Letters of Pliny
function of a magistrate, cannot, upon pretence that in point of years
they were competent to the office, legally be elected into the senate of
their several communities.
LXXXV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
WHILST I was despatching some public affairs, Sir, at my apartments in
Prusa, at the foot of Olympus, with the intention of leaving that city
the same day, the magistrate Asclepiades informed me that Eumolpus had
appealed to me from a motion which Cocceianus Dion made in their senate.
Dion, it seems, having been appointed supervisor of a public building,
desired that it might be assigned[1060] to the city in form. Eumolpus,
who was counsel for Flavius Archippus, insisted that Dion should first
be required to deliver in his accounts relating to this work, before it
was assigned to the corporation; suggesting that he had not acted in the
manner he ought. He added, at the same time, that in this building, in
which your statue is erected, the bodies of Dion's wife and son are
entombed,[1061] and urged me to hear this cause in the public court of
judicature. Upon my at once assenting to his request, and deferring my
journey for that purpose, he desired a longer day in order to prepare
matters for hearing, and that I would try this cause in some other city.
I appointed the city of Nicea; where, when I had taken my seat, the same
Eumolpus, pretending not to be yet sufficiently instructed, moved that
the trial might be again put off: Dion, on the contrary, insisted it
should be heard. They debated this point very fully on both sides, and
entered a little into the merits of the cause; when being of opinion
that it was reasonable it should be adjourned, and thinking it proper to
consult with you in an affair which was of consequence in point of
precedent, I directed them to exhibit the articles of their respective
allegations in writing; for I was desirous you should judge from their
own representations of the state of the question between them. Dion
promised to comply with this direction and Eumolpus also assured me he
would draw up a memorial of what he had to allege on the part of the
community. But he added that, being only concerned as advocate on behalf
of Archippus, whose instructions he had laid before me, he had no charge
to bring with respect to the sepulchres. Archippus, however, for whom
Eulnolpus was counsel here, as at Prusa, assured me he would himself
present a charge in form upon this head. But neither Eumolpus nor
Archippus (though I have waited several days for that purpose) have yet
performed their engagement: Dion indeed has; and I have annexed his
memorial to this letter. I have inspected the buildings in question,
where I find your statue is placed in a library, and as to the edifice
in which the bodies of Dion's wife and son are said to be deposited, it
stands in the middle of a court, which is enclosed with a colonnade.
Deign, therefore, I entreat you, Sir, to direct my judgment in the
determination of this cause above all others as it is a point to which
the public is greatly attentive, and necessarily so, since the fact is
not only acknowledged, but countenanced by many precedents.
LXXXVI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
You well know, my dearest Secundus, that it is my standing maxim not to
create an awe of my person by severe and rigorous measures, and by
construing every slight offence into an act of treason; you had no
reason, therefore, to hesitate a moment upon the point concerning which
you thought proper to consult me. Without entering therefore into the
merits of that question (to which I would by no means give any
attention, though there were ever so many instances of the same kind), I
recommend to your care the examination of Dion's accounts relating to
the public works which he has finished; as it is a case in which the
interest of the city is concerned, and as Dion neither ought nor, it
seems, does refuse to submit to the examination.
LXXXVII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
THE Niceans having, in the name of their community, conjured me, Sir, by
all my hopes and wishes for your prosperity and immortal glory (an
adjuration which is and ought to be most sacred to me), to present to
you their petition, I did not think myself at liberty to refuse them: I
have therefore annexed it to this letter.
LXXXVIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
THE Niceans I find, claim a right, by an edict of Augustus, to the
estate of every citizen who dies intestate. You will therefore summon
the several parties interested in this question, and, examining these
pretensions, with the assistance of the procurators Virdius Gemellinus,
and Epimachus, my freedman (having duly weighed every argument that
shall be alleged against the claim), determine as shall appear most
equitable.
LXXXIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
MAY this and many succeeding birthdays be attended, Sir, with the
highest felicity to you; and may you, in the midst of an uninterrupted
course of health and prosperity, be still adding to the increase of that
immortal glory which your virtues justly merit!
XC -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
YOUR wishes, my dearest Secundus, for my enjoyment of many happy
birthdays amidst the glory and prosperity of the republic were extremely
agreeable to me.
XCI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
THE inhabitants of Sinope[1062] are ill supplied, Sir, with water, which
however may be brought thither from about sixteen miles' distance in
great plenty and perfection. The ground, indeed, near the source of this
spring is, for rather over a mile, of a very suspicious and marshy
nature; but I have directed an examination to be made (which will be
effected at a small expense) whether it is sufficiently firm to support
any superstructure. I have taken care to provide a sufficient fund for
this purpose, if you should approve, Sir, of a work so conducive to the
health and enjoyment of this colony, greatly distressed by a scarcity of
water.
