The Art of Pliny's Letters: A Poetics of Allusion in the Private Correspondence

292 Pages·2008·0.96 MB·English

by  Ilaria Marchesi

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THE ART OF PLINY’S LETTERS
In the first book on intertextuality in Pliny the Younger, Professor
Marchesi invites a new reading of Pliny’s collection of private epis-
tles: the letters are examined as the product of an authorial strategy
controlling both the rhetorical fabric of individual units and their
arrangementinthecollection.Byinsertingrecognizablefragmentsof
canonical authors into his epistles, Pliny imports into the still fluid
practice of letter-writing the principles of composition and organi-
zationthatforhiscontemporariescharacterizedotherwritingsaslit-
erature. Allusions become the occasion for a metapoetic dialogue,
especiallywiththecollection’sprivilegedaddressee,Tacitus.Anactive
participant in the cultural politics of his time, Pliny entrusts to the
lettershisviewsonpoetry,oratoryandhistoriography.Indefininga
model of epistolography alternative to Cicero’s and complementing
thoseofHorace,OvidandSeneca,healsosuccessfullycarvesaniche
forhisworkintheRomanliterarycanon.
ilaria marchesi isAssistantProfessorofClassicsandCompara-
tiveLiterature,andDirectoroftheClassicsProgramatHofstraUni-
versity. Recipient of the National Endowment for the Humanities
Grantin2005–2006forherworkonPliny,shehaspublishedalsoon
HoraceandPetroniusaswellastheclassicaltraditionintheMiddle
Ages.

