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Quamvis enim Iulii Serviani, optimi viri tuique amantissimi, precibus indulseris, tamen etiam ex rescripto intellego libentius

1870 (6) by individuals to assemblies and corporations, Suet. Tib. c. 29, 'et bonos et aequos et faventes vos habui dominos.' Claudius even called the spectators in the amphitheatre 'dominos,' Suet. Claud. 21: cf. also Tac. Ann. xvi 4, and Dio Cass. 61, 20; (7) by those who met others in the street whose names they do not know, Sen. Epp. iii 1, ‘Obvios, si nomen non succurit, dominos salutamus;' (8) by near relations to one another, Sen. Epp. 104, I, 'dominus meus Gallio,' etc. Under the empire there was a tendency from the first to apply this title in a special and quasiofficial sense to the emperors. Augustus, however, refused it, Suet. Aug. 53, 'domini appellationem semper exhor

ruit,' and even forbade his children and grandchildren to employ it either to him or among themselves; id. ib., 'dominumque se posthac appellari nec a liberis quidem aut nepotibus suis passus est.' So, too, Tiberius (Suet. Tib. 27), 'dominus appellatus a quodam denuntiavit, ne se amplius contumeliae causa nominaret'; and Tac. Ann. ii 87, 'acerbeque increpuit eos qui divinas occupationes ipsumque dominum dixerant.' On the other hand, Domitian assumed it as a regular title, Suet. Dom. 13, 'acclamari etiam in amphitheatro epulari die libenter audiit : domino et dominae feliciter;' and 'Pari arroganti quum procuratorum suorum nomine formalem dictaret epistulam sic coepit: "dominus et deus noster sic fieri iubet,' Juv. iv 96; Mart. v 8; 'edictum domini deique nostri,' ix 67. Trajan declined the title in any official sense; Plin. Panegyr. § 3, 'non de domino sed de parente loquimur'; also §§ 7 and 45. Also Martial, x 72, now says, 'non est hic dominus sed imperator.' Lastly, from the time of Septimius Severus, the evidence of inscriptions shows that 'dominus noster' became one of the regular titles of the emperors in official documents or records. See Wilmann, Exx. Inscr. Lat. 1280, 1482, 1508, and passim for the later emperors. See Friedländer, Sittengesch., vol. i pp. 428-435, and Eckhel, Doctr. Numm. viii p. 364.

iure trium liberorum. By the Lex Iulia et Papia Poppaea, as the revised law passed 9 A.D. was called (Tac. Ann. iii 25; Suet. Aug. 34), certain disqualifications were imposed on caelibes between the ages of twenty and sixty, and

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on orbi (i.e. men married but childless); Gaius, i III and 286. Thus caelibes could not take inheritances or legacies except from the nearest relatives; orbi could only take half the amount. Privileges, on the other hand, were given to those who were married (mariti), and especially to those who had three children in Rome, or four in Italy, or five in the provinces; Just. Inst. Tit. 25; Orell. 3750. To mariti were assigned special seats in the theatre; Suet. Aug. 44, 'maritis e plebe proprios ordines assignavit'; Mart. v. 41, 'Sedere in equitum liceat an tibi scamnis Videbo, Didyme: non licet maritorum.' The privileges attached to the 'ius trium liberorum' (Plin. Panegyr. 26) were (1) inheritances left to caelibes were passed on to them if mentioned in the will; Gaius ii 206, 'post legem vero Papiam deficientis portio caduca fit et ad eos pertinet qui in eo testamento liberos habent': cf. Tac. Ann. iii 28; see also Gaius iii 42, 47; (2) preference was given to them in petendis honoribus; Tac. Ann. ii 51, contra plerique nitebantur ut numerus liberorum in candidatis praepolleret, quod lex iubebat'; Plin. Ep. vii 16, 'Ille me in tribunatu liberorum iure praecessit;' Tac. Ann. xv 19; (3) offices might be held before the legal age, or without the legal interval; Digest, iv 4, 2, 'quod enim legibus cavetur ut singuli anni per singulos annos remittantur, ad honores pertinere divus Severus ait non ad rem suam recipiendam'; Plin. Ep. vii 16, cited above; (4) preference was given in the assignment of provinces; Dio Cass. 53, 13; Tac. Ann. xv 19, 'cum propinquis comitiis aut sorte provinciarum plerique orbi fictis adoptionibus adsciscerent filios;' (5) precedence before others of the same rank or before colleagues; Aulus Gellius, ii 15, 'Sic capite septimo legis Iuliae priori ex consulibus fasces sumendi potestas fit, non qui plures annos natus est, sed qui plures liberos quam collega, aut in sua potestate habet, aut bello amisit'; (6) exemption from the duties of tutor and iudex; Just. Inst. Tit. 25; Dig. xxvii 1, 18; Cod. v 66, 'qui ad tutelam vel curam vocantur, Romae quidem trium liberorum incolumium numero . Italia vero quatuor, in provinciis autem quinque, habent excusationem ;' (7) alleviation of punishment in certain cases; Dio Cass. 69, 23; Dig. 48, 20. Neither

