Pliny Letters, Fragment

5 3. The confused arrangement of the indices for Books I and II in the Codex Bellovacensis may well have been found in the manuscript of which the Morgan fragment is a part. The space required for the indices, however, would not have greatly differed from that taken by the index of Book III in both the Morgan fragment and the Codex Bellovacensis.

6 4. Many of our oldest Latin manuscripts have two and even three columns on a page, a practice evidently taken over from the roll. But very ancient manuscripts are not wanting which are written in long lines, e.g., the Codex Vindobonensis of Livy, the Codex Bobiensis of the Gospels, or the manuscript of Pliny’s Natural History preserved at St. Paul in Carinthia.

5. This is an ear-mark of great antiquity. It is found, for example, in the Berlin and Vatican Schedae Vergilianae in square capitals (Berlin lat. 2^o 416 and Rome Vatic. lat. 3256 reproduced in Zangemeister and Wattenbach’s Exempla Codicum Latinorum, etc., pl. 14, and in Steffens, Lateinische Paläographie², pl. 12b), in the Vienna, Paris, and Lateran manuscripts of Livy, in the Codex Corbeiensis of the Gospels, and here and there in the palimpsest manuscript of Cicero’s De Re Publica and in other manuscripts.

6. In many of our oldest manuscripts uncials are employed. The Pliny palimpsest of St. Paul in Carinthia agrees with our manuscript in using rustic capitals. For facsimiles see J. Sillig, C. Plini Secundi Naturalis Historiae, Libri XXXVI, Vol. VI, Gotha 1855, and Chatelain, Paléographie des Classiques Latins, pl. CXXXVI.

7 7. In this respect, too, the Pliny palimpsest of St. Paul in Carinthia agrees with our fragment. Most of the oldest manuscripts, however, have the colophon in the same type of writing as the text.

8. This is also the case in the Paris manuscript of Livy of the fifth century, in the Codex Bezae of the Gospels (published in facsimile by the University of Cambridge in 1899), in the Pliny palimpsest of St. Paul in Carinthia, and in many other manuscripts of the oldest type.

9. The strokes over the two consecutive i’s on fol. 53^v, l. 23, were made by a hand that can hardly be older than the thirteenth century.

10. I venture to read dominus meus ... in te deus.

11. This doubtless stands for Quaere (= “investigate”), a frequent marginal note in manuscripts of all ages. A number of instances of Q for quaere are given by A. C. Clark, The Descent of Manuscripts, Oxford 1918, p. 35.

8 12. Such a division as ut|or on fol. 7, l. 10, is due entirely to thoughtless copying. The scribe probably took ut for a word.

13. For further details on syllabification in our oldest Latin manuscripts, see Th. Mommsen, “Livii Codex Veronensis,” in Abhandlungen der k. Akad. d. Wiss. zu Berlin, phil. hist. Cl. (1868), p. 163, n. 2, and pp. 165-6; Mommsen-Studemund, Analecta Liviana (Leipsic 1873), p. 3; Brandt, “Der St. Galler Palimpsest,” in Sitzungsberichte der phil. hist. Cl. der k. Akad. der Wiss. in Wien, CVIII (1885), pp. 245-6; L. Traube, “Palaeographische Forschungen IV,” in Abhandlungen d. h. t. Cl. d. k. Bayer. Akad. d. Wiss. XXIV. 1 (1906), p. 27; A. W. Van Buren, “The Palimpsest of Cicero’s De Re Publica,” in Archaeological Institute of America, Supplementary Papers of the American School of Classical Studies in Rome, ii (1908), pp. 89 sqq.; C. Wessely, in his preface to the facsimile edition of the Vienna Livy (MS. lat. 15), published in the Leyden series, Codices graeci et latini, etc., T. XI. See also W. G. Hale, “Syllabification in Roman speech,” in Harvard Studies of Classical Philology, VII (1896), pp. 249-71, and W. Dennison, “Syllabification in Latin Inscriptions,” in Classical Philology, I (1906), pp. 47-68.

