason for acquainting you with this bequest is that I may
+receive your directions which of the respective alternatives to choose.
+
+
+
+LXXX -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+By the prudent choice Julius Largus has made of a trustee, one would
+imagine he had known you perfectly well. You will consider then what
+will most tend to perpetuate his memory, under the circumstances of the
+respective cities, and make your option accordingly.
+
+
+
+LXXXI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+You acted agreeably, Sir, to your usual prudence and foresight in
+ordering the illustrious Calpurnius Macer to send a legionary centurion
+to Byzantium: you will consider whether the city of Juliopolis' does not
+deserve the same regard, which, though it is extremely small, sustains
+very great burthens, and is so much the more exposed to injuries as it
+is less capable of resisting them. Whatever benefits you shall confer
+upon that city will in effect be advantageous to the whole country; for
+it is situated at the entrance of Bithynia, and is the town through
+which all who travel into this province generally pass.
+
+
+
+LXXXII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+THE circumstances of the city of Byzantium are such, by the great
+confluence of strangers to it, that I held it incumbent upon me, and
+consistent with the customs of former reigns, to send thither a
+legionary centurion's guard to preserve the privileges of that state.
+But if we should distinguish the city of Juliopolis[1057] in the same
+way, it will be introducing a precedent for many others, whose claim to
+that favour will rise in proportion to their want of strength. I have so
+much confidence, however, in your administration as to believe you will
+omit no method of protecting them from injuries. If any persons shall
+act contrary to the discipline I have enjoined, let them be instantly
+corrected; or if they happen to be soldiers, and their crimes should be
+too enormous for immediate chastisement, I would have them sent to their
+officers, with an account of the particular misdemeanour you shall find
+they have been guilty of; but if the delinquents should be on their way
+to Rome, inform me by letter.
+
+
+
+LXXXIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+BY a law of Pompey's[1058] concerning the Bithynians, it is enacted,
+Sir, that no person shall be a magistrate, or be chosen into the senate,
+under the age of thirty. By the same law it is declared that those who
+have exercised the office of magistrate are qualified to be members of
+the senate. Subsequent to this law, the emperor Augustus published an
+edict, by which it was ordained that persons of the age of twenty-two
+should be capable of being magistrates. The question therefore is
+whether those who have exercised the functions of a magistrate before
+the age of thirty may be legally chosen into the senate by the
+censors?[1059] And if so, whether, by the same kind of construction,
+they may be elected senators, at the age which entitles them to be
+magistrates, though they should not actually have borne any office? A
+custom which, it seems, has hitherto been observed, and is said to be
+expedient, as it is rather better that persons of noble birth should be
+admitted into the senate than those of plebeian rank. The censors elect
+having desired my sentiments upon this point, I was of opinion that both
+by the law of Pompey and the edict of Augustus those who had exercised
+the magistracy before the age of thirty might be chosen into the senate;
+and for this reason, because the edict allows the office of magistrate
+to be undertaken before thirty; and the law declares that whoever has
+been a magistrate should be eligible for the senate. But with respect to
+those who never discharged any office in the state, though they were of
+the age required for that purpose, I had some doubt: and therefore, Sir,
+I apply to you for your directions. I have subjoined to this letter the
+heads of the law, together with the edict of Augustus.
+
+
+
+LXXXIV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+I AGREE with you, my dearest Secundus, in your construction, and am of
+opinion that the law of Pompey is so far repealed by the edict of the
+emperor Augustus that those persons who are not less than twenty-two
+years of age may execute the office of magistrates, and, when they have,
+may be received into the senate of their respective cities. But I think
+that they who are under thirty years of age, and have not discharged the
+function of a magistrate, cannot, upon pretence that in point of years
+they were competent to the office, legally be elected into the senate of
+their several communities.
+
+
+
+LXXXV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+WHILST I was despatching some public affairs, Sir, at my apartments in
+Prusa, at the foot of Olympus, with the intention of leaving that city
+the same day, the magistrate Asclepiades informed me that Eumolpus had
+appealed to me from a motion which Cocceianus Dion made in their senate.
+Dion, it seems, having been appointed supervisor of a public building,
+desired that it might be assigned[1060] to the city in form. Eumolpus,
+who was counsel for Flavius Archippus, insisted that Dion should first
+be required to deliver in his accounts relating to this work, before it
+was assigned to the corporation; suggesting that he had not acted in the
+manner he ought. He added, at the same time, that in this building, in
+which your statue is erected, the bodies of Dion's wife and son are
+entombed,[1061] and urged me to hear this cause in the public court of
+judicature. Upon my at once assenting to his request, and deferring my
+journey for that purpose, he desired a longer day in order to prepare
+matters for hearing, and that I would try this cause in some other city.
+I appointed the city of Nicea; where, when I had taken my seat, the same
+Eumolpus, pretending not to be yet sufficiently instructed, moved that
+the trial might be again put off: Dion, on the contrary, insisted it
+should be heard. They debated this point very fully on both sides, and
+entered a little into the merits of the cause; when being of opinion
+that it was reasonable it should be adjourned, and thinking it proper to
+consult with you in an affair which was of consequence in point of
+precedent, I directed them to exhibit the articles of their respective
+allegations in writing; for I was desirous you should judge from their
+own representations of the state of the question between them. Dion
+promised to comply with this direction and Eumolpus also assured me he
+would draw up a memorial of what he had to allege on the part of the
+community. But he added that, being only concerned as advocate on behalf
+of Archippus, whose instructions he had laid before me, he had no charge
+to bring with respect to the sepulchres. Archippus, however, for whom
+Eulnolpus was counsel here, as at Prusa, assured me he would himself
+present a charge in form upon this head. But neither Eumolpus nor
+Archippus (though I have waited several days for that purpose) have yet
+performed their engagement: Dion indeed has; and I have annexed his
+memorial to this letter. I have inspected the buildings in question,
+where I find your statue is placed in a library, and as to the edifice
+in which the bodies of Dion's wife and son are said to be deposited, it
+stands in the middle of a court, which is enclosed with a colonnade.
+Deign, therefore, I entreat you, Sir, to direct my judgment in the
+determination of this cause above all others as it is a point to which
+the public is greatly attentive, and necessarily so, since the fact is
+not only acknowledged, but countenanced by many precedents.
