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
3 - Pliny: Champion of the Vulnerable
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
Neque enim sum tam sapiens ut nihil mea intersit, an iis quae honeste fecisse me credo testificatio quaedam et quasi praemium accedat.
Pliny, Epistulae 5.1.13For I am not so philosophical that it is of no importance to me whether certain affirmation and reward, as it were, accrue to those things that I believe I have done with integrity.
In Pliny's time, in marked contrast to the days of the republic, exchanging a life lived under the intense scrutiny of the emperor for one enjoyed as a country gentleman was becoming not only more acceptable but even desirable. Secessio was a safer path, and one that might bring significantly more cachet for elites through their local benefactions than the honorary offices available in Rome. But this newly defined elite identity by no means enticed all of Rome's upper class. Many Romans still firmly adhered to the ancestral call to pietas, in which all men were required to balance their lives between service to the state, proper cultivation of the gods, and care and support of family members.
His political career and interaction with Trajan, as illuminated by both the Epistulae and the Panegyricus, attest to Pliny's devotion to the state.
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- Information
- Pliny's WomenConstructing Virtue and Creating Identity in the Roman World, pp. 100 - 137Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009