Regulus

Text C. Plinius Calvisio suo S. Gaius Plinius sends his greetings to his friend Calvisius. Assem para et accipe aureum fabulam, fabulas immo; nam Have a penny ready, and Ill tell you a golden tale, or rather tales; for me priorum nova admonuit, nec refert a qua incipiam. one brings to mind another, and it does not matter which I begin with. Verania graviter iacebat: ad hanc Regulus venit. Primum Verania lay extremely ill: to her Regulus made a visit. First impudentiam hominis, qui venerit ad aegram, cuius marito mark the nerve of the man, to visit a scick lady, whose husband inimicissimus, ipsi invisissimus fuerat! Esto, si venit tantum; 5 he was a sworn enemy, to whom herself he was most hateful! It would have been enough if he had merely come. at ille etaim proximus toro sedit; quo die, qua hora nata esset But he even went as far as to sit right beside her bedside. He asked her what day interrogavit. ubi audivit, componit vultum, intendit oculos, and hour she was born. When he heard the answers he he composes his face, fixes his eyes, movet labra, agitat digitos, computat. nihil. ubi diu miseram moves his lips, fiddles with his fingers, works things out. Nothing. after he had exspectatione suspendit, habes inquit climactericum kept the poor woman in suspense for a long time, he said, You are at a critical tempus sed evades. quod ut tibi magis liqueat, haruspicem 10 stage, but you will survive. Still, so that you can be clearer, consulam, quem frequenter expertus sum. sine mora I will consult a soothsayer, whom I have frequently made use of. Without delay sacrificium facit, affirmat exta cum siderum significatione he went away and made a sacrifice, and declared that the meaning of the victims entrails tailed with the meaning of the stars. congruere. illa, ut in periculo credula, poscit testamentum, She, as one might expect of one made credulous by her precarious condition, calls for her will, legatum Regulo scribit. mox ingravescit, clamat moriens and writes Regulus a legacy. soon her illness worsens, dying she decries hominem scelestum perfidumque ac plus etiam quam 15 this wicked, treacherous man, worse even than a peiurum esse, qui sibi per salutam filii peieravisset. facit perjurer, who had broken his oath sworn on his sons life. Regulus does hoc Regulus non minus scelerate quam frequenter, quod this sort of thing no less impiously than he does frequently in that he iram deorum, quos ipse cotidie fallit, in caput infelicis pueri calls down on the head of that unlucky boy the anger of the gods, by whom he swears himself falsely detestatur. every day.

Velleius Blaesus, ille dives consularis, novissima 20 Velleius Blaesus, that rich man of consular rank, was valetudine conflictabatur: cupiebat mutare testamentum. afflicted by a terminal recent illness: he wanted to change his will. Regulus, qui sperabat aliquid ex novo testamento, quia Regulus, who hoped for something from the revised will, since he nuper captare eum coeperat, medicos hortati et rogare ut had lately began to cultivate his friendship, was urging his doctors, and asking quoquo modo vitam hominis prorogarent. postquam them to prolong the poor mans life by whatever means they could. But once signatum est testamentum, mutat personam, vertit 25 the will was sealed, he altered his personality and changed adlocutionem eisdemque medicis, quousque inquit his tune to the very same doctors: How long, he said miseram cruciatis? cur invidetis bona morte, cui dare will you turture this poor man? Why do you begrudge an easy death to a man vitam non potestis? moritur Blaesus et, tamquam omnia whose life you cannot save? Blaesus is now dead and, as if he had overheard audivisset, Regulo ne tantulum quidem. everything, he has not left Regulus a single thing. Notes assem para- Pliny is offering his services for a price, like a proffesional storyteller. (line 1) aureum- Golden in the sense of splendid. aureus was the highest type of coin, but assem was the smallest, a clever contrast. (line 2) Impudentiam- exclamatory accusative, extreme indignation. (line 4) inimicissimus, ipsi invisissimus- homoioteleuton , both words have the same ending for effect, the sibilance conveys a sense of hatred. (line 5) esto emphasises how bad it is that Regulus goes to her bedside. (line 5) Pliny shows that Reguluss visit is inappropriate by using the pluperfect fuerat, implying that the husband is already dead. marito inimicissimus ipsi invisissimus- both are gramatically similar, emphasising that Regulus doesnt belong in the house. (lines 5-6) Regulus asks Verania three questions to determine her star sign, due to his superstitious nature. (lines 6-7) Pliny shows a build up of tension by using the present tense when describing Reguluss actions, he uses no conjunctions- an asyndeton, and he uses a verb followed by an object when discussing Reguluss actions, emphasising the tension. (lines 7-8) agitat digitos uses alliteration to emphasise his concentration and the counting of his fingers. (line 8) nihil is used to build up suspense, accelerated by the use of the words exspectatione suspendit in the sentence after. (lines 8-9) affirmatcongruere he lies to make out that the soothsayers results are the same as him, to enable him to sound reliable. (lines 12-13)

Pliny creates sympathy for Verania by showing her oblivious trust in him, ut.credula, he also does not use a conjunction, showing how she does what he wants and cannot think for herself. (lines 13-14) The description of Regulus being worse than a perjurer is important, as perjury was seen as the worst form of deceit and by Regulus swearing falsely by his won sons name, he is made to look even worse. (lines 1519) Pliny creates sympathy for Reguluss son in these lines by using specific words, such as infelicis (unhappy and ill-fated) and cotidie (despite it being his son, Regulus does this everyday, treating it in a casual manner). (line 18) non minus scelerate quam frequenter proves that Reguluss wickedness of false oaths is made even worse by the fact that he does it every day. (line 17) The use of captare is because despite captare normally meaning the cultivation of friendships, this clearly is referring to an alternate definition, legacy hunting. (line 23) Pliny chooses specific words to show Reguluss eagerness to get Blaesus to change his will. quoquo modo refers to him wanting the doctors to keep him alive by any means, a brutal and inhumane thing to do just to get Blaesus to change his will. mutat personam shows how he changes character once his purpose is fulfilled, showing his lack of care for Blaesus himself. (lines 24-25) Regulus makes a persuasive case for Blaesus being allowed to die by using invidetis, showing that by doing nothing is begrudging him. the use of miseram is a dominant adjective, literally meaning a wretch. (line 27) Pliny uses the twist at the end effectively, describing the lack of money at the end (ne), and that Blaesus gave him absolutely nothing, not even a small amount (tantulum). (line 29) Pliny damns Regulus throughout the whole text, referring to his two faced nature, mutat persona, and how he stoops so low to get money from a widow by exploiting her illness and helplessness. In the end of the story Regulus is not even successful! He doesnt respect the relationships in the book, for example he visits Verania despite his differences with her and her late husband, as well as misusing oaths in his own sons name. He prays on the vulnerable credula and aegram