10 14. That is, manuscripts written before the eighth century. The number of abbreviations increases considerably during the eighth century. Previously the only symbols found in calligraphic majuscule manuscripts are the “Nomina Sacra” (deus, dominus, Iesus, Christus, spiritus, sanctus), which constantly occur in Christian literature, and such suspensions as are met with in our fragment. A familiar exception is the manuscript of Gaius, preserved in the Chapter library of Verona, MS. xv (13). This is full of abbreviations not found in contemporary manuscripts containing purely literary or religious texts. Cf. W. Studemund, Gaii Institutionum Commentarii Quattuor, etc., Leipsic 1874; and F. Steffens, Lateinische Paläographie², pl. 18 (pl. 8 of the Supplement). The Oxyrhynchus papyrus of Cicero’s speeches is non-calligraphic and therefore not subject to the rule governing calligraphic products. The same is true of marginal notes to calligraphic texts. See W. M. Lindsay, Notae Latinae, Cambridge 1915, pp. 1-2.

15. Found only at the end of words in our fragment. Its use in the body of a word is, however, very ancient.

16. The C invariably has the two dots as well as the superior horizontal stroke.

17. The abbreviation is indicated by a stroke above the letters as well as by a dot after them.

11 18. An ancestor of our manuscript must have had tranq·, which was wrongly expanded to tranque.

19. This is a sign of antiquity. After the sixth century the M or Nstroke is usually placed above the vowel. The practice of confining the omission of M or N to the end of a line is a characteristic of our very oldest manuscripts. Later manuscripts omit M or N in the middle of a line and in the middle of a word. No distinction is made in our manuscript between omitted M and omitted N. Some ancient manuscripts make a distinction. Cf. Traube, Nomina Sacra, pp. 179, 181, 183, 185, final column of each page; and W. M. Lindsay, Notae Latinae, pp. 342 and 345.

20. The fraudulent character of the alleged discovery was exposed in masterly fashion by Ludwig Traube in his “Palaeographische Forschungen IV,” published in the Abhandlungen der K. Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, III Klasse, XXIV Band, 1 Abteilung, Munich 1904.

21. Cf. E. T. Merrill, “On the use by Aldus of his manuscripts of Pliny’s Letters,” in Classical Philology, XIV (1919), p. 34.

22. That the hair side of the vellum retained the ink better than the flesh side may be seen from an examination of facsimiles in the Leyden series Codices graeci et latini photographice depicti.

12 23. That the ink could scale off the flesh side of the vellum in less than three centuries is proved by the condition of the famous Tacitus manuscript in Beneventan script in the Laurentian Library. It was written in the eleventh century and shows retouched characters of the thirteenth. See foll. 102, 103 in the facsimile edition in the Leyden series mentioned in the previous note.

24. On the subject of omissions and the clues they often furnish, see the exhaustive treatise by A. C. Clark entitled The Descent of Manuscripts, Oxford 1918.

13 25. Our scribe’s method is as patient as it is unreflecting. Apparently he does not commit to memory small intelligible units of text, but is copying word for word, or in some places even letter for letter.

14 26. See below, p. 16.

27. See below, p. 16.

15 28. See below, p. 16.

16 29. For the pertinent literature on the manuscripts in the following list the student is referred to Traube’s Vorlesungen und Abhandlungen, Vol. I, pp. 171-261, Munich 1909, and the index in Vol. III, Munich 1920. The chief works of facsimiles referred to below are: Zangemeister and Wattenbach, Exempla codicum latinorum litteris maiusculis scriptorum, Heidelberg 1876 & 1879; E. Chatelain, Paléographie des classiques latins, Paris 1884-1900, and Uncialis scriptura codicum latinorum novis exemplis illustrata, Paris 1901-2; and Steffens, Lateinische Paläographie², Treves 1907. (Second edition in French appeared in 1910.)

19 30. In later uncials the fore-stroke is often a horizontal hair-line.

21 31. This supposition will be strengthened by Professor Rand; see p. 53.

