Background
Pliny the Younger was born in 61 AD Como, Italy.
(Providing a series of fascinating views of Imperial Rome,...)
Providing a series of fascinating views of Imperial Rome, The Letters of the Younger Pliny also offer one of the fullest self-portraits to survive from classical times. Pliny's lively and very personal letters address an astonishing range of topics, from a deeply moving account of his uncle's death in the eruption that engulfed Pompeii, to observations on the early Christians"a desperate sort of cult carried to extravagant lengths"from descriptions of everyday life in Rome, with its scandals and court cases, to Pliny's life in the country. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
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Pliny the Younger was born in 61 AD Como, Italy.
Pliny the Younge was probably given his early education by tutors at home and then sent to Rome to study.
Pliny the Younger began his career as a lawyer at the age of 18. Intelligent and knowledgeable, he soon gained a favorable reputation in the civil law courts. He specialized in inheritance cases in the Roman centumviral court.
Over a period of time he gained much prominence as a prosecutor and defender at the trials of a series of provincial governors, including Baebius Massa, governor of Baetica, and Marius Priscus, the governor of Africa.
He entered the senate in the late 80s, and in 88 AD or 89 AD was made a Quaestor attached to the Emperor's staff (quaestor imperatoris)
He achieved great professional success, attaining the high administrative posts of Praetor (in 93 AD) and Consul (in 100 AD). He also served as the Prefect of the military treasury (praefectus aerarii militaris) and Prefect of the treasury of Saturn (praefectus aerari Saturni) between 94 and 100.
He had an innate love for writing and wrote hundreds of letters describing the public and private life in the Roman Empire. He published several books of private letters between 100 AD and 109 AD, which covered events beginning with the death of Emperor Domitian (October 97 AD) to the early part of 100.
Each one of his letters was carefully composed and addressed issues of recent social, literary, political, and domestic developments in the Roman Empire. His letters are considered to be ‘litterae curiosius scriptae’ or “letters written with special care”.
He was appointed the imperial governor (legatus Augusti) of Bithynia et Pontus province (north west Asia Minor) in around 110 AD. Throughout his career he was much respected as an honest, knowledgeable, and trustworthy professional.
Pliny the Younger is most famous as the author of the ‘Epistulae’, the largest surviving body of his works. The letters in ‘Epistulae’ are a unique testimony of the private and public life in 1st century Rome. The best known among these letters are the ones in which Pliny described the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in August 79 AD. These letters are of great historical value due to the accurate description of the volcano’s eruption.
(Providing a series of fascinating views of Imperial Rome,...)
Pliny the Younger married for the first time when he around 18 years old. His wife, a stepdaughter of Veccius Proculus, died when Pliny was 37 years old.
His second marriage was to a daughter of Pompeia Celerina. His third and final marriage was to Calpurnia, daughter of Calpurnius and granddaughter of Calpurnius Fabatus of Comum. It is evident from his letters that he was very attached to Calpurnia.
