Ep. 3.5.1Pergrātum est mihi quod tam dīligenter librōs avunculī meī lēctitās, ut habēre omnēs velīs quaerāsque quī sint omnēs.It is most gratifying to me that you read my uncle's books so diligently that you wish to have them all and ask what they all are. Ep. 3.5.2Fungar indicis partibus, atque etiam quō sint ōrdine scrīptī notum tibi faciam;I shall play the part of a catalogue, and shall also let you know in what order they were written; Ep. 3.5.2est enim haec quoque studiōsīs nōn iniūcunda cognitiō.for this too is knowledge not unwelcome to the studious. Ep. 3.5.3"Dē iaculātiōne equestrī ūnus";'On Throwing the Javelin from Horseback', one book; Ep. 3.5.3hunc cum praefectus alae mīlitāret, parī ingeniō cūrāque composuit.this he composed, with equal talent and care, when he was serving as prefect of a cavalry squadron. Ep. 3.5.3"Dē vītā Pompōnī Secundī duo";'The Life of Pomponius Secundus', two books; Ep. 3.5.3ā quō singulāriter amātus hoc memoriae amīcī quasi dēbitum mūnus exsolvit.having been singularly loved by him, he paid this tribute to his friend's memory as if discharging a debt. Ep. 3.5.4"Bellōrum Germāniae vīgintī";'The German Wars', twenty books; Ep. 3.5.4quibus omnia quae cum Germānīs gessimus bella collēgit.in which he gathered together all the wars we have waged with the Germans.
Ep. 3.5.4Incohāvit cum in Germāniā mīlitāret, somniō monitus: astitit eī quiēscentī Drūsī Nerōnis effigiēs, quī Germāniae lātissimē victor ibi periit, commendābat memoriam suam ōrābatque ut sē ab iniūriā oblīviōnis assereret.He began them while serving in Germany, prompted by a dream: as he slept, there stood beside him the likeness of Drusus Nero, who after conquering far and wide in Germany died there; he commended his memory to him and begged him to rescue him from the injustice of oblivion. Ep. 3.5.5"Studiōsī trēs", in sex volūmina propter amplitūdinem dīvīsī, quibus ōrātōrem ab incūnābulīs īnstituit et perficit.'The Student', three books, divided into six volumes because of their length, in which he trains the orator from the cradle and brings him to perfection. Ep. 3.5.5"Dubiī sermōnis octō": scrīpsit sub Nerōne novissimīs annīs, cum omne studiōrum genus paulō līberius et ērēctius perīculōsum servitūs fēcisset.'Doubtful Language', eight books: he wrote this under Nero in his last years, when slavery had made every kind of study that was at all free or elevated dangerous. Ep. 3.5.6"Ā fīne Aufidī Bassī trīgintā ūnus."'A Continuation of Aufidius Bassus', thirty-one books.
Ep. 3.5.6"Nātūrae historiārum trīgintā septem", opus diffūsum ērudītum, nec minus varium quam ipsa nātūra.'Natural History', thirty-seven books, a wide-ranging and learned work, and no less varied than nature herself. Ep. 3.5.7Mīrāris quod tot volūmina multaque in hīs tam scrūpulōsa homō occupātus absolverit?Do you wonder that a busy man completed so many volumes, and so much in them that is so painstaking? Ep. 3.5.7Magis mīrāberis sī scieris illum aliquamdiū causās āctitāsse, dēcessisse annō sextō et quīnquāgēnsimō, medium tempus distentum impedītumque quā officiīs maximīs quā amīcitiā prīncipum ēgisse.You will wonder more if you learn that for some time he pleaded cases, that he died in his fifty-sixth year, and that he spent the time between distracted and hampered partly by the highest offices, partly by the friendship of emperors. Ep. 3.5.8Sed erat ācre ingenium, incrēdibile studium, summa vigilantia.But he had a keen intellect, incredible application, and the utmost wakefulness. Ep. 3.5.8Lūcubrāre Vulcānālibus incipiēbat nōn auspicandī causā sed studendī statim ā nocte multā, hieme vērō ab hōrā septimā vel cum tardissimē octāvā, saepe sextā.He began working by lamplight from the Vulcanalia, not for the sake of the omen but for study, straight away in the depth of the night, and in winter from the seventh hour, or at the latest the eighth, often the sixth.
