It's Almost The Weekend!

  As you probably guessed from my excessively enthusiastic title I'm pumped for the oncoming weekend. Perhaps, this excitement is due to the fact that I am a solid day behind on my calender for my project. Although progress has been slow moving as far as output of summaries goes, in finishing my second article and summary this evening, I have discovered a whole new facet of Pliny The Younger to explore.

  This evening I finished reading the article "The Elder and Younger Pliny on Emperor Worship" by Kenneth Scott. My personal opinion on Kenneth, the man doesn't have anything from his own mind interesting and unique to say. Aside from his brief introduction which lasted a page and a half, and his conclusion which was also a page in length, this thirteen page article was just a mass of block quotes with no introductions. (Link Below) Quite frankly, had this been my first article on Pliny The Younger I do not believe I would have gained any insight. Due to the strong background information I had attained I was able to make sense of the highly confusing article, and found some interest in the psychology of Pliny. This article had many quotes from Pliny's speech known as the Panegyricus, a complimentary speech addressed to the emperor Trajan. Since, I've already determined Pliny to be a glorified kiss ass, this article gave me an unintentional look into mind of Pliny. In his speech, Pliny praises Trajan for letting his work as an emperor stand for itself and not forcing worship upon the Romans as he said the old emperor Domitian demanded. It was interesting because it is well know through the historical community that Pliny was seeking fame through the writing and publishing of his careful worded letters. In his letters though Pliny also did not ask for the fame and praise he was hoping to receive. It's almost as if Pliny was reflecting himself and his hopes onto the life of Trajan.

  As stated in my article outline from my last post, Pliny experienced much prosperity under the Emperor Domitian and Pliny also hinted at this. So to attack Domitian so harshly was rather ungrateful. After reading this article I do believe Pliny adored Trajan, but I believe Pliny's adoration came from a bit a jealousy and motivated him to achieve fame in a humble manner similar to Trajan.

The Plinys on Emperor Worship:

http://www.jstor.org/stable/283211

Article Summary:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/14b_8aGhHJvDKJXW6CHOn-L_ofXbxtVD22c7o6UjxfKY/edit?usp=sharing