Letters from a Stoic

LXXIV. ON VIRTUE AS A REFUGE FROM

LXXIV. ON VIRTUE AS A REFUGE FROM WORLDLY DISTRACTIONS

Your letter has given me pleasure, and has roused me from sluggishness. It has also prompted my memory, which has been for some time slack and nerveless.

You are right, of course, my dear Lucilius, in deeming the chief means of attaining the happy life

113

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

beatae vitae hane persuasionem, unum bonum esse, quod honestum est? Nam gui alia bona iudicat, in fortunae venit potestatem, alieni arbitrii fit; qui omne bonum honesto circumscripsit, intra se est felix.} 2 Hic amissis liberis maestus, hic sollicitus aegris, hic turpibus et aliquam passis infamiam tristis. Illum videbis alienae uxoris amore cruciari, illum suae. Non deerit quem repulsa distorqueat; erunt quos ipse 3 honor vexet. Illa vero maxima ex omni mortalium populo turba miserorum, quam expectatio mortis exagitat undique inpendens. Nihil enim est, unde non subeat. Itaque ut in hostili regione versantibus hue et illue circumspiciendum est et ad omnem strepitum circumagenda cervix; nisi hic timor e pectore eiectus est, palpitantibus praecordiis vivitur. 4 Occurrent acti in exilium et evoluti bonis. Occurrent, quod genus egestatis gravissimum est, in divitiis inopes. Occurrent naufragi similiave naufragis passi, quos aut popularis ira aut invidia, perniciosum optimis telum, inopinantes securosque disiecit procellae more, quae in ipsa sereni fiducia solet emergere, aut fulminis

1 intra se est felix Hense; intra se felix VPb; intra se felix est later MSS.

« A doctrine often expressed in the Letters; cf, for example, Ixxi. 4.

® Cf. Horace, Carm. iii. 16. 28 magnas inter opes mops.

¢ For the same thought ef. Ep. iv. 7 Neminem eo fortuna provexit, ut non tantum illi minaretur, quantum permiserat. Noli huic tranquillitati confidere ; momento mare evertitur. Liodem die ubi luserunt navigia, sorbentur.

114

EPISTLE LXXIV.

to consist in the belief that the only good lies in that which is honourable. For anyone who deems other things to be good, puts himself in the power of Fortune, and goes under the control of another; but he who has in every case defined the good by the honourable, is happy with an inward happiness.

One man is saddened when his children die; another is anxious when they become ill; a third is embittered when they do something disgraceful, or suffer a taint in their reputation. One man, you will observe, is tortured by passion for his neighbour’s wife, another by passion for his own. You will find men who are completely upset by failure to win an election, and others who are actually plagued by the offices which they have won. But the largest throng of unhappy men among the host of mortals are those whom the expectation of death, which threatens them on every hand, drives to despair. For there is no quarter from which death may not approach. Hence, like soldiers scouting in the enemy’s country, they must look about in all directions, and turn their heads at every sound; unless the breast be rid of this fear, one lives with a palpitating heart. You will readily recall those who have been driven into exile and dispossessed of their property. You will also recall (and this is the most serious kind of destitution) those who are poor in the midst of their riches.2 You will recall men who have suffered shipwreck, or those whose sufferings resemble ship- wreck ; for they were untroubled and at ease, when the anger or perhaps the envy of the populace,—a missile most deadly to those in high places,°— dismantled them like a storm which is wont to rise when one is most confident of continued calm, or like a sudden stroke of lightning which even causes

15

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

subiti, ad cuius ictum etiam vicina tremuerunt. Nam ut illic quisquis ab igne propior stetit, percusso similis obstipuit, sic in his per aliquam vim accidentibus unum calamitas opprimit, ceteros metus, paremque passis tristitiam facit pati posse.

5 Omnium animos mala aliena ac repentina sollici- tant. Quemadmodum aves etiam inanis fundae sonus territat, nos ita non ad ictum tantum exagitamur, sed ad crepitum. Non potest ergo quisquam beatus esse, qui huic se opinioni credidit. Non enim beatum est, nisi quod intrepidum ; inter suspecta male vivitur.

6 Quisquis se multum fortuitis dedit, ingentem sibi materiam perturbationis et inexplicabilem fecit ; una haec via est ad tuta vadenti, externa despicere et honesto contentum esse. Nam qui aliquid virtute melius putat aut ullum praeter illam bonum, ad haec, quae a fortuna sparguntur, sinum expandit et

7 sollicitus missilia eius expectat. Hance enim imaginem animo tuo propone, ludos facere fortunam et in hunc mortalium coetum honores, divitias, gratiam excutere, quorum alia inter diripientium manus scissa sunt, alia infida societate divisa, alia magno detrimento eorum, in quos devenerant, prensa. Ex quibus quaedam

aliud agentibus inciderunt, quaedam, quia nimis

4 i.e., engaged upon something else. Cf Hp. i. 1.

116

EPISTLE LXXIV.

the region round about it totremble. For just as any- one who stands near the bolt is stunned and resembles one who is struck, so in these sudden and violent mishaps, although but one person is overwhelmed by the disaster, the rest are overwhelmed by fear, and the possibility that they may suffer makes them as downcast as the actual sufferer.

Every man is troubled in spirit by evils that come suddenly upon his neighbour. Like birds, who cower even at the whirr of an empty sling, we are distracted by mere sounds as well as by blows. No man there- fore can be happy if he yields himself up to such foolish fancies. For nothing brings happiness unless it also brings calm; it is a bad sort of existence that is spent in apprehension. Whoever has largely sur- rendered himself to the power of Fortune has made for himself a huge web of disquietude, from which he cannot get free; if one would win a way to safety, there is but one road,—to despise externals and to be contented with that which is honourable. For those who regard anything as better than virtue, or believe that there is any good except virtue, are spreading their arms to gather in that which Fortune tosses abroad, and are anxiously awaiting her favours. Picture now to yourself that Fortune is holding a festival, and is showering down honours, riches, and influence upon this mob of mortals; some of these gifts have already been torn to pieces in the hands of those who try to snatch them, others have been divided up by treacherous partnerships, and_ still others have been seized to the great detriment of those into whose possession they have come. Certain of these favours have fallen to men while they were absent-minded®; others have been lost to theif seekers because they were snatching too eagerly for

117

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

captabantur, amissa et, dum avide rapiuntur, expulsa sunt. Nulli vero etiam cui rapina feliciter cessit, gaudium rapti duravit in posterum.

Itaque prudentissimus quisque cum primum induci videt munuscula, a theatro fugit et scit magno parva constare. Nemo manum conserit cum recedente,

8 nemo exeuntem ferit ; circa praemium rixa est. Idem in his evenit, quae fortuna desuper iactat: aestuamus miseri, distringimur, multas habere cupimus manus, modo in hance partem,! modo in illam respicimus. Nimis tarde nobis mitti videntur, quae cupiditates nostras inritant, ad paucos perventura, expectata

g omnibus. Ire obviam cadentibus cupimus. Gau- demus, si quid invasimus, invadendique ? aliquos spes vana delusit; vilem praedam magno aliquo incom- modo luimus aut destituti fallimur.2 Secedamus itaque ab istis ludis et demus raptoribus locum; illi spectent bona ista pendentia et ipsi magis pendeant.

10 Quicumque beatus esse constituet, unum esse bonum putet, quod honestum est. Nam si ullum aliud esse existimat, primum male de _providentia

1 modo in hane partem VPb omit. The words are found in certain inferior MSS.

2 invadendique later MSS. ; invidendique V ; invidentique P.

3 aut destituti fallimur Buecheler; aut deur falli- mur V ; aut de. aut fallimus P ; aut inde fallimur b.

@ A distribution of coins, etc., at the public games. Food was also doled out to the populace on similar occasions. * » This figure of the dole as applied to Fortune is sustained to an extent which is unusual with Seneca.

118

EPISTLE LXXIV.

them, and, just because they are grecdily seized upon, have been knocked from their hands. There is not a man among them all, however,—even he who has been lucky in the booty which has fallen to him,—whose joy in his spoil has lasted until the morrow.

The most sensible man, therefore, as soon as he sees the dole being brought in,* runs from the theatre ; for he knows that one pays a high price for small favours. No one will grapple with him on the way out, or strike him as he departs; the quarrelling takes place where the prizes are. Similarly with the gifts which Fortune tosses down to us; wretches that we are, we become excited, we are torn asunder, we wish that we had many hands, we look back now in this direction and now in that. All too slowly, as it seems, are the gifts thrown in our direction ; they merely excite our cravings, since they can reach but few and are awaited by all. We are keen to inter- cept them as they fall down. We rejoice if we have laid hold of anything; and some have been mocked by the idle hope of laying hold; we have either paid a high price for worthless plunder with some disadvantage to ourselves, or else have been defrauded and are left in the lurch. Let us therefore withdraw from a game like this, and give way to the greedy rabble; let them gaze after such “goods,’ which hang suspended above them, and be themselves still more in sus- pense.?

Whoever makes up his mind to be happy should conclude that the good consists only in that which is honourable. For if he regards anything else as good, he is, in the first place, passing an unfavourable judgment upon Providence because of the fact that

119

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

iudicat, quia multa incommoda iustis viris accidunt et quia, quicquid nobis dedit, breve est et exiguum, si compares mundi totius aevo.

Ex hac deploratione nascitur, ut ingrati divinorum interpretes simus; querimur, quod non semper, quod et pauca nobis et incerta et abitura contingant. Inde est, quod nec vivere nec mori volumus; vitae nos odium tenet, timor mortis. Natat omne consilium nec inplere nos ulla felicitas potest. Causa autem est, quod non pervenimus ad illud bonum inmensum et insuperabile, ubi necesse est resistat voluntas nostra, quia ultra summum! non est locus. Quaeris, guare virtus nullo egeat? Praesentibus gaudet, non concupiscit absentia. Nihil non illi magnum est, quod satis.

Ab hoe discede iudicio; non pietas constabit, non fides. Multa enim utramque praestare cupienti patienda sunt ex iis, quae mala vocantur; multa inpendenda ex iis, quibus indulgemus tamquam

13 bonis. Perit fortitudo, quae periculum facere debet

sui; perit magnanimitas, quae non potest eminere, nisi omnia velut minuta contempsit, quae pro maximis ? volgus optat; perit gratia et relatio gratiae, si timemus laborem,? si quicquam pretiosius fide novimus, si non optima spectamus. Sed ut illa praeteream, aut ista bona non sunt, 1 summum later MSS. ; summam VPb.

2 pro maximis later MSS. ; proximis V Pb. 3 laborem later MSS. ; labor VPb.

2 This phrase recalls the title of one of Seneca’s philo- sophical essays: De Providentia, or Quare Bonis Viris Mala Accidant cum sit Providentia.

120

EPISTLE LXXIV.

upright men often suffer misfortunes,* and that the time which is allotted to us is but short and scanty, if you compare it with the eternity which is allotted to the universe.

It is a result of complaints like these that we are unappreciative in our comments upon the gifts of heaven; we complain because they are not always granted to us, because they are few and unsure and fleeting. Hence we have not the will either to live or to die; we are possessed by hatred of life, by fear of death. Our plans are all at sea, and no amount of prosperity can satisfy us. And the reason for all this is that we have not yet attained to that good which is immeasurable and unsurpassable, in which all wishing on our part must cease, because there is no place beyond the highest. Do you ask why virtue needs nothing? Because it is pleased with what it has, and does not lust after that which it has not. Whatever is enough is abundant in the eyes of virtue.

Dissent from this judgment, and duty and loyalty will not abide. For one who desires to exhibit these two qualities must endure much that the world calls evil; we must sacrifice many things to which we are addicted, thinking them to be:goods Gone is courage, which should be continually testing itself; gone is greatness of soul, which cannot stand out clearly unless it has learned to scorn as trivial every- thing that the crowd covets as supremely important ; and gone is kindness and the repaying of kindness, if we fear toil, if we have acknowledged anything to be more precious than loyalty, if our eyes are fixed upon anything except the best.

But to pass these questions by: either these so- called goods are not goods, or else man is more

121

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

quae vocantur, aut homo felicior deo est, quoniam quidem quae parata nobis sunt, non habet in usu deus. Nec enim libido ad illum nec epularum lautitiae nec opes nec quicquam ex his hominem inescantibus et vili voluptate ducentibus pertinet. Ergo aut non! incredibile est bona deo deesse aut hoc ipsum argumentum est bona non esse, quod deo

15 desunt. Adice, quod multa, quae bona videri volunt, animalibus quam homini pleniora contingunt. Illa cibo avidius utuntur, venere non aeque fatigantur, virium illis maior est et aequabilior firmitas, Sequitur, ut multo feliciora sint homine. Nam sine nequitia, sine fraudibus degunt. Fruuntur voluptatibus, quas et magis capiunt et ex facili sine ullo pudoris aut paenitentiae metu.

16 Considera tu itaque, an id bonum vocandum sit, quo deus ab homine vincitur. Summum bonum in animo contineamus; obsolescit, si ab optima nostri parte ad pessimam transit et transfertur ad sensus, qui agiliores sunt animalibus mutis. Non est summa felicitatis nostrae in carne ponenda; bona illa sunt vera, quae ratio dat, solida ac sempiterna, quae cadere

17 non possunt, ne decrescere quidem aut? minui. Cetera opinione bona sunt et nomen quidem habent commune cum veris, proprietas in illis boni non est. Itaque commoda vocentur et, ut nostra lingua loquar,

1 non added by Hense. 2 aut later MSS. ; ac VPb.

a Of. Ep, \xxiii. § 14 Luppiter uti ills non potest. 122

EPISTLE LXXIV.

fortunate than God, because God has no enjoyment of the things which are given to us.* For lust pertains not to God, nor do elegant banquets, nor wealth, nor any of the things that allure mankind and lead him on through the influence of degrading pleasure. ‘Therefore, it is either not incredible that there are goods which God does not possess, or else the very fact that God does not possess them is in itself a proof that these things are not goods. Besides, many things which are wont to be regarded as goods are granted to animals in fuller measure than to men. Animals eat their food with better appetite, are not in the same degree weakened by sexual indulgence, and have a greater and more uniform constancy in their strength. Consequently, they are much more fortunate than man. For there is no wickedness, no injury to themselves, in their way of living. They enjoy their pleasures and they take them more often and more easily, without any of the fear that results from shame or regret. This being so, you should consider whether one has a right to call anything good in which God is outdone by man. Let us limit the Supreme Good to the soul; it loses its meaning if it is taken from the best part of us and applied to the worst, that is, if it is transferred to the senses; for the senses are more active in dumb beasts. The sum total of our happiness must not be placed in the flesh; the true goods are those which reason bestows, substantial and eternal; they cannot fall away, neither can they grow less or be diminished. Other things are goods according to opinion, and though they are called by the same name as the true goods, the essence of goodness is not in them. Let us therefore call them “advantages,” and, to use our technical term,

VOL. II E 123

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

producta. Ceterum sciamus mancipia nostra esse, non partes; et sint apud nos, sed ita, ut meminerimus extra nos esse. Etiam si apud nos sint, inter subiecta et humilia numerentur propter quae nemo se ad- tollere debeat. Quid enim stultius quam aliquem 18 eo sibi placere, quod ipse non fecit? Omnia ista nobis accedant, non haereant, ut si abducentur, sine ulla nostri laceratione discedant. Utamur illis, non gloriemur, et utamur parce tamquam depositis apud nos et abituris. Quisquis illa sine ratione possedit, non diu tenuit, ipsa enim se felicitas, nisi tem- peratur, premit. Si fugacissimis bonis credidit, cito deseritur et, ut non deseratur, adfligitur. Paucis deponere felicitatem molliter licuit; ceteri cum iis, inter quae eminuere, labuntur et illos degravant ipsa, 19 quae extulerant. Ideo adhibebitur prudentia, quae modum illis aut parsimoniam imponat, quoniam quidem licentia opes suas praecipitat atque urget. Nec umquam inmodica durarunt, nisi illa moderatrix ratio conpescuit. Hoc multarum tibi urbium ostendet eventus, quarum in ipso flore luxuriosa imperia ceci-

derunt et quicquid virtute partum erat, intemperantia

* Producta is a translation of the Stoic term zponypéva. For a clear exposition of this topic see Cicero, De Fin. iii. 52 ff.

124

EPISTLE LXXIV.

