Letters
by Pliny the Younger · Epistulae
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- c. 97-112 CE
- Era
- Roman Empire
- Language
- Latin
- Length
- Medium · 300 pp120 to 300 pages
- Difficulty
- Moderate2 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Letters of the Younger Pliny, translated by Betty RadicePenguin Classics, 1969Complete, including the correspondence with Trajan, in a translation that reads easily.
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Ten books of letters by a senator and lawyer of the reign of Trajan, the first nine selected and polished by Pliny himself for publication, the tenth his official correspondence as governor of Bithynia with the emperor. The private letters describe his villas, his reading and writing, court cases, the death of friends, a haunted house, and, in two letters to Tacitus, the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 in which his uncle the Elder Pliny died. The letters to Trajan include his inquiry about how to treat Christians and the emperor's reply, the earliest official Roman account of the new religion.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Letters are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.