Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus

1
Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus

• Pliny the Younger

2
Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus
c. AD 61c.112

• Born in Comum, son of a landowner

• Adopted by his uncle, Gaius Plinius Secundus
  (Pliny the Elder), an equestrian, military
  figure, polymath, and author of Natural History

3
(No Transcript)
4
(No Transcript)
5
Curriculum Vitae

• Trained in Rhetoric in Rome

• c. 81 AD served for a year with the army in Syria

• Returned to Rome entered the Senate

• Made a career as an advocate in the law courts
• specializing in inheritance cases
• prosecuting provincial governors for extortion

• 93 AD Praetor

• 100 AD Consul

6
Administrative Postings

• 94 96 AD praefectus aerari militaris, in charge
  of army pensions
• 98-100 AD curator alvei Tiberis charged with
  care for the banks of the Tiber
• 110 AD Governor of Bithynia Pontus
• Died in Bithynia
• From here he raises a question What to do about
  the Christians early documentary evidence
  about Christians and their beliefs.

7
Literary Achievements

• Published nine books of letters
• Commentary on social issues, politics,
  literature, domestic issues of the day
• Highly polished, making use of poetic and
  rhetorical devices written with an intent to
  publish

• His 10th book of letters is a record of
  correspondence with the Emperor Trajan

• Also published some poetry and other treatises on
  a wide variety of subjects

8
Personal Life

• Witnessed the eruption of Vesuvius, when it
  destroyed Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae

• Married three times, his first two wives died
  young
• Calpurnia, his third wife, figures prominently in
  his letters

• Close friends with Tacitus, whose Annals
  establish him as a foremost historian of Rome
  during the early principate

9
Selected Bibliography
"Pliny"  The Concise Oxford Companion to
Classical Literature. Ed. M.C. Howatson and Ian
Chilvers. Oxford University Press, 1996. Oxford
Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Paul
VI Catholic High School.  1 November
2006  lthttp//www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.
html?subviewMainentryt9.e2316gt
Simon R. F. Price "Pliny the Younger"  Who's Who
in the Classical World. Ed. Simon Hornblower and
Tony Spawforth. Oxford University Press, 2000.
Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University
Press.  Paul VI Catholic High School.  1 November
2006  lthttp//www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.
html?subviewMainentryt10.e422gt