“preferred” things.* Let us, however, recognize that they are our chattels, not parts of ourselves ; and let us have them in our possession, but take heed to remember that they are outside ourselves. Even though they are in our possession, they are to be reckoned as things subordinate and poor, the possession of which gives no man a right to plume himself. For what is more foolish than being self- complacent about something which one has not accomplished by one’s own efforts? Let everything of this nature be added to us, and not stick fast to us, so that, if it is withdrawn, it may come away without tearing off any part of us. Let us use these things, but not boast of them, and let us use them sparingly, as if they were given for safe-keeping and will be withdrawn. Anyone who does not employ reason in his possession of them never keeps them long; for prosperity of itself, if uncontrolled by reason, overwhelms itself. If anyone has put his trust in goods that are most fleeting, he is soon bereft of them, and, to avoid being bereft, he suffers distress. Few men have been permitted to lay aside prosperity gently. The rest all fall, together with the things amid which they have come into eminence, and they are weighted down by the very things which had before exalted them. For this reason foresight must be brought into play, to insist upon a limit or upon frugality in the use of these things, since licence overthrows and destroys its own abundance. That which has no limit has never endured, unless reason, which sets limits, has held it in check. The fate of many cities will prove the truth of this; their sway has ceased at the very prime because they were given to luxury, and excess has ruined all that had been won by virtue. We

125

20

22

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

corruit. Adversus hos casus muniendisumus. Nullus autem contra fortunam inexpugnabilis murus est; intus instruamur. Si illa pars tuta est, pulsari homo potest, capi non potest.

Quod sit hoc instrumentum, scire desideras? Nihil indignetur sibi accidere sciatque illa ipsa, quibus laedi videtur, ad conservationem! universi pertinere et ex iis esse, quae cursum mundi officium- que consummant. Placeat homini, quicquid deo placuit; ob hoc ipsum se? suaque miretur, quod non potest vinci, quod mala ipsa sub se tenet, quod ratione, qua valentius nihil est, casum doloremque et iniuriam subigit. Amarationem! MHuius te amor contra durissima armabit. Feras catulorum amor in venabula inpingit feritasque et inconsultus impetus praestat indomitas; iuvenilia nonnumquam ingenia cupido gloriae in contemptum tam ferri quam ignium misit; species quosdam atque umbra virtutis in mortem voluntariam trudit. Quanto his omnibus fortior ratio est, quanto constantior, tanto vehe- mentius per metus ipsos et pericula exibit.

* Nihil agitis,’ inquit, “quod negatis ullum ? esse aliud honesto bonum; non faciet vos haec munitio tutos a fortuna et inmunes. Dicitis enim inter bona

1 conservationem later MSS. ; conversationem V Pb.

2 se added by Ed. Rom. 3 wllum later MSS. ; unum VPb.

126

EPISTLE LXXIV.

should fortify ourselves against such calamities. But no wall can be erected against Fortune which she cannot take by storm; let us strengthen our inner defences. If the inner part be safe, man can be attacked, but never captured.

Do you wish to know what this weapon of defence is? It is the ability to refrain from chafing over whatever happens to one, of knowing that the very agencies which seem to bring harm are working for the preservation of the world, and are a part of the scheme for bringing to fulfilment the order of the universe and its functions. Let man be pleased with whatever has pleased God; let him marvel at him- self and his own resources for this very reason, that he cannot be overcome, that he has the very powers of evil subject to his control, and that he brings into subjection chance and pain and wrong by means of that strongest of powers—reason. Love reason! The love of reason will arm you against the greatest hardships. Wild beasts dash against the hunter's spear through love of their young, and it is their wildness and their unpremeditated onrush that keep them from being tamed ; often a desire for glory has stirred the mind of youth to despise both sword and stake; the mere vision and semblance of virtue impel certain men to a self-imposed death. In pro- portion as reason is stouter and steadier than any of these emotions, so much the more forcefully will she make her way through the midst of utter terrors and dangers.

Men say to us: “ You are mistaken if you main- tain that nothing is a good except that which is honourable ; a defence like this will not make you safe from Fortune and free from her assaults. For you maintain that dutiful children, and a well-

127

23

24

25

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

esse liberos pios et bene moratam patriam et parentes bonos; horum pericula non potestis spectare securi. Perturbabit vos obsidio patriae, liberorum mors, parentum servitus.” Quid adversus hos pro nobis responderi soleat, ponam ; deinde tunc adiciam, quid praeterea respondendum putem.

Alia condicio est in iis, quae ablata in locum suum aliquid incommodi substituunt ; tamquam bona valitudo vitiata in malam transfertur; acies oculorum exstincta caecitate nos adficit!; non tantum velocitas perit poplitibus incisis, sed debilitas pro illa subit. Hoc non est periculum in iis, quae paulo ante ret- tulimus. Quare? Si amicum bonum amisi, non est mihi pro illo perfidia patienda, nec si bonos liberos extuli, in illorum locum impietas succedit. Deinde non amicorum illic? aut liberorum interitus, sed corporum est. Bonum autem uno modo perit, si in malum transit; quod natura non patitur, quia omnis virtus et opus omne virtutis incorruptum manet. Deinde etiam si amici perierunt, etiam si probati respondentesque voto patris liberi, est quod illorum expleat locum. Quid sit quaeris? Quod illos quo- que bonos fecerat, virtus. Haec nihil vacare patitur loci, totum animum tenet, desiderium omnium tollit ;

1 afficit later MSS. ; adfecit VPb. 2 illic Buecheler ; illis V Pb.

@ See Ep. Ixvi. 6. The Stoics, unlike the Academics and the Peripatetics, maintained that the good must have “an unconditional value ” (Zeller).

128

EPISTLE LXXIV.

governed country, and good parents, are to be reckoned as goods; but you cannot see these dear objects in danger and be yourself at ease. Your calm will be disturbed by a siege conducted against your country, by the death of your children, or by the enslaving of your parents.” I will first state what we Stoics usually reply% to these objectors, and then will add what additional answer should, in my opinion, be given.

The situation is entirely different in the case of goods whose loss entails some hardship substituted in their place; for example, when good health is impaired there is a change to ill-health; when the eye is put out, we are visited with blindness ; we not only lose our speed when our leg-muscles are cut, but infirmity takes the place of speed. But no such danger is involved in the case of the goods to which we referred a moment ago. And why? If I have lost a good friend, I have no false friend whom I must endure in his place; nor if I have buried a dutiful son, must I face in exchange unfilial conduct. In the second place, this does not mean to me the taking-off of a friend or of a child; it is the mere taking-off of their bodies. Buta good can be lost in only one way, by changing into what is bad; and this is impossible according to the law of nature, because every virtue, and every work of virtue, abides uncorrupted. Again, even if friends have perished, or children of approved goodness who fulfil their father’s prayers for them, there is something that can fill their place. Do you ask what this is? It is that which had made them good in the first place, namely, virtue. Virtue suffers no space in us to be unoccupied ; it takes possession of the whole soul and removes all sense of loss. It alone is

129

26

27

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

sola satis est, omnium enim bonorum vis et origo in ipsa est. Quid refert, an aqua decurrens inter- cipiatur atque abeat,! si fons, ex quo fluxerat, salvus est? Non dices vitam iustiorem salvis liberis quam amissis nec ordinatiorem nec prudentiorem nec honestiorem ; ergo ne meliorem quidem. Non facit adiectio? amicorum® sapientiorem, non facit stulti- orem detractio, ergo nec beatiorem aut miseriorem. Quamdiu virtus salva fuerit, non senties, quidquid 4 abscesserit. “Quid ergo? Non est beatior et amicorum et liberorum turba succinctus?’’ Quidni non sit? Summum enim bonum nec infringitur nec augetur; in suo modo permanet, utcumque fortuna se gessit. Sive illi senectus longa contigit sive citra senectutem finitus est, eadem mensura summi boni est, quamvis aetatis diversa sit.

Utrum maiorem an minorem circulum scribas, ad spatium eius pertinet, non ad formam. Licet alter diu manserit, alterum statim obduxeris et in eum in quo scriptus est pulverem solveris, in eadem uterque forma fuit. Quod rectum est, nec magnitudine aestimatur nec numero nec temporé; non magis produci quam contrahi potest. Honestam vitam ex centum annorum numero in quantum voles corripe et in unum diem coge; aeque honesta est.

1 qheat later MSS. ; habitat Pb; haebetaet V ; habetat Mi}. 2 adiectio Madvig ; adiecto V ; alecto P; allecto b. 3 amicorum later MSS. ; amico VPb.

4 quidquid Gertz; quid VP; quib.

@ Cf. Itane in geometriae pulvere haerebo ?, Ep, \xxxviii. 39 and note. ® See the argument in Fp. xii. 6 f., and often elsewhere,

130

EPISTLE LXXIV.

sufficient; for the strength and beginnings of all goods exist in virtue herself. What does it matter if running water is cut off and flows away, as long as the fountain from which it has flowed is unharmed ? You will not maintain that a man’s life is more just if his children are unharmed than if they have passed away, nor yet better appointed, nor more intelligent, nor more honourable; therefore, no better, either. The addition of friends does not make one wiser, nor does their taking away make one more foolish ; therefore, not happier or more wretched, either. As long as your virtue is unharmed, you will not feel the loss of anything that has been withdrawn from you. You may say: “Come now; is not a man happier when girt about with a large company of friends and children?” Why should this be so? For the Supreme Good is neither impaired nor increased thereby; it abides within its own limits, no matter how Fortune has conducted herself. Whether a long old age falls to one’s lot, or whether the end comes on this side of old age—the measure of the Supreme Good is unvaried, in spite of the difference in years.

Whether you draw a larger or a smaller circle, its size affects its area, not its shape. One circle may remain as it is for a long time, while you may contract the other forthwith, or even merge it com- pletely with the sand in which it was drawn ;% yet each circle has had the same shape. That which is straight is not judged by its size, or by its number, or by its duration; it can no more be made longer than it can be made shorter. Scale down the honourable life as much as you like from the full hundred years, and reduce it to a single day; it is equally honourable.2 Sometimes virtue is wide-

VOL. II E 2 131

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

28 Modo latius virtus funditur, regna urbes provincias temperat, fert leges, colit amicitias, inter propinquos liberosque dispensat officia, modo arto fine con- cluditur paupertatis exilii orbitatis. Non tamen minor est, si ex altiore fastigio in privatum, ex regio

29 in humile? subducitur, ex publico et spatioso iure in angustias domus vel anguli coit. Aeque magna est, etiam si in se recessit undique exclusa. Nihilominus enim magni spiritus est et erecti, exactae prudentiae, indeclinabilis iustitiae. Ergo aeque beata est. Beatum enim illud uno loco positum est, in ipsa mente, grande, stabile, tranquillum, quod sine scientia divinorum humanorumque non potest effici.

30 Sequitur illud, quod me responsurum esse dicebam. Non adfligitur sapiens liberorum amissione, non ami- corum. Eodem enim animo fert illorum mortem, quo suam expectat. Non magis hance timet quam illam dolet. Virtus enim convenientia constat; omnia opera eius cum ipsa concordant et congruunt. Haec concordia perit, si animus, quem excelsum esse oportet, luctu aut desiderio summittitur. Inhonesta est omnis trepidatio et sollicitudo, in ullo actu pigritia. Honestum enim securum et expeditum est, interri-

31 tum est, in procinctu stat. “Quidergo? Non aliquid perturbationi simile patietur? Non et color eius

1 humile Haase ; humilem VPb.

@ See § 23.

> Called by the early Stoics 6uoroyia; the idea of ‘*‘ con- formity with nature” is a fundamental doctrine of the school. See Rackham on Cicero, De Fin. iii. 21.

132

EPISTLE LXXIV.

spread, governing kingdoms, cities, and provinces, creating laws, developing friendships, and regulating the duties that hold good between relatives and children ; at other times it is limited by the narrow bounds of poverty, exile, or bereavement. But it is no smaller when it is reduced from prouder heights to a private station, from a royal palace to a humble dwelling, or when from a general and broad jurisdic- tion it is gathered into the narrow limits of a private house or a tiny corner. Virtue is just as great, even when it has retreated within itself and is shut in on all sides. For its spirit is no less great and upright, its sagacity no less complete, its justice no less in- flexible. It is, therefore, equally happy. For happi- ness has its abode in one place only, namely, in the mind itself, and is noble, steadfast, and calm; and this state cannot be attained without a knowledge of things divine and human.

The other answer, which I promised % to make to your objection, follows from this reasoning. The wise man is not distressed by the loss of children or of friends. For he endures their death in the same spirit in which he awaits his own. And he fears the one as little as he grieves for the other. For the underlying principle of virtue is conformity ;° all the - works of virtue are in harmony and agreement with virtue itself. But this harmony is lost if the soul, which ought to be uplifted, is cast down by grief or a sense of loss. It is ever a dishonour for a man to be troubled and fretted, to be numbed when there is any call for activity. For that which is honourable is free from care and untrammelled, is unafraid, and stands girt for action. ‘ What,” you ask, “will the wise man experience no emotion like disturbance of spirit? Will not his features change

133

33

b4

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

mutabitur et vultus agitabitur et artus refrigescent ? Et quicquid aliud non ex imperio animi, sed in- consulto quodam naturae impetu geritur.” Fateor; sed manebit illi persuasio eadem, nihil illorum malum esse nec dignum, ad quod mens sana deficiat. Omnia, quae facienda erunt, audaciter facit et prompte. Hoc enim stultitiae proprium quis dixerit, ignave et contumaciter facere, quae faciat, et alio corpus in- pellere, alio animum distrahique inter diversissimos motus. Nam propter illa ipsa, quibus extollit se miraturque, contempta est et ne illa quidem, quibus gloriatur, libenter facit. Si vero aliquod! timetur malum, eo proinde, duin expectat, quasi venisset, urgetur et quicquid ne patiatur timet, iam metu patitur. Quemadmodum in corporibus insidentis languoris ? signa praecurrunt, quaedam enim segnitia enervis est et sine labore ullo lassitudo et oscitatia et horror membra percurrens; sic infirmus animus multo ante quam opprimatur malis quatitur. Prae- sumit illa et ante tempus cadit.

Quid autem dementius quam angi futuris nec se tormento reservare, sed arcessere sibi miserias et admovere? Quas optimum est differre, si discutere non possit. Vis scire futuro neminem debere tor- queri? Quicumque audierit post quinquagesimum annum sibi patienda supplicia, non perturbatur, nisi

1 aliquod later MSS. ; aliquid V Pb. 2 insidentis languoris Hense; insignis langore or insigni languore MSS.

« Cf. Epp. xi. 6 and Ixxi. 29. > Perhaps a sort of malaria.

134

EPISTLE LXXIV.

colour,” his countenance be agitated, and his limbs grow cold? And there are other things which we do, not under the influence of the will, but uncon- sciously and as the result of a sort of natural impulse.” I admit that this is true; but the sage will retain the firm belief that none of these things is evil, or im- portant enough to make a healthy mind break down. Whatever shall remain to be done virtue can do with courage and readiness. For anyone would admit that it is a mark of folly to do in a slothful and rebellious spirit whatever one has to do, or to direct the body in one direction and the mind in another, and thus to be torn between utterly conflicting emotions. For folly is despised precisely because of the things for which she vaunts and admires herself, and she does not do gladly even those things in which she prides herself. But if folly fears some evil, she is burdened by it in the very moment of awaiting it, just as if it had actually come,—already suffering in apprehension whatever she fears she may suffer. Just as in the body symptoms of latent ill-health precede the disease—there is, for example, a certain weak sluggishness,? a lassitude which is not the result of any work, a trembling, and a shivering that pervades the limbs,—so the feeble spirit is shaken by its ills a long time before it is overcome by them. It anticipates them, and totters before its time.

But what is greater madness than to be tortured by the future and not to save your strength for the actual suffering, but to invite and bring on wretched ness? If you cannot be rid of it, you ought at least to postpone it. Will you not understand that no man should be tormented by the future? The man who has been told that he will have to endure torture fifty years from now is not disturbed thereby,

135

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

si medium spatium transiluerit et se in illam saeculo post futuram sollicitudinem inmiserit ; eodem modo fit, ut animos libenter aegros et captantes causas doloris vetera atque obliterata contristent. Et quae praeterierunt et quae futura sunt, absunt; neutra sentimus.! Non est autem nisi ex eo, quod sentias, dolor. VALE.