+
+
+
+LXXXVI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+You well know, my dearest Secundus, that it is my standing maxim not to
+create an awe of my person by severe and rigorous measures, and by
+construing every slight offence into an act of treason; you had no
+reason, therefore, to hesitate a moment upon the point concerning which
+you thought proper to consult me. Without entering therefore into the
+merits of that question (to which I would by no means give any
+attention, though there were ever so many instances of the same kind), I
+recommend to your care the examination of Dion's accounts relating to
+the public works which he has finished; as it is a case in which the
+interest of the city is concerned, and as Dion neither ought nor, it
+seems, does refuse to submit to the examination.
+
+
+
+LXXXVII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+THE Niceans having, in the name of their community, conjured me, Sir, by
+all my hopes and wishes for your prosperity and immortal glory (an
+adjuration which is and ought to be most sacred to me), to present to
+you their petition, I did not think myself at liberty to refuse them: I
+have therefore annexed it to this letter.
+
+
+
+LXXXVIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+THE Niceans I find, claim a right, by an edict of Augustus, to the
+estate of every citizen who dies intestate. You will therefore summon
+the several parties interested in this question, and, examining these
+pretensions, with the assistance of the procurators Virdius Gemellinus,
+and Epimachus, my freedman (having duly weighed every argument that
+shall be alleged against the claim), determine as shall appear most
+equitable.
+
+
+
+LXXXIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+MAY this and many succeeding birthdays be attended, Sir, with the
+highest felicity to you; and may you, in the midst of an uninterrupted
+course of health and prosperity, be still adding to the increase of that
+immortal glory which your virtues justly merit!
+
+
+
+XC -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+YOUR wishes, my dearest Secundus, for my enjoyment of many happy
+birthdays amidst the glory and prosperity of the republic were extremely
+agreeable to me.
+
+
+
+XCI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+THE inhabitants of Sinope[1062] are ill supplied, Sir, with water, which
+however may be brought thither from about sixteen miles' distance in
+great plenty and perfection. The ground, indeed, near the source of this
+spring is, for rather over a mile, of a very suspicious and marshy
+nature; but I have directed an examination to be made (which will be
+effected at a small expense) whether it is sufficiently firm to support
+any superstructure. I have taken care to provide a sufficient fund for
+this purpose, if you should approve, Sir, of a work so conducive to the
+health and enjoyment of this colony, greatly distressed by a scarcity of
+water.
+
+
+
+XCII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+I WOULD have you proceed, my dearest Secundus, in carefully examining
+whether the ground you suspect is firm enough to support an aqueduct.
+For I have no manner of doubt that the Sinopian colony ought to be
+supplied with water; provided their finances will bear the expense of a
+work so conducive to their health and pleasure.
+
+
+
+XCIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+THE free and confederate city of the Amiseni[1063] enjoys, by your
+indulgence, the privilege of its own laws. A memorial being presented to
+me there, concerning a charitable institution,[1064] I have subjoined it
+to this letter, that you may consider, Sir, whether, and how far, this
+society ought to be licensed or prohibited.
+
+
+
+XCIV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+IF the petition of the Amiseni which you have transmitted to me,
+concerning the establishment of a charitable society, be agreeable to
+their own laws, which by the articles of alliance it is stipulated they
+shall enjoy, I shall not oppose it; especially if these contributions
+are employed, not for the purpose of riot and faction, but for the
+support of the indigent. In other cities, however, which are subject to
+our laws, I would have all assemblies of this nature prohibited.
+
+
+
+XCV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+SUETONIUS TRANQUILLUS, Sir, is a most excellent, honour-able, and
+learned man. I was so much pleased with his tastes and disposition that
+I have long since invited him into my family, as my constant guest and
+domestic friend; and my affection for him increased the more I knew of
+him. Two reasons concur to render the privileges which the law grants to
+those who have three children particularly necessary to him; I mean the
+bounty of his friends, and the ill-success of his marriage. Those
+advantages, therefore, which nature has denied to him, he hopes to
+obtain from your goodness, by my intercession. I am thoroughly sensible,
+Sir, of the value of the privilege I am asking; but I know, too, I am
+asking it from one whose gracious compliance with all my desires I have
+amply experienced. How passionately I wish to do so in the present
+instance, you will judge by my thus requesting it in my absence; which I
+would not, had it not been a favour which I am more than ordinarily
+anxious to obtain.[1065]
+
+
+
+XCVI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+You cannot but be sensible, my dearest Secundus, how reserved I am in
+granting favours of the kind you desire; having frequently declared in
+the senate that I had not exceeded the number of which I assured that
+illustrious order I would be contented with. I have yielded, however, to
+your request, and have directed an article to be inserted in my
+register, that I have conferred upon Tranquillus, on my usual
+conditions, the privilege which the law grants to these who have three
+children.
+
+
+
+XCVII To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN[1066]
+
+IT is my invariable rule, Sir, to refer to you in all matters where I
+feel doubtful; for who is more capable of removing my scruples, or
+informing my ignorance? Having never been present at any trials
+concerning those who profess Christianity, I am unacquainted not only
+with the nature of their crimes, or the measure of their punishment, but
+how far it is proper to enter into an examination concerning them.
+Whether, therefore, any difference is usually made with respect to ages,
+or no distinction is to be observed between the young and the adult;
+whether repentance entitles them to a pardon; or if a man has been once
+a Christian, it avails nothing to desist from his error; whether the
+very profession of Christianity, unattended with any criminal act, or
+only the crimes themselves inherent in the profession are punishable; on
+all these points I am in great doubt. In the meanwhile, the method I
+have observed towards those who have been brought before me as
+Christians is this: I asked them whether they were Christians; if they
+admitted it, I repeated the question twice, and threatened them with
+punishment; if they persisted, I ordered them to be at once punished:
+for I was persuaded, whatever the nature of their opinions might be, a
+contumacious and inflexible obstinacy certainly deserved correction.
