Translation: William Melmoth (in Harvard Classics series)
Introductory Note
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 himself,
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 upon 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 today 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 authors' 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.
General Letters
Part I
I
To Septitius
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 lie 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 empressement
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 reverse 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 the tracts which I have
already sent into the world, though they have long since lost all 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 Arulenus1 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, "stigmated2 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
Crassus4 or Camerinus5?" 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, Timon'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 advanta 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 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; courted8
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.
[Footnote 1: 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.]
[Footnote 2: The impropriety of this expression, in the original, seems to lie 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.]
[Footnote 3: An allusion to a wound he had received in the war between Vitellius and
Vespasian.]
[Footnote 4: A brother of Piso Galba's adopted son. He was put to death by Nero.]
[Footnote 5: Sulpicius Camerinus, put to death by the same emperor, upon some frivolous
charge.]
[Footnote 6: A select body of men who formed a court of judicature, called the
centumviral court. Their jurisdiction extended chiefly, if not entirely, to questions of
wills and interstate estates. Their number, it would seem, amounted to 105. M.]
[Footnote 7: Junius Mauricus, the brother of Rusticus Arulenus. Both brothers were
sentenced on the same day, Arulenus to execution and Mauricus to banishment.]
[Footnote 8: 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.]
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 enable me, by
frequent dwelling upon them, to receive a perfect impression of their loveliness, while it
guarded at the same time against that repent 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 may own case there is a peculiar circumstance that weighs much with me: this
speech was delivered not before the people, but the Decurii;1 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 those
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.
[Footnote 1: The Decurii were a sort of senators in the municipal or corporate cities
of Italy. M.]
VI
To Attius 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,1 the philosopher. I first became acquainted with this ex 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.
[Footnote 1: "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.]
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 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 get 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 Caesar, walking one day in the
palace, and hearing a great shouting, enquired the cause; and being informed that Nonianus1 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.
[Footnote 1: A pleader and historian of some distinction, mentioned by Tacitus, Ann.
xiv. 19, and by Quintilian, x. 1, 102.]
X
To Junius 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:1 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.
[Footnote 1: Padua.]
Part II
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 apiece, 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, - I 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 Caesar,1 any of
which circumstances were sufficient, after such an inauspicious dream, to have discouraged
me. Notwithstanding this, I engaged in the cause, reflecting that,
[Footnote 1: Domitian.]
"Without a sign, his sword the brave man draws, And asks no omen but his country's
cause";2
[Footnote 2: Iliad, xii. 243. Pope.]
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
presignify 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 yourself 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 townsman, my schoolfellow, 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;1
but that we may also have the satisfaction of seeing you a Roman knight,2 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.
[Footnote 1: Equal to about $4,000 of our money.]
[Footnote 2: "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.]
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 Lysias1 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,2 and many
others, in opposition to Lysias; while I confront Cato and the Gracchi with Caesar,
Pollio,3 Caelius,4 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 fullness, 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.5 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 in as
hard to fathom as uncertain, and as little to be relied on as that of soils and seasons.
The comic writer Eupolis,6 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."
[Footnote 1: An elegant Attic orator, remarkable for the grace and lucidity of his
style, also for his vivid and accurate delineations of character.]
[Footnote 2: A graceful and powerful orator, and friend of Demosthenes.]
[Footnote 3: A Roman orator of the Augustan age. He was a poet and historian as well,
but gained most distinction as an orator.]
[Footnote 4: A man of considerable taste, talent, and eloquence, but profligate and
extravagant. He was on terms of some intimacy with Cicero.]
[Footnote 5: 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.]
[Footnote 6: A contemporary and rival of Aristophanes.]
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 require 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,7
speaking of the same orator, says,
"His mighty words like Jove's own thunder roll; Greece hears, and trembles to her
inmost soul."
[Footnote 7: Aristophanes, Ach. 531.]
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 talker8 mentioned in Homer, but that
other9 described in the following lines:
"Frequent and soft, as falls the winter snow, Thus from his lips the copious
periods flow."
[Footnote 8: Thersites. Iliad, ii. v. 212.]
[Footnote 9: Ulysses. Iliad, iii. v. 222.]
Not but that I extremely admire him,10 too, of whom the poet says,
"Few were his words, but wonderfully strong."
[Footnote 10: Menelaus. Iliad, iii. v. 214.]
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 Severus1
[Footnote 1: Great-grandfather of the Emperor M. Aurelius.]
I am at present (and have been a considerable to be assured that yours is easy.
Farewell.
[Footnote 2: An eminent lawyer of Trajan's reign.]
[Footnote 3: The philosophers used to hold their disputations in the gymnasia and
porticoes, being places of the most public resort for walking, &c. M.]
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, who1 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,2 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 acknowledgments 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 Tacitus3 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,4 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 all 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.
[Footnote 1: "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.)]
[Footnote 2: Nerva.]
[Footnote 3: The historian.]
