Abstract

The renowned Roman politician, Pliny the Younger, was a versatile and productive author, from whom 9 books of letters, an exchange of letters with Trajan and an extensive panegyric for the same emperor are extant. The individual letters of books 1-9 are artistically composed and for the most part deal with general matters, for example the decline of individual freedom and the situation of literature during the Principate. The humane attitude of the author towards women and slaves is new, as is his active aesthetic interest in architecture and landscape.