+There were others also brought before me possessed with the same
+infatuation, but being Roman citizens,[1067] I directed them to be sent
+to Rome. But this crime spreading (as is usually the case) while it was
+actually under prosecution, several instances of the same nature
+occurred. An anonymous information was laid before me containing a
+charge against several persons, who upon examination denied they were
+Christians, or had ever been so. They repeated after me an invocation to
+the gods, and offered religious rites with wine and incense before your
+statue (which for that purpose I had ordered to be brought, together
+with those of the gods), and even reviled the name of Christ: whereas
+there is no forcing, it is said, those who are really Christians into
+any of these compliances: I thought it proper, therefore, to discharge
+them. Some among those who were accused by a witness in person at first
+confessed themselves Christians, but immediately after denied it; the
+rest owned indeed that they had been of that number formerly, but had
+now (some above three, others more, and a few above twenty years ago)
+renounced that error. They all worshipped your statue and the images of
+the gods, uttering imprecations at the same time against the name of
+Christ. They affirmed the whole of their guilt, or their error, was,
+that they met on a stated day before it was light, and addressed a form
+of prayer to Christ, as to a divinity, binding themselves by a solemn
+oath, not for the purposes of any wicked design, but never to commit any
+fraud, theft, or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust
+when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was
+their custom to separate, and then reassemble, to eat in common a
+harmless meal. From this custom, however, they desisted after the
+publication of my edict, by which, according to your commands, I forbade
+the meeting of any assemblies. After receiving this account, I judged it
+so much the more necessary to endeavor to extort the real truth, by
+putting two female slaves to the torture, who were said to officiate' in
+their religious rites: but all I could discover was evidence of an
+absurd and extravagant superstition. I deemed it expedient, therefore,
+to adjourn all further proceedings, in order to consult you. For it
+appears to be a matter highly deserving your consideration, more
+especially as great numbers must be involved in the danger of these
+prosecutions, which have already extended, and are still likely to
+extend, to persons of all ranks and ages, and even of both sexes. In
+fact, this contagious superstition is not confined to the cities only,
+but has spread its infection among the neighbouring villages and
+country. Nevertheless, it still seems possible to restrain its progress.
+The temples, at least, which were once almost deserted, begin now to be
+frequented; and the sacred rites, after a long intermission, are again
+revived; while there is a general demand for the victims, which till
+lately found very few purchasers. From all this it is easy to conjecture
+what numbers might be reclaimed if a general pardon were granted to
+those who shall repent of their error.[1068]
+
+
+
+XCVIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+You have adopted the right course, my dearest Secundtis, in
+investigating the charges against the Christians who were brought before
+you. It is not possible to lay down any general rule for all such cases.
+Do not go out of your way to look for them. If indeed they should be
+brought before you, and the crime is proved, they must be
+punished;[1069] with the restriction, however, that where the party
+denies he is a Christian, and shall make it evident that he is not, by
+invoking our gods, let him (notwithstanding any former suspicion) be
+pardoned upon his repentance. Anonymous informations ought not to be
+received in any sort of prosecution. It is introducing a very dangerous
+precedent, and is quite foreign to the spirit of our age.
+
+
+
+XCIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+THE elegant and beautiful city of Amastris,[1070] Sir, has, among other
+principal constructions, a very fine street and of considerable length,
+on one entire side of which runs what is called indeed a river, but in
+fact is no other than a vile common sewer, extremely offensive to the
+eye, and at the same time very pestilential on account of its noxious
+smell. It will be advantageous, therefore, in point of health, as well
+as decency, to have it covered; which shall be done with your
+permission: as I will take care, on my part, that money be not wanting
+for executing so noble and necessary a work.
+
+
+
+C -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+IT IS highly reasonable, my dearest Secundus, if the water which runs
+through the city of Amastris is prejudicial, while uncovered, to the
+health of the inhabitants, that it should be covered up. I am well
+assured you will, with your usual application, take care that the money
+necessary for this work shall not be wanting.
+
+
+
+CI To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+WE have celebrated, Sir, with great joy and festivity, those votive
+soleninities which were publicly proclaimed as formerly, and renewed
+them the present year, accompanied by the soldiers and provincials, who
+zealously joined with us in imploring the gods that they would be
+graciously pleased to preserve you and the republic in that state of
+prosperity which your many and great virtues, particularly your piety
+and reverence towards them, so justly merit.
+
+
+
+CII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+IT was agreeable to me to learn by your letter that the army and the
+provincials seconded you, with the most joyful unanimity, in those vows
+which you paid and renewed to the immortal gods for my preservation and
+prosperity.
+
+
+
+CIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+WE have celebrated, with all the warmth of that pious zeal we justly
+ought, the day on which, by a most happy succession, the protection of
+mankind was committed over into your hands; recommending to the gods,
+from whom you received the empire, the object of your public vows and
+congratulations.
+
+
+
+CIV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+I WAS extremely well pleased to be informed by your letter that you had,
+at the head of the soldiers and the provincials, solemnised my accession
+to the empire with all due joy and zeal.
+
+
+
+CV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+VALERIUS PAULINUS, Sir, having bequeathed to me the right of
+patronage[1071] over all his freedmen, except one, I intreat you to
+grant the freedom of Rome to three of them. To desire you to extend this
+favour to all of them would, I fear, be too unreasonable a trespass upon
+your indulgence; which, in proportion as I have amply experienced, I
+ought to be so much the more cautious in troubling. The persons for whom
+I make this request are C. Valerius Astraeus, C. Valerius Dionysius, and
+C. Valerius Aper.
+
+
+
+CVI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+YOU act most generously in so early soliciting in favour of those whom
+Valerius Paulinus has confided to your trust. I have accordingly granted
+the freedom of the city to such of his freedmen for whom you requested
+it, and have directed the patent to be registered: I am ready to confer
+the same on the rest, whenever you shall desire me.
+
+
+
+CVII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+P. ATTIUS AQUILA, a centurion of the sixth equestrian cohort, requested
+me, Sir, to transmit his petition to you, in favour of his daughter. I
+thought it would be unkind to refuse him this service, knowing, as I do,
+with what patience and kindness you attend to the petitions of the
+soldiers.
+
+
+
+CVIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+I HAVE read the petition of P. Attius Aquila, centurion of the sixth
+equestrian cohort, which you sent to me; and in compliance with his
+request, I have conferred upon his daughter the freedom of the city of
+Rome. I send you at the same time the patent, which you will deliver to
+him.