THE ART OF PLINY’S
LETTERS
A Poetics of Allusion in the Private Correspondence
ILARIA MARCHESI
CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITYPRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB28RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521882279
© Ilaria Marchesi 2008
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of
relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place
without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2008
ISBN-13 978-0-511-38827-9 eBook (NetLibrary)
ISBN-13 978-0-521-88227-9 hardback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls
for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not
guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Contents
Acknowledgements page vi
Preface viii
Introduction 1
1 Thesemioticsofstructure 12
2 Sedquidegotamgloriose?Pliny’spoeticsofchoice 53
3 TheimportanceofbeingSecundus:Tacitus’voicein
Pliny’sletters 97
4 Storminghistoriography:Pliny’svoiceinTacitus’text 144
5 OvercomingCiceroniananxiety:Pliny’sniche/nikeinliterary
history 207
Fromdawntilldusk:fournotesinlieuofaconclusion 241
Appendixtochapter5 252
Listofworkscited 258
Generalindex 272
Indexlocorum 275
v
Acknowledgements
IhesitatetoadmitthatIdiscoveredPlinyasasubjectworthyofstudyonly
in graduate school, in the context of a course on the history of the book
withJohnBodel.Itwashisinspiredteachingthatfirstprovidedtheimpetus
forthisbook,andhisgenerosityandsupportiveadvicehaveaccompanied
thisprojecttoitscompletion.Myfirstandgreatestdebtistohim.
Over the years many friends and colleagues have helped me think and
writeaboutPliny’stexts,bypatientlyreadinganddiscussingmymanuscript
in its various incarnations. It would be impossible to express fully my
gratitudetoeachofthemhere,butIwouldliketosingleoutthreeofmy
earlyreaders:AlessandroBarchiesi,LowellEdmundsandDenisFeeney.To
theirsupportivecriticismsthisbookowesthecouragetotryandexportinto
astudyofPliny’sprosethedelicateinstrumentsusuallyreservedforpoetic
texts.ToRoyGibsonandGarethWilliamsgoesmywarmestgratitudefor
their painstaking readings and priceless suggestions. Roy’s enthusiasm for
renewing the study of Pliny has sometimes surpassed even my own, and
hashelpedmeovercomemanyfitsofskepticismandself-doubt.ToTony
Woodman,areaderextremelygenerouswithhistimeandasskepticalashe
isselfless,Iowethedistinctpleasureofhavingbeenforcedtorethinkmany
arguments. The Art of Pliny’s Letters is definitely a better book thanks to
him.HestilldoesnotagreewithmanyofthepointsIhavemadehere,and
shouldnotbeheldinanywayresponsibleformyobstinatedisposition.
I am grateful to the National Endowment for the Humanities for a
research fellowship in 2005–2006, which allowed me to take one year off
fromteachinginordertoworkonthefinalrevisionofthisbook.Iamalso
extremelygratefultoHofstraUniversityforhavingfacilitatedmyleave,and
toStevenSmith,acolleagueandnowafriend,towhosecareIentrustedthe
ClassicsProgramduringmyleave.Hisenthusiasm,commitmentandpro-
fessionalismhavegivenmethepeaceofmindtoworkonmybookwithout
worryingaboutthefateofourstudents.
vi
Acknowledgements vii
I would also like to thank the environment of American academia. A
projectlikethiswouldhaveneverseenthelightofdayhadInotbeengiven
thechancetostudyandtoworkintheUnitedStatesaftermytrainingin
Italy.Thepasttenyearshaveofferedmearemarkableseriesofopportunities
to reinvent myself and my work at every step. In this time I have also
benefitedmuchfromthegenerosityofStephanieCobb,ChristianDupont,
Matt Fox, George Greaney, Kristi Grimes and Esther Marion. From the
various vantage points of their disciplines they have not only helped to
makemyItalian-soundingprosemorereadablebutalsotaughtmethereal
meaningofthewordcollegial.Tothecombinedeffortsofallthesepeople
thisbookowesitsstrengths;itsdefectsmustbeascribedtomystubbornness.
Itonlyremainstodischargethepleasantdutyofthepublishingmember
in any academic couple; that is, offering thanks to their spouse for their
patienceandsupport.TomyhusbandSimone,whotwelveyearsagocon-
vincedmetolookWestfromtheshoresoftheTyrrhenianSeaandimagine
alifetogetherbeyondit,Isayonlyonething:maywebefortunateenough
tocontinuesharingeverywordofit.
In the body of this book, I follow the standard system of abbrevia-
tions for ancient sources as detailed in the Oxford Latin Dictionary and
theGreek–EnglishLexiconofLiddellandScott.Formodernsourcesinthe
bibliography,Ihavespelledoutalljournaltitlesinfull.
Preface
ThisbookisaboutwhatmakesPliny’scollectionofprivatecorrespondence
aliterarywork.Whiletheepistleshavepreviouslybeenstudiedasasource
of historical information, recent critical interest in Pliny has acquired a
largerfocus.WorkssuchasHoffer’sontheanxietiesofPlinytheYounger
orthecollectiveendeavoroftheManchesterandMenaggioconferenceson
Plinyandhissocial,politicalandculturalworldshaveilluminatedPliny’s
engagementwithcentralissuesofhistimes.Thesecontributions,however,
havelargelybeenanimatedbyaninterpretationoftheepistlesthatisexclu-
sivelyinstrumental:Pliny’stextshavebeenread,infact,asawitnesstothe
author’sstrategicself-fashioning.Ifthispartlynewapproachhasthemerit
ofadvancingthecriticaldebatebeyondtheearlierprevailinginterestinhis
collectionasasourceofprosopographicevidence,itstillinsistsoncasting
the epistles as a testimony to the life, however artificially and strategically
constructed, of an individual. My work intends to reorient the reading
of Pliny’s letters by considering them not only as a tool for understand-
ing the author or his times but also as the object to be understood. My
centralcontentionisthat,whilePlinyconsciouslyembedsinhistextsthe
self-portraitofamanofstrenuouspoliticalactivityandincessantcultural
commitment,thisportraitcannotbeseparatedfromthetextualcorpusthat
articulatesit.Pliny’slettersdonotmerelywitnesshisculturalproject;they
constituteit.Inotherwords,althoughinreadingtheletterswelearnsome-
thingaboutthepersonoftheauthorandtheintricatewebofpersonalities
that populate them, we should also expect to learn something about the
lettersthemselvesandthestrategiesthroughwhichtheyareconstructedas
self-sufficient,literarytexts.
Pliny’s letters are certainly documents that provide information on a
realitylocatedoutsidethem:theycontainusefuldataonPliny’sowneco-
nomic, political and oratorical activities; they convey a picture of power
struggles, relations and customs in his circle of friends; they record the
lives of some of his contemporaries and the deaths of many of his elders;
viii