C. PLĪNIUS CALPURNIAE SUAE S.
(1) Incrēdibile est quantō dēsīderiō tuī tenear. In causā amor prīmum, deinde quod nōn cōnsuēvimus abesse. Inde est quod magnam noctium partem in imāgine tuā vigil exigō; inde quod interdiū, quibus hōrīs tē vīsere solēbam, ad diaetam tuam ipsī mē, ut vērissimē dīcitur, pedēs dūcunt; quod dēnique aeger et maestus ac similis exclūsō ā vacuō līmine recēdō. Ūnum tempus hīs tormentīs caret, quō in forō et amīcōrum lītibus conteror. (2) Aestimā tū, quae vīta mea sit, cui requiēs in labōre, in miseriā cūrīsque sōlācium. Valē.
notes
A letter from Pliny to his wife Calpurnia. The other two letters addressed to her are 6.4 and 6.7.
tuī: objective gen., “for you.”
In causā: with amor, “at first because of love.” The use of quod in the next lines pick up on the idea of cause.
Inde … quod: in the sense of ōb ēam causam, mostly peculiar to Silver, or post-Augustan, Latin (Westcott). The anaphora showcases Pliny’s longing for his wife.
magnam noctium partem: direct object of exigō. Vigil is in apposition with the subject. “I spend a great part of (my) nights awake.”
in imāgine tuā: “picturing you to myself” (Westcott); “In seeing visions of you” (Kingery).
inde quod: as above, has the sense of ōb ēam causam.
ad diaetam tuam: “to your sitting-room” (Westcott).
ipsī: with pedēs, idiomatically, “of their own accord” (Westcott).
pedēs dūcunt: this expression was proverbial, as is implied by the words ut ... dīcitur, “as it is said” (Westcott).
quod dēnique: “and finally because.”
similis exclūsō: “as if excluded” by his mistress not being home (Kingery). The exclusus amātor is a familiar figure in love poetry through the ages.
ā vacuō līmine recēdō: this portion of the letter evokes a paraklausithyron (“next to-a closed-door”) motif in Augustan love elegy. Here we get the image of Pliny sad and bereft, standing outside his wife’s abandoned door.
Ūnum tempus: it helps to supply solum with this phrase, “(only) one time of day.”
caret: governs ablative of separation, hīs tormentīs.
quō: refers to tempus, “the time when.”
amīcōrum lītibus: “in the lawsuits of (my) clients.” The in from the previous clause is assumed.
conteror: “I am being worn out” (Westcott).
(2) quae vīta mea sit: relative clause of characteristic, “what sort of life I have.” One of the things that he invites her to assess.
cui requiēs in labōre: “Whose relief is in work.”
I.e., his only relief is in hard work, which enables him to forget her while he is busy (Westcott).
in miseriā cūrīsque sōlācium: supply a cūi in this clause as in the previous clause. Cūrīsque = “anxieties," "troubles” or “sorrows." LS. cura II.
vocabulary
incrēdibilis –e: incredible
dēsīderium –i(ī) n.: desire
cōnsuēscō –suescere –suēvī –suētus: to accustom; to be accustomed to
vigil –is: on watch, sleepless
interdiū: by day
vīsō –ere –sī –sus: to look at
diaeta –ae, f.: room, sitting-room
exclūdō –clūdere –clūsī –clūsus: to shut out, exclude
tormentum –ī, n.: torture
līs lītis, f.: lawsuit; quarrel
conterō –terere –trīvī –trītum: to grind down
aestimō –āre –āvī –ātus: to appraise estimate 2
requiēs –ētis (–eī), f.: repose, rest
miseria –ae, f.: wretchedness, misery
sōlācium –i(ī), n.: comfort, consolation