6.4

A letter from Pliny to his wife Calpurnia. This is the first of three letters addressed to her. The other two are 6.7 and 7.5.

Calpurniae: Pliny's third wife, to whom he was deeply devoted, and who, if we may accept Letter 4.19 at face value, loved him almost to distraction (Poteat).

Numquam … magis: (adv.) “never more.” These words are emphasized by their position.

sum … questus: deponent > queror queri questus sum; take as a unit. Sum is emphatic by position.

occupātiōnibus: probably “professional engagements”; possibly his official duties as curator alvei Tiberis, etc. (Westcott).

mē: acc., with passae sunt, “allow me to…” + infinitives.

aut proficīscentem ... aut profectam: note the balanced phrasing and polyptoton using two forms of proficiscor.

proficīscentem tē: tē is the direct object of the infinitive prōsequī. The participle proficīscentem modifies tē.

proficiscentem ... Campaniam: Calpurnia certainly did not need to be informed by her doting spouse that her trip to Campania was made in the interest of her health; these words were obviously put into the letter by Pliny for the enlightenment of the reading public (Poteat).

in Campāniam: this region was full of seashore resorts for health and fashion (Westcott).

Perhaps to Baiae. Pliny the Elder (Natural History 3.41) describes the whole coast as possessing vitalis ac perennis salubritas (Prichard).

Probably to the warm baths of Baiae (Church).

prosequi: "to escort": originally of the complimentary attendance upon a friend or prominent person only as far as the city gates, or a short stage in his journey; but here of accompaniment all the way (Merrill).

“to accompany” (Montague).

profectam: = tē profectam. Note the change in the tense of the participle, as the verb changes from prosequī to subsequī.

ē vestīgiō:  “directly,” "immediatey." LS vestigium II.B.b. 

(2)

simul esse: “to be together with you,” infin., with praecipue cupiebam.

simul... cupiēbam: I am longing to be with (you). Observe particularly the epistolary use of cupiēbam, used of a continuing or progressive action in present time, which, however, is past from the time of the receiver of the letter. AG 479.

oculīs … crēderem: “believe my eyes,” rather than reports; “see for myself" (Westcott). Epistolary imperfect for present (AG 479), as with adparārēs and transmitterēs below.

quid ... adparārēs: "what you are adding." Indirect question. Note the repetition of quid in asyndeton, which adds a note of urgency to his concern.

adparārēs = adderes (Platner).

vīribus ... corpusculō: dative with the compound verb adparārēs. The diminutive is used for corpusculō, because although she is traveling to gain weight, strength and health, no man is going to say to his wife, Wow! You’ve gained a lot of weight! So, “what strength, what a nice little bit of weight you have gained.”

“strength … flesh”; the diminutive is affectionate (Westcott). 

ecquid dēnique sēcessūs voluptātēs regiōnisque abundantiam inoffēnsa trānsmitterēs: “whether, in short, you are enjoying, without injury to your health, the pleasures of that rich country” (Westcott). Note the tricolon describing the famous luxury of Campania: sēcessūs voluptātēs regiōnisque abundantiam. A secessus is a quiet, secluded place, a country retreat. The voluptates would include things like the warm baths of Baiae. Regiōnisque abundantiam refers to the famous agricultural productivity and good food of the area. Inoffensa transmiterēs implies she might well harm her health through overindulgence, despite going there to recover.

etiam fortem: “even if you were well and strong” (Westcott).

(3)

nōn sine cūrā: "with some concern,” litotes (understatement for emphasis).

dēsīderārem: "I would be missing (you)," potential subjunctive (AG 464).

est … suspēnsum: “it is (a cause) of suspense and anxiety.” The “it” in question is the infinitive scīre.

"it is (an occasion) of suspense" (Kingley).

"a cause for suspense and anxiety" (Wescott).

dē eō: take with quem ārdentissimē dīligās.

quem: "one whom," masculine because Pliny is stating a general rule.

diligās: subjunctive in relative clause of characteristic, which is normal after a relative pronoun with a vague antecedent (AG 534).

(4)

nunc vērō: "but as things are," i.e., "inasmuch as you are far from well" (Wescott).

mē ... exterret: order: ratiō cum absentiae tum īnfirmitātis tuae exterret mē incertā et variā sollicitūdine. Cum ... tum = et ... et. Ratiō + gen. =  "the taking account of," "the consideration of." OLD ratio 8.a. Radice translates, "I have the thought of your health as well as your absence to alarm me with fluctuating doubts and fears." As in the first sentence of this letter, Pliny's word order emphasizes first his emotion and the sources of his concern, then, in the final word (exterret), its intensity.

Vereor ... imaginor ... fingō: the asyndeton, anaphora, and rising tricolon are all indicative of high emotion.

mihi: with fingō, “I imagine to myself.”

quae maximē abominor: "(those) things which I detest most greatly," "what I pray fervently will not happen" (Radice). The word suggests intense desire to avert an outcome.

(5)

Quō impēnsius: adverbial with rogō ut, “more intensely I ask (you) to….”

"wherefore I earnestly implore you" (Poteat).

cottīdiē singulīs vel etiam bīnīs epistulīs: “by (sending) one or even two letters daily.”

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It seems unlikely that "two mails a day" could have been arranged between Campania and Rome, whether by Pliny's private messengers, or by those of his friends or business acquaintances passing that way, or of the state. But at any rate a diary, even though irregular in delivery, was both longer and more satisfactory than an occasional letter (Merrill).

In the absence of a rapid postal system Calpurnia would probably have been worried out of every possibility of recovery if she had tried to find slaves or messengers enough to send her doting lord even one letter a day, let alone two. Probably she interpreted Pliny's insistence as a particularly charming husbandly way of expressing deep concern and affection (Poteat).

cōnsulās: completes the indirect command rogo ut. Consulere alicui (rei) = “to be mindful of," "have regard for” + dative, timōrī meō. LS consulo I. A. 2.

securior: “easier in mind” (Montague).

statimque: que is adversative, “though immediately.” LS que VI.

cum lēgerō: cum + fut. pf. indic., “as soon as I will have read (it).”