Pliny Letters: VI.20, Part 1 - Sight Reading

We continue reading about the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, but in this letter, Pliny the Younger turns to his own actions during the eruption.

Image note: one of the main precursors and events that happened around the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius was a series of earthquakes. In this section of his follow-up letter, we get a firsthand account of the terror surrounding one of these earthquakes in Misenum. The image to the right shows a fresco (with a peacock and theater mask) from Oplontis, which was damaged by an earthquake.

Pliny the Younger: Letters, Book VI, Letter 20, Sections 1-10

C. PLINIUS TACITO SUO S.

1 Ais te adductum litteris quas exigenti tibi de morte avunculi mei scripsi, cupere cognoscere, quos ego Miseni relictus — id enim ingressus abruperam — non solum metus verum etiam casus pertulerim.

'Quamquam animus meminisse horret, ...
incipiam.'

2 Profecto avunculo ipse reliquum tempus studiis — ideo enim remanseram — impendi; mox balineum cena somnus inquietus et brevis. 3 Praecesserat per multos dies tremor terrae, minus formidolosus quia Campaniae solitus; illa vero nocte ita invaluit, ut non moveri omnia sed verti crederentur. 4 Irrupit cubiculum meum mater; surgebam invicem, si quiesceret excitaturus. Resedimus in area domus, quae mare a tectis modico spatio dividebat. 5 Dubito, constantiam vocare an imprudentiam debeam — agebam enim duodevicensimum annum -: posco librum Titi Livi, et quasi per otium lego atque etiam ut coeperam excerpo. Ecce amicus avunculi qui nuper ad eum ex Hispania venerat, ut me et matrem sedentes, me vero etiam legentem videt, illius patientiam securitatem meam corripit. Nihilo segnius ego intentus in librum.

6 Iam hora diei prima, et adhuc dubius et quasi languidus dies. Iam quassatis circumiacentibus tectis, quamquam in aperto loco, angusto tamen, magnus et certus ruinae metus. 7 Tum demum excedere oppido visum; sequitur vulgus attonitum, quodque in pavore simile prudentiae, alienum consilium suo praefert, ingentique agmine abeuntes premit et impellit. 8 Egressi tecta consistimus. Multa ibi miranda, multas formidines patimur. Nam vehicula quae produci iusseramus, quamquam in planissimo campo, in contrarias partes agebantur, ac ne lapidibus quidem fulta in eodem vestigio quiescebant. 9 Praeterea mare in se resorberi et tremore terrae quasi repelli videbamus. Certe processerat litus, multaque animalia maris siccis harenis detinebat. Ab altero latere nubes atra et horrenda, ignei spiritus tortis vibratisque discursibus rupta, in longas flammarum figuras dehiscebat; fulguribus illae et similes et maiores erant. 10 Tum vero idem ille ex Hispania amicus acrius et instantius 'Si frater' inquit 'tuus, tuus avunculus vivit, vult esse vos salvos; si periit, superstites voluit. Proinde quid cessatis evadere?' Respondimus non commissuros nos ut de salute illius incerti nostrae consuleremus.

Notes

Section 1
- ais = you say (from the defective verb aio - often only used in the 3rd person (ait), here we see the 2nd person form)
- adductum = adductum esse (You say that you haven't been drawn...)
- Chunks (for a future translation) for the first (complex) sentence:
  - Ais te adductum [esse] = indirect statement
  - adductum litteris = instrumental ablative with passive form
  - quas...scripsi = relative clause
  - exigenti tibi...scripsi = indirect object with active past participle (deponent) describing the pronoun (I wrote to you, who had requested it)
  - de morte avunculi = prepositional phrase with possessive genitive
  - adductum...cupere = object infinitive (have been drawn...to desire...)
  - cupere cognoscere = object infinitive (to desire to know)
  - quos...pertulerim = relative clause, with quos acting as both antecedent and relative adjective
  - quos...metus...causus = adjectival use of relative pronoun (what fears...what causes)
  - non solum...verum etiam = correlative conjunctions
  - ego...pertulerim = subject/verb in relative clause
  - ego Miseni relictus = participial clause agreeing with pronoun ego
  - (id enim ingressus adruperam) = parenthetical aside
- Quamquam...incipiam = Vergil, Aeneid II. 12-13. Aeneas speaks these lines to Dido when preparing to tell of the Trojan's difficulties
Section 2:
- Profecto avunculo = ablative absolute
Section 3:
- ita invaluit, ut...crederentur = result clause (so strong that...)
Section 5:
- Dubito...debeam = I doubted whether I should...
  - Verbs of doubt are often followed by quin + subjunctive (I doubted that you would come = I did NOT think you would come). Here, the doubt is about debating two possibilities, and so Pliny uses a deliberative subjunctive debeam
  - Recall: present tense here = historical present, so can be read using English past tense forms. Note for translation: be consistent - if you want to use a present form, do so for all present forms. If you use the historical present, use it for all present forms.
- ut...videt = as soon as he sees... (ut + indicative often means as, but can also mean when or as soon as)
Section 6:
- quassatis circumiacentibus tectis = ablative absolute = because the surrounding rooms were shaking violently
  - quassatis = onomatopoetic, a violent word. Compare it to the hazy language in the first sentence of section 6 - overcast and feeble vs. violently shaking
Section 8:
- Multa...miranda, multas = alliteration
- Multa...miranda...patimur = gerundive of obligation (we experienced many things that must be marveled at = we experienced many marvels)
Section 9:
- nubes has multiple modifiers:
  - atra = regular adjective
  - horrenda = future passive participle (used as an adjective: horrifying)
  - rupta = perfect passive participle, used to open a new clause (...cloud, burst by...)
- et...et = correlative conjunctions (both...and)
- fulguribus - this noun is being used once, but in two different ways:
  - similes fulguribus = similar to lightning (dative with special adjectives)
  - maiores fulguribus = greater than lightning (ablative of comparison)

Practice Questions: Pliny the Younger, Letter 20, part 1 - Sight Reading

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