not completed till A.D. 108 at least.
Therefore the governorship falls after that time. On the other hand,
Pliny must have been sent out not later than A.D. 113, as in the chief
inscription _Optimus_ does not appear in Trajan's name, and this
cognomen he assumed in A.D. 114. Finally, the fact that Trajan was at
Rome during Pliny's governorship points to a time between the end of
the second Dacian War in A.D. 107 and the outbreak of the Parthian War
in A.D. 113.

Our information about Pliny ends with the close of his correspondence
with Trajan. It is certain that he held no further office, and it is
probable that he died before A.D. 114 in his province or shortly after
his return to Rome.

As regards municipal relations, Pliny held the post of _flamen divi
Augusti_, according to the inscription which the corporation of
Vercellae erected to him at his own town (_C.I.L._ v. 5667).

'C. Plini[o L. f. O]uf. Caec[ilio] Secundo [c]os. augur. cur. alv.
Tib. [et ripa]r. et cloac. urb. [praef. a]er. Sat. praef. aer. mil.
[pr. tr. pl.] imp. sevir. eq. R. tr. m[i]l. leg. iii. Gall. x. viro
stl. iud. fl. divi T. Aug.'

For bequests to his native town see the chief inscription (below).
Besides these are mentioned gifts in his life-time. Under Domitian
Pliny presented his townspeople with a library (_Ep._ i, 8),
apparently worth 1,000,000 sesterces (v. 7), and endowed it with
100,000 sesterces. He also gave 500,000 sesterces for the support of
freeborn boys and girls (_Ep._ i, 8); and promised to pay one-third of
the salary of the professor of rhetoric at Comum (_Ep._ iv. 13, 5).

The following is the chief inscription of Pliny (as restored by
Mommsen), which was erected at the _Thermae_ which he presented to
Comum (_C.I.L._ v. 5262):

'C. Plinius L. f. Ouf. Caecilius _Secundus cos._ augur legat. pro pr.
provinciae Pon_ti et Bithyniae_ consulari potesta_t_. in eam
provinciam e_x. s. c. missus ab_ Imp. Caesar. Nerva Traiano Aug.
German_ico Dacico p.p_. curator alvei Ti_b_eris et riparum e_t
cloacar. urb_. praef. aerari Satu_r_ni praef. aerari mil_it. pr. trib.
pl_. quaestor imp. sevir equitum _Romanorum_ trib. milit. leg. _iii_.
Gallicae _x.vir stli_tib. iudicand. therm_as ex HS_ ... adiectis in
ornatum HS ccc ... _et eo amp_lius in tutela_m_ HS CC t. f. i. _item
in alimenta_ libertor. suorum homin. C. HS XVIII LXVI DCLXVI rei_p.
legavit, quorum inc_rement. postea ad epulum _pl_eb. urban. voluit
pertin_ere ... item vivus_ dedit