The Christians in Bithynia 143 Parte sonant aliā silvae mūgītibus altae, Et tonsam rārō pectine verrit humum. Cum semel haec animum coepit mulcēre voluptās, OVID, Remedium Amoris 169-198. 144. The Christians in Bithynia This letter was written about 112 A.D. by Pliny in Bithynia to the emperor Trajan at Rome. Few remains of ancient literature are more famous. By other Latin authors of that date Christianity is barely mentioned; but here we have an official document, written by a very competent observer, which tells us a good deal of the life of the Christian communities about 60 years after the Acts of the Apostles were written. C. PLINIUS TRAIANO IMPERATORI. Sollemne est mihi, domine, omnia, de quibus dubitō, ad tē referre. Quis enim potest melius vel cunctationem meam regere vel ignorantiam instruere? 15 20 25 144 The Christians in Bithynia 5 In iis, qui ad mē tamquam Christiānī dēferēbantur, hunc sum secutus modum. Interrogāvī ipsōs, an essent Christiānī; confitentes iterum ac tertiō interrogāvī, supplicium minātus; persevērantēs dūcī iussī. Neque enim dubitābam, quāle10 cumque esset quod faterentur, pertināciam certē et inflexibilem obstinātiōnem dēbēre pūnīrī. Fuērunt aliī similis amentiae, quos, quia cīvēs Rōmānī erant, adnotāvī in urbem remittendōs. Mox prōpositus est libellus sine auctōre, multōrum nōmina 15 continens. Qui negābant sẽ Christianōs esse aut fuisse, cum praeeunte mē deōs appellarent, et imaginī tuae, quam propter hoc iusseram cum simulācrīs nūminum adferrī, tūre ac vīnō supplicārent, praeterea male dicerent Christō (quōrum 20 nihil posse cōgi dicuntur qui sunt rē vērā Christiānī), dimittendōs esse putāvī. Aliī, ab indice nōminātī, esse sẽ Christianōs dixerunt, et mox negāvērunt; fuisse quidem, sed dēsisse, quīdam ante triennium, quidam ante plūrēs annōs, nōn 25 nēmō etiam ante viginti. Affirmabant autem hanc fuisse summam vel culpae suae vel errōris, quod essent soliti statō die ante lucem convenire, carmenque Christo quasi deō dicere secum invicem, sēque sacramentō nōn in scelus aliquod obstringere 30 sed ne furta, nē latrocinia, nē adulteria committerent, nē fidem fallerent, nē dēpositum appellātī abnegarent; quibus peractis mōrem sibi discēdendi fuisse, rursusque coeundī ad capiendum cibum, promiscuum tamen et innoxium. Quō magis necessarium credidī ex duabus ancillis, quae 35 ministrae dicebantur, quid esset vērī, et per tormenta quaerere. Nihil aliud invēnī quam superstitiōnem prāvam et immodicam. Ideō, dīlātā cognitione, ad consulendum te decucurri. PLINY, Letters to Trajan 96. 145. The End Ōhe iam satis est, ohē libelle ! MARTIAL iv 89. 5 D. S. L. 10 EXPLANATORY NOTES 1 1. alii, 'others,' i. e. the Greeks. aera, pronounced æra, must be distinguished from āĕra. 4. radio, 'the rod' or pointer used by geometers and astronomers. 6. tibi has strong emphasis. morem, 'the settled rule.' 2 1. contentionem, ‘comparison.' 2. qui, 'how': abl. 5. de nocte, 'before daybreak.' 9. capiantur, 'be taken unawares.' 11. A Roman householder could bring an action if he was inconvenienced by the rain-water from a neighbour's roof. 12. finibus, 'frontiers' in the case of the general, 'boundary-lines' in the case of the lawyer. 3 3. si qua fides='believe me!': lit. 'if there is any belief' in my words. illud eiusdem, 'that deed of the same woman. 19. quo, 'than which.' 21. matrem agere, 'to play the mother,' i.e. to pretend that her son still lived. Explanatory Notes 5 147 7. Arion was a native of Lesbos and went from there to Sicily. 8. Ausonis ora=Italy. 16. The tiller is the right thing for him to hold. 23, 24. The ancients wrongly believed that the dying swan sang a song of peculiar sweetness: see 68, 1. 6. se is object, not subject, of expleturum. 11. exploratum: supine. 12. Lychnidus was a town of Illyricum. 14. quarta vigilia=3 a.m. 16. cum, 'since.' 20. ad, 'in addition to.' 23. aeris (disyll.) must not be confused with āĕris. 29. quae res, 'a measure, which....' 7 9. hora, 'season.' Note the position of te and tu. 12. vago: the sheep are moving from one pasture to another. 13. nobilium fontium, ‘one among famous springs.' This promise has been fulfilled. 11-16. A great scholar declared that he would rather have written these six lines than be the master of the richest and most powerful kings. 12. Bacchi munera = wine: good wine was grown on Mount Massicus in Campania: see 35, 8. 13. repostae, 'repeated': partic. of repono. |