C. PLĪNIUS NEPŌTĪ SUŌ S.
[1] Adnotāsse videor facta dictaque virōrum fēminārumque alia clāriōra esse alia maiōra. [2] Cōnfirmāta est opīniō mea hesternō Fanniae sermōne. Neptis haec Arriae illīus, quae marītō et sōlācium mortis et exemplum fuit. Multa referēbat aviae suae nōn minōra hōc sed obscūriōra; quae tibi exīstimō tam mīrābilia legentī fore, quam mihi audientī fuērunt.
[3] Aegrōtābat Caecīna Paetus, marītus eius, aegrōtābat et fīlius, uterque mortiferē, ut vidēbātur. Fīlius dēcessit, eximiā pulchritūdine, parī verēcundiā, et parentibus nōn minus ob aliā cārus quam quod fīlius erat. [4] Huic illa ita fūnus parāvit, ita dūxit exsequiās, ut ignōrāret marītus. Quīn immō quotiēns cubiculum eius intrāret, vīvere fīlium atque etiam commodiōrem esse simulābat, ac persaepe interrogantī, quid ageret puer, respondēbat; ‘Bene quiēvit, libenter cibum sūmpsit.’ [5] Deinde, cum diū cohibitae lacrimae vincerent prōrumperentque, ēgrediēbātur; tunc sē dolōrī dabat; satiāta, siccīs oculīs, compositō vultū, redībat, tamquam orbitātem foris relīquisset. [6] Praeclārum quidem illud eiusdem, ferrum stringere, perfodere pectus, extrahere pūgiōnem, porrigere marītō, addere vōcem immortālem ac paene dīvīnam: ‘Paetē, nōn dolet.’ Sed tamen ista facientī, ista dīcentī, glōria et aeternitās ante oculōs erant; quō maius est sine praemiō aeternitātis, sine praemiō glōriae, abdere lacrimās, operīre lūctum, āmissōque fīliō, mātrem adhūc agere.
[7] Scriboniānus arma in Illyricō contrā Claudium mōverat; fuerat Paetus in partibus, et, occīsō Scriboniānō, Rōmam trahēbātur. [8] Erat ascēnsūrus nāvem; Arria mīlitēs ōrābat, ut simul impōnerētur. ‘Nempe enim’ inquit ‘datūrī estis cōnsulārī virō servolōs aliquōs, quōrum ē manū cibum capiat, ā quibus vestiātur, ā quibus calciētur; omnia sola praestābō.’ [9] Nōn impetrāvit: condūxit piscātōriam nauculam, ingēnsque nāvigium minimō secūta est.
Eadem apud Claudium uxōrī Scribōniānī, cum illa profitērētur indicium, ‘Ego’ inquit ‘tē audiam, cuius in gremiō Scriboniānus occīsus est, et vīvis?’ Ex quō manifēstum est eī cōnsilium pulcherrimae mortis nōn subitum fuisse.
[10] Quīn etiam, cum Thrasea, gener eius, dēprecārētur, nē morī pergeret, interque alia dīxisset: ‘Vīs ergō fīliam tuam, sī mihi pereundum fuerit, morī mēcum?’, respondit: ‘Sī tam diū tantāque concordiā vīxerit tēcum quam ego cum Paetō, volō.’ [11] Auxerat hōc respōnsō cūram suōrum; attentius cūstōdiēbātur; sēnsit et ‘Nihil agitis’ inquit; ‘potestis enim efficere ut male moriar, ut nōn moriar nōn potestis.’ [12] Dum haec dīcit, exsiluit cathedrā adversōque parietī caput ingentī impetū impēgit et corruit. Focilāta, ‘Dīxeram’ inquit ‘vōbīs inventūram mē quamlibet dūram ad mortem viam, sī vōs facilem negāssētis.’
