Wrath of the gods a few years after the event, pliny wrote a friend, cornelius tacitus, describing the happenings of late august 79 ad when the eruption of vesuvius obliterated pompeii, killed his uncle and almost destroyed his family. Main article primary sources 1 pliny the elder was commander of the misenum naval base and died while trying to rescue people living in the bay of naples during the eruption of mount vesuvius in ad 79. I know that would raise many questions about the nature of the rest of our sources but lets imagine the authenticity of the passage in isolation from everything else for now. But as he was leading a group of survivors to safety, pliny the elder was overtaken by a cloud of poisonous gas, and suffocated to death on the beach at age 56. Pliny the younger ancient rome classical literature. Pliny was the governor of the roman province of bithynia, located in asia minor. Ancient evidence for jesus from nonchristian sources. Pliny the youngers letters were discovered in the 16th century. Pliny the younger or gaius plinius caecilius secundus 62c. Pliny was the roman governor of bithynia in asia minor. According to pliny the younger, the fleet and its commander disembarked at stabiae, a town on the shore near pompeii. We possess a long inscription which mentions his entire career, one or two of his houses have been discovered, and more importantly we can still read many of his letters. Are pliny the younger and tacitus reliable sources for the.
Pliny the younger in light of the christian new testament sources although there are limitations, a number of details in pliny s letter correspond with what we learn from the new testament texts. Firth 1900 a few words and phrases have been modified. Book xviii, on agriculture, is especially important for agricultural techniques such as crop rotation, farm management. Pliny the younger, roman official and historian 61112 ce pliny the younger c. In his reply, pliny the younger described the eruption. This is due to the strong seismic activity occurring in mount vesuvius, it had caused the waters to recede from the shore.
Portrait of a roman man 80100 ce the roman senator pliny the younger is one of the few people from antiquity who is more to us than just a name. He had always been the younger brother of the crown prince titus, and he was unprepared when he had to succeed his brother in 81. Chambers, pliny the younger s character as revealed through his letters 1998 stanley e. Through his many detailed letters epistulae to friends and associates, he has become one of the bestknown of all roman writers. He was the grandson of senator and landowner gaius caecilius, revered his uncle, pliny the elder who at this time was extremely famous around the roman empire, and provided sketches of how his uncle worked on. After being first tutored at home, pliny moved to rome where he was taught by quintilian, the citys first professor of rhetoric.
Pliny and his mother were living with him at misenum when vesuvius erupted in 79 ce. He did some research regarding these christians and this is what he came. It is interesting to note that pliny never mentioned the towns of herculaneum ercolano and pompeii so that their existence remained unknown until the late 16th century. Many of these sources, apart from plinys, have a particular focus of enquiry pliny the younger. Pliny the younger simple english wikipedia, the free. The letters of pliny the younger gaius plinius caecilius secundus are presented here in the english translation by j. Pliny s uncle, pliny the elder, helped raise and educate him and they were both witnesses to the eruption of vesuvius on august 24th, 79 ad. Roman senator, nephew of pliny the elder, governor of bithyniapontus 109111, author of a famous collection of letters. Students read roman pliny the younger s firstperson description of the 79 ad eruption of mt.
Pliny, who was only seventeen at the time of the eruption, was living with his mother and his uncle in the north of the bay of naples. There are other sources that put the eruption date into october derived from the fact that fresh olives were found in some houses in pompeii. I got pliny the younger s letter to trajan from the notes to eusebius ecclesiastical history, book iii, ch. From the book of acts, written around 80 ce and chronicles the emergence of the early church, a huge riot broke out just south of ephesus 19. Trajan appointed pliny the younger, a distinguished senator and literary man, as governor of bithynia a province suffering from previous maladministration. Pliny the younger was a successful lawyer, administrator and author of ancient rome.