32. Compare, for example, the facsimile of a French deed of sale at Roye, November 24, 1433, reproduced in Recueil de Fac-similés à l’usage de l’école des chartes. Premier fascicule (Paris 1880), No. 1.

33. No mention of either of these is to be found in Dom Toussaints du Plessis’ Histoire de l’église de Meaux. For documents with similar opening formulas, see ibid. vol. ii (Paris 1731), pp. 191, 258, 269, 273.

[TRANSCRIPTION]*

* The original manuscript is in scriptura continua. For the reader’s convenience, words have been separated and punctuation added in the transcription.

In a few places the transcribers used V in place of U. This appears to be an error, but has not been changed.

folio 48^r
folio 49^r
folio 50^r
folio 51^r
folio 52^r
folio 53^r

folio 48^v
folio 49^v
folio 50^v
folio 51^v
folio 52^v
folio 53^v

LIBER·II·
CESSIT UT IPSE MIHI DIXERIT CUM CON SULERET QUAM CITO SESTERTIUM SESCEN TIES INPLETURUS ESSET INUENISSE SE EX
TA DUPLICATA QUIBUS PORTENDI MI^LLIES¹ ET DUCENTIES HABITURUM ET HABEBIT SI MODO UT COEPIT ALIENA TESTAMENTA QUOD EST IMPROBISSIMUM GENUS FAL SI IPSIS QUORUM SUNT ILLA DICTAUERIT UALE	1. L added by a hand which seems contemporary, if not the scribe’s own. If the scribe’s, he used a finer pen for corrections.
²· C · PLINI · SECUNDI
EPISTULARUM · EXPLICIT · LIBER · II.	2-2 The colophon is written in rustic capitals, the middle line being in red.
· INCIPIT · LIBER · III · FELICITER²

AD CALUISIUM RUFUM¹ 5 NESCIO AN ULLUM AD UIBIUM · MAXIMUM QUOD · IPSE AMICIS TUIS	1. On this and the following page lines in red alternate with lines in black. The first line is in red.
AD CAERELLIAE HISPULLAE² CUM PATREM TUUM	2. The h seems written over an erasure.
10 AD CAE^CILIUM³ MACRINUM QUAMUIS ET AMICI AD BAEBIUM MACRUM PERGRATUM EST MIHI	3. ci above the line by first hand.
⁴AD ANNIUM⁴ SEUERUM 15 ⁴EX HEREDITATE⁴ QUAE AD CANINIUM RUFUM MODO NUNTIATUS EST	4-4 Over an erasure apparently.
AD SUETON⁵ TRANQUE FACIS AD PRO CETERA	5. t over an erasure.
20 AD CORNELIUM⁶ MINICIANUM POSSUM IAM PERSCRIB AD UESTRIC SPURINN · COMPOSUISSE ME QUAED	6. c over an erasure.

AD IULIUM GENITOR · 5 EST OMNINO ARTEMIDORI AD CATILINUM SEUER · UENIAM AD CENAM AD UOCONIUM ROMANUM LIBRUM QUO NUPER 10 AD PATILIUM REM ATROCEM AD SILIUM PROCUL · PETIS UT LIBELLOS TUOS
ad nepotem adnotasse uideor fata dictaque·¹ AD IULIUM SERUIAN ·² 15 RECTE OMNIA AD UIRIUM SEUERUM OFFICIU CONSULATUS AD CALUISIUM RUFUM · ADSUMO TE IN CONSILIUM 20 AD MAESIUM MAXIMUM MEMINISTINE TE AD CORNELIUM PRISCUM AUDIO UALERIUM MARTIAL ·	1. Added interlineally, in black, by first hand using a finer pen. 2. This is followed by an erasure of the letters um in red.

