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 4-7 study thematic letter cycles within the collection, including those on Pliny's famous...

This volume brings together some of the best and most influential work to be published on the Epistles of Pliny the Younger in recent decades. Covering historical, (auto)biographical, and literary aspects of the Epistles and their reception, the 19 classic articles included here offer a wide and representative range of approaches to Pliny, from prosopography and social history to intertextuality and self-representation. Topics include Pliny's villas, friends, and career, alongside literary and historical readings of some of his most famous letters, such as those on the eruption of Vesuvius...