PLINY THE YOUNGER Pliny on the Arts "This year has produced a great crop of poets despite the reluctance of the public to come and listen. People say that in our parent's day, thins were different. Once the Emperor Claudius was walking, on a rare break from work, when he learned that a poetry reading was in progress. So great was his love of letters, that unexpectedly he joined the audience. But today, even men with ample leisure neglect the arts." (Letter 1.13)