7.5

A letter from Pliny to his wife Calpurnia. The other two letters addressed to her are 6.4 and 6.7.

tuī: objective genitive, “for you.”

In causā: "the reason (is)." 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 door.

Ūnum tempus: supply solum, “(only) one time of day.”

caret: governs ablative of separation (hīs tormentīs), as normal.

quō: refers to tempus, “the time when.”

amīcōrum lītibus: “in the lawsuits of (my) clients.” Supply in from the previous clause.

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 cui from the previous clause. Cūrīs = “anxieties," "troubles” or “sorrows." LS. cura II.