+
+
+
+CIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+I REQUEST, Sir, your directions with respect to the recovering those
+debts which are due to the cities of Bithynia and Pontus, either for
+rent, or goods sold, or upon any other consideration. I find they have a
+privilege conceded to them by several proconsuls, of being preferred to
+other creditors; and this custom has prevailed as if it had been
+established by law. Your prudence, I imagine, will think it necessary to
+enact some settled rule, by which their rights may always be secured.
+For the edicts of others, how wisely however founded, are but feeble and
+temporary ordinances, unless confirmed and sanctioned by your authority.
+
+
+
+CX -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+THE right which the cities either of Pontus or Bithynia claim relating
+to the recovery of debts of whatever kind, due to their several
+communities, must be determined agreeably to their respective laws.
+Where any of these communities enjoy the privilege of being preferred to
+other creditors, it must be maintained; but, where no such privilege
+prevails, it is not just I should establish one, in prejudice of private
+property.
+
+
+
+CXI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+THE solicitor to the treasury of the city of Amisis instituted a claim,
+Sir, before me against Julius Piso of about forty thousand
+denarii,[1072] presented to him by the public above twenty years ago,
+with the consent of the general council and assembly of the city: and he
+founded his demand upon certain of your edicts, by which donations of
+this kind are prohibited. Piso, on the other hand, asserted that he had
+conferred large sums of money upon the community, and, indeed, had
+thereby expended almost the whole of his estate. He insisted upon the
+length of time which had intervened since this donation, and hoped that
+he should not be compelled, to the ruin of the remainder of his
+fortunes, to refund a present which had been granted him long since, in
+return for many good offices he had done the city. For this reason, Sir,
+I thought it necessary to suspend giving any judgment in this cause till
+I shall receive your directions.
+
+
+
+CXII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+THOUGH by my edicts I have ordained that no largesses shall be given out
+of the public money, yet, that numberless private persons may not be
+disturbed in the secure possession of their fortunes, those donations
+which have been made long since ought not to be called in question or
+revoked. We will not therefore enquire into anything that has been
+transacted in this affair so long ago as twenty years; for I would be no
+less attentive to secure the repose of every private man than to
+preserve the treasure of every public community.
+
+
+
+CXIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+THE Pompeian law, Sir, which is observed in Pontus and Bithynia, does
+not direct that any money for their admission shall be paid in by those
+who are elected into the senate by the censors. It has, however, been
+usual for such members as have been admitted into those assemblies, in
+pursuance of the privilege which you were pleased to grant to some
+particular cities, of receiving above their legal number, to pay
+one[1073] or two thousand denarii[1074] on their election. Subsequent to
+this, the proconsul Anicius Maximus ordained (though indeed his edict
+related to some few cities only) that those who were elected by the
+censors should also pay into the treasury a certain sum, which varied in
+different places. It remains, therefore, for your consideration whether
+it would not be proper to settle a certain sum for each member who is
+elected into the councils to pay upon his entrance; for it well becomes
+you, whose every word and action deserves to be immortalized, to
+establish laws that shall endure for ever.
+
+
+
+CXIV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+I CAN give no general directions applicable to all the cities of
+Bithynia, in relation to those who are elected members of their
+respective councils, whether they shall pay an honorary fee upon their
+admittance or not. I think that the safest method which can be pursued
+is to follow the particular laws of each city; and I also think that the
+censors ought to make the sum less for those who are chosen into the
+senate contrary to their inclinations than for the rest.
+
+
+
+CXV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+THE Pompeian law, Sir, allows the Bithynians to give the freedom of
+their respective cities to any person they think proper, provided he is
+not a foreigner, but native of some of the cities of this province. The
+same law specifies the particular causes for which the censors may expel
+any member of the senate, but makes no mention of foreigners. Certain of
+the censors therefore have desired my opinion whether they ought to
+expel a member if he should happen to be a foreigner. But I thought it
+necessary to receive your instructions in this case; not only because
+the law, though it forbids foreigners to be admitted citizens, does not
+direct that a senator shall be expelled for the same reason, but because
+I am informed that in every city in the province a great number of the
+senators are foreigners. If, therefore, this clause of the law, which
+seems to be antiquated by a long custom to the contrary, should be
+enforced, many cities, as well as private persons, must be injured by
+it. I have annexed the heads of this law to my letter.
+
+
+
+CXVI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+You might well be doubtful, my dearest Secundus, what reply to give to
+the censors, who consulted you concerning their right to elect into the
+senate foreign citizens, though of the same province. The authority of
+the law on one side, and long custom prevailing against it on the other,
+might justly occasion you to hesitate, The proper mean to observe in
+this case will be to make no change in what is past, but to allow those
+senators who are already elected, though contrary to law, to keep their
+seats, to whatever city they may belong; in all future elections,
+however, to pursue the directions of the Pompeian law: for to give it a
+retrospective operation would necessarily introduce great confusion.
+
+
+
+CXVII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+IT is customary here upon any person taking the manly robe, solemnising
+his marriage, entering upon the office of a magistrate, or dedicating
+any public work, to invite the whole senate, together with a
+considerable part of the commonalty, and distribute to each of the
+company one or two denarii.[1075] I request you to inform me whether you
+think proper this ceremony should be observed, or how far you approve of
+it. For myself, though I am of opinion that upon some occasions,
+especially those of public festivals, this kind of invitation may be
+permitted, yet, when carried so far as to draw together a thousand
+persons, and sometimes more, it seems to be going beyond a reasonable
+number, and has somewhat the appearance of ambitious largesses.
+
+
+
+CXVIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+You very justly apprehended that those public invitations which extend
+to an immoderate number of people, and where the dole is distributed,
+not singly to a few acquaintances, but, as it were, to whole collective
+bodies, may be turned to the factious purposes of ambition. But I
+appointed you to your present government, fully relying upon your
+prudence, and in the persuasion that you would take proper measures for
+regulating the manners and settling the peace of the province.