LXXV. Seneca LyciLio svo SALVTEM

1 Minus tibi accuratas a me epistulas mitti quereris. Quis enim accurate loquitur, nisi qui vult putide logui? Qualis sermo meus esset, si una sederemus aut ambularemus, inlaboratus et facilis, tales esse epistulas meas volo, quae nihil habent accersitum nec

2fictum. Si fieri posset, quid sentiam, ostendere quam loqui mallem. Etiam si disputarem, nec supploderem pedem nec manum iactarem nec at- tollerem vocem, sed ista oratoribus_ reliquissem, contentus sensus meos ad te pertulisse, quos nec

3 exornassem nec abiecissem. Hoc unum plane tibi adprobare vellem: omnia me illa sentire, quae dicerem, nec tantum sentire, sed amare. Aliter homines amicam, aliter liberos osculantur; tamen in hoc quoque amplexu tam sancto et moderato satis apparet adfectus.

1 sentimus later MSS. ; sentiamus Pb; sentiam V.

* For putidum (that which offends the taste, a.e. is too artificially formal) see Cic. De Orat. iii. 41 nolo exprimi litteras putidius, nolo obscurari neglegentius.

> Cf. Ep. Ixvii. 2 si quando intervenerunt epistulae tuae, tecum esse mihi videor, ete.

136

EPISTLES LXXIV., LXXV.

unless he has leaped over the intervening years, and has projected himself into the trouble that is destined to arrive a generation later. In the same way, souls that enjoy being sick and that seize upon excuses for sorrow are saddened by events long past and effaced from the records. Past and future are both absent; we feel neither of them. But there can be no pain except as the result of what you feel. Farewell.

LXXV. ON THE DISEASES OF THE SOUL

You have been complaining that my letters to you are rather carelessly written. Now who talks carefully unless he also desires to talk affectedly 4? I prefer that my letters should be just what my conversation ® would be if you and I were sitting in one another’s company or taking walks together,— spontaneous and easy; for my letters have nothing strained or artificial about them. If it were possible, I should prefer to show, rather than speak, my feelings. Even if I were arguing a point, I should not stamp my foot, or toss my arms about, or raise my voice; but I should leave that sort of thing to the orator, and should be content to have conveyed my feelings to you without having either embellished them or lowered their dignity. I should like to convince you entirely of this one fact,—that I feel whatever I say, that I not only feel it, but am wedded to it. It is one sort of kiss which a man gives his mistress, and another which he gives his children; yet in the father’s embrace also, holy and restrained as it is, plenty of affection is disclosed.

137

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

Non mehercules ieiuna esse et arida volo, quae de rebus tam magnis dicentur; neque enim philo- sophia ingenio renuntiat. Multum tamen operae

4inpendi verbis non oportet. Haec sit propositi nostri summa: quod sentimus loquamur, quod loguimur sentiamus; concordet sermo cum vita. [lle promissum suum inplevit, qui, et cum videas

5 illum et cum audias, idem est. Videbimus, qualis sit, quantus sit; unus sit. Non delectent verba nostra, sed prosint. Si tamen contingere eloquentia non sollicito potest, si aut parata est aut parvo constat, adsit et res pulcherrimas prosequatur. Sit talis, ut res potius quam se ostendat. Aliae artes ad ingenium totae pertinent, hic animi negotium agitur.

6 Non quaerit aeger medicum eloquentem,! sed, si ita conpetit, ut idem ille, qui sanare potest, compte de iis, quae facienda sunt, disserat, boni consulet. Non tamen erit, quare gratuletur sibi, quod inciderit in medicum etiam disertum. Hoc enim tale est, quale si peritus gubernator etiam formosus est.

7 Quid aures meas scabis? Quid oblectas? Aliud agitur; urendus, secandus, abstinendus sum. Ad haec adhibitus es.

Curare debes morbum veterem, gravem, publicum. Tantum negotii habes, quantum in_ pestilentia

1 ¢loquentem later MSS. ; loquentem VPb.

a Of. Ep. cxiv. 1 talis hominibus fuit oratio qualis vita, and passim in Epp. xl., xxv. and cxiv.

> Eloquence and the other arts please mainly by their cleverness ; nor does philosophy abjure such cleverness as style ; but here in these letters, wherein we are discussing the soul, the graces of speech are of no concern,

138

EPISTLE LXXV.

I prefer, however, that our conversation on matters so important should not be meagre and dry; for even philosophy does not renounce the company of cleverness. One should not, however, bestow very much attention upon mere words. Let this be the kernel of my idea: let us say what we feel, and feel what we say; let speech harmonize with life. That man has fulfilled his promise who is the same person both when you see him and when you hear him. We shall not fail to see what sort of man he is and how large a man he is, if only he is one and the same. Our words should aim not to please, but to help. If, however, you can attain eloguence without painstaking, and if you either are naturally gifted or can gain eloquence at slight cost, make the most of it and apply it to the noblest uses. But let it be of such a kind that it displays facts rather than itself. It and the other arts are wholly concerned with cleverness ®; but our business here is the soul.

A sick man does not call in a physician who is eloquent; but if it so happens that the physician who can cure him likewise discourses elegantly about the treatment which is to be followed, the patient will take it in good part. For all that, he will not find any reason to congratulate himself on having discovered a physician who is eloquent. For the case is no different from that of a skilled pilet who is also handsome. Why do you tickle my ears? Why do you entertain me? There is other business at hand; I am to be cauterized, operated upon, or put on adiet. That is why you were summoned to treat me!

You are required to cure a disease that is chronic and serious,—one which affects the general weal. You have as serious a business on hand as a physician

139

8

9

10

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

medicus. Circa verba occupatus es? Jamdudum gaude, si sufficis rebus. Quando, quae multa disces ? Quando, quae didiceris, adfiges tibi ita, ut excidere non possint? Quando illa experieris? Non enim ut cetera, memoriae tradidisse satis est; in opere temptanda sunt. Non est beatus, qui scit illa, sed qui facit.!. “Quid ergo? Infra illum nulli gradus sunt? Statim a sapientia praeceps cst?’’ Non, ut existimo. Nam qui proficit, in numero quidem stultorum est, magno tamen intervallo ab illis didu- citur. Inter ipsos quoque proficientes sunt magna discrimina. In tres classes, ut quibusdam placet, dividuntur: primi sunt, qui sapientiam nondum habent, sed iam in vicinia eius constiterunt. ‘Tamen etiam quod prope est, extra? est. Qui sint hi quaeris? Qui omnes iam adfectus ac vitia posuerunt, quae erant complectenda, didicerunt, sed illis adhuc inexperta fiducia est. Bonum suum nondum in usu habent, iam tamen in illa, quae fugerunt, decidere non possunt. Iam ibi sunt, unde non est retro lapsus, sed hoc illis de se nondum liquet; quod in quadam epistula scripsisse me memini, “scire se nesciunt.”’ Jam contigit illis bono suo frui, nondum confidere. Quidam hoe proficientium genus, de quo locutus sum, ita complectuntur, ut illos dicant iam effugisse morbos animi, adfectus nondum, et adhuc

1 gui facit later MSS. ; facit VPb. 2 extra later MSS. ; ex ora (hora) VPb.

4 Chrysippus, however, recognized only the first two classes, as did Epictetus (iv. 2).

> Hp. \xxi. 4. 140

EPISTLE LXXV.,

has during a plague. Are you concerned about nords? Rejoice this instant if you can cope with things. When shall you learn all that there is to learn? When shall you so plant in your mind that which you have learned, that it cannot escape? When shall you put it all into practice? For it is not sufficient merely to commit these things to memory, like other matters; they must be practically tested. He is not happy who only knows them, but he who does them. You reply: “What? Are there no degrees of happiness below your ‘happy’ man? Is there a sheer descent immediately below wisdom?” I think not. For though he who makes progress is stil] numbered with the fools, yet he is separated from them by a long interval. Among the very persons who are making progress there are also great spaces intervening. ‘They fall into three classes,” as certain philosophers believe. First come those who have not yet attained wisdom but have already gained a place near by. Yet even that which is not far away is still outside. These, if you ask me, are men who have already laid aside all passions and vices, who have learned what things are to be embraced; but their assurance is not yet tested. They have not yet put their good into practice, yet from now on they cannot slip back into the faults which they have escaped. They have already arrived at a point from which there is no slipping back, but they are not yet aware of the fact; as I remember writing in another letter, “They are ignorant of their knowledge.” ® It has now been vouchsafed to them to enjoy their good, but not yet to be sure of it. Some define this class, of which I have been speaking,—a class of men who are making progress,—as having escaped the diseases of the mind,

141

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

in lubrico stare, quia nemo sit extra periculum malitiae, nisi qui totam eam excussit. Nemo autem illam excussit, nisi qui pro illa sapientiam adsumpsit.

11 Quid inter morbos animi intersit et adfectus, saepe iam dixi. Nunc quoque te admonebo: morbi sunt inveterata vitia et dura, ut avaritia, ut ambitio ; nimio! artius? haec animum inplicuerunt et perpetua eius mala esse coeperunt. Ut breviter finiam, morbus est iudicium in pravo pertinax, tamquam valde ex- petenda sint, quae leviter expetenda sunt. Vel si mavis, ita finiamus: nimis inminere leviter petendis vel ex toto non petendis, aut in magno pretio habere

12 in aliquo habenda vel in nullo. Adfectus sunt motus animi inprobabiles, subiti et concitati, qui frequentes neglectique fecere morbum, sicut destillatio una nec adhue in morem adducta tussim facit, adsidua et vetus phthisin. Itaque qui plurimum _profecere, extra morbos sunt, adfectus adhuc sentiunt perfecto proximi.

13. Secundum genus est eorum, qui et maxima animi mala et adfectus deposuerunt, sed ita, ut non sit illis securitatis suae certa possessio. Possunt enim

14in eadem relabi. Tertium illud genus extra multa

1 nimio Rossbach; nimia VP; ninia b. 2 artius later MSS. ; actus VPb.

#@ For Seneca’s own struggles with this disease cf. Ep. Ixxvili. 1.

> The difference between the first and the second classes is well described in Ep. Ixxii. 6 hoc interest inter con- summatae sapientiae virum et alium procedentis, quod inter sanum et ex morbo gravi ac diutino emergentem.

142

EPISTLE LXXV.

but not yet the passions, and as still standing upon slippery ground; because no one is beyond the dangers of evil except him who has cleared himself of it wholly. But no one has so cleared himself except the man who has adopted wisdom in its stead.

I have often before explained the difference between the diseases of the mind and its passions. And I shall remind you once more: the diseases are hardened and chronic vices, such as greed and ambition ; they have enfolded the mind in too close a grip, and have begun to be permanent evils thereof. To give a brief definition: by “disease”’ we mean a persistent perversion of the judgment, so that things which are mildly desirable are thought to be highly desirable. Or, if you prefer, we may define it thus: to be too zealous in striving for things which are only mildly desirable or not desirable at all, or to value highly things which ought to be valued but slightly or valued not at all. “ Passions”’ are objectionable impulses of the spirit, sudden and vehement; they have come so often, and so little attention has been paid to them, that they have caused a state of disease; just as a catarrh,? when there has been but a single attack and the catarrh has not yet become habitual, produces a cough, but causes consumption when it has become regular and chronic. ‘Therefore we may say that those who have made most progress are beyond the reach of the “diseases”; but they still feel the “ passions”’ even when very near perfection.

The second class is composed of those who have laid aside both the greatest ills of the mind and its passions, but yet are not in assured possession of immunity. For they can still slip back into their former state. The third class are beyond the reach

143

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

et magna vitia est, sed non extra omnia. Effugit avaritiam, sed iram adhuc sentit; iam non sol- licitatur libidine, etiamnune ambitione; iam non concupiscit, sed adhuc timet. Et in ipso metu ad quaedam satis firmus est, quibusdam cedit. Mortem econtemnit, dolorem reformidat.

15. De hoe loco aliquid cogitemus. Bene nobiscum agetur, si in hunc admittimur numerum. Magna felicitate naturae magnaque et adsidua intentione studii secundus occupatur gradus; sed ne hic quidem contemnendus est color tertius. Cogita, quantum circa te videas malorum, aspice, quam nullum sit nefas sine exemplo, quantum cotidie nequitia pro- ficiat, quantum publice privatimque peccetur; in- telleges satis nos consequi, si inter pessimos non sumus.

16 “Ego vero,” inquis, “spero me posse et amplioris ordinis fieri.” Optaverim hoc nobis magis quam promiserim ; praeoccupati sumus. Ad virtutem con- tendimus inter vitia districti. Pudet dicere: honesta colimus, quantum vacat. At quam grande praemium expectat, si occupationes nostras et mala tenacissima abrumpimus. Non cupiditas nos, non timor pellet.

17 Inagitati_ terroribus, incorrupti voluptatibus nec mortem horrebimus nec deos; sciemus mortem malum non esse, deos malo! non esse. Tam in-

1 malo Hense; maio PM!'; maiores V ; malos b.

« This idea is a favourite with Seneca ; cf. Ep. liii. 8 non est quod precario philosopheris, and § 9 (philosophia) non esi res subsicwwa, ‘*an occupation for one’s spare time.”

144

EPISTLE LXXV.

of many of the vices and particularly of the great vices, but not beyond the reach of all. They have escaped avarice, for example, but still feel anger ; they no longer are troubled by lust, but are still troubled by ambition; they no longer have desire, but they still have fear. And just because they fear, although they are strong enough to withstand certain things, there are certain things to which they yield ; they scorn death, but are in terror of pain.

Let us reflect a moment on this topic. It will be well with us if we are admitted to this class. The second stage is gained by great good fortune with regard to our natural gifts and by great and unceasing application to study. But not even the third type is to be despised. Think of the host of evils which you see about you; behold how there is no crime that is not exemplified, how far wickedness advances every day, and how prevalent are sins in home and commonwealth. You will see, therefore, that we are making a considerable gain, if we are not numbered among the basest.

“ But as for me,” you say, “I hope that it is in me to rise to a higher rank than that!” I should pray, rather than promise, that we may attain this; we have been forestalled. We hasten towards virtue while hampered by vices. I am ashamed to say it; but we worship that which is honourable only in so far as we have time to spare.* But what a rich reward awaits us if only we break off the affairs which forestall us and the evils that cling to us with utter tenacity! Then neither desire nor fear shall rout us. Undisturbed by fears, unspoiled by pleasures, we shall be afraid neither of death nor of the gods; we shall know that death is no evil and that the gods are not powers of evil. That which harms has

145

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

becillum est quod nocet quam cui nocetur, optima

18 vi noxia carent. Expectant nos, si! ex hac aliquando faece in illud evadimus sublime et excelsum, tran- quillitas animi et expulsis erroribus absoluta libertas. Quaeris quae sit ista? Non homines timere, non deos; nec turpia velle nec nimia; in se ipsum habere maximam potestatem. Inaestimabile bonum est suum fieri. Vate.

EXXVA, Seneca Lycitio svo SALVTEM

1 = Inimicitias mihi denuntias, si quicquam ex iis, quae cotidie facio, ignoraveris. Vide, quam sim- pliciter tecum vivam: hoc quoque tibi committam. Philosophum audio et quidem quintum iam diem habeo, ex quo in scholam eo et ab octava disputantem audio. ‘ Bona,” inquis, “aetate.’”” Quidni bona? Quid autem stultius est quam, quia diu non didiceris,

2non discere? “Quid ergo? Idem faciam, quod trossuli et iuvenes?’’ Bene mecum agitur, si hoc unum senectutem meam dedecet.2° Omnis aetatis homines haec schola admittit. ‘“ In hoc senescamus, ut iuvenes sequamur?”’’ In theatrum senex ibo et

1 si added by Pincianus, on the authority of ‘‘ ancient

MSS.” 2 dedecet Pincianus ; decet VPb.

« Therefore death has no power to harm, since man is not harmed thereby, and the gods, who are utterly good, cannot be the source of evil.

>» A mock-heroic nickname for the knights, derived from the town of Trossulum in Etruria, which pop bite captured by a sensational charge. See Persius, i. 82, Seneca, [ip. Ixxxvii. 9.

