6.20

Pliny writes to Tacitus, picking up where he left off from the end of letter 6.16. He explains what happened to Pliny and his mother in Misenum during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79.

Like 6.16, this letter was probably written in late 106 or early 107 AD.

Ais tē … cupere cognōscere: indirect statement.

adductum litterīs: “prompted by the letter,” LS adduco II B.

scrīpsī: the story continues from Pliny 6.16.21 (interim Mīsēnī ego et māter).

exigentī tibi: “at your request” (Kingery).

quōs: “the things which." The antecedents, metūs and cāsūs, are placed inside the relative clause, as happens very frequently in Latin, but rarely in English. AG 303.

Mīsēnī relictus: Pliny slightly misrepresents the situation here; he was not “left at Misenum” as he says. Rather, he remained at Misenum of his own accord; as he relates in 6.16.7, respondī studēre mē mālle—he “prefers to study” and would rather not accompany his uncle, Pliny the Elder, on his ultimately fatal journey.

id … ingressus: “after beginning on that topic.”

nōn sōlum … vērum etiam: correlatives, “not only…but also….”

Quamquam … incipiam: Aeneas to Dido, Aeneid 2.12 (Kingery).

(2) Profectō avunculō: abl. absol.

ipse: “I myself.”

mox: in Silver Latin “afterward,” rather than “soon” (Wescott).

balineum cēna somnus: supply fuit. Brisk asyndeton in a compressed narrative.

(3) solitus: “familiar” (Kingery), i.e., the earthquakes don’t make the people in that region too terrified, since they are common.

vertī: = ēvertī; supply terram as the subject of both moveri and verti. The use of a simple verb for a compound is poetic. Compare Vergil, Eclogue 1.3 dulcia linquimus arva ("We leave our sweet fields"), where linquimus = relinquimus.

(4) sī … excitātūrus: “about to wake (her) if she were still asleep” (Kingery).

The residence of Pliny and his mother in his uncle's house suggests that Pliny's father was dead. His mother too was dead long before the date of letter 2.15, and possibly not long after 79 AD. Her name was presumably Plinia (Sherwin-White).

āreā: "courtyard." They went outdoors to avoid the danger of being crushed by a falling wall or roof.

mare ā tēctīs modicō spatiō dīvidēbat: “was dividing the sea from the house by a small space.” Ā tēctīs is ablative of separation with dīvidēbat. Modicō spatiō is ablative of means.

The house is within the town of Misenum and is built near the shore (Sherwin-White).

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Recent cleanup efforts on an overgrown section of the beach at Bacoli uncovered the remains of a monumental Roman villa which may (or may not) have been that of Pliny the Elder. According to the 2024 announcement of the local archaeological soprintendenza, "Dating to around the first century AD, the villa was constructed in opus reticulatum, using carefully laid tufa blocks, and extends uninterrupted as far as the beach and into the seabed offshore. About ten large rooms have been identified, displaying several phases of construction, along with floor surfaces and traces of wall revetment."

(5) an: = utrum…an.

agēbam … annum: this passage determines Pliny’s exact age. He is past his 17th birthday at this moment in 79, so he must have been born between August 24th 61 and August 24th 62 (Sherwin-White).

ut coeperam: indicative in a temporal clause, “as I had begun.” One can assume that this could be the task that Pliny the Elder had assigned him earlier in the day.

excerpō: “I make selections.” LS excerpo II.A. Young Pliny was following his uncle’s methods of work. This is the same word that Pliny used at the end of 6.16 to invite Tacitus to excerpt his letter.

amīcus … ex Hispāniā: Pliny the Elder had been a procurator in Spain from a time late in Nero’s reign till the early part of Vespasian’s. One of his friends from that time period has come to visit.

ut … videt: supply videt with the first clause, and ut with the second. Note present tense with temporal ut, depending on historical present, “as soon as he sees.”

vērō etiam: the placement of this adverbial idiom between mē and legentem serves to emphasize how very strange anyone would find Pliny’s behavior.

illīus patientiam sēcūritātem meam corripit: “he reproaches the indolence of that (action) and my carelessness.” LS patientia II B; LS securitas I B; LS corripio II.

Nihilō sēgnius: "no less earnestly," (LS segnis b), a common phrase in Livy and other classical authors. Adverbial, modifying intentus.

ego: again, as so frequently in Pliny, the verb (eram here) is omitted (Poteat).

in librum: "upon my book."

