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89. TRAIANUS PLINIO
Agnosco vota tua, mi Secunde carissime, quibus precaris, ut plurimos et felicissimos natales florente statu rei publicae nostrae agam.
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. C. PLINIUS TRAIANO IMPERATORI
1 Sinopenses, domine, aqua deficiuntur; quae videtur et bona et copiosa ab sexto decimo miliario posse perduci. Est tamen statim ab capite paulo amplius passus mille locus suspectus et mollis, quem ego interim explorari modico impendio iussi, an recipere et sustinere opus possit. 2 Pecunia curantibus nobis contracta non deerit, si tu, domine, hoc genus operis et salubritati et amoenitati valde sitientis coloniae indulseris.
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. TRAIANUS PLINIO
Ut coepisti, Secunde carissime, explora diligenter, an locus ille quem suspectum habes sustinere opus aquae ductus possit. Neque dubitandum puto, quin aqua perducenda sit in coloniam Sinopensem, si modo et viribus suis assequi potest, cum plurimum ea res et salubritati et voluptati eius collatura sit.
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. C. PLINIUS TRAIANO IMPERATORI
Amisenorum civitas libera et foederata beneficio indulgentiae tuae legibus suis utitur. In hac datum mihi libellum ad ‘epanous’ pertinentem his litteris subieci, ut tu, domine, dispiceres quid et quatenus aut permittendum aut prohibendum putares.
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. TRAIANUS PLINIO
Amisenos, quorum libellum epistulae tuae iunxeras, si legibus istorum, quibus beneficio foederis utuntur, concessum est eranum habere, possumus quo minus habeant non impedire, eo facilius si tali collatione non ad turbas et ad illicitos coetus, sed ad sustinendam tenuiorum inopiam utuntur. In ceteris civitatibus, quae nostro iure obstrictae sunt, res huius modi prohibenda est.
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.
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94. C. PLINIUS TRAIANO IMPERATORI
1 Suetonium Tranquillum, probissimum honestissimum eruditissimum virum, et mores eius secutus et studia iam pridem, domine, in contubernium assumpsi, tantoque magis diligere coepi quanto nunc propius inspexi. 2 Huic ius trium liberorum necessarium faciunt duae causae; nam et iudicia amicorum promeretur et parum felix matrimonium expertus est, impetrandumque a bonitate tua per nos habet quod illi fortunae malignitas denegavit. 3 Scio, domine, quantum beneficium petam, sed peto a te cuius in omnibus desideriis meis indulgentiam experior. Potes enim colligere quanto opere cupiam, quod non rogarem absens si mediocriter cuperem.
94 (95.) — TO TRAJAN.
Suetonius Tranquillus, sir, is a most upright, honourable, and learned man. Having long been attracted by his character and studious pursuits, I have admitted him to my intimacy, and the more closely I have observed him, the more have I begun to cherish him. The rights enjoyed by those who have three children are rendered a necessity to him for two reasons. His deserts often obtain for him a mention in his friends’ wills, and at the same time his marriage has not turned out fruitful. It is from your bounty that he must obtain, through my intercession, what the malignity of Fortune has refused him. I know, sir, how great is the favour which I ask. But it is of you that I am asking it, you whose indulgence I experience in all my requests. You may, moreover, gather how ardent must be my desire in a matter which I should not ask you for, when absent from you, if that desire were merely of an ordinary character.
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95. TRAIANUS PLINIO
Quam parce haec beneficia tribuam, utique, mi Secunde carissime, haeret tibi, cum etiam in senatu affirmare soleam non excessisse me numerum, quem apud amplissimum ordinem suffecturum mihi professus sum. Tuo tamen desiderio subscripsi et dedisse me ius trium liberorum Suetonio Tranquillo ea condicione, qua assuevi, referri in commentarios meos iussi.
95 (96.) — TRAJAN TO PLINY.
How sparing I am in bestowing such favours as these you must certainly remember, my dearest Secundus, seeing that I often declare in the Senate itself that I have not gone beyond the number of favoured persons which, in the presence of that illustrious assembly, I promised should suffice me. However, I have subscribed to your wishes, and have ordered it to be entered on my registers, that I have accorded to Suetonius Tranquillus the rights of those who have three children, on the usual conditions.
