Pliny's Epistles in Ten Books: Volume 1, Books 1-6 | ||
Epistle VII. To Macrinus.
by the Same. [Mr. Henley.]
YEsterday a triumphal Statue was decreed by the Senate to Vestricius Spurinna, at the Motion of the Emperor, not so as to many, that never stood in Battle, never beheld a Camp, never heard, in short, the Sound of a Trumpet, except in the publick Shows; but as to such, who have acquired that Honour by Toil, Blood, and Feats of Arms. For Spurinna had brought the King of the Bructeri into his Realm by force of War; and even subdu'd that rugged Nation, by the Sight and Terror of it, the most honourable kind of Victory. This was a Reward of his Valour, but it was likewise a Consolation to his Grief, That the Distinction of a Statue was given to his Son Cottius, whom he lost in his Absence. This is a Glory very rare in a young Man, but it was due to the Merit of his Father, whose Wound was so painful, that it required an uncommon Remedy. Besides, Cottius himself gave so fair a Dawn of Genius, that his Short and narrow Life, had a Claim to be prolong'd by this sort of Immortality,
Pliny's Epistles in Ten Books: Volume 1, Books 1-6 | ||