The Letters of Pliny entail of letters written back and forth from the governor; Pliny and the Emperor Trajan. The letters portray the responsibilities of a Roman governor of a province in ancient times. Responsibilities of a governor included matters such as; public defense, construction, celebrations, citizenship, and basic law enforcement. Letters 30, 31, 42, and 43 all discuss public safety. Letters 30 and 31 describe how to deal with guarding the prisons of several cities, the question comes up as to whether Pliny should employ a party of soldiers or just to use public slave as sentries. However, Trajan cleared up the issue by stating that public slaves should be used, Trajan goes on further and states; "...And the fidelity with which they shall execute their duty will depend much upon your care and strict discipline" (31). Letters 42 and 43 discuss the matter of extinguishing fires and whether or not to have a brigade of people specifically for that purpose. Letters 34, 35, 46, 47, 75, and 76 all refer to construction, four of which refer solely to one building project. Letters 34, 35, 75, and 76 illustrate the procedures for building a public bath from gaining the emperor's approval to finding a proper building site; all is left up to the governor; "This new erection I purpose dedicating to you...I have sent you a copy of the will...I will, however, make the strictest enquiry after them that I am able" (75). Letters 46 and 47 discuss finishing an aqueduct that was left unfinished and allowed to fall into a state of ruin. The emperor ordered Pliny to discover why such funds had been thrown away and whether or not the money had been taken for private purposes. Letters 44 and 45 describe the citizens of Rome renewing annual vo... ... middle of paper ... ... Trajan was a codependent one, a worker and his supervisor. I am not shocked by Emperor Trajan's orders to kill Christians, however I do believe they were unnecessary and sadistic spurred from sheer trepidation of losing control of those he ruled. However, I am surprised that Trajan told Pliny not to seek them out or to bring anonymously posted allegations into the prosecutions. Nonetheless, Trajan's actions towards the Christians were unjust and immoral, no matter how accurate his fear might have been. Works Cited Pliny, Secundus. "Correspondence of Pliny and Trajan." Letter to Emperor Trajan. ad 111-113. Internet Ancient History Sourcebook. Web. 18 Mar. 2011. . Nietzsche, Friedrich. On the Genealogy of Morals. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1887. Print.
Procopius continues to give Justinian a bad reputation as an individual and as an emperor by writing, “This Emperor, then, was deceitful, devious, false, hypocritical, two-faced, cruel, skilled in dissembling his thought, never moved to tears by either joy or pain, though he could summon them artfully at will when the occasion demanded...” Even
What we do know is that this lack of intellectual integrity is the opposite of the behavior that is required of an ethical leader (CF03SG, 2013, p. 7). Most assuredly, his actions confused his team of warriors, and affected their view of his professional character, especially since non-Roman captives had been released to their respective countries. You just found out that the bully in the hood is coming to reclaim the marbles he gave you last week. This happens to be the same bully that stole the little guy’s lunch money last week; and oh, by the way, you’ve had a sincere dislike for him ever since you were “knee-high to a grass hopper”.... ...
Tiberius is remembered as a tightfisted and paranoid emperor. Tacitus goes against this view of Tiberius by giving examples of extreme generosity. However Tacitus doesn 't present Tiberius as a perfect emperor and his portrayal of Tiberius isn 't just propaganda. When it comes to military affairs Tacitus paints a very unflattering picture of Tiberius turning his back on the frontier while Romans are killed. Tacitus stated that his accounts on the Julio Claudian emperors was made without prejudice and the fact that he highlights both positive and negative aspects of Tiberius ' rule indicates that he was probably telling the truth.
Why was Trajan considered to be one of the five good emperors of the Roman Empire? Trajan was a visionary leader as well as an ethical leader. First I will tell you how Trajans actions during the Dacian Wars proved that he was an inspirational leader for his soldiers. Next I will tell you how Trajan, by the domestic policies he instituted as the Roman Emperor, proved to be an ethical leader. Last I will tell you about the personal relevance this has to me. More specifically I will tell you about my actions as a leader when I moved to Holloman Air Force Base. Now that I gave you an overview of what I want to talk about let’s get to my first main point.