· EPISTULARUM ·
·C·PLINIUS · CALUISIO SUO SALUTEM NESCIO AN ULLUM IUCUNDIUS TEMPUS EXEGERIM QUAM QUO NUPER APUD SPU RINNAM FUI ADEO QUIDEM UT NEMINEM 5 MAGIS IN SENECTUTE SI MODO SENESCE RE DATUM EST AEMULARI UELIM NIHIL EST ENIM ILLO UITAE GENERE DISTIN CTIUS ME AUTEM UT CERTUS SIDERUM CURSUS ITA UITA HOMINUM DISPOSITA 10 DELECTAT SENUM PRAESERTIM NAM IUUENES ADHUC CONFUSA QUAEDAM ET QUASI TURBATA NON INDECENT SE NIBUS PLACIDA OMNIA ET OR^DINATA¹ CON
UENIUNT QUIBUS INDUSTRIA SER^UA¹TURPIS 15 AMBITIO EST HANC REGULAM SPURIN NA CONSTANTISSIME SERUAT · QUIN ETIAM PARUA HAEC PARUA · SI NON COTIDIE FIANT ORDINE QUODAM ET UELUT ORBE CIRCUM	1. Letters above the line were added by first or contemporary hand.
AGIT MANE LECTULO² CONTINETUR HORA 20 SECUNDA CALCEOS POSCIT AMBULAT MI LIA PASSUUM TRIA NEC MINUS ANIMUM QUAM CORPUS EXERCET SI ADSUNT AMICI HONESTISSIMI SERMONES EXPLICANTUR SI NON LIBER LEGITUR INTERDUM ETIAM PRAE 25 SENTIBUS AMICIS SI TAMEN ILLI NON GRAUAN	2. u corrected to e.
TUR DEINDE CONSIDIT³ ET LIBER RURSUS AUT SERMO LIBRO POTIOR · MOX UEHICULUM	3. Second i corrected to e (not the regular uncial form) apparently by the first or contemporary hand.

· LIBER · III ·
ASCENDIT ADSUMIT UXOREM SINGU LARIS EXEMPLI UEL ALIQUEM AMICORUM UT ME PROXIME QUAM PULCHRUM ILLUD QUAM DULCE SECRETUM QUANTUM IBI AN 5 TIQUITATIS QUAE FACTA QUOS UIROS AU DIAS QUIBUS PRAECEPTIS IMBUARE QUAMUIS ILLE HOC TEMPERAMENTUM MODESTIAE SUAE INDIXERIT NE PRAECIPE REUIDEATUR PERACTIS SEPTEM MILIBUS PASSUUM ITE 10 RUM AMBULAT MILLE ITERUM RESIDIT UEL SE CUBICULO AC STILO REDDIT SCRI BIT ENIM ET QUIDEM UTRAQUE LINGUA LY RICA DOCTISSIMA MIRA ILLIS DULCEDO
MIRA SUAUITAS MIRA HILARITAṪİS¹ CUIUS 15 GRATIAM CUMULAT SANCTITAṪİS² SCRI BENTIS UBI HORA BALNEI NUNTIATA EST EST AUTEM HIEME NONA · AESTATE OCTA UA IN SOLE SI CARET UENTO AMBULAT NUDUS DEINDE MOUETUR PILA UEHE 20 MENTER ET DIU NAM HOC QUOQUE EXER CITATIONIS GENERE PUGNAT CUM SE NECTUTE LOTUS ACCUBAT ET PAULIS PER CIBUM DIFFERT INTERIM AUDIT LE GENTEM REMISSIUS ALIQUID ET DULCIUS 25 PER HOC OMNE TEMPUS LIBERUM EST AMICIS UEL EADEM FACERE UEL ALIA	1. The scribe first wrote hilaritatis. To correct the error he or a contemporary hand placed dots above the t and i and drew a horizontal line through them to indicate that they should be omitted. This is the usual method in very old manuscripts. 2. sanctitatis is corrected to sanctitas in the manner described in the preceding note.
SI MALINT ADPON^ITUR³ CENA NON MINUS	3. i added above the line, apparently by first hand.

