Pliny, Letter 10.72

Recognition of children and status

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Ep. 10.72.1Postulantibus quibusdam, ut dē agnōscendīs līberīs restituendīsque nātālibus et secundum epistulam Domitiānī scrīptam Miniciō Rūfō et secundum exempla prōcōnsulum ipse cognōscerem, respexī ad senātūs cōnsultum pertinēns ad eadem genera causārum, quod dē iīs tantum prōvinciīs loquitur, quibus prōcōnsulēs praesunt;When certain people were asking that I should myself hear cases concerning the recognition of children and the restoration of freeborn status, both according to the letter of Domitian written to Minicius Rufus and according to the precedents of the proconsuls, I looked at the decree of the senate relating to the same kinds of cases, which speaks only of those provinces which proconsuls govern; Ep. 10.72.1ideōque rem integram distulī, dum tū, domine, praecēperis, quid observāre mē velīs.and therefore I have postponed the matter undecided until you, sir, instruct me what you wish me to observe.

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Grammar in this passage: gerunds and gerundives ×2, ablative absolute ×1

Latin vocabulary for this passage (43 words)

postulō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	ask, request, demand
quīdam, quaedam, quoddam, indef. pron.	a certain, certain
ut, conj.	as; when; that; ita ut, as
dē, prep, with abl.	down from, from, out of; about, concerning, of
agnōscō, -gnōscere, -gnōvī, -gnitus, recognize
līberī, -ōrum, m. plur.	children
restituō, -stituere, -stituī, -stitūtus	set up again, put back, restore
que, enclitic conj.	and
nātālis, -e	of birth (diēs nātālis: birthday)
et, conj.	and; et ... et, both ... and
secundum (prep. + acc.)	after, besides; along
epistula, -ae f.	letter
scrībō, scrībere, scrīpsī, scrīptus	write
exemplum, -ī n.	example, precedent
prōcōnsul, -ulis m.	proconsul, governor
ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron.	self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very
cognōscō, -gnōscere, -gnōvī, -gnitus	find out, learn; in tenses of completed action, have found out, know
respiciō, -ere, -spexī, -spectum	look back
ad, prep. with acc.	to, toward; at, near; for
senātus, -ūs m.	senate
cōnsultum, -ī n.	decree (senātūs cōnsultum: a decree of the Senate)
pertineō, -ēre, -uī	extend, reach; tend toward, concern
īdem, eadem, idem, dem. pron.	the same; sometimes to be translated likewise, also
genus, generis, n.	kind, nature
causa, -ae, f.	cause, reason; abl. causā, for the sake of
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.	who, which
is, ea, id, dem. pron.	this, that; he, she, it, they
tantum, adv.	so much or far, only
prōvincia, -ae f.	province; here, the Roman Province in southern Gaul
loquor, loquī, locūtus	speak
praesum, -esse, -fuī	be before, preside over, have charge of, command
ideō (adv.)	for that reason, therefore
rēs, reī, f.	thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really
integer, -gra, -grum	untouched, fresh, whole
differō, differre, distulī, dīlātum	differ; scatter, put off
dum, conj.	while, as; as long as; until
tū, tuī, pers. pron.	thou, you
dominus, -ī m.	master, owner
praecipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus	take beforehand, anticipate; order, charge
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.