in

Videor ergo sum

inter initia felicissimi princi

trates asking for advice. In this sense they were often called epistulae. Thus Trajan's epistulae to Pliny were technically rescripta. In the present case the document was of a formal kind, as a distinct legal privilege was granted by it. The rescripta were prepared by the quaestor imperatoris, or sacri palatii, and signed by the emperor in purple ink. Cf. De Instit. i. 4, I, 'quodcunque igitur imperator per epistulam et subscriptionem statuit vel cognoscens decrevit . . . vel edicto praecepit, legem esse constat.'

2 hoc ei te praestitisse, quia pro me rogabat.
mam voti mei consecutus, cum
the penalties nor the privileges answered
their purpose (Tac. Ann. iii 25), and the
ius trium liberorum was often granted as
a favour by the emperors either to those
who had no children or not the necessary
number. Emperors like Trajan were
sparing in giving it, and probably only
gave it to those who by marriage had shown
a desire to have children; Plin. Ep. ii
13, 8; 'quod cum parce et cum delectu
daret;' also infra, Ep. 93, where Pliny,
in asking for the ius tr. lib. for Suetonius,
says, 'parum felix matrimonium expertus
est'; and Ep. 94, 'Quam parce haec
beneficia tribuam... haeret tibi'; Suet.
Claud. 19; Galba, 14, 'Iura trium liber-
orum vix uni atque alteri (dedit)'; Dio
Cass. 55, 2, ‘οἷς γὰρ ἂν τὸ δαιμόνιον, εἴτ
οὖν ἀνδρῶν εἴτε γυναικῶν, μὴ δῷ τοσαυ-
τάκις (τρὶς) τεκνῶσαι, τούτων τισιν ὁ νόμος,
πρότερον μὲν διὰ τῆς Βουλῆς, νῦν δὲ διὰ τοῦ
αὐτοκράτορος τὰ τῶν γεγεννηκότων δικαι-
wμaтa xapíšeтaι,' and 60, 24. Domitian,
however, gave it even to unmarried men
like Martial; Mart. ii 91, 5-6, and 92,
1-3, 'Natorum mihi ius trium roganti
Musarum pretium dedit mearum Solus qui
poterat.' Titus seems to have granted
it to him for a certain time before, iii 95,
5-6, and ix 98, 5. See also viii 31, 5-6,
ix 67, 3-4. See also Juv. ix 87-90.
Since Augustus the Vestals had the 'ius
trium liberorum'; Dio Cass. 56, 10.

Iulii Serviani. From Mommsen's Index it appears that his full name was L. Iulius Ursus Servianus. After being consul, he was legatus pro praet. Germaniae superioris, probably succeeding Trajan in 98 A.D. (Plin. Ep. viii 23, 5). From that he was transferred to Pannonia (Plin. loc. cit.). To one of these provinces Pliny sent the letter, iii 17, probably to the latter. He was certainly in Germany when he obtained the ius trium liberorum for Pliny. He was consul II ordinarius in 102: married Domitia Paulina, Hadrian's sister (Vit. Hadr. 1, 2); was Consul III ordin. in 134, and was killed by order of Hadrian in 136, at the age of 90 (Dio Cass. 69, 17). He is mentioned, as stated above, in the Testamentum Dasumianum, as 'Servianus dominus meus.' See also Plin. Ep. vi 26, vii 6, 8; Dio Cass. 76, 7; and Vita Hadr. 15, 23, and 25.

ex rescripto. Rescriptum was the name given to a special kind of imperial constitutions, usually written to magis