[13] Videnturne haec tibi maiōra illō, ‘Paete, nōn dolet’, ad quod per haec perventum est? Cum interim illud quidem ingēns fāma, haec nūlla circumfert. Unde colligitur, quod initiō dīxī, alia esse clāriōra alia maiōra. Valē.
vocabulary
adnotō –notāre –notāre: to write down something, comment on
dictum –ī, n.: word; saying
cōnfīrmō –āre –āvi –ātus: to confirm, strengthen
opīniō –ōnis, f.: opinion
hēsternus –a –um: of yesterday, yesterday's
Fannia –ae, f.: Fannia (name)
nepōs –ōtis m.: grandchild; descendant
sōlācium –I(ī), n.: comfort
avia –ae, f.: grandmother
obscūrus –a –um: covered, dark
mīrābilis –e: wonderful, extraordinary
aegrōtō –āre –āvi: to be ill3
Caecina –ae, m.: Caecina (name)
mortifer –era –erum: deadly
dēcēdō –cēdere –cessī –cessus: to move away, withdraw
eximius –a –um: exceptional, distinguished
pulchritūdō –inis, f.: beauty
verēcundia –ae, f.: bashfulness, shyness
quod: because
exsequiae –ārum, f.: funeral rites
īgnōrō –āre –āvī –ātus: to not know; ignore
immō: no indeed
cubiculum –ī, n.: bedroom
commodus –a –um: complete; proper; beneficial
simulō –āre –āvī –ātus: to imitate
persaepe: very often
libenter: willingly
cohibeō –ēre –uī –itus: to hold together
prōrumpō –rumpere –rūpī –ruptus: to cause to burst forth; cast forth
satiō –āre –āvī –ātum: to satisfy sate
siccus –a –um: dry
tam ... quam…. : so much...as
orbitās –ātis, f.: destitution, bereavement
forīs: out of doors, outside, abroad
praeclārus –a –um: very clear
stringō stringere strīnxī strictum: to draw tight, bind fast; draw (from a scabbard, etc.)
perfodiō –fodere –fōdī –fossus: to dig or pierce through
extrahō –trahere –trāxī –tractum: to draw out
pūgiō –ōnis m.: a dagger
porrigō –rigere –rēxī –rēctum: to stretch forth
immortālis –e: immortal
dīvīnus –a –um: divine
Paetus –ī, m.: Paetus (name)
aeternitās –tātis, f.: eternity, timelessness; eternal life
quō: (expresses degree of difference)
abdō –dere –didī –ditum: to withdraw; conceal
operiō –īre –uī –tum: to cover, hide
lūctus –ūs, m.: mourning, grief
Scrībōniānus –ī, m.: Scribonianus (name)7
Illyricum –ī, n.: Illyricum
Claudius –a –um: pertaining to the Claudii
Rōma –ae, f.: Rome
Arria –ae, f.: Arria (name)
nempe: indeed
cōnsulāris –e: consular
servulus –ī, m.: young slave
vestiō –īre –iī (–īvī) –ītum: to clothe
calceō –āre –āvī –ātum: to furnish with shoes
impetrō –āre –āvī –ātus: to obtain
condūcō –ducere –dūxī –ductus: to bring together, hire, rent
piscātōrius –a –um: of a fisherman
nāvicula –ae, f.: a small boat
nāvigium –iī, n.: boat
profiteor profitērī professus sum: to confess, announce
indicium –i(ī), n.: information, evidence
gremium –i(ī), n.: lap, bosom
manifēstus –a –um: clear, manifest
subitus –a –um: having come up suddenly; unexpected
Thrasea –ae, m.: Thrasea
gener –ī, m.: son–in–law
dēprecor –precārī –precātus sum: to ward off (from one's self or others) by earnest prayer
tamdiū: so long, for so long a time
concordia –ae, f.: agreement, harmony
rēspōnsum –ī, n. (rēsponsus –ūs, m.): an answer, response
attentus –a –um: attentive, frugal
custōdiō –īre –īvī –ītus: to guard
exsiliō –silīre –siluī: to spring forth
cathedra –ae, f.: a chair
pariēs –tis, m.: wall
impingō –pingere –pēgī –pāctus: to fasten upon; drive
corruō –ere –uī: to fall completely; fall down
focillo –āre –āvī –ātum: to revive or refresh by warmth; to cherish
quamlibet: however, in whatever degree
circumferō –ferre –tulī –lātus: to bear round; pass around
