Ep. 10.55.1Et ipse nōn aliud remedium dispiciō, mī Secunde cārissime, quam ut quantitās ūsūrārum minuātur, quō facilius pecūniae pūblicae collocentur.I too see no other remedy, my dearest Secundus, than that the rate of interest be lowered, so that the public funds may be placed more easily. Ep. 10.55.1Modum eius, ex cōpiā eōrum quī mūtuābuntur, tū cōnstituēs.You will fix its level according to the number of those who will borrow. Ep. 10.55.1Invītōs ad accipiendum compellere, quod Fortassis ipsīs ōtiōsum futūrum sit, nōn est ex iūstitiā nostrōrum temporum.To compel people against their will to accept a loan, which may perhaps be of no use to them, is not in keeping with the justice of our times.
Lectitō › Pliny the Younger › Letters, Book 10 › Pliny, Letter 10.55
Pliny · Epistulae X
Pliny, Letter 10.55
Trajan on lowering interest
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Read in LectitōGrammar in this passage: purpose clauses ×2, gerunds and gerundives ×1
Latin vocabulary for this passage (36 words)
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron. | self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very |
| nōn, adv. | not |
| alius, -a, -ud | another, other; aliī ... aliī, some ... others |
| remedium, -ī, n. | remedy |
| dispiciō, -ere, -spexī, -spectus | see clearly, discern |
| meus, -a, -um | my, mine |
| cārus, -a, -um | dear, precious |
| quam, adv. | how? as; than; with superl., as ... as possible |
| ut, conj. | as; when; that; ita ut, as |
| quantitās, -ātis f. | amount, quantity |
| ūsūra, -ae f. | use, enjoyment; interest (on money) |
| minuō, -ere, minuī, minūtum | lessen, reduce |
| quō, adv. | to what place? whither? to which place, whither; for which reason, wherefore, therefore; quō ūsque, till when? how long? |
| facile, adv. | easily |
| pecūnia, -ae, f. | money (the possession of cattle constituting wealth in early times) |
| pūblicus, -a, -um | public, of the state (rēs pūblica: the state) |
| collocō (conlocō), -āre, -āvī, -ātum | place, station; give in marriage |
| modus, -ī, m. | way, manner |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| ex, ē (prep. + abl.) | out of, from; of (ē only before consonants) |
| cōpia, -ae, f. | supply, abundance; plur., forces, troops |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| mūtuor, -ārī, -ātus sum | borrow; obtain (help) from others |
| tū, tuī, pers. pron. | thou, you |
| cōnstituō, -stituere, -stituī, -stitūtus | set together or up; appoint; determine |
| invītus, -a, -um | unwilling |
| ad, prep. with acc. | to, toward; at, near; for |
| accipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus | take to oneself, receive, accept; hear; suffer |
| compellō, -pellere, -pulī, -pulsus | drive together, drive |
| fortasse (adv.) | perhaps |
| ōtiōsus, -a, -um | at leisure, quiet; as noun: a peaceful citizen |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| iūstitia, -ae f. | justice, fairness |
| noster, -tra, -trum | our |
| tempus, temporis, n. | time, season |
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.