[Footnote 4: 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, p. 147. M.]
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 not 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 guests 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,1 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 a true economist. Your 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 that
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.
[Footnote 1: 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 couch; 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.]
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 Bructeri1 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.
[Footnote 1: A people of Germany.]
Part III
XXI
To Priscus
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.1
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 prince2 the privilege3
granted to those who have three children: a favour which, though Caesar very rarely
bestows, and always with great caution, yet he conferred, at my request, in such a manner
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.
[Footnote 1: "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.]
[Footnote 2: Trajan.]
[Footnote 3: By a law passed A.U. 762, 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.]
XXII
To Maximus
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 q 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.
[Footnote 1: About 54 cents.]
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 milestone; 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 seashore; so that when there is a southwest 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, akd 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 bedroom, connected with it by a raised passage furnished with pipes, which
supply, at a wholesome temperature, and distribute to al other little bathrooms, 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 lookout 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
gestatio1 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 barefoot 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 northeast 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
southwest; 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 summertime; 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
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 bedroom, 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 bedroom and
anteroom, 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,3 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 for 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.
[Footnote 1: Avenue.]
[Footnote 2: "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 came 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.]
[Footnote 3: 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.]
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 working1 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 on 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.
[Footnote 1: 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 millia passuum declamasset?" How many
miles he had declaimed. M.]
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 bedside 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 curses
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,1 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
enjoyhit 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,2 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.
[Footnote 1: 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.]
[Footnote 2: $2,350,000.]
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 carry me beyond those bounds, produce this very letter of mine
in court against me; and condemn me to repose, whenever I can enjoy it without being
reproached with indolence. Farewell.
Part IV
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 an
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,"1 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 Nero2 (who
extended his conquest very far into the 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 are discussed the earliest length 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 Bassus3 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.4 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 daybreak 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. A 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 commonplace, 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,5
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.
[Footnote 1: 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).]
[Footnote 2: Stepson of Augustus and brother to Tiberius. And amiable an popular
prince. He died at the close of his third campaign, from a fracture received by falling
from his horse.]
[Footnote 3: 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."]
[Footnote 4: 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.]
[Footnote 5: $16,000.]
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 lifelike, 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 by 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 present my
making a longer stay. Farewell.
XXIX
To Caninius Rufus
I have just been informed that Silius Italicus1 has starved himself to
death, at his villa near Naples. Ill health was the cause. Being tro 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.
[Footnote 1: 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 Rom. Biog.]
[Footnote 2: Trajan.]
XXX
To Spurinna and Cottia1
[Footnote 1: Spurinna's wife.]
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.
Part V
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,1 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 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.
[Footnote 1: 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.]
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 Caesar 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 granddaughter 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 action1 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!
[Footnote 1: 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.]
Scribonianus had taken up arms in Illyria against Claudius, 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.
XXXV
To Severus
I was obliged by my consular office to compliment the emperor1 in the name
of the republic; but after I had performed that ceremony in the senate in the 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.
[Footnote 1: Trajan.]
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 subagents, 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 slaves1 myself,
and there are none upon the estate. For the rest, the price, you must know, is three
millions of sesterces.2 It has formerly gone for five millions, 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.
[Footnote 1: The Romans used to employ their criminals in the lower offices of
husbandry, such as ploughing, &c. Plin. H. N. 1. 18, 3. M.]
[Footnote 2: About $100,000.]
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 Esquiliae,3 but to
approach it with respect.
[Footnote 3: One of the famous seven hills upon which Rome was situated. M.]
"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."4
[Footnote 4: Mart. lx. 19.]
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 granddaughter5 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,6 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.
[Footnote 5: Calpurnia, Pliny's wife.]
[Footnote 6: Now Citta di Castello.]
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,1 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 vainglory
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.
[Footnote 1: The Romans had an absolute power over their children, of which no age or
station of the latter deprived them.]
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 his 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 cripple 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 Senecio'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', "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.
Part VI
XLI
To Maturus Arrianus
My advancement to the dignity of augur1 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,2
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, 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.
[Footnote 1: 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 Rom. Antiq. M.]
[Footnote 2: Trajan.]
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.1
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.
[Footnote 1: A slave was incapable of property; and, therefore, whatever he acquired
became the right of his master. M.]
XLIII
To Cornelius Minicianus
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: "O
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,1 should be buried alive, from an extravagant notion that exemplary
severities of this kind conferred lustre upon his reign.
[Footnote 1: "Their office was to attend upon the rites of Vesta, 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
informs us that Augustus 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. 101. M.]
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 Caesar can think me polluted, under the influence of whose sacred functions he has
conquered and triumphed?"2 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, til 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,
[Footnote 2: It was usual with Domitian to triumph, not only without a victory, but
even after a defeat. M.]
"She took great care to fall with decency."3
[Footnote 3: Euripides' Hecuba.]
