The letters of Pliny give a unique insight into domestic
life, small talk and gossip at Rome around the turn of the first century. In
this letter Pliny informs his friend Attius Clemens about the death of the son
of Regulus. Regulus must have been a
brilliant lawyer, but also a hated character, using his juridical skills
without moral scruples. Indeed, a persistent kind of lawyer not yet extinct. He
was a delator, i.e. a prosecutor in
cases of lèse-majesté, insulting the emperor. People accused of such a delict
were deprived of all their possessions. Especially Domitian (81-96) used this
law for increasing the funding of the state - which conveniently was his private property -, but of course a delator got his
share too. No need to say that most of these allegations were unfounded, but
the people accused had no fair trail and at the end were left bereft and were
even lucky when they were not forced into exile.
Apparently Regulus was divorced from the mother of his
son, so there was no way to get het money after she would have been dead. But there
was a solution: if he would allow his son to be free from the patria potestas – paternal authority, his son would be able to act as an
heir for his mother. Once his son was released, Regulus treated him with
unusual affection - of course with the hope his son would give him a share of
the inheritance of his mother once dead. But alas! His beloved son dies while
the mother is still alive. What a waste of money on the son…
With irony Pliny describes the character and behaviour of
this man.
Pliny the Younger, letter 4,2
C. PLINIUS ATTIO CLEMENTI SUO S.
1 Regulus filium amisit, hoc uno malo indignus, quod
nescio an malum putet. Erat puer
acris ingenii sed ambigui, qui tamen posset recta sectari, si patrem non
referret. 2 Hunc Regulus emancipavit, ut heres matris exsisteret; mancipatum -
ita vulgo ex moribus hominis loquebantur - foeda et insolita parentibus
indulgentiae simulatione captabat. Incredibile, sed Regulum cogita. 3 Amissum
tamen luget insane. Habebat puer mannulos multos et iunctos et solutos, habebat
canes maiores minoresque, habebat luscinias psittacos merulas: omnes Regulus
circa rogum trucidavit. 4 Nec dolor erat ille, sed ostentatio doloris.
Convenitur ad eum mira celebritate. Cuncti detestantur oderunt, et quasi
probent quasi diligant, cursant frequentant, utque breviter quod sentio
enuntiem, in Regulo demerendo Regulum imitantur. 5 Tenet se trans Tiberim in
hortis, in quibus latissimum solum porticibus immensis, ripam statuis suis
occupavit, ut est in summa avaritia sumptuosus, in summa infamia gloriosus. 6
Vexat ergo civitatem insaluberrimo tempore et, quod vexat, solacium putat.
Dicit se velle ducere uxorem, hoc quoque sicut alia perverse. 7 Audies brevi nuptias lugentis, nuptias
senis; quorum alterum immaturum, alterum serum est. Unde hoc augurer quaeris? 8 Non quia affirmat ipse,
quo mendacius nihil est, sed quia certum est Regulum esse facturum, quidquid
fieri non oportet. Vale.
amitto: to
lose
indignus:
undeserving
quod…putet:
because I am not sure whether he considers it as an evil
acris ingenii:
of sharp/brilliant nature
ambiguus: uncertain,
untrustworthy
recta sectari:
follow the right track
refero ailquem:
to resemble someone
emancipo: to
put out of the paternal authority (in this way the son of Regulus was able to
get inheritance of his mother)
heres heredis
(m. and f.): heir
exsisto: to
act as
mancipatum:
wordplay on emancipatum. mancipo `to sell’. When a father
emancipated a son, this son was formally sold to a third person. It was clear for
Regulus’ contemporaries that he in fact has sold his son to himself (ita vulgo ex moribus hominis loquebantur:
so they talked openly (vulgo) (about
the son) on ground of the character of the man.)
foedus:
repulsive
insolutus:
unusual
capto: to
strive after, hunt
lugeo luxi luctum:
to mourn
mannulus: pony
et iunctos et
solutos: both for yoking to a car and for riding
luscinia: nightingale
psittacus:
parrot
merula:
blackbird, merle
rogus: funeral
pyre
trucido: to
slaughter
ostentatio –ionis
(f.): display
convenitur:
impersonal use of the passive `people came to him’
celebritas –atis
(f.): multitude
probo: to
approve
dilego dilexi
dilectum: to esteem, love
curso: to run
constantly
frequento: to
visit frequently
breviter sentio
enuntiem: `to put it in a single word’
demereor aliquem: to try to get someone’s favour
imitantur:
namely in order to become the heir of the now childless Regulus
tenet se: he keeps
himself, he stays
trans Tiberim:
the left side of the Tiber
latissimum solum
porticibus immensis: a vast area with immense collonades
ripa: shore
statuis suis:
with statues of himself
occupavit `he
has occupied’ , humorously used expression
ut est in summa
avaritia sumptuosus, in summa infamia gloriosus: like he is sumptuous in
his high avarice, he is full of glory in his high infamy.
vexo: to harass
(namely by living so far away)
insaluberrimo
tempore: in this most unhealthy time of the year (namely summer)
quod vexat,
solacium putat: the fact that he is harassing, he considers as a solace.
duco uxorem:
to marry a wife
perverse:
namely as he wants to marry a wife for her money and hoping she will die soon
afterwards.
brevi: soon
nuptiae –arum:
marriage
immaturus: to
early (as he ought to be still mourning)
serus: too
late (as he is a senis, an old man,
who is likely to die before his wife does)
auguror: to
predict
mendacius: more
given to lying
quidquid fieri non
oportet: what not ought to happen
More details about emancipatio:
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Emancipatio.html
Translation by John B. Firth (1909)
4.II. -- To Attius Clemens.
Regulus has lost his son -- the only misfortune he did
not deserve, because I doubt whether he considers it as such. He was a
sharp-witted youth, whatever use he might have made of his talents, though he
might have followed honourable courses if he did not take after his father.
Regulus freed him from his parental control in order that he might succeed to
his mother's property, but after freeing him -- and those who knew the
character of the man spoke of it as a release from slavery -- he endeavoured to
win his affections by treating him with a pretended indulgence which was as
disgraceful as it was unusual in a father. It seems incredible, but remember
that it was Regulus. Yet now that his son is dead, he is mad with grief at his
loss. The boy had a number of ponies, some in harness and others not broken in,
dogs both great and small, nightingales, parrots and blackbirds -- all these
Regulus slaughtered at his pyre. Yet an act like that was no token of grief; it
was but a mere parade of it. It is strange how people are flocking to call upon
him. Every one detests and hates him, yet they run to visit him in shoals as
though they both admired and loved him. To put in a nutshell what I mean,
people in paying court to Regulus are copying the example he set. He does not
move from his gardens across the Tiber, where he has covered an immense
quantity of ground with colossal porticos and littered the river bank with his
statues, for, though he is the meanest of misers, he flings his money
broadcast, and though his name is a byword, he is for ever vaunting his
glories. Consequently, in this the most sickly season of the year, he is upsetting
every one's arrangements, and thinks it soothes his grief to inconvenience
everybody. He says he is desirous of taking a wife, and here again, as in other
matters, he shows the perversity of his nature. You will hear soon that the
mourner is married, that the old man has taken a wife, displaying unseemly
haste as the former and undue delay as the latter. If you ask what makes me
think he will take this step, I reply that it is not because he says he will --
for there is no greater liar than he -- but because it is quite certain that
Regulus will do what he ought not to do. Farewell.