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§ 2. inter initia felicissimi principatus tui. Cf. Tac. Agric. iii, quamquam augeat quotidie felicitatem temporum Nerva Traianus ;' id. ib. c. 44, 'Nam sicut durare in hanc beatissimi saeculi lucem ac principem Traianum videre,' etc.

ad peculiarem indulgentiam tuam. Pec. here means more 'personal' than 'special.' The conferment of the ius tri. lib. was a personal privilege of the emperor. Cf. Ep. i 8, 16, me vero peculiaris impedit ratio,' and Mart. iv 64, 8, 'luce nitet peculiari.' Cf., however, Ep. ii 13, 8, 'quod quamquam parce et cum delectu daret mihi tamen tamquam eligeret indulsit.'

illo tristissimo saeculo. See supra: cf. Juv. iv 37, 'Cum iam semianimum laceraret Flavius orbem Ultimus et calvo serviret Roma Neroni;' and 92, 93, 'Sic multas hiemes atque octogensima vidit Solstitia, his armis illa quoque tutus in aula;' Tac. Agric. 44, Ita festinatae mortis grande solatium tulit evasisse postremum illud tempus, quo Domitianus non iam per intervalla ac spiramenta temporum, sed continuo et velut uno ictu rem publicam exhausit.' Cf. Panegyr. §90.

concupisco liberos. Cf. Ep. viii 10, 3, 'Neque enim tu ardentius pronepotes quam ego liberos cupio.'

duobus matrimoniis meis. It seems necessary with Mommsen to refer these two marriages to the reign of Domitian, otherwise they would not prove his desire to have children 'illo tristissimo saeculo.' Döring, with some plausibility, puts quos -volui in brackets, and refers sicut to concupisco. One wife, the stepdaughter of Vettius Proculus (Ep, ix 13, 13, oris meae quam amiseram vitricus'), died in 97; Ep. ix 13, 3, 'quamquam tum maxime tristis amissa nuper uxore.' The date is fixed by the words 'occiso Domi

ux

patus tui probaveris me ad peculiarem indulgentiam tuam pertinere; eoque magis liberos concupisco, quos habere etiam illo tristissimo saeculo volui, sicut potes duobus matrimoniis meis credere. Sed dii melius, qui omnia integra bonitati tuae 3 reservarunt.. Malui hoc potius tempore me patrem fieri quo futurus essem et securus et felix.

5 maluere, Ernesti.

tiano' earlier in the letter. Her mother seems to have been the rich Pompeia Celerina to whom Ep. i 4 is written, and who is mentioned iii 19, 8, and vi 10, 1, and ad Trai. 51. Of the first wife nothing is known, but in 98 he married Calpurnia, granddaughter of Calpurnius Fabatus. See Ep. iv I, I, and 19, I. For further particulars of this marriage, see infra in Ep. 120.

§ 3. sed dii melius. Cf. Tac. Ann. iv 38, melius Augustum qui speraverit,' and Germ. 19, 'melius quidem adhuc eae civitates.'

omnia integra-reservarunt. It seems to me, in opposition to Döring,

that Pliny undoubtedly means that it was better to become a father now by Trajan's favour, than naturally under Domitian.

malui. This is the reading of Avantius and Aldus, and seems distinctly preferable to Ernesti's maluerunt.

hoc potius tempore patrem fieri: cf. Panegyr. § 26, 'Super omnia est tamen quod talis es ut sub te liberos tollere libeat expediat.'

futurus essem. Past tense, because referring to the time (expressed by malui) when he made the petition: subjunctive because implying the motive then in his mind.

III A [XX]

De Sortitione patrocinii adversus Marium Priscum

C. PLINIUS TRAIANO IMPERATORI

Ut primum me, domine, indulgentia vestra promovit ad I praefecturam aerarii Saturni, omnibus advocationibus, quibus alioqui numquam eram promiscue functus, renuntiavi, ut toto

§ 1. Since I was promoted, sire, to the praefecture of the aerarium Saturni, I have declined to act as advocate, and have devoted myself to my official duties. § 2. Accordingly when the provincials of Africa asked me to appear against Marius Priscus, I begged to be excused. But when the consul designatus proposed a formal resolution that I should place myself at the disposal of the senate, I thought it best to consent. § 3. I hope my action will meet with your approval.