146

EPISTERS) LYXVs EXXVE

no greater power than that which receives harm, and things which are utterly good have no power at all toharm.* There await us, if ever we escape from these low dregs to that sublime and lofty height, peace of mind and, when all error has been driven out, perfect liberty. You ask what this freedom is? It means not fearing either men or gods; it means not craving wickedness or excess; it means possess- ing supreme power over oneself. And it is a priceless good to be master of oneself. Farewell.

LXXVI, ON LEARNING WISDOM IN OLD AGE

You have been threatening me with your enmity, if I do not keep you informed about all my daily actions. But see, now, upon what frank terms you and I live: for I shall confide even the following fact to your ears. I have been hearing the lectures of a philosopher ; four days have already passed since I have been attending his school and listening to the harangue, which begins at two o'clock. ‘A fine time of life for that!” you say. Yes, fine indeed! Now what is more foolish than refusing to learn, simply because one has not been learning for a long time? “What do you mean? Must I follow the fashion set by the fops® and youngsters?” But Iam pretty well off if this is the only thing that discredits my declining years. Men of all ages are admitted to this class-room. You retort: “Do we grow old merely in order to tag after the youngsters?” But if I, an old man, go to the theatre, and am carried to

147

Ga

5

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

in circum deferar et nullum par sine me depugnabit ad philosophum ire erubescam ?

Tamdiu discendum est, quamdiu nescias; si pro- verbio credimus, quamdiu vivas. Nec ulli hoc rei magis convenit quam huic: tamdiu discendum est, quemadmodum vivas, quamdiu vivas. Ego tamen illic aliquid et doceo. Quaeris, quid doceam? Etiam seni esse discendum. Pudet autem me _ generis humani, quotiens scholam intravi. Praeter ipsum theatrum Neapolitanorum, ut scis, transeundum est Metronactis petenti! domum. Illud quidem fartum est et ingenti studio, quis sit pythaules bonus, iudicatur; habet tubicen quoque Graecus et praeco concursum. At in illo loco, in quo vir bonus quaeritur, in quo vir bonus discitur, paucissimi sedent, et hi plerisque videntur nihil boni negotii habere quod agant; inepti et inertes vocantur. Mihi con- tingat iste derisus; aequo animo audienda sunt inperitorum conyicia et ad honesta vadenti contem- nendus est ipse contemptus.

Perge, Lucili, et propera, tibi ne et ipsi? accidat, quod mihi, ut senex discas ; immo ideo magis propera, quoniam diu? non adgressus es, quod perdiscere vix senex possis. “Quantum,” inquis, “ proficiam?”

1 yetenti Erasmus ; petentes VPb; petentibus later MSS.

2 tibi ne et ipsi Hense; tibi nec (ne Vb) tibi VPb3; ne tabi

later MSS. 3 diu Buecheler ; id VPb.

@ See also E’p. xciii. 148

EPISTLE LXXVI.

the races, and allow no duel in the arena to be fought to a finish without my presence, shall I blush to attend a philosopher’s lecture ?

You should keep learning as long as you are ignorant,—even to the end of your life, if there is anything in the proverb. And the proverb suits the present case as well as any: “ As long as you live, keep learning how to live.” For all that, there is also something which I can teach in that school. You ask, do you, what I can teach? That even an old man should keep learning. But I am ashamed of mankind, as often as I enter the lecture-hall. On my way to the house of Metronax* I am com- pelled to go, as you know, right past the Neapolitan Theatre. The building is jammed; men are de- ciding, with tremendous zeal, who is entitled to be called a good flute-player; even the Greek piper and the herald draw their crowds. But in the other place, where the question discussed is: ‘ What is a good man?” and the lesson which we learn is. “ How to be a good man,” very few are in attend- ance, and the majority think that even these few are engaged in no good business; they have the name of being empty-headed idlers. I hope I may be blessed with that kind of mockery; for one should listen in an unruffled spirit to the railings of the ignorant; when one is marching toward the goal of honour, one should scorn scorn itself.

Proceed, then, Lucilius, and hasten, lest you your- self be compelled to learn in your old age, as is the case with me. Nay, you must hasten all the more, because for a long time you have not approached the subject, which is one that you can scarcely learn thoroughly when you are old. “ Flow much progress shall I make?” you ask. Just as much as you try

149

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

6 Quantum temptaveris. Quid expectas? Nulli sapere casu obtigit. Pecunia veniet ultro, honor offeretur, gratia ac dignitas fortasse ingerentur tibi; virtus in te non incidet. Ne levi quidem opera aut parvo labore cognoscitur ; sed est tanti laborare omnia bona semel occupaturo. Unum est enim bonum, quod honestum; in illis nihil invenies veri, nihil certi,

7 quaecumque famae placent. Quare autem unum sit bonum, quod honestum, dicam, quoniam parum me exsecutum priore epistula iudicas magisque hanc rem tibi laudatam quam probatam putas, et in artum, quae dicta sunt, contraham.

8 Omnia suo bono constant. Vitem fertilitas com- mendat et sapor vini, velocitas cervum. Quam fortia dorso iumenta sint quaeris, quorum hic unus est usus, sarcinam ferre. In cane sagacitas prima est, si investigare debet feras, cursus, si consequi, audacia, si mordere et invadere. Id in quoque optimum

9 esse debet, cui nascitur, quo censetur. In homine optimum quid est? Ratio; hac antecedit animalia, deos sequitur. Ratio ergo perfecta proprium bonum est, cetera illi cum animalibus satisque communia

sunt. Valet; et leones. Formosus est; et pavones.

@ Ep. \xxiv. 150

EPISTLE LXXVI.

to make. Why do you wait? Wisdom comes haphazard to no man. Money will come of its own accord; titles will be given to you; influence and authority will perhaps be thrust upon you; but virtue will not fall upon you by chance. Neither is know- ledge thereof to be won by light effort or small toil ; but toiling is worth while when one is about to win all goods at a single stroke. For there is but a single good,—namely, that which is honourable ; in all those other things of which the general opinion approves, you will find no truth or certainty. Why it is, however, that there is but one good, namely, that which is honourable, I shall now tell you, inasmuch as you judge that in my earlier letter@ I did not carry the discussion far enough, and think that this theory was commended to you rather than proved. I shall also compress the remarks of other authors into narrow compass.

Everything is estimated by the standard of its own good. ‘The vine is valued for its productiveness and the flavour of its wine, the stag for his speed. We ask, with regard to beasts of burden, how sturdy of back they are; for their only use is to bear burdens. If a dog is to find the trail of a wild beast, keenness of scent is of first importance; if to catch his quarry, swiftness of foot; if to attack and harry it, courage. In each thing that quality should be best for which the thing is brought into being and by which it is judged. And what quality is best in man? It is reason; by virtue of reason he surpasses the animals, and is surpassed only by the gods. Perfect reason is therefore the good peculiar to man; all other qualities he shares in some degree with animals and plants. Man is strong; so is the lion. Man is comely; so is the peacock, Man is

15]

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

Velox est ; et equi. Non dico, in his omnibus vincitur. Non quaero, quid in se maximum habeat, sed quid suum. Corpus habet; et arbores. Habet impetum ac motum voluntarium; et bestiae et vermes. Habet vocem; sed quanto clariorem canes, acutiorem aquilae, graviorem tauri, dulciorem mobilioremque

10 luscinii? Quid in homine proprium? Ratio. Haec recta et consummata felicitatem hominis implevit.! Ergo si omnis res, cum bonum suum perfecit, lauda- bilis est et ad finem naturae suae pervenit ; homini autem suum bonum ratio est; si hanc perfecit, laudabilis est et finem naturae suae tetigit. Haec ratio perfecta virtus vocatur eademque honestum est.

iF Id itaque unum bonum est in homine, quod unum hominis est. Nune enim non quaerimus, quid sit bonum, sed quid sit hominis bonum. Si nullum aliud est hominis quam ratio, haec erit unum eius bonum, sed pensandum cum omnibus. Si sit aliquis malus, puto improbabitur; si bonus, puto probabitur. Id ergo in homine primum solumque est, quo et probatur

12et inprobatur. Non dubitas, an hoc sit bonum; dubitas an solum bonum sit. Si quis omnia alia habeat, valetudinem, divitias, imagines multas, frequens atrium, sed malus ex confesso sit, inprobabis

1 The words quid in homine . . . implevit are suspected by Hilgenfeld.

« Literally ‘‘ many masks” of his ancestors. These were placed in the atrium.

152

EPISTLE LXXVI.

swift; so is the horse. I do not say that man is surpassed in all these qualities. I am not seeking to find that which is greatest in him, but that which is peculiarly his own. Man has body; so also have trees. Man has the power to act and to move at will; so have beasts and worms. Man has a voice; but how much louder is the voice of the dog, how much shriller that of the eagle, how much deeper that of the bull, how much sweeter and more melodi- ous that of the nightingale! What then is peculiar to man? Reason. When this is right and has reached perfection, man’s felicity is complete. Hence, if everything is praiseworthy and has arrived at the end intended by its nature, when it has brought its peculiar good to perfection, and if man’s peculiar good is reason; then, if a man has brought his reason to perfection, he is praiseworthy and has reached the end suited to his nature. This perfect reason is called virtue, and is likewise that which is honourable.

Hence that in man is alone a good which alone belongs to man. For we are not now seeking to discover what is a good, but what good is man’s. And if there is no other attribute which belongs peculiarly to man except reason, then reason will be his one peculiar good, but a good that is worth all the rest put together. If any man is bad, he will, I suppose, be regarded with disapproval; if good, I suppose he will be regarded with approval. There- fore, that attribute of man whereby he is approved or disapproved is his chief and only good. You do not doubt whether this is a good; you merely doubt whether it is the sole good. If a man possess all other things, such as health, riches, pedigree,® a crowded reception-hall, but is confessedly bad, you

153

13

14

15

16

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

illum. Item si quis nihil quidem eorum, quae rettuli, habeat, deficiatur pecunia, clientium turba, nobilitate et avorum proavorumque serie, sed ex confesso bonus sit, probabis illum. Ergo hoc unum est bonum hominis, quod qui habet, etiam si aliis destituitur, laudandus est, quod qui non habet, in omnium aliorum copia damnatur ac reicitur. Quae condicio rerum, eadem hominum est. Navis bona dicitur non quae pretiosis coloribus picta est nec cui argenteum aut aureum rostrum est nec cuius tutela ebore caelata est nec quae fiscis atque opibus regiis pressa est, sed stabilis et firma et iuncturis aquam excludentibus spissa, ad ferendum incursum maris solida, guber- naculo parens, velox et non sentiens ventum. Gladium bonum dices non cui auratus est balteus nec cuius vagina gemmis distinguitur, sed cui et ad secandum subtilis acies est et mucro munimentum omne rupturus. Regula non quam formosa, sed quam recta sit quaeritur. Ko quidque laudatur, cui comparatur, quod illi proprium est.

Ergo in homine quoque nihil ad rem pertinet, quantum aret, quantum faeneret, a quam multis salutetur, quam pretioso incumbat lecto, quam per- lucido poculo bibat, sed quam bonus sit. Bonus autem est, si ratio eius explicita et recta est et ad naturae suae voluntatem accommodata. Haec

@ Literally ‘‘the guardian deity”; cf. Horace, Od. i. 14. 10. These were images of the gods, carried and invoked by the ancients, in the same manner as St. Nicholas to-day.

> The fiscus was the private treasury of the Roman Emperor, as contrasted with the aerarium, which theoreti- cally was controlled by the Senate.

154

EPISTLE LXXVI.

will disapprove of him. Likewise, if a man possess none of the things which I have mentioned, and lacks money, or an escort of clients, or rank and a line of grandfathers and great-grandfathers, but is confessedly good, you will approve of him. Hence, this is man’s one peculiar good, and the possessor of it is to be praised even if he lacks other things; but he who does not possess it, though he possess every- thing else in abundance, is condemned and rejected. The same thing holds good regarding men as regard- ing things. A ship is said to be good not when it is decorated with costly colours, nor when its prow is covered with silver or gold or its figure-head 4 embossed in ivory, nor when it is laden with the imperial revenues? or with the wealth of kings, but when it is steady and staunch and taut, with seams that keep out the water, stout enough to endure the buffeting of the waves, obedient to its helm, swift and caring naught for the winds. You will speak of a sword as good, not when its sword-belt is of gold, or its scabbard studded with gems, but when its edge is fine for cutting and its point will pierce any armour. Take the carpenter’s rule: we do not ask how beautiful it is, but how straight it is. Each thing is praised in regard to that attribute which is taken as its standard, in regard to that which is its peculiar quality.

Therefore in the case of man also, it is not pertinent to the question to know how many acres he ploughs, how much money he has out at interest, how many callers attend his receptions, how costly is the couch on which he lies, how transparent are the cups from which he drinks, but how good he is. He is good, however, if his reason is well-ordered and right and adapted to that which his nature has

VOL. II F 155

17

18

19

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

vocatur virtus, hoc est honestum et unicum hominis bonum. Nam cum sola ratio perficiat hominem, sola ratio perfecta beatum facit ; hoc autem unum bonum est, quo uno beatus efficitur. Dicimus et illa bona esse, quae a virtute profecta contractaque sunt, id est opera eius omnia; sed ideo unum ipsa bonum est, quia nullum sine illa est. Si omne in animo bonum est, quicquid illum confirmat, extollit, ampli- ficat, bonum est; validiorem autem animum et ex- celsiorem et ampliorem facit virtus. Nam cetera, quae cupiditates nostras inritant, deprimunt quoque animum et labefaciunt et, cum videntur adtollere, inflant ac multa vanitate deludunt. Ergo unum id bonum est, quo melior animus efficietur.

Omnes actiones totius vitae honesti ac turpis respectu temperantur; ad haec faciendi et non faciendi ratio derigitur. Quid sit hoc, dicam: vir bonus quod honeste se facturum putaverit, faciet, etiam si! laboriosum erit, faciet, etiam si damnosum erit, faciet, etiam si periculosum erit; rursus quod turpe erit, non faciet, etiam si pecuniam adferet, etiam si voluptatem, etiam si potentiam. Ab honesto nulla re deterrebitur, ad turpia nulla invitabitur. Ergo si honestum utique secuturus est, turpe utique vitaturus et in omni actu vitae spectaturus haec duo,

1 etiam si later MSS. ; etiam sine pecunia si VPb.

@ 4.¢., “moral worth.” » j.¢., peace, the welfare of one’s country, dutiful children, ete.

156

EPISTLE LXXVI.

willed. It is this that is called virtue; this is what we mean by “honourable’’*; it is man’s unique good. For since reason alone brings man to per- fection, reason alone, when perfected, makes man happy. This, moreover, is man’s only good, the only means by which he is made happy. We do indeed say that those things also® are goods which are furthered and brought together by virtue,—that is, all the works of virtue ; but virtue itself is for this reason the only good, because there is no good with- out virtue. If every good is in the soul, then whatever strengthens, uplifts, and enlarges the soul, is a good; virtue, however, does make the soul stronger, loftier, and larger. For all other things, which arouse our desires, depress the soul and weaken it, and when we think that they are uplifting the soul, they are merely puffing it up and cheating it with much emptiness. Therefore, that alone is good which will make the soul better.

All the actions of life, taken as a whole, are con- trolled by the consideration of what is honourable or base; it is with reference to these two things that our reason is governed in doing or not doing a particular thing. I shall explain what I mean: A good man will do what he thinks it will be honour- able for him to do, even if it involves toil; he will do it even if it involves harm to him; he will do it even if it involves peril; again, he will not do that which will be base, even if it brings him money, or pleasure, or power. Nothing will deter him from that which is honourable, and nothing will tempt him into baseness. Therefore, if he is determined invari- ably to follow that which is honourable, invariably to avoid baseness, and in every act of his life to have regard for these two things, deeming nothing

157

20

21

22

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

nec aliud bonum quam honestum! nec aliud malum quam turpe, si una indepravata virtus est et sola permanet tenoris sui; unum est bonum virtus, cui iam accidere, ne sit bonum, non potest. Mutationis periculum effugit; stultitia ad sapientiam erepit, sapientia in stultitiam non revolvitur.

