Letters, Volume II: Books 8-10. Panegyricus (Loeb Classical Library 59)

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There was some revival in the city in the late 3rd century, but after the establishment of Trier as an imperial capital in the 280s, the orators began feeling jealousy for the imperial patronage enjoyed by the citizens of Trier. [6] Despite the political and economic hegemony of the city, however, Trier failed to make any significant mark on the rhetoric of the period. [7] Imperial Epistles: Emperor Trajan And Pliny The Younger The Younger Pliny Reproved by Thomas Burke , 1794, via Princeton University Art Museum The book is handsomely produced and seems free of typographical errors. The editor’s introductory chapter includes a survey of the careers of Domitian, Trajan, and Pliny, which, given the enigmatic nature of the evidence, cannot help but foster quibbles. 7 The Index locorum is haphazard and not very useful (Tacitus, Agricola 3.3 does merit inclusion, for example). Bronze Sestertius of Trajan, with reverse depiction showing Parthian King, Parthamaspates, kneeling before the emperor , 114-17 AD, via the American Numismatic Society

I [Pliny the Younger] should never, even if I had power equal to that of the gods, have conceived of a prince [Trajan] like ours…In short, there has been no prince in the past whose virtues have not been tarnished by vices. But our prince has obtained unprecedented praise and glory. His seriousness is not lessened by his cheerfulness, his gravity by his simplicity, or his dignity by his humanity. He is steady, tall, and stately in mien and bearing, and though his is in the prime of life his hair is becoming gray - a sign of approaching age. These are the marks that proclaim the prince. 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. [10] Death [ edit ] Sources for the events of Trajan’s Parthian campaign are fragmentary at best. The campaign began by an eastern assault on Armenia which resulted in the annexation of the territory in AD 114. The following year, Trajan and the Roman forces marched southwards into northern Mesopotamia, conquering the Parthian capital city of Ctesiphon . However, complete conquest was not achieved; insurrections erupted across the Empire, including a large Jewish revolt (the second Jewish rebellion, the first had been quashed by Vespasian and his son, Titus). With military forces needing to be re-deployed, and the failure to take Hatra , another important Parthian city, Trajan installed a client king before retreating to Syria. Rees, Roger. Layers of Loyalty in Latin Panegyric: AD 289–307. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-19-924918-0

Bibliography

At nunc rediit omnibus terror et metus, et votum imperata faciendi. Vident enim Romanum ducem, unum ex illis veteribus et priscis; quibus imperatorium nomen addebant contecti caedibus campi et infecta victoriis maria. Accipimus obsides ergo, non emimus: nec ingentibus damnis immensisque muneribus paciscimur, ut vicerimus. Rogant, supplicant; largimur, negamus, utrumque ex imperii maiestate: agunt gratias, qui impetraverunt; non audent queri, quibus negatum est. An audeant, qui sciant, te adsedisse ferocissimis populis eo ipso tempore, quod amicissimum illis, difficillimum nobis: quum Danubius ripas gelu iungit, duratusque glacie ingentia tergo bella transportat: quum ferae gentes non telis magis, quam suo coelo, suo sidere armantur? Sed ubi in proximo tu, non secus ac si mutatae temporum vices essent, illi quidem latibulis suis clausi tenebantur; nostra agmina percursare ripas, et aliena occasione, si permitteres, uti, ultroque hiemem suam barbaris inferre, gaudebant. The first 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 in 1508. [25] (See Editio princeps for details.) It was for his appointment as a Roman consul on 1 September 100 CE that Pliny wrote his oration Panegyricus Traiani. Delivered before the Senate, it paid homage to Emperor Trajan. While Domitian was described as arrogant, cowardly, cruel, and greedy, Trajan was seen as a moderate ruler who was considerate of the Senate, treating its members, even those in opposition, as equals. He was portrayed as a fair, skilled administrator, disciplined, tolerant, and patient. The speech praised not only the emperor but also his sister Marciana and his wife Plotina who was depicted as a model of chastity. Trajan’s reign was a period characterized by a number of incredible architectural achievements, across the empire and within the imperial capital itself. Many of these were directly related to the processes of imperial conquest. Indeed, perhaps the greatest of Trajan’s structures – overseen by the great architect, Apollodorus of Damascus – was the bridge over the Danube built-in AD 105. Built to facilitate the emperor’s conquest of Dacia, and then to serve as a reminder of Roman mastery, the bridge is believed to have been the longest arch bridge in span and length for over a millennium. The bridge features prominently on the frieze of Trajan’s column, on which Roman construction activities are a recurrent motif, a representation of empire building in the literal sense. Thus on p. 60 and ff. Cf. L. Sasso D’Elia, s.v. “Domus Augustana, Augustiana” LTUR II (1995) 40-45. More care should likewise attend Roche’s use of the neologism “Aula Regia” (p. 61).