· EPISTULARUM · NITIDA QUAM FRUGI IN ARGENTO PURO ET
ANTIQUO SUNT IN USU ET C^HORINTHIA¹ QUIBUS DE LECTATUR ET ADFICITUR FREQUENTER CO MOEDIS CENA DISTINGUITUR UT UOLUPTA 5 TES QUOQUE STUDIIS CONDIANTUR SUMIT ALI QUID DE NOCTE ET AESTATE NEMI^NI¹ HOC LON GUM EST TANTA COMITATE CONUIUIUM TRAHITUR INDE ILLI POST SEPTIMUM ET SEPTUAGENSIMUM ANNUM AURIUM 10 OCULORUM UIGOR INTEGER INDE AGILE ET UIUIDUM CORPUS SOLAQUE EX SENEC TUTE PRUDENTIA HANC EGO UITAM UO TO ET COGITATIONE PRAESUMO INGRES SURUS AUIDISSIME UT PRIMUM RATIO AE	1. The letters above the line are additions by the first, or by another contemporary, hand.
15 TATIS RECEPTUI CANERE PERMISERIT² IN TERIM MILLE LABORIBUS CONTEROR QUI HO RUM MIHI ET SOLACIUM ET EXEMPLUM EST IDEM SPURINNA NAM ILLE QUOQUE QUOAD HONESTUM FUIT OB^IIT¹ OFFICIA 20 GESSIT MAGISTRATUS PROVINCIAS RE XIT MULTOQ^UE LABORE HOC OTIUM ME RUIT IGITUR EUNDEM MIHI CURSUM EUN DEM TERMINUM STATUO IDQUE IAM NUNC APUD TE SUBSIGNO UT SI ME LONGIUS SE	2. permiserit: t stands over an erasure, and original it seems to be corrected to et, with e having the rustic form.
25 EUEHI³ UIDERIS IN IUS UOCES AD HANC EPIS TULAM MEAM ET QUIESCERE IUBEAS CUM INERTIAE CRIMEN EFFUGERO UALE·⁴	3. The scribe first wrote longius se uehi. The e which precedes uehi was added by him when he later corrected the page and deleted se. 4. uale: The abbreviation is marked by a stroke above as well as by a dot after the word.

· LIBER · III ·
A tout ceulz qui ces presentes lettres verront et orront Jehan de sannemeres garde du scel de la provoste de Meaulx & francois Beloy clerc Jure de par le Roy nostre sire a ce faire Salut sachient tuit que par.¹
·C̅·PLINIUS · MAXIMO SUO SALUTEM QUOD IPSE AMICIS TUIS OPTULISSEM · SI MI HI EADEM MATERIA SUPPETERET ID NUNC IURE UIDEOR A TE MEIS PETITURUS ARRIA 5 NUS MATURUS ALTINATIUM EST PRINCEPS CUM DICO PRINCEPS NON DE FACULTATI BUS LOQUOR QUAE ILLI LARGE SUPER SUNT SED DE CASTITATE IUSTITIA GRA UITATE PRUDENTIA HUIOS EGO CONSI 10 LIO IN NEGOTIIS IUDICIO IN STUDIIS UT OR NAM PLURIMUM FIDE PLURIMUM VERITATE PLURIMUM INTELLEGENTIA PRAESTAT AMAT ME NIHIL POSSUM AR	1. A fifteenth-century addition, see above, p. 21.
DENTIUS DICERE UT TU KARET AMBITUI² 15 IDEO SE IN EQUESTRI GRADU TENUIT CUM FACILE POSSIT³ ASCENDERE ALTISSIMUM MIHI TAMEN ORNANDUS EXCOLENDUS QUE EST ITAQUE MAGNI AESTIMO DIGNITATI EIUS ALIQUID ADSTRUERE INOPINANTIS 20 NESCIENTIS IMMO ETIAM FORTASSE NOLENTIS ADSTRUERE AUTEM QUOD SIT SPLENDIDUM NEC MOLESTUM CUIUS GENERIS QUAE PRIMA OCCASIO TIBI CON FERAS IN EUM ROGO HABEBIS ME HABE 25 BIS IPSUM GRATISSIMUM DEBITOREM QUAMUIS ENIM ISTA NON ADPETAT TAM GRATE TAMEN EXCIPIT QUAM SI CONCU	2. The scribe originally divided i-deo between two lines. On correcting the page he (or a contemporary corrector) cancelled the i at the end of the line and added it before the next. 3. i changed to e (not the uncial form) possibly by the original hand in correcting.

