2. Student Study Book - Cambridge School Classics Project

Pliny wrote this letter to his friend Calpurnius Macer, who was unrelated to Pliny’s wife Calpurnia, but may havecome (like Calpurnia and Pliny himself) from the town of Comum, on the shores of Lake Como.1. Read lines 1-4 (aloud if possible) or listen to the audio on the CSCP website.2. Study the vocabulary for these lines.3. Read lines 1-4 (or listen to the audio) again.4. What was Pliny doing (line 1)?5. What did his friend point out (lines 1-2)?6. What was unusual about one room in particular (lines 2-3)?7. Pliny himself owned several villas around Lake Como, one of them situated exactly like the one described here.He says in a letter that he could sling his line out of the bedroom window and virtually carry on fishing while lyingin bed.8. What does hoc (line 3) refer to? (Hint: remember that the friend is pointing as he speaks, and bear in mind thegender of villa and cubiculum.)9. What did the woman (lines 3-4) do? Who else was involved? (Notice that quaedam is the feminine form ofquidam. quidam is one of a number of words whose front part changes to indicate number, case and genderwhile the ending remains unchanged. You will meet a similar word in line 7.)10. Translate lines 1-4.WJEC Level 2 Latin Literature Unit 9541 Love and Marriage 95