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Correspondence With The Emperor TrajanPart II
Part II
XI
To the Emperor Trajan
After your late sacred father, Sir, had, in a noble speech, as well as by
his own generous example, exhorted and encouraged the public to acts of
munificence, I implored his permission to remove the several statues which I
had of the former emperors to my corporation, and at the same time requested
permission to add his own to the number. For as I had hitherto let them remain
in the respective places in which they stood when they were left to me by
several different inheritances, they were dispersed in distant parts of my
estate. He was pleased to grant my request, and at the same time to give me a
very ample testimony of his approbation. I immediately, therefore, wrote to
the decurii, to desire they would allot a piece of ground, upon which I might
build a temple at my own expense; and they, as a mark of honour to my design,
offered me the choice of any site I might think proper. However, my own ill
health in the first place, and later that of your father, together with the
duties of that employment which you were both pleased to entrust me, prevented
my proceeding with that design. But I have now, I think, a convenient
opportunity of making an excursion for the purpose, as my monthly attendance^1
ends on the 1st of September, and there are several festivals in the month
following. My first request, then, is that you would permit me to adorn the
temple I am going to erect with your statue, and next (in order to the
execution of my design with all the expedition possible) that you would
indulge me with leave of absence. It would ill become the sincerity I profess,
were I to dissemble that your goodness in complying with this desire will at
the same time be extremely serviceable to me in my own private affairs. It is
absolutely necessary I should not defer any longer the letting of my lands in
that province; for, besides that they amount to above four hundred thousand
sesterces,^2 the time for dressing the vineyards is approaching, and that
business must fall upon my new tenants. The unfruitfulness of the seasons
besides, for several years past, obliges me to think of making some abatements
in my rents; which I cannot possibly settle unless I am present. I shall be
indebted, then, to your indulgence, Sir, for the expedition of my work of
piety, and the settlement of my own private affairs, if you will be pleased to
grant me leave of absence^3 for thirty days. I cannot give myself a shorter
time, as the town and the estate of which I am speaking lie above a hundred
and fifty miles from Rome.
[Footnote 1: Pliny enjoyed the office of treasurer in conjunction with
Cornutus Tertullus. It was the custom at Rome for those who had colleagues to
administer the duties of their posts by monthly turns. Buchner. M.]
[Footnote 2: About $16,000; the annual income of Pliny`s estate in Tuscany. He
mentions another near Comum in Milan, the yearly value of which does not
appear. We find him likewise meditating the purchase of an estate, for which
he was to give about $117,000 of our money; but whether he ever completed that
purchase is uncertain. This, however, we are sure of, that his fortunes were
but moderate, considering his high station and necessary expenses; and yet, by
the advantage of a judicious economy, we have seen him, in the course of these
letters, exercising a liberality of which after-ages have furnished no
parallel. M.]
[Footnote 3: The senators were not allowed to go from Rome into the provinces
without having first obtained leave of the emperor. Sicily, however, had the
privilege to be excepted out of that law; as Gallia Narbonensis afterwards
was, by Claudius Caesar. Tacit. Ann. xii., c. 23. M.]
XII
Trajan to Pliny
You have given me many private reasons, and every public one, why you
desire leave of absence; but I need no other than that it is your desire: and
I doubt not of your returning as soon as possible to the duty of an office
which so much requires your attendance. As I would not seem to check any
instance of your affection towards me, I shall not oppose your erecting my
statue in the place you desire; though in general I am extremely cautious in
giving any encouragement to honours of that kind.
XIII
To the Emperor Trajan
As I am sensible, Sir, that the highest applause my actions can receive
is to be distinguished by so excellent a prince, I beg you would be graciously
pleased to add either the office of augur or septemvir^1 (both which are now
vacant) to the dignity I already enjoy by your indulgence; that I my have the
satisfaction of publicly offering up those vows for your prosperity, from the
duty of my office, which I daily prefer to the gods in private, from the
affection of my heart.
[Footnote 1: One of the seven priests who presided over the feasts appointed
in honour of Jupiter and the other gods; an office, as appears, of high
dignity, since Pliny ranks it with the augurship. M.]
XIV
To the Emperor Trajan
Having safely passed the promontory of Malea, I am arrived at Ephesus
with all my retinue, notwithstanding I was detained for some time by contrary
winds: a piece of information, Sir, in which, I trust, you will feel yourself
concerned. I propose pursuing the remainder of my journey to the province^1
partly in light vessels, and partly in post-chaises: for as the excessive
heats will prevent my travelling altogether by land, so the Etesian winds,^2
which are now set in, will not permit me to proceed entirely by sea.
[Footnote 1: Bithynia, a province in Anatolia, or Asia Minor, of which Pliny
was appointed governor by Trajan, in the sixth year of his reign, A.D. 103,
not as an ordinary proconsul, but as that emperor`s own lieutenant, with
powers extraordinary. (See Dio.) The following letters were written during his
administration of that province. M.]