XCII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
I WOULD have you proceed, my dearest Secundus, in carefully examining
whether the ground you suspect is firm enough to support an aqueduct.
For I have no manner of doubt that the Sinopian colony ought to be
supplied with water; provided their finances will bear the expense of a
work so conducive to their health and pleasure.
XCIII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
THE free and confederate city of the Amiseni[1063] enjoys, by your
indulgence, the privilege of its own laws. A memorial being presented to
me there, concerning a charitable institution,[1064] I have subjoined it
to this letter, that you may consider, Sir, whether, and how far, this
society ought to be licensed or prohibited.
XCIV -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
IF the petition of the Amiseni which you have transmitted to me,
concerning the establishment of a charitable society, be agreeable to
their own laws, which by the articles of alliance it is stipulated they
shall enjoy, I shall not oppose it; especially if these contributions
are employed, not for the purpose of riot and faction, but for the
support of the indigent. In other cities, however, which are subject to
our laws, I would have all assemblies of this nature prohibited.
XCV -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
SUETONIUS TRANQUILLUS, Sir, is a most excellent, honour-able, and
learned man. I was so much pleased with his tastes and disposition that
I have long since invited him into my family, as my constant guest and
domestic friend; and my affection for him increased the more I knew of
him. Two reasons concur to render the privileges which the law grants to
those who have three children particularly necessary to him; I mean the
bounty of his friends, and the ill-success of his marriage. Those
advantages, therefore, which nature has denied to him, he hopes to
obtain from your goodness, by my intercession. I am thoroughly sensible,
Sir, of the value of the privilege I am asking; but I know, too, I am
asking it from one whose gracious compliance with all my desires I have
amply experienced. How passionately I wish to do so in the present
instance, you will judge by my thus requesting it in my absence; which I
would not, had it not been a favour which I am more than ordinarily
anxious to obtain.[1065]
XCVI -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
You cannot but be sensible, my dearest Secundus, how reserved I am in
granting favours of the kind you desire; having frequently declared in
the senate that I had not exceeded the number of which I assured that
illustrious order I would be contented with. I have yielded, however, to
your request, and have directed an article to be inserted in my
register, that I have conferred upon Tranquillus, on my usual
conditions, the privilege which the law grants to these who have three
children.
XCVII To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN[1066]
IT is my invariable rule, Sir, to refer to you in all matters where I
feel doubtful; for who is more capable of removing my scruples, or
informing my ignorance? Having never been present at any trials
concerning those who profess Christianity, I am unacquainted not only
with the nature of their crimes, or the measure of their punishment, but
how far it is proper to enter into an examination concerning them.
Whether, therefore, any difference is usually made with respect to ages,
or no distinction is to be observed between the young and the adult;
whether repentance entitles them to a pardon; or if a man has been once
a Christian, it avails nothing to desist from his error; whether the
very profession of Christianity, unattended with any criminal act, or
only the crimes themselves inherent in the profession are punishable; on
all these points I am in great doubt. In the meanwhile, the method I
have observed towards those who have been brought before me as
Christians is this: I asked them whether they were Christians; if they
admitted it, I repeated the question twice, and threatened them with
punishment; if they persisted, I ordered them to be at once punished:
for I was persuaded, whatever the nature of their opinions might be, a
contumacious and inflexible obstinacy certainly deserved correction.
There were others also brought before me possessed with the same
infatuation, but being Roman citizens,[1067] I directed them to be sent
to Rome. But this crime spreading (as is usually the case) while it was
actually under prosecution, several instances of the same nature
occurred. An anonymous information was laid before me containing a
charge against several persons, who upon examination denied they were
Christians, or had ever been so. They repeated after me an invocation to
the gods, and offered religious rites with wine and incense before your
statue (which for that purpose I had ordered to be brought, together
with those of the gods), and even reviled the name of Christ: whereas
there is no forcing, it is said, those who are really Christians into
any of these compliances: I thought it proper, therefore, to discharge
them. Some among those who were accused by a witness in person at first
confessed themselves Christians, but immediately after denied it; the
rest owned indeed that they had been of that number formerly, but had
now (some above three, others more, and a few above twenty years ago)
renounced that error. They all worshipped your statue and the images of
the gods, uttering imprecations at the same time against the name of
Christ. They affirmed the whole of their guilt, or their error, was,
that they met on a stated day before it was light, and addressed a form
of prayer to Christ, as to a divinity, binding themselves by a solemn
oath, not for the purposes of any wicked design, but never to commit any
fraud, theft, or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust
when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was