Ep. 10.22.1Et mihi scrīpsit Gāvius Bassus nōn sufficere sibi eum mīlitum numerum, quī ut darētur illī, mandātīs meīs complexus sum.Gavius Bassus has written to me too that the number of soldiers which I laid down in my instructions to be given to him was not enough for him. Ep. 10.22.1Cui quae rescrīpsissem, ut notum habērēs, hīs litterīs subicī iussī.So that you may know what I wrote back to him, I have ordered it to be appended to this letter. Ep. 10.22.1Multum interest, rēs poscat an hōc nōmine eīs ūtī lātius velit.It makes a great difference whether the situation demands it or whether he wishes to use them more widely on this pretext. Ep. 10.22.2Nōbīs autem ūtilitās dēmum spectanda est, et, quantum fierī potest, cūrandum nē mīlitēs ā signīs absint.For us, however, usefulness alone must be considered, and, as far as possible, care must be taken that soldiers are not away from the standards.
Lectitō › Pliny the Younger › Letters, Book 10 › Pliny, Letter 10.22
Pliny · Epistulae X
Pliny, Letter 10.22
Trajan on Bassus' soldiers
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Read in LectitōGrammar in this passage: purpose clauses ×2, indirect statement ×1, gerunds and gerundives ×2
Latin vocabulary for this passage (46 words)
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| ego, meī, pers. pron. | I |
| scrībō, scrībere, scrīpsī, scrīptus | write |
| nōn, adv. | not |
| sufficiō, -ere, -fēcī, -fectus | be enough, hold out; supply |
| suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron. | himself, herself, itself, themselves |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| mīles, mīlitis, m. | soldier |
| numerus, -ī, m. | number |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| ut, conj. | as; when; that; ita ut, as |
| dō, dare, dedī, datus | give |
| ille, illa, illud, dem. pron. | that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc |
| mandātum, -ī n. | order, instruction, message |
| meus, -a, -um | my, mine |
| complector, -plectī, -plexus | embrace |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| rescrībō, -ere, -scrīpsī, -scrīptum | write again; transfer, enrol (in another unit) |
| nōtus, -a, -um | known, well-known, famous |
| habeō, -ēre, -uī, -itus | have, hold; consider |
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| litterae, -ārum f. pl. | letters (of the alphabet); a letter, dispatch |
| subiciō, -icere, -iēcī, -iectus | throw or place under |
| iubeō, iubēre, iussī, iussus | bid, order, command |
| multum, -ī, n. | much |
| intersum, -esse, -fuī, -futūrus | be or lie between |
| rēs, reī, f. | thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really |
| poscō, poscere, poposcī | ask, demand |
| an, conj. | or (in questions) |
| nōmen, -minis, n. | name (that by which one is known) |
| ūtor, ūtī, ūsus | use |
| lātē | widely |
| volō, velle, voluī | wish |
| nōs | plur. of ego |
| autem, conj. | moreover; but, however; now |
| ūtilitās, -ātis f. | usefulness, advantage |
| dēmum, adv. | at last |
| spectō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | look at or on |
| quantum, adv. | how much? how? |
| fīō, fierī, factus sum | be done or made, become, happen |
| possum, posse, potuī | be able, have power, can |
| cūrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | take care of; (+ gerundive) have something done |
| nē, adv. | not; nē ... quidem, not ... even; conj., that not, lest |
| ā, ab (prep. + abl.) | away from, from; by (ā only before consonants) |
| signum, -ī, n. | sign, signal |
| absum, abesse, āfuī, āfutūrus | be away, be absent, be distant; be wanting |
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.