+
+
+
+CXIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+THE athletic victors, Sir, in the Iselastic[1076] games, conceive that
+the stipend you have established for the conquerors becomes due from the
+day they are crowned: for it is not at all material, they say, what time
+they were triumphantly conducted into their country, but when they
+merited that honour. On the contrary, when I consider the meaning of the
+term Iselastic, I am strongly inclined to think that it is intended the
+stipend should commence from the time of their public entry. They
+likewise petition to be allowed the treat you give at those combats
+which you have converted into Iselastic, though they were conquerors
+before the appointment of that institution: for it is but reasonable,
+they assert, that they should receive the reward in this instance, as
+they are deprived of it at those games which have been divested of the
+honour of being Iselastic, since their victory. But I am very doubtful,
+whether a retrospect should be admitted in the case in question, and a
+reward given, to which the claimants had no right at the time they
+obtained the victory. I beg, therefore, you would be pleased to direct
+my judgment in these points, by explaining the intention of your own
+benefactions.
+
+
+
+CXX -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+THE stipend appointed for the conqueror in the Iselastic games ought
+not, I think, to commence till he makes his triumphant entry into his
+city. Nor are the prizes, at those combats which I thought proper to
+make Iselastic, to be extended backwards to those who were victors
+before that alteration took place. With regard to the plea which these
+athletic combatants urge, that they ought to receive the Iselastic prize
+at those combats which have been made Iselastic subsequent to their
+conquests, as they are denied it in the same case where the games have
+ceased to be so, it proves nothing in their favour; for notwithstanding
+any new arrangements which has been made relating to these games, they
+are not called upon to return the recompense which they received prior
+to such alteration.
+
+
+
+CXXI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
+
+I HAVE hitherto never, Sir, granted an order for post-chaises to any
+person, or upon any occasion, but in affairs that relate to your
+administration. I find myself, however, at present under a sort of
+necessity of breaking through this fixed rule. My wife having received
+an account of her grandfather's death, and being desirous to wait upon
+her aunt with all possible expedition, I thought it would be unkind to
+deny her the use of this privilege; as the grace of so tender an office
+consists in the early discharge of it, and as I well knew a journey
+which was founded in filial piety could not fail of your approbation. I
+should think myself highly ungrateful therefore, were I not to
+acknowledge that, among other great obligations which I owe to your
+indulgence, I have this in particular, that, in confidence of your
+favour, I have ventured to do, without consulting you, what would have
+been too late had I waited for your consent.
+
+
+
+CXXII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
+
+You did me justice, my dearest Secundus, in confiding in my affection
+towards you. Without doubt, if you had waited for my consent to forward
+your wife in her journey by means of those warrants which I have
+entrusted to your care, the use of them would not have answered your
+purpose; since it was proper this visit to her aunt should have the
+additional recommendation of being paid with all possible expedition.
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES TO THE CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE EMPEROR TRAJAN 1001 (return) [
+The greater part of the following letters were written by Pliny during
+his administration in the province of Bithynia. They are of a style and
+character extremely different from those in the preceding collection;
+whence some critics have injudiciously inferred that they are the
+production of another hand: not considering that the occasion
+necessarily required a different manner. In letters of business, as
+these chiefly are, turn and sentiment would be foreign and impertinent;
+politeness and elegance of expression being the essentials that
+constitute perfection in this kind: and in that view, though they may be
+less entertaining, they have not less merit than the former. But besides
+their particular excellence as letters, they have a farther
+recommendation as so many valuable pieces of history, by throwing a
+strong light upon the character of one of the most amiable and glorious
+princes in the Roman annals. Trajan appears throughout in the most
+striking attitude that majesty can be placed in; in the exertion of
+power to the godlike purposes of justice and benevolence: and what one
+of the ancient historians has said of him is here clearly verified, that
+"he rather chose to be loved than flattered by his people." To have been
+distinguished by the favour and friendship of a monarch of so exalted a
+character is an honour that reflects the brightest lustre upon our
+author; as to have been served and celebrated by a courtier of Pliny's
+genius and virtues is the noblest monunient of glory that could have
+been raised to Trajan. M.]
+
+
+1002 (return) [ Nerva, who succeeded Domitian, reigned but sixteen
+months and a few days. Before his death he not only adopted Trajan, and
+named him for his successor, but actually admitted him into a share of
+the government; giving him the titles of Cæsar, Germanicus and
+Imperator. Vid. Plin. Paneg. M.]
+
+
+1003 (return) [ $16,000.]
+
+
+1004 (return) [ One of the four governments of Lower Egypt. M.]
+
+
+1005 (return) [ The extensive power of paternal authority was (as has
+been observed in the notes above) peculiar to the Romans. But after
+Chrysippus was made a denizen of Rome, he was not, it would seem,
+consequentially entitled to that privilege over those children which
+were born before his denization. On the other hand, if it was expressly
+granted him, his children could not preserve their right of patronage
+over their own freedmen, because that right would of course devolve to
+their father, by means of this acquired dominion over them. The
+denization therefore of his children is as expressly solicited as his
+own. But both parties becoming quirites, the children by this creation,
+and not pleading in right of their father, would be patres fam. To
+prevent which the clause is added, "ita ut sint in patris potestate:" as
+there is another to save to them their rights of patronage over their
+freedmen, though they were reduced in patriam potestate. M.]
+
+
+1006 (return) [ Pliny enjoyed the office of treasurer in conjunction
+with Cornutus Tertullus. It was the custom at Rome for those who had
+colleagues to administer the duties of their posts by monthly turns.
+Buchner. M.]
+
+
+1007 (return) [ About $16,000; the annual income of Pliny's estate in
+Tuscany. He mentions another near Comum in Milan, the yearly value of
+which does not appear. We find him likewise meditating the purchase of
+an estate, for which he was to give about $117,000 of our money; but
+whether he ever completed that purchase is uncertain. This, however, we
+are sure of, that his fortunes were but moderate, considering his high
+station and necessary expenses: and yet, by the advantage of a judicious
+economy, we have seen him in the course of these letters, exercising a
+liberality of which after ages have furnished no parallel. M.]
+
+
+1008 (return) [ The senators were not allowed to go from Rome into the
+provinces without having first obtained leave of the emperor. Sicily,
+however, had the privilege to be excepted out of that law; as Gallia
+Narbonensis afterwards was, by Claudius Cæsar. Tacit. Ann. XII. C. 23.
+M.]
