104 (108.) — TRAJAN TO PLINY.
105 (109.) — TO TRAJAN.
109 (110.) — TRAJAN TO PLINY.
110 (111.) — TO TRAJAN.
111 (112.) — TRAJAN TO PLINY.
112 (113.) — TO TRAJAN.
113 (114.) — TRAJAN TO PLINY.
114 (115.) — TO TRAJAN.
115 (116.) — TRAJAN TO PLINY.
116 (117.) — TO TRAJAN.
117 (118.) — TRAJAN TO PLINY.
118 (119.) — TO TRAJAN.
119 (120.) — TRAJAN TO PLINY.
120 (121.) — TO TRAJAN.
121 (122.) — TRAJAN TO PLINY.
PANEGYRICUS TRAIANI
Translated by Francis P. Garland
Pliny began writing at the age of fourteen, composing a tragedy in Greek. In the course of his life he wrote a quantity of poetry, most of which was lost despite the great affection he had for the genre. Also known as a notable orator, he regarded himself as a follower of Cicero, though his prose was more ornate in language and less direct than Cicero’s manner. The only extant oration by Pliny is the Panegyricus Traiani, which was delivered in the Senate in 100 AD and offers a description of Trajan’s figure and actions in a laudatory and emphatic form, contrasting Trajan with the former Emperor Domitian. Nevertheless, the Panegyricus Traiani is a relevant document that allows us to know many details about the Emperor’s actions in several fields of his administrative power, such as taxes, justice, military discipline and commerce.
Trajan (53-117 AD) was Emperor from 98 AD until his death. He is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor, who presided over the greatest military expansion in Roman history, leading the Empire to attain its maximum territorial extent by the time of his death. He is also known for his philanthropic rule, overseeing extensive public building programs and implementing social welfare policies, earning him his enduring reputation as the second of the Five Good Emperors.
Pliny the Younger’s “Panegyric in Praise of Trajan”
It was a good and wise custom of our ancestors to begin no act or speech without prayer. They believed it only proper and prudent to reverence the gods and seek their aid and guidance. How much more ought we now to have recourse to prayer when, by command of the senate and the will of the people, your consul is about to make an expression of gratitude to a good prince! For what gift of the gods is better or nobler than a chaste, pious, godlike prince! And I am sure that even if there were still doubt as to whether rulers are given to the world by chance or by divine will, we should all feel that our prince was chosen by divine direction. For he was not found out by the secret power of fate, but by the open manifestation of Jupiter’s will, and was chosen amid sacred altars in the same temple in which Jupiter dwells in person as clearly as he does in the starry heavens. It is therefore all the more fitting that I should turn in prayer to thee, Jupiter, most mighty and good, and ask that my address may prove worthy of me as consul, worthy of our senate, and worthy of our prince; that my words may bear the stamp of freedom, faith, and truth, and lack as much the semblance, as they do the need, of flattery.
Not only a consul, but every citizen, should strive to say nothing of our prince that might seem proper enough if spoken of some other prince. Let us, therefore, repress the utterances of fear. Let us speak as we feel. Let us emphasize clearly in our discourse the difference between the present and the past. Let our language show unmistakably that it is Trajan we thank, and his age that we praise. But let us not address him with the flattering title of a god or divinity; for we speak not of a tyrant, but of a fellow citizen; not of a master, but of a father. He boasts that he is one of us; nor does he forget that he is only a man, though the ruler of men. Let us, then, appreciate our good fortune and prove ourselves worthy of it. Let us, too, consider again and again how unworthy it would be to show greater regard for princes who rejoice in the servitude of their fellow citizens than for those who rejoice in their freedom. The people of Rome, who have retained the right to choose their princes, now praise the courage of Trajan as enthusiastically as they did the beauty of Domitian, and applaud his devotion, self-restraint, and humanity as vociferously as they did the voice and the bearing of Nero. What, then, shall we commend? The divinity of our prince, his culture, his self-control, or his affability? We can do nothing worthier of our citizens and our senate than we have already done in conferring on him the surname of the Good — a title made peculiarly his by the arrogance of former princes. It is only natural and reasonable, then, that we should esteem ourselves happy and our prince happy, and pray that he may ever do deeds deserving of our praise. At all this he is affected even to tears, for he knows and feels that we speak of him as a man, not as a prince.