Celer likewise, a Roman knight, who was accused of an intrigue with her, while they
were scourging him with rods4 in the Forum, persisted in exclaiming, "What
have I done? - I have done nothing."
[Footnote 4: The punishment inflicted upon the violators of Vestal chastity was to be
scourged to death. M.]
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, and he complied with their advice. Herennius Senecio spoke for him in his
absence, in some such words as Homer's
"Patroclus lies in death."
"Instead of an advocate," said he, "I must turn informer: Licinianus has
fled." This news was so agreeable to Domitian that he could not help betraying his
satisfaction: "Then," he exclaimed, "has Licinianus acquitted us of
injustice"; adding that he would not press too hard upon him in his disgrace. He
accordingly allowed him to carry off such of his effects as he could secure before they
were seized for the public use, and in other respects softened the sentence of banishment
by way of reward for his voluntary confession. Licinianus was afterwards, through the
clemency of the emperor Nerva, permitted to settle in Sicily, where he now professes
rhetoric, and avenges himself upon Fortune in his declamations. - You see how obedient I
am to your commands, in sending you a circumstantial detail of foreign as well as domestic
news. I imagined indeed, as you were absent when this transaction occurred, that you had
only heard just in a general way that Licinianus was banished for incest, as Fame usually
makes her report in general terms, without going into particulars. I think I deserve in
return a full account of all that is going on in your town and neighbourhood, where
something worth telling about is usually happening; however, write what you please,
provided you send me as long a letter as my own. I give you notice, I shall count not only
the pages, but even the very lines and syllables. Farewell.
XLIV
To Valerius Paulinus
Rejoice with me, my friend, not only upon my account, but your own, and that of the
republic as well; for literature is still held in honour. Being lately engaged to plead a
cause before the Court of the Hundred, the crowd was so great that I could not get to my
place without crossing the tribunal where the judges sat. And I have this pleasing
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 my 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 daughter1
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.
[Footnote 1: Calpurnia, Pliny's wife.]
XLVII
To Romatius Firmus
Look here! The next time the courts 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 are 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 fountainhead, 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 one of her heirs,
and Sertorius Severus, of praetorian rank, together with several eminent Roman knights,
coheirs 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." Some time afterwards, Curianus commenced a suit in the Court
of the Hundred against all the coheirs except myself. The day appointed for the trial
approaching, the rest of the coheirs 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 Rusticus1 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 coheirs,
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 Curianus 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 honourable
man, whether my actions meet with that approval which is in some sort their due. Farewell.
[Footnote 1: 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.]
L
To Titius Aristo
Among the many agreeable and obliging instances I have received of your friendship,
your not concealing from me the long conversation 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 Caesar, Augustus, Nerva, and Tiberius Caesar. 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 reasons 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.
Part VII
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,1 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.
[Footnote 1: In the original, scrinium, a box for holding MSS.]
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 slopes 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 mountainside, 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 slope,
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 th
descend, from the terrace, by an easy slope 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 gestatio, 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 bedroom 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 as far as the dado, 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 bedchamber 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-tree 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 lookout 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,1 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 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 alternatively 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-fo 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 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 set 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 minutes stars, for he does not go out
of his way for that purpose, but only follows where he 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.2 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!3) of all those I brought here
with me. And may the gods continue that happiness to me, and that honour to my villa.
Farewell.
[Footnote 1: 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.]
[Footnote 2: Now called Frascati, Tivoli, and Palestrina, all of them situated in the
Campagna di Roma, and at no great distance from Rome. M.]
[Footnote 3: "This is said in allusion to the idea of Nemesis supposed to threaten
excessive prosperity." Church and Brodribb.]
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.1 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 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.
[Footnote 1: About $16,000.]
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. Oh, 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 shew of honourable memorial in their houses than the images1 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.
[Footnote 1: 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.]
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;1
from whence, after a long absence, he lately 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,2 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.
[Footnote 1: The Roman physicians used to send their patients in consumptive cases into
Egypt, particularly to Alexandria. M.]
[Footnote 2: Frejus, in Provence, the southern part of France. M.]
LVII
To Rufus
I went into the Julian1 court to hear those lawyers to whom, according to
the last adjournment, I was to reply. The judges had taken their seats, the decemviri2
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 Lawsuits 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.3 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 redresser 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.
[Footnote 1: A court of justice erected by Julius Caesar in the forum, and opposite to
the basilica Aemilia.]
[Footnote 2: The decemviri 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.]
[Footnote 3: About $400.]
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,1 and wearing a white
patch2 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, or 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 and 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.
[Footnote 1: 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
of antiquity. M.]
[Footnote 2: We gather from Martial that the wearing of these was not an unusual
practice with fops 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.]
LIX
To Calpurnia1
[Footnote 1: His wife.]
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, how
ever, as often as possible, notwithstanding there is still a mixture of pain in the
pleasure they afford me. Farewell.