This letter was certainly written in the second half of 99; possibly after Trajan's return from Germany. The case of Marius was finally settled in January 100 A.D.: Ep. ii 11, 10, 'Princeps praesidebat; erat enim consul; ad hoc

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animo delegato mihi officio vacarem. Qua ex causa, cum patronum me provinciales optassent contra Marium Priscum, et

Mommsen proves (Hermes, iii) that the consules suffecti for the year were designated on January 9. As Nerva died on January 27, Pliny must have received his appointment between those two dates in 98 A.D.

praefecturam

aerarii Saturni. Under the republic the aerarium Saturni was the only treasury, and was administered by the two city quaestors. Marquadt, Staatsverw. ii. p. 299. But Augustus after the division of the provinces in 27 B. C. created two new treasuries, the fiscus into which came the proceeds of the imperial provinces, and the aerarium militare, founded in 6 A.D. and supported by the vicesima hereditatum and the centesima rerum venalium. The aerarium Saturni in addition to its former revenues now received the proceeds of the senatorial provinces. Nominally the senate had the disposal of it, and was allowed by Augustus to choose praefects (Tac. Ann. i 75, and xiii 29), who were praetorii in rank, Dio Cass. 53, 2.

δύο κατ ̓ ἔτος ἐκ τῶν ἐκστρατηγηκότων aipeîolaι èkéλeve, and Suet. Aug. 36; but virtually the emperor had the real power; Dio Cass. 53, 16.

Tac. Ann. xiii 29 gives the history of the office up to Nero, 'Varie habita ac saepe mutata eius rei forma. Nam Augustus senatui permisit deligere praefectos deinde ambitu suffragiorum suspecto, sorte ducebantur ex numero praetorum, qui praessent: neque id diu mansit, quia sors deerrabat ad parum idoneos. Tunc Claudius quaestores rursum imposuit; iisque, ne metu offensionum segnius consulerent, extra ordinem honores promisit. Sed deerat robur aetatis, eum primum magistratum capessentibus. Igitur Nero praetura perfunctos, et experientia probatos delegit.'

See also Suet. Claud. 24, Dio Cass. 60, 4; Tac. Hist. iv shows that Vespasian appointed praetores again. Since Nerva two praefecti aerarii were appointed by the emperor from the number of the praetorii to hold office for three years. The praefects had to administer the aerarium, to assign money for various purposes, and to superintend the jurisdiction of all treasury cases. See Marquadt. Staatsverw. ii 302, 303; Mommsen's Staatsrecht, vol. ii pp. 544-547; and Pauly, Real Encyclop. vol. vi p. 9; also the Pliny-inscription, and Orelli, 77, and 3168.

advocationibus. Under the Republic the advocatus was a jurisconsult who did not speak for his client in court, which was the duty of the orator or patronus, but simply supported the points of law by his opinion or presence. Under the empire the distinction between the speaker and the expert disappeared, and the advocatus combined both functions. Pauly, Real Encyclop. vol. i. p. 78.

quibus numquam eram promiscue functus. Pliny began his career as an advocate when still young; Ep. i 18, 3,

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eram acturus adolescentulus adhuc.' Both in this letter, and in vi 23 he speaks as an advocate much in vogue, and able to give advice and patronage to younger and less experienced men. He usually pleaded before the centumviri in cases relating to wills and successions; Ep. vi 12, 2, in arena mea, hoc est apud centumviros'; and Mart. x 19, Totos dat (Plinius) tetricae dies Minervae, Dum centum studet auribus virorum.' See also iv 16; iv 21; v 9, 2; ix 23, I, etc. On two occasions he takes up the cause of a town, as that of his native place, Comum, Ep. ii 5, and that of Firmum, vi 18. Ordinary criminal cases before the praetors, he only mentions twice, i 18, 6, and vi 33, 9. Of state trials on the charge of repetundae before the senate, Pliny had up to this time only undertaken one, viz. that on behalf of the provincials of Baetica against Baebius Massa, the proconsul there. See vii 33, and vi 29. After a preliminary inquiry an danda esset inquisitio,' the case was tried before the senate, Pliny and Herennius Senecio being appointed advocates of the province by the senate. Massa was condemned, and it was decreed 'ut bona eius publice custodirentur.' The date is fixed by Tac. Agr. 45, 'et Massa Baebius iam tum reus erat,' i.e. at the death of Agricola.

delegato mihi officio. Cf. Ep. viii 3, 'curis delegati a vobis officii detentus.'