The scene was painted vividly in 1785 by Angelica Kauffmann, "Pliny the Younger and His Mother at Misenum, 79 A.D."

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Pedar Foss aptly comments: "Observe the qualities Pliny ascribes to himself: constantia, imprudentia, securitas — all contextualized by the revelation of his age at the time. Constantia refers to steadiness, and evokes the Elder Pliny’s lack of anxiety in 6.16. Absence of worry in the face of actual danger is a kind of foolishness; this is why his uncle’s Spanish friend is about to chastise him. Imprudentia refers not to idiocy, but simply a lack of knowledge and experience, which Pliny reflectively (and perhaps stereotypically) ascribes to his youth."

(6) hōra ... prīma: if the sun rose at 5:06 AM on August 24th, the first hour would be from then to 6:15 (Wescott).

About 6-7 am on the morning of August 25th, some time before his uncle’s death (Sherwin-White).

languidus: "faint"; this adj. involves poetic personification (Wescott).

diēs: “daylight," LS dies II.B.1.

quassātīs … tēctīs: ablative absolute.

in apertō locō: i.e., out of doors. Supply eramus.

angustō: supply in locō.

ruīnae metus: “fear of building collapse.” Supply erat.

(7) vīsum: “it seemed best.” LS video II.B.7.c

oppidō: ablative after excēdere. The omission of the preposition ex is common.

vulgus: the common people of Misenum.

quodque in pavōre simile prūdentiae: the antecendent is provided by the following clause.

"a state of mind which, in the midst of panic, seems a sort of wisdom" (Poteat).

suō: = suō consiliō; dat. with praefert.

The residents of the little town who of course greatly respected the elder Pliny and his family and were ready now to follow blindly and in utmost confidence where the young man and his mother led (Poteat).

ingentīque agmine: “in a huge line.”

(8) Ēgressī tēcta: "after getting beyond the houses"; they had already gone outdoors (Wescott).

They pass along the neck of land to the north of the town till they reach the ground rising up to the hill behind Baiae, where they can look down onto the promontory and to the island of Capri beyond (Sherwin-White).

mīranda: supply a form of the verb esse.

vehicula: “carriages,” drawn there for their use if they decide to flee.

fulta: “propped up,” (> fulcio) agrees with vehicula which are the subject + abl.

in eōdem vestīgiō: "in the same spot."

(9) Praetereā mare … vidēbāmus: a poetic coloring is given to this and the next to sentences by the use of verbs which suggest animate, rather than inanimate, subjects. (Wescott).

siccīs harēnīs: abl. of place where. The omission of in is poetic. AG 429.4.

igneī spīritūs tortīs vibrātīsque discursibus rupta: “burst by twisting and quivering ripples of fiery exhalation" (Foss), "rent by forked and quivering bursts of flame" (Radice). LS vibro II.A.1.

in longās flammārum figūrās dēhīscēbat: "was yawning into tall shapes of flames" (Foss), "parted to reveal great tongues of fire" (Radice).

fulguribus: “lightning flashes.” Dative with similēs and ablative with maiōrēs; translate twice.

(10) ille ex Hispāniā amīcus: ex Hispāniā has the function of an adjective to amīcus (Wescott).

tuus, tuus: the first tuus agrees with frāter and refers to Pliny's mother; the second agrees with avunculus and refers to Pliny himself (Wescott). The vōs in a later clause further solidifies the idea that he is addressing both Pliny and Pliny’s mother.

superstitēs voluit: "he wished that you would survive."

nōn commissūrōs nōs: indirect discourse dependent on respondimus: "we responded that we would not allow ourselves."

ut ... cōnsulerēmus: this clause is dependent on nōn commissūrōs nōs and answers the question of what they will not allow themselves to do.

dē salute illius incertī: “when we are uncertain about the health of that one (Pliny the Elder).”

nostrae: supply salutī (Westcott), dative with cōnsulerēmus, “to consider our own safety.” LS consulo 4.

(11) prōripit sē: "rushed out," LS proripio I.A.

effūsōque cursū: "in full flight," "at a headlong pace," a phrase used several times by Livy and other historians.

perīculō aufertur: "hurried out of danger," vivid historical present. Aufertur = sē abstulit. OLD aufero 2.d.

dēscendere … operīre: historical infin.; translate as present tense verbs.

