Trouble in Pontus
The Pliny–Trajan Correspondence on the Christians Reconsidered
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9288698 |
|---|---|
| Authors | James Corke-Webster, James Corke‐Webster (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 147 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 371-411 |
| Publication date | 2017-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | TAPA (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2575-7180 • E-ISSN: 2575-7199 |
| Publisher | Johns Hopkins University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1353/apa.2017.0013 |
| OpenAlex | W2624785588 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 62 |
The letters exchanged by Pliny and Trajan concerning Christians have occasioned abundant commentary. But scholarship remains confused over two questions—first, Pliny's procedure and motivation in writing, and second, the extent of the emperor's response. I argue that the letters are evidence only of an overexposed governor's effort to shut down an escalating situation, and that they elicited a tailored, local and limited imperial response. This reading not only prompts a more nuanced understanding of the role of the governor and of his correspondence, but also prevents erroneous use of the letters in discussions of the "persecution" of the Christians
Ancient history · Art · Emperor · Governor · Linguistics · Literature · Persecution · Physics · Political science · Politics · Reading (process · Scholarship · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classics · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · Law · Organic Chemistry Synthesis Methods · Philosophy
Life in Egypt under Roman rule
Texts and Transmission
The acts of the Christian martyrs
The Christians as the Romans Saw Them
On the Dating of Polycarp
The Procedure under the Leges Calpurnia and Iunia De Repetundis and the Actio Per Sponsionem
Provincial administration and finance
Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire
Pre-Decian Acta Martyrum 1
Effects of Induction/Inhibition of Endogenous Heme Oxygenase-1 on Lipid Metabolism, Endothelial Function, and Atherosclerosis in Rabbits on a High Fat Diet
La ‘Correspondance’ de Pline le Jeune
Centre and Periphery. Administrative Communication in Roman Imperial Times
La 'cognitio extra ordinem'
Triple Vision
The Art of Pliny's Letters
Constructions of the Classical Body
Roman Attitudes Toward the Christians
Law and Crime in the Roman World
The Coalescence of the Two Plinys
Pagan Rome and the Early Christians
Legislation against the Christians
The Criminal Jurisdiction of Governors
Proconsuls, Assizes and the Administration of Justice under the Empire
The Roman Law of Treason under the Early Principate
The Process ‘De Repetundis’
The Myth of the Neronian Persecution
Die Bedeutungsentwicklung Von Superstitio/Superstes
Das Verhalten der römischen Behorden gegen die Christen im 2. Jahrhundert dargestellt am Brief des Plinius an Trajan und den Reskripten Trajans und Hadrians
Tertullian. A Historical and Literary Study
C. Plini Caecili Secundi Epistularum Libri Decem
The Early Reception of Pliny the Younger in Tertullian of Carthage and Eusebius of Caesarea
The Letters of Pliny
The Letters of Pliny. A Historical and Social Commentary
Judging Empire
Policing the Roman EmpireSoldiers, Administration, and Public Order
Emperors at Work
Pliny/Trajan and the Poetics of Empire
The Emperor, The Senate and the Provinces
Petitions, Litigation, and Social Control in Roman Egypt
The Fate of Pliny's Letters in the Late Empire
The Social Economy of Pliny's Correspondence with Trajan
Reading the Letters of Pliny the Younger
Restraining Rage
Why Were the Early Christians Persecuted ?-A Rejoinder
Rhetorical Structure in Tertullian's Ad Scapulam
Why Were the Early Christians Persecuted?1
Tertullians Apologeticum
Why Were the Early Christians Persecuted ?-An Amendment
Superstitio' and the Persecution of the Christians
Law, Politics and Society in the Ancient Mediterranean World
C. Plini Caecili Secvndi Epistvlarvm Libri Decem
Governors on the Move
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,43 |
| Citation span | 2019 - 2025 (7) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |