Ep. 1.21.1Ut animī tuī iūdiciō sīc oculōrum plūrimum tribuō, nōn quia multum - nē tibi placeās - sed quia tantum quantum ego sapis;As I attach the greatest weight to the judgement of your mind, so I do to that of your eyes, not because you are very wise (do not flatter yourself) but because you are as wise as I am; Ep. 1.21.1quamquam hoc quoque multum est.though this too is a good deal. Ep. 1.21.2Omissīs iocīs crēdō decentēs esse servōs, quī sunt ēmptī mihi ex cōnsiliō tuō.Joking aside, I believe the slaves who were bought for me on your advice are good-looking. Ep. 1.21.2Superest ut frūgī sint, quod dē vēnālibus melius auribus quam oculīs iūdicātur.It remains for them to be honest, which, with slaves on sale, is better judged by the ears than by the eyes. Ep. 1.21.2Valē.Farewell.
Lectitō › Pliny the Younger › Letters, Book 1 › Pliny, Letter 1.21
Pliny · Epistulae I
Pliny, Letter 1.21
Slaves bought on advice
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Read in LectitōGrammar in this passage: ablative absolute ×1, indirect statement ×1, purpose clauses ×1
Latin vocabulary for this passage (42 words)
| ut, conj. | as; when; that; ita ut, as |
| animus, -ī, m. | mind; heart; spirit, courage |
| tuus, -a, -um | thy, thine, your |
| iūdicium, -ī n. | trial, court; judgment |
| sīc, adv. | so, thus |
| oculus, -ī, m. | eye |
| plūrimum (adv.) | most, very much (plūrimum posse: be most powerful) |
| tribuō, -ere, tribuī, tribūtum | assign, attribute |
| nōn, adv. | not |
| quia (conj.) | because |
| multum, -ī, n. | much |
| nē, adv. | not; nē ... quidem, not ... even; conj., that not, lest |
| tū, tuī, pers. pron. | thou, you |
| placeō, -ēre, placuī, placitum (+ dat.) | please (placuit eī: he decided) |
| sed, conj. | but |
| tantum, adv. | so much or far, only |
| quantum, adv. | how much? how? |
| ego, meī, pers. pron. | I |
| sapiō, -ere, -īvī | be wise, have sense |
| quamquam, conj. | however much, although |
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| quoque, adv. | also |
| multus, -a, -um | much, great; plur., many |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| omittō, -mittere, -mīsī, -missus | let go, neglect, disregard, throw away, lose |
| iocus, -ī m. | joke, jest |
| crēdō, -dere, -didī, -ditus | believe |
| decēns, -entis | becoming, graceful, comely |
| servus, -ī, m. | slave, servant |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| emō, -ere, ēmī, ēmptum | buy |
| ex, ē (prep. + abl.) | out of, from; of (ē only before consonants) |
| cōnsilium, -ī, n. | advice; plan, design, purpose; prudence |
| supersum, -esse, -fuī | be over or left, remain |
| frūx, frūgis f. (usu. pl.) | crops, produce |
| dē, prep, with abl. | down from, from, out of; about, concerning, of |
| vēnālis, -e | for sale; venal, open to bribery |
| bene, adv. | well; successfully |
| auris, -is, f. | ear |
| quam, adv. | how? as; than; with superl., as ... as possible |
| iūdicō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | judge, decide |
| valeō, -ēre, -uī, -itūrus | be strong or effectual, have effect, prevail |
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.