Among other editions the most noteworthy are those of Veenhusius, Rotterdam, 1669, with notes of Casaubon, Gruter, H. Stephanus, Buchner, Barthius, and Gronovius; of G. Cortius and P. D. Longolius, Amsterdam, 1734, with notes of Catanaeus, Casaubon, Stephanus, Ritterhusius, Barthius, Buchner, Schaeffer, Gronovius, and Cellarius; the editio Oxoniensis, 1703, with notes of Thomas Hearne and others, and the first sketch of Pliny's Life by Masson; of Gierig, Leipzig, 1800; and of Gesner and Schaeffer, Leipzig, 1805. In 1833 J. C. Orelli published the Pliny-Trajan letters separately, 'ab interpolationibus purgatae,' with the Historia Critica Epistolarum Plinii et Traiani' prefixed. This is, however, throughout vitiated (1) by the mistaken supposition that the edition of Beroaldus was published before that of Avantius ; and (2) by his having at that time never seen the second edition of Catanaeus of 1518. These mistakes, however, he corrected in a later edition of the Historia Critica published in 1838. Orelli's edition contains a few critical notes on the most corrupt passages, and the apparatus criticus is fully given at the foot of each page. In 1843 all the letters were published, with German explanatory notes, by Möritz Döring at Freiberg. The edition, however, is of little value. For the text, too much dependence is placed upon Orelli, and the mistake about the date of the edition of Beroaldus and Avantius, although corrected by Orelli five years previously, is inexcusably repeated by Döring. I am indebted to this edition for a few references principally to Quintilian and Seneca, but though I have had his notes before me, I am not aware that I have made any further use of them. In disputed passages I have seldom been able to follow the text which he adopts. In 1870 was published the critical edition of H. Keil, with its exhaustive discussion on the sources for the text of Pliny, and its invaluable index of proper names at the end drawn up by Mommsen. To both of them, it is needless to say, I have been indebted at every step. The variant readings which I subjoin to each page are in a great measure taken from Keil's edition, not blindly, however, for I have carefully collated the editions of Avantius and Aldus, and, less thoroughly, the first edition of Catanaeus. The discovery of the Bodleian MS. and the marginal notes in that volume have led me, in some instances already alluded to, to depart from Keil's text, and to depart somewhat from his estimate of the Aldine edition. My own notes are due principally to the help afforded by Mommsen's Staatsrecht; Marquadt's Staatsverwaltung; Friedländer's Sittengeschichte; Pauly's Real Encyclopaedie; De la Berge's Essai sur la regne de Trajan; Dierauer's Zur Geschichte Trajans; and Mommsen's article on Pliny the Younger in Hermes, vol. iii. For my notes and essay on the Christians, I have consulted the discussions of Bandouin and Vossius; Aubé, Histoire des Persecutions; and Schiller's Geschichte der Kaizerzeit. My quotations I have usually given in full; and with regard to inscriptions I have, wherever possible, made use of those contained in Orelli, Henzen, and Wilmann. No English edition of the Pliny-Trajan letters has yet been published. Letters 4, 39, 40, 71, 72, and 96 are contained in the 'Select Letters' published by Church and Brodribb in 1871. The notes are, however, very brief; and the editors have evidently paid little attention to the history of these letters, as they speak of certain readings being 'in all the best MSS.' One or two of the letters were also published in the selection of Pritchard and Bernard, Clarendon Press, 1875 and 1887. Of translations, the two best are that of Melmoth, revised by Bosanquet, Bohn's Library, 1878; and that of J. D. Lewis, 1879. C. PLINI CAECILI SECUNDI EPISTULARUM LIBER I Gratulatoria ob imperium C. PLINIUS TRAIANO IMPERATORI Tua quidem pietas, imperator sanctissime, optaverat ut 1 quam tardissime succederes patri; sed dii immortales festinaverunt virtutes tuas ad gubernacula rei publicae quam susce § I. Contrary to your own filial wishes, Heaven has seen fit to put the empire into your hands. § 2. I pray that your reign may be marked by prosperity to yourself and to the world at large. As an individual and a citizen, I wish you strength and happiness. Nerva died on Jan. 28, 98 A.D. Trajan had been adopted on Oct. 27 of the previous year whilst still legatus pro praetore Germaniae superioris. Dio Cass. 68, 3; Aur. Vict. Caes. c. 13; Plin. Panegyr. 