· EPISTULARUM · PISCAT · UALE ·C̅·PLINIUS · CORELLIAE · SALUTEM · CUM PATREM TUUM GRAUISSIMUM ET SAN CTISSIMUM UIRUM SUSPEXERIM MAGIS 5 AN AMAUERIM DUBITEM TEQUE IN MEMO
RIAM EIUS ET IN HONOREM TUUM I^UNU^IICE¹ DILIGAM CUPIAM NECESSE EST ATQUE ETIAM QUANTUM IN ME FUERIT ENITAR UT FILIUS TUUS AUO SIMILIS EXSISTAT EQUIDEM 10 MALO MATERNO QUAMQ^UAM² ILLI PATER NUS ETIAM CLARUS SPECTATUS^QUE³ CONTIGE RIT PATER QUOQUE ET PATRUUS INLUSTRI LAU DE CONSPICUI QUIBUS OMNIBUS ITA DEMUM SIMILIS ADOLESCET SIBI INBUTUS HONES	1. inuice: corrected to unice by cancelling i and ui (the cancellation stroke is barely visible) and writing u and i above the line. The correction is by a somewhat later hand. 2. u above the line is by the first hand. 3. q· above the line is added by a somewhat later hand.
15 TIS ARTIBUS FUERIT QUAS PLURIMUM REFER⁴ ṘȦT⁵ A QUO POTISSIMUM ACCIPIAT ADHUC ILLUM PUERITIAE RATIO INTRA CONTUBER NIUM TUUM TENUIT PRAECEPTORES DOMI	4. Final r is added by a somewhat later hand. 5. The dots above ra indicate deletion. The cancellation stroke is oblique.
HABUIT UBI EST ERRORIBUS MODICA ^UE^LST⁶ ETIAM 20 NULLA MATERIA IAM STUDIA EIUS EXTRA LIMEN CONFERANDA SUNT IAM CIRCUMSPI CIENDUS RHETOR LATINUS CUIUS SCHO LAE SEUERITAS PUDOR INPRIMIS CASTITAS CONSTET ADEST ENIM ADULESCENTI NOS 25 TRO CUM CETERIS NATURAE FORTUNAEQUE	6. A somewhat later corrector, possibly contemporary, changed est to uel by adding u before e and l above s and cancelling both s and t.
DOTIBUS EXIMIA CORPORIS PULC^HRITUDO⁷ CUI IN HOC LUBRICO AETATIS NON PRAECEP	7. h added above the line by a hand which may be contemporary.

· LIBER · III · TOR MODO SED CUSTOS ETIAM RECTORQUE QUAERENDUS EST UIDEOR ERGO DEMON
STRARE TIBI POSSE IULIUM GEN^ITIOREM¹ AM^NATUR² A ME I^UDICIO³ TAMEN MEO NON 5 OBSTAT KARITAS HOMINIS QUAE ^EX⁴IUDI CIO NATA EST UIR EST EMENDATUS ET GRA UIS PAULO ETIAM HORRIDIOR ET DURIOR UT IN HAC LICENTIA TEMPORUM QUAN TUM ELOQUENTIA UALEAT PLURIBUS CRE 10 DERE POTES NAM DICENDI FACULTAS APERTA ET EXPOSITA · STATIM CERNITUR UITA HOMINUM ALTOS RECESSUS MAG NASQUE LATEBRAS HABET CUIUS PRO GE NITORE ME SPONSOREM ACCIPE NIHIL 15 EX HOC UIRO FILIUS TUUS AUDIET NISI	1. The scribe wrote gentiorem: a somewhat later corrector changed it to genitorem by adding an i above the line between n and t and cancelled the i after t. 2. Above the m a somewhat later hand wrote n. It was cancelled by a crude modern hand using lead. 3. u added above the line by the later hand. 4. ex added above the line by the later corrector.
PROFUTURUM NIHIL DISCET QUOD NESCIS⁵ SE RECTIUS FUERIT NE^C⁶ MINUS SAEPE AB ILLO QUAM A TE MEQUE ADMONEBITUR QUIBUS IMAGINIBUS ONERETUR QUAE NOMI 20 NA ET QUANTA SUSTINEAT PROINDE FAUEN	5. cis is added in the margin by the later hand. The original scribe wrote nes \| se. 6. c is added above the line by the later hand.
TIBUS DIIS TRADE ^EUM⁷ PRAECEPTORI A QUO MORES PRIMUM MOX ELOQUENTIAM DISCAT QUAE MALE SINE MORIBUS DIS CITUR UALE 25 ·C· PLINIUS MACRINO SALUTEM QUAMUIS ET AMICI QUOS PRAESENTES HABEBAM ET SERMONES HOMINUM	7. e added above the line.

