A Day in the Life of Pliny the Elder Flashcards
ante lucem ibat ad Vespasianum imperatorem (nam ille quoque noctibus utebatur), deinde ad officium sibi delegatum.
Before daybreak my uncle used to go to the Emperor Vespasian (for he was also making use of his nights), then to the duty assigned to him.
reversus domum reliquum tempus sudiis dabat.
Having returned home, he used to give the remaining time to his studies.
saepe post cibum (qui veterum more interdiu levis et facilis erat) aestate, si quod otii erat, iacebat en sol, liber legebatur, adnotabat excerbatque.
Often after food (which in the custom of our forefathers during the day was light and easily digested) in summer, if there was any leisure time, he would lie in the sun, while a book was being read, he would make notes and extracts.
nihil enim legit quod non excerperet; dicere etiam solebat nullum librum esse tam malum ut non aliqua parte prodesset.
For he read nothing which he could not make extracts from; he was even accustomed to say that there was not any book so bad that it could not be of use in some part.
post solem plerumque aqua frigida lavabatur, deinde gustabat dormiebatque minimum; mox quasi alio die studebat in cenae tempus.
After time in the sun usually he would be washed in cold water, then he would have a snack and sleep a very little; soon as if it was another day he would study until the time for dinner.
super cenam liber legebatur adnotabatur, et quidem cursim.
Over dinner a book would be read and notes would be made, and rapidly indeed.
haec inter medios labores urbisque fremitum
He did these things in the midst of his duties and the bustle of the city.
in secessu solum balinei tempus studiis eximebatur (cum dico ‘balinei’, de interioribus loquor, nam dum destringitur tergiturque, audiebat aliquid aut dictabat).
Away from the city only time for bathing was taken away from his studies (when I say ‘bathing’, I am talking about the actual place of bathing, for while he was being scraped and dried he was listening to or dictating something).
in itinere quasi solutus ceteris curis, huic uni vacabat: ad latus notarius cum libro et pugillaribus, cuius manus hieme manicis muniebantur, ut ne caeli quidem asperitas ullum studii tempus eriperet; qua ex causa Romae quoque sella vehebatur.
On a journey, as if freed from other cares, he used to devote himself to this one care: 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 take away any time from study; for this reason he was always carried about Rome in a sedan chair.
repeto me correptum ab eo, quod ambularem: ‘poteras’ inquit ‘has horas non perdere’; nam perire omne tempus arbitrabatur, quod studiis non impenderetur. vale.
I remember that I was scolded by him, because I was walking: “You could not be wasting these hours”, he said; for he used to think that all time was being wasted, which was not devoted to studies. Farewell.
