Pliny Letters: VII.27, Part 1 - Translation

A shady green figure with chains on its wrists haunts a brick room What sort of stories scared you when you were younger (or now, for that matter)? Tales of spooks and haunts have been with humanity for a long time, providing ways to share tales of morality, depravity and desperation. Ghosts, whatever they may be or even whether they "exist," are a critical aspect of cultural identity. They allow us to reflect on living and what comes next.

Pliny shares, in Book 7, Letter 27, a few ghost stories, one about a minor Roman official named Curtius Rufus, another concerning a philosopher named Athenodorus, and a final story from his own household. What was Pliny's goal in telling these stories? Was it meant to be frightening, or did Pliny seek to provide some insight into life and the afterlife? Keep in mind how these stories might be retold in a modern setting: what would change and what would remain the same?

You'll notice that this passage contains more extensive notes than previous passages. Please use these extra notes to complete an accurate literal translation of this passage in your notebook.

Pliny the Younger: Letters, Book VII, Letter 27, Sections 1-8

C PLINIUS SURAE SUO S.

1 Et mihi discendi et tibi docendi facultatem otium praebet. Igitur perquam velim scire, esse phantasmata et habere propriam figuram numenque aliquod putes an inania et vana ex metu nostro imaginem accipere. 2 Ego ut esse credam in primis eo ducor, quod audio accidisse Curtio Rufo. Tenuis adhuc et obscurus, obtinenti Africam comes haeserat. Inclinato die spatiabatur in porticu; offertur ei mulieris figura humana grandior pulchriorque. Perterrito Africam se futurorum praenuntiam dixit: iturum enim Romam honoresque gesturum, atque etiam cum summo imperio in eandem provinciam reversurum, ibique moriturum. 3 Facta sunt omnia. Praeterea accedenti Carthaginem egredientique nave eadem figura in litore occurrisse narratur. Ipse certe implicitus morbo futura praeteritis, adversa secundis auguratus, spem salutis nullo suorum desperante proiecit.

4 Iam illud nonne et magis terribile et non minus mirum est quod exponam ut accepi? 5 Erat Athenis spatiosa et capax domus sed infamis et pestilens. Per silentium noctis sonus ferri, et si attenderes acrius, strepitus vinculorum longius primo, deinde e proximo reddebatur: mox apparebat idolon, senex macie et squalore confectus, promissa barba horrenti capillo; cruribus compedes, manibus catenas gerebat quatiebatque. 6 Inde inhabitantibus tristes diraeque noctes per metum vigilabantur; vigiliam morbus et crescente formidine mors sequebatur. Nam interdiu quoque, quamquam abscesserat imago, memoria imaginis oculis inerrabat, longiorque causis timoris timor erat. Deserta inde et damnata solitudine domus totaque illi monstro relicta; proscribebatur tamen, seu quis emere seu quis conducere ignarus tanti mali vellet. 7 Venit Athenas philosophus Athenodorus, legit titulum auditoque pretio, quia suspecta vilitas, percunctatus omnia docetur ac nihilo minus, immo tanto magis conducit. Ubi coepit advesperascere, iubet sterni sibi in prima domus parte, poscit pugillares stilum lumen, suos omnes in interiora dimittit; ipse ad scribendum animum oculos manum intendit, ne vacua mens audita simulacra et inanes sibi metus fingeret. 8 Initio, quale ubique, silentium noctis; dein concuti ferrum, vincula moveri. Ille non tollere oculos, non remittere stilum, sed offirmare animum auribusque praetendere. Tum crebrescere fragor, adventare et iam ut in limine, iam ut intra limen audiri. Respicit, videt agnoscitque narratam sibi effigiem.

Notes

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Section 1:

discendi... docendi facultatem: gerunds and objective genitives dependent on facultatem "an opportunity for learning... an opportunity for teaching..."
velim scire...putes...accipere: velim: potential subjunctive "I would like." velim scire introduces indirect question (hence subjunctive putes). Omission of an interrogative question word (utrum 'whether') is normal when there is an alternative question later (here introduced by an).
- esse phantasmata [...] accipere: indirect speech, governed by putes.
- an: the "or" of indirect question: putes carries over from the previous indirect question.

Section 2:

esse: must mean "exist" here, dependent on credam.
ducor: "I am lead" ut... credam: result clause "to believe."
in primis: "especially," "first and foremost, primarily."
eo... quod...: "by that, which... ."
quod ... accidisse: indirect speech introduced by audio.
Tenuis adhuc et obscurus: i.e. when he was still young and unknown: modifies an understood Rufus.
comes: in apposition to Curtius Rufus. It is often easiest to translate such appositives preceeded by "as," for which there need be no separate Latin word.
obtinenti: dative object of haeserat: this dative modifies the governor whose staff Rufus was on (governors "obtained" obtinenti their province): translate as "the one obtaining."
Inclinato die: ablative of time when.
offertur ei: compound verbs often take dative, as here.
humana: ablative of comparison, with grandior and pulchrior.
Perterrito: indirect object, referring to Rufus.
Africam se futurorum praenuntiam dixit: Africam and praenuntiam are in apposition to reflexive se, the subject of the indirect speech; in English we might say "she said she was Africa, a foreteller of ...."
iturum... gesturum... reversurum... moriturum: future infinitives of continued indirect speech (assume esse with each).
Romam: "to Rome" accusative of place to which, needing no preposition.
honoresque gesturum: honorem gerere = "hold office."
cum summo imperio: "with highest authority," i.e. as governor.

