Letter 10072: I have been asked by certain persons to give decisions in cases where men claim they were born free, and demand the...

To Trajan. I have been asked by certain persons to give decisions in cases where men claim they were born free, and demand the restitution of their birth-right, * and so act in accordance with the precedents set by the letter of Domitian to Minicius Rufus and by the proconsuls in office here before me. I have consulted the decree of the senate relating to that class of cases, and I find that it only deals with provinces which are governed by proconsuls; ** and so, Sir, I have left the matter open, and postponed a decision until you advise me of the course you wish to be followed [Note: These men, who had been slaves and were afterwards manumitted, wished to have the same status as men who were born free. ] [Note: Bithynia was a 'senatorial province', which was usually governed by proconsuls; but Pliny had been sent there as the legate of the emperor.]

L To Trajan. I have been asked by certain persons to give decisions in cases where men claim they were born free, and demand the restitution of their birth-right, * and so act in accordance with the precedents set by the letter of Domitian to Minicius Rufus and by the proconsuls in office here before me. I have consulted the decree of the senate relating to that class of cases, and I find that it only deals with provinces which are governed by proconsuls; ** and so, Sir, I have left the matter open, and postponed a decision until you advise me of the course you wish to be followed (*) These men, who had been slaves and were afterwards manumitted, wished to have the same status as men who were born free. (**) Bithynia was a 'senatorial province', which was usually governed by proconsuls; but Pliny had been sent there as the legate of the emperor.

C. PLINIUS TRAIANO IMPERATORI Postulantibus quibusdam, ut de agnoscendis liberis restituendisque natalibus et secundum epistulam Domitiani scriptam Minicio Rufo et secundum exempla proconsulum ipse cognoscerem, respexi ad senatus consultum pertinens ad eadem genera causarum, quod de iis tantum provinciis loquitur, quibus proconsules praesunt; ideoque rem integram distuli, dum <tu>, domine, praeceperis, quid observare me velis.