C. PLINIUS MINUCIO FUNDANO SUO S.
C. MINUCIUS FUNDANUS: A fellow politician, with ambitions to be consul (Ep. 4.15). He also had a taste for books and philosophy, but these didn't help him much when he lost his fourteen-old daughter shortly before her wedding day (Ep. 5.16).
ratio constat: an expression from book-keeping. It means "the account balances."
togae virilis: Roman boys "came of age" sometime in their mid-teens, as their fathers deemed best. The ceremony (officium) traditionally took place on the 17th of March. The boy exchanged his purple-bordered toga for an all-white one, the "toga of adulthood." He was taken downtown to be registered in the tribal lists, formally "introduced to the forum," and then feasted at home.
sponsalia, nuptiae: In Pliny's time, the sponsalia (engagement) was a legal formality, rather than a ceremony. A Roman citizen might be called to witness the contract between the families of the bride and groom, in which the dowry was specified. The wedding (nuptiae), on the other hand, was an all-day affair which began at the bride's house. After sacrifices and a feast, the bride (in a red veil called the flammeum) was conducted by torchlight to the house of the groom, who carried her over the threshold. Another brief ceremony inside established her as lady of the house, and then the happy couple was left alone...almost. Singing and carousing continued outside their door until the next morning.
ad signandum testamentum: to sign a will. This turned into another "signing party," since seven witnesses were required for a valid will.
advocationem, consilium: a prominent Roman such as Pliny might be called upon by his friends to defend them in court (advocatio), or by judges to serve as "advisor" in an unofficial jury (consilium). Either way, he would lose half the day in the law courts.
cum secesseris: when you "get away" to your villa outside the city. Anybody who could afford it owned property in the cool, quiet countryside, preferably by the sea.
Laurentino meo: this is one of Pliny's retreats. Click here for reproductions of Piny's villa in Laurentum on the sea near Ostia, at the mouth of the Tiber river. This villa gave him the advantage of prime real estate not far from Rome. He describes his Laurentine villa in great detail in another of his letters: see Ep. 2.17 (Latin) or Ep. 2.17 (English).
mouseion: Like Cicero, Pliny shows off his learning by sprinkling his letters with Greek words. He could imagine that his "museum" was a miniature version of the great library of that name in Alexandria.
Atilius noster: Atilius Crescens, a friend of Pliny's who was rich in good humor, but evidently not in cash. In another letter (Ep. 6.8), Pliny urges a friend to help Atilius collect a debt.