Ep. 9.14.1Nec ipse tibi plaudis, et ego nihil magis ex fidē quam dē tē scrībō.You do not applaud yourself, and I write nothing more faithfully than what I write about you. Ep. 9.14.1Posterīs an aliqua cūra nostrī, nesciō;Whether posterity will have any care for us, I do not know; Ep. 9.14.1nōs certē merēmur, ut sit aliqua, nōn dīcō ingeniō - id enim superbum -, sed studiō et labōre et reverentiā posterōrum.we certainly deserve that it should have some — I do not say for our talent, for that would be arrogant, but for our zeal and labour and reverence for posterity. Ep. 9.14.1Pergāmus modo itinere īnstitūtō, quod ut paucōs in lūcem fāmamque prōvexit, ita multōs ē tenebrīs et silentiō prōtulit.Only let us continue on the road we have set out on, which, though it has brought few into light and fame, has brought many out of darkness and silence. Ep. 9.14.1Valē.Farewell.
Lectitō › Pliny the Younger › Letters, Book 9 › Pliny, Letter 9.14
Pliny · Epistulae IX
Pliny, Letter 9.14
Labouring for posterity
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Read in LectitōGrammar in this passage: purpose clauses ×1, ablative absolute ×1
Latin vocabulary for this passage (51 words)
| neque or nec, conj. | and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not |
| ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron. | self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very |
| tū, tuī, pers. pron. | thou, you |
| plaudō, -ere, plausī, plausum | clap, strike, beat |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| ego, meī, pers. pron. | I |
| nihil, n., indecl. | nothing |
| magis, comp. adv. | more, rather |
| ex, ē (prep. + abl.) | out of, from; of (ē only before consonants) |
| fidēs, -eī f. | faith, trust; pledge |
| quam, adv. | how? as; than; with superl., as ... as possible |
| dē, prep, with abl. | down from, from, out of; about, concerning, of |
| scrībō, scrībere, scrīpsī, scrīptus | write |
| posterī, -ōrum m. pl. | descendants, posterity |
| an, conj. | or (in questions) |
| aliquī, -qua, -quod, indef. pron. adj. | some, any |
| cūra, -ae f. | care, concern (cūrae esse: to be a concern) |
| nōs | plur. of ego |
| nesciō, -scīre, -scīvī | not know, be ignorant; nesciō quis, I know not who, some one or other (nesciō is thus used with other interrogative words also) |
| certē (adv.) | certainly, surely; at any rate |
| mereor, -ērī, meritus sum | deserve; (dē) do service to |
| ut, conj. | as; when; that; ita ut, as |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| aliquis, -quid, indef. pron. | someone, any one, something, anything, some, any |
| nōn, adv. | not |
| dīcō, dīcere, dīxī, dictus | say, speak; diem dīcere, to appoint or set a day |
| ingenium, -ī n. | natural ability, talent, cleverness; character |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| enim, conj. | for |
| superbus, -a, -um | proud, arrogant, haughty |
| sed, conj. | but |
| studium, -ī, n. | eagerness, zeal; study, pursuit |
| labor, -ōris, m. | labor, toil |
| reverentia, -ae f. | respect, modesty, shyness |
| pergō, -ere, perrēxī, perrēctum | go on, press on |
| modo, adv. | only |
| iter, itineris, n. | a going, journey, march; iter facere, to journey, march |
| īnstituō, -stituere, -stituī, -stitūtus | decide upon, determine |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| paucī, -ae, -a, plur. adj. | few |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| lūx, lūcis, f. | light |
| fāma, -ae, f. | report, rumor |
| que, enclitic conj. | and |
| prōvehō, -vehere, -vexī, -vectus | carry forward |
| ita, adv. | in this manner, thus, so; ita ut, as |
| multus, -a, -um | much, great; plur., many |
| tenebrae, -ārum f. pl. | darkness |
| silentium, -ī n. | silence; silentiō: in silence, quietly |
| prōferō, -ferre, -tulī, -lātus | bring forward, bring out |
| valeō, -ēre, -uī, -itūrus | be strong or effectual, have effect, prevail |
Pliny, Epistulae IX. 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.