§ 2. cum patronum me provinciales optassent contra Marium Priscum. Cf. iii 9, 1, whence it appears that it was not the province collectively, 'sed Marium una civitas publice multique privati reum peregerunt,' i.e. it was not the 'concilium provinciae' as in the case of Varenus, vii 6, but only one town and a number of individual accusers. For the case of Marius see Juv. i 49,

petii veniam huius muneris et impetravi. Sed cum postea con- 2 sul designatus censuisset agendum nobiscum, quorum erat excusatio recepta, ut essemus in senatus potestate pateremurque nomina nostra in urnam conici, convenientissimum esse tranquillitati saeculi tui putavi praesertim tam moderatae voluntati amplissimi ordinis non repugnare. Cui obsequio meo 3

2 censuisses tacendum, Ald.

censuisses faciendum, Casaubon.

censuisset agendum, Gruter.

viii 120; Pliny, ii 11, iii 4, iii 9, vi 29. According to Mommsen's Index Marius Priscus was a native of Baetica, iii 9 3, consul probably in 87, septemvir epulonum, ii 11, 12, and proconsul of Africa. On being accused Marius 'omissa defensione iudices petiit,' ii II, 2; i.e. he pleaded guilty of minor malpractices such as might be tried by the recuperatores or iudices recuperatorii, a board of three or five members who had only to decide upon the money to be reimbursed.

The mere fact, however,

of going before the iudices seems to have involved infamia (see iv 9), 'negant enim congruens esse retinere in senatu cui iudices dederis.' Pliny and Tacitus, who had been assigned as advocates to the provincials by the senate, objected that the accusations were too heavy to go before the iudices. After some dispute it was agreed that Marius Priscus should be tried before the iudices on the charge of repetundae, but the parties to whom Marius was said to have sold the deaths of innocent persons should be summoned before the senate. Vitellius Honoratus, accused of having bought the exile of a Roman eques, and the death of seven of his friends for 300,000 sesterces, Flavius Marcianus, of having caused another eques to be scourged, condemned to the mines, and strangled by a payment of 700,000 sesterces, were accordingly summoned. Honoratus was dead, but Marcianus appeared. It was however thought fairer that Marius should appear with his accomplice, and the case was put off till the next meeting of the senate in January 100, when the emperor himself presided. Meanwhile Marius had been condemned by the iudices on the charge of repetundae (ii II, 13), 'erat ergo perquam onerosum accusare damnatum.' After a three days' trial, it was decreed, on the proposal of Cornutus Tertullus, one of the consules designati (the trial therefore was later than the 9th of January), 'septingenta millia quae acceperat Marius aerario

inferenda Mario urbe Italiaque interdicendum: Martiano hoc amplius Africa.' It was carried as a rider, 'quod ego et Tacitus iniuncta advocatione diligenter et fortiter functi essemus, arbitrari senatum ita nos fecisse ut dignum mandatis partibus fuerit.' Whether the case of Classicus was begun in September 99 or September 101 is disputed between Mommsen, who takes the latter view, and Masson, Stobbe, and Peter, who take the former. A comparison of iii 4, 2, and ad Trai. 8, 3, prove September to have been the date at which the case was given to Pliny. In September 100 Pliny was consul, and therefore 99 and 101 alone. remain. The chief argument for 99 seems to be the order in which Pliny mentions the cases in vi 29. But stronger arguments on the other side are (1) iii 4, 8, Computabam si munere hoc iam tertio fungerer,' and (2) as both cases were during the praefecture of the aerarium, the hesitation as to whether his duties would allow him to undertake the case would naturally be expressed with regard to the former of the two cases. Mommsen's view, however, supposes that Pliny was praefectus aerarii Saturni for four years instead of three, 98-101 A. D. See also p. 23, note 8.

consul designatus censuisset. The consules ordinarii were designated at the end of the year; the consules suffecti not till the following January; see above. The consul designatus, therefore, must be Sex. Iulius Frontinus. If it had been Trajan, as the reading 'censuisses' would imply, the words at the end of the letter, 'opto ut existimes constare rationem would be needless.

nomina nostra in urnam conici. The procedure seems to have been this: when a governor was accused of repetundae, if the provincials did not ask for any particular advocate, the senate named several, who were then selected by sortitio. The provincials, however, often did ask for some particular patronus; cf. iii 4, 2, 'Legati provinciae Baeticae advocatum

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