Ep. 10.45.1Diplōmata, domine, quōrum diēs praeterit, an omnīnō observārī et quam diū velīs, rogō scrībās mēque haesitātiōne līberēs.I ask you, my lord, to write and free me from uncertainty whether you wish travel permits whose date has passed to be honoured at all, and for how long. Ep. 10.45.1Vereor enim, nē in alterutram partem ignōrantiā lapsus aut illicita cōnfirmem aut necessāria impediam.For I fear that, slipping through ignorance in one direction or the other, I may either confirm what is unlawful or hinder what is necessary.
Lectitō › Pliny the Younger › Letters, Book 10 › Pliny, Letter 10.45
Pliny · Epistulae X
Pliny, Letter 10.45
Expired travel permits
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Read in LectitōLatin vocabulary for this passage (31 words)
| diplōma, -atis n. | official letter of authority, travel warrant, permit |
| dominus, -ī m. | master, owner |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| diēs, -ēī, m. and f. | day |
| praetereō, -īre, -iī, -itus | pass by |
| an, conj. | or (in questions) |
| omnīnō, adv. | altogether, wholly, entirely |
| observō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | watch; keep, respect |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| quam, adv. | how? as; than; with superl., as ... as possible |
| diū, adv. | for a long time, a long time or while, long; comp |
| volō, velle, voluī | wish |
| rogō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | ask |
| scrībō, scrībere, scrīpsī, scrīptus | write |
| ego, meī, pers. pron. | I |
| que, enclitic conj. | and |
| haesitātiō, -ōnis f. | hesitation, indecision |
| līberō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | set free, free, liberate, release |
| vereor, -ērī, -itus | fear |
| enim, conj. | for |
| nē, adv. | not; nē ... quidem, not ... even; conj., that not, lest |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| alteruter, -tra, -trum | one or the other; ad alterutrum: to one another (Late Latin) |
| pars, partis, f. | part, side, direction |
| ignōrantia, -ae f. | ignorance, lack of knowledge |
| lābor, lābī, lapsus | slip, glide, fall |
| aut, conj. | or; aut ... aut, either ... or |
| illicitus (inlicitus), -a, -um | forbidden, unlawful |
| cōnfirmō, -firmāre, -firmāvī, -firmātus | strengthen, establish; declare, assert |
| necessārius, -a, -um; as noun, -ī m. | necessary, critical; (noun) close friend, relative |
| impediō, -pedīre, -pedīvī, -pedītus | hinder, prevent, impede |
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.