Ep. 3.5.8Erat sānē somnī parātissimī, nōn numquam etiam inter ipsa studia īnstantis et dēserentis.He was certainly very quick to sleep, which sometimes even came upon him and left him again in the midst of his studies. Ep. 3.5.9Ante lūcem ībat ad Vespasiānum imperātōrem - nam ille quoque noctibus ūtēbātur -, inde ad dēlēgātum sibi officium.Before daybreak he would go to the emperor Vespasian — for he too made use of the nights — and from there to the duty assigned to him. Ep. 3.5.9Reversus domum quod reliquum temporis studiīs reddēbat.On returning home he gave what remained of his time to study. Ep. 3.5.10Post cibum saepe - quem interdiū levem et facilem veterum mōre sūmēbat - aestāte sī quid ōtiī iacēbat in sōle, liber legēbātur, adnotābat excerpēbatque.After eating — which in the daytime he took light and simple, in the manner of the ancients — often in summer, if he had any leisure, he would lie in the sun; a book was read, and he made notes and extracts. Ep. 3.5.10Nihil enim lēgit quod nōn excerperet;For he read nothing without making extracts; Ep. 3.5.10dīcere etiam solēbat nūllum esse librum tam malum ut nōn aliquā parte prōdesset.he used to say, too, that no book was so bad that it was not useful in some part.
Ep. 3.5.11Post sōlem plērumque frīgidā lavābātur, deinde gustābat dormiēbatque minimum;After his time in the sun he usually bathed in cold water, then took a snack and slept very briefly; Ep. 3.5.11mox quasi aliō diē studēbat in cēnae tempus.then, as if it were another day, he studied until dinner-time. Ep. 3.5.11Super hanc liber legēbātur adnotābātur, et quidem cursim.During dinner a book was read and notes were made, and that rapidly. Ep. 3.5.12Meminī quendam ex amīcīs, cum lēctor quaedam perperam prōnūntiāsset, revocāsse et repetī coēgisse;I remember that one of his friends, when the reader had pronounced some words wrongly, called him back and made him repeat them; Ep. 3.5.12huic avunculum meum dīxisse: "Intellēxerās nempe?"and that my uncle said to him: 'You had understood, surely?' Ep. 3.5.12Cum ille adnuisset, "Cūr ergō revocābās?When he had nodded: 'Why then did you call him back? Ep. 3.5.12decem amplius versūs hāc tuā interpellātiōne perdidimus."We have lost more than ten lines through this interruption of yours.' Ep. 3.5.13Tanta erat parsimōnia temporis.So sparing was he of time. Ep. 3.5.13Surgēbat aestāte ā cēnā lūce, hieme intrā prīmam noctis et tamquam aliquā lēge cōgente.In summer he rose from dinner while it was still light, in winter within the first hour of the night, as if some law compelled him.
Ep. 3.5.14Haec inter mediōs labōrēs urbisque fremitum.This was in the midst of his labours and the din of the city. Ep. 3.5.14In sēcessū sōlum balineī tempus studiīs eximēbātur - cum dīcō balineī, dē interiōribus loquor;In the country only the time of his bath was taken from study — when I say bath, I mean the inner part of it; Ep. 3.5.14nam dum dēstringitur tergiturque, audiēbat aliquid aut dictābat -.for while he was being scraped and towelled he would listen to something or dictate —. Ep. 3.5.15In itinere quasi solūtus cēterīs cūrīs, huic ūnī vacābat: ad latus notārius cum librō et pugillāribus, cuius manūs hieme manicīs mūniēbantur, ut nē caelī quidem asperitās ūllum studiī tempus ēriperet;On a journey, as if freed from all other cares, he gave himself to this one alone: at his side was a secretary with a book and writing tablets, whose hands in winter were protected by long sleeves, so that not even the harshness of the weather should snatch any time from study; Ep. 3.5.15quā ex causā Rōmae quoque sellā vehēbātur.and for this reason he was carried in a chair at Rome too.
