Selections from Pliny's Letters

Cambridge Latin Texts

by Pliny the Younger, M.B. Fisher (Editor), M.R Griffin (Editor)

A range of Latin passages for translation and comprehension. The selections from Pliny allow students to work with short extracts to practice thier skills in unprepared translation. Comprehension questions and passages translated into English help with understanding. Suitaable for GCSE and AS and A level students.

74 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 112

About the author

Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo (61 AD – ca. 112 AD), better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate him and they were both witnesses to the eruption of Vesuvius on 24 August 79 AD.

"You would have heard the wails of women, the shrieks of infants, shouts of men; some were seeking parents with their voices, others children, others spouses, and by their voices they were recognizing them; some were pitying their own misfortune, others the misfortune of their families; there were those who - due to the fear of death - were praying for death; many raised their hands toward the gods, more were concluding that there were no gods anywhere, and that this was the perpetual and final night for the world."

-Pliny the Younger, Letters, 16.20.14-15