CLASSICS 219: THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Precept 5: Control

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Readings
• Ward, pp. 335-352.
• Pliny the Younger, Letters, Book 10 nos. 15-121 (Penguin ed., pp. 265-301)
• L&R pp. 58-61, 67-68, 231-232, 251-255, 278-295

We focus this week on the problems and methods of provincial government, particularly the mutual dependence between the imperial power and the cities.
The central reading comes from the letters of Pliny the Younger (c.61- c.112), a prominent lawyer and senator, consul in the year 100, most famous today for the nine books of his personal letters. Pontus-Bithynia was a senatorial province in the Greek-speaking half of the empire; its municipal problems prompted the senate to ask Trajan to send a special governor, Pliny, to sort them out. Pliny's 10th book contains his official reports and requests to the government back home in the years c. 110-112. It offers the best single insight we have into how the Roman Empire was run, and what its problems were. Unfortunately the job seems to have killed him.

1. From the mass of problems and complaints, try to classify / categorize the sorts of matters with which a governor might have to deal. Be prepared to cite examples -- note especially again Claudius' letter to the Alexandrians, L&R pp. 285-288.
2. What matters interested the central government, and why? What are the principles of government to be deduced from Trajan's replies to Pliny? Be prepared to cite examples. NB: no matter how trivial some matters may seem, Pliny was an efficient and very intelligent public servant, and when he brought them to Trajan's attention there was usually a good underlying reason.
3. What is/are the underlying problem(s) -- political, social, economic -- in the province? Are they the same elsewhere? How might they be resolved in the long term?
4. Read letters 96 and 97 carefully. Precisely what problems do the Christians raise for the government and how does Pliny respond?
5. Compare Pliny's situation in Pontus-Bithynia with that of Agricola in Britain. How do they differ, and why?
6. Plutarch and Aristides were both Greek intellectuals who flourished under Rome. How do they differ in their view of the ruling power, and why?

 

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Last Updated: 2005-10-31

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