Part VIII
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."1
[Footnote 1.: Hom. Il. lib. i., v. 88.]
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 overclouded, 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,1 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:
[Footnote 1.: Now Alzia, not far from Como.]
"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
Oh, 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' wits, you must know, are reckoned rather
unsound,1 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.
[Footnote 1.: Nevertheless, Javolenus Priscus was one of the most eminent lawyers of
his time, and is frequently quoted in the Digesta of Justinian.]
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
acciden 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 wa 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.
[Footnote 1: In the Bay of Naples.]
[Footnote 2: 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 cannot
suppose the thing itself was esteemed unmanly, but only when it was attended with some
particular circumstances of an overrefined delicacy. M.]
[Footnote 3: Now called Castelamare, in the Bay of Naples. M.]
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 f 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 recognize 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.1 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, as 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.
[Footnote 1: 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.]
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.
LXVII
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,1 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.
[Footnote 1: The lake Larius.]
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,1 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 grandchildren, whom I shall
claim a sort of right to embrace as my own! Farewell.
[Footnote 1: Those families were styled patrician whose ancestors had been members of
the senate in the earliest times of the regal or consular government. M.]
LXIX
To Severus
You desire me to consider what turn you should give to your speech in honour of the
emperor,2 upon your being appointed consul elect.3 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 prais I could offer to him would
be to shew 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.
[Footnote 2: Trajan.]
[Footnote 3: 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.]
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 villa1 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.
[Footnote 1: So called, because it formerly belonged to Camillus. M.]
Part IX
LXXI
To Cornelianus
I received lately the most exquisite satisfaction at Centumcellae2 (as it is
now called), being summoned thither by Caesar3 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.4 The husband informed the
consul's lieutenant, who wrote to the emperor about it. Caesar, 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 by 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 wa time, which, however, was diversified
with amusements of the most agreeable kind. We were every day invited to Caesar'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 Caesar! 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 author10, and will prove of infinite benefit,
by affording a secure retreat to ships on that extensive and dangerous coast. Farewell.
[Footnote 2: Civita Vecchia.]
[Footnote 3: Trajan.]
[Footnote 4: An officer in the Roman legions, answering in some sort to a captain in
our companies. M.]
[Footnote 5: This law was made by Augustus Caesar; but it nowhere clearly appears what
was the peculiar punishment it inflicted. M.]
[Footnote 6: An officer employed by the emperor to receive and regulate the public
revenue in the provinces. M.]
[Footnote 7: Comprehending Transylvania, Moldavia, and Walachia. M.]
[Footnote 8: Polycletus was a freedman, and great favourite of Nero. M.]
[Footnote 9: Memmius, or Rhemmius (the critics are not agreed which), was author of a
law by which it was enacted that whosoever was convicted to calumny and false accusation
should be stigmatized 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.]
[Footnote 10: Trajan.]
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,1 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 might 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.
[Footnote 1: Unction was much esteemed and prescribed by the ancients. Celsus expressly
recommends it in the remission of acute distempers: "ungi leniter que pertractari
corpus, etiam in acutis et recentibus morbis oportet; in remissione tamen," &c.
Celci Med. ed. Almeloveen p. 88. M.]
LXXIV
To Calpurnia2
[Footnote 2: His wife.]
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, 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 Caesar,1 and to several of the leading men in Rome,
and also to us, the advocates for Varenus. Magnus,2 nevertheless, w 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.
[Footnote 1: Trajan.]
[Footnote 2: One of the Bithynians employed to manage the trial. M.]
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 of 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' 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.
LXXVII
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 sesterces1 for the whole. And as you think it
might have fetched nine hundred thousand,2 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.
[Footnote 1: About $28,000.]
[Footnote 2: About $36,000.]
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 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 for ever please. Farewell.
[Footnote 1: 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.]
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, overawed 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
reopened, 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.
Part X
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 granddaughter. 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; not 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 games1 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 (I 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,2 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.
[Footnote 1: The priests, as well as other magistrates, exhibited public games to the
people when they entered upon their office. M.]
[Footnote 2: 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.]
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 realize 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
proconsular 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 daytime,
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,1 the philosopher, came to Athens at this time, and, reading the bill, enquired the price.
The extraordinary cheapness raised his suspicion; nevertheless, when 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.
[Footnote 1: A Stoic philosopher and native of Tarsus. He was tutor for some time to
Octavius, afterwards Augustus, Caesar.]
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 shew 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 excess1 in friendship. Farewell.
[Footnote 1: Balzac very prettily observes: "Il y a des rivieres qui ne font
jamais tant de bien que quand elles se debordent; de meme, l'amitie n'a rien meilleur que
l'exces." M.]
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 Baebius 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.
LXXXVI
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,1 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.
[Footnote 1: Persons of rank and literature among the Romans retained in their families
a domestic whose sole business was to read to them. M.]
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,1 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,2 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,3
I remitted to him one-eighth part of that whole sum, and likewise one-tenth of five
thousand.4 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."5 Farewell.
