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Hello, after a fire which destroyed several houses and two public buildings, a local government

official wrote to his superior asking for permission to set up a fire brigade.

His modest request for a force of 150 men equipped with fire engines and buckets was turned

down.

His concerns at a fire brigade might become a focus of political opposition.

This took place almost 2,000 years ago, in the ancient city of Nicolmedia in Asia Minor.

We know about it because the correspondence between the local Roman governor Pliny the Younger

and his emperor, Trajan, has survived.

Pliny was a successful lawyer born in the first century AD, who became a prominent member

of the Roman administration.

His greatest legacy is the hundreds of letters he wrote to friends, colleagues and the Roman

emperor himself.

They describe life in ancient Rome at the height of its powers in detail, from the law

courts to dinner party etiquette, and even include a stunning eyewitness account of his

uncle's death in the eruption of Vesuvius.

With me to discuss the life and letters of Pliny the Younger are, Catherine Edwards, Professor

of Classics and Ancient History, Birkbeck University of London, Roy Gibson, Professor

of Latin at the University of Manchester, and Alice Kernig, lecturer in Latin and Classical

Studies at the University of St. Andrews.

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