· EPISTULARUM ·
FACTUM MEUM COMPROUASSE UIDEAN TUR MAGNI TAMEN AESTIMO SCIRE QUID SENTIAS TU NAM CUIUS INTEGRA RE CON SILIUM EXQUIRERE O^PTASSEM¹ HUIUS ETIAM 5 PERACTA IUDICIȦUM² NOSSE MIRE CONCU PISCO CUM PUBLICUM OPUS MEA PECU	1. p added above the line by the scribe. 2. The superfluous a is cancelled by means of a dot above the letter.
NIA INCHOATURUS IN TUSCOS EXCUCURISsem ac aefectus aerari cepto ut pr COMMEATU³ LEGATI PROVINCIAE
BAETICAE QUESTURI DE PROCONSULATUṠ⁴ 10 CAECILII CLASSICI ADVOCATUM ME A SE NATU PETIERUNT COLLEGAE OPTIMI MEIQUE AMANTISSIMI DE COMMUNIS OFFICII NE CESSITATIBUS PRAELOCUTI EXCUSARE ME ET EXIMERE TEMPTARUNT FACTUM 15 ṪU̇Ṁ⁵ EST SENATUS CONSULTUM PERQUAM HONORIFICUM UT DARE^R⁶ PROVINCIALIBUS PATRONUS SI AB IPSO ME IMPETRASSENT LEGATI RURSUS INDUCTI ITERUM ME IAM	3. The scribe originally wrote excucuris \| sem commeatu, omitting accepto ut praefectus aerari. Noticing his error, he erased sem and wrote it at the end of the preceding line, and added the omitted words over the erasure and the word commeatu. 4. The dot over s indicates deletion. 5. tum: error due to diplography. The correction is made by means of dots and crossing out. 6. r added by the scribe.
PRAESENTEM ADUOCATUM POST^ULAUE⁷ 20 RUNT INPLORANTES FIDEM MEAM QUAM ESSENT CONTRA MASSAM BAE	7. u added apparently by a contemporary hand.
BIUM EXPERTI ADLEGANTES PATRO^CINII⁸ FOEDUS SECUTA EST SENATUS CLARIS SIMA ADSENSIO QUAE SOLET DECRETA 25 PRAECURRERE TUM EGO DESINO IN QUAM P. C. PUTARE ME IUSTAS EXCUSA TIONIS CAUSAS ADTULISSE PLACUIT ET	8. c added above the line, apparently by a contemporary hand.