Let us retain, then, individually, in the ho«r of calm reflection, the same spirit that we had in the first heat of our devotion; and let us bear in mind that there is no kind of gratitude more sincere or more acceptable than that which, like the acclamations of the populace, is too spontaneous to be feigned. So far as I can, I shall try to adapt my address to the modesty and moderation of our prince, and shall consider not less what his delicacy will permit than what his merits deserve.
It is the peculiar glory of our prince that, when I am about to render him an expression of gratitude, I fear not that he will think me niggardly, but lavish in his praise. This is my only anxiety; this my only difficulty. For it is an easy matter to render thanks to one who deserves them. Nor is there any danger that he will mistake the praise of culture for the censure of conceit; the praise of frugality for the censure of luxury; the praise of clemency for the censure of cruelty; the praise of liberality for the censure of avarice; the praise of benignity for the censure of malice; the praise of continence for the censure of lust; the praise of industry for the censure of laziness; or the praise of courage for the censure of fear. I do not even fear that I shall seem grateful or ungrateful according as I say a great deal or very little.
For I have observed that even the gods themselves are pleased not so much by flawless perfection in the form of prayer, as by the uprightness and piety of their votaries. They prefer him who brings to their altars a pure heart, to him who brings a studied prayer.
But I must comply with the will of the senate, which has decreed for the public advantage that the consul, by way of an address of thanks, shall remind good princes of what they have done, and bad princes of what they ought to do. This is all the more necessary now because our prince suppresses all private expressions of gratitude, and would prevent also public ones if he were permitted to forbid what the senate has decreed. In both cases, Caesar Augustus, you show moderation; for, in permitting here the expression of gratitude that you forbid in private, you honor not yourself, but us. Since, then, you have yielded to our wishes, the important thing is not for us to proclaim your merits, but for you to hear them.
I have often reflected how good and great the man should be whose beck and nod control the earth and sea, peace and war.
But I should never, even if I had power equal to that of the gods, have conceived of a prince like ours. One man becomes great in war, but sinks into obscurity in peace. Another gains distinction in the arts of peace, but not in the profession of arms.
One is feared because he is cruel; another loved because he is humble. One loses in public life the renown he gained in private; another loses in private life his public reputation. In short, there has been no prince in the past whose virtues have not been tarnished by vices. But our prince has obtained unprecedented praise and glory. His seriousness is not lessened by his cheerfulness, his gravity by his simplicity, or his dignity by his humanity. He is steady, tall, and stately in mien and bearing; and though he is in the prime of life his hair is becoming gray — a sign of approaching age. These are the marks that proclaim the prince....
But though you possessed the proper qualifications, Caesar, you were unwilling to become emperor. You had therefore to be forced. Yet you could not have been forced but for the dang
er that threatened our country; you would not have assumed the imperial power were it not to save the empire. And I feel sure that the praetorians revolted because great force and danger were necessary to overcome your modesty. Just as the sea is calmer, and the sky clearer, after a storm, so the peace and security we now enjoy under your rule is greater after that uprising. So through all the vicissitudes of life adversity follows prosperity, prosperity adversity. The source of both lies hidden. Indeed the causes of good and evil in general deceive us by false appearances.
The revolt of the praetorians was a great disgrace to our age, a grave injury to the commonwealth. The emperor and father of the human race was besieged, taken, and shut up; the power of saving men was taken from the mildest of old men; our prince was deprived of his most salutary power — freedom of action. If only such calamity could induce you to assume the reins of government I should say that it was worth the price. The discipline of the camp was corrupted, that you might correct it; a bad example was set, that you might act a good one; finally a prince was forced to put men to death against his will, that he might give the world a prince who could not be forced. You were destined to be adopted at some time or other; but we should never have known how much the empire owed you, had you been adopted sooner. Adopted by the emperor and called upon by your countrymen, you responded as did the great generals of old when summoned from abroad to defend their country. Thus father and son made an exchange at one and the same time: he gave you the empire; you restored it to him. Nay you even put the giver under obligation; for in sharing the imperial power with him you assumed the burden of care, while he enjoyed greater security....
