32 The Imperial Government
Smyrna had been a petition attached to the proconsul’s letter, that would
explainallthemoreeasilywhyTrajansaysinhisreplythathehaswritten
alsotoIuliusBalbus,‘‘myamicus[friend]andproconsul.’’Bothdocumentswill
havebeencarriedbacktotheproconsulbyamessenger.ThedateofBalbus’
proconsulshipisunfortunatelyuncertainasbetween98and100,orevena
yearortwolater.^28
The Emperor’s reception of embassies during 99 and (almost certainly)
duringthefirstfewdaysofhisthirdconsulatein100isalsoillustratedbythe
recentlypublishedfragmentsoftwolettersofhisfromMiletus.^29 Theletters
werealmostcertainlystimulatedbyasingleembassyfromMiletus,heardby
theEmperoronprobablymorethanoneoccasion,afterhisreturntoRome
inaboutOctober99.Atanyratetheletterwhichwasinscribedseconddates
totheperiodwhenTrajanwasconsulII,anddesignatedIII(sointhesecond
halfof99);andthatwhichwasinscribedfirstwasdated‘‘Eightdaysbefore
theIdesofJanuary,fromRome,’’6January100.Justenoughsurvivesofthis
letter to indicate that the context is the familiarcompetition for privilege
amongthecitiesofAsia.
IfourevidenceforimperialcorrespondencewithGreekcitiesintheearly
yearsof Trajan’sreignisslight,itisstillextremelyindicative.But,because
ofitsuniqueness,thereismuchgreatersignificanceinthedossierofletters
whichPlinysenttoTrajaninthisperiod,andwhichsometimesreceivedre-
plies,andsometimesdidnot.Forastart,howeversuccessfullyTrajanlived
up to the model of thecivilis princeps(a princeps who behaves like a citi-
zen),asheclearlydid,^30 itisverystriking,asHannahCottonpointedout,
thatalmosteveryoneofPliny’slettersusesthewords‘‘toindulge’’(indulgere)
or‘‘indulgence’’(indulgentia).^31 Thatistosay,vis-à-vistheEmperor,evena
high-placed senator like Plinyadopted the rhetorical posture of a humble
petitioner.Theselettersfromthefirstpartofepist.10,whicharefamiliarto
all,yetarestrangelyneglected,willbeworthabrieflook.Inepist.2Plinyis
apparentlyreferringtoafavourablereply(rescriptum)whichTrajanhadsent
toIuliusServianus,inanswertohispetition(preces)thatPliny,whowasin
factchildless,shouldreceivetheprivilegesgrantedtoaparentofthreechil-
- SeePIR^2 I199;B.Thomasson,Laterculi PraesidumI(Göteborg,1984),220.
- N.EhrhardtandP.Weiss,‘‘Trajan,DidymaundMilet.NeueFragmentevonKaiser-
briefenundihrKontext,’’Chiron25(1995):315–53;AE1995,nos.1498–1500.Asmallfrag-
mentofanotherletterisalsoincluded. - A.Wallace-Hadrill, ‘‘Civilis Princeps: Between Citizen and King,’’JRS72 (1982):
32–48. - H.Cotton,‘‘TheConceptofindulgentiaunderTrajan,’’Chiron14(1984):245–66.