Reading the Letters of Pliny the Younger: An Introduction
Cambridge University Press, 3/22/2012
EAN 9780521842921, ISBN10: 0521842921
Hardcover, 364 pages, 22.8 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm
Language: English
This is the first general introduction to Pliny's Letters published in any language, combining close readings with broader context and adopting a fresh and innovative approach to reading the letters as an artistically structured collection. Chapter 1 traces Pliny's autobiographical narrative throughout the Letters; Chapter 2 undertakes detailed study of Book 6 as an artistic entity; while Chapter 3 sets Pliny's letters within a Roman epistolographical tradition dominated by Cicero and Seneca. Chapters 4 to 7 study thematic letter cycles within the collection, including those on Pliny's famous country villas and his relationships with Pliny the Elder and Tacitus. The final chapter focuses on the 'grand design' which unifies and structures the collection. Four detailed appendices give invaluable historical and scholarly context, including a helpful timeline for Pliny's life and career, detailed bibliographical help on over 30 popular topics in Pliny's letters and a summary of the main characters mentioned in the Letters.
Introduction
1. Reading a life
Letters, Book 1
2. Reading a book
Letters, Book 6
3. Epistolary models
Cicero and Seneca
4. Pliny's elders and betters
the Elder Pliny, Vestricius Spurinna, Corellius Rufus, Verginius Rufus
5. Pliny's peers
reading for the addressee
6. Otium
how to manage leisure
7. Reading the Villa Letters
9.7, 2.17, 5.6
8. The grand design
how to read a collection
Appendix 1. A Pliny timeline, and the great Comum inscription
Appendix 2. Letters 1-9
catalogue of contents and addressees
Appendix 3. Popular topics in the Letters
bibliographical help
Appendix 4. Index of main characters in the Letters.