Letters, Book 9

Book 9, the last book of Pliny's private letters, dates from about AD 108 to 109. Many letters are short and literary, and the book has the feel of a summing up; the letter on the friendly dolphin at Hippo is in the course.

Pliny urges a friend to publish his speeches, explains why his own letters are short, and weighs lasting fame against comfortable leisure. He is bored by the chariot races and amazed that grown men care which colour wins. He describes his two villas on Lake Como, which he calls Tragedy and Comedy, one high on a ridge and one by the water. He recounts his attack in the senate on Publicius Certus after Domitian's death, and tells Tacitus the story of a stranger at the races who asked 'Are you Tacitus or Pliny?'. Two letters to Sabinianus plead for a freedman who has offended and then thank him for forgiving. Others discuss revision, readings and daring eloquence, the petitions of tenants in Tuscany and a thin vintage. Near the end come two letters describing his routine: a summer day in Tuscany, thinking in the dark before dawn, dictating, walking and riding; and winter days at Laurentum.

The letters on his daily routine and on Tacitus are favourites. This book shows Pliny's craft at its most relaxed, and the Latin is easy and elegant.