Ep. 10.109.1Quō iūre ūtī dēbeant Bīthȳnae vel Ponticae cīvitātēs in iīs pecūniīs, quae ex quāque causā reī pūblicae dēbēbuntur, ex lēge cuiusque animadvertendum est.What right the cities of Bithynia or Pontus ought to enjoy in respect of money which will be owed to the city for whatever reason must be determined from the law of each. Ep. 10.109.1Nam, sīve habent prīvilēgium, quō cēterīs crēditōribus antepōnantur, custōdiendum est, sīve nōn habent, in iniūriam prīvātōrum id darī ā mē nōn oportēbit.For if they have a privilege by which they are preferred to other creditors, it must be upheld; if they do not, it will not be proper for me to grant it to the injury of private persons.
Lectitō › Pliny the Younger › Letters, Book 10 › Pliny, Letter 10.109
Pliny · Epistulae X
Pliny, Letter 10.109
Trajan on the cities' claims
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Latin vocabulary for this passage (35 words)
| quī, quae, quod, interrog. pron. adj. | what? |
| iūs, iūris, n. | right, justice, law; iūs dīcere, to pronounce judgment; iūs iūrandum, iūris iūrandī, oath |
| ūtor, ūtī, ūsus | use |
| dēbeō, -ēre, -uī, -itus | owe; with infin., ought |
| Bīthȳnus, -a, -um | Bithynian, of Bithynia in northern Asia Minor |
| vel | or; vel … vel: either … or |
| Ponticus, -a, -um | of Pontus, from the Black Sea region |
| cīvitās, -tātis, f. | state |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| pecūnia, -ae, f. | money (the possession of cattle constituting wealth in early times) |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| ex, ē (prep. + abl.) | out of, from; of (ē only before consonants) |
| quisque, quaeque, quidque, indef. pron. | each |
| causa, -ae, f. | cause, reason; abl. causā, for the sake of |
| rēs, reī, f. | thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really |
| pūblicus, -a, -um | public, of the state (rēs pūblica: the state) |
| lēx, lēgis f. | law |
| animadvertō, -vertere, -vertī, -versus | turn the mind to, observe |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| nam, conj. | for |
| sīve or seu, conj. | or if; sīve ... sīve, whether ... or |
| habeō, -ēre, -uī, -itus | have, hold; consider |
| prīvilēgium, -ī n. | special right, privilege |
| cēterī, -ae, -a, plur. adj. | the other, the remaining, the rest of |
| crēditor, -ōris m. | creditor, lender |
| antepōnō, -ere, -posuī, -positus | place before; prefer |
| custōdiō, -īre, -īvī, -ītus | guard |
| nōn, adv. | not |
| iniūria, -ae, f. | injury, wrong, hurt, harm |
| prīvātus, -a, -um | private |
| dō, dare, dedī, datus | give |
| ā, ab (prep. + abl.) | away from, from; by (ā only before consonants) |
| ego, meī, pers. pron. | I |
| oportet, -ēre, oportuit (impersonal) | it is right, it is necessary |
Pliny, Epistulae X. 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.