Ep. 10.63.1Scrīpsit mihi, domine, Lycormās lībertus tuus ut, sī qua lēgātiō ā Bosporō vēnisset urbem petītūra, ūsque in adventum suum retinērētur.Lycormas your freedman has written to me, sir, that if any embassy should come from the Bosporus on its way to Rome, it should be held back until his arrival. Ep. 10.63.1Et lēgātiō quidem, dumtaxat in eam cīvitātem, in quā ipse sum, nūlla adhūc vēnit, sed vēnit tabellārius Sauromatae rēgis, quem ego ūsus opportūnitāte, quam mihi cāsus obtulerat, cum tabellāriō quī Lycormam ex itinere praecessit mittendum putāvī, ut possēs ex Lycormae et rēgis epistulīs pariter cognōscere, quae fortasse pariter scīre dēbērēs.No embassy, at least to the city in which I myself am, has come so far, but a courier of King Sauromates has come, and, making use of the opportunity which chance had offered me, I thought he should be sent with the courier who preceded Lycormas on his journey, so that you might learn equally from the letters of Lycormas and of the king things which perhaps you ought to know at the same time.
Lectitō › Pliny the Younger › Letters, Book 10 › Pliny, Letter 10.63
Pliny · Epistulae X
Pliny, Letter 10.63
A courier from the Bosporus
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Latin vocabulary for this passage (48 words)
| scrībō, scrībere, scrīpsī, scrīptus | write |
| ego, meī, pers. pron. | I |
| dominus, -ī m. | master, owner |
| lībertus, -ī m. | freedman (a former slave, in relation to his former master) |
| tuus, -a, -um | thy, thine, your |
| ut, conj. | as; when; that; ita ut, as |
| sī, conj. | if |
| quis, qua, quid, indef. pron. | any one, anybody, anything, some one, somebody, something |
| lēgātiō, -ōnis f. | embassy, mission |
| ā, ab (prep. + abl.) | away from, from; by (ā only before consonants) |
| veniō, venīre, vēnī, ventus | come |
| urbs, urbis, f. | city |
| petō, -ere, -īvī or -iī, -ītus | seek, ask; attack |
| ūsque, adv. | all the time; ūsque ad, as far as, until; quō ūsque, see quō |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| adventus, -ūs, m. | approach, arrival |
| suus, -a, -um | his, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their |
| retineō, -tinēre, -tinuī, -tentus | hold or keep back, keep, restrain; hold fast |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| quidem, adv. | in fact, indeed, certainly; nē ... quidem, not ... even |
| dumtaxat (adv.) | only, merely; at least |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| cīvitās, -tātis, f. | state |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron. | self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| nūllus, -a, -um | not any, none, no |
| adhūc, adv. | to this point, up to this time, yet, still |
| sed, conj. | but |
| tabellārius, -ī m. | letter-carrier, courier |
| rēx, rēgis, m. | king |
| ūtor, ūtī, ūsus | use |
| opportūnitās, -ātis f. | advantage, favourable feature |
| cāsus, -ūs, m. | fall; chance, accident |
| offerō, offerre, obtulī, oblātus | bear to, proffer, offer |
| cum, prep, with abl. | with |
| ex, ē (prep. + abl.) | out of, from; of (ē only before consonants) |
| iter, itineris, n. | a going, journey, march; iter facere, to journey, march |
| praecēdō, -ere, -cessī, -cessum | go before; surpass |
| mittō, mittere, mīsī, missus | send |
| putō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | think |
| possum, posse, potuī | be able, have power, can |
| epistula, -ae f. | letter |
| pariter (adv.) | equally, alike; at the same time |
| cognōscō, -gnōscere, -gnōvī, -gnitus | find out, learn; in tenses of completed action, have found out, know |
| fortasse (adv.) | perhaps |
| sciō, -īre, -īvī, -ītus | know |
| dēbeō, -ēre, -uī, -itus | owe; with infin., ought |
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.