Library Building under Nerva, Trajan and Hadrian

This Working Paper examines a number of Nervan, Trajanic and Hadrianic library foundations (Pliny’s library in Comum, Trajan’s in Rome, Celsus’ in Ephesos, and Pantainos’ and Hadrian’s libraries in Athens, inter alia) as a way of opening up discussion about literature and literary culture in the period more generally. It draws connections and comparisons between libraries established in different parts of the empire, and uses what we know about them to prompt some wider reflections on themes and questions that are likely to recur in the course of the research project.