Pliny, Not at the races

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  • Created by: Georgia
  • Created on: 31-03-18 14:18
omne hoc tempus inter pugillares ac libellos iucundissima quiete transmisi.
I have spent all this time among my writing tablets and books in the most pleasant tranquility.
1 of 12
‘quemadmodum’ inquis ‘in urbe potuisti?’
“How”, you ask “were you able to do that in Rome?”
2 of 12
circenses erant, quo genere spectaculi ne levissime quidem teneor.
There were games, by which kind of spectacle not even in the slightest am I captivated.
3 of 12
nihil novum nihil varium, nihil quod non semel spectasse sufficiat.
There is nothing new, nothing different, nothing which it is not enough to have seen once.
4 of 12
quo magis miror tot milia virorum tam pueriliter identidem cupere currentes equos, insistentes curribus homines videre.
Because of this I am more amazed that so many thousands of men so childishly, again and again, want to see horses running and men standing on chariots.
5 of 12
si tamen aut velocitate equorum aut hominum arte traherentur, esset ratio non nulla; nunc favent panno, pannum amant,
If, however, they were attracted either by the speed of the horses, or by the skill of the men, there would be some sense; as it is they support a bit of cloth, it’s a piece of cloth they love.
6 of 12
et si in ipso cursu medioque certamine hic color illuc ille huc transferatur, studium favorque transibit,
And if, in that very race and in the middle of that contest, this colour were swapped over there and that colour were swapped over here, their enthusiasm and support would change sides,
7 of 12
et repente agitatores illos equos illos, quos procul noscitant, quorum clamitant nomina relinquent.
and suddenly they will abandon those charioteers and those horses, which they know from a distance, whose names they shout.
8 of 12
tanta gratia tanta auctoritas in una vilissima tunica,
There is so much attraction, so much power in one very cheap tunic.
9 of 12
mitto apud vulgus, quod vilius tunica, sed apud quosdam graves homines; quos ego cum recordor, in re inani frigida assidua, tam insatiabiliter desidere,
I dismiss it among the common people, who are cheaper than a tunic, but among certain respectable men, when I think of them sitting idly so greedily in this pointless, boring, never-ending business,
10 of 12
capio aliquam voluptatem, quod hac voluptate non capior.
I take some pleasure in the fact that I am not taken in by this pleasure.
11 of 12
ac per hos dies libentissime otium meum in litteris colloco, quos illi otiosissimis occupationibus perdunt.
And during these days I invest my free time most gladly in writing, days which they waste on the laziest activities.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

“How”, you ask “were you able to do that in Rome?”

Back

‘quemadmodum’ inquis ‘in urbe potuisti?’

Card 3

Front

There were games, by which kind of spectacle not even in the slightest am I captivated.

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

There is nothing new, nothing different, nothing which it is not enough to have seen once.

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

Because of this I am more amazed that so many thousands of men so childishly, again and again, want to see horses running and men standing on chariots.

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
View more cards

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