The digital loeb classical library extends the founding mission of james loeb with an interconnected, fully searchable, perpetually growing virtual library of all that is important in greek and latin literature. The comfortable world of scholarship on book 10 of plinys letters was rocked to its foundations by three iconoclastic papers published. Its an encyclopedia of what passed for scientific information in that time. The letters of pliny the younger send the reader back to share the frightening experience of the eruption of vesuvius with an eye witness in ad 79. He wrote a number of books, but the natural history is the only one that survives.
Learn pliny letter tacitus with free interactive flashcards. Pliny epistles 10 and imperial correspondence chapter 12. Pliny saw himself as a writer and you can see that in his carefully thoughtout pleasing phrases and sentences. The younger pliny was born in 61 or 62 ce, the son of lucius caecilius of comum como and the elder pliny s sister. By this time, it is likely that both the 9 book and 10 book versions were in existence. He was educated at home and then in rome under quintilian. This was a delightful read, with much that is quotable. An unsuspected shared enthusiasm for pliny led to a. They seem to be harmless people, though he feels obliged to punish those who insist on remaining christian, even after he has warned them such obstinacy would result in death.
You have constantly urged me to collect and publish the more highly finished of the letters that i may have written. Full text of the phelps family of america and their english ancestors, with copies of wills, deeds, letters, and other interesting papers, coats of arms and valuable records see other formats. 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. An xml version of this text is available for download, with the additional restric. Letters of pliny by pliny the younger free at loyal books. Plinius traiano imperatori 1 exprimere, domine, verbis non possum, quanto me gaudio affecerint epistulae tuae, ex quibus cognovi te arpocrati, iatraliptae meo, et alexandrinam civitatem tribuisse, quamvis secundum institutionem principum non temere eam dare proposuisses. Pliny s uncle, pliny the elder, helped raise and educate him. These letters are a unique testimony of roman administrative history and everyday life in the 1st century. Gaius plinius caecilius secundus, born gaius caecilius or gaius caecilius cilo 61 c. Especially noteworthy among the letters are two in which he describes the eruption of mount vesuvius in august 79, during which his uncle pliny the elder died 65 and 66 in this edition, and one in which he asks the emperor for instructions regarding official policy concerning christians trajan letter 97. Quincy, wendell, holmes, and upham family papers, 16331910. Gibson and ruth morello frontmatter more information acknowledgements this book began as a conversation on a train on the way back from a conference in 1998. The original source is pliny the younger, epistles 10. The works subject area is thus not limited to what is today understood by.
Book 10, letter 110 the city of amisus is trying to reclaim a large grant it gave 20 years ago to a city official, who spent the money on city business. Collegi non servato temporis ordine neque enim historiam componebam, sed ut quaeque in manus 2 venerat. Pliny the younger books list of books by author pliny. Book ten the letters of the younger pliny penguin classics by pliny the younger. Full text of the phelps family of america and their. See key to translations for an explanation of the format. Book 10, letter 96 pliny is unsure how he should deal with the christians in bithynia.
The style is very different from that in the panegyricus, and some commentators maintain that pliny initiated a new genre. A study in the origins of antisemitism philadelphia. This work is licensed under a creative commons attributionsharealike 3. He was at misenum at the time of the eruption of vesuvius in 79 described in two famous letters when the elder pliny died.
Pliny book 10, letter 97 latin text pliny book 10, letter 110 english translation pliny book 10, letter 110 latin text pliny book 10, letter 111 english translation pliny book 10, letter 111 latin text student projects also listed under headings above pliny book 1, letter 10 english translation pliny book 1, letter 10 latin text. In the year 112, pliny the younger was faced with a dilemma. Choose from 500 different sets of pliny letter tacitus flashcards on quizlet. I have now made a collection, not keeping to the original order as i was not writing history, but taking them as they came to my hand. Pliny the younger, latin in full gaius plinius caecilius secundus, born 6162 ce, comum italydied c. Pliny, the younger is also know as plinius caecilius secundus, gaius. Pliny s letter is the earliest pagan account to refer to early christians and provides a key description of roman administrative process and problems. Gaius plinius caecilius secundus, usually known as pliny the younger, was born at como in 62 a. Click on the l symbols to go the latin text of each letter. The loeb classical library edition of pliny the younger is in two volumes. Having never been present at any trials of the christians, i am unacquainted with the method and limits to be observed either in. The older man, gaius plinius secundus, is called pliny the elder. Pliny the younger was the governor of bithynia and pontus on the black sea coast of anatolia, having arrived there around september 111 as the representative of emperor trajan.