Dixi, si forte meministi, concupita volgo et for- midata inconsulto impetu plerosque calcasse. In- ventus est, qui flammis inponeret manum, cuius risum non interrumperet tortor, qui in funere libe- rorum lacrimam non mitteret, qui morti non trepidus occurreret. Amor enim, ira,? cupiditas pericula depoposcerunt. Quod potest brevis obstinatio animi aliquo stimulo excitata, quanto magis virtus, quae non ex impetu nec subito, sed aequaliter valet, cui perpetuum robur est. Sequitur, ut quae ab incon- sultis saepe contemnuntur, a sapientibus semper, ea nec bona sint nec mala. Unum ergo bonum ipsa virtus est, quae inter hanc fortunam et illam superba incedit cum magno utriusque contemptu.

Si hance opinionem receperis, aliquid bonum esse praeter honestum, nulla non virtus laborabit. Nulla

enim optineri poterit, si quicquam extra se respexerit.

1 nec aliud bonum nisi (quam Hense) honestwm, omitted by VPb, is supplied by the Venice edition of 1492. 2 amor enim, ira Chatelain; amor é in ira V; amore in ira Pb. * Cf. Ep. \xxiv. 21. 158

EPISTLE LXXVI.

else good except that which is honourable, and nothing else bad except that which is base ; if virtue alone is unperverted in him and by itself keeps its even course, then virtue is that man’s only good, and nothing can thenceforth happen to it which may make it anything else than good. It has escaped all risk of change; folly may creep upwards towards wisdom, but wisdom never slips back into folly.

You may perhaps remember my saying @ that the things which have been generally desired and feared have been trampled down by many a man in moments of sudden passion. There have been found men who would place their hands in the flames, men whose smiles could not be stopped by the torturer, men who would shed not a tear at the funeral of their children, men who would meet death unflinchingly. It is love, for example, anger, lust, which have challenged dangers. If a momentary stubbornness can accomplish all this when roused by some goad that pricks the spirit, how much more can be accomplished by virtue, which does not act impulsively or suddenly, but uniformly and with a strength that is lasting! It follows that the things which are often scorned by the men who are moved with a sudden passion, and are always scorned by the wise, are neither goods nor evils. Virtue itself is therefore the only good; she marches proudly between the two extremes of fortune, with great scorn for both.

If, however, you accept the view that there is anything good besides that which is honourable, all the virtues will suffer. For it will never be possible for any virtue to be won and held, if there is any- thing outside itself which virtue must take into con- sideration. If there is any such thing, then it is at

159

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

Quod si est, rationi repugnat, ex qua virtutes sunt, et veritati, quae sine ratione non est. Quaecumque

23 autem opinio veritati repugnat, falsa est. Virum bonum concedas necesse est summae pietatis erga deos esse. Itaque quicquid illi accidit, aequo animo sustinebit; sciet enim id accidisse lege divina, qua universa procedunt. Quod si est, unum illi bonum erit, quod honestum; in hoc enim positum est et parere dis nec excandescere ad subita nec deplorare sortem suam, sed patienter excipere fatum et facere

94imperata. Si ullum aliud est bonum quam honestum, sequetur nos aviditas vitae, aviditas rerum vitam instruentium, quod est intolerabile, infinitum, vagum. Solum ergo bonum est honestum, cui modus est.

95 Diximus futuram hominum feliciorem vitam quam deorum, si ea bona sunt, guorum nullus! dis usus est, tamquam pecunia, honores. Adice nunc, quod si modo solutae corporibus animae manent, felicior illis status restat quam est, dum versantur in corpore. Atqui si ista bona sunt, quibus per corpora utimur, emissis erit peius, quod contra fidem est, feliciores esse liberis et in universum datis clausas et obsessas.

26 Illud quoque dixeram, si bona sunt ea, quae tam homini contingunt quam mutis animalibus, et muta

1 nullus later MSS. ; nullwm VPb.

« Cf. Ep. \xxiv. 14 aut ista bona non sunt, quae vocantur, aut homo felicior deo est, quoniam quidem quae parata nobis sunt, non habet in usu deus.

> ¢.9., Ep. Ixxiv. 16 summum bonum . . . obsolescit, si ab optima nostri parte ad pessimam transit et transfertur ad sensus, qui agiliores sunt animalibus mutis,

160

EPISTLE LXXVI.

variance with reason, from which the virtues spring, and with truth also, which cannot exist without reason. Any opinion, however, which is at variance with truth, is wrong. A good man, you will admit, must have the highest sense of duty toward the gods. Hence he will endure with an unruffled spirit what- ever happens to him; for he will know that it has happened as a result of the divine law, by which the whole creation moves. ‘This being so, there will be for him one good, and only one, namely, that which is honourable; for one of its dictates is that we shall obey the gods and not blaze forth in anger at sudden misfortunes or deplore our lot, but rather patiently accept fate and obey its commands. If anything except the honourable is good, we shall be hounded by greed for life, and by greed for the things which provide life with its furnishings,—an intolerable state, subject to no limits, unstable. The only good, therefore, is that which is honourable, that which is subject to bounds.

I have declared® that man’s life would be more blest than that of the gods, if those things which the gods do not enjoy are goods,—such as money and offices of dignity. There is this further con- sideration: if only it is true that our souls, when released from the body, still abide, a happier condition is in store for them than is theirs while they dwell in the body. And yet, if those things are goods which we make use of for our bodies’ sake, our souls will be worse off when set free; and that is contrary to our belief, to say that the soul is happier when it is cabined and confined than when it is free and has betaken itself to the universe. I also said ® that if those things which dumb animals possess equally with man are goods, then dumb animals also will

161

27

28

29

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

animalia beatam vitam actura; quod fieri nullo modo potest. Omnia pro honesto patienda sunt; quod non erat faciendum, si esset ullum aliud bonum quam honestum.

Haec quamvis latius exsecutus essem_priore epistula, constrinxi et breviter percucurri. Num- quam autem vera tibi opinio talis videbitur, nisi animum adleves et te ipse interroges, si res exegerit, ut pro patria moriaris et salutem omnium civium tua redimas, an porrecturus sis cervicem non tantum patienter, sed etiam libenter. Si hoc facturus es, nullum aliud bonum est. Omnia enim relinquis, ut hoc habeas. Vide quanta vis honesti sit: pro re publica morieris, etiam si statim facturus hoc eris, cum scieris tibi esse faciendum. Interdum ex re pulcherrima magnum gaudium etiam exiguo tempore ac brevi capitur, et quamvis fructus operis peracti nullus ad defunctum exemptumque rebus humanis pertineat, ipsa tamen contemplatio futuri operis iuvat, et vir fortis ac iustus, cum mortis suae pretia ante se posuit, libertatem patriae, salutem omnium, pro quibus dependit animam, in summa voluptate est et periculo suo fruitur. Sed ille quoque, cui hoc

gaudium eripitur, quod! tractatio operis maximi et

1 guod Arg. b; quam VPb. 162

EPISTLE LXXVI.

lead a happy life; which is of course impossible, One must endure all things in defence of that which is honourable; but this would not be necessary if there existed any other good besides that which is honourable.

Although this question was discussed by me pretty extensively in a previous letter,* I have discussed it summarily and briefly run through the argument. But an opinion of this kind will never seem true to you unless you exalt your mind and ask yourself whether, at the call of duty, you would be willing to die for your country, and buy the safety of all your fellow-citizens at the price of your own; whether you would offer your neck not only with patience, but also with gladness. If you would do this, there is no other good in your eyes. For you are giving up everything in order to acquire this good. Consider how great is the power of that which is honourable: you will die for your country, even at a moment’s notice, when you know that you ought to do so. Sometimes, as a result of noble conduct, one wins great joy even in a very short and fleeting space of time; and though none of the fruits of a deed that has been done will accrue to the doer after he is dead and removed from the sphere of human affairs, yet the mere contemplation of a deed that is to be done is a delight, and the brave and upright man, picturing to himself the guerdons of his death,—guerdons such as the freedom of his country and the deliverance of all those for whom he is paying out his life,—partakes of the greatest pleasure and enjoys the fruit of his own peril. But that man also who is deprived of this joy, the joy which is afforded by the contemplation

@ Ep. lxxiv., esp. § 14. VOL. II ee 163

30

31

32

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

ultimi! praestat, nihil cunctatus desiliet in mortem, facere recte pieque contentus. Oppone etiamnunc illi multa quae dehortentur, dic: ‘“factum tuum matura sequetur oblivio et parum grata existimatio civium” ; respondebit? tibi: “ista omnia extra opus meum sunt. Ego ipsum contemplor. Hoc esse honestum scio. Itaque quocumque ducit ac vocat, venio.”

Hoe ergo unum bonum est, quod non tantum perfectus animus, sed generosus quoque et indolis bonae sentit; cetera levia sunt, mutabilia. Itaque sollicite possidentur. Etiam si favente fortuna in unum congesta sunt, dominis suis incubant gravia et illos semper premunt, aliquando et inlidunt.2 Nemo ex istis, quos purpuratos vides, felix est, non magis quam ex illis, quibus sceptrum et chlamydem in scaena fabulae adsignant ; cum praesente populo lati incesserunt et coturnati, simul exierunt, excalceantur et ad staturam suam redeunt. Nemo istorum, quos divitiae honoresque in altiore fastigio ponunt, magnus est. Quare ergo magnus videtur? Cum basi illum sua metiris. Non est magnus pumilio, licet in monte constiterit; colossus magnitudinem suam servabit, etiam si steterit in puteo. Hoc laboramus errore, sic nobis imponitur, quod neminem aestimamus eo, quod est, sed adicimus illi et ea, quibus adornatus

1 maximi et ultimi Sanctolonius and Madvig ; —e et —e, or —ae et —ae MSS.

2 respondebit or respondet later MSS. ; respondit V Pb.

3 inlidunt Gruter ; inludunt VP.

« Compare the argument in Ep. Ixxx. § 7, ‘‘This farce of living, in which we act our parts so ill”; § 8, the loud- mouthed impersonator of heroes, who sleeps on rags; and § 9 hominem involutum aestimas ?

164

EPISTLE LXXVI.

of some last noble effort, will leap to his death with- out a moment’s hesitation, content to act rightly and dutifully. Moreover, you may confront him with many discouragements; you may say: “Your deed will speedily be forgotten,” or “ Your fellow-citizens will offer you scant thanks.’’ He will answer: “ All these matters lie outside my task. My thoughts are on the deed itself. I know that this is honourable. Therefore, whithersoever I am led and summoned by honour, I will go.”

This, therefore, is the only good, and not only is every soul that has reached perfection aware of it, but also every soul that is by nature noble and of right instincts; all other goods are trivial and mut- able. For this reason we are harassed if we possess them. Even though, by the kindness of Fortune, they have been heaped together, they weigh heavily upon their owners, always pressing them down and sometimes crushing them. None of those whom you behold clad in purple is happy, any more than one of these actors* upon whom the play bestows a sceptre and a cloak while on the stage; they strut their hour before a crowded house, with swelling port and buskined foot; but when once they make their exit the foot-gear is removed and they return to their proper stature. None of those who have been raised to a loftier height by riches and honours is really great. Why then does he seem great to you? It is because you are measuring the pedestal along with the man. A dwarf is not tall, though he stand upon a mountain-top ; a colossal statue will still be tall, though you place it in a well. This is the error under which we labour; this is the reason why we are imposed upon: we value no man at what he is, but add to the man himself the trappings in

165

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

est. Atqui cum voles veram hominis aestimationem inire et scire, qualis sit, nudum inspice; ponat patri- monium, ponat honores et alia fortunae mendacia, corpus ipsum exuat. Animum intuere, qualis quan- tusque sit, alieno an suo magnus.

33 Si rectis oculis gladios micantes videt et si scit sua nihil interesse, utrum anima per os an per iugulum exeat, beatum voca; si cum illi denuntiata sunt corporis tormenta et quae casu veniunt et quae potentioris iniuria, si vincula et exilia et vanas huma-

narum formidines mentium securus audit et dicit:

**Non ulla laborum, O virgo, nova mi facies inopinave surgit ; Omnia praecepi atque animo mecum ipse peregi.

Tu hodie ista denuntias ; ego semper denuntiavi mihi 34 et hominem paravi ad humana.” Praecogitati mali mollis ictus venit. At stultis et fortunae credentibus omnis videtur nova rerum et inopinata facies ; magna autem pars est apud imperitos mali novitas. Hoc ut scias, ea quae putaverant aspera, fortius, cum adsue- 35 vere, patiuntur. Ideo sapiens adsuescit futuris malis et quae alii diu patiendo levia faciunt, hic levia facit

# As the world-soul is spread through the universe, so the human soul (as fire, or breath) is diffused through the body, and may take its departure in various ways.

> Vergil, Aeneid, vi. 103 ff. (The answer of Aeneas to the Sibyl’s prophecy.)

166

EPISTLE LXXVI.

which he is clothed. But when you wish to inquire into a man’s true worth, and to know what manner of man he is, look at him when he is naked; make him lay aside his inherited estate, his titles, and the other deceptions of fortune ; let him even strip off his body. Consider his soul, its quality and its stature, and thus learn whether its greatness is borrowed, or its own.

If a man can behold with unflinching eyes the flash of a sword, if he knows that it makes no difference to him whether his soul takes flight through his mouth or through a wound in his throat,* you may call him happy; you may also call him happy if, when he is threatened with bodily torture, whether it be the result of accident or of the might of the stronger, he can without concern hear talk of chains, or of exile, or of all the idle fears that stir men’s minds, and can say:

**O maiden, no new sudden form of toil Springs up before my eyes ; within my soul I have forestalled and surveyed everything.®

To-day it is you who threaten me with these terrors ; but I have always threatened myself with them, and have prepared myself as a man to meet man’s destiny.” If an evil has been pondered beforehand, the blow is gentle when it comes. To the fool, however, and to him who trusts in fortune, each event as it arrives “comes in a new and sudden form,” and a large part of evil, to the inexperienced, consists in its novelty. This is proved by the fact that men endure with greater courage, when they have once become accustomed to them, the things which they had at first regarded as_ hardships. Hence, the wise man accustoms himself to coming trouble, lightening by long reflection the evils which

167

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

diu cogitando. Audimus aliquando voces imperitorum dicentium: “sciebam! hoc mihi restare” ; sapiens scit sibi omnia restare. Quicquid factum est, dicit: “sciebam.” VALE.

LN TE: Seneca LyciLio svo SALVTEM

1 Subito nobis hodie Alexandrinae naves appa- ruerunt, quae praemitti solent et nuntiare secuturae classis adventum; tabellarias vocant. Gratus illarum Campaniae aspectus est; omnis in pilis Puteolorum turba consistit et ex ipso genere velorum Alexan- drinas quamvis in magna turba navium intellegit. Solis enim licet siparum intendere, quod in alto omnes

2 habent naves. Nulla enim res aeque adiuvat cursum quam summa pars veli; illinc maxime navis urgetur. Itaque quotiens ventus increbruit maiorque est quam expedit, antemna summittitur; minus habet virium flatus ex humili. Cum intravere Capreas et promun- turium, ex quo

Alta procelloso speculatur vertice Pallas,

ceterae velo iubentur esse contentae; siparum Alexandrinarum insigne est.?

3 In hoc omnium discursu properantium ad litus mag- nam ex pigritia mea sensi voluptatem, quod epistulas meorum accepturus non properavi scire, quis illic esset

1 The old editors read nesciebam, which seems more in

accord with the argument. * indicium before est deleted by Muretus.

2 Puteoli, in the bay of Naples, was the head-quarters in Italy of the important grain-trade with Egypt, on which the Roman magistrates relied to feed the populace.

’ Author unknown.

168

EPISTLES LXXVI., LXXVII.

others lighten by long endurance. We sometimes hear the inexperienced say: “I knew that this was

in store for me.” But the wise man knows that all things are in store for him. Whatever happens, he says: “I knew it.” Farewell.

LXXVITI. ON TAKING ONE'S OWN LIFE

Suddenly there came into our view to-day the “ Alexandrian”? ships,—I mean those which are usually sent ahead to announce the coming of the fleet ; they are called “ mail-boats.” The Campanians are glad to see them; all the rabble of Puteoli4 stand on the docks, and can recognize the “ Alexan- drian” boats, no matter how great the crowd of vessels, by the very trim of their sails. For they alone may keep spread their topsails, which all ships use when out at sea, because nothing sends a ship along so well as its upper canvas; that is where most of the speed is obtained. So when the breeze has stiffened and becomes stronger than is comfortable, they set their yards lower; for the wind has less force near the surface of the water. Accordingly, when they have made Capreae and the headland whence

Tall Pallas watches on the stormy peak,’

all other vessels are bidden to be content with the mainsail, and the topsail stands out conspicuously on the “ Alexandrian”’ mail-boats.