8. The news of the death of Nerva was announced to him at Colonia Agrippinensis (Köln), where he was regulating the affairs of Germania Inferior. As Trajan did not return to Rome till towards the close of 99, this letter must have been sent to Germany. It was written at Rome, where Pliny was praefectus aerarii Saturni. See on Ep. 3. § I. tua quidem pietas. Antoninus Pius is said to have received his cognomen from the respect he paid to Hadrian's memory, in whose honour he instituted a festival named 'Pialia.' It afterwards became one of the regular titles of the emperors, while 'Pietas Augusti' frequently appears on coins. Cf. the phrase on funeral inscr. 'ex pietate.' sanctissime. As an epithet implying high moral character, see Ep. iii 3, 1; i 12, 5; iv 17, 4; infra, 3, 3. As a peculiar title of honour given to the emperors, see Ov. Fast. ii 127. 'Sancte pater patriae.' Mart. v 6, 8, 'intra limina sanctioris aulae.' At the root of both lies the idea of inviolability. So the tribunes were sacrosancti: the senate was sanctus. Cf. Hor. Od. iv 513; Verg. Aen. i 426; Cic. Cat.i 4, 9; Dig. 40, 11, 3. optaverat: pluperf., because referring to a time previous to Nerva's death. See Roby, Lat. Gr. § 1487. quam tardissime: cf. Panegyr. 10, neque aliud tibi ex illa adoptione quam filii pietatem adsereres, longamque huic nomini, aetatem, longam gloriam pre carere. succederes patri. Trajan was adopted on Oct. 27, 97, by adrogatio. The people were assembled in the Forum, and Nerva, as pont. max., announced the adoption. See Dio Cass. 68, 3; Plin. Fortem 2 peras admovere. Precor ergo ut tibi et per te generi humano prospera omnia, id est digna saeculo tuo contingant. te et hilarem, imperator optime, et privatim et publice opto. Panegyr. 8: and cf. the adoption of Tiberius by Augustus, Suet. Aug. 65; and of Nero by Claudius, Tac. Ann. xii 25. On the other hand, Piso was adopted by Galba without the observance of the usual forms. Tac. Hist. i 18; De la Berge, Essai sur le regne de Trajan, p. 17. On adrogatio, see Gaius, Comm. i 99. quam susceperas. There may, as Ernesti thinks, be a slight confusion of metaphor here, though a gubernator might justly be said, 'suscipere curam navis. See Cic. pro Sext. c. 22, 'neminem unquam fore qui auderet suscipere contra improbos cives reipublicae salutem.' § 2. generi humano. As used by Pliny to Trajan, the phrase, though not without an element of exaggeration, yet is used in a much more concrete sense than Cicero's 'consulere generi hominum,' De Rep. 3, 12; and Horace's 'o deorum quicquid in caelo regit terras et humanum genus, Epod. 5, 2; cf. Ep. 17, 4, 'in ea erga te fide quam de generi humano mereris.' There is an inscr. to Trajan, Orell. 795, 'conservatori generis humani.' digna saeculo tuo: cf. 3, 2, 'tranquillitati saeculi tui;' and iv II, 6, of Domitian, ut qui inlustrari saeculum suum eiusmodi exemplis arbitraretur;' also Tac. Agric. iii, primo beatissimi saeculi ortu.' In these passages saec. means the reign of a particular emperor. But in Ep. 97 infra, 'nam et pessimi empli nec nostri saeculi est; and Tac. Hist. ii 37, 'corruptissimo saeculo;' and Germ. 19, nec corrumpere et corrumpi saeculum,' it is rather the spirit of the age. Cf. Ep. 55, 'non est ex iustitia nostrorum temporum.' ex II C. PLINIUS TRAIANO IMPERATORI I Exprimere, domine, verbis non possum quantum mihi gaudium attuleris, quod me dignum § 1. I am inexpressibly grateful to you, sire, for granting the ius trium liberorum. Though granted at the request of Iulius Servianus, your rescript shows that the recipient was not overlooked. § 2. I am delighted to have received one of the first favours of your reign. Even in the late reign of terror, my previous marriages prove that I was anxious for children. 23. To be a father now will be a still greater blessing. This letter was also written from Rome probably shortly after the former, as is proved by the words 'inter initia felicissimi principatus tui.' § I. domine. This is not an official title of the emperor, but simply a polite mode of address which was usual (1) between lovers. See Ov. Heroid. 13, 145, ille ferens dominae mandata recentia putasti iure trium liberorum. secum; Met. ix 465, 'iam dominum appellat': (2) by children to their father, Mart. i 81, A servo scis te genitum blandeque fateris, Quum dicis dominum, Sosibiane, patrem': (3) by superiors to inferiors, through a wish to be specially polite; thus Epict. Diss. ii 15, 15, by a patient to his physician, Νοσῶ κύριε· βοήOnoov uo; Fronto, Epp. ad M. Caes. i. 6 ed. Nieb. p. 31, by Antonius to his teacher, 'fave mi domine magister': (4) by clients to patrons, Mart. ii 68, 1, 2, Quod te nomine iam tuo saluto, Quem regem et dominum prius vocabam,' vi 88, ix 92; and (5) generally by inferiors to superiors; thus in the Testamentum Dasumianum we have 'Servianus dominus meus.' The procurator of Mauritania addresses the legatus of Numidia as 'domine,' Mommsen, Arch. Ztg. N. F. iii 6 |