“Adams’ Law” and the Placement of esse in Pliny the Younger

J. N. Adams showed that in Latin of the first century BCE, the verb esse does not necessarily gravitate to “second position” within a phrase; i.e., its placement is not in line with Jacob Wackernagel’s “law of enclitics.” Instead, esse tends to cliticize on—immediately follow—the focus of the phrase. By examining all instances of forms of esse in Plin. Ep. 1 and 10, I show that Adams’ observation still holds true ca. 100 CE. In a pedagogical epilogue, I offer some thoughts on the implications of such subtleties for the teaching and learning of Latin today.