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AP® Latin passage guide · Pliny, Letters 10.5–7
Pliny, Letters 10.5–7: A Favour for Pliny's Doctor
What happens
In 10.5 Pliny tells Trajan that during a serious illness last year he was treated by a therapist, Harpocras (Arpocras in the text), and that the only way he can repay the man's care is through the emperor's kindness. He asks for Roman citizenship for him, explaining that Harpocras is of foreign status, freed by a foreign woman. He also asks for full Roman rights for two freedwomen of Antonia Maximilla.
In 10.6 Pliny thanks Trajan for granting both requests, but admits a mistake: experts have told him that because Harpocras is Egyptian, he should first have been given Alexandrian citizenship. Pliny had thought all foreigners were the same. He asks for both citizenships so that the grant is legal.
In 10.7 Trajan replies that, following the practice of earlier emperors, he does not grant Alexandrian citizenship lightly, but since Harpocras already has Roman citizenship he cannot refuse. Pliny must tell him which district (nome) Harpocras comes from, so that Trajan can write to the prefect of Egypt.
Grammar to look for
- Jussive noun clause after rogō, without ut: rogō dēs eī cīvitātem Rōmānam, “I ask that you give him Roman citizenship”
- Indirect statement with a perfect infinitive: dēbuisse mē ante eī Alexandrīnam cīvitātem impetrāre, “that I ought first to have obtained Alexandrian citizenship for him”
- Subjunctive in a causal clause with quoniam in reported speech: quoniam esset Aegyptius, “since he was Egyptian”
- Purpose clause: ut epistulam tibi ad Pompeium Plantam praefectum Aegyptī amīcum meum mittam, “so that I may send a letter for you to Pompeius Planta”
Style
- Courtesy formulas: ago grātiās domine. The opening of 10.6, typical of Pliny's respectful tone.
- Self-deprecation: dē quā ignōrantiā meā nōn queror. Pliny turns his mistake into a compliment: it lets him be obliged to Trajan twice.
Themes to think about
- Patronage and favours in the Roman world
- Citizenship and status: Roman, Alexandrian and foreign
- The emperor's voice: how Trajan's short reply differs from Pliny's letters
Practise this passage
The Emperor's Favour is a self-grading escape room built from this passage's own vocabulary, with a grammar lock on five tenses of tribuō and rogō. It takes about one lesson.
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More passage guides
- Pliny, Letters 6.16: The Death of Pliny the Elder
- Pliny, Letters 6.20: Pliny's Escape from Misenum
- Pliny, Letters 7.27: The Haunted House
- Pliny, Letters 10.37 and 10.90: The Aqueducts of Bithynia
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