Concordia ordinum? Pliniusz Młodszy o warstwach społecznych w Rzymie na przełomie pierwszego i drugiego stulecia po Chr.

Jakub Pigoń

doi:10.18290/rh25733.10

Published : 2025-07-07

Vol. 73 No. 3 (2025)

Concordia ordinum? Pliny the Younger on the Social Strata in Rome at the End of the First and the Beginning of the Second Century AD

Jakub Pigoń

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9272-7490

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rh25733.10

Abstract

The present paper discusses some letters by Pliny the Younger, especially from Book VII, in order to establish his presentation of the social strata of contemporary Rome. Pliny’s focus is, predictably, on the Roman elite, both senators and equestrians, but occasionally he mentions also freedmen, slaves and provincials. As a rule, the people appearing in his letters (both his addressees and those about whom he speaks) share his worldview and values, in particular his predilection for literary pursuits (studia, otium), but also, at the same time, a strong emphasis on fulfilling one’s social duties (officia). A few letters, however, mention people whose social and moral values are incompatible with those of Pliny and his friends (Pallas in VII 29, Domitian’s henchmen in VII 19, 27 and 33); in their case, no concordia ordinum is conceivable.

Keywords:

Pliny the Younger, epistolography, senators, equestrians, Roman Empire

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