Ep. 4.11.1Audīstīne Valerium Liciniānum in Siciliā profitērī?Have you heard that Valerius Licinianus is teaching in Sicily? Ep. 4.11.1nōndum tē putō audīsse: est enim recēns nūntius.I think you have not heard yet: for the news is recent. Ep. 4.11.1Praetōrius hic modo inter ēloquentissimōs causārum āctōrēs habēbātur;This man of praetorian rank was not long ago counted among the most eloquent pleaders of cases; Ep. 4.11.1nunc eō dēcidit, ut exsul dē senātōre, rhētor dē ōrātōre fieret.now he has fallen so far as to become an exile instead of a senator, a rhetorician instead of an orator. Ep. 4.11.2Itaque ipse in praefātiōne dīxit dolenter et graviter: "Quōs tibi, Fortūna, lūdōs facis?So he himself said in his preface, sadly and solemnly: 'What games you play, Fortune! Ep. 4.11.2facis enim ex senātōribus professōrēs, ex professōribus senātōrēs."for you make professors out of senators, and senators out of professors.' Ep. 4.11.2Cui sententiae tantum bīlis, tantum amāritūdinis īnest, ut mihi videātur ideō professus ut hoc dīceret.There is so much bile, so much bitterness in this remark that he seems to me to have become a professor just in order to say it.
Ep. 4.11.3Īdem cum Graecō palliō amictus intrāsset - carent enim togae iūre, quibus aquā et ignī interdictum est -, postquam sē composuit circumspexitque habitum suum, "Latīnē" inquit "dēclāmātūrus sum."Likewise, when he had come in wrapped in a Greek cloak — for those who have been forbidden fire and water lose the right to the toga — after he had composed himself and looked over his attire, he said: 'I am going to declaim in Latin.' Ep. 4.11.4Dīcēs trīstia et miseranda, dignum tamen illum quī haec ipsa studia incestī scelere maculārit.You will say this is sad and pitiable, but that he deserved it, having stained these very studies with the crime of incest. Ep. 4.11.5Cōnfessus est quidem incestum, sed incertum utrum quia vērum erat, an quia graviōra metuēbat sī negāsset.He did indeed confess to incest, but it is uncertain whether he did so because it was true, or because he feared something worse if he denied it. Ep. 4.11.5Fremēbat enim Domitiānus aestuābatque in ingentī invidiā dēstitūtus.For Domitian was raging and seething, left isolated amid enormous hatred. Ep. 4.11.6Nam cum Cornēliam Vestālium maximam dēfodere vīvam concupīsset, ut quī illūstrārī saeculum suum eiusmodī exemplīs arbitrārētur, pontificis maximī iūre, seu potius immānitāte tyrannī licentiā dominī, reliquōs pontificēs nōn in Rēgiam sed in Albānam vīllam convocāvit.For when he had longed to bury alive Cornelia, the chief Vestal, thinking that his age would be made illustrious by examples of this kind, he used his right as Pontifex Maximus, or rather the savagery of a tyrant and the licence of a despot, to summon the other pontiffs not to the Regia but to his Alban villa.
Ep. 4.11.6Nec minōre scelere quam quod ulcīscī vidēbātur, absentem inaudītamque damnāvit incestī, cum ipse frātris fīliam incestō nōn polluisset sōlum vērum etiam occīdisset;And with no less a crime than the one he seemed to be punishing, he condemned her of incest in her absence and unheard, though he himself had not only defiled his brother's daughter by incest but had even killed her; Ep. 4.11.6nam vidua abortū periit.for she died, a widow, from an abortion. Ep. 4.11.7Missī statim pontificēs quī dēfodiendam necandamque cūrārent.Pontiffs were sent at once to see to her burial and death. Ep. 4.11.7Illa nunc ad Vestam, nunc ad cēterōs deōs manūs tendēns, multa sed hoc frequentissimē clāmitābat: "Mē Caesar incestam putat, quā sacra faciente vīcit triumphāvit!"She, stretching out her hands now to Vesta, now to the other gods, cried out many things, but this most often: 'Caesar thinks me unchaste, when it was while I was performing the rites that he conquered and triumphed!' Ep. 4.11.8Blandiēns haec an irrīdēns, ex fīdūciā suī an ex contemptū prīncipis dīxerit, dubium est.Whether she said this flattering or mocking him, out of confidence in herself or out of contempt for the emperor, is uncertain.
