Letters of Pliny · OmniClassics

LETTERS OF PLINY By Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus Translated by William Melmoth Revised by F. C. T. Bosanquet GAIUS PLINIUS CAECILIUS SECUNDUS, usually known as Pliny the Younger, was born at Como in 62 A. D. He was only eight years old when his father Caecilius died, and he was adopted by his uncle, the elder Pliny, author of the Natural History. He was carefully educated, studying rhetoric under Quintilian and other famous teachers, and he became the most eloquent pleader of his time. In this and in much else he imitated Cicero, who had by this time come to be the recognized master of Latin style. While still young he served as military tribune in Syria, but he does not seem to have taken zealously to a soldier's life. On his return he entered politics under the Emperor Domitian; and in the year 100 A. D. was appointed consul by Trajan and admitted to confidential intercourse with that emperor. Later while he was governor of Bithynia, he was in the habit of submitting every point of policy to his master, and the correspondence between Trajan and him, which forms the last part of the present selection, is of a high degree of interest, both on account of the subjects discussed and for the light thrown on the characters of the two men. He is supposed to have died about 113 A. D. Pliny's speeches are now lost, with the exception of one, a panegyric on Trajan delivered in thanksgiving for the consulate. This, though diffuse and somewhat too complimentary for modern taste, became a model for this kind of composition. The others were mostly of two classes, forensic and political, many of the latter being, like Cicero's speech against Verres, impeachments of provincial governors for cruelty and extortion toward their subjects. In these, as in his public activities in general, he appears as a man of public spirit and integrity; and in his relations with his native town he was a thoughtful and munificent benefactor. The letters, on which to-day his fame mainly rests, were largely written with a view to publication, and were arranged by Pliny himself. They thus lack the spontaneity of Cicero's impulsive utterances, but to most modern readers who are not special students of Roman history they are even more interesting. They deal with a great variety of subjects: the description of a Roman villa; the charms of country life; the reluctance of people to attend author's readings and to listen when they were present; a dinner party; legacy-hunting in ancient Rome; the acquisition of a piece of statuary; his love for his young wife; ghost stories; floating islands, a tame dolphin, and other marvels. But by far the best known are those describing the great eruption of Vesuvius in which his uncle perished, a martyr to scientific curiosity, and the letter to Trajan on his attempts to suppress Christianity in Bithynia, with Trajan's reply approving his policy. Taken altogether, these letters give an absorbingly vivid picture of the days of the early empire, and of the interests of a cultivated Roman gentleman of wealth. Occasionally, as in the last letters referred to, they deal with important historical events; but their chief value is in bringing before us, in somewhat the same manner as "The Spectator" pictures the England of the age of Anne, the life of a time which is not so unlike our own as its distance in years might indicate. And in this time by no means the least interesting figure is that of the letter-writer himself, with his vanity and self-importance, his sensibility and generous affection, his pedantry and his loyalty. CONTENTS LETTERS GAIUS PLINIUS CAECILIUS SECUNDUS I -- To SEPTITTUS II -- To ARRIANUS III -- To VOCONIUS ROMANUS IV -- To CORNELIUS TACITUS V -- To POMPEIUS SATURNINUS VI -- To ATRIUS CLEMENS VII -- To FABIUS JUSTUS VIII -- To CALESTRIUS TIRO IX -- To SOCIUS SENECIO X -- To JUNSUS MAURICUS XI -- To SEPTITIUS CLARUS XII -- To SUETONIUS TRANQUILLUS XIII -- To ROMANUS FIRMUS XIV -- TO CORNELIUS TACITUS XV -- To PATERNUS XVI -- To CATILIUS SEVERUS [27] XVII -- To VOCONIUS ROMANUS XVIII -- To NEPOS XIX -- To AVITUS XX -- To MACRINUS XXI -- To PAISCUS XXII -- To MAIMUS XXIII -- To GALLUS XXIV -- To CEREALIS XXV -- To CALVISIUS XXVI -- To CALVISIUS XXVII -- To BAEBIUS MACER XXVIII -- To ANNIUS SEVERUS XXIX -- To CANINIUS RUFUS XXX -- To SPURINNA AND COTTIA[53] XXXI -- To JULIUS GENITOR XXXII -- To CATILIUS SEVERUS XXXIII -- To ACILIUS XXXIV -- To NEPOS XXXV -- To SEVERUS XXXVI -- To CALVISIUS RUFUS XXXVII -- To CORNELIUS PRISCUS XXXVIII -- To FABATUS (HIS WIFE'S GRANDFATHER) XXXIX -- To ATTIUS CLEMENS XL -- To CATIUS LEPIDUS XLI -- To MATURUS ARRIANUS XLII -- To STATIUS SABINUS XLIII -- To CORNELIUS MINICIANUS XLV -- To ASINIUS XLVI -- To HISPULLA XLVII -- To ROMATIUS FIASIUS XLVIII -- To LICINIUS SURA XLIX -- To ANNIUS SEVERUS L -- To TITIUS ARISTO LI -- To NONIUS MAXIMUS LII -- To DOMITIUS APOLLINARIS LIII -- To CALVISIUS LIV -- To MARCELLINUS LV -- To SPURINNA LVI -- To PAULINUS LVII -- To RUFUS LVIII -- To ARRIANUS LIX -- To CALPURNIA[88] LX -- To CALPURNIA LXI -- To PRISCUS LXII -- To ALBINUS LXIII -- To MAXIMUS LXIV -- To ROMANUS LXV -- To TACITUS LXVI -- To CORNELIUS TACITUS LX VII -- To MACER LXVIII -- To SERVIANUS LXIX -- To SEVERUS LXX -- To FABATUS LXXI -- To CORNELIANUS LXXII -- To MAXIMUS LXXIII -- To RESTITUTUS LXXIV -- To CALPURNIA[111] LXXV -- To MACRINUS LXXVI -- To TUSCUS LXX VII -- To FABATUS (HIS WIFE'S GRANDFATHER) LXXVIII -- To CORELLIA LXXIX -- To CELER LXXX -- To PRISCUS LXXXI -- To GEMINIUS LXXXII -- To MAXIMUS LXXXIII -- To SURA LXXXIV -- To SEPTITIUS LXXXV -- To TACITUS LXXX VI -- To SEPTITIUS LXXXVII -- To CALVISIUS LXXX VIII -- To ROMANUS LXXXIX -- To ARISTO XC -- To PATERNUS XCI -- To MACRINUS XCII -- To RUFINUS XCIII -- To GALLUS XCIV -- To ARRIANUS XCV -- To MAXIMUS XCVI -- To PAULINUS XCVII -- To CALVISIUS XCVIII -- To ROMANUS XCIX -- To GEMINUS C -- To JUNIOR CI -- To QUADRATUS CII -- To GENITOR CIII -- To SABINIANUS CIV -- To MAXIMUS CV -- To SABINIANUS CVI -- To LUPERCUS CVII -- To CANINIUS CVIII -- To Fuscus CIX -- To PAULINUS CX -- To FUSCUS FOOTNOTES TO THE LETTERS OF PLINY] CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE EMPEROR TRAJAN I -- TO THE EMPEROR TRAJAN[1001] II -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN III -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN IV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN V -- TRAJAN TO PLINY VI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN VII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN VIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY X -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY XIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XIV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY XVI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XVII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY XVIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XXI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XXII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XXIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XXIV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XXV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XXVI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XXVII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XXVIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XXIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XXX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XXXI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY XXXII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XXXIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY XXXIV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XXXV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY XXXVI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XXX VII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY XXXVIII To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XXXIX -- TRAJAN TO PLINY XL -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XLI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY XLII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XLIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY XLIV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XLV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY XLVI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XLVII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY XLVIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XLIX -- TRAJAN TO PLINY L -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN LI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY LII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN LIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY LIV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN LV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY LVI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN LVII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY LVIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN LIX -- TRAJAN TO PLINY LX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN LXI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY LXII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN LXIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY LXIV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN LXV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY LXVI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN LXVII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN LX VIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY LXIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN LXX -- TRAJAN TO PLINY LXXI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN LXXII TRAJAN TO PLINY LXXIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN LXX IV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY LXXV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN LXXVI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY LXXVII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN LXXVIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY LXXIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN LXXX -- TRAJAN TO PLINY LXXXI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN LXXXII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY LXXXIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN LXXXIV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY LXXXV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN LXXXVI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY LXXXVII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN LXXXVIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY LXXXIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XC -- TRAJAN TO PLINY XCI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XCII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY XCIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XCIV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY XCV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XCVI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY XCVII To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN XCVIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY XCIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN C -- TRAJAN TO PLINY CI To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN CII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY CIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN CIV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY CV -- To TIlE EMPEROR TRAJAN CVI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY CVII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN CVIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY CIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN CX -- TRAJAN TO PLINY CXI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN CXII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY CXIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN CXIV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY CXV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN CXVI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY CXVII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN CXVIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY CXIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN CXX -- TRAJAN TO PLINY CXXI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN CXXII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY FOOTNOTES TO THE CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE EMPEROR TRAJAN LETTERS GAIUS PLINIUS CAECILIUS SECUNDUS I -- To SEPTITTUS YOU have frequently pressed me to make a select collection of my Letters (if there really be any deserving of a special preference) and give them to the public. I have selected them accordingly; not, indeed, in their proper order of time, for I was not compiling a history; but just as each came to hand. And now I have only to wish that you may have no reason to repent of your advice, nor I of my compliance: in that case, I may probably enquire after the rest, which at present be neglected, and preserve those I shall hereafter write. Farewell. II -- To ARRIANUS I FORESEE your journey in my direction is likely to be delayed, and therefore send you the speech which I promised in my former; requesting you, as usual, to revise and correct it. I desire this the more earnestly as I never, I think, wrote with the same empressment in any of my former speeches; for I have endeavoured to imitate your old favourite Demosthenes and Calvus, who is lately become mine, at least in the rhetorical forms of the speech; for to catch their sublime spirit, is given, alone, to the "inspired few." My subject, indeed, seemed naturally to lend itself to this (may I venture to call it?) emulation; consisting, as it did, almost entirely in a vehement style of address, even to a degree sufficient to have awakened me (if only I am capable of being awakened) out of that indolence in which I have long reposed. I have not however altogether neglected the flowers of rhetoric of my favourite Marc-Tully, wherever I could with propriety step out of my