Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo (61 – c. 113), better known as Pliny the Younger (), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of
Ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom ...
. Pliny's uncle,
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...
, helped raise and educate him.
Pliny the Younger wrote hundreds of letters, of which 247 survive, and which are of great historical value. Some are addressed to reigning emperors or to notables such as the historian
Tacitus. Pliny served as an
imperial magistrate under
Trajan
Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...
(reigned 98–117), and his letters to Trajan provide one of the few surviving records of the relationship between the imperial office and provincial governors.
Pliny rose through a series of civil and military offices, the ''
cursus honorum
The ''cursus honorum'' (; , or more colloquially 'ladder of offices') was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The ''c ...
''. He was a friend of the historian
Tacitus and might have employed the biographer
Suetonius on his staff. Pliny also came into contact with other well-known men of the period, including the philosophers
Artemidorus
Artemidorus Daldianus ( grc-gre, Ἀρτεμίδωρος ὁ Δαλδιανός) or Ephesius was a professional diviner who lived in the 2nd century AD. He is known from an extant five-volume Greek work, the ''Oneirocritica'' or ''Oneirokritikon' ...
and
Euphrates the Stoic
Euphrates ( el, Εὐφράτης ''Evfratis'') was an eminent Stoic philosopher, who lived c. 35–118 AD.
Biography
According to Philostratus, he was a native of Tyre, and according to Stephanus of Byzantium, of Epiphania in Syria; whereas Eu ...
, during his time in
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
.
Background
Childhood
Pliny the Younger was born in ''Novum Comum'' (
Como
Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label= Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como.
Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps ...
, Northern
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
) around 61 AD, the son of Lucius Caecilius Cilo, born there, and his wife Plinia Marcella, a sister of
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...
.
He was the grandson of
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
and landowner Gaius Caecilius, revered his uncle,
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...
(who at this time was extremely famous around the Roman Empire because of his intelligence), and provided sketches of how his uncle worked on the ''
Naturalis Historia''.
Cilo died at an early age when Pliny was still young. As a result, the boy probably lived with his mother. His guardian and preceptor in charge of his education was
Lucius Verginius Rufus, famed for quelling a revolt against
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...
in 68 AD. After being first tutored at home, Pliny went to Rome for further education. There he was taught
rhetoric
Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate par ...
by
Quintilian, a great teacher and author, and Nicetes Sacerdos of Smyrna. It was at this time that Pliny became closer to his uncle Pliny the Elder. When Pliny the Younger was 17 or 18 in 79 AD , his uncle Pliny the Elder died attempting to rescue victims of the
Vesuvius eruption, and the terms of the Elder Pliny's will passed his estate to his nephew. In the same document, the younger Pliny was
adopted by his uncle. As a result, Pliny the Younger changed his name from ''Gaius Caecilius Cilo'' to ''Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus'' (his official title was ''Gaius Plinius Luci filius Caecilius Secundus'').
There is some evidence that Pliny had a sibling. A memorial erected in Como (now ) repeats the terms of a will by which the ''
aedile'' Lucius Caecilius Cilo, son of Lucius, established a fund, the interest of which was to buy oil (used for soap) for the baths of the people of Como. The trustees are apparently named in the inscription: "L. Caecilius Valens and P. Caecilius Secundus, sons of Lucius, and the ''contubernalis'' Lutulla." The word ''contubernalis'' describing Lutulla is the military term meaning "tent-mate", which can only mean that she was living with Lucius, not as his wife. The first man mentioned, L. Caecilius Valens, is probably the older son. Pliny the Younger confirms that he was a trustee for the largesse "of my ancestors". It seems unknown to Pliny the Elder, so Valens' mother was probably not his sister Plinia; perhaps Valens was Lutulla's son from an earlier relationship.
Marriages
Pliny the Younger married three times, firstly, when he was very young (about 18), to a stepdaughter of Veccius Proculus, who died at age 37; secondly, at an unknown date, to the daughter of Pompeia Celerina; and thirdly to Calpurnia, daughter of Calpurnius and granddaughter of
Calpurnius Fabatus of
Comum. Letters survive in which Pliny recorded this last marriage taking place, his attachment to Calpurnia, and his sadness when she miscarried their child.
Death
Pliny is thought to have died suddenly during his convention in
Bithynia-Pontus, around 113 AD, since no events referred to in his letters date later than that.
Career
Pliny was by birth of
equestrian
The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse".