[Footnote 1: It was a doctrine maintained by the Stoics that all crimes are equal. M.]
[Footnote 2: About $400.]
[Footnote 3: About $600.]
[Footnote 4: About $93.]
[Footnote 5: Hom. Il. lib. ix., v. 319.]
LXXXVIII
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 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 cons 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, i 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.
[Footnote 1: Those of Nero and Domitian. M.]
[Footnote 2: When Nerva and Trajan received the empire. M.]
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,1 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 someone in my household, for to slaves the house they are in is a kind of state and
commonwealth, so to speak. But though I endeavour to acquiesce under these reflections,
yet the same tenderness which led me to shew 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 shew
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 endeavours 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.
[Footnote 1: A slave could acquire no property, and consequently was incapable by law
of making a will. M.]
Part XI
XCI
To Macrinus
Is the weather with you as rude and boisterous as it is with us? All here is 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 shewn 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 w 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.1 As I was walking over his grounds, I was shewn a lake that lies
below them, called Vadimon,2 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 outswim 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 underground, 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
[Footnote 1: Now called Amelia, a town in Ombria. M.]
[Footnote 2: Now Laghetto di Bassano. M.]
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
wan bounds: for there can be no danger of excess where one cannot love too well. Farewell.
[Footnote 1: A province in Anatolia, or Asia Minor. M.]
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 seem 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 dress1 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.
[Footnote 1: 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.]
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 Baiae1: 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,2 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.
[Footnote 1: 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. M.]
[Footnote 2: 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.]
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,1
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.
[Footnote 1: Lyons.]
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?"
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.
Part XII
CI
To Quadratus
The pleasure and attention with which you read the vindication I published of
Helvidius,1 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 member2 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,3 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 o 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 condemns 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."5 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,
[Footnote 1: He was accused of treason, under pretence that in a dramatic piece which
he composed he had, in the characters of Paris and Cenone, reflected upon Domitian for
divorcing his wife Domitia. Suet. in Vit. Domit. c. 10. M.]
[Footnote 2: Helvidius.]
[Footnote 3: Upon the accession of Nerva to the empire, after the death of Domitian.
M.]
[Footnote 4: Our author's first wife, of whom we have no particular account. After her
death, he married his favourite, Calpurnia. M.]
[Footnote 5: 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. lib. iv., c. 10. M.]
"'All I've foreseen, and oft in thought revolv'd;6
[Footnote 6: Aeneid, lib. vi., v. 105.]
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 women7 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 Rutus 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 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,"8 said he, "not to oblige me to implore the assistance of the tribunes."9 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:
[Footnote 7: Arria and Fannia.]
[Footnote 8: The appellation by which the senate was addressed. M.]
[Footnote 9: 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.]
"Great perils, father, wait the unequal fight; Those younger champions will thy
strength o'ercome."10
[Footnote 10: Diomed's speech to Nestor, advising him to retire from the field of
battle. Iliad, viii. 102. Pope. M.]
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. Caesar, 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,11 that reward he received from an infamous
one!"12 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.
[Footnote 11: Nerva.]
[Footnote 12: Domitian; by whom he had been appointed consul elect, though he had not
yet entered upon that office. M.]
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.1 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, shew 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 shew indulgence to ours.
Farewell.
[Footnote 1: 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 origo," 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 temporum" (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.]
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 shew 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 his 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 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,1 received
again into your favour and family a discarded freedman, whom 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.
[Footnote 1: See letter ciii.]
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 thsn 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 overwrought, 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."1
[Footnote 1: Iliad, xxi. 387. Pope. M.]
Again,
"Reclin'd on clouds his steed and armour lay."2
[Footnote 2: Iliad, v. 356, speaking of Mars. M.]
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."3
[Footnote 3: Iliad, iv. 452. Pope.]
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 Demosthenes4 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 outworks
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.5 - 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 agai 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 galleys, its trim, and its arrogant ostentation), read 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.
[Footnote 4: The design of Pliny in this letter is to justify the figurative
expressions he had employed, probably in some oration, by instances of the same warmth of
colouring from those great masters of eloquence, Demosthenes and his rival, Aeschines. But
the force of the passages which he produces from these 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, be preserved in an English translation. M.]
[Footnote 5: See 1st Philippic.]
[Footnote 6: See Demosthenes' speech in defence of Ctesiphon.]
[Footnote 7: See 2nd Olynthiac.]
[Footnote 8: See Aeschines' speech against Ctesiphon.]
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 seacoast: it stands upon a navigable lake communicating with an
estuary in the form of a river, which alternately 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!2 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.
[Footnote 1: 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.]
[Footnote 2: 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 sympathizes with he 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.]
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 those 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;1 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 above - mentioned. 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.
[Footnote 1: 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, legere clare debet; post lectionem
ambulare," &c. Celsi Medic. 1. i., c. 8. M.]