+
+
+1009 (return) [ One of the seven priests who presided over the feasts
+appointed in honour of Jupiter and the other gods, an office, as
+appears, of high dignity, since Pliny ranks it with the augurship.]
+
+
+1010 (return) [ Bithynia, a province in Anatolia, or Asia Minor, of
+which Pliny was appointed governor by Trajan, in the sixth year of his
+reign, A. D. 103, not as an ordinary proconsul, but as that emperor's
+own lieutenant, with powers extraordinary. (See Dio.) The following
+letters were written during his administration of that province. M.]
+
+
+1011 (return) [ A north wind in the Grecian seas, which rises yearly
+some time in July, and continues to the end of August; though others
+extend it to the middle of September. They blow only in the day-time.
+Varenius's Geogr. V.I. p. 513. M.]
+
+
+1012 (return) [ The inhabitants of Prusa (Brusa), a principal city of
+Bithynia.]
+
+
+1013 (return) [ In the sixth year of Trajan's reign, A. D. 103, and the
+41st of our author's age: he continued in this province about eighteen
+months. Vid. Mass, in Vit. Phin. 129. M.]
+
+
+1014 (return) [ Among other noble works which this glorious emperor
+executed, the forum or square which went by his name seems to have been
+the most magnificent. It was built with the foreign spoils he had taken
+in war. The covering of this edifice was all brass, the porticoes
+exceedingly beautiful and magnificent, with pillars of more than
+ordinary height and dimensions. In the centre of this forum was erected
+the famous pillar which has been already described.]
+
+
+1015 (return) [ It is probable the victory here alluded to was that
+famous one which Trajan gained over the Daciaiss; some account of which
+has been given in the notes above. It is certain, at least, Pliny lived
+to see his wish accomplished, this emperor having carried the Roman
+splendour to its highest pitch, and extended the dominions of the empire
+farther than any of his predecessors; as after his death it began to
+decline. M.]
+
+
+1016 (return) [ The capital of Bithynia; its modern name is Izmid.]
+
+
+1017 (return) [ The town of Panticapoeum, also called Bosporus, standing
+on the European side of the Cimmerian Bosporus (Straits of Kaffa), in
+the modern Crimea.]
+
+
+1018 (return) [ Nicea (as appears by the 15th letter of this book), a
+city in Bithynia, now called Iznik. M.]
+
+
+1019 (return) [ Sarmatia was divided into European, Asiatic, and German
+Sarmatia. It is not exactly known what bounds the ancients gave to this
+extensive region; however, in general, it comprehended the northern part
+of Russia, and the greater part of Poland, &c. M.]
+
+
+1020 (return) [ The first invention of public couriers is ascribed to
+Cyrus, who, in order to receive the earliest intelligence from the
+governors of the several provinces, erected post-houses throughout the
+kingdom of Persia, at equal distances, which supplied men and horses to
+forward the public despatches. Augustus was the first who introduced
+this most useful institution among the Romans, by employing post-
+chaises, disposed at convenient distances, for the purpose of political
+intelligence. The magistrates of every city were obliged to furnish
+horses for these messengers, upon producing a diploma, or a kind of
+warrant, either from the emperor himself or from those who had that
+authority under him. Sometimes, though upon very extraordinary
+occasions, persons who travelled upon their private affairs, were
+allowed the use of these post-chaises. It is surprising they were not
+sooner used for the purposes of commerce and private communication.
+Louis XI. first established them in France, in the year 1414; but it was
+not till later (date uncertain) that the post-office was settled in
+England by Act of Parliament, M.]
+
+
+1021 (return) [ Particular temples, altars, and statues were allowed
+among the Romans as places of privilege and sanctuary to slaves, debtors
+and malefactors. This custom was introduced by Romulus, who borrowed it
+probably from the Greeks; but during the free state of Rome, few of
+these asylums were permitted. This custom prevailed most under the
+emperors, till it grew so scandalous that the Emperor Pius found it
+necessary to restrain those privileged places by an edict. See Lipsii
+Excurs. ad Taeiti Ann. III, C. 36, M.]
+
+
+1022 (return) [ General under Deeebalus, king of the Dacians. M.]
+
+
+1023 (return) [ A province in Daeia, comprehending the southern parts of
+Servia and part of Bulgaria. M.]
+
+
+1024 (return) [ The second expedition of Trajan against Decebalus was
+undertaken the same year that Pliny went governor into this province;
+the reason therefore why Pliny sent this Calhidromus to the emperor
+seems to be that some use might possibly be made of him in favour of
+that design, M.]
+
+
+1025 (return) [ Receiver of the finances. M.]
+
+
+1026 (return) [ The coast round the Black Sea.]
+
+
+1027 (return) [ The text calls him primipilarem, that is, one who had
+been Prirnipilus, in officer in the army, whose post was both highly
+honourable and profitable; among other parts of his office he had the
+care of the eagle, or chief standard of the legion. M.]
+
+
+1028 (return) [ Slaves who were purchased by the public. M.]
+
+
+1029 (return) [ The most probable conjecture (for it is a point of a
+good deal of obscurity) concerning the beneficiary seems to be that they
+were a certain number of soldiers exempted from the usual duty of their
+office, in order to be employed as a sort of body-guards to the general.
+These were probably foot; as the equites here mentioned were perhaps of
+the same nature, only that they served on horseback. Equites singulares
+Cæsaris Augusti, &c., are frequently met with upon ancient inscriptions,
+and are generally supposed to mean the bodyguards of the emperor. M.]
+
+
+1030 (return) [ A province in Asia Minor, bounded by the Black Sea on
+the north, Bithynia on the west, Pontus on the east, and Phrygia on the
+south.]
+
+
+1031 (return) [ The Roman policy excluded slaves from entering into
+military service, and it was death if they did so. However, upon cases
+of great necessity, this maxim was dispensed with; but then they were
+first made free before they were received into the army, excepting only
+(as Servius in his notes upon Virgil) observes after the fatal battle of
+Cannae; when the public distress was so great that the Romans recruited
+their army with their slaves, though they had not time to give them
+their freedom. One reason, perhaps, of this policy might be that they
+did not think it safe to arm so considerable a body of men, whose
+numbers, in the times when the Roman luxury was at its highest, we may
+have some idea of by the instance which Pun the naturalist mentions of
+Claudius Isodorus, who at the time of his death was possessed of no less
+than 4,116 slaves, notwithstanding he had lost great numbers in the
+civil wars. Pun. Hist. Nat. XXXIII. 10. M.]
