Letters of Pliny

Through the eyes of a cultivated Roman gentleman, these letters offer a lively portrait of life under the early empire. Pliny the Younger, a skilled orator and close confidant of Emperor Trajan, arranged his correspondence for posterity, giving modern ears a polished yet intimate glimpse of his world.

The collection spans everything from the pleasures of a country villa and the etiquette of dinner parties to the anxieties of marriage, the chase for art, and even eerie tales of ghosts and tame dolphins. Among the most striking entries are his vivid account of Mount Vesuvius’s catastrophic eruption and his measured exchange with Trajan concerning the treatment of Christians in Bithynia. Together they illuminate the social customs, political concerns, and personal ambitions of a Roman elite, making the ancient city feel surprisingly familiar.