While everybody was bustling about and hurrying to the water-front, I felt great pleasure in my laziness, because, although I was soon to receive letters from my friends, I was in no hurry to know how my affairs

169

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

rerum mearum status, quid adferrent ; olim iam nec perit quicquam mihi nec adquiritur. Hoc, etiam si senex non essem, fuerat sentiendum ; nunc vero multo magis. Quantulumcumque haberem, tamen plus iam mihi superesset viatici quam viae, praesertim cum eam viam simus! ingressi, quam peragere non est necesse. 4 Iter inperfectum erit, si in media parte aut citra petitum locum steteris ; vita non est inperfecta, si honesta est. Ubicumque desines, si bene desines, tota est. Saepe autem et fortiter desinendum est et non ex maximis causis; nam nec eae? maximae sunt, quae nos tenent. 5 Tullius Marcellinus, quem optime noveras, adu- lescens quietus* et cito senex, morbo et non in- sanabili correptus sed longo et molesto et multa imperante, coepit deliberare de morte. Convocavit complures amicos. Unusquisque aut quia timidus erat, id illi suadebat, quod sibi suasisset, aut quia adulator et blandus, id consilium dabat, quod de- 6 liberanti gratius fore suspicabatur; amicus noster Stoicus, homo egregius et, ut verbis illum, quibus laudari dignus est, laudem, vir fortis ac strenuus, videtur mihi optime illum cohortatus. Sic enim coepit: “Noli, mi Marcelline, torqueri, tamquam de 1 simus later MSS. ; sumus VPb. 2 mec eae O. Rossbach ; nec et VPb.

3 J. W. Duff would read, with Kron., vietus, ‘old,” ‘¢ withered.”

« This thought, found in Ep. xii. 6 and often elsewhere, is a favourite with Seneca.

> It is not likely that this Marcellinus is the same person as the Marcellinus of Ep. xxix., because of their different views on philosophy (Summers). But there is no definite evidence for or against.

¢ A Roman compliment; the Greeks would have used kadds kayabds ; cf. Horace, Hp. i. 7. 46

Strenuus et fortis causisque Philippus agendis Clarus.

170

EPISTLE LXXVII.

were progressing abroad, or what news the letters were bringing; for some time now I have had no losses, nor gains either. Even if I were not an old man, I could not have helped feeling pleasure at this; but as it is, my pleasure was far greater. For, however small my possessions might be, I sheuld still have left over more travelling-money than journey to travel, especially since this journey upon which we have set out is one which need not be followed to the end. An expedition will be incomplete if one stops half-way, or anywhere on this side of one’s destination ; but life is not incomplete if it is honour- able. At whatever point you leave off living, pro- vided you leave off nobly, your life is a whole.% Often, however, one must leave off bravely, and our reasons therefore need not be momentous; for neither are the reasons momentous which hold us here.

Tullius Marcellinus,? a man whom you knew very well, who in youth was a quiet soul and became old prematurely, fell ill of a disease which was by no means hopeless; but it was protracted and trouble- some, and it demanded much attention; hence he began to think about dying. He called many of his friends together. Each one of them gave Marcellinus advice,—the timid friend urging him to do what he had made up his mind to do ; the flatter- ing and wheedling friend giving counsel which he supposed would be more pleasing to Marcellinus when he came to think the matter over; but our Stoic friend, a rare man, and, to praise him in language which he deserves, a man of courage and vigour,° admonished him best of all, as it seems to me. For he began as follows : “ Do not torment yourself, my dear Marcellinus, as if the question which you are

171

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

re magna deliberes. Non est res magna vivere; omnes servi tui vivunt, omnia animalia; magnum est honeste mori, prudenter, fortiter. Cogita, quamdiu iam idem facias: cibus, somnus, libido, per hunc circulum curritur. Mori velle non tantum prudens aut fortis aut miser, etiam fastidiosus potest.”

7 Non opus erat suasore illi, sed adiutore; servi parere nolebant. Primum detraxit illis metum et indicavit tune familiam periculum adire, cum in- certum esset, an mors domini voluntaria fuisset; alioqgui tam mali exempli esse occidere dominum

8 quam prohibere. Deinde ipsum Marcellinum ad- monuit non esse inhumanum, quemadmodum cena peracta reliquiae circumstantibus dividantur, sic peracta vita aliquid porrigi iis, qui totius vitae ministri fuissent. Erat Marcellinus facilis animi et liberalis, etiam cum de suo fieret. Minutas itaque summulas distribuit flentibus servis et illos ultro

9 consolatus est. Non fuit illi opus ferro, non sanguine; triduo abstinuit et in ipso cubiculo poni taberna- culum iussit. Solium deinde inlatum est, in quo diu iacuit et calda subinde suffusa paulatim defecit, ut aiebat, non sine quadam voluptate, quam adferre solet lenis dissolutio non inexperta nobis, quos aliquando liquit animus.

¢ For this frequent ‘‘ banquet of life” simile see Ep. xcvili. 15 ipse vitae plenus est, etc.

’ So that the steam might not escape. One thinks of Seneca’s last hours: Tac. Ann. xv. 64 stagnum calidae aquae introut .. . exin balneo inlatus et vapore eius exani- matus,

172

EPISTLE LXXVII.

weighing were a matter of importance. It is not an important matter to live; all your slaves live, and so do all animals; but it is important to die honourably, sensibly, bravely. Reflect how long you have been doing the same thing: food, sleep, lusi——this 1s one’s daily round. The desire to die may be felt, not only by the sensible man or the brave or unhappy man, but even by the man who is merely surfeited.”’ Marcellinus did not need someone to urge him, but rather someone to help him; his slaves refused to do his bidding. The Stoic therefore removed their fears, showing them that there was no risk involved for the household except when it was un- certain whether the master’s death was self-sought or not; besides, it was as bad a practice to kill one’s master as it was to prevent him forcibly from killing himself. Then he suggested to Marcellinus himself that it would be a kindly act to distribute gifts to those who had attended him throughout his whole life, when that life was finished, just as, when a banquet is finished,“ the remaining portion is divided among the attendants who stand about the table. Mar- cellinus was of a compliant and generous disposition, even when it was a question of his own property ; so he distributed little sums among his sorrowing slaves, and comforted them besides. No need had he of sword or of bloodshed ; for three days he fasted and had a tent put up in his very bedroom.? Then a tub was brought in; he lay in it for a long time, and, as the hot water was continually poured over him, he gradually passed away, not without a feeling of pleasure, as he himself remarked,—such a feeling as a slow dissolution is wont to give. Those of us who have ever fainted know from experience what

this feeling is. 173

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

10 = In fabellam excessi non ingratam tibi. Exitum enim amici tui cognosces non difficilem nec miserum. Quamvis enim mortem sibi consciverit, tamen mollis- sime excessit et vita elapsus est. Sed ne inutilis quidem haec fabella fuerit. Saepe enim talia exempla necessitas exigit. Saepe debemus mori nec

11 volumus, morimur nec volumus. Nemo tam imperitus est, ut nesciat quandoque moriendum; tamen cum prope accessit, tergiversatur, tremit, plorat. Nonne tibi videbitur stultissimus omnium, qui flevit, quod ante annos mille non vixerat? Aeque stultus est, qui flet, quod post annos mille non vivet. Haec paria sunt; non eris nec fuisti. Utrumque tempus

12 alienum est. In hoc punctum coniectus es, quod ut extendas, quo usque extendes? Quid fles? Quid optas? Perdis operam.

Desine fata deum flecti sperare precando.

Rata et fixa sunt et magna atque aeterna necessitate ducuntur. Eo ibis, quo omnia eunt. Quid tibi novi est? Ad hance legem natus es. Hoc patri tuo accidit, hoc matri, hoc maioribus, hoc omnibus ante te, hoc omnibus post te. Series invicta et nulla 13 mutabilis ope inligavit ac trahit cuncta. Quantus te

populus moriturorum sequetur? Quantus comita-

« For the same thought cf. Ep. xlix. 3 punctum est quod vivimus et adhuc puncto minus. > Vergil, Aeneid, vi. 376.

174

EPISTLE LXXVII.

This little anecdote into which I have digressed will not be displeasing to you. For you will see that your friend departed neither with difficulty nor with suffering. Though he committed suicide, yet he withdrew most gently, gliding out of life. The anecdote may also be of some use; for often a crisis demands just such examples. ‘There are times when we ought to die and are unwilling; sometimes we die and are unwilling. No one is so ignorant as not to know that we must at some time die; neverthe- less, when one draws near death, one turns to flight, trembles, and laments. Would you not think him an utter fool who wept because he was not alive a thousand years ago? And is he not just as much of a fool who weeps because he will not be alive a thousand years from now? It is all the same; you will not be, and you were not. Neither of these periods of time belongs to you. You have been cast upon this point of time; if you would make it longer, how much longer shall you make it? Why weep? Why pray? You are taking pains to no purpose.

Give over thinking that your prayers can bend Divine decrees from their predestined end.?

These decrees are unalterable and fixed; they are governed by a mighty and everlasting compulsion. Your goal will be the goal of all things. What is there strange in this to you? You were born to be subject to this law; this fate befell your father, your mother, your ancestors, all who came before you; and it will befall all who shall come after you. A sequence which cannot be broken or altered by any power binds all things together and draws all things in its course. Think of the multitudes of men doomed to death who will come after you, of the

175

14

15

16

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

bitur? Fortior, ut opinor, esses, si multa milia tibi commorerentur; atqui multa milia et hominum et animalium hoc ipso momento, quo tu mori dubitas, animam variis generibus emittunt. Tu autem non putabas te aliquando ad id perventurum, ad quod semper ibas? Nullum sine exitu iter est.

Exempla nune magnorum virorum me tibi iudicas relaturum? Puerorumreferam. Lacon ille memoriae traditur inpubis adhuc, qui captus clamabat “non serviam’”’ sua illa Dorica lingua, et verbis fidem inposuit ; ut primum iussus est servili fungi et con- tumelioso ministerio, adferre enim vas obscenum iubebatur, inlisum parieti caput rupit. Tam prope libertas est; et servit aliquis? Ita non sic perire filium tuum malles quam per inertiam senem fieri? Quid ergo est, cur perturberis, si mori fortiter etiam puerile est? Puta nolle te sequi; duceris. Fac tui juris, quod alieni est. Non sumes pueri spiritum, ut dicas “non servio”? Infelix, servis hominibus, servis rebus, servis vitae. Nam vita, si moriendi virtus abest, servitus est.

Ecquid habes, propter quod expectes? Voluptates ipsas, quae te morantur ac retinent, consumpsisti. Nulla tibi nova est, nulla non iam odiosa ipsa satie-

«@ See Plutarch, Mor. 234 b, for a similar act of the Spartan boy captured by King Antigonus. Hense (Rhein. Mus. xvii. pp. 220 f.) thinks that this story may be taken from Bion, the third-century satirist and moral philosopher.

176

EPISTLE LXXVIL.

multitudes who will go with you! You would die more bravely, I suppose, in the company of many thousands; and yet there are many thousands, both of men and of animals, who at this very moment, while you are irresolute about death, are breathing their last, in their several ways. But you,—did you believe that you would not some day reach the goal towards which you have always been travelling? No journey but has its end.

You think, I suppose, that it is now in order for me to cite some examples of great men. No, I shall cite rather the case of a boy. The story of the Spartan lad has been preserved: taken captive while still a stripling, he kept crying in his Doric dialect, “1 will not be a slave!” and he made good his word ; for the very first time he was ordered to perform a menial and degrading service,—and the command was to fetch a chamber-pot,—he dashed out his brains against the wall. So near at hand is freedom, and is anyone still a slave? Would you not rather have your own son die thus than reach old age by weakly yielding? Why therefore are you distressed, when even a boy can die so bravely? Suppose that you refuse to follow him; you will be led. Take into your own control that which is now under the control of another. Will you not borrow that boy’s courage, and say: “I am no slave!”? Unhappy fellow, you are a slave to men, you are a slave to your business, you are a slave to life. For life, if courage to die be lacking, is slavery.

Have you anything worth waiting for? Your very pleasures, which cause you to tarry and hold you back, have already been exhausted by you. None of them is a novelty to you, and there is none that has not already become hateful because you are

ja

17

18

19

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

tate. Quis sit vini, quis mulsi sapor, scis. Nihil interest, centum per vesicam tuam an mille amphorae transeant; saccus es.! Quid sapiat ostreum, quid mullus, optime nosti; nihil tibi luxuria tua in futuros annos intactum reservavit; atqui haec sunt, a quibus invitus divelleris. Quid est aliud, quod tibi eripi doleas? Amicos? Quis enim tibi potest? amicus esse? Patriam? Tanti enim illam putas, ut tardius cenes? Solem? Quem, si posses, extingueres. Quid enim umquam fecisti luce dignum? Confitere non curiae te, non fori, non ipsius rerum naturae desiderio tardiorem ad moriendum fieri; invitus relinquis macellum, in quo nihil reliquisti.

Mortem times; at quomodo illam media boleta- tione contemnis? Vivere vis; scis enim? Mori times; quid porro? Ista vita non mors est? C. Caesar,? cum illum transeuntem per Latinam viam unus ex custodiarum agmine demissa usque in pectus vetere barba rogaret mortem: “nunc enim,’ inquit, “vivis?’’ Hoe istis respondendum est, quibus succursura mors est: mori times; nune enim vivis? “Sed ego,” inquit, “vivere volo, qui multa honeste

1 es later MSS. ; est VPb.

2 amicos? quis enim tibi potest added by Madvig.

3 C,. Caesar Bentley and O. Rossbach; ¢. caesar VO; caesar Pb.

@ About 5? gallons.

> Cf. Pliny, xiv. 22 quin immo ut plus capiamus, sacco frangimus vires. Strained wine could be drunk in greater quantities without intoxication.

¢ Cf. Dio Cassius, xl. 54, for the exiled Milo’s enjoyment of the mullets of Marseilles.

4 Probably the strong tone of disapproval used in this paragraph is directed against the Roman in general rather than against the industrious Lucilius. It is characteristic of the diatribe.

178

EPISTLE LXXVII.

cioyed with it. You know the taste of wine and cordials. It makes no difference whether a hundred or a thousand measures ® pass through your bladder ; you are nothing but a wine-strainer.2 You are a connoisseur in the flavour of the oyster and of the mullet®; your luxury has not left you anything untasted for the years that are to come; and yet these are the things from which you are torn away unwillingly. What else is there which you would regret to have taken from you? Friends? But who can be a friend to you? Country? What? Do you think enough of your country to be late to dinner? The light of the sun? You would ex- tinguish it, if you could; for what have you ever done that was fit to be seen in the light? Confess the truth; it is not because you long for the senate- chamber or the forum, or even for the world of nature, that you would fain put off dying; it is because you are loth to leave the fish-market, though you have exhausted its stores.@

You are afraid of death; but how can you scorn it in the midst of a mushroom supper*? You wish to live; well, do you know how to live? You are afraid to die. But come now: is this life of yours anything but death? Gaius Caesar was passing along the Via Latina, when a man stepped out from the ranks of the prisoners, his grey beard hanging down even to his breast, and begged to be put to death. “What!” said Caesar, “are you alive now?” That is the answer which should be given to men to whom death would come as a relief. “ You are afraid to die; what! are you alive now?” “But,” says one, “I wish to live, for I am engaged in many

¢ Seneca may be recalling the death of the Emperor Claudius.

179

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

facio. Invitus relinquo officia vitae, quibus fideliter et industrie fungor.” Quid? Tu nescis unum esse ex vitae officiis et mori? Nullum officium relinquis. Non enim certus numerus, quem debeas explere,

20 finitur. Nulla vita est non brevis. Nam si ad naturam rerum respexeris, etiam Nestoris et Sattiae brevis est, quae inscribi monumento suo iussit annis se nonaginta novem vixisse. Vides aliquem gloriari senectute longa. Quis illam ferre potuisset, si con- tigisset centesimum implere? Quomodo fabula, sic vita non quam diu, sed quam bene acta sit, refert. Nihil ad rem pertinet, quo loco desinas. Quocumque voles desine; tantum bonam clausulam inpone. VALE.