Ep. 4.11.8Dīxit dōnec ad supplicium, nesciō an innocēns, certē tamquam innocēns ducta est.She kept saying it until she was led to her punishment, whether innocent I do not know, but certainly as one innocent. Ep. 4.11.9Quīn etiam cum in illud subterrāneum dēmitterētur, haesissetque dēscendentī stola, vertit sē ac recollēgit, cumque eī manum carnifex daret, āversāta est et resiluit foedumque contāctum quasi plānē ā castō pūrōque corpore novissimā sānctitāte rēiēcit omnibusque numerīs pudōris πολλὴν πρόνοιαν ἔσχεν εὐσχήμων πεσεῖν.Moreover, when she was being let down into that underground chamber and her stola caught as she descended, she turned and gathered it up, and when the executioner offered her his hand, she turned away and shrank back, and with a last act of sanctity rejected the foul contact as if from a body wholly chaste and pure; and with every observance of modesty 'she took great care to fall becomingly'. Ep. 4.11.10Praetereā Celer eques Rōmānus, cui Cornēlia obiciēbātur, cum in comitiō virgīs caederētur, in hāc vōce perstiterat: "Quid fēcī?Besides, Celer, a Roman knight, who was charged with being Cornelia's lover, while he was being beaten with rods in the Comitium, had kept repeating this cry: 'What have I done?
Ep. 4.11.10nihil fēcī."I have done nothing.' Ep. 4.11.11Ārdēbat ergō Domitiānus et crūdēlitātis et inīquitātis īnfāmiā.So Domitian was burning with the infamy of both cruelty and injustice. Ep. 4.11.11Arripit Liciniānum, quod in agrīs suīs occultāsset Cornēliae lībertam.He seizes on Licinianus, for having hidden a freedwoman of Cornelia's on his estate. Ep. 4.11.11Ille ab iīs quibus erat cūrae praemonētur, sī comitium et virgās patī nōllet, ad cōnfessiōnem cōnfugeret quasi ad veniam.Licinianus is warned in advance by those who were concerned for him that, if he did not want to suffer the Comitium and the rods, he should take refuge in confession, as if in pardon. Ep. 4.11.11Fēcit.He did so. Ep. 4.11.12Locūtus est prō absente Herennius Seneciō tāle quiddam, quāle est illud: κεῖταιπάτροκλος.Herennius Senecio spoke on behalf of the absent man something like that famous line: 'Patroclus lies dead.' Ep. 4.11.12Ait enim: "Ex advocātō nūntius factus sum;For he said: 'From advocate I have become messenger; Ep. 4.11.12Liciniānus recessit."Licinianus has withdrawn.' Ep. 4.11.13Grātum hoc Domitiānō adeō quidem ut gaudiō prōderētur, dīceretque: "Absolvit nōs Liciniānus."This pleased Domitian so much that he betrayed himself by his delight, and said: 'Licinianus has acquitted us.' Ep. 4.11.13Adiēcit etiam nōn esse verēcundiae eius īnstandum;He added too that his sense of shame should not be pressed; Ep. 4.11.13ipsī vērō permīsit, sī quā posset, ex rēbus suīs raperet, antequam bona pūblicārentur, exsiliumque molle velut praemium dedit.and he allowed him to snatch whatever he could from his property before his goods were confiscated, and gave him a mild exile as if by way of reward.
Ep. 4.11.14Ex quō tamen posteā clēmentiā dīvī Nervae trānslātus est in Siciliam, ubi nunc profitētur sēque dē fortūnā praefātiōnibus vindicat.From there, however, he was later moved by the clemency of the deified Nerva to Sicily, where he now teaches and takes his revenge on fortune in his prefaces. Ep. 4.11.15Vidēs quam obsequenter pāream tibi, quī nōn sōlum rēs urbānās vērum etiam peregrīnās tam sēdulō scrībō, ut altius repetam.You see how obediently I comply with your wishes, writing not only of affairs in the city but even of those abroad so diligently that I go back a long way. Ep. 4.11.15Et sānē putābam tē, quia tunc āfuistī, nihil aliud dē Liciniānō audīsse quam relēgātum ob incestum.And indeed I supposed that, because you were away at the time, you had heard nothing else about Licinianus than that he had been banished for incest. Ep. 4.11.15Summam enim rērum nūntiat fāma nōn ōrdinem.For rumour reports the sum of events, not their order. Ep. 4.11.16Mereor ut vicissim, quid in oppidō tuō, quid in fīnitimīs agātur - solent enim quaedam notābilia incidere - perscrībās, dēnique quidquid volēs dum modo nōn minus longā epistulā nūntiā.I deserve that you in return should write out in full what is happening in your town and in the neighbouring ones — for some notable things usually occur — and in short send me whatever news you like, provided it comes in a letter no less long.
Ep. 4.11.16Ego nōn pāginās tantum sed versus etiam syllabāsque numerābō.I shall count not just the pages but even the lines and syllables. Ep. 4.11.16Valē.Farewell.