During the preceding reigns the barbarians had become insolent, and no longer struggled to gain their liberty, but fought to enslave us. But on your accession they were again inspired with fear and a willingness to obey your commands. For they saw that you were a general of the old stamp — one of those who had earned their title on fields heaped high with slaughter, or on seas resounding with the shouts of victory. The result is that we now accept hostages; we do not buy them. Nor do we now make peace on disadvantageous terms in order to keep up the appearance of success. Our enemies seek and implore peace; we grant or deny it according as the dignity of the empire requires. Those who obtain their request thank us; those to whom it is denied dare not complain, for they know that you have attacked the fiercest nations at that very time of the year which has hitherto been deemed most favorable for them and most unfavorable for us. I mean the season when the Danube is spanned with ice and supports on its hardened back the ponderous engines of war — the season when the savage tribes of the north are armed, not only with weapons, but with the fury of the elements. But the elements have no terrors for you, and on your approach the enemy shut themselves up in their hiding-places while our troops cross the river triumphantly and hurl against the barbarians the fury of their own winter. Such is the awe with which you have inspired the barbarians....
Above all we ought to feel grateful because you allow the men whom you have made consuls to act with consular power. You offer no dangers, no causes of fear, to swerve the consuls from their duty; they listen to nothing against their will, nor do they make decrees under compulsion. The dignity of the office still remains and will remain; and the consuls will not lose their security while they continue in power. If by any chance the consular power is diminished, the fault will be ours, not that of our age; for so far as our prince is concerned men may now be consuls who were formerly princes. Is there any adequate return we can make for the benefits we have received? None, except that we can always remember that we were consuls under you. Let us feel and vote, then, as becomes the dignity of our office, and let our conduct show that we believe the commonwealth still exists. Let us not withdraw our counsel or active service, or feel that we have been severed from the consulate, but rather let us feel that we are inseparably bound up with it. Finally let us cheerfully endure the labors and cares of our office; its honors and dignity we enjoy in full measure.
In conclusion I invoke upon all mankind the blessing of the guardian gods of our empire; and I pray you, especially, Jupiter Capitolinus, to favor us and add to all your other gifts the gift of perpetuity. You have heard us curse a wicked prince; now hear us bless a good one. We shall not weary you with a multitude of prayers; for we ask not peace, or security, or wealth, or honors; our simple and all-embracing prayer is the health of our prince. Nor will you be reluctant to grant it; for you already received him under your protection when you snatched him from the clutches of a rapacious robber. Otherwise, at a time when the high and mighty of the empire were shaken, he who was higher than all could not have stood unmoved. He remained unnoticed by a bad prince, though he could not but attract the attention of a good prince. If, then, he rules the empire well and for the advantage of all, I ask you, Jupiter, to spare him for our grandsons and great-grandsons, and to give him a successor of his own blood whom he shall have instructed and made worthy of adoption; or, if fate deny him this, I ask you to point out to him some one worthy of being adopted in the Capitol.
My indebtedness to you, conscript fathers, I need hardly speak of, for it is recorded on public monuments. You have borne witness in a most gratifying manner to the peace and quiet of my tribuneship, to my moderation and discretion as praetor, and to the zeal and constancy with which I looked after the interests of our allies. You have approved, too, of my appointment as consul with such unanimity as to show me that I must make a constant effort to retain and increase your good will, for I know that we cannot tell whether a candidate deserves office until he has obtained it. Although I saw, then, what short roads led to office, I preferred the longer road of honor. I have passed through a period of gloom and fear to an era of security and happiness. I have been hated by a bad prince; I love a good one. I shall always, therefore, show you the respect and deference due you from a man who looks upon himself not as a consul or ex-consul, but as a candidate for the consulship.
The Latin Texts
Bellagio, Lake Como. The institution on the hill is Villa Serbelloni, now believed to have been constructed on the site of Pliny’s villa ‘Tragedy’
LIST OF LATIN TEXTS
In this section of the eBook, readers can view the original Latin text of Pliny’s letters. You may wish to Bookmark this page for future reference.