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.
Correspondence With The
Emperor Trajan
Part I
I1
To the Emperor Trajan
[Footnote 1: 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
monument of glory that could have been raised to Trajan. M.]
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.2 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.
[Footnote 2: 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 Caesar, Germanicus,
and Imperator. Vid. Plin. Paneg. M.]
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 of four hundred thousand sesterces,1 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.
[Footnote 1: $16,000.]
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 contended 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 prince 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.1 I entreat you then, most
gracious Emperor, to send me, as you promised, a letter to your friend Pompeius Planta,
governor of Egypt.
[Footnote 1: One of the four governments of Lower Egypt. M.]
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,1
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.
[Footnote 1: 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 potestatem.
M.]
Part II
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 attendance1
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,2
the time for dressing the vineyards is approaching, and that business must fall upon my
new tenants. 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 absence3 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.
[Footnote 1: 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.]
[Footnote 2: 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.]
[Footnote 3: 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 Caesar. Tacit.
Ann. xii., c. 23. M.]
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
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 septemvir1 (both which are now vacant) to the
dignity I already enjoy by your indulgence; that I my 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.
[Footnote 1: 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. M.]
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 province1 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,2 which are now set in, will not permit me to
proceed entirely by sea.
[Footnote 1: 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.]
[Footnote 2: A north wind in the Grecian seas, which rises yearly sometime in July, and
continues to the end of August; though others extend it to the middle of September. They
blow only in the daytime. Varenius' Geogr. v. i., p. 513. M.]
XV
Trajan to Pliny
Your information, my dear Pliny, was extremely agreeable to me, 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,3 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,4 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.
[Footnote 3: The inhabitants of Prusa (Brusa), a principal city of Bithynia.]
[Footnote 4: 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.
Plin. 129. M.]
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 works1 which I am carrying on at Rome, and in the
neighborhood; 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.
[Footnote 1: 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. M.]
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.1
[Footnote 1: It is possible the victory here alluded to was that famous one which
Trajan gained over the Dacians. 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.]
XX
To the Emperor Trajan
My lieutenant, Servilius Pudens, came to Nicomedia,2 Sir, on the 24th of
November, and by his arrival freed me, at length, from the anxiety of a very uneasy
expectation.
[Footnote 2: The capital of Bithynia; its modern name is Izmid.]
Part III
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 despatch from your freedman, Lycormas, desiring me, if any embassy
from Bosporus1 should come here on the way to Rome, that I would detain it till
his arrival. None has yet arrived, at least in the city2 where I now am. But a
courier passing through this place from the king of Sarmatia,3 I embrace the
opportunity which accidentally offers itself, of sending with him the messenger whom
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.
[Footnote 1: The town of Panticapoeum, also called Bosporus, standing on the European
side of the Cimmerian Bosporus (Straits of Kaffa), in the modern Crimea.]
[Footnote 2: Nicea (as appears by the 15th letter of this book), a city in Bithynia,
now called Isnik. M.]
[Footnote 3: 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.]
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.4
[Footnote 4: 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
posthouses 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 king 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 1474; but it was not till the 12th of Car. II.
that the post-office was settled in England by Act of Parliament. M.]
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;1 that,
being brought before a magistrate, he declared he was formerly slave to Laberius Maximus,
but being taken prisoner by Susagus2 in Moesia,3 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 send4
him to you. This I should have done sooner, but I delayed his journey in order to make an
enquiry 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.
[Footnote 1: 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 Taciti Ann. iii., c. 36. M.]
[Footnote 2: General under Decebalus, king of the Dacians. M.]
[Footnote 3: A province in Dacia, comprehending the southern parts of Servia and part
of Bulgaria. M.]
[Footnote 4: 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
Callidromus to the emperor seems to be that some use might possibly be made of him in
favour of that design. M.]
XXVII
To the Emperor Trajan
Your freedman and procurator,1 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.
[Footnote 1: Receiver of the finances. M.]
XXVIII
To the Emperor Trajan
After having experienced, Sir, in Gabius Bassus, who commands on the Pontic2
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.
[Footnote 2: The coast round the Black Sea.]
XXIX
To the Emperor Trajan
Nymphidius Lupus,1 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, shews 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.
[Footnote 1: The text calls him primipilarem, that is, one who had been primipilus, an
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.]
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 slaves2 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.
[Footnote 2: Slaves who were purchased by the public. M."]
Part IV
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 beneficiary1
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.
[Footnote 1: The most probable conjecture (for it is a point of a good deal of
obscurity) concerning the beneficiarii 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 bodyguards 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
Caesaris Augusti, &c., are frequently met with upon ancient inscriptions, and are
generally supposed to mean the bodyguards of the emperor. M.]
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,
whom by your orders I allotted to the very worthy Gemellinus. Those, therefore, whom I
found in his service, I thought proper he should retain, especially as he was going into
Paphlagonia,1 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.