[Footnote 2: A north wind in the Grecian seas, which rises yearly sometime in
July, and continues to the end of August; though others extend it to the
middle of September. They blow only in the daytime. Varenius` Geogr. v. i.,
p. 513. M.]
XV
Trajan to Pliny
Your information, my dear Pliny, was extremely agreeable to me, as it
does concern me to know in what manner you arrive at your province. It is a
wise intention of yours to travel either by sea or land, as you shall find
most convenient.
XVI
To the Emperor Trajan
As I had a very favourable voyage to Ephesus, so in travelling by post -
chaise from thence I was extremely troubled by the heats, and also by some
slight feverish attacks, which kept me some time at Pergamus. From there, Sir,
I got on board a coasting vessel, but, being again detained by contrary winds,
did not arrive at Bithynia so soon as I had hoped. However, I have no reason
to complain of this delay, since (which indeed was the most auspicious
circumstance that could attend me) I reached the province in time to celebrate
your birthday. I am at present engaged in examining the finances of the
Prusenses,^3 their expenses, revenues, and credits; and the farther I proceed
in this work, the more I am convinced of the necessity of my enquiry. Several
large sums of money are owing to the city from private persons, which they
neglect to pay upon various pretences; as, on the other hand, I find the
public funds are, in some instances, very unwarrantably applied. This, Sir, I
write to you immediately on my arrival. I entered this province on the 17th of
September,^4 and found in it that obedience and loyalty towards yourself which
you justly merit from all mankind. You will consider, Sir, whether it would
not be proper to send a surveyor here; for I am inclined to think much might
be deducted from what is charged by those who have the conduct of the public
works if a faithful admeasurement were to be taken: at least I am of that
opinion from what I have already seen of the accounts of this city, which I am
now going into as fully as is possible.
[Footnote 3: The inhabitants of Prusa (Brusa), a principal city of Bithynia.]
[Footnote 4: In the sixth year of Trajan`s reign, A. D. 103, and the 41st of
our author`s age: he continued in this province about eighteen months. Vid.
Mass. in Vit. Plin. 129. M.]
XVII
Trajan to Pliny
I should have rejoiced to have heard that you arrived at Bithynia without
the smallest inconvenience to yourself or any of your retinue, and that your
journey from Ephesus had been as easy as your voyage to that place was
favourable. For the rest, your letter informs me, my dearest Secundus, on what
day you reached Bithynia. The people of that province will be convinced, I
persuade myself, that I am attentive to their interest; as your conduct
towards them will make it manifest that I could have chosen no more proper
person to supply my place. The examination of the public accounts ought
certainly to be your first employment, as they are evidently in great
disorder. I have scarcely surveyors sufficient to inspect those works^1 which
I am carrying on at Rome, and in the neighborhood; but persons of integrity
and skill in this art may be found, most certainly, in every province, so that
they will not fail you if only you will make due enquiry.
[Footnote 1: Among other noble works which this glorious emperor executed, the
forum or square which went by his name seems to have been the most
magnificent. It was built with the foreign spoils he had taken in war. The
covering of this edifice was all brass, the porticoes exceedingly beautiful
and magnificent, with pillars of more than ordinary height and dimensions. M.]
XVIII
To the Emperor Trajan
Though I am well assured, Sir, that you, who never omit any opportunity
of exerting your generosity, are not unmindful of the request I lately made to
you, yet, as you have often indulged me in this manner, give me leave to
remind and earnestly entreat you to bestow the praetorship now vacant upon
Attius Sura. Though his ambition is extremely moderate, yet the quality of his
birth, the inflexible integrity he has preserved in a very narrow fortune,
and, more than all, the felicity of your times, which encourages conscious
virtue to claim your favour, induce him to hope he may experience it in the
present instance.
XIX
To the Emperor Trajan
I congratulate both you and the public, most excellent Emperor, upon the
great and glorious victory you have obtained; so agreeable to the heroism of
ancient Rome. May the immortal gods grant the same happy success to all your
designs, that, under the administration of so many princely virtues, the
splendour of the empire may shine out, not only in its former, but with
additional lustre.^1
[Footnote 1: It is possible the victory here alluded to was that famous one
which Trajan gained over the Dacians. It is certain, at least, Pliny lived to
see his wish accomplished, this emperor having carried the Roman splendour to
its highest pitch, and extended the dominions of the empire farther than any
of his predecessors; as after his death it began to decline. M.]
XX
To the Emperor Trajan
My lieutenant, Servilius Pudens, came to Nicomedia,^2 Sir, on the 24th of
November, and by his arrival freed me, at length, from the anxiety of a very
uneasy expectation.
[Footnote 2: The capital of Bithynia; its modern name is Izmid.]
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