C.Plinius Baebio Hispano Suo S.

Tranquillus, contubernalis meus, vult emere agellum quem venditare amicus tuus dicitur. Rogo cures quanti aecum est emat: ita enim delectabit emisse. Nam mala emptio semper ingrata, eo maxime, quod exprobare stultitiam domino videtur. In hoc autem agello, si modo adriserit pretium, Tranquilli mei stomachum multa sollicitant, vicinitas urbis, opportunitas viae, mediocritas villae, modus ruris, qui avocet magis quam distringat. Scholasticis porro dominis, ut hic est, sufficit abunde tantum soli ut relevare caput, reficere oculos, reptare per limitem unamque semitam terere omnisque viticulas suas nosse et numerare arbusculas possint. Haec tibi exposui, quo magis scires quantum esset ille mihi, ego tibi debiturus, si praediolum istud, quod commendatur his dotibus, tam salubriter emerit ut paenitentiae locum non relinquat. Vale.

Notes and Vocabulary:

To Baebius Hispanus [identification undetermined]  Suetonius (= Tranquillus, the famous archivist and biographer is looking for a small farm to buy.  Pliny writes to an acquaintance who has a friend who is trying to sell a piece of real estate.  Pliny tries to get a good deal for Suetonius in part by stressing the small size of the property.

Tranquillus [= Suetonius, the famous biographer]

Grammar

• genitive of price/value
• substantive clause of result --  dependent subjunctives
• relative clause of purpose -- dependent subjunctives

Topics:

• the writer as landowner [cf. Horace, Martial]
• life and works of Suetonius
• use of diminutives (what does Pliny hope these will do to the price of the tiny parcel of land?)