Pliny the Younger was a Roman senator and writer. He lived in the second half of the 1st century of the Christian era (62 — 113), although he knew practically nothing about the Christians and the new faith. The first Christian communities and educated members of Roman society were different worlds and different spiritual spaces that did not intersect. During the reign of Emperor Trajan Pliny the Younger, being an official, sought by force to compel “the mad Christians” to deny their faith. All they had to do was pay formal honors to the Roman gods and the Roman emperor (lay offerings of frankincense and wine before the emperor’s statue). Willingly choosing a certain death, many Christians refused. (Two centuries would pass before the Edict of Milan was passed in 313, mandating religious tolerance.)
Despite this official violence, Pliny the Younger was a very kind man, not only according to the standards of his own (pagan) time, but our (Christian) standards. Considerable evidence attests to this, including the letters of Pliny the Younger, who is also mentioned in the books and letters of his contemporaries. Cited below are fragments from the letters of this famous Roman, who was not aware that he was living in a time that was a turning point for humanity. (Perhaps we too are living in a similar state of unawareness, trampling and tearing off the first shoots of the new age.)
“What a joyful day! I was invited to the Council by the prefect of the city and listened to very talented and promising young men. I am certain they will become the adornment of our literature! Wonderful honesty, intelligent firmness, dignified appearance, magnificent Latin, great talent, and the same degree of good sense. I will repeat — what a joyful day! I must mark it with a white-white pebble. What a joy this is for society to see noble young men who seek to glorify themselves through work and tasks!”
“I am one of those people who are thrilled by the ancient (writers), but I do not distain our talented contemporaries as some people do. It should not be thought that nature is tired, exhausted, and that nothing deserving of praise can no longer be created.”
“Anyone who wants to become the head of a state gains everlasting renown — good, bad, or terrible.”
“Not so long ago I was summoned by our Emperor Trajan to the Council. I obtained great satisfaction: it is so pleasant to see fairness, self-respect, cordiality in the emperor’s behavior, all the more so not in public but alone with him, when these features are not often revealed.”
“An anonymous denunciation of any crime should be ignored. It would be a bad example and does not correspond to the spirit of our age.”
“You say that some people in your presence reproach me for praising my friends at any favorable opportunity. I acknowledge my guilt, but I welcome it as well. For what could be more honorable than being accused of good will? And who are those people who know my friends better than me? Suppose even that they know them better, but why do they dislike my lucky mistake? Even if my friends are not the way I describe them everywhere, I am happy that they appear to me like that! Nobody will ever convince me that my love for my friends is excessive.”
“The honest defender (in court) of one person should not act like an implacable enemy of another person.”
“How beneficial it is for a person to achieve good even through something bad!”
“Both in life and in tasks I consider the combination of severity and joyfulness to be the most wonderful thing: the first should not fall into gloominess, the second — into debauchery. For this reason I vary serious work with conversations with friends, jokes, and walks.”
“I think that even those people who have no need of anyone’s tolerance very much need to be merciful. I consider the best and perfect person one who forgives others just as if he himself makes mistakes everyday; but he himself refrains from committing errors as if he never forgives anybody. Therefore, let us abide by this rule at home, in society, and in everyday life situations: let us be unmerciful to ourselves and merciful even to those who can be merciful only to themselves. Let us remember one wise man’s words: “He who hates all vices hates all people!”
“It is better to do one thing perfectly than many things in a careless way.”
“I do not hide that I am always glad of praise directed to me; for ancient Xenophon once said: “The sweetest of all sounds is praise.” (Ears are set up this way!)
“A truly generous person should render assistance to his homeland, intimate associates, relatives, and friends (poor friends). We must all support and warm those who are known to be most in need of this. But today people have a great passion for profit — the impression is that they are in thrall to their property rather than in control of it.”
The historian Serhienko writes this about Pliny the Younger: “He needed to see happy, calm faces around him; that is why he so indulged his slaves and so willingly acted as a peacemaker, and always called to forgive people’s shortcomings and weaknesses, and his friendship did “not erode.”
Pliny the Younger (a pagan, not a Christian) was very generous throughout his life. He gave his native city of Como a large library, built baths, and donated large sums of money for school equipment and for educating poor children. He was also was fond of seeking out and promoting young talents. He was glad of other people’s success and sincerely sympathized with his friends’ sorrow. He honored the traditions of his family line and ties. He was a good family man (attested by his letters to his wife’s grandfather).
One can mention many things connected with Pliny’s kindness — the large sums of money that he gave to people who were in trouble or living in poverty; presents to his slaves (he presented his wet-nurse with an estate); he paid his relatives’ debts and gave a dowry to the daughter of his Greek teacher. This pagan can serve as an example to many Christians!
This article is based on the materials in The Letters of Pliny the Younger.