+
+
+1032 (return) [ A punishment among the Romans, usually inflicted upon
+slaves, by which they were to engage with wild beasts, or perform the
+part of gladiators, in the public shows. M.]
+
+
+1033 (return) [ It has been generally imagined that the ancients had not
+the art of raising water by engines; but this passage seems to favour
+the contrary opinion. The word in the original is sipho, which Hesychius
+explains (as one of the commentators observes) "instrumentuns ad
+jaculandas aquas adversas incendia; an instrument to throw up water
+against fires." But there is a passage in Seneca which seems to put this
+matter beyond conjecture, though none of the critics upon this place
+have taken notice of it: "Solemiss," says he, "duabus manibus inter se
+junctis aguam concipere, et com pressa utrinque palma in modum ciphonis
+exprimere" (Q. N. 1. II. 16) where we plainly see the use of this sipho
+was to throw UP water, and consequently the Romans were acquainted with
+that art. The account which Pliny gives of his fountains at Tuscum is
+likewise another evident proof. M.]
+
+
+1034 (return) [ This was an anniversary custom observed throughout the
+empire on the 30th of December. M.]
+
+
+1035 (return) [ About $132,000.]
+
+
+1036 (return) [ About $80,000.]
+
+
+1037 (return) [ About $400,000. To those who are not acquainted with the
+immense riches of the ancients, it may seem incredible that a city, and
+not the capital one either, of a conquered province should expend so
+large a sum of money upon only the shell (as it appears to be) of a
+theatre: but Asia was esteemed the most considerable part of the world
+for wealth; its fertility and exportations (as Tully observes) exceeding
+that of all other countries. M.]
+
+
+1038 (return) [ The word carte, in the original, comprehends more than
+what we call the pit in our theatres, as at means the whole space lit
+which the spectators sat. These theatres being open at the top, the
+galleries here mentioned were for the convenience of retiring in bad
+weather. M.]
+
+
+1039 (return) [ A place in which the athletic exercises were performed,
+and where the philosophers also used to read their lectures. M.]
+
+
+1040 (return) [ The Roman foot consisted of 11.71 inches of our
+standard, M.]
+
+
+1041 (return) [ A colony in the district of Cataonia, in Cappadocia.]
+
+
+1042 (return) [ The honorary senators, that is, such who were not
+received into the council of the city by election, but by the
+appointment of the emperor, paid a certain sum of money upon their
+admission into the senate. M.]
+
+
+1043 (return) [ "Graeculi. Even under the empire, with its relaxed
+morality and luxurious tone, the Romans continued to apply this
+contemptuous designation to people to whom they owed what taste for art
+and culture they possessed." Church and Brodribb.]
+
+
+1044 (return) [ A Roman cubit is equal to a foot 5.406 inches of our
+measure. Arbuthanot's Tab. M.]
+
+
+1045 (return) [ About $480.]
+
+
+1046 (return) [ About $120.]
+
+
+1047 (return) [ A diploma is properly a grant of certain privileges
+either to particular places or persons. It signifies also grants of
+other kinds; and it sometimes means post-warrants, as, perhaps, it does
+in this place. M.]
+
+
+1048 (return) [ A city in Bithynia. M.]
+
+
+1049 (return) [ Cybele, Rhea, or Ops, as she is otherwise called; from
+whom, according to the pagan creed, the rest of the gods are supposed to
+have descended. M.]
+
+
+1040b (return) [ Whatever was legally consecrated was ever afterwards
+unapplicable to profane uses. M.]
+
+
+1041b (return) [ That is, a city not admitted to enjoy the laws and
+privileges of Rome. M.]
+
+
+1042b (return) [ The reason why they did not choose to borrow of the
+public at the same rate of interest which they paid to private persons
+was (as one of the Commentators observes) because in the former instance
+they were obliged to give security, whereas in the latter they could
+raise money upon their personal credit. M.]
+
+
+1043b (return) [ These, in the original institution as settled by
+Augustus, were only commanders of his body-guards; but in the later
+times of the Roman empire they were next in authority under the emperor,
+to whom they seem to have acted as a sort of prime ministers. M.]
+
+
+1044b (return) [ The provinces were divided into, a kind of circuits
+called conventus, whither the proconsuls used to go in order to
+administer justice. The judges here mentioned must not be understood to
+mean the same sort of judicial officers as with us: they rather answered
+to our juries. M.]
+
+
+1045b (return) [ By the imperial constitutions the philosophers were
+exempted from all public functions. Catariscus. M.]
+
+
+1046b (return) [ About $24,000.]
+
+
+1047b (return) [ Geographers are not agreed where to place this city;
+Cellarius conjectures it may possibly be the same with Prusa ad Olympum,
+Prusa at the foot of Mount Olympus in Mysia.]
+
+
+1048b (return) [ Domitian.]
+
+
+1049b (return) [ That is, whether they should be considered in a state
+of freedom or slavery. M.]
+
+
+1050 (return) [ "Parents throughout the entire ancient world had the
+right to expose their children and leave them to their fate. Hence would
+sometimes arise the question whether such a child, if found and brought
+up by another, was entitled to his freedom, whether also the person thus
+adopting him must grant him his freedom without repayment for the cost
+of maintenance." Church and Brodribb.]
+
+
+1051 (return) [ "This decision of Trajan, the effect of which would be
+that persons would be slow to adopt an abandoned child which, when
+brought up, its natural parents could claim back without any
+compensation for its nurture, seems harsh, and we find that it was
+disregarded by the later emperors in their legal decisions on the
+subject." Church and Brodribb.]
+
+
+1052 (return) [ And consequently by the Roman laws unapplicable to any
+other purpose. M.]
+
+
+1053 (return) [ The Roman provinces in the times of the emperors were of
+two sorts: those which were distinguished by the name of the provinciae
+Cæsaris and the provinciae senatus. The provinciae Cæsaris, or imperial
+provinces, were such as the emperor, for reasons of policy, reserved to
+his own immediate administration, or of those whom he thought proper to
+appoint: the provinciae senatus, or proconsular provinces, were such as
+he left to the government of proconsuls or praetors, chosen in the
+ordinary method of election. (Vid. Suet, in Aug. V. 47.) Of the former
+kind was Bithynis, at the time when our author presided there. (Vid.
