Pliny the Younger

Christopher Whitton (University of Cambridge)

Ed. by Sophia Papaioannou, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.2: Ancient Roman Writing and Culture (Republic and Empire), -750-476.
Vol. editors: William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Jula Wildberger (American University of Paris)

Dates

Born 61
Died c. 112
Activity 80-112

Places

Born in Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire)
Active in Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire)

Activities

Primary

Judge
Politician
Prose writer

Resources

Pliny's Works

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Pliny the Younger (61/62 –

112), Roman senator and man of letters, has three unique prose works to his name: the nine-book

Epistles

, a masterpiece of fragmented autobiography, the

Panegyricus

(an oration addressed to the emperor Trajan), the only extant speech from the early Roman empire, and a book of correspondence with Trajan, probably edited posthumously and now known as

Epistles

10.

Life

Gaius (or Lucius) Caecilius Secundus was born in 61 or 62 CE to an equestrian family of Comum (modern Como, near Milan) in Transpadana, the northern Italian region that produced so many of Rome’s great literary talents. Our information about his parents is scarce. The father, L. Caecilius Secundus, must have died before Pliny reached adolescence, since a tutor (guardian) was appointed, the

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3726 words

Citation: Whitton, Christopher. "Pliny the Younger". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 July 2013; last revised 17 February 2017. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12623, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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