Letter 55 Flashcards
A gestatione cum maxime venio non minus fatigatus, quam si tantum ambulassem, quantum sedi. Labor est enim et diu ferri, ac nescio an eo maior, quia contra naturam est, quae pedes dedit, ut per nos ambularemus, oculos, ut per nos videremus. Debilitatem nobis indixere deliciae, et quod diu noluimus, posse desimus. Mihi tamen necessarium erat concutere corpus, ut sive bilis insederat faucibus, discuteretur, sive ipse ex aliqua causa spiritus densior erat, extenuaret illum iactatio, quam profuisse mihi sensi.
I have just now arrived from my litter, no less tired than if I had walked as far as I sat. For it is work to be carried a long way, and I do not know whether it is greater in that respect, because it is against nature, who gave us feet, so that we could walk for ourselves, and eyes so that we could see for ourselves. Luxuries reveal our weaknesses, and that which we don’t want to do any longer, we are unable to do. However, it was necessary for me to shake my body, so that whether the bile settled in my throat might disperse, or if the breath itself was too thick, for some reason, and the shaking/jostling might reduce it, which I have sensed to help me.
eo- in that respect
ut…dis- purpose clause
Ideo diutius vehi perseveravi invitante ipso litore, quod inter Cumas et Servili Vatiae villam curvatur et hinc mari, illinc lacu velut angustum iter cluditur. Erat enim a recenti tempestate spissum. Fluctus autem illud, ut scis, frequens et concitatus exaequat, longior tranquillitas solvit, cum harenis, quae umore alligantur, sucus abscessit.
For that reason, I persisted to be carried for a longer time than usual along the inviting shore, which curves between Cumae and Servius Vatia’s villa, and is confined/surrounded this side by the sea and that side by a lake, just like a narrow path. For it was made dense/solid by a recent storm. Since, as you know, the tide, frequent and stirred up, levels the sand, which is loosened by longer calm seasons, when the water leaves the sand, which is bound down by moisture.
Ex consuetudine tamen mea circumspicere coepi, an aliquid illic invenirem, quod mihi posset bono esse, et derexi oculos in villam, quae aliquando Vatiae fuit. In hac ille praetorius dives, nulla alia re quam otio notus, consenuit et ob hoc unum felix habebatur. Nam quotiens aliquos amicitiae Asinii Galli, quotiens Seiani odium, deinde amor merserat, aeque enim offendisse illum quam amasse periculosum fuit, exclamabant homines: “O Vatia, solus scis vivere.” At ille latere sciebat, non vivere. Multum autem interest, utrum vita tua otiosa sit an ignava. Numquam aliter hanc villam Vatia vivo praeteribam, quam ut dicerem: “Vatia hic situs est.”
However, out of habit I began to look around whether I could find anything there, which might be good for me, and directed my eyes to the villa, which was Vatia’s at one time. In this villa, the rich praetor, known for no other thing than leisure, grew old and was regarded as happy on account of this alone. For whenever men were buried for their friendship with Asinus Gallus, whenever hated of Sejanus, and later love, buried them, for it was equally dangerous to offend him as it was to love him, men would exclaim: ‘Oh Vatia, you alone know how to live.’ But he knew how to hide, not to live. But, it matters a great deal whether your life is idle or ignorant. I never go passed that villa, in which Vatia lived, than to say: ‘Here lies Vatia!’
coepi- opens indir statement
offendisse/amasse- perf infin, implying cause before danger
Vatia vivo- abl abs
Sed adeo, mi Lucili, philosophia sacrum quiddam est et venerabile, ut etiam, si quid illi simile est, mendacio placeat. Otiosum enim hominem seductum existimat vulgus et securum et se contentum, sibi viventem, quorum nihil ulli contingere nisi sapienti potest. Ille sollicitus scit sibi vivere? Ille enim, quod est primum, scit vivere?
But, my Lucullus, philosophy is something so sacred and venerable that, if anything is similar to it, even the false image pleases. For the common man judges/considers that the man at leisure, having removed himself, is untroubled and content with himself, and living for himself, nothing of which can belong to anyone unless he is wise. Does the anxious man live for himself? Does he truly know how to live, which is the most important?
Nam qui res et homines fugit, quem cupiditatum suarum infelicitas relegavit, qui alios feliciores videre non potuit, qui velut timidum atque iners animal metu oblituit, ille sibi non vivit, sed, quod est turpissimum, ventri, somno, libidini. Non continuo sibi vivit, qui nemini. Adeo tamen magna res est constantia et in proposito suo perseverantia, ut habeat auctoritatem inertia quoque pertinax.
