Letters of Pliny
might justly occasion you to hesitate, The proper mean to observe in
this case will be to make no change in what is past, but to allow those
senators who are already elected, though contrary to law, to keep their
seats, to whatever city they may belong; in all future elections,
however, to pursue the directions of the Pompeian law: for to give it a
retrospective operation would necessarily introduce great confusion.
CXVII -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
IT is customary here upon any person taking the manly robe, solemnising
his marriage, entering upon the office of a magistrate, or dedicating
any public work, to invite the whole senate, together with a
considerable part of the commonalty, and distribute to each of the
company one or two denarii.[1075] I request you to inform me whether you
think proper this ceremony should be observed, or how far you approve of
it. For myself, though I am of opinion that upon some occasions,
especially those of public festivals, this kind of invitation may be
permitted, yet, when carried so far as to draw together a thousand
persons, and sometimes more, it seems to be going beyond a reasonable
number, and has somewhat the appearance of ambitious largesses.
CXVIII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
You very justly apprehended that those public invitations which extend
to an immoderate number of people, and where the dole is distributed,
not singly to a few acquaintances, but, as it were, to whole collective
bodies, may be turned to the factious purposes of ambition. But I
appointed you to your present government, fully relying upon your
prudence, and in the persuasion that you would take proper measures for
regulating the manners and settling the peace of the province.
CXIX -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
THE athletic victors, Sir, in the Iselastic[1076] games, conceive that
the stipend you have established for the conquerors becomes due from the
day they are crowned: for it is not at all material, they say, what time
they were triumphantly conducted into their country, but when they
merited that honour. On the contrary, when I consider the meaning of the
term Iselastic, I am strongly inclined to think that it is intended the
stipend should commence from the time of their public entry. They
likewise petition to be allowed the treat you give at those combats
which you have converted into Iselastic, though they were conquerors
before the appointment of that institution: for it is but reasonable,
they assert, that they should receive the reward in this instance, as
they are deprived of it at those games which have been divested of the
honour of being Iselastic, since their victory. But I am very doubtful,
whether a retrospect should be admitted in the case in question, and a
reward given, to which the claimants had no right at the time they
obtained the victory. I beg, therefore, you would be pleased to direct
my judgment in these points, by explaining the intention of your own
benefactions.
CXX -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
THE stipend appointed for the conqueror in the Iselastic games ought
not, I think, to commence till he makes his triumphant entry into his
city. Nor are the prizes, at those combats which I thought proper to
make Iselastic, to be extended backwards to those who were victors
before that alteration took place. With regard to the plea which these
athletic combatants urge, that they ought to receive the Iselastic prize
at those combats which have been made Iselastic subsequent to their
conquests, as they are denied it in the same case where the games have
ceased to be so, it proves nothing in their favour; for notwithstanding
any new arrangements which has been made relating to these games, they
are not called upon to return the recompense which they received prior
to such alteration.
CXXI -- To THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
I HAVE hitherto never, Sir, granted an order for post-chaises to any
person, or upon any occasion, but in affairs that relate to your
administration. I find myself, however, at present under a sort of
necessity of breaking through this fixed rule. My wife having received
an account of her grandfather's death, and being desirous to wait upon
her aunt with all possible expedition, I thought it would be unkind to
deny her the use of this privilege; as the grace of so tender an office
consists in the early discharge of it, and as I well knew a journey
which was founded in filial piety could not fail of your approbation. I
should think myself highly ungrateful therefore, were I not to
acknowledge that, among other great obligations which I owe to your
indulgence, I have this in particular, that, in confidence of your
favour, I have ventured to do, without consulting you, what would have
been too late had I waited for your consent.
CXXII -- TRAJAN TO PLINY
You did me justice, my dearest Secundus, in confiding in my affection
towards you. Without doubt, if you had waited for my consent to forward
your wife in her journey by means of those warrants which I have
entrusted to your care, the use of them would not have answered your
purpose; since it was proper this visit to her aunt should have the
additional recommendation of being paid with all possible expedition.
FOOTNOTES TO THE CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE EMPEROR TRAJAN 1001 (return) [
The greater part of the following letters were written by Pliny during
his administration in the province of Bithynia. They are of a style and
character extremely different from those in the preceding collection;
whence some critics have injudiciously inferred that they are the
production of another hand: not considering that the occasion
necessarily required a different manner. In letters of business, as
these chiefly are, turn and sentiment would be foreign and impertinent;
politeness and elegance of expression being the essentials that
constitute perfection in this kind: and in that view, though they may be
less entertaining, they have not less merit than the former. But besides
their particular excellence as letters, they have a farther
recommendation as so many valuable pieces of history, by throwing a
strong light upon the character of one of the most amiable and glorious
princes in the Roman annals. Trajan appears throughout in the most
striking attitude that majesty can be placed in; in the exertion of
power to the godlike purposes of justice and benevolence: and what one
of the ancient historians has said of him is here clearly verified, that
"he rather chose to be loved than flattered by his people." To have been
distinguished by the favour and friendship of a monarch of so exalted a
character is an honour that reflects the brightest lustre upon our
author; as to have been served and celebrated by a courtier of Pliny's
genius and virtues is the noblest monunient of glory that could have
been raised to Trajan. M.]
