avunculus meus Flashcards
ante lucem ibat ad Vespasianum imperatorem (nam ille quoque noctibus utebatur), diende ad officium sibi delegatum.
Before dawn he used to go to the Emperor Vespasian (for he also used the nights), then to the duty assigned to him.
Promotion of ‘ante lucem’ to the start of the setence conveys the enthusiasm to get on with the job.
reversus domum reliquum tempus studiis dabat.
Having returned home, he would give the rest of the time to his studies.
Repetition of studies throughout shows Pliny’s focus and passion.
seape post cibum (qui veterum more interdiu levis et facilis erat) astate, si quod otii erat, iacebat in sole, liber legebatur, adnotabat excerpebatque.
Often after food (which after the custom of his forefathers during the day was light and easy on the stomach) in summertime, if there was any free time, he would lie in the sun, a book would be read, he would make notes and tak extracts from it.
Polysyllabic tricolon of verbs ‘legebatur, adnotabat excerpebatque’
nihil enim legit quod non excerperet; dicere etiam solebat nullum librum esse tam malum ut non aliqua parte prodesset.
For he read nothing from which he would not take extracts; indeed he used to say that no book was so bad that it was not useful in some part.
Emphatic result clause
post solem pluremque aqua frigida lavabatur, deinde gustabat dormiebatque minimum; mox quasi alio die studebat in cenae tempus.
After sunbathing he would generally bathe in cold water, then have a snack, and sleep for a very short time; soon afterwards as if it were on another day, he would study until dinnertime.
Superlative of ‘dormiebatque minimum’ shows how little time he wants to waste.
super cenam liber legebatur adnotabatur, et quidem cursim.
Over dinner, a book would be read and notes made, but hastily.
Repetition of ‘liber legebatur’ and polyptoton of ‘adnotabatur’ shows his passion for his studies.
haec inter medios labores urbisque fremitum.
These things took place during the middle of the toils and noise of the city.
in secessu solum balinei tempus studiis eximebatur (cum dico ‘balinei’, de interioribus loquor; nam dum destringitur tergiturque audiebat aliquid aut dictabat).
In his country retreat, only bath time was taken away from his studies (when I say bath, I am talking about the inner rooms; for while he was being scraped and wiped down, he would listen to something or dictate).
Contrast between ‘in secessu’ and the noise of the city emphasises how much time he spends studying.
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 cause Romae quoque sella vehebatur.
On a journey as if released from other anxieties, he would have time for this one thing: at his side there would be a secretary with a book and a writing tablet, whose hands were protected with mittens in winter, so that not even the harshness of the weather might take away any time for study; for this reason he used to ride in a sedan chair at Rome also.
‘ne caeli quidem’ - caeli splits up ‘not even’ which emphasises how winter won’t get in the way.
repeto me correptum ab eo, quod ambularem; ‘poteras’ inquit ‘has horas non perdere’; nam perire omne tempus arbitrabatur, quod studiis non impenderetur. vale.
I recall that I was rebuked by him because I was walking: he said “You could have not wasted these hours’; for he used to think that all time, which was not spent on studies, was wasted. Farewell.
Quoting his uncles speech makes it more vivid.
‘Perire’ is placed emphatically and the dicition choise suggests its dead.
