avunculus meus- A day in the life of Pliny the Elder paragraph 1 Flashcards
ante lucem ibat as Vespasianum imperatorem (nam ille quoque noctibus utebatur), deinde ad officium sibi delegatum.
Before daybreak he used to go to emperor Vespasian (for he too made use of the nights), [and] then assign himself to his official duties.
reversus domum reliquum tempus studiis dabat.
Having returned home, he gave the time left over to his sutdies.
saepe post cibum (qui veterum more interdiu levis et facilis erat) aestate, si quid otii erat, iacebat in sole, liber legebatur, adnotabat excerpebatuqe.
Often after food (which during the day was, in the custom of our ancestors, light and easily digested), in the summer if there was any [time] for leisure, he used to lie in the sun, he used to read a book, and he used to make notes and take extracts.
nihil enim legit quod non excerperet; dicere etiam solebat nullum librum esse tam malum ut nonaliqua parte prodesset.
For he read nothing from which he would not take extracts; also he used to say that no book was so bad that it was not of use in some part.
post solem plerumque aqua frgida lavabatur, deinde gustabat dormiebatque minimum; mox quasi alio die studebat in cenae tempus.
After [his rest in] the sun, he usually bathed in cold water, then ate and slept for a very short time; then, as if in another day, he studied up to dinner time.
super cenum liber legebatur adnotabatur, et quidem cursim.
Over dinner a book would be read and notes taken from it, and indeed rapidly.
