C. PLĪNIUS CALVISIŌ SUŌ S.
Omne hoc tempus inter pugillārēs ac libellōs iūcundissima quiētē trānsmīsī. 'Quemadmodum' inquis 'in urbe potuistī?' Circēnsēs erant, quō genere spectāculī nē levissimē quidem teneor. Nihil novum nihil varium, nihil quod nōn semel spectāsse sufficiat. [2] Quō magis mīror tot mīlia virōrum tam puerīliter identidem cupere currentēs equōs, īnsistentēs curribus hominēs vīdēre. Sī tamen aut vēlōcitāte equōrum aut hominum arte traherentur, esset ratiō nōn nūlla; nunc favent pannō pannum amant, et sī in ipsō cursū mediōque certāmine hic color illūc ille hūc trānsferātur, studium favorque trānsībit, et repente agitātōrēs illōs equōs illōs, quōs procul nōscitant, quōrum clāmitant nōmina relinquent. [3] Tanta grātia tanta auctōritās in ūnā vīlissima tunicā, mittō apud vulgus, quod vīlius tunica, sed apud quōsdam gravēs hominēs; quōs ego cum recordor, in rē inānī frīgida adsidua, tam īnsatiābiliter dēsidēre, capiō aliquam voluptātem, quod hāc voluptāte nōn capior. [4] Ac per hōs diēs libentissimē ōtium meum in litterīs collocō, quōs aliī ōtiōsissimīs occupātiōnibus perdunt. Valē.
vocabulary
pugillārēs –ium, m.: small tablets for writing
libellus –ī m.: little book, document
iūcundus –a –um: pleasant, delightful, agreeable
quiēs quiētis, f.: sleep, rest
trānsmittō –mittere –mīsī –missus: to send across; bear or convey across or over
circēnsis –e: games in the Circus (Maximus)
spectāculum –ī, n.: spectacle; (pl.) the seats for the audience
leviter: lightly, slightly
sufficiō –ficere –fēcī –fectum: to suffuse
quō: (expresses degree of difference)2
puerīlis –e: boyish
identidem: again and again
īnsistō –sistere –stitī: to place one’s self in or upon a thing; (w. dat.)
vēlōcitās –ātis, f.: swiftness, speed
nōnnūllus –a –um: some unknown
faveō favēre fāvī fautus: to favor
pannus –ī, m.: a piece of cloth
certāmen certāminis, n.: contest, struggle
trānsferō –ferre –tulī –lātus: to bring across
favor favōris, m.: goodwill
repente (repens): suddenly
agitātor –ōris, m.: one who drives; a charioteer
noscitō –scitāre –scitāvī –scitātum: to recognize (freq. of nosco)
clāmitō –āre: to cry aloud
vīlis –e: cheap3
tunica –ae, f.: tunic
recordor –ārī –ātus sum: to remember
inānis –e: empty, void
frīgidus –a –um: cool, cold
assiduus –a –um: established, steady
īnsatiābilis –e: insatiable
dēsīdō –sīdere –sēdī: to sink down
quod: because
libenter: willingly4
collocō –āre –āvī –ātus: to arrange, invest
ōtiōsus –a –um: at leisure
occupātiō –ōnis, f.: an occupation, seizure