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96. C. PLINIUS TRAIANO IMPERATORI. (Emperor’s Instructions Regarding Christians)
1 Sollemne est mihi, domine, omnia de quibus dubito ad te referre. Quis enim potest melius vel cunctationem meam regere vel ignorantiam instruere? Cognitionibus de Christianis interfui numquam: ideo nescio quid et quatenus aut puniri soleat aut quaeri. 2 Nec mediocriter haesitavi, sitne aliquod discrimen aetatum, an quamlibet teneri nihil a robustioribus differant; detur paenitentiae venia, an ei, qui omnino Christianus fuit, desisse non prosit; nomen ipsum, si flagitiis careat, an flagitia cohaerentia nomini puniantur. Interim,
Mox ipso tractatu, ut fieri solet, diffundente se crimine plures species inciderunt. 5 Propositus est libellus sine auctore multorum nomina continens. Qui negabant esse se Christianos aut fuisse, cum praeeunte me deos appellarent et imagini tuae, quam propter hoc iusseram cum simulacris numinum afferri, ture ac vino supplicarent, praeterea male dicerent Christo, quorum nihil cogi posse dicuntur qui sunt re vera Christiani, dimittendos putavi. 6 Alii ab indice nominati esse se Christianos dixerunt et mox negaverunt; fuisse quidem sed desisse, quidam ante triennium, quidam ante plures annos, non nemo etiam ante viginti.
9 Ideo dilata cognitione ad consulendum te decucurri. Visa est enim mihi res digna consultatione, maxime propter periclitantium numerum. Multi enim omnis aetatis, omnis ordinis, utriusque sexus etiam vocantur in periculum et vocabuntur. Neque civitates tantum, sed vicos etiam atque agros superstitionis istius contagio pervagata est; quae videtur sisti et corrigi posse. 10 Certe satis constat prope iam desolata templa coepisse celebrari, et sacra sollemnia diu intermissa repeti passimque venire
96 (97.) — TO TRAJAN. (Emperor’s Instructions Regarding Christians)
It is with me, sir, an established custom to refer to you all matters on which I am in doubt. Who, indeed, is better able, either to direct my scruples or to instruct my ignorance?
I have never been present at trials of Christians, and consequently do not know for what reasons, or how far, punishment is usually inflicted or inquiry made in their case. Nor have my hesitations been slight: as to whether any distinction of age should be made, or persons however tender in years should be viewed as differing in no respect from the full-grown: whether pardon should be accorded to repentance, or he who has once been a Christian should gain nothing by having ceased to be one: whether the very profession itself if unattended by crime, or else the crimes necessarily attaching to the profession, should be made the subject of punishment.
Meanwhile, in the case of those who have been brought before me in the character of Christians, my course has been as follows: — I put it to themselves whether they were or were not Christians. To such as professed that they were, I put the inquiry a second and a third time, threatening them with the supreme penalty. Those who persisted, I ordered to execution. For, indeed, I could not doubt, whatever might be the nature of that which they professed, that their pertinacity, at any rate, and inflexible obstinacy, ought to be punished. There were others afflicted with like madness, with regard to whom, as they were Roman citizens, I made a memorandum that they were to be sent for judgment to Rome. Soon, the very handling of this matter causing, as often happens, the area of the charge to spread, many fresh examples occurred. An anonymous paper was put forth containing the names of many persons. Those who denied that they either were or had been Christians, upon their calling on the gods after me, and upon their offering wine and incense before your statue, which for this purpose I had ordered to be introduced in company with the images of the gods, moreover upon their reviling Christ — none of which things it is said can such as are really and truly Christians be compelled to do — these I deemed it proper to dismiss. Others named by the informer admitted that they were Christians, and then shortly afterwards denied it, adding that they had been Christians, but had ceased to be so, some three years, some many years, more than one of them as much as twenty years, before. All these, too, not only honoured your image and the effigies of the gods, but also reviled Christ. They affirmed, however, that this had been the sum, whether of their crime or their delusion; they had been in the habit of meeting together on a stated day, before sunrise, and of offering in turns a form of invocation to Christ, as to a god; also of binding themselves by an oath, not for any guilty purpose, but not to commit thefts, or robberies, or adulteries, not to break their word, not to repudiate deposits when called upon; these ceremonies having been gone through, they had been in the habit of separating, and again meeting together for the purpose of taking food — food, that is, of an ordinary and innocent kind. They had, however, ceased from doing even this, after my edict, in which, following your orders, I had forbidden the existence of Fraternities. This made me think it all the more necessary to inquire, even by torture, of two maid-servants, who were styled deaconesses, what the truth was. I could discover nothing else than a vicious and extravagant superstition: consequently, having adjourned the inquiry, I have had recourse to your counsels. Indeed, the matter seemed to me a proper one for consultation, chiefly on account of the number of persons imperilled. For many of all ages and all ranks, ay, and of both sexes, are being called, and will be called, into danger. Nor are cities only permeated by the contagion of this superstition, but villages and country parts as well; yet it seems possible to stop it and cure it. It is in truth sufficiently evident that the temples, which were almost entirely deserted, have begun to be frequented, that the customary religious rites which had long been interrupted are being resumed, and that there is a sale for the food of sacrificial beasts, for which hitherto very few buyers indeed could be found. From all this it is easy to form an opinion as to the great number of persons who may be reclaimed, if only room be granted for penitence.