He professed to the congregation that he would go to the proconsul to be tried and in so doing, he would be martyred in front of his congregation willingly and they would become “partners in the graces” with him. It was recorded that Galerius Maximus, issued and judged the trial and after Cyprian denied the religion of Rome, he was acceptably sentenced to death. This martyr, would set off a ricochet of fellow martyrs from the Christian church, causing fear and loss of leadership to continue to damage the Christians throughout the empire. Valerian’s persecutions would be the most devastating actions from the emperor up until the time of Diocletian, the motivation behind the persecutions were in some way similar to his predecessor’s, Decius, but also involved many other problems, which will now be discussed below.
Morey, William C. "Outlines of Roman History, Chapter 19." Forum Romanum. 1901. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. .
to Hadrian, an emperor by the name of Trajan was the ruler of the Roman empire.
Between Pliny’s letter and Livy’s account it’s pretty easy to get the impression that Romans were fairly tolerant of many different religions up until they got in the way. The Christians were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and doing the wrong things. The Bacchanalians were converting elites with a religion that the Romans considered unsavory to say the least. Both the Christians and the Bacchanalians suffered horrendously at the hands of the Roman authorities, and it goes to show that they were only going to tolerate so much from either group before going out on a witch hunt for them.
-Tranquillus, Gaius Suetonius. (Reproduced by Livius: Articles on Ancient History). Lives of the 12 Caesars. Joseph Gavorse. Retrieved From: http://www.livius.org/caa-can/caesar/caesar_t09.html (accessed 21 February 2014).
Trajan was the second of the five good emperors. He was considered Optimus Princeps or “best emperor” because he not only renewed the Titus-Nerva oath of protecting senators’ lives, he also respected the people. For instance, Pliny stated that “Trajan behaved as one of us, just like a private citizen” and so he gained the respect of the roman people. Furthermore, he gained even greater respect from the people as he allowed for freedom of speech. Not only did Trajan have a great relationship with the Roman Senate and people, he also benefited the Empire tremendously. He was able to extend the Roman Empire into Dacia, Arabia, and Parthia and his wars with the Parthian Empire allowed him to take over the areas of Armenia and Mesopotamia. Moreover, Trajan’s campaigns resulted in the largest Roman Empire that the world would see. Trajan also made possible the building of the Alcantara Bridge, making travel easier in the Roman province of Spain. Nerva, Trajan’s predecessor, was unable to benefit the Roman Empire in a great fashion, and so he is considered only a...
The Iliad and the Fate Of Patroclus Throughout The Iliad Of Homer, the constant theme of death is inherently. apparent. The snares are not. Each main character, either by a spear or merely a scratch from an arrow, was wounded or killed during the progression of the story. For Zeus' son, a king.
Tacitus describes the brutal execution of Christians in Rome by Nero and makes three key statements about Jesus:
The persecution of Christians that went on in the first, as well as the second century, was random and local. Nero was the emperor that started the persecution of Christians. After the Great Fire of Rome, the Christians were blamed and called arsonists, as well as causing them to receive vicious deaths in Rome. During the second century, the Christians were often just ignored. Even at the end of the 5 Good Emperors reigns, Christians still didn’t represent a large part of the Roman society.
Melmoth, William ‘Letters of Pliny: By Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus’, Project Gutenberg [website], (2001) http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2811/2811-h/2811-h.htm, accessed 12 May. 2014
Oedipus and Tiresias, characters of Sophocles' play "Oedipus Tyrannus," are propelled to their individual destinies by their peculiar relationships with truth. Paranoid and quick to anger Oedipus, is markedly different from the confident and self-assured Tiresias. In the dialogue between the two men, Oedipus rapidly progresses from praise of Tiresias as a champion and protector of Thebes in line 304, to blatantly accusing the blind prophet of betraying the city in line 331, to angrily insulting him in line 334. Rather than be intimidated by the protagonist's title and temperament, Tiresias draws strength from what he knows is true and is able to stand his ground.