The circumstances of this house, however, are as follows. Claudius Polyænus left it by will to Claudius Cæsar, with the injunction that a temple should be raised to him in the peristyle, and the rest of the house should be let. For some time the commonwealth derived a revenue from it: afterwards, by degrees, partly through plunder, partly through neglect, the whole house has tumbled to pieces, peristyle included: and indeed by this time hardly anything of it remains but the ground on which it stood. If you, sir, would either make a present of this ground to the state, or order it to be sold, the act would be received as a great boon, on account of the eligibility of the site. For my part, if you will allow me, I design to place the baths where the open court was, and to enclose the place where the buildings were with a vestibule and colonnades to be dedicated to you, the benefactor to whom will be owing this handsome construction, worthy of your name. I have forwarded you a copy, though it is an imperfect one, of the will. From this you will see that Polyænus left many things for the adornment of this same house, which have disappeared with the house itself. However, I will make as diligent inquiry as possible for them.
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71 (76.) — TRAJAN TO PLINY.
The inhabitants of Prusa are permitted to use the courtyard with the ruined house, which you tell me is vacant, for the construction of their baths. There is one thing, however, which you have not made sufficiently clear: whether the temple to Claudius was erected in the peristyle. For if it was erected, then, although it may have fallen down, the ground on which it stood is sacred.
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72 (77.) — TO TRAJAN.
Having been applied to by certain parties to take personal cognisance of claims of freedom and the restoration of birthrights, in accordance with the rescript of Domitian written to Minucius Rufus, and the precedents set by proconsuls, I referred to the acts of the Senate pertaining to this kind of cause. It speaks of those provinces only which are governed by proconsuls. Consequently I have deferred the matter as it stands till you, sir, shall have advised what course you would have me follow.
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73 (73.) — TRAJAN TO PLINY.
When you have sent me the act of the Senate which has caused you to hesitate, I shall judge whether you ought to take cognisance of claims of freedom and the restoration of birthrights.
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74 (16.) — TO TRAJAN.
Appuleius, sir, an officer quartered at Nicomedia, has written to me of a certain person named Callidromus, who having been detained by Maximus and Dionysius, two bakers, in whose service he had engaged himself, fled for refuge to your statue. Being brought before the magistrates, he declared that he had formerly been in the service of Laberius Maximus, that he was made prisoner by Susagus in Mœsia, and sent by Decebalus as a present to Pacorus, the king of Parthia. In his service he remained for a number of years, and subsequently made his escape, and so came to Nicomedia. I had him brought before me, and, on his repeating the same story, have thought it right to send him to you. This I have delayed doing for a short time, while I searched for a gem which he declared had been stolen from him, and which contained the portrait of Pacorus in his insignia. For I wished to send this to you at the same time, if it could have been found, as I have sent a nugget which he says he brought from a mine in Parthia. It is sealed up with my ring, the device of which is a chariot with four horses.
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75 (79.) — TO TRAJAN.
Julius Largus of Pontus, sir, whom I had never seen or even heard of — he must, to be sure, have confided in your judgment — has made me, as it were, the steward and minister of his affection towards you. For he has requested me in his will to enter upon his estate, and after taking for myself a sum of fifty thousand sesterces to bestow the whole of the residue on the cities of Heraclea and Tios; with the proviso that it should be at my option to decide whether buildings should be erected, to be consecrated in honour of you, or quinquennial games should be instituted, to be called the games of Trajan. I have thought it right to bring this to your knowledge, chiefly that you might consider what choice I ought to make.
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76 (80.) — TRAJAN TO PLINY.
Julius Largus has selected you, for your good faith, as though he had known you well. You must yourself, then, consider what may best serve for perpetuating his memory, in accordance with the conditions of each locality: and what you shall deem most suitable, that do.
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77 (81.) — TO TRAJAN.
You have acted most providently, sir, in ordering that distinguished man Calpurnius Macer to send a legionary centurion to Byzantium. Consider whether you are of opinion that a similar privilege might be conferred on the inhabitants of Juliopolis. Their city, being but a very small one, has very great burdens to bear: and is exposed to oppressions which are all the heavier in proportion to its weakness. Moreover, whatever you accord to the people of Juliopolis will be of service to the whole province. For they are at the entrance of Bithynia, and give passage to most of those who resort to it.
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78 (82.) — TRAJAN TO PLINY.