· LIBER · III · MODESTIA SERMONIS ET RATIO COM PULIT AUTEM ME AD HOC CONSILIUM NON SOLUM CONSENSUS SENATUS QUAMQUAM HIC MAXIME UERUM ET ALII QUIDEM 5 MINORIS SED TAMEN NUMERI UENI EBAT IN MENTEM PRIORES NOSTROS
ETIAM SINGULORUM HOSPİTIUM¹ INIU RIAS ACCUSATIONIBUS UOLUNTARIIS EX SECUTOS QUO DEFORMIUS ARBITRABAR	1. Deletion of i before u is marked by a dot above the letter and a slanting stroke through it.
10 PUBLICI ^HOSPITII ^IURA² NEGLEGERE PRAE TEREA CUM RECORDARER QUANTA PRO IISDEM BAETICIS PRIORE ADUOCA TIONE ETIAM PERICULA SUBISSEM CON SERVANDUM UETERIS OFFICII MERITUM 15 NOVO VIDEBATUR EST ENIM ITA COM PARATUM UT ANTIQUIORA BENEFICIA SUB UERTAS NISI ILLA POSTERIORIBUS CUMU	2. h and i above the line are apparently by the first hand.
LES NAM QUAMLIBET SAEPE OBLIGA(N)³ TI SIQUID⁴ UNUM NEGES HOC SOLUM 20 MEMINERUNT QUOD NEGATUM EST DUCEBAR ETIAM QUOD DECESSERAT CLASSICUS AMOTUMQUE ERAT QUOD I⁵N EIUSMODI CAUSIS SOLET ESSE TRIS	3. n (in brackets) is a later addition. 4. The letters uid are plainly retraced by a later hand. The same hand retouched neges h in the same line. 5. i before n added by a later corrector who erased the i which the scribe wrote after quod, in the line above.
ṪİTISSIMUM⁶ PERICULUM SENATORIS 25 UIDEBAM ERGO ADUOCATIONI MEAE NON MINOREM GRATIAM QUAM SI UIUERET ILLE PROPOSITAM INUIDIAM	6. Superfluous ti cancelled by means of dots and oblique stroke.
Uir erat in terra⁷	7. Added by a Caroline hand of the ninth century.

· EPISTULARUM · NULLAM IN SUMMA COMPUTABAM
SI MUNERE HOC TERTIO FUNGERE^R¹ FACILI OREM MIHI EXCUSATIONEM FORE SI QUIS INCIDISSET QUEM NON DEBEREM 5 ACCUSARE NAM CUM EST OMNIUM OFFI CIORUM FINIS ALIQUIS TUM OPTIME LIBERTATI UENIA OBSEQUIO PRAEPARA TUR AUDISTI CONSILII MEI MOTUS SUPER EST ALTERUTRA EX PARTE IUDICIUM TUUM	1. r added above the line by the scribe or by a contemporary hand.
10 IN QUO MIHI AEQUE IUCU^INDA² ERIT SIM PLICITAS DISSI^NTIENTIS³ QUAM COMPRO BANTIS AUCTORITAS UALE ·C̅·PLINIUS MACRO · SUO · SALUTEM PERGRATUM EST MIHI QUOD TAM DILIGEN 15 TER LIBROS AUONCULI MEI LECTITAS UT HABERE OMNES UELIS QUAERASQUE QUI SINT OMNES ḊĖFUNGAR⁴ INDICIS PARTIBUS ATQUE ETIAM QUO SINT ORDINE SCRIPTI NOTUM TIBI FACIAM EST ENIM HAEC 20 QUOQUE STUDIOSIS NON INIUCUNDA COG NITIO DE IACULATIONE EQUESTRI UNUS · HUNC CUM PRAEFECTUS ALAE MILITA	2. i added above the second u by the scribe or by a contemporary hand. 3. The scribe wrote dissitientis. A contemporary hand changed the second i to e and wrote an n above the t. 4. de is cancelled by means of dots above the d and e and oblique strokes drawn through them.
RET· PARI⁵ INGENIO CURAQUE COMPOSUIT· DE UITA POMPONI SECUNDI DUO A QUO 25 SINGULARITER AMATUS HOC MEMORIAE AMICI QUASI DEBITUM MUNUS EXSOL UIT · BELLORUM GERMANIAE UIGINTI QUIBUS	5. The strokes over the i at the end of this word and at the beginning of the next were added by a corrector who can not be much older than the thirteenth century.

[TRANSCRIPTION]*

LIBER·II·

· EPISTULARUM ·

· LIBER · III ·

· EPISTULARUM ·

· LIBER · III ·

· EPISTULARUM ·

· LIBER · III ·

· EPISTULARUM ·

· LIBER · III ·

· EPISTULARUM ·