For he who flees politics and society, whose unhappiness in his own desires banished him, who is not able to see other’s happier, who hides from fear just like a scared and helpless animal, he does not live for himself but for his stomach, sleep, and lust, which is the most shameful. He who lives for no one, does not necessarily live for himself. Yet so great is consistency in matters and perseverance in declarations that stubborn idleness also holds credibility.
De ipsa villa nihil tibi possum certi scribere. Frontem enim eius tantum novi et exposita, quae ostendit etiam transeuntibus. Speluncae sunt duae magni operis, cuivis laxo atrio pares, manu factae, quarum altera solem non recipit, altera usque in occidentem tenet. Platanona medius rivus et a mari et ab Acherusio lacu receptus euripi modo dividit, alendis piscibus, etiam si adsidue exhauriatur, sufficiens.
I am not able to write to you about this villa for certain. For I am only acquainted with its front and exposed parts, which still shown to those walking by. There are caves made from great labour, which are equal in size to a wide hall, made by hand, one of which never receives the sun, the other holds it all the way till sunset. The river in the middle, drawing from both the sea and the Acheron lake, divides the grove, in the manner of a channel, providing nourishment for the fish, even if it is drawn off constantly.
Sed illi, cum mare patet, parcitur; cum tempestas piscatoribus dedit ferias, manus ad parata porrigitur, hoc tamen est commodissimum in villa, quod Baias trans parietem habet; incommodis illarum caret, voluptatibus fruitur. Has laudes eius ipse novi; esse illam totius anni credo. Occurrit enim favonio et illum adeo excipit, ut Bais neget. Non stulte videtur elegisse hunc locum Vatia, in quem otium suum pigrum iam et senile conferret.
But, when the sea is accessible, it is spared; when the storm gives holidays to the fishermen, hands are reached to the providing water, but this is the most convenient thing about the villa, because it has Baiae over its wall. It lacks the disadvantages of that place, while enjoying the pleasures. I know the joys of that place, myself, and I believe the villa to be a place for the whole year. For it faces the west wind and intercepts it so much that Baiae is denied. Vatia appears to not be stupid when choosing the location, in which he devotes his leisure, already unwilling and decrepit.
Sed non multum ad tranquillitatem locus confert; animus est, qui sibi commendet omnia. Vidi ego in villa hilari et amoena maestos, vidi in media solitudine occupatis similes. Quare non est quod existimes ideo parum bene conpositum esse te, quod in Campania non es. Quare autem non es? Huc usque cogitationes tuas mitte. Conversari cum amicis absentibus licet, et quidem quotiens velis, quamdiu velis. Magis hac voluptate, quae maxima est, fruimur, dum absumus.
But the location adds not much to tranquility, it is the mind, which recommends everything to it. I have seen dejected men in happy and charming villas, I have seen them resembling business in the midst of solitude. Therefore, it is not that you should judge yourself to be less well placed because you are not in Campania. But why are you not here? Send your thoughts all the way here. It is allowed to converse with absent friends, and certainly as often as you wish, for as long as you wish. This pleasure - which is the greatest - we enjoy more when we are absent.
Praesentia enim nos delicatos facit, et quia aliquando una loquimur, ambulamus, consedimus, cum diducti sumus, nihil de is, quos modo vidimus, cogitamus. Et ideo aequo animo ferre debemus absentiam, quia nemo non multum etiam praesentibus abest. Pone hic primum noctes separatas, deinde occupationes utrique diversas, deinde studia secreta, suburbanas profectiones; videbis non multum esse, quod nobis peregrinatio eripiat. Amicus animo possidendus est; hic autem numquam abest. Quemcumque vult, cotidie videt.
For being close makes us spoilt, and because we talk, walk, and sit together, when we are separated, we think nothing of those, who we just saw. And for that reason, we ought to bear our absence with a calm mind, because everyone is much absent even when at hand. Consider this, first we are separated by the night, then either by different jobs, or by private study, or suburbian journeys. You will see that there is not much that our travels take away. Friends ought to be held by the mind, he is never absent. He sees daily whatever he wants.
Itaque mecum stude, mecum cena, mecum ambula. In angusto vivebamus, si quicquam esset cogitationibus clusum. Video te, mi Lucili; cum maxime audio. Adeo tecum sum, ut dubitem, an incipiam non epistulas, sed codicellos tibi scribere. Vale.
And so study with me, eat with me and walk with me. We were living in a narrow place, if anything was closed to our thoughts. I see you, my Lucullus, I hear you even now. I am so much with you that I doubt whether I begin to write, not a letter but little notes to you. Farewell.
