Letters, Book 7

Book 7 of Pliny's letters dates from about AD 107. Its letters are short and often personal, and include letters to Calpurnia and Tacitus; the ghost story of the haunted house at Athens is in the course.

Pliny tells Calpurnia how he lies awake at night thinking of her and walks to her empty room at the hours when he used to visit her. He explains how he came to write verse, gives advice on study in retirement, and refuses Corellia's offer to pay more than he asks for land he sells her. He writes of the illness of Fannia, widow of Helvidius Priscus, recalling her courage under Nero and Domitian. A lively letter describes the old lady Ummidia Quadratilla, who kept her own troupe of pantomime actors but sent her grandson away when they performed. He tells Tacitus how pleased he is that people link their names, and asks him to record one of Pliny's own deeds in the Histories. He is scornful of the inscription honouring Pallas, the freedman of Claudius, which he came upon by the road. Other letters praise friends, recommend candidates and describe busy days in the country.

The book shows Pliny's friendships and his sense of his own place in literature and history. The Latin is clear, and many letters are short enough to read at one sitting.