LXXVIII.

Seneca LvcILio svo SALVTEM

1 Vexari te destillationibus crebris ac febriculis, quae longas destillationes et in consuetudinem ad- ductas secuntur, eo molestius mihi est, quia expertus sum hoe genus valetudinis, quod inter initia con- tempsi; poterat adhuc adulescentia iniurias ferre et se adversus morbos contumaciter gerere. Deinde succubui et eo perductus sum, ut ipse destillarem ad

2summam maciem deductus. Saepe impetum cepi abrumpendae vitae ; patris me indulgentissimi senec- tus retinuit. Cogitavi enim non quam fortiter ego

¢ A traditional example of old age, mentioned by Martial and the elder Pliny.

’ Compare the last words of the Emperor Augustus: amicos percontatus ecquid is videretur mimum vitae commode transegisse (Suet. dug. 99).

¢ 'To such a degree that Seneca’s enemy Caligula refrained from executing him, on the ground that he would soon die.

180

EPISTLES LXXVII., LXXVIII.

honourable pursuits. I am loth to leave life’s duties, which I am fulfilling with loyalty and zeal.” Surely you are aware that dying is also one of life’s duties? You are deserting no duty; for there is no definite number established which you are bound to complete. There is no life that is not short. Compared with the world of nature, even Nestor’s life was a short one, or Sattia’s,“ the woman who bade carve on her tombstone that she had lived ninety and nine years. Some persons, you see, boast of their long lives; but who could have endured the old lady if she had had the luck to complete her hundredch year? It is with life as it is with a play,—it matters not how long the action is spun out, but how good the acting is. It makes no difference at what point you stop. Stop whenever you choose; only see to it that the closing period is well turned.” Farewell.

LXXVIITI. ON THE HEALING POWER OF THE MIND

That you are frequently troubled by the snuffling of catarrh and by short attacks of fever which follow after long and chronic catarrhal seizures, I am sorry to hear; particularly because I have experienced this sort of illness myself, and scorned it in its early stages. For when I was still young, I could put up with hardships and show a bold front to illness. But I finally succumbed, and arrived at such a state that I could do nothing but snuffle, reduced as I was to the extremity of thinness.? I often entertained the impulse of ending my life then and there; but the thought of my kind old father kept me back. For I reflected, not how bravely I

181

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

mori possem, sed quam ille fortiter desiderare non posset. Itaque imperavi mihi, ut viverem. Ali- quando enim et vivere fortiter facere est.

3 Quae mihi tunc fuerint solacio dicam, si prius hoc dixero,! haec ipsa, quibus adquiescebam, medicinae vim habuisse. In remedium cedunt honesta solacia, et quicquid animum erexit, etiam corpori prodest. Studia mihi nostra saluti fuerunt. Philosophiae aeceptum fero, quod surrexi, quod convalui. Ili

4 vitam debeo et nihil illi minus debeo. Multum mihi contulerunt ad bonam valetudinem amici, quorum adhortationibus, vigiliis, sermonibus adlevabar. Nihil aeque, Lucili, virorum optime, aegrum reficit atque adiuvat quam amicorum adfectus; nihil aeque ex- pectationem mortis ac metum subripit. Non iudica- bam me, cum illos superstites relinquerem,? mori. Putabam, inquam, me victurum non cum illis, sed per illos. Non effundere mihi spiritum videbar, sed tradere.§

Haec mihi dederunt voluntatem adiuvandi me et patiendi omne tormentum ; alioqui miserrimum est, cum animum moriendi proieceris, non habere vivendi.

5 Ad haec ergo remedia te confer. Medicus tibi quantum ambules, quantum exercearis, monstrabit ; ne indulgeas otio, ad quod vergit iners valetudo; ut legas clarius et spiritum, cuius iter ac receptaculum

1 dixero or dixerim later MSS. ; dixeris VPb.

2 relinquerem later MSS. ; relinquere VPb. 3 tradere Muretus ; trahere VPb.

@ Of. Ep. xv. Tf. 182

EPISTLE LXXVIII.

had the power to die, but how little power he had to bear bravely the loss of me. And so I com- manded myself to live. For sometimes it is an act of bravery even to live.

Now I shall tell you what consoled me during those days, stating at the outset that these very aids to my peace of mind were as efficacious as medicine. Honourable consolation results in a cure; and what- ever has uplifted the soul helps the body also. My studies were my salvation. I place it to the credit of philosophy that I recovered and regained my strength. I owe my life to philosophy, and that is the least of my obligations! My friends, too, helped me greatly toward good health; I used to be comforted by their cheering words, by the hours they spent at my bedside, and by their conversation, Nothing, my excellent Lucilius, refreshes and aids a sick man so much as the affection of his friends ; nothing so steals away the expectation and the fear of death. In fact, I could not believe that, if they survived me, I should be dying atall. Yes, I repeat, it seemed to me that I should continue to live, not with them, but through them. I imagined myself not to be yielding up my soul, but to be making it over to them.

All these things gave me the inclination to succour myself and to endure any torture; besides, it is a most miserable state to have lost one’s zest for dying, and to have no zest in living. These, then, are the remedies to which you should have recourse. The physician will prescribe your walks and your exercise ; he will warn you not to become addicted to idleness, as is the tendency of the inactive invalid; he will order you to read in a louder voice and to exercise your lungs,* the passages

183

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

laborat, exerceas ; ut naviges et viscera molli iacta- tione concutias; quibus cibis utaris, vinum quando virium causa advoces, quando intermittas, ne inritet et exasperet tussim. Ego tibi illud praecipio, quod non tantum huius morbi, sed totius vitae remedium est: contemne mortem. Nihil triste est, cum huius

6 metum effugimus. ‘Tria haec in omni morbo gravia sunt: metus mortis, dolor corporis, intermissio volup- tatum. De morte satis dictum est; hoc unum dicam, non morbi hunc esse sed naturae metum. Multorum mortem distulit morbus et saluti illis fuit videri perire. Morieris, non quia aegrotas, sed quia vivis. Ista te res et sanatum manet; cum convalueris, non mortem, sed valetudinem effugies.

7 Ad illud nunc proprium incommodum revertamur : magnos cruciatus habet morbus. Sed hos tolerabiles intervalla faciunt. Nam summi doloris intentio in- venit finem. Nemo potest valde dolere et diu; sic nos amantissima nostri natura disposuit, ut dolorem

8 aut tolerabilem aut brevem faceret. Maximi dolores consistunt in macerrimis corporis partibus ; nervi arti- culique et quicquid aliud exile est, acerrime saevit, cum in arto vitia concepit. Sed cito hae partes obstupescunt et ipso dolore sensum doloris amittunt,

@ 4,e¢,, men have become healthier after passing through serious illness.

® Cf. Epicurus, Frag. 446 Usener.

¢ Compare, from among many parallels, Hp. xxiv. 14 (dolor) levis es, si ferre possum, brevis es, sv ferre non possum, 184

EPISTLE LXXVIII.

and cavity of which are affected ; or to sail and shake up your bowels by a little mild motion ; he will recommend the proper food, and the suitable time for aiding your strength with wine or refraining from it in order to keep your cough from being irritated and hacking. But as for me, my counsel to you is this,—and it is a cure, not merely of this disease of yours, but of your whole life,— Despise death.”’ There is no sorrow in the world, when we have escaped from the fear of death. There are these three serious elements in every disease: fear of death, bodily pain, and interruption of pleasures. Concerning death enough has been said, and I shall add only a word: this fear is not a fear of disease, but a fear of nature. Disease has often postponed death, and a vision of dying has been many a man’s salvation. You will die, not because you are ill, but because you are alive; even when you have been cured, the same end awaits you; when you have recovered, it will be not death, but ill-health, that you have escaped.

Let us now return to the consideration of the characteristic disadvantage of disease: it is accom- panied by great suffering. The suffering, however, is rendered endurable by interruptions ; for the strain of extreme pain must come to an end.2 No man can suffer both severely and for a long time; Nature, who loves us most tenderly, has so constituted us as to make pain either endurable or short. The severest pains have their seat in the most slender parts of our body; nerves, joints, and any other of the narrow passages, hurt most cruelly when they have developed trouble within their contracted spaces. But these parts soon become numb, and by reason of the pain itself lose the sensation of pain,

185

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

sive quia spiritus naturali prohibitus cursu et mutatus in peius vim suam, qua viget admonetque nos, perdit, sive quia corruptus umor, cum desiit habere, quo confluat, ipse se elidit et iis, quae nimis implevit,

g excutit sensum. Sic podagra et cheragra et omnis

10

11

vertebrarum dolor nervorumque!? interquiescit,? cum illa, quae torquebat, hebetavit?; omnium istorum prima verminatio vexat, impetus mora extinguitur et finis dolendi est optorpuisse. Dentium, oculorum, aurium dolor ob hoe ipsum acutissimus est, quod inter angusta corporis nascitur, non minus, mehercule, quam capitis ipsius; sed si incitatior est, in aliena- tionem soporemque convertitur. Hoc itaque solacium vasti doloris est, quod necesse est desinas illum sentire, si nimis senseris. Illud autem est, quod imperitos in vexatione corporis male habet: non adsueverunt animo esse contenti. Multum illis cum corpore fuit. Ideo vir magnus ac prudens animum diducit a corpore et multum cum meliore ac divina parte versatur, cum hac querula et fragili quantum necesse est.

“Sed molestum est,’ inquit, ‘“carere adsuetis voluptatibus, abstinere cibo, sitire, esurire.”” Haec prima abstinentia gravia sunt. Deinde cupiditas relanguescit ipsis per quae* cupimus fatigatis ac

1 nervorumque later MSS. ; et nervorumg. PbV’; e ner- vorum edition of Mentelin.

2 interquiescit later MSS. ; interciet (sciet b) scit Pb; in

tertiae scitscit V. 3 hebetavit later MSS. ; hebetabit VPb. 4 per quae Muretus ; per se quae MSS.

@ See also Ep. xcv. 17. The word literally means *‘ maggots,” ** bots,” in horses or cattle.

186

EPISTLE LXXVIII.

whether because the life-force, when checked in its natural course and changed for the worse, loses the peculiar power through which it thrives and through which it warns us, or because the diseased humours of the body, when they cease to have a place into which they may flow, are thrown back upon them- selves, and deprive of sensation the parts where they have caused congestion. So gout, both in the feet and in the hands, and all pain in the vertebrae and in the nerves, have their intervals of rest at the times when they have dulled the parts which they before had tortured; the first twinges,? in all such cases, are what cause the distress, and their onset is checked by lapse of time, so that there is an end of pain when numbness has set in. Pain in the teeth, eyes, and ears is most acute for the very reason that it begins among the narrow spaces of the body,—no less acute, indeed, than in the head itself. But if it is more violent than usual, it turns to delirium and stupor. This is, accordingly, a consolation for excessive pain,—that you cannot help ceasing to feel it if you feel it to excess. The reason, however, why the inexperienced are impatient when their bodies suffer is, that they have not accustomed themselves to be contented in spirit. They have been closely associated with the body. Therefore a high-minded and sensible man divorces - soul from body, and dwells much with the better or divine part, and only as far as he must with this complaining and frail portion.

“ But it is a hardship,’ men say, “to do without our customary pleasures,—to fast, to feel thirst and hunger.’ These are indeed serious when one first abstains from them. Later the desire dies down, because the appetites themselves which lead to

VOL. 11 G 187

12

13

14

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

deficientibus ; inde morosus est stomachus, inde cuius! fuit aviditas cibi, odium est. Desideria ipsa moriuntur. Non est autem acerbum carere eo, quod cupere desieris. Adice, quod nullus non _ inter- mittitur dolor aut certe remittitur. Adice, quod licet cavere venturum et obsistere inminenti remediis. Nullus enim non signa praemittit, utique qui ex solito revertitur. ‘Tolerabilis est morbi patientia, si contempseris id quod extremum minatur. Noli mala tua facere tibi ipse? graviora et te querellis onerare. Levis est dolor, si nihil illi opinio adiecerit; contra, si exhortari te coeperis ac dicere: “ Nihil est aut certe exiguum est. Duremus; iam desinet”’; levem illum, dum putas, facies. Omnia ex opinione suspensa sunt ; non ambitio tantum ad illam respicit et luxuria et avaritia. Ad opinionem dolemus. ‘Tam miser est quisque quam credidit. Detrahendas praeteritorum dolorum conquestiones puto et illa verba: “ Nulli umquam fuit peius. Quos cruciatus, quanta mala pertuli! Nemo me surrecturum putavit. Quotiens deploratus sum a meis, quotiens a medicis relictus ! In eculeum inpositi non sic distrahuntur.3”’ Etiam si sunt vera ista, transierunt. Quid iuvat praeteritos dolores retractare et miserum esse, quia fueris? Quid, quod nemo non multum malis suis adicit et

1 cuius Madvig ; quibus MSS. 2 ipse Haase ; ipsi MSS. 5 distrahuntur later MSS. ; detra(h)untur VPb.

188

EPISTLE LXXVIII.

desire are wearied and forsake us; then the stomach becomes petulant, then the food which we craved before becomes hateful. Our very wants die away. But there is no bitterness in doing without that which you have ceased to desire. Moreover, every pain sometimes stops, or at any rate slackens; moreover, one may take precautions against its return, and, when it threatens, may check it by means of remedies. Every variety of pain has its premonitory symptoms; this is true, at any rate, of pain that is habitual and recurrent. One can endure the suffering which disease entails, if one has come to regard its results with scorn. But do not of your own accord make your troubles heavier to bear and burden yourself with complaining. Pain is slight if opinion has added nothing to it; but if, on the other hand, you begin to encourage yourself and say, “Tt is nothing,—a trifling matter at most; keep a stout heart and it will soon cease’’; then in think- ing it slight, you will make it slight. Everything depends on opinion; ambition, luxury, greed, hark back to opinion. It is according to opinion that we suffer. A man is as wretched as he has convinced himself that he is. I hold that we should do away with complaint about past sufferings and with all language like this: “None has ever been worse off than I. What sufferings, what evils have I endured! No one has thought that I shall recover. How often have my family bewailed me, and the physicians given me over! Men who are placed on the rack are not torn asunder with such agony!’ However, even if all this is true, it is over and gone. What benefit is there in reviewing past sufferings, and in being unhappy, just because once you were un- happy? Besides, every one adds much to his own

189

prot On

16

17

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

sibi ipse mentitur? Deinde quod acerbum fuit ferre,! tulisse iucundum est; naturale est mali sui fine gaudere.

Circumcidenda ergo duo sunt, et futuri timor et veteris incommodi memoria; hoc ad me iam non pertinet, illud nondum. In ipsis positus difficultati- bus dicat:

Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit.

Toto contra ille? pugnet animo ; vincetur, si cesserit, vincet, si se contra dolorem suum intenderit. Nunc hoc plerique faciunt, adtrahunt in se ruinam, cui obstandum est. Istud quod premit, quod inpendet, quod urget, si subducere te coeperis, sequetur et gravius incumbet ; si contra steteris et obniti volueris, repelletur. Athletae quantum plagarum ore, quan- tum toto corpore excipiunt? Ferunt tamen omne tormentum gloriae cupiditate nec tantum quia pug- nant, ista patiuntur, sed ut pugnent. Exercitatio ipsa tormentum est. Nos quoque evincamus omnia, quorum praemium non corona nec palma est nec tubicen praedicationi nominis nostri silentium faciens, sed virtus et firmitas animi et pax in ceterum parta, si semel in aliquo certamine debellata fortuna est. “ Dolorem gravem sentio.” Quid ergo? Non sentis,

1 fuit ferre, tulisse Bartsch ; fuit retulisse MSS. 2 {lle Hense; illa or allum MSS.

@ Vergil, Aeneid, i. 203. 190

EPISTLE LXXVIII.

ills, and tells lies to himself. And that which was bitter to bear is pleasant to have borne; it is natural to rejoice at the ending of one’s ills.

Two elements must therefore be rooted out once for all,—the fear of future suffering, and the recollec- tion of past suffering; since the latter no longer concerns me, and the former concerns me not yet. But when set in the very midst of troubles one should say :

Perchance some day the memory of this sorrow Will even bring delight.

