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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 4 page paper uses contemporary sources to examine the reign of the Roman Emperor Trajan; it also considers the reliability of the sources themselves. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: KV32_HVemptrj.rtf
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examination of the sources as well as Trajans life. Discussion The three sources are the Letters of Pliny, the Epitome of Book LXVIII by Cassius Dio, and the Epitome De
Caesaribus, often attributed to Sextus Aurelius Victor and translated by Thomas M. Banchich. Of the three, it is the Cassius Dio work that seems most questionable, and the Letters that
will be used as the primary source, since it is (with the aid of translation, of course) the actual words of Pliny in his letters to and from the Emperor
Trajan. Pliny is writing to Trajan as he takes up his post as governor of the province of Bithynia, which was unruly and corrupt; the letters begin as he explains
the difficulties he has had in getting to the area in the first place. He complains of the heat, and of the unfavorable winds that make travel by both land
and sea cumbersome, and have led to many delays (The letters of Pliny). Trajans reply is short and to the point: He thanks Pliny for keeping him informed, and then
says "I well approve of your intention to travel either by sea or land, as you shall find most convenient" (The letters of Pliny). In his next letter, Pliny says
that he arrived in the province on September 17, "and found it in those sentiments of obedience and loyalty, which you justly merit from all mankind" (The letters of Pliny).
This indicates that Trajans reputation for fairness has spread throughout the Empire, and furthermore that it is deserved. But the correspondence itself seems a little one-sided: Pliny writes at great
length about all manner of things, but Trajans replies are usually very short; its as if hes saying, in effect, I gave you the authority now stop bothering me with
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