Just a note to let you know that the letters of Pliny the Younger are closing tomorrow on CP. Very important original source material on Roman relationships with Christians. They contain the first mention of the word "Christian" in Latin literature. Also please note that the English text is NOT included in Perseus, only the Latin.
From the Dictionary of New Testament Background:
Pliny the Younger was a Roman administrator of the early second century a.d. His published letters convey the ethos of the man and his times. An exchange of correspondence with the emperor Trajan is of particular interest for the social setting of early Christianity in an eastern Roman province.
[...]
Pliny is best known for his letters published in ten books. Books 1–9 appeared spasmodically between a.d. 104/5 and Pliny’s departure for Bithynia. All the letters in books 1–9 are written by Pliny himself to a variety of addressees. There is a wide range of topics (for a classification see Sherwin-White, 43–45). While books 1–9 are chronological, the letters within each book are arranged to achieve an aesthetic balance. Book 10 is different. It is probably a complete set of correspondence between Pliny and the emperor Trajan. Epistles 10.1–14 comprise eleven letters from Pliny to Trajan and three of Trajan’s replies between a.d. 98 (Trajan’s accession) and the beginning of Pliny’s governorship.
[...]
Judaism is not a topic of Pliny’s correspondence. But an exchange of letters at Epistles 10.96–97 is directly concerned with Christianity. Indeed, it is noticeable that Christianity is not considered in relation to Judaism but as a voluntary association of the same social status as a fire brigade (Ep. 10.96.7; cf. 10.34). The term Christian occurs for the first time in extant Latin literature at Epistles 10.96.1, 2, 3, 5, 6; also 10.97.1, 2.
The above-cited reference goes into a lot more detail about Pliny's letters and is itself a very interesting read.