Horseback riding (or Riding in British English)
Examples of this are:
*Equestrian sports
*Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...
rank, that is, a member of the aristocratic order of ''equites'' (knights), the lower (beneath the
senatorial order) of the two Roman aristocratic orders that monopolised senior civil and military offices during the early Empire. His career began at the age of 18 and initially followed a normal equestrian route. But, unlike most equestrians, he achieved entry into the upper order by being elected
Quaestor
A ( , , ; "investigator") was a public official in Ancient Rome. There were various types of quaestors, with the title used to describe greatly different offices at different times.
In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officials who ...
in his late twenties. (See
Career summary below.)
Pliny was active in the Roman legal system, especially in the sphere of the Roman
centumviral court
The centumviral court (''centumviri'') was the chancery court (court of equity) of ancient Rome. It was a court of justice dealing with private law (what is referred to in common law systems as civil law).
Evolution
The term ''centumviri'' ...
, which dealt with inheritance cases. Later, he was a well-known prosecutor and defender at the trials of a series of provincial governors, including
Baebius Massa
Baebius Massa, (Gallia ''c.'' 40-45 – after 93 AD) was a governor of Baetica, Hispania Baetica in 92. He was an equestrian procurator of Africa in 70 and was promoted to the Senate by Vespasian as a reward for his part in the suppression of a rev ...
, governor of
Baetica; Marius Priscus, governor of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
; Gaius Caecilius Classicus, governor of
Baetica; and most ironically in light of his later appointment to this province,
Gaius Julius Bassus and Varenus Rufus, both governors of
Bithynia and Pontus.
Pliny's career is commonly considered as a summary of the main Roman public charges and is the best-documented example from this period, offering proof for many aspects of imperial culture. Effectively, Pliny crossed all the principal fields of the organization of the early Roman Empire. It is an achievement for a man to have not only survived the reigns of several disparate emperors, especially the much-detested
Domitian
Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Fl ...
, but also to have risen in rank throughout.
Career summary
Writings
Pliny wrote his first work, a
tragedy
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
in
Greek, at age 14. Additionally, in the course of his life, he wrote numerous poems, most of which are lost. He was also known as a notable ''
orator''; though he professed himself a follower of
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...
, Pliny's prose was more magniloquent and less direct than
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...
's.
Pliny's only oration that now survives is the ''Panegyricus Traiani''. This was delivered in the
Senate in 100 and is a description of
Trajan
Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...
's figure and actions in an adulatory and emphatic form, especially contrasting him with the Emperor
Domitian
Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Fl ...
. It is, however, a relevant document that reveals many details about the Emperor's actions in several fields of his administrative power such as taxes, justice, military discipline, and commerce. Recalling the speech in one of his letters, Pliny shrewdly defines his own motives thus:
''Epistulae''
The largest surviving body of Pliny's work is his ''Epistulae'' (''Letters''), a series of personal missives directed to his friends and associates. These letters are a unique testimony of
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
administrative history and everyday life in the 1st century AD. Especially noteworthy among the letters are two in which he describes the eruption of
Mount Vesuvius in October 79, during which his uncle Pliny the Elder died (''Epistulae'' VI.16, VI.20), and one in which he asks the Emperor for instructions regarding official policy concerning Christians (''Epistulae'' X.96).
Epistles concerning the eruption of Mount Vesuvius
Pliny wrote the two letters describing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius approximately 25 years after the event, and both were sent in response to the request of his friend, the historian
Tacitus. The first letter outlines the events preceding the death of
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...
during the attempted rescue of his friend Rectina. The second letter details the Younger’s movements across the same period of time. The two letters have great historical value due to their accurate description of the Vesuvius eruption; Pliny's attention to detail in the letters about Vesuvius is so keen that modern
volcanologists describe those types of eruptions as "
Plinian eruptions".
Epistle concerning the Christian religion
As the Roman governor of
Bithynia-Pontus (now in modern Turkey) Pliny wrote a
letter to Emperor
Trajan
Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...
around 112 AD and asked for counsel on dealing with
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ� ...
. In the letter (''Epistulae'' X.96), Pliny detailed an account of how he conducted trials of suspected Christians who appeared before him as a result of anonymous accusations and asked for the Emperor's guidance on how they should be treated.
