Miscellaneous Readings

Pliny the Matchmaker

Matchmaking and arranged marriages were common practices in ancient Rome. This letter is adapted from one that Pliny wrote to his friend, Iunius Mauricus, about a prospective husband for Mauricus' niece.

G. PLINIUS I. MAURICO S.

Rogas me invenire maritum fratris tui filiae. Laetus dare auxilium sum. Minicium diligo. Pater eius amicus meus est. Me in adulescentia mea docuit. Minicius Acilianus optimus est. Me amat. Mihi respectum demonstrat. Ita me eum formare et docere cupit. Habitat Brixiae in Italia, oppido parvo. Brixia rustica atque antiqua est. Ibi vita tarda est.

Pater eius, Minicius Macrinus, ducit fortiter. Avia materna est Serrana Procula, ex oppido Patavio. Ea severa in disciplina est. Avunculus est P. Acilius - gravis, prudens, fidus. Familia tota Minici grata est.

Vero Minicius bene laborat et ludit. Modestus est. Quaesturam, tribunatum, praeturam honestissime habuit. Facies eius est rubra. Totum corpus est pulchrum. Formam senatoriam Minicius demonstrat. Pater eius habet magnam pecuniam.

Tu fortasse opinionem meam non probas. At ego credo Minicio. Futuram longam matrimonium fratris tui filiae habet. Diligo adulescentem.

Vale.

Pliny the Younger was the adopted nephew of Pliny the Elder, both of who were renowned Roman authors.

Gaius Plinius Secundus (also known as Plinius Maior)

• b. AD 23 - d. AD 79.
• served his military duty in Germany.
• wrote a biography of his literary patron, Pomponius Secundus.
• wisely withdrew from the political arena during the reign of Nero.
• served as procurator in Gaul, Africa and Spain, under Emperor Vespasian.
• counselor to the emperor and commander of the fleet at Misenum, located at northern tip of the bay of Naples.
• died at Stabiae, off the southern wing of the bay, in the eruption of Vesuvius due to inhalation of noxious volcanic gases.
• only surviving literary work, Naturalis Historia ('Natural History'), is an opus of 37 books that he dedicated to Emperor Titus.

Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (also known as Plinius Minor)

• b. AD 61 - d. AD 112.
• nephew and adopted son of the Elder Pliny.
• studied rhetoric under Quintilian at Rome.
• friend of Tacitus.
• chief surviving work is Epistulae ('Letters') in 10 books, the last of which contains official correspondence with Trajan.
• died while serving as governor of Bithynia.

^ Fabulae