Abstract
Raymond L. Capra
Department of Foreign Languages and Literature
Meredith College (Raleigh, NC)
Pliny's villa: Letters 2.17 and 5.6
Of the 247 letters in the nine books which comprise Pliny published collection of epistulae, thirty-four make reference either to Roman villas or to the sort of agrarian, economic or literary activities that were an integral facet of the villa and of villa ownership. Although not every one of these letters discusses villas as an essential element of the content, they all contribute to the collection's thematic use of the villa as a crucial aspect of a Roman aristocrat's life, a private refuge from the contentious world of Imperial politics; so Pliny says, in a rather florid address, of his lifestyle at his home in Larentum, "O rectam sinceramque vitam! O dulce otium honestumque paene omni negotio pulchrius! O mare, o litus, verum secretumque 'mouseîon'!" (1.9.6). Given the frequent appearance of villas and estates in the letters, it seems quite natural that Pliny should take occasion to describe one of his own, or two as is the case, with the characteristic enthusiasm of a proud homeowner. This paper will approach the two villa descriptions, letters 2.17 and 5.6, not from an archaeological, but from a literary perspective to underscore their significance as "scripted architecture," epistolary monuments written by an erudite and financially successful villa owner.
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