Pliny A2 topic

Essays already discussed

Pliny's interests

Pliny's likes and dislikes

Different areas of Roman life

How far should these letters be regarded as literature?

1. Greeks used "letters" as a vehicle to publish their views. Cicero had published his, but they are basically private and genuine; Seneca's are a completely artificial vehicle for his philosophy.

Pliny suggests in I. 1 that he is publishing ones which had been written more carefully.

2. They are clearly written carefully. However it is not clear whether they were in general tidied up for publication - some seem to have been, or they were normally written with great care in the first place. They tend to refer to one topic, which makes them seem artificial.

It seems clear that Pliny thought that he was publishing letters as literature.

3. They are of literary interest because of the content - some more than others.

For example, in his discussion of Corellius and his death there is a forceful expression of his thoughts on life, pain, and losing a friend.

Several are interesting stories. In the case of two of these, the dolphin and Regulus, the legacy-hunter, Pliny says that they are being told as good stories.

When writing about his uncle's death or the trial of Marius Priscus or about Zosimus he has other reasons for writing but writes enthusiastically and with great detail.

Of least literary interest for their content probably are the letter to Tacitus about a teacher and the one about events surrounding a trial in the Centumviral court. Even in the case of the last one Pliny seems to want to make it more interesting by discussing the fickleness of public opinion.

Many of them are written in a vivid way: for example, his picture of Regulus' dealings with Verania, or the conversation between Pliny and the people of Comum, his recurring interest in oratory in the trial of Marius Priscus, his affection and concern for Zosimus.

His expression too makes his writing more interesting. In all of them there are literary devices such as anaphora, asyndeton, chiasmus and alliteration.

In two letters these are particularly abundant, the story of the dolphin and the account of his uncle's death: Pliny seems to want to make these more literary. The dolphin letter is remarkable for the large number of verbs particularly in section 4-6, often in the present or the historic infinitive to make it more vivid. The verb to be and other verbs are omitted at times to increase the feeling of liveliness.

In the account of his uncle's death Pliny describes many aspects of the eruption and people's behaviour in great detail,

and uses language effectively. For example in sections 7-9 as his uncle sails towards the volcano Pliny uses ordinary vocabulary but emphasises his description with:

variety in sentence length

alliteration,

asyndeton,

word order e.g. verbs beginning several sentences

chiasmus

anaphora

*****

It is probably in these two letters that we are most aware of Pliny's literary pretensions. But in the great majority there are many signs of them too.

What have you enjoyed about reading these letters? Make notes!

Roman world

Character of Pliny obvious- occasionally irritating

Good story-telling + mixture

Use of language

What impression do you have of Pliny's character? Make notes!

friend

master

public servant/politician

hardworking

concerned with reputation

his interests

likes and dislikes

bad points?

boastful

intolerant of others - individuals and people in general