The condition of the city of Byzantium is such, owing to the great confluence of travellers into it from all parts, that, in accordance with the usage of previous times, I considered it proper to provide for its repute by a Legionary Centurion’s guard. If we shall think fit to assist the people of Juliopolis in the same way, we shall be burdening ourselves with a precedent. A number of others, and all the more so, the weaker they are, will be making the same request. I have such confidence in your diligence as to believe that you will use every exertion to prevent their being exposed to acts of oppression. If, however, any persons shall behave themselves contrary to my injunctions, let them be at once imprisoned: or if their offences are too great to be adequately punished in a summary way; in case they are soldiers, inform their generals of what you have discovered: in case they are coming to Rome, write to me.
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79 (83.) — TO TRAJAN.
It was provided, sir, by a law of Pompey’s given to the Bithynians, that no person should hold a public office, or sit in the Senate, under the age of thirty years. The same law included a provision that those who had been admitted to public offices should sit in the Senate. After this came an edict of the Emperor Augustus, allowing younger men to take office, the limit being two and twenty years. The question is, then, whether a man under thirty years of age, who has held office can be chosen by the Censors as a senator? And if he can, whether such also as have not held it, can, by a like interpretation, be chosen senators from the same age at which it is allowed them to hold an office? a thing which, besides has not only been often done up to the present time, but is even said to be necessary, since it is somewhat better that the sons of men of position should be admitted into the Senate rather than plebeians. Having been asked for my opinion by the Censors elect, I thought that those under thirty years of age who had held office might be chosen senators, in accordance both with the edict of Augustus and the law of Pompey: inasmuch as Augustus had allowed persons under thirty to hold office, and the law enacted that he who had held office should be a senator. As to such as had not held it, although of the same age as those who had been allowed to hold it, I hesitated. Hence I have been brought to consult you, sir, as to what course you would have followed. I have appended to this edict the heads of the law, also the edict of Augustus.
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80 (84.) — TRAJAN TO PLINY.
I agree with you, dearest Secundus, in your interpretation, that Pompey’s law has been amended by the Emperor Augustus’s edict so far as this, that persons
can be admitted to public offices, who are not under twenty-two years of age, and that such as had been so admitted should find their way into the Senate of each commonwealth. But, where no office has been entered on, I do not think that those who are under thirty years are capable of being chosen senators in their several localities, on the ground that they are eligible for such offices.
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81 (85.) — TO TRAJAN.
While I was employed in public business in my own apartments at Prusa under Mount Olympus, sir, being about to leave the same day, Asclepiades, a magistrate, announced that an appeal had been lodged with me by Claudius Eumolpus. Coccianus Dion having moved in the Council that a construction which he had had the charge of should be assigned to the city, thereupon Eumolpus, backed by Flavius Archippus, declared that Dion should be required to furnish the accounts relating to the construction before it was handed over to the city, on the ground of his not having acted as he ought to have done. He added, moreover, that in this same construction there were placed, together with your statue, the corpses of interred persons — those of Dion’s wife and son; and he demanded that I should try the matter publicly. Upon my telling him that I would immediately do this, and would adjourn my departure accordingly, he asked me to grant a longer interval for the purpose of getting up the case, and to try it in some other city. I replied that I would hear it at Nicæa. When I had taken my seat there for the purpose of trying it, the same Eumolpus, on the plea of not yet being sufficiently prepared, began by asking for an adjournment: Dion, on the other hand, demanded that it should be heard. A great deal was said on both sides, and on the merits of the case as well. For my part, being of opinion that an adjournment should be granted, and counsel taken of you in a matter likely to form a precedent, I told each side to give in a written statement of their respective demands, for I desired that you should know what was put forward, above all things, in the very words of the parties themselves. Dion said he would give this in, and Eumolpus replied that he would include in a written statement his claims on behalf of the commonwealth; but that as regarded the interred bodies, he was not the accuser, but only the advocate of Flavius Archippus, whose instructions he had obeyed. Archippus, however, who stood by Eumolpus here as at Prusa, said that he would hand in a statement. Such being the case, neither Eumolpus nor Archippus, though waited for for many days, have as yet sent me their statements. Dion has sent his, which I have joined to this letter. I myself went to the spot, and saw that your statue was added to the library. The edifice, however, where the son and wife of Dion are said to be buried is situated in the courtyard, which is enclosed by a colonnade. I pray, sir, that you would deign to direct me, especially in such a kind of investigation as this, as to which, moreover, great interest is felt. Indeed this must be the case in a matter where the charge is at the same time acknowledged and defended by precedents.
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82 (86.) — TRAJAN TO PLINY.
You might have been free from doubt, dearest Secundus, as to the matter on which you have thought it right to consult me, since you perfectly well knew my settled purpose not to attract awe to my name through fear or the terrors of men, or charges of treason. Leaving out of the question, then, an inquiry which I should not entertain even if it were supported by precedents, let the entire accounts of the construction carried out under the supervision of Coccianus Dion be investigated, since this is a course demanded by the interests of the city, and which Dion neither can oppose nor is entitled to oppose.