1002 (return) [ Nerva, who succeeded Domitian, reigned but sixteen
months and a few days. Before his death he not only adopted Trajan, and
named him for his successor, but actually admitted him into a share of
the government; giving him the titles of Cæsar, Germanicus and
Imperator. Vid. Plin. Paneg. M.]
1003 (return) [ $16,000.]
1004 (return) [ One of the four governments of Lower Egypt. M.]
1005 (return) [ The extensive power of paternal authority was (as has
been observed in the notes above) peculiar to the Romans. But after
Chrysippus was made a denizen of Rome, he was not, it would seem,
consequentially entitled to that privilege over those children which
were born before his denization. On the other hand, if it was expressly
granted him, his children could not preserve their right of patronage
over their own freedmen, because that right would of course devolve to
their father, by means of this acquired dominion over them. The
denization therefore of his children is as expressly solicited as his
own. But both parties becoming quirites, the children by this creation,
and not pleading in right of their father, would be patres fam. To
prevent which the clause is added, "ita ut sint in patris potestate:" as
there is another to save to them their rights of patronage over their
freedmen, though they were reduced in patriam potestate. M.]
1006 (return) [ Pliny enjoyed the office of treasurer in conjunction
with Cornutus Tertullus. It was the custom at Rome for those who had
colleagues to administer the duties of their posts by monthly turns.
Buchner. M.]
1007 (return) [ About $16,000; the annual income of Pliny's estate in
Tuscany. He mentions another near Comum in Milan, the yearly value of
which does not appear. We find him likewise meditating the purchase of
an estate, for which he was to give about $117,000 of our money; but
whether he ever completed that purchase is uncertain. This, however, we
are sure of, that his fortunes were but moderate, considering his high
station and necessary expenses: and yet, by the advantage of a judicious
economy, we have seen him in the course of these letters, exercising a
liberality of which after ages have furnished no parallel. M.]
1008 (return) [ The senators were not allowed to go from Rome into the
provinces without having first obtained leave of the emperor. Sicily,
however, had the privilege to be excepted out of that law; as Gallia
Narbonensis afterwards was, by Claudius Cæsar. Tacit. Ann. XII. C. 23.
M.]
1009 (return) [ One of the seven priests who presided over the feasts
appointed in honour of Jupiter and the other gods, an office, as
appears, of high dignity, since Pliny ranks it with the augurship.]
1010 (return) [ Bithynia, a province in Anatolia, or Asia Minor, of
which Pliny was appointed governor by Trajan, in the sixth year of his
reign, A. D. 103, not as an ordinary proconsul, but as that emperor's
own lieutenant, with powers extraordinary. (See Dio.) The following
letters were written during his administration of that province. M.]
1011 (return) [ A north wind in the Grecian seas, which rises yearly
some time in July, and continues to the end of August; though others
extend it to the middle of September. They blow only in the day-time.
Varenius's Geogr. V.I. p. 513. M.]
1012 (return) [ The inhabitants of Prusa (Brusa), a principal city of
Bithynia.]
1013 (return) [ In the sixth year of Trajan's reign, A. D. 103, and the
41st of our author's age: he continued in this province about eighteen
months. Vid. Mass, in Vit. Phin. 129. M.]
1014 (return) [ Among other noble works which this glorious emperor
executed, the forum or square which went by his name seems to have been
the most magnificent. It was built with the foreign spoils he had taken
in war. The covering of this edifice was all brass, the porticoes
exceedingly beautiful and magnificent, with pillars of more than
ordinary height and dimensions. In the centre of this forum was erected
the famous pillar which has been already described.]
1015 (return) [ It is probable the victory here alluded to was that
famous one which Trajan gained over the Daciaiss; some account of which
has been given in the notes above. It is certain, at least, Pliny lived
to see his wish accomplished, this emperor having carried the Roman
splendour to its highest pitch, and extended the dominions of the empire
farther than any of his predecessors; as after his death it began to
decline. M.]
1016 (return) [ The capital of Bithynia; its modern name is Izmid.]
1017 (return) [ The town of Panticapoeum, also called Bosporus, standing
on the European side of the Cimmerian Bosporus (Straits of Kaffa), in
the modern Crimea.]
1018 (return) [ Nicea (as appears by the 15th letter of this book), a
city in Bithynia, now called Iznik. M.]
1019 (return) [ Sarmatia was divided into European, Asiatic, and German