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Pliny · Epistulae IX

Pliny, Letter 9.5

Justice that respects rank

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Ep. 9.5.1Ēgregiē facis - inquīrō enim - et persevērā, quod iūstitiam tuam prōvinciālibus multā hūmānitāte commendās;You are acting admirably — for I make enquiries — and keep it up, in that you commend your justice to the provincials with great courtesy; Ep. 9.5.1cuius praecipua pars est honestissimum quemque complectī, atque ita ā minōribus amārī, ut simul ā prīncipibus dīligāre.the chief part of which is to embrace all the most honourable men, and so to be loved by the lesser folk that at the same time you are esteemed by the leading men. Ep. 9.5.2Plērīque autem dum verentur, nē grātiae potentium nimium impertīre videantur, sinisteritātis atque etiam malignitātis fāmam cōnsequuntur.But many, while they fear that they may seem to grant too much to the influence of the powerful, earn a reputation for awkwardness and even for spite. Ep. 9.5.3Ā quō vitiō tū longē recessistī, sciō, sed temperāre mihi nōn possum quōminus laudem similis monentī, quod eum modum tenēs ut discrīmina ōrdinum dignitātumque custōdiās;From this fault you have kept far away, I know, but I cannot restrain myself from praising you as if I were advising you, because you keep such a balance that you preserve the distinctions of rank and standing; Ep. 9.5.3quae sī cōnfūsa turbāta permixta sunt, nihil est ipsā aequālitāte inaequālius.for if these are confused, disordered and mixed together, nothing is more unequal than equality itself.

Ep. 9.5.3Valē.Farewell.

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Latin vocabulary for this passage (75 words)
ēgregiē, adv.excellently, splendidly, admirably
faciō, facere, fēcī, factusmake, do; iter facere, see iter
inquīrō, -ere, -quīsīvī, -quīsītumsearch into, inquire
enim, conj.for
et, conj.and; et ... et, both ... and
persevērō, -āre, -āvī, -ātumpersist
quod, conj.that, in that, because
iūstitia, -ae f.justice, fairness
tuus, -a, -umthy, thine, your
prōvinciālis, -eof the Province; as noun, a provincial
multus, -a, -ummuch, great; plur., many
hūmānitās, -tātis f.culture, refinement
commendō, -āre, -āvī, -ātusentrust, commit; recommend
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.who, which
praecipuus, -a, -umspecial, particular, outstanding
pars, partis, f.part, side, direction
sum, esse, fuī, futūrusbe
honestus, -a, -umrespected, honourable
quisque, quaeque, quidque, indef. pron.each
complector, -plectī, -plexusembrace
atque, ac (conj.)and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants)
ita, adv.in this manner, thus, so; ita ut, as
ā, ab (prep. + abl.)away from, from; by (ā only before consonants)
parvus, -a, -umlittle, small
amō, -āre, -āvī, -ātuslove
ut, conj.as; when; that; ita ut, as
simul, adv.at the same time; simul atque or ac, as soon as
prīnceps, -ipisfirst, chief; as noun: leader
dīligō, -ere, -lēxī, -lēctuslove, value highly
plērīque, plēraeque, plēraquemost, very many
autem, conj.moreover; but, however; now
dum, conj.while, as; as long as; until
vereor, -ērī, -itusfear
nē, adv.not; nē ... quidem, not ... even; conj., that not, lest
grātia, -ae, f.favor; gratitude, thanks; plur., thanks; grātiās agere, to give thanks, thank; grātiam referre, to return a favor, show gratitude, requite
potēns, -entispowerful
nimium (adv.)too, too much
impertiō, -īre, -īvī, -ītusgive a share of, bestow
videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsussee; pass., seem
sinisteritās, -ātis f.awkwardness, ungraciousness
etiam, adv.and now, also, too, even
malignitās, -ātis f.spite, ill will, malice; meanness
fāma, -ae, f.report, rumor
cōnsequor, -sequī, -secūtusfollow up, follow; overtake
vitium, -ī n.fault, vice
tū, tuī, pers. pron.thou, you
longē, adv.far
recēdō, -ere, -cessī, -cessumgo back, withdraw, retire
sciō, -īre, -īvī, -ītusknow
sed, conj.but
temperō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum (ab + abl.)refrain (from)
ego, meī, pers. pron.I
nōn, adv.not
possum, posse, potuībe able, have power, can
sī quō minus (adv. phrase)if it were otherwise, if not
laus, laudis f.praise, glory
similis, -elike, similar (vērī similis: likely)
moneō, -ēre, -uī, -ituswarn
is, ea, id, dem. pron.this, that; he, she, it, they
modus, -ī, m.way, manner
teneō, -ēre, -uī, -tushold, keep; hold back, restrain, stop
discrīmen, -crīminis, n.crisis, peril, danger
ōrdō, ōrdinis, m.arrangement, order, rank; ex ōrdine, in order
dignitās, -ātis f.rank, standing, prestige
que, enclitic conj.and
custōdiō, -īre, -īvī, -ītusguard
sī, conj.if
cōnfundō, -ere, -fūdī, -fūsuspour together, mingle; throw into disorder, confuse
turbō, -āre, -āvī, -ātusconfuse, throw into disorder, disturb, trouble
permisceō, -miscēre, -miscuī, -mixtusmix together, mingle
nihil, n., indecl.nothing
ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron.self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very
aequālitās, -ātis f.equality, fairness, evenness
inaequālis, -euneven, rough; unequal; badly cutting (barber)
valeō, -ēre, -uī, -itūrusbe 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.