[Footnote 1: 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.]
XXXVII
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 Gemellinus, will be sufficient.
XXXVIII
To the Emperor Trajan
The very excellent young man Sempronius Caelianus, having discovered two slaves2
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 this, 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.
[Footnote 2: 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 Pliny 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. Plin. Hist. Nat. xxxiii. 10. M.]
XXXIX
Trajan to Pliny
Sempronius Caelianus 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 enquire whether these slaves enlisted 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,1 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.
[Footnote 1: 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.]
Part V
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
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 be 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,1 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 firemen,
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.
[Footnote 1: 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),
"instrumentum ad jaculandas aquas adversus 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: "Solemus," says he, "duabus manibus inter se junctis aquam
concipere, et compressa ultrimque palma in modum siphonis exprimere" (Q. N. l. 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.]
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
them 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 vows1 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.
[Footnote 1: This was an anniversary custom observed throughout the empire on the 30th
of December. M.]
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 million, three hundred and
twenty-nine sesterces2 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.3 But this likewise is discontinued; so that,
after having been at an immense charge to no purpose, they must still be at 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, moreover,
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 someone 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.
[Footnote 2: About $132,000.]
[Footnote 3: About $80,000.]
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;1 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 compartments of this theatre at their own expense,
some engaging to erect the portico, others the galleries over the pit:2 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,3 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
feet4 in thickness, are not strong enough to support the superstructure, as the
interstices are filled up with quarry stones, and the walls are not overlaid with
brickwork. Also the inhabitants of Claudiopolis5 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.6 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 endeavouring not to lose what we have already expended.
[Footnote 1: 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 those of all
other countries. M.]
[Footnote 2: The word cavea, in the original, comprehends more than what we call the
pit in our theatres, as it means the whole space in 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.]
[Footnote 3: A place in which the athletic exercises were performed, and where the
philosophers also used to read their lectures. M.]
[Footnote 4: The Roman foot consisted of 11.7 inches of our standard. M.]
[Footnote 5: A colony in the district of Cataonia, in Cappadocia.]
[Footnote 6: 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.]
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 Greeks1 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.
[Footnote 1: "Graeculi. Even under the empire, with its relaxed morality and
luxurious tone, the Romans continued to apply this contemptuous designation to a people to
whom they owed what taste for art and culture they possessed." Church and Brodribb.]
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 highroad, at little trouble and expense,
but from thence are conveyed in carriages to the seaside, 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.1 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.
[Footnote 1: A Roman cubit is equal to 1 foot, 5.406 inches of our measure. Arbuthnot's
Tab. M.]
Part VI
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 someone
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.1 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 sesterces2 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.
[Footnote 1: About $480,]
[Footnote 2: About $120.]
LIII
Trajan to Pliny
I entirely approve, my dearest Secundus, of your having excused by 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;3
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.
[Footnote 3: 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.]
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 Apemea,1 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.
[Footnote 1: A city in Bithynia. M.]
LVII
Trajan to Pliny
The memorial of the Apameans annexed to your letter has saved me the necessity of
considering the reasons they suggest why the former proconsuls forebore 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.1 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,2 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.
[Footnote 1: 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.]
[Footnote 2: Whatever was legally consecrated was ever afterwards unapplicable to
profane uses. M.]
LIX
Trajan to Pliny
You may without scruple, my dearest Secundus, if the sieuation 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 city3 is not capable of receiving that kind of
consecration which is sanctified by our laws.
[Footnote 3: That is, a city not admitted to enjoy the laws and privileges of Rome. M.]
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 depend. 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.
Part VII
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, solemnized
the day of my accession to the empire.
LXII
To the Emperor Trajan
The debts which were 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 public1 (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.
[Footnote 1: 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.]
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
cognizance. 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 who 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 him sent in chains to my praetorian prefects:1 for, only to remand him
back to a punishment which he has contumaciously eluded will by no means be a sufficient
punishment.
[Footnote 1: 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.]
LXVI
To the Emperor Trajan
When I cited the judges, Sir, to attend me at a sessions2 which I was going
to hold, Flavius Archippus claimed the privilege of being excused as exercising the
profession of a philosopher.3 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 roll 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,
notwithstanding 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.
[Footnote 2: 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.]
[Footnote 3: By the imperial constitutions the philosophers were exempted from all
public functions. Catanaeus. M.]
Domitian's Letter to Terentius Maximus
"Flavius Archippus, the philosopher, has prevailed with me to give an order that
six hundred thousand sesterces4 be laid out in the purchase of an estate for
the support of him and his family, in the neighbourhood of Prusias,5 his native
country. Let this be accordingly done; and place that sum to the account of my
benefactions."
[Footnote 4: About $24,000.]
[Footnote 5: 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. M.]
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 tenor 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 him6 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."
[Footnote 6: Domitian.]
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.
LXVIII
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.
