Pliny, Letter 1.17

A statue for Lucius Silanus

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Ep. 1.17.1Est adhūc cūrae hominibus fidēs et officium, sunt quī dēfūnctōrum quoque amīcōs agant.Loyalty and duty are still a concern to men; there are those who play the friend even to the dead. Ep. 1.17.1Titinius Capitō ab imperātōre nostrō impetrāvit, ut sibi licēret statuam L. Sīlānī in forō pōnere.Titinius Capito has obtained from our emperor permission to set up a statue of Lucius Silanus in the forum. Ep. 1.17.2Pulchrum et magnā laude dignum amīcitiā prīncipis in hōc ūtī, quantumque grātiā valeās, aliōrum honōribus experīrī.It is a fine thing and worthy of great praise to use the emperor's friendship for this purpose, and to test how much influence you have by honours for others. Ep. 1.17.3Est omnīnō Capitōnī in ūsū clārōs virōs colere;It is indeed Capito's practice to cultivate famous men; Ep. 1.17.3mīrum est quā religiōne quō studiō imāginēs Brūtōrum Cassiōrum Catōnum domī ubi potest habeat.it is remarkable with what reverence, with what devotion he keeps the portraits of the Bruti, the Cassii and the Catos at home, where he can. Ep. 1.17.3Īdem clārissimī cuiusque vītam ēgregiīs carminibus exōrnat.He also adorns the life of every very distinguished man with excellent poems.

Ep. 1.17.4Sciās ipsum plūrimīs virtūtibus abundāre, quī aliēnās sīc amat.You may be sure that he himself abounds in very many virtues, since he so loves those of others. Ep. 1.17.4Redditus est Sīlānō dēbitus honor, cuius immortālitātī Capitō prōspexit pariter et suae.The honour due to Silanus has been paid, and Capito has provided for Silanus' immortality and his own alike. Ep. 1.17.4Neque enim magis decōrum et īnsigne est statuam in forō populī Rōmānī habēre quam pōnere.For it is no more seemly and distinguished to have a statue in the forum of the Roman people than to set one up. Ep. 1.17.4Valē.Farewell.

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Grammar in this passage: indirect statement ×1

Latin vocabulary for this passage (80 words)

sum, esse, fuī, futūrus	be
adhūc, adv.	to this point, up to this time, yet, still
cūra, -ae f.	care, concern (cūrae esse: to be a concern)
homō, hominis, m.	man
fidēs, -eī f.	faith, trust; pledge
et, conj.	and; et ... et, both ... and
officium, -ī, n.	service; duty
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.	who, which
dēfungor, -fungī, -fūnctus sum	finish, be done with; dēfūnctus: dead
quoque, adv.	also
amīcus, -ī, m.	friend
agō, agere, ēgī, āctus	drive; do; pass, lead; grātiās agere, see grātia
ā, ab (prep. + abl.)	away from, from; by (ā only before consonants)
imperātor, -ōris, m.	commander, general
noster, -tra, -trum	our
impetrō, -petrāre, -petrāvī, -petrātus	gain one's end, obtain (a request)
ut, conj.	as; when; that; ita ut, as
suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron.	himself, herself, itself, themselves
licet, -ēre, -uit or -itum est, impers.	is lawful or permitted
statua, -ae f.	statue
in, prep. with acc. and abl.	with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
forum, -ī n.	market place, public square
pōnō, pōnere, posuī, positus	place, put; pōnī with in and abl., to be placed in, rest or depend on
pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum	beautiful
magnus, -a, -um	large, big, great, mighty; loud
laus, laudis f.	praise, glory
dignus, -a, -um (+ abl.)	worthy (of), deserving
amīcitia, -ae f.	friendship, alliance
prīnceps, -ipis	first, chief; as noun: leader
hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.	this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
ūtor, ūtī, ūsus	use
quantum, adv.	how much? how?
que, enclitic conj.	and
grātia, -ae, f.	favor; gratitude, thanks; plur., thanks; grātiās agere, to give thanks, thank; grātiam referre, to return a favor, show gratitude, requite
valeō, -ēre, -uī, -itūrus	be strong or effectual, have effect, prevail
alius, -a, -ud	another, other; aliī ... aliī, some ... others
honor, -ōris, m.	honor
experior, -īrī, expertus sum	try, test, experience
omnīnō, adv.	altogether, wholly, entirely
ūsus, -ūs, m.	use; experience
clārus, -a, -um	clear, loud; famous
vir, virī, m.	man
colō, colere, coluī, cultus	till, cultivate; inhabit; worship
mīrus, -a, -um	wonderful, strange
quī, quae, quod, interrog. pron. adj.	what?
religiō, -ōnis f.	religious scruple, religious duty
studium, -ī, n.	eagerness, zeal; study, pursuit
imāgō, -inis f.	likeness, image, portrait
domus, -ūs, f.	house, home
ubi, adv.	where; conj., when
possum, posse, potuī	be able, have power, can
habeō, -ēre, -uī, -itus	have, hold; consider
īdem, eadem, idem, dem. pron.	the same; sometimes to be translated likewise, also
quisque, quaeque, quidque, indef. pron.	each
vīta, -ae, f.	life
ēgregius, -a, -um	outstanding, excellent
carmen, -minis, n.	song, charm
exōrnō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	equip, furnish; adorn
sciō, -īre, -īvī, -ītus	know
ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron.	self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very
multus, -a, -um	much, great; plur., many
virtūs, -tūtis, f.	manliness, courage, bravery
abundō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum	overflow; have plenty of, abound in (+ abl.)
aliēnus, -a, -um	belonging to another, out of place
sīc, adv.	so, thus
amō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	love
reddō, -dere, -didī, -ditus	give back, return, restore; render
dēbeō, -ēre, -uī, -itus	owe; with infin., ought
immortālitās, -ātis f.	immortality
prōspiciō, -ere, -spexī, -spectum	look ahead, provide for (+ dat.)
pariter (adv.)	equally, alike; at the same time
suus, -a, -um	his, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their
neque or nec, conj.	and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not
enim, conj.	for
magis, comp. adv.	more, rather
decōrus, -a, -um	handsome, fine, splendid
īnsignis, -e	notable, remarkable
populus, -ī m.	people, nation
Rōmānus, -a, -um	Roman
quam, adv.	how? as; than; with superl., as ... as possible

Pliny, Epistulae I. Latin text: the Perseus digital text of Pliny's Letters, public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: drafted by our own tagger (trained on the hand-checked texts on this site), with every doubtful word checked by hand. English translation and section titles: written for this app, each checked against the Latin by a second reader.