Pliny, Letter 6.11

Two young orators in court

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Ep. 6.11.1Ō diem laetum!O happy day! Ep. 6.11.1Adhibitus in cōnsilium ā praefectō urbis audīvī ex dīversō agentēs summae speī summae indolis iuvenēs, Fuscum Salinātōrem et Ummidium Quadrātum, ēgregium pār nec modo temporibus nostrīs sed litterīs ipsīs ōrnāmentō futūrum.Called to the council of the prefect of the city, I heard two young men of the highest promise and the highest talent pleading on opposite sides, Fuscus Salinator and Ummidius Quadratus, an outstanding pair, who will be an ornament not only to our times but to literature itself. Ep. 6.11.2Mīra utrīque probitās, cōnstantia salva, decōrus habitus, ōs Latīnum, vōx virīlis, tenāx memoria, magnum ingenium, iūdicium aequāle;Both had wonderful integrity, firmness unimpaired, a seemly bearing, pure Latin speech, a manly voice, a retentive memory, great talent, equal judgement; Ep. 6.11.2quae singula mihi voluptātī fuērunt, atque inter haec illud, quod et ipsī mē ut rēctōrem, ut magistrum intuēbantur, et iīs quī audiēbant mē aemulārī, meīs īnstāre vestīgiīs vidēbantur.each of these things gave me pleasure, and among them this, that they themselves looked to me as their guide, as their master, and seemed to those who were listening to be emulating me, to be treading in my footsteps.

Ep. 6.11.3Ō diem - repetam enim - laetum notandumque mihi candidissimō calculō!O day — for I shall say it again — happy, and to be marked by me with the whitest stone! Ep. 6.11.3Quid enim aut pūblicē laetius quam clārissimōs iuvenēs nōmen et fāmam ex studiīs petere, aut mihi optātius quam mē ad rēcta tendentibus quasi exemplar esse prōpositum?For what could be happier for the state than that most distinguished young men should seek name and fame from oratory, or more desirable for me than that I should be set up as a kind of model to those who strive for what is right? Ep. 6.11.4Quod gaudium ut perpetuō capiam deōs ōrō;That I may have this joy for ever I pray to the gods; Ep. 6.11.4ab īsdem teste tē petō, ut omnēs quī mē imitārī tantī putābunt meliōrēs esse quam mē velint.of the same gods I ask, with you as witness, that all who will think it worth while to imitate me may wish to be better than I. Ep. 6.11.4Valē.Farewell.

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Grammar in this passage: indirect statement ×5, gerunds and gerundives ×1, ablative absolute ×1

Latin vocabulary for this passage (102 words)

ō (interj.)	O! oh!
diēs, -ēī, m. and f.	day
laetus, -a, -um	glad, joyful
adhibeō, -hibēre, -hibuī, -hibitus	hold to, employ, show
in, prep. with acc. and abl.	with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
cōnsilium, -ī, n.	advice; plan, design, purpose; prudence
ā, ab (prep. + abl.)	away from, from; by (ā only before consonants)
praefectus, -ī m.	commander, officer
urbs, urbis, f.	city
audiō, -īre, -īvī, -ītus	hear; listen or attend to
ex, ē (prep. + abl.)	out of, from; of (ē only before consonants)
dīversus, -a, -um	turned different ways, opposite, contrary, different
agō, agere, ēgī, āctus	drive; do; pass, lead; grātiās agere, see grātia
summus, -a, -um	uppermost, highest, greatest
spēs, speī, f.	hope
indolēs, -is f.	natural character, nature, spirit
iuvenis, -is, m.	young man, youth
et, conj.	and; et ... et, both ... and
ēgregius, -a, -um	outstanding, excellent
pār, paris	equal
neque or nec, conj.	and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not
modo, adv.	only
tempus, temporis, n.	time, season
noster, -tra, -trum	our
sed, conj.	but
litterae, -ārum f. pl.	letters (of the alphabet); a letter, dispatch
ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron.	self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very
ōrnāmentum, -ī n.	honour, distinction; ornament
sum, esse, fuī, futūrus	be
mīrus, -a, -um	wonderful, strange
uterque, utraque, utrumque	each, either, both
probitās, -ātis f.	honesty, uprightness
cōnstantia, -ae f.	steadiness, firmness
salvus, -a, -um	safe, unharmed
decōrus, -a, -um	handsome, fine, splendid
habitus, -ūs m.	condition, state; bearing, character
ōs, ōris, n.	mouth
Latīnus, -a, -um	Latin
vōx, vōcis, f.	voice; word
virīlis, -e	of a man, male; n. pl. as noun: a man's private parts
tenāx, -ācis	holding fast, clinging (+ gen.)
memoria, -ae, f.	memory
magnus, -a, -um	large, big, great, mighty; loud
ingenium, -ī n.	natural ability, talent, cleverness; character
iūdicium, -ī n.	trial, court; judgment
aequālis, -e	equal; of the same age
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.	who, which
singulī, -ae, -a	one at a time, single
ego, meī, pers. pron.	I
voluptās, -tātis, f.	pleasure
atque, ac (conj.)	and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants)
inter, prep, with acc.	among, between
hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.	this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
ille, illa, illud, dem. pron.	that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc
quod, conj.	that, in that, because
ut, conj.	as; when; that; ita ut, as
rēctor, -ōris m.	ruler, guide, director
magister, -trī, m.	master
intueor, -tuērī, -tuitus	look upon, behold
is, ea, id, dem. pron.	this, that; he, she, it, they
aemulor, -ārī, -ātus sum	try to equal, rival, imitate
meus, -a, -um	my, mine
īnstō, -āre, -stitī	press on; be at hand
vestīgium, -ī, n.	track, foot-print
videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsus	see; pass., seem
repetō, -ere, -petīvī, -petītum	demand back; seek again
enim, conj.	for
notō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	mark, note; single out
que, enclitic conj.	and
candidus, -a, -um	shining white, bright
calculus, -ī m.	pebble, stone; counter (for reckoning or voting); ad calculos vocare: reckon up exactly
quis, quid, interrog. pron.	who? which? what?
aut, conj.	or; aut ... aut, either ... or
pūblicē (adv.)	officially, as a state
quam, adv.	how? as; than; with superl., as ... as possible
clārus, -a, -um	clear, loud; famous
nōmen, -minis, n.	name (that by which one is known)
fāma, -ae, f.	report, rumor
studium, -ī, n.	eagerness, zeal; study, pursuit
petō, -ere, -īvī or -iī, -ītus	seek, ask; attack
optātus, -a, -um	wished for, welcome
ad, prep. with acc.	to, toward; at, near; for
rēctus, -a, -um	direct, straight
tendō, -ere, tetendī, tentum	stretch out; hold out
quasi, conj.	as if
exemplar, -āris n.	model, pattern, example; copy, likeness
prōpōnō, -pōnere, -posuī, -positus	put or set before, offer, propose; set forth, say
gaudium, -ī, n.	gladness, joy
perpetuō (adv.)	for ever, permanently
capiō, capere, cēpī, captus	take, catch, seize; receive, suffer; adopt
deus, -ī, m.	god
ōrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	speak; beg, pray
īdem, eadem, idem, dem. pron.	the same; sometimes to be translated likewise, also
testis, -is m./f.	witness
tū, tuī, pers. pron.	thou, you
omnis, -e	all, every
imitor, -ārī, -ātus sum	copy, imitate
tantus, -a, -um	so great or much
putō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	think
bonus, -a, -um	good
volō, velle, voluī	wish
valeō, -ēre, -uī, -itūrus	be strong or effectual, have effect, prevail

Pliny, Epistulae VI. 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.