The last book contains correspondence between pliny and the emperor trajan. Pliny the younger, or gaius plinius caecilius secundus, was the nephew and adopted son of pliny the elder, the author of the famous and importantly influential natural history in thirtyseven. Pliny the younger, the roman governor of bithynia and pontus now in modern turkey wrote a letter to emperor trajan around ad 112 and asked for counsel on dealing with the early christian community. Pliny the younger was governor of pontusbithynia from 1111 ad. Book 10 the correspondence between pliny and the emperor trajan has its. Primary sources letters of pliny the younger and the. The letters of pliny the younger with observations on each letter. The method you have pursued, my dear pliny, in sifting the cases of those denounced to you as cbristians is extremely proper. He was the governor in the roman province of bithynia modern day turkey when a number of christians were brought into his court.
But the value of the book is overwhelmingly the magnificent relief engravings of barry moser. The origin of christianity in that region is not known, but it has not been associated with paul the apostles travels. Dec 23, 2007 i have uploaded a vocabulary word list for the correspondence between pliny the younger and emperor trajan, letters 10. Firth 1900 a few words and phrases have been modified. Pliny s lively and very personal letters address an astonishing range of topics, from a deeply moving account of his uncles death in the eruption that engulfed pompeii, to observations on the early christiansa desperate. Plinys lively and very personal letters address an astonishing range of topics, from a deeply moving account of his uncles death in the eruption that engulfed pompeii, to observations on the early christiansa desperate. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system. Plinys correspondence with the emperor trajan regarding how to deal with christians. Book 10, letter 96 pliny is unsure how he should deal with the. The text of books i to ix of the letters rests on three manuscript traditions, the 9 book, the 10 book and the 8 book, known as. Pliny the younger was born in novum comum como, northern italy around 61 ad, the son of lucius caecilius cilo, born there, and his wife plinia marcella, a sister of pliny the elder.
The two letters written by pliny the younger describing the. Aurelius symmachus published his own correspondence in 10 books, 9 of personal and 1 of official letters. Fresh doubts on authenticity of plinys letter about the. Melmonths translation of pliny s letters, was first pub. The letters of pliny in book 10 were isolated from trajans and other correspondence. Epistulae x letters 10, also known as the correspondence with trajan is a book of letters by the roman lawyer and author pliny the younger to the emperor trajan between 109 and 111 ce. The titlepage of volume ii describes it as a second edition. I got pliny the youngers letter to trajan from the notes to eusebius ecclesiastical history, book iii, ch. It is not possible to lay down any general rule which can be applied as the fixed standard in all cases of this nature. They thus lack the spontaneity of ciceros impulsive utterances, but to most modern readers who are not special students of roman history they are even more interesting.
With an english translation by william melmoth, rev. The letters of the younger pliny by pliny the younger. Jewish publication society of america, 1934, seeing them as two religious organisations 33, though christianity as a sect of judaism that gradually became a religion and in turn reduced judaism to a sect. Pliny the younger wrote hundreds of letters, of which 247 survive and are of great historical value. We personally assess every book s quality and offer rare, outofprint treasures. The last was written during his tour of administration of bithynia, during which he may well have died. Plinys letter 96 called the pt the plinian testimonium was separated from the others. It is a rule, sir, which i inviolably observe, to refer myself to you in all my doubts. We have a whole set of exchanges of his letters with the emperor trajan on a variety of administrative political matters. The letters of the younger pliny penguin classics by pliny the younger and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at.