[''The Early Christian Church'' Volume 1 by Philip Carrington (2011) Cambridge Univ Press p. 429] Pliny had never performed a legal investigation of Christians and thus consulted Trajan in order to be on solid ground regarding his actions. Pliny saved his letters and Trajan's replies
['' Pagan Rome and the Early Christians'' by Stephen Benko (1986) pp. 5–7] and these are the earliest surviving Roman documents to refer to early Christians.
Epistle concerning voting systems
Voting theorists and historians of social choice note Pliny's early mention of how the choice of voting procedure could influence the outcome of an election.
On June 24, 105, Pliny wrote a letter to
Titius Aristo
Titius Aristo (sometimes, incorrectly, Titus Aristo) was a distinguished jurist of ancient Rome, who lived around the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, under the emperor Trajan, and was a friend of Pliny the Younger. He is spoken of by Pliny in terms of th ...
,
where he describes a criminal trial: under the traditional rules of the Senate, there would first be a vote on guilt and then (if the accused were found guilty) on punishment, for which execution and exile were proposed. Of the three distinct proposals, acquittal, exile, and execution, acquittal had the largest number of supporters but not a majority, although exile would have defeated either acquittal or execution in a direct two-way vote. Pliny supported acquittal but anticipated that first guilt and then execution would be chosen under the traditional rules, and so he argued for a novel three-way plurality vote, which would have resulted in acquittal. In response, those in favor of execution withdrew their proposal, the vote defaulted to a traditional majority vote between exile and acquittal, and exile carried.
Manuscripts
The first – incomplete – edition of Pliny's ''Epistles'' was published in Italy in 1471. Sometime between 1495 and 1500
Giovanni Giocondo discovered a manuscript in Paris of Pliny's tenth book of letters, containing his correspondence with Trajan, and published it in Paris, dedicating the work to
Louis XII. The first complete edition was produced by the press of
Aldus Manutius
Aldus Pius Manutius (; it, Aldo Pio Manuzio; 6 February 1515) was an Italian printer and humanist who founded the Aldine Press. Manutius devoted the later part of his life to publishing and disseminating rare texts. His interest in and preser ...
in 1508. (See
Editio princeps In classical scholarship, the ''editio princeps'' (plural: ''editiones principes'') of a work is the first printed edition of the work, that previously had existed only in manuscripts, which could be circulated only after being copied by hand.
For ...
for details.)
Villas, farms and estates
Being wealthy, Pliny owned many
villa
A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became ...
s and wrote in detail about his villa near Ostia, at Laurentum, Italy.
Others were the one in Lake Como named "Tragedy" because of its location high on a hill, and, on the shore of the lake, "Comedy," so called because it was sited low down, referencing the practice of actors in comedy wearing flat shoes, while those in tragedy wore high-heeled
buskin
A buskin is a knee- or calf-length boot made of leather or cloth, enclosed by material, and laced, from above the toes to the top of the boot, and open across the toes. A high-heeled version was worn by Athenian tragic actors (to make them loo ...
s.
Pliny's main estate in Italy and the one he loved best was his
Villa "in Tuscis" near
San Giustino, Umbria, under the passes of Bocca Trabaria and Bocca Serriola, where wood was harvested for Roman ships and sent to Rome via the
Tiber
The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by th ...
.
According to
G. E. M. de Ste. Croix, as a response to "declining returns from his north Italian farms", Pliny begins to contemplate switching the administration of his estate to a
sharecropping
Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land.
Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...
system called ''colonia partiaria''. Under the sharecropping system, Pliny's slaves would act as overseers. Ste. Croix speculated this may have been an intermediary period before
serfdom
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which develop ...
fully replaces slavery in later centuries.
See also
*
Herculaneum
*
Misenum
*
Pompeii
*
Stabiae
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*Stadler, Thiago David (2013). ''O Império romano em cartas: glórias romanas em papel e tinta (Plínio, o Jovem e Trajano 98/113 d.C.).'' Curitiba: Juruá Editora.
*
*
*
External links
*
*
*
Works by Pliny the Younger at Perseus Digital Library*
*
*
– translation at attalus.org
at the Latin Library
at livius.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pliny the Younger
61 births
110s deaths
Year of death uncertain
Augurs of the Roman Empire
Critics of Christianity
Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome
Roman governors of Bithynia and Pontus
Latin letter writers
Silver Age Latin writers
Ancient Roman scientists
1st-century Romans
2nd-century Romans
People from Como
Ancient Roman writers and early Christianity
Caecilii
Plinii
Ancient Roman adoptees
113 deaths