Epistulae (Pliny)

[1][2] The genre of the letter collection offers a different type of record than the more usual history; one that dispenses with objectivity but is no less valuable for it.

Other major literary figures of the late 1st century AD appear in the collection as friends or acquaintances of Pliny's, e. g. the poet Martial,[3] the historian Tacitus and the biographer Suetonius.

His nephew provides details of how his uncle worked tirelessly to finish his magnum opus, the Historia Naturalis (Natural History).

Those that give details of Pliny's life at his country villas are important documents in the history of garden design.

Advice is offered to friends, references are given, political support is discussed and Pliny comments on many other aspects of Roman life, using established literary style.

[9] In his letter Pliny relates the first warning of the eruption: My uncle was stationed at Misenum, in active command of the fleet.

On (several dates are given in the copies),[10] in the early afternoon, my mother drew his attention to a cloud of unusual size and appearance.

It was not clear at that distance from which mountain the cloud was rising (it was afterwards known to be Vesuvius); its general appearance can best be expressed as being like a pine-tree, for it rose to a great height on a sort of trunk and then split off into branches, I imagine because it was thrust upwards by the first blast and then left unsupported as the pressure subsided, or else it was borne down by its own weight so that it spread out and gradually dispersed.

Pliny, Epistulae VI.16.Pliny then goes on to describe his uncle's failed attempt to study further the eruption and to save the lives of refugees, using the fleet under his command.

Although Christians were not to be sought out, they were to be executed if brought before a magistrate by a reputable means of accusation (no anonymous charges were permitted) and they were sometimes given the opportunity to recant.

[12] Trajan's replies to Pliny's queries and requests were also collected for publication, making the anthology even more valuable.