The letters of Pliny the Younger ( Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus ) are presented here in the English translation by J.B.Firth (1900); a few words and phrases have been modified. The comments at the bottom of the letters have been added from various sources. The Latin text is the edition by R.A.B.Mynors (1963), in the Bibliotheca Augustana. by an anonymous orator, delivered in Trier in 313, celebrating (and describing extensively) Constantine's victory over Maxentius in 312. The author of this panegyric makes heavy use of Virgil. [31] Syme, Ronald (1968). "People in Pliny". Journal of Roman Studies. Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies. 58 (1 & 2): 135–151. doi: 10.2307/299703. JSTOR 299703. S2CID 162568263. Pliny also had a close relationship with Trajan. He was responsible for delivering a panegyric, a praise-filled oration, for the emperor upon his accession in AD 100. This document preserves telling insight into how the emperor wished to be understood, particularly by the senate. Pliny’s panegyric is most emphatic in presenting the contrast between Trajan and Domitian. A series of Pliny’s other Epistles also record his communication with the emperor whilst he was serving as governor of the province of Bithynia (modern Turkey). These provide a fascinating insight into the administrative functions of the Empire, including his query to the emperor about how best to deal with a troublesome religion: the Christians . The authors of most of the speeches in the collection are anonymous, but appear to have been Gallic in origin. Aside from the first panegyric, composed by Pliny the Younger in AD100, the other speeches in the collection date to between AD289 and 389 and were probably composed in Gaul. [1]Iohannem Iucundum architectum illum Veronensem, quem annos 1494–1506 in Gallia egisse novimus, codicem decem librorum Parisiis invenisse testis est Gulielmus Budaeus...Eodem ferme tempore Venetias ad Aldum Manutium editionem suam parantem, quae anno 1508 proditura erat, epistulas ex eodem vetustissimo codice descriptas misit ipse Iucundus." (R.A.B. Mynors, C. Plini Caecili Secundi Epistularum Libri Decem, Oxford University Press (1976), Praefatio xviii–xix from the year 289 (and therefore the earliest of the late antique speeches of the collection), at Trier in honour of Maximian at the occasion of the founding day of the city of Rome. According to a disputed manuscript tradition, the author was a certain Mamertinus, who is identified with the author of the next speech. Sands, John Edwin (1911). " Pliny the Younger". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol.21 (11thed.). Cambridge University Press. pp.844–846. As in R. Pichon, Les derniers écrivains profanes (Paris, 1906), 285–91, cited in Nixon and Rodgers, 6 n. 18; Roger Rees, "The Private Lives of Public Figures in Latin Prose Panegyric," in The Propaganda of Power: The Role of Panegyric in Late Antiquity, ed. Mary Whitby (Boston: Brill, 1998), 99. The Aeduan orators, who refer to Julius Caesar in the context of Gaul and Britain, are either directly familiar with his prose or know of his figure through intermediaries like Florus, the historian. [24] Panegyric 12, meanwhile, contains a direct allusion to Caesar's Bellum civile. [25]