Letter 10094: Sir, I have long admired the character and literary abilities of Suetonius Tranquillus, a man of the highest...
Pliny the Younger→Trajan|c. 112 AD|Pliny the Younger|Human translated
friendship
To Trajan.
Sir, I have long admired the character and literary abilities of Suetonius Tranquillus, a man of the highest integrity, probity, and learning ; he has been my constant companion, and I have begun to love him the better as I have learned to know him the more thoroughly. There are two reasons why the privileges of the ius trium liberorum should be conferred upon him. One is that he wins the final proof of his friends' good opinion of him and is mentioned in their wills, * and the other is that he has not been fortunate in his marriage. He has therefore to rely, through us, upon obtaining from your kindness what has been denied him by the perversity of Fortune. I know, Sir, how great is the favour I am asking, but I ask it none the less from you, since I find you are always most indulgent in granting my requests. And you may see how earnestly I desire it, for I should not ask it when I am miles away if I were only half-hearted in preferring my petition.
[Note: By the Lex Papia Poppaea, married persons, without children, were unable to take bequests in their entirety, a portion going to the public treasury.]
L To Trajan.
Sir, I have long admired the character and literary abilities of Suetonius Tranquillus, a man of the highest integrity, probity, and learning ; he has been my constant companion, and I have begun to love him the better as I have learned to know him the more thoroughly. There are two reasons why the privileges of the ius trium liberorum should be conferred upon him. One is that he wins the final proof of his friends' good opinion of him and is mentioned in their wills, * and the other is that he has not been fortunate in his marriage. He has therefore to rely, through us, upon obtaining from your kindness what has been denied him by the perversity of Fortune. I know, Sir, how great is the favour I am asking, but I ask it none the less from you, inasmuch as I find you are always most indulgent in granting my requests. And you may see how earnestly I desire it, for I should not ask it when I am miles away if I were only half-hearted in preferring my petition.
(*) By the Lex Papia Poppaea, married persons, without children, were unable to take bequests in their entirety, a portion going to the public treasury.
C. PLINIUS TRAIANO IMPERATORI
Suetonium Tranquillum, probissimum honestissimum eruditissimum virum, et mores eius secutus et studia iam pridem, domine, in contubernium assumpsi, tantoque magis diligere coepi quanto nunc propius inspexi. Huic ius trium liberorum necessarium faciunt duae causae; nam et iudicia amicorum promeretur et parum felix matrimonium expertus est, impetrandumque a bonitate tua per nos habet quod illi fortunae malignitas denegavit. Scio, domine, quantum beneficium petam, sed peto a te cuius in omnibus desideriis meis indulgentiam experior. Potes enim colligere quanto opere cupiam, quod non rogarem absens si mediocriter cuperem.
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To Trajan.
Sir, I have long admired the character and literary abilities of Suetonius Tranquillus, a man of the highest integrity, probity, and learning ; he has been my constant companion, and I have begun to love him the better as I have learned to know him the more thoroughly. There are two reasons why the privileges of the ius trium liberorum should be conferred upon him. One is that he wins the final proof of his friends' good opinion of him and is mentioned in their wills, * and the other is that he has not been fortunate in his marriage. He has therefore to rely, through us, upon obtaining from your kindness what has been denied him by the perversity of Fortune. I know, Sir, how great is the favour I am asking, but I ask it none the less from you, since I find you are always most indulgent in granting my requests. And you may see how earnestly I desire it, for I should not ask it when I am miles away if I were only half-hearted in preferring my petition.
[Note: By the Lex Papia Poppaea, married persons, without children, were unable to take bequests in their entirety, a portion going to the public treasury.]
Human translation — Attalus.org
Latin / Greek Original
C. PLINIUS TRAIANO IMPERATORI
Suetonium Tranquillum, probissimum honestissimum eruditissimum virum, et mores eius secutus et studia iam pridem, domine, in contubernium assumpsi, tantoque magis diligere coepi quanto nunc propius inspexi. Huic ius trium liberorum necessarium faciunt duae causae; nam et iudicia amicorum promeretur et parum felix matrimonium expertus est, impetrandumque a bonitate tua per nos habet quod illi fortunae malignitas denegavit. Scio, domine, quantum beneficium petam, sed peto a te cuius in omnibus desideriis meis indulgentiam experior. Potes enim colligere quanto opere cupiam, quod non rogarem absens si mediocriter cuperem.