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33-504: The spring was well described by Pliny the Younger who records his visit toward the end of the first century AD: "The people of Hispellum , to whom the place was made over as a free gift by Augustus , have provided a public bath and accommodation; there are also some villas standing on the river bank, whose owners were attracted by the charming scenery. In a word, there is nothing there but what will delight you, for you may study and read

66-575: A 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 , Pliny's prose was more magniloquent and less direct than Cicero's. Pliny's only oration that now survives is the Panegyricus Traiani . This was delivered in the Senate in 100 and

99-432: A beacon on the path posterity should follow would be equally effective without appearing presumptuous. 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 administrative history and everyday life in the 1st century AD. Especially noteworthy among the letters are two in which he describes

132-447: 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. The first edition of Pliny's Epistles

165-451: 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,

198-553: A hill, and, another, "Comedy," on the shores of the lake, 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 buskins . 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

231-436: 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 and these are the earliest surviving Roman documents to refer to early Christians. 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

264-504: A letter to Titius Aristo , 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

297-400: A literary salon. After the murder of Emperor Domitian , Marcus Cocceius Nerva was elected emperor by the senate. Nerva chose as his co-consul for 97 the elderly Verginius Rufus, who was enticed out of retirement. However, when Verginius Rufus was to hold a speech, he dropped a book he was carrying, and while bending down to pick it up, slipped and broke his hip. He died not long afterward at

330-559: Is a description of Trajan 's figure and actions in an adulatory and emphatic form, especially contrasting him with the Emperor Domitian . 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: I hoped in

363-539: 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 , but also to have risen in rank throughout. Pliny wrote his first work,

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396-494: 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. Pliny the Younger married three times: first, when he was very young (about 18), to a stepdaughter of Veccius Proculus, who died at age 37; secondly, at an unknown date, to

429-473: The Tiber . As a response to "declining returns from his north Italian farms", Pliny may have contemplated switching the administration of his estate to a sharecropping system called colonia partiaria . Under the sharecropping system, Pliny's slaves would act as overseers. Lucius Verginius Rufus Lucius Verginius Rufus (AD 15 – 97; sometimes incorrectly called Lucius Virginus Rufus )

462-523: The Timia , a tributary of the Topino , near Bevagna . Though its current is usually sluggish, it is subject, like many other rivers in the east Umbrian plain, to sudden flooding. It was only tamed completely in the 19th century, and is largely banked by levees. The Temple of Clitumnus , later a church, lies on its bank. [REDACTED] Media related to Clitunno River at Wikimedia Commons Pliny

495-435: The emperor Honorius . It was also celebrated as a great beauty spot by Byron and Giosuè Carducci ; in the 19th century it was planted with willows, and zealously monitored for pollution. It is open today as a paying tourist attraction. The Clitunno then flows, generally north, through the east Umbrian plain, past the church of the so-called Temple of Clitumnus and the towns of Pissignano , Cannaiola and Trevi , to join

528-436: The Roman governor of Bithynia-Pontus (now in modern Turkey) Pliny wrote a letter to Emperor Trajan around 112 AD and asked for counsel on dealing with Christians . 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. Pliny had never performed

561-669: The Younger Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo ; 61 – c.  113 ), better known in English as Pliny the Younger ( / ˈ p l ɪ n i / PLIN -ee ), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome . Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder , helped raise and educate him. Pliny the Younger wrote hundreds of letters, of which 247 survived, and which are of great historical value. Some are addressed to reigning emperors or to notables such as

594-458: The age of 82 and was given a state funeral. At the public burial with which he was honored, the historian Tacitus (then consul) delivered the funeral oration. Pliny the Younger , his neighbor and ward, has recorded the lines which Verginius had ordered to be engraved upon his tomb: Hic situs est Rufus, pulso qui Vindice quondam Imperium asseruit non sibi sed patriae ("Here lies Rufus, who after defeating Vindex, did not take power, but gave it to

627-524: 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. 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. Pliny

660-469: 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). 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,

693-434: The first place to encourage our Emperor in his virtues by a sincere tribute and, secondly, to show his successors what path to follow to win the same renown, not by offering instruction but by setting his example before them. To proffer advice on an Emperor's duties might be a noble enterprise, but it would be a heavy responsibility verging on insolence, whereas to praise an excellent ruler ( optimum principem ) and thereby shine

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726-490: The historian Tacitus . Pliny served as an imperial magistrate under Trajan (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 . 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

759-560: The historian Tacitus . The first letter outlines the events preceding the death of Pliny the Elder 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 ". As

792-528: The numerous inscriptions in praise of the spring and the deity which have been placed upon every column and every wall" Virgil mentions the site too in Book II of his Georgics where he celebrates ". . . the milk-white herds of the Clitumnus, those bulls that often bathed in the river's sacred stream, the noblest of the victims Romans sacrifice at their triumphs . . ." It was visited by Caligula and by

825-565: The period, including the philosophers Artemidorus and Euphrates the Stoic , during his time in Syria . 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 . He was the grandson of Senator and landowner Gaius Caecilius, revered his uncle, who at this time

858-528: The rebel in 68 near modern-day Besançon . After Nero's fall, the legions under Verginius Rufus hailed him as emperor in preference to Servius Sulpicius Galba (Vindex' ally), but Verginius Rufus refused to accept the purple. After the death of Otho in April 69, the soldiers again offered the throne to Verginius, but he again refused it. Verginius retreated to an estate at Alsium on the coast of Etruria northwest of Rome. There he studied, composed poems, and had

891-488: 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 CIL V, 5279 ) repeats the terms of a will by which the aedile Lucius Caecilius Cilo, son of Lucius, established

924-601: Was a Roman commander of Germania Superior during the late 1st century. He was three times consul (in 63, 69, and 97). He was born near Comum , the birthplace of both Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger . Verginius Rufus was born in Northern Italy as a member of an equestrian family. He became consul in 63 under the emperor Nero . After his consulship, Verginius Rufus was made governor of Germania Superior . When Gaius Iulius Vindex revolted against Nero in 67, Verginius Rufus led an army against him and defeated

957-542: Was active in the Roman legal system, especially in the sphere of the Roman centumviral court , 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 , governor of Baetica ; Marius Priscus, governor of Africa ; 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

990-500: Was by birth of equestrian 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 in his late twenties. (See Career summary below.) Pliny

1023-613: 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 in 68 AD. After being first tutored at home, Pliny went to Rome for further education. There he

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1056-627: 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. (See Editio princeps for details.) Being wealthy, Pliny owned many villas and wrote in detail about his villa near Ostia, at Laurentum, Italy. Others included one near Lake Como named "Tragedy" because of its location high on

1089-517: Was taught rhetoric 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,

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