Ep. 10.42.1Potest nōs sollicitāre lacus iste, ut committere illum marī velīmus;That lake of yours may tempt us to want to connect it with the sea; Ep. 10.42.1sed plānē explōrandum est dīligenter, nē sī ēmissus in mare fuerit tōtus effluat certē, quantum aquārum et unde accipiat.but it must certainly be carefully investigated, lest, once let out into the sea, it should drain away entirely — at the least, how much water it receives and from where. Ep. 10.42.1Poteris ā Calpurniō Macrō petere lībrātōrem, et ego hinc aliquem tibi perītum eius modī operum mittam.You can ask Calpurnius Macer for a leveller, and I shall send you from here someone experienced in works of this kind.
Lectitō › Pliny the Younger › Letters, Book 10 › Pliny, Letter 10.42
Pliny · Epistulae X
Pliny, Letter 10.42
Trajan urges caution on the canal
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Read in LectitōGrammar in this passage: purpose clauses ×1, gerunds and gerundives ×1
Latin vocabulary for this passage (40 words)
| possum, posse, potuī | be able, have power, can |
| nōs | plur. of ego |
| sollicitō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | stir up, tempt |
| lacus, -ūs, m. | lake |
| iste, ista, istud, dem. pron. | that of yours, that |
| ut, conj. | as; when; that; ita ut, as |
| committō, -mittere, -mīsī, -missus | send together; commit, intrust; expose; proelium committere, to join battle |
| ille, illa, illud, dem. pron. | that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc |
| mare, maris, n. | sea |
| volō, velle, voluī | wish |
| sed, conj. | but |
| plānē (adv.) | clearly, plainly |
| explōrō, -plōrāre, -plōrāvī, -plōrātus | search out, explore |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| dīligenter, adv. | carefully, diligently |
| nē, adv. | not; nē ... quidem, not ... even; conj., that not, lest |
| sī, conj. | if |
| ēmittō, -mittere, -mīsī, -missus | send out or forth |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| tōtus, -a, -um | all the, the whole or entire |
| effluō, -fluere, -flūxī | flow out; slip away, be lost |
| certē (adv.) | certainly, surely; at any rate |
| quantus, -a, -um | how great or much? |
| aqua, -ae, f. | water |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| unde, adv. | whence |
| accipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus | take to oneself, receive, accept; hear; suffer |
| ā, ab (prep. + abl.) | away from, from; by (ā only before consonants) |
| macer, -cra, -crum | lean, thin, meagre; (of soil) poor |
| petō, -ere, -īvī or -iī, -ītus | seek, ask; attack |
| lībrātor, -ōris m. | leveller, surveyor (of water levels) |
| ego, meī, pers. pron. | I |
| hinc, adv. | from this place, hence |
| aliquī, -qua, -quod, indef. pron. adj. | some, any |
| tū, tuī, pers. pron. | thou, you |
| perītus, -a, -um (+ gen.) | skilled, experienced (in) |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| modus, -ī, m. | way, manner |
| opus, operis, n. | work, task |
| mittō, mittere, mīsī, missus | send |
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.