Pliny: A Self-Portrait

The lawyer and magistrate Pliny the Younger (AD 61-112) left behind a correspondence that gives insight into an extraordinary life at the height of the Roman Empire. Among the most famous letters are his remarkable eyewitness account of the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, and his letter to the Emperor Trajan on the treatment of Christians. Many of his letters were written with publication in mind, while others are more personal. ‘I am furious with you’, he writes to a friend who has broken a dinner engagement, while in another he reveals his career disillusionment: ‘My time is taken up with official duties, important but none the less tiresome.’ From the pitfalls of political corruption under emperors both ruthless and capricious, to the tranquil bliss of his country home, Pliny followed his own advice: ‘a wise man will choose [a part] within his capacity to play to the end.’