Both are simultaneously true. You get such a strong impression of Pliny from his letters: a sensible chap, a bit Pooterish, really a classic organisation man,

Both are simultaneously true. You get such a strong impression of Pliny from his letters: a sensible chap, a bit Pooterish, really a classic organisation man, but good-hearted. And his appreciation of his new wife is so touching! Then you discover he was 39 and his new wife was about 14.