The Letters of the Younger Pliny (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Pliny the Younger (Author), Betty Radice (Translator, Introduction)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Classics | Publication Date: August 30, 1963

A prominent lawyer and administrator, Pliny (c. AD 61-113) was also a prolific letter-writer, who numbered among his correspondents such eminent figures as Tacitus, Suetonius and the Emperor Trajan, as well as a wide circle of friends and family. His 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.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A prominent lawyer and administrator, Pliny (c. AD 61-113) was also a prolific letter-writer. Betty Radice was an honorary fellow of St Hilda's College, Oxford and vice-president of the Classical Association. She was a renowned translator of both Latin and Greek.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (August 30, 1963)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140441271
• ISBN-13: 978-0140441277
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #180,043 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #37 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Language Nonfiction > Latin

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45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful glimpse into Imperial Rome, August 16, 2000

By 

Susan Paxton - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Letters of the Younger Pliny (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

This is a great edition of the collected letters of Pliny the Younger, ably translated and introduced by Betty Radice who for many years was the editor of the Penguin Classics. While many readers will immediately look for Pliny's most famous letters, i.e. his description of the eruption of Vesuvius, written for his friend Tacitus, and his letter to the Emperor Trajan asking for an opinion on how to deal with those troublesome Christians, there's a great deal more here, including Pliny writing on ghosts, talking about Roman politics and law, and just chatting to his friends. Especially interesting is the final section of letters which Pliny wrote to the Emperor Trajan when Pliny was the emperor's representative in Pontus and Bithynia. Pliny's obsequious tone is quite different from his personal letters, and I can almost picture Trajan rolling his eyes when his secretary arrived with another of Pliny's overly deferential missives. Overall there's a lot to enjoy here; not only do we obtain a unique glimpse into the workings of the Roman Empire at its height under one of its best emperors, but we also get more of a feel for Pliny than we do for Cicero in his equally famous but often less personable letters.

27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delightful re-acquaintance with the old Romans, December 28, 2002

By 

Philippe Vandenbroeck (HEVERLEE, BELGIUM) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Letters of the Younger Pliny (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

In high school I was an eager student of Latin, and so having read Caesar, Sallustius, Livius and many other great authors in the original, I was under the impression of having a good background in Roman history. And so it came that I didn't read anything about this particular historical period in at least fifteen years. Pliny's letters made me realise how superficial and cliche-ridden my understanding of that epoch was. It seems that as a high school student one is focused on the language to such a degree that the broader outlines of the enveloping history simply recede into the background.

As a successful, professional lawyer, as a member of a respected family, patron of a vast network of clients, as an accomplished writer, a more or less efficient administrator and prosperous land owner, Pliny embodies the quintessence of the political and cultural elite in the imperial capital. His carefully groomed letters reveal a fascinating picture of the mature Empire. What emerges from this book is a panoramic picture of a world that is not even very different from our own. Admittedly, the summit of the societal pyramid in 2nd century Rome was populated by a much smaller and more select group of people compared to the upper middle class in the advanced economies of today. But apart from the numbers, the life style of these two groups seems to have a lot of things in common. Take geographical mobility as an example. Pliny was originally descendant from the Como area in Northern Italy. Obviously, most of his time was spent in the capital, where he had a villa at the shores of the Thyrannean Sea. Additionally, he had an estate in what is now Tuscany. Finally there was his wife's estate in Campania, which is pretty far down the heel of the Italian peninsula. Much the same as today's professional elite, and undettered by vastly more primitive means of transportation and communication, Pliny shuttles back and forth between his estates, hundreds of kilometers apart. I take this as anecdotal evidence of the fact that, irrespective of historical epoch, elites have always transcended geographical distance in exercising their professional and social obligations. And many other aspects of Pliny's professional and social life remind us of our life world today. In sum, I find the texture and 'feel' of this collection of letters decidedly modern.

Another aspect that filters through Pliny's correspondence is the fact that Rome could be a very dangerous place to live, at least for those in the spotlights of the political scene. The Empire can, perhaps, be best described as a 'quasi-totalitarian' state. A bit like the China of today, or worse. We now from Suetonius' account how damaging and dangerous the paranoia of individuals such as Domitian could be for whoever opposed them. Pliny confirms this through many of his more or less oblique references to Domitian's despotic reign of terror.

The final bundle of letters contains the correspondence with the emperor Trajan, whom Pliny obviously reveres. The insights into the workings of Rome's administrative machinery to govern such a vast empire, are fascinating. Ultimately, one is astonished by the patience and competence that this particular emperor brings to bear to the many and sometimes trivial issues that his man in the East requests his advice on. One would think that Trajan would have better things to do. This testifies of the impressive efficiency and robustness of Rome's governance apparatus.

This collection of letters is thoroughly recommended to anyone interested in studying the predicament of our own time through the distorting but fascinating mirror of the past.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life from near the top during Rome's golden age, September 16, 2004

By 

Kuru (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Letters of the Younger Pliny (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Pliny's self-selected letters comprise a fascinating bit of ancient autobiography, and should be of interest to a wide variety of readers. His descriptions of trials, and of his often slimy opposing counsel, will amuse modern attorneys. The letters between Pliny and the Emperor Trajan read much like modern e-mails between a CEO and a diligent corporate manager. I first read Pliny at the same time as the "Meditations" of Marcus Aurelius; the two books provide a striking contrast between two typically Roman world-views -- Pliny wanting nothing so much as posthumous fame, Aurelius musing on the vanity of all earthly pursuits given their utter meaninglessness after we turn to dust.

Ms. Radice's translation is smooth and enjoyable, retaining a certain air of distance given the source's antiquity but not becoming stilted or precious.