A Comparison of the “Deeds of Augustus” to the “Letters of Pliny and Trajan”
After reading the correspondence between Pliny and Trajan, it emerges that the two leaders are guided by a decentralized form of governance, which distributes roles and responsibilities to different individuals with the hope of achieving a common objective. In this context, Trajan who is the emperor expected Pliny, the governor, to make informed decisions that will resolve emerging issues in his jurisdiction. Pliny’s ability to make informed decisions will not only benefit his locality but also contribute towards the realization of Trajan’s vision in his region.
On many occasions, power dynamics play an important role that influences the ability of citizens to access different services on demand. In this regard, Pliny raises petty issues that Trajan believes should be addressed locally instead of being raised to him because of his focus on improving outcomes within the vast region. Given that Trajan had appointed Pliny to take over an administration mauled by gross mismanagement, there was a need for Pliny to align his interests with his vision to accomplish the expected milestones. At some point, it appears that Trajan wants Pliny to take advantage of the centralized administration, which allows him to make independent decisions irrespective of the Emperor’s views on the issues.
After analyzing the correspondence between the governor and the emperor, its evident that the power and authority are shared attributes that must be handled irrespective of the personal interests held by leaders. Importantly, Trajan believes that Pliny should leverage on the powers bestowed to him by the centralized administration but must operate within the larger framework stipulated by the emperor. From this observation, power dynamics comes into play when Trajan insists that Pliny must make informed decisions that can resolve the different issues affecting people in his jurisdiction.
