Ep. 10.113.1Honōrārium decuriōnātūs omnēs, quī in quāque cīvitāte Bīthȳniae decuriōnēs fīunt, īnferre dēbeant necne, in ūniversum ā mē nōn potest statuī.Whether all who become town councillors in each city of Bithynia ought to pay a fee for the office of councillor or not cannot be laid down by me universally. Ep. 10.113.1Id ergō, quod semper tūtissimum est, sequendam cuiusque cīvitātis lēgem putō, sed vērius eōs, quī invītātī fīunt decuriōnēs, id exīstimō āctūrōs, ut praestātiōne cēterīs praeferantur.I think, therefore, that what is always safest should be done, and the law of each city followed; but I consider it truer to say that those who become councillors by invitation will make sure that they surpass the others in their payment.
Lectitō › Pliny the Younger › Letters, Book 10 › Pliny, Letter 10.113
Pliny · Epistulae X
Pliny, Letter 10.113
Trajan leaves fees to local law
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Latin vocabulary for this passage (35 words)
| honōrārium, -ī n. | fee paid on entering an office |
| decuriōnātus, -ūs m. | office of decurion (town councillor) |
| omnis, -e | all, every |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| quisque, quaeque, quidque, indef. pron. | each |
| cīvitās, -tātis, f. | state |
| decuriō, -ōnis m. | cavalry officer, decurion |
| fīō, fierī, factus sum | be done or made, become, happen |
| īnferō, īnferre, intulī, inlātus | bring in or against, wage against; inflict |
| dēbeō, -ēre, -uī, -itus | owe; with infin., ought |
| necne (conj.) | or not |
| ūniversus, -a, -um | all together, whole, entire, all |
| ā, ab (prep. + abl.) | away from, from; by (ā only before consonants) |
| ego, meī, pers. pron. | I |
| nōn, adv. | not |
| possum, posse, potuī | be able, have power, can |
| statuō, statuere, statuī, statūtus | cause to stand; decide, resolve |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| ergō (adv.) | therefore, then; quid ergō? what then? |
| semper, adv. | always |
| tūtus, -a, -um | safe |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| sequor, sequī, secūtus | follow |
| lēx, lēgis f. | law |
| putō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | think |
| sed, conj. | but |
| vērē (adv.) | truly, really |
| invītō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | invite |
| exīstimō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | consider, believe, think |
| agō, agere, ēgī, āctus | drive; do; pass, lead; grātiās agere, see grātia |
| ut, conj. | as; when; that; ita ut, as |
| praestātiō, -ōnis f. | payment, guarantee |
| cēterī, -ae, -a, plur. adj. | the other, the remaining, the rest of |
| praeferō, -ferre, -tulī, -lātum | put before, prefer (sē praeferre: show oneself superior) |
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.