Ep. 10.21.1Gāvius Bassus praefectus ōrae Ponticae et reverentissimē et officiōsissimē, domine, vēnit ad mē et complūribus diēbus fuit mēcum, quantum perspicere potuī, vir ēgregius et indulgentiā tuā dignus.Gavius Bassus, prefect of the Pontic shore, came to me, my lord, most respectfully and dutifully, and spent several days with me; as far as I could perceive, he is an excellent man and worthy of your indulgence. Ep. 10.21.1Cui ego notum fēcī praecēpisse tē ut ex cohortibus, quibus mē praeesse voluistī, contentus esset beneficiāriīs decem, equitibus duōbus, centuriōne ūnō.I informed him that you had instructed that, from the cohorts which you wished me to command, he should be content with ten beneficiarii, two cavalrymen and one centurion. Ep. 10.21.2Respondit nōn sufficere sibi hunc numerum, idque sē scrīptūrum tibi.He replied that this number was not enough for him, and that he would write to you about it. Ep. 10.21.2Hoc in causā fuit, quōminus statim revocandōs putārem, quōs habet suprā numerum.This was the reason why I did not think I should immediately recall those he has beyond that number.
Lectitō › Pliny the Younger › Letters, Book 10 › Pliny, Letter 10.21
Pliny · Epistulae X
Pliny, Letter 10.21
Gavius Bassus wants more soldiers
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Read in LectitōGrammar in this passage: indirect statement ×1, gerunds and gerundives ×1
Latin vocabulary for this passage (55 words)
| praefectus, -ī m. | commander, officer |
| ōra, -ae f. | coast, shore |
| Ponticus, -a, -um | of Pontus, from the Black Sea region |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| reverenter (adv.) | respectfully, with deference |
| officiōsē (adv.) | obligingly, dutifully, courteously |
| dominus, -ī m. | master, owner |
| veniō, venīre, vēnī, ventus | come |
| ad, prep. with acc. | to, toward; at, near; for |
| ego, meī, pers. pron. | I |
| complūrēs, -plūra, plur. adj. | several, many |
| diēs, -ēī, m. and f. | day |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| quantum, adv. | how much? how? |
| perspiciō, -ere, -spexī, -spectum | see clearly, observe |
| possum, posse, potuī | be able, have power, can |
| vir, virī, m. | man |
| ēgregius, -a, -um | outstanding, excellent |
| indulgentia, -ae f. | kindness, indulgence, favour |
| tuus, -a, -um | thy, thine, your |
| dignus, -a, -um (+ abl.) | worthy (of), deserving |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| nōtus, -a, -um | known, well-known, famous |
| faciō, facere, fēcī, factus | make, do; iter facere, see iter |
| praecipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus | take beforehand, anticipate; order, charge |
| tū, tuī, pers. pron. | thou, you |
| ut, conj. | as; when; that; ita ut, as |
| ex, ē (prep. + abl.) | out of, from; of (ē only before consonants) |
| cohors, cohortis f. | cohort (a tenth of a legion); company |
| praesum, -esse, -fuī | be before, preside over, have charge of, command |
| volō, velle, voluī | wish |
| contentus, -a, -um | content, satisfied (+ abl.) |
| beneficiārius, -ī m. | a soldier excused from fatigue duties by his commander's favour; an orderly, bodyguard |
| decem, indecl. adj. | ten |
| eques, equitis m. | horseman; (pl.) cavalry |
| duo, -ae, -o, plur. adj. | two |
| centuriō, -ōnis m. | centurion (officer commanding about 80 men) |
| ūnus, -a, -um | one; only, alone |
| respondeō, -spondēre, -spondī, -spōnsus | reply, answer |
| nōn, adv. | not |
| sufficiō, -ere, -fēcī, -fectus | be enough, hold out; supply |
| suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron. | himself, herself, itself, themselves |
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| numerus, -ī, m. | number |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| que, enclitic conj. | and |
| scrībō, scrībere, scrīpsī, scrīptus | write |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| causa, -ae, f. | cause, reason; abl. causā, for the sake of |
| sī quō minus (adv. phrase) | if it were otherwise, if not |
| statim, adv. | on the spot, forthwith, at once, immediately |
| revocō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | call back, recall |
| putō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | think |
| habeō, -ēre, -uī, -itus | have, hold; consider |
| suprā, adv. and prep. with acc. | above, before |
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.