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97. TRAIANUS PLINIO
1 Actum quem debuisti, mi Secunde, in excutiendis causis eorum, qui Christiani ad te delati fuerant, secutus es. Neque enim in universum aliquid, quod quasi certam formam habeat, constitui potest. 2 Conquirendi non sunt; si deferantur et arguantur, puniendi sunt, ita tamen ut, qui negaverit se Christianum esse idque re ipsa manifestum fecerit, id est supplicando dis nostris, quamvis suspectus in praeteritum, veniam ex paenitentia impetret. Sine auctore vero propositi libelli
97 (98.) — TRAJAN TO PLINY.
You have followed the right mode of procedure, my dear Secundus, in investigating the cases of those who had been brought before you as Christians. For, indeed, it is not possible to establish any universal rule, possessing as it were a fixed form. These people should not be searched for; if they are informed against and convicted they should be punished; yet, so that he who shall deny being a Christian, and shall make this plain in action, that is by worshipping our gods, even though suspected on account of his past conduct, shall obtain pardon by his penitence. Anonymous informations, however, ought not to be allowed a standing in any kind of charge; a course which would not only form the worst of precedents, but which is not in accordance with the spirit of our time.
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98. C. PLINIUS TRAIANO IMPERATORI
1 Amastrianorum civitas, domine, et elegans et ornata habet inter praecipua opera pulcherrimam eandemque longissimam plateam; cuius a latere per spatium omne porrigitur nomine quidem flumen, re vera cloaca foedissima, ac sicut turpis immundissimo aspectu, ita pestilens odore taeterrimo. 2 Quibus ex causis non minus salubritatis quam decoris interest eam contegi; quod fiet si permiseris curantibus nobis, ne desit quoque pecunia operi tam magno quam necessario.
98 (99.) — TO TRAJAN.
The city of Amastris, sir, which is handsome and tastefully built, possesses among its finest constructions a very beautiful and at the same time very long boulevard, all along one side of which runs what indeed is called a river, but is in reality a very foul sewer, hideous with its filthy aspect, and equally pestilent from its disgusting odour. For this reason it is a concern of salubrity no less than of appearance, that it should be covered up. This shall be done, with your permission, on our undertaking that money too shall not be wanting for the execution of a work as important as it is necessary.
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99. T
RAIANUS PLINIO
Rationis est, mi Secunde carissime, contegi aquam istam, quae per civitatem Amastrianorum fluit, si intecta salubritati obest. Pecunia ne huic operi desit, curaturum te secundum diligentiam tuam certum habeo.
99 (100.) — TRAJAN TO PLINY.
It stands to reason, my dearest Secundus, that the water in question which flows through the city of Amastris should be covered up, if in its uncovered state it is injurious to health. As to money not failing for the work, that I am confident you will see to with your customary diligence.
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100. C. PLINIUS TRAIANO IMPERATORI
Vota, domine, priore anno nuncupata alacres laetique persolvimus novaque rursus certante commilitonum et provincialium pietate suscepimus, precati deos ut te remque publicam florentem et incolumem ea benignitate servarent, quam super magnas plurimasque virtutes praecipua sanctitate obsequio deorum honore meruisti.
100 (101.) — TO TRAJAN.
We have acquitted ourselves, sir, with joy and alacrity of the vows offered up last year, and have taken on ourselves fresh ones, troops and provincials vying with each other in loyal affection. We have prayed the gods to preserve you and the commonwealth in prosperity and safety, with all the favour which — in addition to your other great and numerous virtues — you have merited by your exemplary piety, submission, and godliness.
Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Younger (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics) Page 136
