Ep. 10.119.1Īselasticum tunc prīmum mihi vidētur incipere dēbērī, cum quis in cīvitātem suam ipse εἰσήλασεν.The iselastic reward seems to me to begin to be owed only when a man has himself 'driven in' to his own city. Ep. 10.119.1Obsōnia eōrum certāminum, quae īselastica esse placuit mihi, sī ante īselastica nōn fuērunt, retrō nōn dēbentur.Allowances for those contests which I have decided shall be iselastic are not owed retrospectively, if they were not iselastic before. Ep. 10.119.1Nec prōficere prō dēsīderiō athlētārum potest, quod eōrum, quae posteā īselastica nōn esse cōnstituī, quam vīcērunt, accipere dēsiērunt.Nor can it help the athletes' claim that they have ceased to receive allowances for those contests which, after they had won, I decided should not be iselastic. Ep. 10.119.1Mūtātā enim condiciōne certāminum nihilō minus, quae ante percēperant, nōn revocantur.For although the status of the contests has been changed, what they had received before is nevertheless not recalled.
Lectitō › Pliny the Younger › Letters, Book 10 › Pliny, Letter 10.119
Pliny · Epistulae X
Pliny, Letter 10.119
Trajan on the athletes' claims
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Latin vocabulary for this passage (44 words)
| īselasticum, -ī n. | allowance paid to a victor in iselastic games |
| tunc (adv.) | then, at that time |
| prīmum, adv. | first, in the first place |
| ego, meī, pers. pron. | I |
| videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsus | see; pass., seem |
| incipiō, -ere, incēpī, inceptum | begin |
| dēbeō, -ēre, -uī, -itus | owe; with infin., ought |
| cum, conj. | when, while, after; since; although |
| quis, qua, quid, indef. pron. | any one, anybody, anything, some one, somebody, something |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| cīvitās, -tātis, f. | state |
| suus, -a, -um | his, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their |
| ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron. | self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very |
| obsōnium, -ī n. | food eaten with bread: fish, meat, relishes |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| certāmen, -minis, n. | struggle, contest |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| īselasticus, -a, -um | of triumphal entry; certāmen īselasticum: games whose victors entered home in triumph |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| placeō, -ēre, placuī, placitum (+ dat.) | please (placuit eī: he decided) |
| sī, conj. | if |
| ante, prep, with acc. and adv. | before |
| nōn, adv. | not |
| retrō (adv.) | backwards, behind, from behind |
| neque or nec, conj. | and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not |
| prōficiō, -ere, -fēcī, -fectum | accomplish, make progress |
| prō, prep. with abl. | before, in front of; for, in behalf of; for, as; in return for, for |
| dēsīderium, -ī, n. | desire, longing |
| athlēta, -ae m. | athlete, competitor in the games |
| possum, posse, potuī | be able, have power, can |
| quod, conj. | that, in that, because |
| posteā, adv. | after this, afterwards |
| cōnstituō, -stituere, -stituī, -stitūtus | set together or up; appoint; determine |
| quam, adv. | how? as; than; with superl., as ... as possible |
| vincō, -ere, vīcī, victum | conquer, defeat |
| accipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus | take to oneself, receive, accept; hear; suffer |
| dēsinō, -sinere, -siī, -situs | stop, cease (+ inf.) |
| mūtō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | change |
| enim, conj. | for |
| condiciō, -ōnis f. | terms; condition, status |
| nihilum, -ī n. | nothing; nihilō sētius: none the less |
| minus, comp. adv. | less |
| percipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus | feel |
| revocō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | call back, recall |
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.