Abstract: In this paper, I offer a comprehensive interpretation of Pliny the Younger's discussion of amicitia in chapters 85–87 of his Panegyricus to Trajan. In these paragraphs, Pliny sets out his views on imperial friendship, illustrates them with an example of Trajan's behaviour, and places amicitia in broader political context. By analysing Pliny's conception of friendship against the wider backdrop of the Roman literary-philosophical tradition on amicitia , I show that this passage should not merely be considered a digression. Rather, Pliny's treatment of amicitia is an integral part of his rhetorical strategy because it, like the rest of the speech, emphatically pits Trajan against Domitian and demonstrates the former's virtuous nature.
Bart Janssen (2025) studied this question.