+Masson. Vit. Plin. p. 133.) M.]
+
+
+1054 (return) [ A province in Asia, bordering upon the Black Sea, and by
+some ancient geographers considered as one province with Bithynia. M.]
+
+
+1055 (return) [ About $2,000. M.]
+
+
+1056 (return) [ Cities of Pontus near the Euxine or Black Sea. M.]
+
+
+1057 (return) [ Gordium, the old capital of Phrygia. It afterwards, in
+the reign of the Emperor Augustus, received the name of Juliopolis. (See
+Smith's Classical Diet.)]
+
+
+1058 (return) [ Pompey the Great having subdued Mithridates, and by that
+means enlarged the Roman empire, passed several laws relating to the
+newly conquered provinces, and, among others, that which is here
+mentioned. M.]
+
+
+1059 (return) [ The right of electing Senators did not originally belong
+to the censors, who were only, as Cicero somewhere calls them, guardians
+of the discipline and manners of the city; but in process of time they
+engrossed the whole privilege of conferring that honour. M.]
+
+
+1060 (return) [ This, probably, was some act whereby the city was to
+ratify and confirm the proceedings of Dion under the commission assigned
+to him.]
+
+
+1061 (return) [ It was a notion which generally prevailed with the
+ancients, in the Jewish as well as heathen world, that there was a
+pollution in the contact of dead bodies, and this they extended to the
+very house in which the corpse lay, and even to the uncovered vessels
+that stood in the same room. (Vid. Pot. Antiq. V. II. 181.) From some
+such opinion as this it is probable that the circumstance, here
+mentioned, of placing Trajan's statue where these bodies were deposited,
+was esteemed as a mark of disrespect to his person.]
+
+
+1062 (return) [ A thriving Greek colony in the territory of Sinopis, on
+the Euxine.]
+
+
+1063 (return) [ A colony of Athenians in the province of Pontus. Their
+town, Amisus, on the coast, was one of the residences of Mithridates.]
+
+
+1064 (return) [ Casaubon, in his observations upon Theophrastus (as
+cited by one of the commentators) informs us that there were at Athens
+and other cities of Greece Certain fraternities which paid into a common
+chest a monthly contribution towards the support of such of their
+members who had fallen into misfortunes; upon condition that, if ever
+they arrived to more prosperous circumstances, they should repay into
+the general fund the money so advanced. M.]
+
+
+1065 (return) [ By the law for encouragement of matrimony (some account
+of which has already been given in the notes above), as a penalty upon
+those who lived bachelors, they were declared incapable of inheriting
+any legacy by will; so likewise, if being married, they had no children,
+they could not claim the full advantage of benefactions of that kind.]
+
+
+1066 (return) [ This letter is esteemed as almost the only genuine
+monument of ecclesiastical antiquity relating to the times immediately
+succeeding the Apostles, it being written at most not above forty years
+after the death of St. Paul. It was preserved by the Christians
+themselves as a clear and unsuspicious evidence of the purity of their
+doctrines, and is frequently appealed to by the early writers of the
+Church against the calumnies of their adversaries. M.]
+
+
+1067 (return) [ It was one of the privileges of a Roman citizen, secured
+by the Semprorian law, that he could not be capitally convicted but by
+the suffrage of the people; which seems to have been still so far in
+force as to make it necessary to send the persons here mentioned to
+Rome. M.]
+
+
+1068 (return) [ These women, it is supposed, exercised the same office
+as Phoebe mentioned by St. Paul, whom he styles deaconess of the church
+of Cenchrea. Their business was to tend the poor and sick, and other
+charitable offices; as also to assist at the ceremony of female baptism,
+for the more decent performance of that rite: as Vossius observes upon
+this passage. M.]
+
+
+1069 (return) [ If we impartially examine this prosecution of the
+Christians, we shall find it to have been grounded on the ancient
+constitution of the state, and not to have proceeded from a cruel or
+arbitrary temper in Trajan. The Roman legislature appears to have been
+early jealous of any innovation in point of public worship; and we find
+the magistrates, during the old republic frequently interposing in cases
+of that nature. Valerius Maximus has collected some instances to that
+purpose (L. I. C. 3), and Livy mentions it as an established principle
+of the earlier ages of the commonwealth, to guard against the
+introduction of foreign ceremonies of religion. It was an old and fixed
+maxim likewise of the Roman government not to suffer any unlicensed
+assemblies of the people. From hence it seems evident that the
+Christians had rendered themselves obnoxious not so much to Trajan as to
+the ancient and settled laws of the state, by introducing a foreign
+worship, and assembling themselves without authority. M.]
+
+
+1070 (return) [ On the coast of Paphlagonia.]
+
+
+1071 (return) [ By the Papian law, which passed in the consulship of M.
+Papius Mutilus and Q. Poppeas Secundus, u. c. 761, if a freedman died
+worth a hundred thousand sesterces (or about $4,000 of our money),
+leaving only one child, his patron (that is, the master from whom he
+received his liberty) was entitled to half his estate; if he left two
+children, to one-third; but if more than two, then the patron was
+absolutely excluded. This was afterwards altered by Justinian, Inst. 1.
+III. tit. 8. M.]
+
+
+1072 (return) [ About $7,000.]
+
+
+1073 (return) [ About $175]
+
+
+1074 (return) [ About $350.]
+
+
+1075 (return) [ The denarius=7 cents. The sum total, then, distributed
+among one thousand persons at the rate of, say, two denara a piece would
+amount to about $350.]
+
+
+1076 (return) [ These games are called Iselastic from the Greek word
+invehor, because the victors, drawn by white horses, and wearing crowns
+on their heads, were conducted with great pomp into their respective
+cities, which they entered through a breach in the walls made for that
+purpose; intimating, as Plutarch observes, that a City which produced
+such able and victorious citizens, had little occasion for the defence
+of walls (Catanaeus). They received also annually a certain honourable
+stipend from the public. M.]
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Letters of Pliny, by Pliny
+
+*** 
\ No newline at end of file