Lake Como: hometown of the Pliny family

Dramatis Personae

This post belongs to a serialized translation and commentary of Pliny the Younger’s letters (6.16 and 6.20) to the historian Tacitus about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.

Both Vesuvian letters (Ep. 6.16 and 6.20) are addressed to the historian Cornelius Tacitus. The first (6.16) responds to a request that Tacitus has made to the Younger Pliny for information about how the Younger Pliny’s uncle (the ‘Elder Pliny’) died in the AD 79 eruption. The second (6.20) gives more information, again at Tacitus’ request, about how Pliny and his mother (Plinia) survived the disaster. One other character also appears in the latter letter: a mysterious unnamed friend from Spain. Let’s meet them all. Continue reading →