This seems to be the phase of the eruption when Pliny the Elder died in the great dust cloud. Hartleben suggests that the wind swung round and changed from north to north-east and east, driving the clouds seaward (Sherwin-White).

maria: direct obj.; the nūbēs continues to be the destructive force in all of these clauses.

Capreās: the island of Capri, at the south of the Bay of Naples (Westcott).

Mīsēnī quod prōcurrit: "(the part) of Misenum which juts forth," the promontory of Misenum, Capo Miseno.

(12) ōrāre hortārī iubēre: historical infin., translate as present tense verbs. Asyndeton showcases the speed with which his mother is moving.

quōquō modō fugerem: subj., dependent on iubēre with ut implied; “(she orders) that I flee by any means (necessary).”

posse enim iuvenem: "I was able because I was young"; the context gives this a causal force (Westcott).

et annīs et corpore gravem: this phrase has a causal force, “(since she was) both heavy with years and in body”; apparently she was like her brother in figure (Westcott).

bene moritūram: supply esse in indirect statement with sē as its subject, “that she would die well,” i.e., die a good death. Has the effect of the apodosis of the following protasis.

sī mihi causa mortis nōn fuisset: “if she had not been the cause of my death.” Protasis of a past contrary-to-fact condition. Pliny’s mother will die happy as long as she has not been the cause of his death.

contrā: adverbial, "for my part."

manum eius amplexus: “having taken her hand.”

addere gradum: "to quicken (her) pace" (Westcott).

"I compelled her to hurry on"; the expression is colloquial (Poteat).

aegrē: adv., with pāret, “she obeyed reluctantly.”

quod mē morētur: take with incūsatque sē, “and she accused herself of slowing me down.” Subjunctive in a relative clause giving the thought of another, not the speaker.

(13) rārus: "not thick."

Stabiae and Misenum escaped the worst of the ‘precipitation’ that buried Pompeii and Herculaneum (Sherwin-White).

Respiciō ... sequēbātur: Pliny has nowhere written a more vivid sentence: thick darkness was rushing upon the refugees like a roaring torrent. The picture is terrific and magnificent. Indeed, it may fairly be said that this and the next two sections are unsurpassed in Roman literature for sheer descriptive power (Poteat).

tergīs: “at our backs.”

torrentis modō: "like a flood."

dum vidēmus: “while we (can still) see.”

strātī: "knocked down," OLD sterno 6.

comitantium turbā: “by the crowd of people following.”

The throng of terrified and helpless villagers referred to in section 7 (Poteat).

(14) nōn quālis ... quālis: correlatives, “not as if ... but as if.”

lūmine exstīnctō: ablative absolute.

Audīrēs: the vivid second person singular imperfect subjunctive pulls the reader directly into the scene: "You would hear ...," if you were there. Livy uses vidērēs in this way.

nōscitābant: "were attempting to identify" (Poteat).

hī ... illī: "some ... others."

erant quī: “there were those who.”

(15) plūrēs nusquam iam deōs ūllōs: “more (imagined) that there were no longer gods anywhere.” Supply interpretābantur and esse in indirect statement.

aeternamque illam: supply noctem, interpretābantur and esse in indirect statement.

novissimam noctem: one last indirect statement governed by interpretābantur. Supply esse. 

mundō: “for the world,” take with novissimam noctem as a dative of disadvantage.

The idea that the world will end in a catastrophe of fire and flood is a common theme in Stoic thought. Pliny does not appear to share these beliefs (Sherwin-White).

quī augērent: rel. clause of characteristic, “who were the sort of people who would increase.”

fictīs mentītīsque terrōribus: “with made up terrors and lies,” abl. of means with augerent. 

Dio (66.23) gives an account of "those who thought that the giants were rising again in revolt, for at this time many of their forms could be discerned in the smoke, and also the sound of trumpets was heard" (Sherwin-White).

Mīsēnī: locatve, “at Misenum,” Or could be taken as genitive with illud. 

illud ruisse … illud ardere: in indirect statement with nuntiabant, “(they) were reporting that this part had fallen, that part was on fire.”

falsō sed crēdentibus: this is how they were reporting things (nuntiabant), “falsely but to believing (ears).”