Part VIII
LXXI
To the Emperor Trajan
A very considerable question, Sir, in which the whole province is interested, has been
lately started, concerning the state1 and maintenance of deserted children.2
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.
[Footnote 1: That is, whether they should be considered in a state of freedom or
slavery. M.]
[Footnote 2: "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.]
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 Armenius 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.3
[Footnote 3: "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 unnatural 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.]
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.
LXXIV
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 Caesar, 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
I 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!1
[Footnote 1: And consequently by the Roman laws unapplicable to any other purposes. M.]
LXXVII
To the Emperor Trajan
I have been pressed by some persons to take upon himself the enquiry of causes relating
to claims of freedom by birthright, 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 province.1
I have therefore, Sir, deferred interfering in this affair, till I shall receive your
instructions as to how you would have me proceed.
[Footnote 1: The Roman provinces in the times of the emperors were of two sorts: those
which were distinguished by the name of the provinciae Caesaris and the provinciae
senatus. The provinciae Caesaris, 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. c. 47.) Of the former kind was Bithynia, at the time when
our author presided there. (Vid. Masson, Vit. Plin. p. 133.) M.]
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 birthright.
LXXIX
To the Emperor Trajan
Julius Largus, of Pontus2 (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 sesterces3 for my own use, and to apply the remainder for the
benefit of the cities of Heraclea and Tios,4 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.
[Footnote 2: A province in Asia, bordering upon the Black Sea, and by some ancient
geographers considered as one province with Bithynia. M.]
[Footnote 3: About $2,000. M.]
[Footnote 4: Cities of Pontus near the Euxine or Black Sea. M.]
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.
Part IX
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 Juliopolis1 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
the 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.
[Footnote 1: Gordium, the old capital of Phrygia. It afterwards, in the reign of the
emperor Augustus, received the name of Juliopolis. (See Smith's Classical Dict.)]
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 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's1 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?2 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.
[Footnote 1: Pompey the Great, having subdued Mithridates, and by that means greatly
enlarged the Roman empire, passed several laws relating to the newly conquered provinces,
and, among others, that which is here mentioned. M.]
[Footnote 2: 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.]
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 assigned1 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,2 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 Eumolpus 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.
[Footnote 1: This probably, was some act whereby the city was to ratify and confirm the
proceedings of Dion under the commission assigned to him.]
[Footnote 2: 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.]
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.
Part X
XCI
To the Emperor Trajan
The inhabitants of Sinope1 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.
[Footnote 1: A thriving Greek colony in the territory of Sinopis, on the Euxine.]
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 Amiseni1 enjoys, by your indulgence,
the privilege of its own laws. A memorial being presented to me there, concerning a
charitable institution,2 I have subjoined it to this letter, that you may
consider, Sir, whether, and how far, this society ought to be licensed or prohibited.
[Footnote 1: A colony of Athenians in the province of Pontus. Their town, Amisus, on
the coast, was one of the residences of Mithridates.]
[Footnote 2: 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.]
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, honourable, 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 privilege1 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 had 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.
[Footnote 1: By the law for encouragement of matrimony (some account of which has
already been given in a previous note), 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. M.]
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 those who have three children.
XCVII2
To the Emperor Trajan
[Footnote 2: 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.]
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, there 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.
[Footnote 3: It was one of the privileges of a Roman citizen, secured by the Sempronian
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.]
[Footnote 4: 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.]
XCVIII
Trajan to Pliny
You have adopted the right course, my dearest Secundus, 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;1
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.
[Footnote 1: 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.]
XCIX
To the Emperor Trajan
The elegant and beautiful city of Amastris,2 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.
[Footnote 2: On the coast of Paphlagonia.]
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.
Part XI
CI
To the Emperor Trajan
We have celebrated, Sir, with great joy and festivity, those votive solemnities 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, solemnized 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 patronage1 over
all his freedmen, except one, I entreat 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.
[Footnote 1: 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. l. iii., tit. 8. M.]
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 soever 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.
Part XII
CXI
To the Emperor Trajan
The solicitor to the treasury of the city of Amisus instituted a claim, Sir, before me
against Julius Piso of about forty thousand denarii,1 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.
[Footnote 1: About $7,000.]
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 one1 or two
thousand denarii2 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 deserve to be
immortalized, to establish laws that shall endure for ever.
[Footnote 1: About $175.]
[Footnote 2: About $350.]
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, solemnizing 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.1 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.
[Footnote 1: The denarius = 17 cents. The sum total, then, distributed among one
thousand persons at the rate of, say, two denarii apiece would amount to about $350.]
CXVIII
Trajan to Pliny
You very justly apprehend 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 Iselastic2 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 marited 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.
[Footnote 2: These games are called Iselastic from the Greek word eibeXauvw, 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 honorary stipend from the public.
M.]
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; the
notwithstanding any new arrangement which has been made relating to these games, they are
not called upon to return the recompense which they received prior to such alteration.
Part XIII
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.