Plinii caecilii secundi epistularum liber primus i c. Providing a series of fascinating views of imperial rome, the letters of the younger pliny also offer one of the fullest selfportraits to survive from classical times. I was looking forward to reading the letters, which are often said to give an insight into ordinary roman life, at least the life of an ordinary roman aristocrat. Pliny has a gift for description and a versatile prose style, and more than any of his contemporaries he gives an unprejudiced picture of rome as he knew it. Book 10, letter 111 such grants are technically illegal, but the official cannot be expected to return a 20year old grant now.
Letter 96 is the most famous of the collection, and it contains the earliest external account of christian worship, and details what was to become the standard roman policy toward christians. The numbering of the letters in this book has been changed slightly to bring it into line with the most recent editions. Book ten letter 96 to the emperor trajan it is a rule, sir, which i inviolably observe, to refer myself to you in all my doubts. The letter which, in compliance with your request, i wrote to you concerning the death of my uncle has raised, it seems, your curiosity to know what terrors and dangers attended me while i continued at misenum. Roman senator, nephew of pliny the elder, governor of bithynia pontus 109111, author of a famous collection of letters. Sep 16, 2012 trajans reply to the letter by pliny from 2 days ago. Pliny the elder, roman savant and author of the celebrated natural history, an encyclopedic work of uneven accuracy that was an authority on scientific matters up to the middle ages.
Selected letters internet history sourcebooks project. Pliny the elders sister, plinia, married a man named caecilius, from the northern italian town of comum. Pliny likely wrote the letters from amisus before his term ended in january. He was the grandson of senator and landowner gaius caecilius, revered his uncle, pliny the elder who at this time was extremely famous around the roman empire. The epistulae are later copies of a series of personal missives by pliny the younger directed to his friends and associates. The letters of the younger pliny have come down to us in 10 books, 9 of his personal letters, and book 10 containing his official correspondence with the emperor trajan. Book i the letters of pliny book i i to septicius clarus 1. The letters, on which today his fame mainly rests, were largely written with a view to publication, and were arranged by pliny himself.
This final book was, significantly, not intended for publication. Superest ut nec te consilii nec me paeniteat obsequii. Naturalis historia is a book about the whole of the natural world in latin by pliny the elder, a roman author and naval commander who died in 79 ad it is one of the largest single works to have survived from the roman empire to the modern day and purports to cover all ancient knowledge. Pliny likely wrote the letters from amisus before his term ended in january 1. You have to wait until the end of the book to see the breezy roman way he makes the decision to execute a couple of christian women. Letters of pliny, by gaius plinius caecilius secundus. Thriftbooks sells millions of used books at the lowest everyday prices. In the fifth century, sidonius apollinaris published his own letters in 9 books, and quotes pliny in many places. An xml version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer perseus any modifications you make. The smell of sulfur this post belongs to a serialized translation and commentary of pliny the youngers letters 6. Pliny the younger 10 pliny the younger or gaius plinius caecilius secundus 62c. You have often urged me to collect and publish any letters of mine which were composed with some care. We have a whole set of exchanges of his letters with the emperor trajan on a variety of. Lefkowitz fannia was granddaughter of the famous arria the elder, a stoic, who committed suicide when her husband, caecina paetus, was condemned to death in a.
Jun 24, 2010 while the first nine books of plinys letters follow a roughly chronological orderthe author disingenuously maintains hes just selected them casually, almost at randombook 10 is made up of official correspondence exchanged during his tenure as governor of bithynia part of modernday turkey. The text of the remainder of plinys letters was divided up into fifteen sections about the same length as the pt. Gaius plinius caecilius secundus was a prolific letter writer, and has one of our earliest attestations to christians in a secular work of antiquity. While this book does contain a lot of first hand information about life in imperial rome especially the legal system and the elaborate network of favors, obligations, and patronage in the senatorial class its not especially readable, being a collection of letters written by pliny and, near the end, by the emperor trajan to pliny. Epistulae x letters 10, also known as the correspondence with trajan is a book of letters by the roman lawyer and author pliny the. The younger pliny was born in 61 or 62 ce, the son of lucius caec. The letters of pliny the younger with observations on each. Quis enim potest melius vel cunctationem meam regere, vel ignorantiam instruere. The work, which was largely complete by 77 ce, is divided into 37 books and covers such.
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