Ep. 3.5.16Repetō mē correptum ab eō, cūr ambulārem: "poterās" inquit "hās hōrās nōn perdere";I recall being rebuked by him for walking: 'You could have avoided wasting these hours,' he said; Ep. 3.5.16nam perīre omne tempus arbitrābātur, quod studiīs nōn impenderētur.for he thought that all time was lost that was not spent on study. Ep. 3.5.17Hāc intentiōne tot ista volūmina perēgit ēlēctōrumque commentāriōs centum sexāgintā mihi relīquit, opisthographōs quidem et minūtissimīs scrīptōs;With this application he completed all those volumes and left me a hundred and sixty notebooks of extracts, written moreover on both sides and in the tiniest hand; Ep. 3.5.17quā ratiōne multiplicātur hic numerus.by which reckoning this number is multiplied. Ep. 3.5.17Referēbat ipse potuisse sē, cum prōcūrāret in Hispāniā, vēndere hōs commentāriōs Larciō Licinō quadringentīs mīlibus nummum;He used to relate that, when he was procurator in Spain, he could have sold these notebooks to Larcius Licinus for four hundred thousand sesterces; Ep. 3.5.17et tunc aliquantō pauciōrēs erant.and at that time they were somewhat fewer. Ep. 3.5.18Nōnne vidētur tibi recordantī, quantum lēgerit quantum scrīpserit, nec in officiīs ūllīs nec in amīcitiā prīncipis fuisse;When you recall how much he read and how much he wrote, does it not seem to you that he was never engaged in any offices or in the emperor's friendship; Ep. 3.5.18rūrsus cum audīs quid studiīs labōris impenderit, nec scrīpsisse satis nec lēgisse?and again, when you hear how much labour he spent on study, that he neither wrote nor read enough?
Ep. 3.5.18Quid est enim quod nōn aut illae occupātiōnēs impedīre aut haec īnstantia nōn possit efficere?For what is there that those occupations could not hinder, or that this persistence could not accomplish? Ep. 3.5.19Itaque soleō rīdēre cum mē quīdam studiōsum vocant, quī sī comparer illī sum dēsidiōsissimus.So I usually laugh when people call me studious, I who, if compared with him, am the idlest of men. Ep. 3.5.19Ego autem tantum, quem partim pūblica partim amīcōrum officia distringunt?But am I the only one, distracted as I am partly by public duties, partly by those of friendship? Ep. 3.5.19quis ex istīs, quī tōtā vītā litterīs assident, collātus illī nōn quasi somnō et inertiae dēditus ērubēscat?Which of those who sit over their books their whole life long would not, compared with him, blush as one given over to sleep and idleness? Ep. 3.5.20Extendī epistulam cum hoc sōlum quod requīrēbās scrībere dēstināssem, quōs librōs relīquisset;I have stretched out my letter, though I had intended to write only what you asked, namely which books he had left; Ep. 3.5.20cōnfīdō tamen haec quoque tibi nōn minus grāta quam ipsōs librōs futūra, quae tē nōn tantum ad legendōs eōs vērum etiam ad simile aliquid ēlabōrandum possunt aemulātiōnis stimulīs excitāre.yet I trust that these things too will be no less welcome to you than the books themselves, since they can rouse you with the spur of emulation not only to read them but also to work at something similar.
Ep. 3.5.20Valē.Farewell.