Letter 7010: I have a way, as soon as I know the beginning of a case, of wanting to be able to add on the conclusion from which...

Pliny the YoungerMacrinus|c. 107 AD|Pliny the Younger
imperial politics

To Macrinus.

I have a way, as soon as I know the beginning of a case, of wanting to be able to add on the conclusion from which it seems to be torn asunder, and so I dare say that you too would like to hear the sequel to the case of Varenus and the Bithynians. * Polyaenus spoke on the one side and Magnus on the other, and, when the pleadings were concluded, Caesar said: "Neither party shall have cause for complaint on the score of delay : I will take upon myself to find out the wishes of the province." In the meanwhile, Varenus has scored heavily, for how can people help feeling doubtful whether he was justly accused when it is by no means certain that he is accused at all? We can only hope that the province will not again decide in favour of a course which it is said to have condemned, and will not repent of its former repentance.

[Note: See letter 6 of this book.]

Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.

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