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Rating: 
Summary: Solid and readable
Review: Enjoyable collection of 10 books of letters written by Gaius Plinius Luci. The first nine are collections of personal letters, the last being a posthumous collection of letters written between Pliny and Emperor Trajan. Although I found little insight into the broader social strata of the Roman upper class of Pliny's time from these letters, they are for the most part an enjoyable look inside the mind and character of one of its more respectable members. The collections of personal letters can get a tad tedious at times, but the last book, containing the correspondence with Trajan, is consistently fascinating as we get a brief peek into the administrative machiniations between one of Rome's finest monarchs and a loyal agent.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: Having read the letters of Pliny in the original Latin, I picked up a copy of this book to enjoy at a lesiurely pace (and without the hassel of looking up every 15th word!). I could not have been more pleased with Radice's translation of the work. She brings his stories to life, while maintaining the nuances found in the Latin. Wonderful!!
Rating:
Summary: Delightful re-acquaintance with the old Romans
Review: In high school I was an eager student of Latin, and so having read Caesar, Sallustius, Livius and many other great authors in the original, I was under the impression of having a good background in Roman history. And so it came that I didn't read anything about this particular historical period in at least fifteen years. Pliny's letters made me realise how superficial and cliche-ridden my understanding of that epoch was. It seems that as a high school student one is focused on the language to such a degree that the broader outlines of the enveloping history simply recede into the background. As a successful, professional lawyer, as a member of a respected family, patron of a vast network of clients, as an accomplished writer, a more or less efficient administrator and prosperous land owner, Pliny embodies the quintessence of the political and cultural elite in the imperial capital. His carefully groomed letters reveal a fascinating picture of the mature Empire. What emerges from this book is a panoramic picture of a world that is not even very different from our own. Admittedly, the summit of the societal pyramid in 2nd century Rome was populated by a much smaller and more select group of people compared to the upper middle class in the advanced economies of today. But apart from the numbers, the life style of these two groups seems to have a lot of things in common. Take geographical mobility as an example. Pliny was originally descendant from the Como area in Northern Italy. Obviously, most of his time was spent in the capital, where he had a villa at the shores of the Thyrannean Sea. Additionally, he had an estate in what is now Tuscany. Finally there was his wife's estate in Campania, which is pretty far down the heel of the Italian peninsula. Much the same as today's professional elite, and undettered by vastly more primitive means of transportation and communication, Pliny shuttles back and forth between his estates, hundreds of kilometers apart. I take this as anecdotal evidence of the fact that, irrespective of historical epoch, elites have always transcended geographical distance in exercising their professional and social obligations. And many other aspects of Pliny's professional and social life remind us of our life world today. In sum, I find the texture and 'feel' of this collection of letters decidedly modern. Another aspect that filters through Pliny's correspondence is the fact that Rome could be a very dangerous place to live, at least for those in the spotlights of the political scene. The Empire can, perhaps, be best described as a 'quasi-totalitarian' state. A bit like the China of today, or worse. We now from Suetonius' account how damaging and dangerous the paranoia of individuals such as Domitian could be for whoever opposed them. Pliny confirms this through many of his more or less oblique references to Domitian's despotic reign of terror. The final bundle of letters contains the correspondence with the emperor Trajan, whom Pliny obviously reveres. The insights into the workings of Rome's administrative machinery to govern such a vast empire, are fascinating. Ultimately, one is astonished by the patience and competence that this particular emperor brings to bear to the many and sometimes trivial issues that his man in the East requests his advice on. One would think that Trajan would have better things to do. This testifies of the impressive efficiency and robustness of Rome's governance apparatus. This collection of letters is thoroughly recommended to anyone interested in studying the predicament of our own time through the distorting but fascinating mirror of the past.
Rating: 
Summary: Pliny the Playful
Review: Pliny's letters are simply a delight. In this world of instant communication we forget the vast distances letters had to travel in the past and therefore the care that their authors put into writing them. Pliny is no exception to the rule, his letters are teeming with light and a love of life and contemplation. But if nothing else he gives us a window on an age that peaks the imagination like few others.
Rating:
Summary: Pliny the Playful
Review: Pliny's letters are simply a delight. In this world of instant communication we forget the vast distances letters had to travel in the past and therefore the care that their authors put into writing them. Pliny is no exception to the rule, his letters are teeming with light and a love of life and contemplation. But if nothing else he gives us a window on an age that peaks the imagination like few others.
Rating:
Summary: Life from near the top during Rome's golden age
Review: Pliny's self-selected letters comprise a fascinating bit of ancient autobiography, and should be of interest to a wide variety of readers. His descriptions of trials, and of his often slimy opposing counsel, will amuse modern attorneys. The letters between Pliny and the Emperor Trajan read much like modern e-mails between a CEO and a diligent corporate manager. I first read Pliny at the same time as the "Meditations" of Marcus Aurelius; the two books provide a striking contrast between two typically Roman world-views -- Pliny wanting nothing so much as posthumous fame, Aurelius musing on the vanity of all earthly pursuits given their utter meaninglessness after we turn to dust.
Ms. Radice's translation is smooth and enjoyable, retaining a certain air of distance given the source's antiquity but not becoming stilted or precious.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful glimpse into Imperial Rome
Review: This is a great edition of the collected letters of Pliny the Younger, ably translated and introduced by Betty Radice who for many years was the editor of the Penguin Classics. While many readers will immediately look for Pliny's most famous letters, i.e. his description of the eruption of Vesuvius, written for his friend Tacitus, and his letter to the Emperor Trajan asking for an opinion on how to deal with those troublesome Christians, there's a great deal more here, including Pliny writing on ghosts, talking about Roman politics and law, and just chatting to his friends. Especially interesting is the final section of letters which Pliny wrote to the Emperor Trajan when Pliny was the emperor's representative in Pontus and Bithynia. Pliny's obsequious tone is quite different from his personal letters, and I can almost picture Trajan rolling his eyes when his secretary arrived with another of Pliny's overly deferential missives. Overall there's a lot to enjoy here; not only do we obtain a unique glimpse into the workings of the Roman Empire at its height under one of its best emperors, but we also get more of a feel for Pliny than we do for Cicero in his equally famous but often less personable letters.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful glimpse into Imperial Rome
Review: This is a great edition of the collected letters of Pliny the Younger, ably translated and introduced by Betty Radice who for many years was the editor of the Penguin Classics. While many readers will immediately look for Pliny's most famous letters, i.e. his description of the eruption of Vesuvius, written for his friend Tacitus, and his letter to the Emperor Trajan asking for an opinion on how to deal with those troublesome Christians, there's a great deal more here, including Pliny writing on ghosts, talking about Roman politics and law, and just chatting to his friends. Especially interesting is the final section of letters which Pliny wrote to the Emperor Trajan when Pliny was the emperor's representative in Pontus and Bithynia. Pliny's obsequious tone is quite different from his personal letters, and I can almost picture Trajan rolling his eyes when his secretary arrived with another of Pliny's overly deferential missives. Overall there's a lot to enjoy here; not only do we obtain a unique glimpse into the workings of the Roman Empire at its height under one of its best emperors, but we also get more of a feel for Pliny than we do for Cicero in his equally famous but often less personable letters.
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