| Pliny the Younger (Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus) | |
|---|---|
| Birthplace | Como |
| Occupation | Politician, author |
(Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus; Gaius Plinius Caecilius Junior, or Minor). Born A.D. 61 or 62 in Novum Comum (now Como); died circa 114. Roman writer and statesman.
Pliny the Younger became a consul in 100 and served as imperial governor of the province of Bithynia and Pontus from 111 to 113. He adhered to the traditional views of the Roman senatorial aristocracy, who were opposed to the Julio-Claudian and Flavian dynasties but were reconciled to the imperial power under Nerva and Trajan. Of Pliny’s many works, only a collection of letters in ten books and an oration in praise of Trajan (Panegyric on Trajan) have been preserved. His legal orations and poetry have been lost. The letters, which contain valuable information on the culture, everyday life, and economic and political history of imperial Rome, include a gallery of portraits of Pliny’s contemporaries. One of the main sources for reconstructing the social aspects of upper-class life under the Roman Empire, Pliny’s letters are also considered models of the epistolary genre.