Arria

Question	Answer
C. Plinius Nepoti suo S.	Gaius Pliny sends his greetings to his friend Nepos.
aegrotabat Caecina Paetus, maritus Arriae; aegrotabat et filius, uterque gravissime, ut videbatur.	Arria's husband, Caecina Paetus, was ill; her son was ill too, both of them very seriously, so it seemed.
filius mortuus est, iuvenis pulcherrimus et verecundus et parentibus carus.	The son died, a very fine young man both modest and dear to his parents.
huic Arria ita funus paravit, ita duxit exsequias, ut ignarus esset maritus;	Arria arranged the funeral for this boy and even led the funeral procession without her husband knowing;
quin immo quotiens cubiculum eius intraret, vivere filium atque etiam commodiorem esse simulabat,	indeed whenever she entered his bedroom, she pretended that their son was alive and even that he was stronger,
ac persaepe marito roganti, quid ageret puer, respondebat: 'bene dormivit, libenter cibum consumpsit.'	and when her husband kept asking how the boy was getting on, as he did very often, she would reply: 'He has slept well, and has willingly eaten some food.'
deinde, cum lacrimae diu cohibitae eam vincerent prorumperentque, egrediebatur; tum se dolori dabat;	Then, when the tears, which had been held back for so long started to get the better of her and to break out, she would leave the room, only then would she give herself up to her grief;
satiata siccis oculis composito vultu in cubiculum redibat, tamquam orbitatem foris reliquisset.	but having had her fill, she dried her eyes, composed her face and went back into the bedroom, as if she had left her bereavement behind outside.
praeclarum quidem illud factum eiusdem, ferrum stringere, perfodere pectus, extrahere pugionem, porrigere marito,	It was indeed a remarkable deed by that same woman to draw a dagger, to stab herself in the chest, to pull it out and offer it to her husband,
addere vocem immortalem ac paene divinam: 'Paete, non dolet.'	adding the immortal and almost divine words: 'It doesn't hurt, Paetus.'
Scribonianus arma in Ilyrico contra Claudium moverat; fuerat Paetus in partibus, et occiso Scriboniano Romam trahebatur.	Scribonianus had taken up arms against Claudius in Illyria; Paetus had been involved in the conspiracy, and when Scribonianus had been killed, he was hauled off to Rome.
erat ascensurus navem; Arria milites orabat ut simul imponerentur.	He was about to go on board a ship; Arria begged the soldiers to put her on board at the same time.
nonne' inquit 'dabitis consular viro servos aliquos, quorum e manu cibum capiat, a quibus vestiatur, a quibus calcietur? omnia haec ego sola praestabo.'	'Surely' she said 'you will grant a man of consular rank some slaves, who can feed him, dress him and put on his shoes? I alone, will take care of all these things.'
non impetravit: conduxit piscatoriam naviculam, ingentemque navem minima secuta est.	She did not get permission. So she hired a small fishing boat and followed the enormous ship in a tiny one.
deinde apud Claudium uxori Scriboniani, cum illa profiteretur indicium,	Then in the presence of Claudius she said to the wife of Scribonianus, who was volunteering evidence,
'egone' inquit 'te audiam, cuius in gremio Scribonianus occisus est, et vivis?'	' Am I to listen to you who can live on after Scribonianus died in your arms?'
ex quo manifestum est ei consilium pulcherrimae mortis non subitum fuisse.	From this it is clear that her intention to die a very fine death was not a sudden impulse.
quin etiam, cum Thrasea gener eius deprecaretur ne mori pergeret, interque alia dixisset:	Indeed, when her son in law Thrasea, was begging her not to carry out her resolve to die, as well as other things he had said:
'vis ergo filiam tuam, si mihi pereundum fuerit, mori mecum?',	'So would you want your daughter to die with me if it were to come about that I had to die?'
respondit: 'si tam diu tantaque Concordia vixerit tecum quam ego cum Paeto, volo.'	She replied, 'If she were to have lived for so long and in such great harmony as I have with Paetus, then I would want this.'
auxerat hoc response curam suorum; diligentius custodiebatur;	With this answer, she increased the level of concern felt by her household; she was guarded even more carefully;
hoc sensit et 'nihil agitis' inquit, 'potestis enim efficere ut male moriar, ut non moriar non potestis.'	but she sensed this and said 'You are accomplishing nothing for you can ensure that I don't die a painful death, but you can't ensure that I don't die.'
dum haec dict, exsiluit e sede adversoque muro caput ingenti impetus impegit et decidit.	While she was saying this, she leapt out of her chair and dashed her head full tilt with enormous force against the wall opposite and collapsed.
focilata 'dixeram' inquit 'vobis me inventuram esse quamlibet duram ad mortem viam, si vos facilem negavissetis.' vale.	When she had been revived, she said 'I told you I would find a hard way to die if you were to deny me an easy way.' Farewell.

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