CONTENTS
LIBER PRIMVS
LIBER SECVNDVS
LIBER TERTIVS
LIBER QVARTVS
LIBER QVINTVS
LIBER SEXTVS
LIBER SEPTIMVS
LIBER OCTAVVS
LIBER NONVS
LIBER X. C. PLINII CAECILII SECVNDI EPISTVLARVM LIBER DECIMVS AD TRAIANVM IMPERATOREM CVM EIVSDEM RESPONSIS
PANEGYRICUS TRAIANI
Detailed table of contents for the letters in Latin
LIBER PRIMVS
1. C. PLINIUS SEPTICIO CLARO SUO S.
1 Frequenter hortatus es, ut epistulas, si quas paulo curatius scripsissem, colligerem publicaremque. Collegi non servato temporis ordine — neque enim historiam componebam -, sed ut quaeque in manus venerat. 2 Superest ut nec te consilii nec me paeniteat obsequii. Ita enim fiet, ut eas quae adhuc neglectae iacent requiram et si quas addidero non supprimam. Vale.
Detailed table of contents for the letters in Latin
2. C. PLINIUS MATURO ARRIANO SUO S.
1 Quia tardiorem adventum tuum prospicio, librum quem prioribus epistulis promiseram exhibeo. Hunc rogo ex consuetudine tua et legas et emendes, eo magis quod nihil ante peraeque eodem ‘zêlô’ scripsisse videor. 2 Temptavi enim imitari Demosthenen semper tuum, Calvum nuper meum, dumtaxat figuris orationis; nam vim tantorum virorum, ‘pauci quos aequus ...’ assequi possunt. 3 Nec materia ipsa huic — vereor ne improbe dicam — aemulationi repugnavit: erat enim prope tota in contentione dicendi, quod me longae desidiae indormientem excitavit, si modo is sum ego qui excitari possim. 4 Non tamen omnino Marci nostri ‘lêkythous’ fugimus, quotiens paul
um itinere decedere non intempestivis amoenitatibus admonebamur: acres enim esse non tristes volebamus. 5 Nec est quod putes me sub hac exceptione veniam postulare. Nam quo magis intendam limam tuam, confitebor et ipsum me et contubernales ab editione non abhorrere, si modo tu fortasse errori nostro album calculum adieceris. 6 Est enim plane aliquid edendum — atque utinam hoc potissimum quod paratum est! Audis desidiae votum — edendum autem ex pluribus causis, maxime quod libelli quos emisimus dicuntur in manibus esse, quamvis iam gratiam novitatis exuerint; nisi tamen auribus nostris bibliopolae blandiuntur. Sed sane blandiantur, dum per hoc mendacium nobis studia nostra commendent. Vale.
Detailed table of contents for the letters in Latin
3. C. PLINIUS CANINIO RUFO SUO S.
1 Quid agit Comum, tuae meaeque deliciae? quid suburbanum amoenissimum, quid illa porticus verna semper, quid platanon opacissimus, quid euripus viridis et gemmeus, quid subiectus et serviens lacus, quid illa mollis et tamen solida gestatio, quid balineum illud quod plurimus sol implet et circumit, quid triclinia illa popularia illa paucorum, quid cubicula diurna nocturna? Possident te et per vices partiuntur? 2 An, ut solebas, intentione rei familiaris obeundae crebris excursionibus avocaris? Si possident, felix beatusque es; si minus, ‘unus e multis’. 3 Quin tu — tempus enim — humiles et sordidas curas aliis mandas, et ipse te in alto isto pinguique secessu studiis asseris? Hoc sit negotium tuum hoc otium; hic labor haec quies; in his vigilia, in his etiam somnus reponatur. 4 Effinge aliquid et excude, quod sit perpetuo tuum. Nam reliqua rerum tuarum post te alium atque alium dominum sortientur, hoc numquam tuum desinet esse si semel coeperit. 5 Scio quem animum, quod horter ingenium; tu modo enitere ut tibi ipse sis tanti, quanti videberis aliis si tibi fueris. Vale.
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