Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Pliny: Enemy of Tyrants
- 2 Pliny: Model Protégé
- 3 Pliny: Champion of the Vulnerable
- 4 Pliny: Creator of the Ideal Wife
- 5 Pliny: Arbiter of Virtue
- Conclusions
- Appendix A Stemmata
- Appendix B Women in Pliny's Letters
- Appendix C Frequency of Personal Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives in Pliny's Letters
- Bibliography
- Index Locorum
- General Index
2 - Pliny: Model Protégé
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 January 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Pliny: Enemy of Tyrants
- 2 Pliny: Model Protégé
- 3 Pliny: Champion of the Vulnerable
- 4 Pliny: Creator of the Ideal Wife
- 5 Pliny: Arbiter of Virtue
- Conclusions
- Appendix A Stemmata
- Appendix B Women in Pliny's Letters
- Appendix C Frequency of Personal Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives in Pliny's Letters
- Bibliography
- Index Locorum
- General Index
Summary
Quantum ille famae meae domi in publico, quantum etiam apud principem adstruxit.
Pliny, Epistulae 4.17.7The more he built up my reputation at home and in public, the more he also built it up with the emperor.
While he labors to connect himself with the past and its righteous opponents of bad emperors, Pliny's present and future political identity depends on his interaction with Trajan and those in close orbit with the princeps. Pliny has no father after whom to pattern himself, and his Uncle Pliny's career as an equestrian and military man was not the sort of state service Pliny envisioned for himself. To ensure access to the emperor and opportunities for advancement and recognition, Pliny needed to forge and maintain close ties with other prominent and powerful men. If his letters are to serve his image properly, they must illuminate for the reader Pliny's political journey and must highlight the individuals who shaped and supported it.
Creating a political pedigree had been a requirement for advancement in the Roman world long before Pliny's time. Even the most powerful Roman families during the republic relied for political support upon their close connections to other elite clans – obligations forged through beneficia given and accepted in the name of amicitia. Young men of promise from various families shadowed the powerful, both to learn political maneuvering and public speaking and to secure their association with the ruling elite.
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- Information
- Pliny's WomenConstructing Virtue and Creating Identity in the Roman World, pp. 68 - 99Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009