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Pliny opens the letter (sections 1–4) with questions to Trajan concerning trials of Christians brought before him, since he says he has never been present at any trials of Christians. This may indicate that previous trials had taken place and that Pliny was unaware of any existing edicts under Trajan for prosecuting Christians. [ 15 ]
The letters also contain the earliest external account of Christian worship, and reasons for the execution of Christians. The letter regarding Christians deserves mention because its contents were, in the view of many historians, to become the standard policy toward Christians for the rest of the pagan era. [ 11 ]
Pliny the Younger wrote hundreds of letters, of which 247 survived, and which are of great historical value. Some are addressed to reigning emperors or to notables such as the historian Tacitus . Pliny served as an imperial magistrate under Trajan (reigned 98–117), [ 2 ] and his letters to Trajan provide one of the few surviving records of ...
In the first letter of his famous collection of correspondence, the Epistulae, Pliny the Younger credits Septicius’ constant urgings for motivating him to publish his letters. The intimate friendship between the two is evident in another letter where Pliny playfully chides Septicius for not appearing at a lavish dinner party. [2]
Pliny was a popular author in the late 4th century—Quintus Aurelius Symmachus modeled his letters on Pliny's, for example [29] —and the whole collection might have been designed as an exemplum in his honor. [30] He later revised and considerably expanded the work, which for this reason is by far the longest of the whole collection.
Judging from the titles and fragments, scholars have surmised that most, if not all, of these poems were tragic in nature, although Pliny the Younger ranks him among the erotic poets. [ 1 ] [ 8 ] His career as a poet can be traced over the course of 36 years from B.C. 140, to B.C. 104.
Or: "The letter of Pliny to Trajan concerning the Christians and the rescript of Trajan together constitute one of the most important documents in the whole history of early Christianity". [1] Or:"the correspondence between Pliny and Trajan on the problems arising from the judicial investigation of the Christians" [2]
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