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83 (87.) — TO TRAJAN.
The Nicæans have publicly entreated me, sir, by what to me both are and ought to be most sacred, that is by your wellbeing and immortal fame, that I would transmit their prayers to you. Not thinking it right to refuse the request, I have appended to this letter a memorial received from them.
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84 (88.) — TRAJAN TO PLINY.
It will be your duty to entertain the affair of the Nicæans, who affirm that the Emperor Augustus granted their city the right to claim the property of such of its citizens as died intestate. You will have to convoke all persons concerned in this business, summoning to your assistance Virbius Gemellinus and Epimachus, my freedman, the imperial agents, in order that, having likewise duly weighed what is urged on the opposite side, you may together determine as you shall judge best.
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85 (17.) — TO TRAJAN.
Having found Maximus, your freedman and agent, sir, throughout the whole time that we have been together, to be an upright, active, and diligent man, one who is devoted to your interests, and at the same time most observant of discipline, I gladly give my testimony in his favour with that fidelity which I owe you.
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86 A (18.) — TO TRAJAN.
Having found Gavius Bassus, sir, the prefect of the Pontic coast, to be a man of integrity, uprightness, and industry, and with all this most respectful towards myself, I tender my wishes and suffrages on his behalf with that fidelity which I owe you.
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86 B (18.) — TO TRAJAN.
... Trained by having served under your command, to whose schooling he owes it that he is worthy of your favour. Both soldiers and civilians, who have had thorough experience of his impartiality and affability, have vied with each other in conveying to me their testimony, private as well as public, on his behalf. This I bring to your notice with that fidelity which I owe you.
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87 (19.) — TO TRAJAN.
Nymphidius Lupus, sir, a former Primipilus, was my comrade in arms at the time when I myself was Tribune and he was Præfect. From that time I began to cherish him closely. Subsequently my regard for him grew from the very length of our mutual friendship. On the strength of this, I have laid violent hands on his repose, and have forced him to assist me with his counsel in Bithynia. This he has not only already done, but will continue to do in the most friendly way, and laying aside all considerations of ease and age. For these reasons I reckon his belongings among my own, and particularly his son Nymphidius Lupus, a young man of probity and energy, one in every way worthy of his distinguished father, and who will do credit to your indulgent notice of him. This indeed you may learn from the first proofs he has given as Præfect of a cohort, in which capacity he gained the highest character from those eminent men, Julius Ferox and Fuscus Salinator. My joy and self-congratulation will be satisfied by the advancement of the son.
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88 (89.) — TO TRAJAN.
I pray, sir, that you may have the happiest of birthdays, and many others like it, and that in strength and security you may ever be adding by fresh achievements to that glory flourishing with immortal renown, which you derive from your virtues.
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89 (90.) — TRAJAN TO PLINY.
I acknowledge with thanks, dearest Secundus, the prayers you offer that I may have many birthdays, and very happy ones, with our country in a flourishing condition.
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90 (91.) — TO TRAJAN.
The inhabitants of Sinope, sir, are short of water, which it seems might be brought in, of good quality and in abundance, from a distance of sixteen miles. There is, however, close upon the source, that is a little more than a mile off, a suspicious and boggy spot: this I have meanwhile ordered to be examined, at a small expense, to see whether it is capable of receiving and supporting an aqueduct. We shall not want for money, which I have taken care to collect, provided you, sir, accord this kind of construction in view of the salubrity and attractiveness of a very thirsty town.
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91 (92.) — TRAJAN TO PLINY.
As you have begun, dearest Secundus, so go on carefully to investigate whether the particular spot, which is suspicious to you, can bear such a work as an aqueduct. For I do not doubt that water should be brought into the town of Sinope, provided the town itself can effect this at its own charge only: since such a result would add much both to its salubrity and to its agreeableness.
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92 (93.) — TO TRAJAN.
The free and confederate city of the Amiseni, by favour of your indulgence, enjoys its own laws. A petition was handed to me there relating to “Charitable Collections,” which I have appended to this letter, that you, sir, might judge what things (and how far things of this kind) should be either allowed or prohibited.
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93 (94.) — TRAJAN TO PLINY.
As to the Amiseni, whose petition you have appended to your letter: if by their laws (which they enjoy in virtue of their confederation with us) it is permitted them to have charitable collections, we cannot prevent their doing so: and all the less, if they employ contributions of this kind, not in assembling crowds and illegal gatherings, but in aiding the needs of the indigent. In the other cities which are bound by our laws, things of this kind must be prohibited.
Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Younger (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics) Page 36