Pliny the younger 5 pliny the younger or gaius plinius caecilius secundus 62c. Born of the wealthy caecilius family at comum in northern italy, pliny the younger, as he was later known, was probably given his early education by tutors. Early historical documents on jesus christ new advent. Pliny the younger, latin in full gaius plinius caecilius secundus, born 6162 ce, comum italydied c. Betty radice, letters of the younger pliny viking press 1976 betty radice, pliny letters and panegyricus harvard univ pr 1969 p. Afterwards, tacitus, the roman historian, wrote to the nephew of pliny the elder and asked him what had happened. Pliny the younger, russian river brewings worldfamous and excessively hoppy triple ipa, is about to make its debut for 2020, where it will be on taps from february 7 until february 20. It is unclear what the initial charges are, but he ultimately decided. Pliny the younger s letters were discovered in the 16th century. Wikipedia viewed september 6, 2011 pliny the younger 61 ad ca. Pliny the youngerto be distinguished from pliny the elder, his maternal uncle and the author of the encyclopedic natural historywas born in comum modern como in transpadane italy c.
We have a whole set of exchanges of his letters with the emperor trajan on a variety of administrative political matters. Pliny the younger of greater importance is the letter of pliny the younger to the emperor trajan about a. Pliny the elder had been a cavalry officer in the rhine army and had some literary pretensions. Pliny likely wrote the letters from amisus before his term ended in january 1. Primary sources letters of pliny the younger and the. This is the primary source that historians have used to understand the events of the 24th of august 79 ad. Pliny the elder, roman savant and author of the celebrated natural history, an encyclopedic work of uneven accuracy that was an authority on scientific matters up to the middle ages. Pliny s dates are pinned to the eruption of mount vesuvius in ad 79 and a statement of his nephew that he died in his 56th year, which would put his birth in ad 23 or 24 pliny was the son of an equestrian gaius plinius celer and his wife marcella.
Pliny the younger primary sources caius plinius caecilius secundus pliny the younger the son of a landowner named caius caecilius was born in ad 61. A few years after the event, pliny wrote a friend, cornelius tacitus, describing the happenings of late august 79 ad when the eruption of vesuvius obliterated pompeii, killed his uncle and almost destroyed his family. Click on the l symbols to go the latin text of each letter. Roman senator, nephew of pliny the elder, governor of bithynia pontus 109. We will look at who pliny was, what he said, and why he doesnt actually count as historical evidence for a jesus christ pliny the younger is regularly used to say that there are external sources for jesus christ. In the video above and in this article, i will show how wrong that sentiment is. Neither the younger nor the elder pliny mention the names. Pliny the elder is our double ipa, so we felt it was fitting to name our triple ipa after his son. Pliny describes this as as if it were being pushed back by the shaking of the land. His letters also confirm jesuss life and that his followers believed he was god from the beginning of the christian movement. Pliny the younger wrote two letters to tacitus describing his view of the eruption of mount vesuvius from misenum. Houghton mifflin social studies a message of ancient days. He asks emperor trajan about various ways to conduct legal proceedings against those accused of being christians. Gaius plinius caecilius secundus known as pliny the younger in the englishspeaking world, to distinguish him from his.
Today we are going to talk about whether or not pliny the younger is independent evidence that jesus actually existed. Later, pliny would call the year of his praetorship and the following years the most difficult of his life. He held several government posts including commander of the misenum fleet. Here lies the skull of pliny the elder, maybe the new. Pliny the younger live from 61ad to 112ad and his letters to cornelius tacitus are the most famous report of the mt. He left a collection of letters which offers intimate glimpses into public and private life during the roman empire. Feb 01, 2009 pliny essentially says nothing on the subject of jesus himself, he only talks about christians, and tacitus makes a remark about jesus execution, but could simply be quoting christian beliefs, and it is very unlikely that he actually researched this, or had any government documents to research about jesus, for that matter. Pliny the younger was the governor of bithynia and pontus on the black sea coast of anatolia, having arrived there around september 111 as the representative of emperor trajan. Their ultimate source is a fragmentary inscription cil v 1 3442 found in a field in. And i approach the keyboard with my tail tucked between my legs. Gaius plinius caecilius secundus, known as pliny the younger, was the son of a landowner from comum in northern italy. Pliny the younger was governor of pontusbithynia from 1111 ad. These two letters are the most famous, in which pliny the younger encounters christianity for the first time.
