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LESSON 3
Third Declension
Practice 3rd Decl.
Singularia/Pluralia
Conjunctions
2nd Class Adjectives
VERBS- More Tenses
Auxiliary Verb
Sentence Order
Translation 3: In Basilic
Exercise 3
L.Lt.3- Cicero
L.Lt.3- Plautus
L.LT.3- Pliny the Elder
L.LT.3-Newton's Principia
LESSON 4
Comparative Adjectives
Numeral Adjectives 1
Numeral Adjectives 2
Naming Fractions
Writing Dates
Pronouns 1
Pronouns 2
L.Lt.4 - Plautus
Pliny the Elder: Naturalis Historia - Book XXXV  
 
1- Metallorum, quibus opes constant, adgnascentiumque iis natura indicata propemodum est, ita conexis rebus, ut inmensa medicinae silva officinarumque tenebrae et morosa caelandi fingendique ac tinguendi subtilitas simul dicerentur. restant terrae ipsius genera lapidumque vel numerosiore serie, plurimis singula a graecis praecipue voluminibus tractata. nos in iis brevitatem sequemur utilem instituto, modo nihil necessarium aut naturale omittentes.
 
2- Primunque dicemus quae restant de pictura, arte quondam nobili, tunc
cum expeteretur a regibus populisque, et alios nobilitante quos esset
dignata posteris tradere, nunc vero in totum a marmoribus pulsa, iam
quidem et auro; nec tantum ut parietes toti operiantur, verum et interraso1
marmore vermiculatisque ad effiges rerum et animalium crustis.
 
3- Non placent iam abaci nec spatia montes in cubiculo dilatantia; coepimus et lapide pingere. Hoc Claudii principatu inventum, Neronis, vero maculas quae non essent in crustis, inserendo unitatem variare, ut ovatus esset Numidicus, ut purpura distingueretur Synnadicus, qualiter illos nasci optassent deliciae. Montium haec subsidia deficientium, nec cessat luxuria id agere ut quam plurimum incendiis perdat.

4- Imaginum quidem pictura, qua maxime similes in aevum propagabantur figurae, in totum exolevit. aerei ponuntur clipei argentea facie, surdo figurarum discrimine; statuarum capita permutantur, volgatis iam pridem salibus etiam carminum. adeo materiam conspici malunt omnes quam se nosci. et inter haec pinacothecas veteribus tabulis consuunt alienasque effigies colunt, ipsi honorem non nisi in pretio ducentes, ut frangat heres furisque detrahat laqueo.

5- Itaque nullius effigie vivente imagines pecuniae, non suas, relincunt. iidem palaestras athletarum imaginibus et ceromata sua exornant, Epicuri voltus per cubicula gestant ac circumferunt secum. natali eius sacrificant, feriasque omni mense vicesima luna custodiunt, quas icadas vocant, ii maxime, qui se ne viventes quidem nosci volunt. ita est profecto: artes desidia perdidit, et quoniam animorum imagines non sunt, negleguntur etiam corporum. 
 
 
Notes:
1- verum et interraso marmore vermiculatisque ad effiges rerum et animalium crustis.-This line is difficult to translate technically. Pliny refers to a plastering and ornamental technique that used marble and gold and requires specific knowledge to translate correctly. A literal translation may read well but does not convey meaning.  I suppose it could just refer to the later practice of substituting stone mosaics, called tesserae, with marble pieces of tesserae. In fact, some marble tesserae have been found in two Romano-British mosaics, one in Cirencester, the Seasons mosaic in Dyer Street, and another is the Dionysus mosaic from Leadenhall Street in London. I am investigating the field of construction engineering and the book on Architecture by Vitruvius. I will come back, hopefully, with the right technical translation.
 
 
 
 
 
 

1- To be done later or skip: introduction to Book XXXV.

 

2- First of all let us discuss what remains to be said about painting, an art once famous, when it was sought by kings and people, and which made famous others, those that she thought worthy to hand down to posterity, and which now, instead, has been totally rejected and supplanted by marble; in fact, even by gold.   And not just the entire walls are really covered with it, but also using bored1 marble and patterned as with mosaics in the shape of things and animals.

 

3- Dressers are no longer liked, nor those large spaces in our bedrooms covered in mosaics2 with stones quarried from the mountains; we have even started to paint on marble; this custom started under Claudius [the Emperor], and under Nero they changed to speckles that were not on the slabs of marble in order to vary their uniformity; and this was done to simulate the marble from Numidia3 which is variegated with ovals, or that of Synnada veined in purple, as our luxury would want it to be.  In this way we compensate the missing elegance of some marble extracted from some mountains; and it would seem that luxury, by operating in such a way, would want to destroy as much as possible [of those mountains] through fires.4

 

4- The art of portraying through which, truly look alike figures were handed down for eternity, has entirely fallen into disuse. Now they employ brass metal plates or silver images with total indiffirence to their resemblance. They change the heads of statues, and they make jokes about that with salacious epigrams. Everyone is avid to show the precious materials instead of their own image. In the meantime they fill their picture-galleries with old picture frames and they honour the images of others making their honour consist in their price level. In such way their heirs can brake then down in smaller parts [to sell them more easily] and the thief's rope can more easily rob them.

 

5- Consequently, we can't speak of the living image of anyone, as they choose to leave the image of their money rather than that of themselves. They adorn their public gymnasiums, and the wrestling rooms in their houses, with portraits of athletes; and they even put the burst of Epicure in their bedrooms, or take it along on a trip.   On his anniversary they offer sacrifices and observe his day of festivity every twentieth day of the Moon which, in Greek, is called "****" and especially those that do not wish to be known even while they are alive. And so it is: such widespread indifference has ruined the arts, and since there are no more images of souls, they forsake even those of the bodies.

 

Notes:

1- See note 1 on the left hand side pane. The historic context should be clear though, and this can be exemplified by the divine Augustus statement: urbem latericium invenit, marmorea reliquit. The translation is left to you as an exercise. The point to remember is that for the previous 70 years or so, Rome had gone through a phase of intense luxury and sumptuouness.

2- Tesselated pavements

3- Quarries in Numidia (Morocco) provided the Romans with a variety of yellow marbles ranging from nearly white to light and dark yellow and up to brown.

4- nec cessat luxuria id agere ut quam plurimum incendiis perdat. This clause is also difficult to translate meaningfully.  I have searched the translation given by other translators and still found it lacking in meaning. Finally, I concluded that what Pliny might be inferring is the practice, unfortunately still present today in Italy, for example, of speculators setting fire to woodland in order to exploit it economically. If I am right in this interpretation, it proves how little man's attitude has changed in disfiguring nature to pursue an economic advantage. There are many examples of such practices today, in Italy and other parts of Europe and the world.