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 CAIUS PLINIUS CAECILIUS, the nephew of the philosophic naturalist of that name, was born at Como. He was educated at Rome in law and Greek philosophy: and in his twenty-first year went as military tribune to Syria, where he studied under the Stoic philosopher Euphrates. After two years he returned to Rome, where he attained the rank of Senator, and held several offices of State. He was an intimate friend of the historian Tacitus, who intrusted him with the correction of his works. These two men were spoken of as the duumvirate of literature. In his forty-second year he was appointed by Trajan proconsul of Bithynia. Much of the correspondence between the great emporor and himself has been preserved: amongst it are some letters relating to the sect of Christians, of whom Pliny speaks as having been so numerous in his province that many of the temples had been deserted. In replying to questions as to how he is to act, Trajan directs him not to institute inquisitorial search, nor to encourage informers, but only to punish those who openly repudiate the authority of the State in matters of ritual.
With the exception of a speech in praise of Trajan, we have nothing left of Pliny but his letters to the emperor, to Tacitus, to his wife, and to intimate friends. We see from these that he was a generous, tender-hearted, and highly cultivated man. Like the still larger correspondence of Cicero, these letters are of great value, because they enable us to live in familiar intercourse with these men and their friends.
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| This biography is
reprinted from The New Calendar of Great Men. Ed. Frederic
Harrison. London: Macmillan and Co., 1920. |
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