Latin GCSE- avunculus meus- A day in the life of Pliny the Elder

ante lucem ibat ad Vespasianum imperatorem (nam ille quoque noctibus utebatur), deinde ad officium sibi delegatum.

Before daybreak he would go to the Emperor Vespasian (for he too made use of the nights), then set about the duties assigned to him.

reversus domum reliquum tempus studiis dabat.

Having returned home he would give over the rest of the time to study.

saepe post cibum (qui veterum more interdiu levis et facilis erat) aestate, si quid otii erat, iacebat in sole, liber legebatur, adnotabat excerpebatque.

After food (which, in the manner of the forefathers, during the day was light and simple), often, in the summer, if there was any free time, he would lie in the sun, a book would be read out and he would make notes and extracts.

nihil enim legit quod non excerperet; dicere etiam solebat nullum librum esse tam malum ut non aliqua parte prodesset.

For he read nothing without making extracts; he even used to say that no book was so bad that at least some part of it could not be of use.

post solem plerumque aqua frigida lavabatur, deinde gustabat dormiebatque minimum; mox quasi alio die studebat in cenae tempus.

After his time in the sun he usually bathed in cold water, then had a snack and slept a little; then he would study until dinner time as if it was a new day.

super cenam liber legebatur adnotabatur, et quidem cursim.

Over dinner a book would be read, notes being made on it and in fact at speed.

haec inter medios labores urbisque fremitum.

These things were done in the midst of his duties and the bustle of the city.

in secessu solum balinei tempus studiis eximebatur (cum dico 'balinei', de interioribus loquor; nam dum destringitur tergiturque, audiebat aliquid aut dictabat).

In a retreat, only the time for bathing was taken away from his studies- and when I say 'bathing' I am speaking of his inner rooms; for while he was scraped and wiped down he used to listen to something or be dictating.

in itinere quasi solutus ceteris curis, huic uni vacabat: ad latus notarius cum libro et pugillaribus, cuius manus hieme manicis muniebantur, ut ne caeli quidem asperitas ullum studii tempus eriperet; qua ex causa Romae quoque sella vehebatur.

On a journey, as if freed from other cares, he used to devote himself to this one pursuit. At his side he had a secretary with a book and writing tablets whose hands were protected by gloves in winter, so that not even the harshness of the weather should take away any time for study. For the same reason he also used to ride in a sedan chair in Rome.

repeto me correptum ab non eo, quod ambularm: 'poteras' inquit 'has horas non perdere'; nam perire omne tempus arbitrabatur, quod studiis non impenderetur.

I remember being scolded by him for walking: 'you could have not wasted these hours' he said; for he thought that any time which was not spent on study was being wasted.

valē.

Farewell.