What were Pliny’s responsibilities and problems as governor of Bithynia? What does he show us about governors and provincial life? Pliny the Younger was a tremendously prolific communicator with the Emperor Trajan. A large quantity of his letters, along with many replies, survives and this gives us an invaluable insight into the role of being a governor. The first thing to note about the letters is that they are full of praise to the emperor. This would have been standard form as a mark of respect and also to avoid any insult which could be dangerous to the author. As governor, Pliny had wide-ranging responsibilities and problems, which he often felt, needed reference to higher authority. These are what we find in these letters. The patronage system ran throughout the entire Roman society. There was no exception for Pliny as governor of Bithynia. He had to have powerful clients in order to maintain his position and ensure he had the funds available to complete any works that he wished to be done. One way of ensuring loyalty from his clients was to recommend them to the emperor for the granting of special honours and privileges. A good example of this and how patron and client exchange favours is found in Book 10 letter 5 (to Trajan): ‘When I was seriously ill last year, Sir, and in some danger of my life, I called in a medical therapist whose care and attentiveness I cannot adequately reward without the help of your kind interest in the man. I pray you therefore to grant him Roman citizenship.’ This details succinctly an instance in which Pliny could use his role as governor within the patronage system. Potentially, this could also cause problems, as people may well be overlooked and cause friction for the governor. Pliny records few instances of such occurrences, which could imply either that he chose to omit them or he was successful at avoiding such problems. Letter 12 where he recommends Attius Sura for a praetorship is similar, but perhaps also illustrates the governor’s responsibility in selecting suitable senators for the Roman Senate. This would have been a vetting process, especially as the number of Senators continued to increase. Thus, appointments like this served dual functions for Pliny. The role of a governor also included many responsibilities to do with the running of the province of which he governed. These ranged from legal disputes to major civic engineering works such as aqueducts and temples. Pliny’s letters include many such examples. Letters 23 and 24 are examples of construction work in Bithynia. Both Pliny’s request for advice and Trajan’s reply are included. Pliny is requesting a public bath in Prusa on the public’s behalf to replace an old and dilapidated one. Trajan approves of this plan, conditionally (Book ten letter 24): ‘If building a new bath at Prusa will not strain the city’s finances, there is no reason why we should not grant their petition’ provided that no new tax is imposed and there is no further diversion of funds of theirs intended for essential services.’ It is a recurrent theme of the letters that no extra funds should be spent. The responsibility and problem that Pliny appears to have to deal with mainly is that of finance. He cannot over-stretch the populace, but he cannot be seen to not be using the funds to benefit the people. Trajan often reminds Pliny of this responsibility. It is an interesting insight into governors in that they may not be able to conduct their rule autonomously and that the image of them plundering a province for personal and Roman gain is perhaps not relevant to Pliny and others. The other effect of Pliny building a new public bath in Prusa is for his own glory. If he were seen as a benefactor to this city he and his descendants would reap many rewards from the citizens of the city. This was a widely sought-after benefit. Nicomedia’s problems with aqueducts were a major problem to Pliny. The citizens of this city had already squandered much money on this enterprise with no benefits in this matter. Letters 37 and 38 are how Pliny and Trajan deal with the matter. Trajan’s exhortation to Pliny to find out who was responsible for the wastage and possible corrupt theft of the money is crucial. Anybody stealing from the Empire is to be punished and this is crucial to the Emperor. Pliny also had problems raising funds, and he dealt with these in various ways. One of which was issuing public loans to citizens at a lower interest rate than was normal. Permission had to be granted for such special circumstances and actions. Letters 54 and 55 illustrate this. Trajan’s use of words in letter 55 is interesting in that he admits that he is not the most knowing person around; he seems almost at a loss: ‘Neither can I see any other solution myself.’ The management of public services was also one of Pliny’s responsibilities. Book 10 letter 19 is an example of a management problem that Pliny is doubtful over how to resolve. It is the problem of using public slaves as prison warders or to use the more reliable method of soldiers as the prison guards. The problem is that the soldiers were needed for other roles, but the public slaves may not always be reliable enough. This is an example of how Pliny found difficulty in some areas as to how to juggle his resources. He seeks help from Trajan, who replies in book 10 letter 20: ‘There is no need, my dear Pliny, for more soldiers to be transferred to guard-duty in the prisons. We should continue the custom of the province and use public slaves as warders. Their reliability depends on your watchfulness and discipline.’ The last sentence here quoted is a crucial insight into a governor’s job. Responsibility for the province rests on his soldiers. If the prison-guards turn out to be incompetent, the fault for any problems lies with Pliny. As such, Pliny was forced to take great care to ensure that he performed his role as governor to the best of his abilities. Rome did not dominate provincial life and an inevitable move towards Romanisation was not always the case as it may sometimes appear. Trajan’s call to continue with the tradition of the province in this manner as opposed to the Roman way of doing things provides clear evidence that provincial life still enjoyed some autonomy from their rulers’ ways of life. Legal disputes and quandaries were a recurrent feature of Pliny’s governance. Book 10 letters 31 and 32 detail an example of such a problem in that the punishments imposed on some people appear to have been reduced and the status of the people involved altered. The reasons why are not clear to Pliny and he seeks advice. The situation is that some criminals were sentenced to labour for the state, but they now perform the roles of public slaves and draw a salary for their work without completing their sentences. This is a problem for Pliny as the rule of law is broken, but many of them are old and it is hard to send them to complete sentences for which many years had lapsed since the intended date of completion. Pliny’s confusion as to how they came to be released is illustrated here: ‘You may perhaps want to know how they came to be released from the sentences passed on them. I asked this question myself, but received no satisfactory answer to give you, and although the records of their sentences were produced, there were no documents to prove their release.’ This shows the difficulty that a governor had when he came into a new province in that previous regimes may not have been sufficiently able and accurate in recording and justifying their actions. This could leave a legacy of a web of confusing problems and conflicts that could take a long time to unravel. This is one such instance that Pliny inherited on his accession to the role of governor of Bithynia. Letters 96 and 97 are very significant, not just for the governor’s role but for evidence in how Christians were treated by the authorities at this time. The actions of a governor in regards to potentially troublesome groups of people and other problems were crucial to his success in maintaining civic order. This was one of the focal points of a governor’s tasks. The Roman Empire saw it as crucial that order be upheld and citizens protected from riots and such like. Unrest created problems and loss of control and taxes that the Empire was eager to avoid. Pliny was an example of a governor who referred many of his problems to the emperor as illustrated by the opening line of letter 96: ‘It is my custom to refer all my difficulties to you, Sir, for no one is better able to resolve my doubts and inform my ignorance.’ It is an insight into how a governor might perform his duties, though one who was not perhaps so eager for contact with the Emperor might not contact the Emperor with such frequency. Letter 96 details how he reacted to those Christians presented to him. He attempts to be reasonable and provide them with many chances of escape and repentance. Wholesale ‘witch-hunts’ and slaughters were not beneficial to a governor in order to keep control. Public unease and sympathy for the victims would rise and the focus of anger would be the authorities, specifically in a localised situation the governor. This was an undesirable consequence and one which Pliny sought to avoid by attempting to be reasonable and seeking the Emperor’s guidance. Trajan, unlike later emperors urges caution and reticence in this matter: ‘These people must not be hunted out; if they are brought before you and the charge is proved, they must be punished, but in the case of anyone who denies that he is a Christian, and makes it clear that he is not by offering prayers to our gods, he is to be pardoned as a result of his repentance, however suspect his past conduct may be.’ In conclusion, Pliny’s letters show that the governor’s role was one of balance. He had to represent the wishes of the people as well as that of the Empire. All this was within the constraints of finance and justice. He had to deal with past mistakes and precedents, which were a never-ending source of difficulty. His responsibilities and problems as governor of Bithynia were multitude and difficult to balance. These letters provide a thought provoking insight into governorship and provincial life.