Pliny the younger and lucian yet another historian here makes anecdotal references to early christians the christians, you know, worship a man to this day the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account. See key to translations for an explanation of the format. In pliny the younger s account, it was then that his uncle uttered the immortal words fortune favors the brave. These letters to tacitus from pliny play a crucial part of helping to understand the events of what happened on the day of the eruption of mt. Pliny the younger, the roman governor of bithynia and pontus now in modern turkey wrote a letter to emperor trajan around ad 112 and asked for counsel on dealing with the early christian community. This is because apart from the archaeological sites of pompeii and herculaneum, the letters of pliny the younger are the only primary sources that have been found. He was the governor in the roman province of bithynia modern day turkey when a number of christians were brought into his court. Pliny the younger, the man, was pliny the elders nephew and adopted son. Gaius or caius plinius caecilius secundus, born gaius or caius plinius caecilius 6163 in como ca. In the year 112, pliny the younger was faced with a dilemma. Hoffer, the anxieties of pliny the younger american philological. As it happens, the governor who preseded this trial was pliny the younger, who wrote a letter about this incident to the emperor trajan, whose reply also survives.
Caius plinius caecilius secundus pliny the younger the son of a landowner named caius caecilius was born in ad 61. Pliny the youngers letters have furthered our understanding of roman society and history. He adopted pliny the younger, who later became governor of bithynia. It is almost a true triple ipa with triple the amount of hops as a regular i. Pliny the youngers letter on the early christians in the. After his fathers death pliny was brought up by his uncle, pliny the elder.
Pliny the younger quotes author of the letters of the. Gaius plinius secundus ad 232479, called pliny the elder. I have spent these several days past, in reading and writing, with the most pleasing tranquillity imaginable. He had published two books on military matters and had written one of the first latin biographies. Pliny the younger was born in novum comum como, northern italy around 61 ad, the son of lucius caecilius cilo, born there, and his wife plinia marcella, a sister of pliny the elder. This bibliography was generated on cite this for me on tuesday, may 12, 2015.
Apr 16, 2020 pliny the younger in light of the christian new testament sources although there are limitations, a number of details in plinys letter correspond with what we learn from the new testament texts. He was the grandson of senator and landowner gaius caecilius, revered his uncle, pliny the elder who at this time was extremely famous around the roman empire. A serious quarrel among scholars concerning its genuineness arose between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. Sep 12, 2019 pliny the younger is regularly used to say that there are external sources for jesus christ. Another source of evidence about jesus is found in the letters of pliny the younger to emperor trajan.
The comments at the bottom of the letters have been added from various sources. Vesuvius, and then compare it to a secondary source description of the same event. The roman senator pliny the younger is one of the few people from antiquity who is. The younger pliny notes that the sea was being sucked backwards, therefore making it dangerous for his uncle to travel by sea. Pliny the younger and elder history bibliographies cite. In his first letter, pliny wrote about seeing a large cloud in the sky that he described as being similar to a pine tree. Pliny is one of the chief sources of modern knowledge of roman gardens, early botanical writings, and the introduction into italy of new horticultural and agricultural species. Evidence from pliny the younger another important source of evidence about jesus and early christianity can be found in the letters of pliny the younger to emperor trajan. Pliny the youngers writings provide one of the first nonbiblical texts to address early christians and romes response. The elder put in where he could, at stabiae, just south of pompeii, and. Pliny the younger is another valuable historical source for information on jesus and the early church.
The original source is pliny the younger, epistles 10. The work, which was largely complete by 77 ce, is divided into 37 books and covers such subjects as botany, zoology, and astronomy. In the year 112 ad, he wrote to the emperor trajan, asking how he should deal with those in his region who have been accused of being christians. The destruction of pompeii, 79 ad eyewitness to history. May 12, 2015 these are the sources and citations used to research pliny the younger and elder. Pliny the youngers letter to trajan regarding the christians is a crucial subject for the studies on early christianity. Pliny the younger 6 pliny the younger or gaius plinius caecilius secundus 62c.