# Tacitus and Pliny the Younger prosecute Marius Priscus, proconsul of Africa, for extortion; Priscus is exiled

Date: 100

## The fact

In 100 CE Tacitus and Pliny the Younger were assigned to act for African provincials against Marius Priscus, who had taken bribes and used his office to abuse. Pliny writes that Priscus was found guilty and exiled, and that [Tacitus](/people/tacitus) spoke with the majesty of his usual oratory. He did not govern Africa. Archival locator: Perseus — Pliny the Younger, Letters at https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0139 (Perseus Digital Library / Tufts). Independent locator: Britannica — Tacitus at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tacitus-Roman-historian (Encyclopaedia Britannica).

## Context

Repetundae trials were the Senate’s way of hearing provincial extortion. Justice-[judicial-independence](/drivers/justice-judicial-independence-erosion)-erosion is a BAD driver: improving means weakening that erosion by actually convicting a governor. Shared advocacy with Pliny is documented. This is not the Asia proconsulship Tacitus later held. Archival locator: Perseus — Pliny the Younger, Letters at https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0139 (Perseus Digital Library / Tufts). Independent locator: Britannica — Tacitus at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tacitus-Roman-historian (Encyclopaedia Britannica).

Confidence is stated on the impact path, not hidden in adjectives. Africa’s provincials, not Tacitus, were the injured parties. Mixed effects of Tacitus and Pliny the Younger prosecute Marius Priscus, proconsul of Africa, for extortion; Priscus is exiled are separate paths.

## Evidence and sources

Perseus Pliny letters on the Priscus trial are the contemporary public English. Britannica independently records the 100 prosecution and exile. Dickinson’s life notice aligns. Latin Library Agricola is not this case. Archival locator: Perseus — Pliny the Younger, Letters at https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0139 (Perseus Digital Library / Tufts). Independent locator: Britannica — Tacitus at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tacitus-Roman-historian (Encyclopaedia Britannica).

Official or archival record: Perseus — Pliny the Younger, Letters (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0139; Perseus Digital Library / Tufts).

## Significance

A named orator helping to exile a predatory proconsul is a justice path with real provincials attached. High confidence on occurrence; medium on how far the penalty repaired African harm. Later uses of the letters as a school of advocacy are reception. Archival locator: Perseus — Pliny the Younger, Letters at https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0139 (Perseus Digital Library / Tufts). Independent locator: Britannica — Tacitus at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tacitus-Roman-historian (Encyclopaedia Britannica).

The welfare reading used in this dossier is improving. That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself.

## What is established and what is not

Established: joint prosecution, conviction, exile, Tacitus as speaker. Not established: a unique restitution total or a recovered African petition papyrus. Conventional 100. Not his later Asia post. Archival locator: Perseus — Pliny the Younger, Letters at https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0139 (Perseus Digital Library / Tufts). Independent locator: Britannica — Tacitus at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tacitus-Roman-historian (Encyclopaedia Britannica).

Shared responsibility is part of Tacitus and Pliny the Younger prosecute Marius Priscus, proconsul of Africa, for extortion; Priscus is exiled. Naming Tacitus does not delete co-authors, institutions, or later transmitters. The lag from 0100-01-01 to any measured indicator is not treated as zero. Alternative explanations — weather, other armies, later statutes, or independent cultural change — remain live where the sources do not close them.

If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here.

Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, museums, and adaptations are not converted into extra lifetime acts.

## People

- Tacitus: https://factrail.ai/people/tacitus

## Drivers

- Judicial independence erosion (court capture): https://factrail.ai/drivers/justice-judicial-independence-erosion

## Sources

- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tacitus-Roman-historian
- https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0139

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/tac-marius-priscus-100