In this letter, Pliny praises his new bride, Calpurnia, to her aunt, Calpurnia Hispulla. He gives us an idea of what a Roman man considered ideal in a wife. Some people have thought that Pliny comes off as a bit of a jerk in this piece, but before you make up your own mind, consider three things:
1. Roman marriages were usually arranged between families who knew each other;
2. The understood object of such marriages was to produce children and to advance the family's standing; affection between husband and wife was considered a fringe benefit;
3. Calpurnia, Pliny's third wife, was probably about fifteen years old and Pliny himself was about forty.
Calpurniae Hispullae: Note the similarity of her name to the bride's. The elder Calpurnia was the daughter of Calpurnius Fabatus, a wealthy politician in the town of Comum. Why would Pliny have been a "good catch" for Calpurnia's family? Do you think that Pliny was marrying beneath his station?
Paragraph 1
pietatis exemplum: Note that pietas is a loaded word in Latin. What does it mean here, to judge from Pliny's description of
Calpurnia Hispulla?
dignam...dignam...dignam: Notice how a Roman woman was deemed a success or a failure. The same was true for Roman men, as we can see from the ritual for Roman funerals. What do you think was the point of the ancestor masks used in them?
Note that the sentence begins with a massive, five-part cum clause, followed by the main clause (non dubito...), followed by more
dependent clauses. The first sentence diagrammed looks like this:
Cum sis pietatis exemplum,
fratremque optimum et amantissimum tui pari caritate
dilexeris,
filiamque eius ut tuam diligas,
nec tantum amitae ei adfectum (representes),
verum etiam patris amissi (adfectum) representes
Non dubito
maximo tibi gaudio fore
cum cognoveris
(illam) dignam patre (evadere),
dignam te (evadere),
dignam avo evadere.
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summum: supply ei, dative of possession
accedit his: accedit + dative = "comes in addition to" (Besides the foregoing virtues, she also has....)
mei: what is the difference between caritate mei and caritate mea?
lecitat: the "frequentative" or "iterative" form of legere. She reads them over and over again.
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Qua solicitudine: This sentence could be rephrased as follows: Qua solicitudine illa adficitur cum videor acturus, quanto gaudio
adficitur cum egi!
acturus...egi: agere (causam) = to plead (a case).
Disponit qui nuntient: i.e., disponit (aliquos) qui nuntient sibi . . .; translate the subjunctive as "those who may . . ." or "persons to . . .," as this is a relative purpose clause.
quem...adsensum: supply excitarim. She wants to know how well her husband did in the forum.
eventum iudicii: how would we say this in ordinary legal English?
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recito: here Pliny refers to literary recitations in which he read his speeches and poems to a group of friends. In this way, he
was able to get some feedback before publishing his works in written form. However, his friends then expected him to reciprocate by attending their recitals.
discreta velo: behind (cut off by) a curtain.
cantat...cithara format: i.e., she sets his poems to music.
laudes...excipit: Why do you suppose Calpurnia is so eager to hear people praising her husband?
non artifice aliquo docente: this is an ablative absolute.
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perpetuam...futuram esse concordiam: indirect statement after spem (the hope that...). Why is con-cordia a good word for the relationship Pliny hopes to have with his new wife?
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decet: "befits"; the verb takes the accusative of person.
educatam: = puellam, quae manibus tuis educata est . . . .
sanctum honestumque: these neuter adjectives may be translated "what is sacred and . . . ."
tua praedicatione: i.e., the elder Calpurnia had been telling her neice what a great guy Pliny was. No wonder she was thrilled to marry him!
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matrem meam...vererere: i.e., "You respected my mother as if she were your own parent" -- Pliny's mother is now dead.
statim a: translate "right from . . . ."
talemque...solebas: try this word order-- tu solebas ominari me futurum esse talem, qualis nunc videor esse uxori meae.
quod...dederis: expand the statement as follows -- ego gratias ago, quod dedisti illam mihi, illa gratias agit, quod dederis me sibi . . . .
invicem: translate "for each other."