Ep. 10.68.1Petentibus quibusdam, ut sibi reliquiās suōrum aut propter iniūriam vetustātis aut propter flūminis incursum aliaque hīs similia quōcumque secundum exemplum prōcōnsulum trānsferre permitterem, quia sciēbam in urbe nostrā ex eius modī causā collēgium pontificum adīrī solēre, tē, domine, maximum pontificem cōnsulendum putāvī, quid observāre mē velīs.Since certain people were asking me to allow them, following the precedent of the proconsuls, to move the remains of their relatives elsewhere, either because of damage from age or because of the encroachment of a river or for other reasons like these, and since I knew that in our city the college of pontiffs is usually approached in a case of this kind, I thought I should consult you, sir, as chief pontiff, on what you wish me to observe.
Lectitō › Pliny the Younger › Letters, Book 10 › Pliny, Letter 10.68
Pliny · Epistulae X
Pliny, Letter 10.68
Moving the remains of the dead
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Read in LectitōGrammar in this passage: gerunds and gerundives ×1, ablative absolute ×1, indirect statement ×3
Latin vocabulary for this passage (44 words)
| petō, -ere, -īvī or -iī, -ītus | seek, ask; attack |
| quīdam, quaedam, quoddam, indef. pron. | a certain, certain |
| ut, conj. | as; when; that; ita ut, as |
| suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron. | himself, herself, itself, themselves |
| reliquiae, -ārum f. pl. | remains, what is left over, leftovers |
| suus, -a, -um | his, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their |
| aut, conj. | or; aut ... aut, either ... or |
| propter, prep. with acc. | on account of, because of |
| iniūria, -ae, f. | injury, wrong, hurt, harm |
| vetustās, -ātis f. | age, antiquity; the distant past |
| flūmen, -minis, n. | river |
| incursus, -ūs m. | attack, onrush |
| alius, -a, -ud | another, other; aliī ... aliī, some ... others |
| que, enclitic conj. | and |
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| similis, -e | like, similar (vērī similis: likely) |
| quōcumque (adv.) | to whatever place; in whatever direction |
| secundum (prep. + acc.) | after, besides; along |
| exemplum, -ī n. | example, precedent |
| prōcōnsul, -ulis m. | proconsul, governor |
| trānsferō, -ferre, -tulī, -lātus | carry across, transfer |
| permittō, -ere, -mīsī, -missum | allow, permit; entrust |
| quia (conj.) | because |
| sciō, -īre, -īvī, -ītus | know |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| urbs, urbis, f. | city |
| noster, -tra, -trum | our |
| ex, ē (prep. + abl.) | out of, from; of (ē only before consonants) |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| modus, -ī, m. | way, manner |
| causa, -ae, f. | cause, reason; abl. causā, for the sake of |
| collēgium (conlēgium), -ī n. | board, body of colleagues |
| pontifex, -icis m. | priest, pontiff (pontifex maximus: chief priest of Rome) |
| adeō, -īre, -iī, -itus | go to, approach |
| soleō, -ēre, solitus sum | be accustomed, usually do |
| tū, tuī, pers. pron. | thou, you |
| dominus, -ī m. | master, owner |
| magnus, -a, -um | large, big, great, mighty; loud |
| cōnsulō, -ere, -uī, -tus | consult |
| putō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | think |
| quis, quid, interrog. pron. | who? which? what? |
| observō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | watch; keep, respect |
| ego, meī, pers. pron. | I |
| volō, velle, voluī | wish |
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.