Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 2 - Government, Society, and Culture in the Roman Empire

Trajan 29

Hadrianwillhavebeenusingasingleofficialvehiculumforthejourneyfrom
Moguntiacum,wherethelegio XXIIwasstationed,totheColoniaAgrippi-
nensis,wherewearetoldthatTrajanheardthenews.^17 Thedistanceissome
150kilometresinadirectline,thereforesurelyatleastthreedays’journey.It
isperhapsmorelikely,ifthestoryistrueatall,thatthereferenceistothelast
ofaseriesofwagonswhichheobtainedunderthesystemofvehiculatio,and
thatthejourneywhichwascompletedonfootwasthelaststage.Ineither
case,wearevividlyremindedthattheEmpirehadnolong-distancesignal-
lingsystem,andthattheflowofinformation,onwhichliterallyeverything
depended,wasitselfdependentonthehazardsofmovementbyhumansand
animals.
Aswehavealreadyseen,Trajanreactedappropriately,expressinghisre-
spectfortheSenatebysendingitaletterwritteninhisownhand.^18 Hedid
notcometoRomeitself,however,formorethanayearandahalf,firstvisit-
ingPannoniaandtheDanubianlegions.Itisintothisquiteprolongedperiod
thatwecanfitquiteasignificantnumberofitemsofevidence,whichshow
howlong-distancecorrespondence,carriedbymessengersorambassadors,
playedavitalroleinthegovernmentanddiplomacyoftheEmpire.
Itisofconsiderableimportancethat,asSherwin-Whiteshowedinhisex-
cellentCommentary,themajorityofPliny’spersonalletterstoTrajanfallinto
thisperiod.^19 AtthisstagePlinywasprefectoftheTreasuryofSaturn(Praefec-
tus Aerarii Saturni),havingbeenappointedbyNervaandTrajanduringtheir
jointreign.In100hewouldbesuffectconsul,nominatedbyTrajan.Dideach
andeveryoneofthe600senatorsnowwriteapersonalletterofcongratula-
tiontoTrajanandpresumablyhaveitcarriedtotheColoniaAgrippinensis
byamessenger?Orwasthisrequiredonlyofthemoresenior?Atanyrate,
sincethebeginningofTrajan’ssolereignresultedfromthedeathofhisadop-
tivefather,tactwasrequiredincongratulatinghimandwelcominghisrule
(epist.10.1):

Ithadindeedbeenthewishofyourfilialfeelings[pietas],mostsacred

Emperor,thatyouwouldsucceedaslateaspossibletoyourfather.But

theimmortalgodshavehastenedtoapplyyourvirtues[virtutes]tothe

communicazionid’ufficioinetàaltoimperiale,’’inM.Pani,ed.,Epigrafia e territorio: Politica
e società. Temi de antichità romaneIV(Rome,1996),331.IamgratefultoDr.B.Rankovfor
discussionoftheevidencerelatingtobeneficiarii.

17. Eutr.10,2,1.


18. Seen.11.
    19.A.N.Sherwin-White,TheLettersofPliny:AHistoricalandSocialCommentary(Oxford,
    1966),556–80.Thereisnodiscussionofthecharacteroftheprivatelettersassuch.