Section 3:

omnia: refers to all the prediction in section 3.
accedenti... egredientique...: dative objects of occurrisse, both referring to Rufus.
Carthaginem: accusative of place to which, governed by accedenti.
nave: ablative of separation.
eadem figura... occurrisse narratur: eadem figura is the subject. We might expect an impersonal "it is said that a figure..," but we have the 'personal' construction "the same figure is said to ... ."
ipse: Rufus.
implicitus morbo: literally "entangled with disease," meaning "having fallen ill."
futura... adversa...: accusative objects of auguratus.
praeteritis... secundis...: ablatives of means.
nullo... desperante: ablative absolute.
suorum: Rufus' family or retinue.

Section 4:

nonne... est: direct question expecting an affirmative "is it not...?"
magis terribile: note that Latin can use magis to create comparatives, here to contrast with minus mirum.
quod exponam: agrees with illud, mirum and terribile, referring to the story to come in sections 5-11.
ut: ut + indicative = "as."

Section 5:

Athenis: ablative of place where. Athenae is a plural place name.
pestilens: the house is destructive for inhabitants.
ferri: genitive.
si attenderes...reddebatur: past general condition (used of repeated actions in the past: with imperfect subjunctive in the protasis and imperfective indicative in the apodosis.)
- if you paid acrius attention...sonus...et...strepitus...were reddebatur
- strepitus: "sound" nominative. Considering the source of the sound, you might prefer to translate "rattle"
- longius primo, deinde e proximo: chiasmus (an a-b-b-a pattern) of time and space phrases: "far off at first, then from close by."
adparebat...gerebat quatiebatque: the start of a long chain of imperfective indicatives, continuing from the above conditional, marking habitual occurrence.
macie et squalore: ablatives of means. Remember that ablative of means acts functionally the same as ablative of agent (providing the "doer" of a passive verb form), but the noun is an object rather than a person.
promissa barba horrenti capillo: a pair of ablative absolutes: "with a beard that has grown out and hair standing on end"
cruribus... manibus: ablatives of place where.

Section 6:

Inde: zooms out from the the apparition to its effects on the lives of the tenants, "from that point, from then on... ."
inhabitantibus: dative of agent: it is common with any passive in later authors.
noctes per metum vigilabantur: where this Latin, taken literally, says the nights 'were watched/were stayed awake,' good English says that people 'stayed awake all night.' per metum is causal per "out of fear" rather than simply "in fear": prepositions are often idiomatic.
crescente formidine: ablative absolute.
causis: ablative of comparison, governed by comparative longior.
longior... erat: 'be longer' = 'last longer.'
Deserta... damnata... totaque... relicta: all in agreement with domus; supply est with each.
solitudine: ablative of means, with damnata.
proscribebatur... seu... seu...: indirect question. The subject of proscribebatur is "it," namely emere and conducere. Hence imperfect subjunctive vellet.
- quis: following seu, take as aliquis.
  - Buying or renting the property was forbidden if anyone wished to do so, unaware of such evil.

Section 7:

Athenas: accusative of place to which.
auditoque pretio: ablative absolute.
quia suspecta vilitas: supply est.
percunctatus omnia docetur: doceo takes acc. of the person taught and acc. of the thing taught. In the passive, one acc. remains acc., here omnia.
nihilo minus... tanto...: nihilo minus means "nevertheless," with nihilo being an ablative of degree of difference, as is tanto: here the author makes a clever play between "nevertheless" and "all the more" (tanto magis, which is literally "so much more").
immo: 'nay': frequently used to correct something just said.
coepit advesperascere: "begin to become evening" is a bit redundant.
iubet... poscit... dimittit: subject is Athenodorus. The verbs are in asyndeton (i.e. without connecting et, -que, etc.), which is good standard prose in Latin, rare in English.
iubet sterni: iubet introducing indirect speech with infinitive verb.
- sterni: literally "that there be laid" (sc. a bed).
pugillares stilum lumen: more asyndeton: good Latin style.
suos: referring to Apollodorus' retinue or servants.
animum oculos manum: more asyndeton, all objects of intendo.
ad scribendum: accusative gerund "(he attends (intendit)) to writing."
ne... fingeret: negative purpose clause with imperfect subjunctive fingeret.
audita: literally "things heard," parallel to simulacra et inanes metus, all objects of fingeret.
sibi: dative of disadvantage (also called dative of reference) - "in spite of himself"

Section 8:

quale ubique: "just like anywhere else."
silentium noctis: supply erat.
concuti... moveri... tollere... remittere... offirmare... praetendere... crebrescere... adventare... audiri: all historical infinitives, short staccato phrasing to build suspense leading up to the appearance of the spirit.
- Historical infinitives should be translated as imperfect verbs and use nominative subjects (unlike the regular infinitive, which uses an accusative subject). Example:
  - concuti ferrum = iron was shaken violently
- Ille: Athenodorus.
- praetendere: stretched out his ears = closed his ears (Athenodorus tried to stop listening - to focus on his task)
- fragor: subject of historical infinitive crebescere.
iam ... iam ...: "now ... now ... ."
ut... ut... : "as (if)."
Respicit, videt agnoscitque: at the height of the suspense, three verbs introduce the appearance of the specter, all at the beginning of the sentence in the historical present.
narratam: modifying effigiem, literally "told" but in better English "described (to him)."

Practice Questions: Pliny the Younger, Letter 27, part 1 - Content Review

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Commentary Citation: Professor Jacques Bailly (author), University of Vermont; based on original student assignment by Kyle Cornman.