(16) Paulum relūxit: take the lūx out of relūxit as your subject.

quod nōn diēs nōbīs: supply vidēbātur with this clause.

Hunc: refers back to the cinis. 

identidem adsurgentēs: in apposition with the subject of excutiēbāmus, “standing up again and again, we were brushing it off.”

opertī atque etiam oblīsī essēmus: imperfect subjunctive verbs in the apodosis of a present contrary to fact condition with "if we had not shaken it off" implied.

(17) Possem glōriārī nōn gemitum mihi: “I could boast that there was not a groan to me,” i.e. I could boast that I didn’t make a noise. The protasis nisi crēdidissem involves a pluperfect subjunctive, making this a mixed contrafactual condition.

nōn vōcem parum fortem in tantīs perīculīs excidisse: take possem glōriārī to set up the indirect statement. The adverb parum modifies fortem, “insufficiently brave.”

nisi me, etc.: "I might boast, if I had not believed, etc." Pliny, of course, could not wish to survive the destruction of the universe (Wescott).

omnibus: neuter, "the universe" (Wescott).

mē cum omnibus, omnia mēcum perīre: indirect statement introduced by crēdidissem.

miserō: construe with solaciō, the construction of which is probably ablative of attendant circumstance or manner (Wescott). 

"had not my support been founded in that miserable, though strong consolation, that all mankind were involved in the same calamity, and that I was perishing with the world itself" (Poteat).

miserō, magnō tamen mortālitātis sōlāciō: "a wretched, yet great consolation in my mortal lot"

(18) diēs vērus: not the uncertain glow of nōn diēs (“not daylight”) before (Kingery).

luridus: “discolored,” “murky.”

quālis esse cum deficit: “just as it is when there is an eclipse,” LS deficio III.B.β.

Occursābant trepidantibus adhūc oculīs: the subject is mūtāta omnia, "everything having been changed presented itself to (our) still trembling eyes,” “we were terrified to see everything changed” (Radice). LS occurso II 2. Adhūc is nested between trepidantibus and oculīs because it modifies that phrase. 

A very natural hypallage; trepidantibus properly should refer to the persons who were still trembling, rather than to their eyes (Wescott).

mutata: in predicate relation to omnia (Wescott).

altōque cinere tamquam nive: ablatives of means.

Regressī Mīsēnum: “having returned to Misenum.”

curatis utcumque corporibus: i.e., “having bathed and eaten as well as we could” (Wescott).

suspensum dubiamque: “full of suspense and uncertainty” (Kingery).

spē ac metū: “in (both) hope and fear.”

lymphātī: “frenzied, crazed” (Wescott). “Out of their minds with fear.” LS lympho II.

terrificīs vāticinātiōnibus: abl. of means with lūdificābantur. 

lūdificābantur: "mocked," "made seem ludicrous." 

This verb suggests that the lymphātī introduced into the tragic situation an element of rather horrible burlesque a sort of wild and nerve-shattering humor (Poteat).

Nōbīs: take with abeundī cōnsilium, “there was no plan for us of leaving.” i.e. we had no plan to leave.

quamquam et expertīs perīculum et exspectantibus: “although we had experienced danger and we were (still) expecting (more) danger.”

consilium: supply erat (Kingery).

donec: supply esset (Kingery).

histōriā: abl. with digna. 

non scriptūrus legēs: “you will read them with no intention of writing (about them).” 

tibi scīlicet quī requīsīstī imputābis: "you will of course lay the blame on yourself, who requested (them)," "you have only yourself to blame for asking for them" (Radice). OLD imputo 2.a.

This letter does not, as the 16th does, purport to be material for Tacitus’s history. Pliny's modesty about it seems exaggerated. It is a question whether he ever wrote anything finer; it is worthy, in style, of Tacitus himself (Wescott).

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Antony Augoustakis says, "Despite his final claim that this letter may not be included in his Historiae, Pliny seems strongly to believe the opposite, as becomes evident by the use of the ambiguous scilicet. By using historic infinitives and by giving the eruption of the volcano the tone of military narrative, Pliny takes pains to create an opus that his friend would appreciate: an account based on autopsy and objectivity, worthy to be incorporated in a historical work such as Tacitus' own." Antony Augoustakis, “Nequaquam Historia Digna? Plinian Style in Ep. 6.20,” Classical Journal 100.3 (2005): 272–73.

epistulā: abl. with digna.