Let such a man fight against them with all his might: if he once gives way, he will be vanquished ; but if he strives against his sufferings, he will conquer. As it is, however, what most men do is to drag down upon their own heads a falling ruin which they ought to try to support. If you begin to withdraw your support from that which thrusts toward you and totters and is ready to plunge, it will follow you and lean more heavily upon you; but if you hold your ground and make up your mind to push against it, it will be forced back. What blows do athletes receive on their faces and all over their bodies! Nevertheless, through their desire for fame they endure every torture, and they undergo these things not only because they are fighting but in order to be able to fight. Their very training means torture. So let us also win the way to victory in all our struggles,—for the reward is not a garland or a palm or a trumpeter who calls for silence at the proclama- tion of our names, but rather virtue, steadfastness of soul, and a peace that is won for all time, if fortune has once been utterly vanquished in any combat. You say, “I feel severe pain.” What then; are

191

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

si illum muliebriter tuleris? Quemadmodum per- niciosior est hostis fugientibus, sic omne fortuitum incommodum magis instat cedenti et averso. “Sed grave est.” Quid? Nos ad hoc fortes sumus, ut levia portemus? Utrum vis longum esse morbum an concitatum! et brevem? Si longus est, habet intercapedinem, dat refectioni locum, multum tem- poris donat, necesse est, ut exurgit,? et desinat. Brevis morbus ac praeceps alterutrum faciet: aut extinguetur aut extinguet. Quid autem interest, non sit an non sim? In utroque finis dolendi est.

18 Illud quoque proderit, ad alias cogitationes avertere animuin et a dolore discedere. Cogita quid honeste, quid fortiter feceris; bonas partes tecum ipse tracta. Memoriam in ea, quae maxime miratus es, sparge. Tunc tibi fortissimus quisque et victor doloris occur- rat: ille, qui cum? varices exsecandas praeberet, legere librum perseveravit ; ille, qui non desiit ridere, cum hoe ipsum irati tortores omnia instrumenta crudelitatis suae experirentur. Non vincetur dolor

19 ratione, qui victus est risu? Quicquid vis nunc licet dicas, destillationes et vim continuae tussis egerentem viscerum partes et febrem praecordia ipsa torrentem et sitim et artus in diversum articulis exeuntibus tortos; plus est flamma et eculeus et lammina et vulneribus ipsis intumescentibus quod illa renovaret

1 concitatum later MSS. ; cogitatwm V Pb. 2 exurgit Haase ; ex(s)urgat MSS. 3 cum Haase; dum MSS.

@ Literally, perhaps, ‘‘the noble réles which you have played.” Summers compares Ep. xiv. 13 ultimas partes Catonis—*: the closing scenes of Cato’s life.”

192

EPISTLE LXXVIII.

you relieved from feeling it, if you endure it like a woman? Just as an enemy is more dangerous to a retreating army, so every trouble that fortune brings attacks us all the harder if we yield and turn our backs. ‘“ But the trouble is serious.” What? Is it for this purpose that we are strong,—that we may have light burdens to bear? Would you have your illness long-drawn-out, or would you have it quick and short? If it is long, it means a respite, allows you a period for resting yourself, bestows upon you the boon of time in plenty; as it arises, so it must also subside. A short and rapid illness will do one of two things: it will quench or be quenched. And what difference does it make whether it is not or

Iam not? In either case there is an end of pain. This, too, will help—to turn the mind aside to thoughts of other things and thus to depart from pain. Call to mind what honourable or brave deeds you have done; consider the good side of your own life. Run over in your memory those things which you have particularly admired. Then think of all the brave men who have conquered pain: of him who continued to read his book as he allowed the cutting out of varicose veins; of him who did not cease to smile, though that very smile so enraged his torturers that they tried upon him every instru- ment of their cruelty. If pain can be conquered by a smile, will it not be conquered by reason? You may tell me now of whatever you like—of colds, hard coughing-spells that bring up parts of our entrails, fever that parches our very vitals, thirst, limbs so twisted that the joints protrude in different directions ; yet worse than these are the stake, the rack, the red-hot plates, the instrument that reopens wounds while the wounds themselves are still swollen 193

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

et altius urgeret inpressum. Inter haec tamen aliquis non gemuit. “ Parum est”; non rogavit. “ Parum est’; non respondit. “ Parum est”’; risit et quidem ex animo. Vis tu post hoc dolorem deridere ?

20 “Sed nihil,” inquit, “agere sinit morbus, qui me omnibus abduxit officiis.’’ Corpus tuum valetudo tenet, non et animum. Itaque cursoris moratur pedes, sutoris aut fabri manus inpediet; si animus tibi esse in usu solet, suadebis docebis, audies disces,} quaeres recordaberis. Quid porro? Nihil agere te credis, si temperans aeger sis? Ostendes morbum

21 posse superari vel certe sustineri. Est, mihi crede, virtuti etiam in lectulo locus. Non tantum arma et acies dant argumenta alacris animi indomitique terro- ribus; et in vestimentis vir fortis apparet. Habes, quod agas: bene luctare cum morbo. Si nihil te coegerit, si nihil] exoraverit, insigne prodis exemplum. O quam magna erat gloriae materia, si spectaremur aegri! Ipse te specta,? ipse te lauda.

92 Praeterea duo genera sunt voluptatum. Corporales morbus inhibet, non tamen tollit. Immo, si verum

aestimes, incitat; magis iuvat bibere sitientem;

1 disces later MSS. ; dices VPb. 2 specia later MSS. ; expecta VPb.

=

« Of. Ep. xiv. 4f. and the crucibus adfixi, flamma usti, etc., of Tac. Ann. xv. 44.

194

EPISTLE LXXVILI.

and that drives their imprint still deeper.4 Never- theless there have been men who have not uttered a moan amid these tortures. “More yet!” says the torturer; but the victim has not begged for release. “More yet!” he says again; but no answer has come. “ More yet!” the victim has smiled, and heartily, too. Can you not bring yourself, after an example like this, to make a mock at pain?

“ But,’ you object, “my illness does not allow me to be doing anything; it has withdrawn me from all my duties.” It is your body that is hampered by ill-health, and not your soul as well. It is for this reason that it clogs the feet of the runner and will hinder the handiwork of the cobbler or the artisan ; but if your soul be habitually in practice, you will plead and teach, listen and learn, investigate and meditate. What more is necessary? Do you think that you are doing nothing if you possess self- control in your illness? You will be showing that a disease can be overcome, or at any rate endured. There is, I assure you, a place for virtue even upon a bed of sickness. It is not only the sword and the battle-line that prove the soul alert and unconquered by fear; a man can display bravery even when wrapped in his bed-clothes. You have something to do: wrestle bravely with disease. If it shall compel you to nothing, beguile you to nothing, it is a notable example that you display. O what ample matter were there for renown, if we could have spectators of our sickness! Be your own spectator ; seek your own applause.

Again, there are two kinds of pleasures. Disease checks the pleasures of the body, but does not do away with them. Nay, if the truth is to be con- sidered, it serves to excite them; for the thirstier

VOL. It G2 195

23

25

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

gratior est esurienti cibus. Quicquid ex abstinentia contigit, avidius excipitur. Illas vero animi volup- tates, quae maiores certioresque sunt, nemo medicus aegro negat. Has quisquis sequitur et bene intellegit, omnia sensuum blandimenta contemnit. “O in- felicem aegrum!’’ Quare? Quia non vino nivem diluit? Quia non rigorem potionis suae, quam capaci scypho miscuit, renovat fracta insuper glacie? Quia non ostrea illi Lucrina in ipsa mensa aperiuntur ? Quia non circa cenationem eius tumultus cocorum est ipsos cum opsoniis focos transferentium? Hoe enim iam luxuria commenta est: ne quis intepescat cibus, ne quid palato iam calloso parum ferveat,

.cenam culina prosequitur. “O infelicem aegrum!”’

edet, quantum concoquat. Non iacebit in conspectu aper ut vilis caro a mensa relegatus, nec in repositorio eius pectora avium, totas enim videre fastidium est, congesta ponentur. Quid tibi mali factum est? Cenabis tamquam aeger, immo aliquando tamquam sanus.

Sed omnia ista facile perferemus, sorbitionem, aquam calidam et quicquid aliud intolerabile videtur delicatis et luxu fluentibus magisque animo quam corpore morbidis; tantum mortem desinamus horrere. Desinemus autem, si fines bonorum ac malorum

@ The lacus Lucrinus was a salt-water lagoon, near Baiae in Campania.

> i.e., to be looked at; there are better dainties on the table.

¢ Sanus is used (1) as signifying ‘*sound in body ” and (2) as the opposite of insanus.

196

EPISTLE LXXVIII.

a man is, the more he enjoys a drink; the hungrier he is, the more pleasure he takes in food. Whatever falls to one’s lot after a period of abstinence is welcomed with greater zest. The other kind, how- ever, the pleasures of the mind, which are higher and less uncertain, no physician can refuse to the sick man. Whoever seeks these and knows well what they are, scorns all the blandishments of the senses. Men say, “ Poor sick fellow!” But why? Is it because he does not mix snow with his wine, or because he does not revive the chill of his drink— mixed as it is in a good-sized bowl—by chipping ice into it? Or because he does not have Lucrine @ oysters opened fresh at his table? Or because there is no din of cooks about his dining-hall, as they bring in their very cooking apparatus along with their viands? For luxury has already devised this fashion—of having the kitchen accompany the dinner, so that the food may not grow luke-warm, or fail to be hot enough for a palate which has already become hardened. “ Poor sick fellow !””—he will eat as much as he can digest. There will be no boar lying before his eyes,? banished from the table as if it were a common meat; and on his sideboard there will be heaped together no breast- meat of birds, because it sickens him to see birds served whole. But what evil has been done to you? You will dine like a sick man, nay, sometimes like a sound man.°

All these things, however, can be easily endured —gruel, warm water, and anything else that seems insupportable to a fastidious man, to one who is wallowing in luxury, sick in soul rather than in body —if only we cease to shudder at death. And we shall cease, if once we have gained a knowledge of

197

LW) (or)

28

29

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

cognoverimus; ita demum nec vita taedio erit nec mors timori. Vitam enim occupare satietas sui non potest tot res varias, magnas, divinas percensentem ; in odium illam sui adducere solet iners otium. Rerum naturam peragranti numquam in fastidium veritas veniet; falsa satiabunt. Rursus si mors accedit et vocat, licet inmatura sit, licet mediam_praecidat aetatem, perceptus longissimae ! fructus est. Cognita est illi ex magna parte natura. Scit tempore honesta non crescere; iis mecesse est videri omnem vitam brevem, qui illam voluptatibus vanis et ideo infinitis metiuntur.

His te cogitationibus recrea et interim epistulis nostris vaca. Veniet aliquando? tempus, quod nos iterum iungat ac misceat; quantulumlibet sit illud, longum faciet scientia utendi. Nam, ut Posidonius ait, “unus dies hominum eruditorum plus patet quam inperitis longissima aetas.’’ Interim hoc tene, hoe morde: adversis non succumbere, laetis non credere, omnem fortunae licentiam in oculis habere, tamquam quicquid potest facere, factura sit. Quicquid ex- pectatum est diu, lenius® accedit. VALE.

1 longissimae Madvig ; longissime VPb. 2 vaca. veniet aliguando P. Thomas; vacando veniet aliquod (aligquando) MSS. lenius Wolters ; levius MSS.

@ Perhaps a reminiscence of Lucretius i. 74 omne im- mensum peragravit mente animoque.

’ Seneca often quotes Posidonius, as does Cicero also. These words may have been taken from his IIpovperrixd (or Aéyou mporperrixol), Exhortations, a work in which he main- tained that men should make a close study of philosophy, in spite of the varying opinions of its expositors.

198

EPISTLE LXXVIII.

the limits of good and evil; then, and then only, life will not weary us, neither will death make us afraid. For surfeit of self can never seize upon a life that surveys all the things which are manifold, great, divine ; only idle leisure is wont to make men hate their lives. To one who roams? through the universe, the truth can never pall; it will be the untruths that will cloy. And, on the other hand, if death comes near with its summons, even though it be un- timely in its arrival, though it cut one off in one’s prime, a man has had a taste of all that the longest life can give. Such a man has in great measure come to understand the universe. He knows that honourable things do not depend on time for their growth ; but any life must seem short to those who measure its length by pleasures which are empty and for that reason unbounded.

Refresh yourself with such thoughts as these, and meanwhile reserve some hours for our letters. There will come a time when we shall be united again and brought together; however short this time may be, we shall make it long by knowing how to employ it. For, as Posidonius says®: “ A single day among the learned lasts longer than the longest life of the ignorant.” Meanwhile, hold fast to this thought, and grip it close: yield not to adversity; trust not to prosperity; keep before your eyes the full scope of Fortune’s power, as if she would surely do whatever is in her power to do. That which has been long expected comes more gently. Farewell.

199

i

bo

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

LXXIX.

Seneca LycILio svo SALVTEM

Expecto epistulas tuas, quibus mihi indices, cir- cuitus Siciliae totius quid tibi novi ostenderit, et ante! omnia de ipsa Charybdi certiora. Nam Scyllam saxum esse et quidem non terribile navigantibus optime scio; Charybdis an respondeat fabulis, per- scribi mihi desidero et, si forte observaveris, dignum est autem quod observes, fac nos certiores, utrum uno tantum vento agatur in vertices an omnis tempestas aeque mare illud contorqueat, et an verum sit, quicquid illo freti turbine abreptum est, per multa milia trahi conditum et circa Tauromenitanum litus emergere. Si haec mihi perscripseris, tune tibi audebo mandare, ut in honorem meum Aetnam quoque ascendas, quam consumi et sensim subsidere ex hoc colligunt quidam, quod aliquando longius navigantibus solebat ostendi. Potest hoc accidere, non quia montis altitudo descendit, sed quia ignis evanuit et minus vehemens ac largus effertur, ob eandem causam fumo quoque per diem segniore.” Neutrum autem incredibile est, nec montem, qui

1 ante added by Wolters. 2 segniore Pincianus ; segnior MSS.

@ Ellis suggests that the poem Aetna, of uncertain author- ship, may have been written by Lucilius in response to this letter. His view is plausible, but not universally accepted.

o See Hp. xiv. § 8 and note (Vol. I.).

¢ The modern Taormina.

200

EPISTLE LXXIX.

LXXIX. ON THE REWARDS OF SCIENTIFIC

LXXIX. ON THE REWARDS OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY

I have been awaiting a letter from you, that you might inform me what new matter was revealed to you during your trip round Sicily,“ and especially that you might give me further information regard- ing Charybdis itself.2 I know very well that Scylla is a rock—and indeed a rock not dreaded by mariners ; but with regard to Charybdis I should like to have a full description, in order to see whether it agrees with the accounts in mythology ; and, if you have by chance investigated it (for it is indeed worthy of your investigation), please enlighten me concerning the following: Is it lashed into a whirlpool by a wind from only one direction, or do all storms alike serve to disturb its depths? Is it true that objects snatched downwards by the whirlpool in that strait are carried for many miles under water, and then come to the surface on the beach near Tauromenium °¢ ? If you will write me a full account of these matters, I shall then have the boldness to ask you to perform another task,—also to climb Aetna at my special request. Certain naturalists have inferred that the mountain is wasting away and gradually settling, because sailors used to be able to see it from a greater distance. The reason for this may be, not that the height of the mountain is decreasing, but because the flames have become dim and the eruptions less strong and less copious, and because for the same reason the smoke also is less active by day. However, either of these two things is possible to believe: that on the one hand the mountain is

201

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

devoretur cotidie, minui, nec manere eundem, quia non ipsum exest,! sed in aliqua inferna valle con- ceptus exaestuat et aliis pascitur. In ipso monte non

3 alimentum habet, sed viam. In Lycia regio notissima est, Hephaestion incolae vocant, foratum pluribus locis solum, quod sine ullo nascentium damno ignis innoxius circumit. Laeta itaque regio est et herbida nihil flammis adurentibus, sed tantum vi remissa ac languida refulgentibus.

4 Sed reservemus ista tune quaesituri, cum tu mihi scripseris, quantum ab ipso ore montis nives absint, quas ne aestas quidem solvit; adeo tutae sunt ab igne vicino. Non est autem quod istam curam im- putes mihi. Morbo enim tuo daturus eras, etiam si

) nemo mandaret. Quid tibi do, ne Aetnam describas 2 in tuo carmine, ne hunc sollemnem omnibus poetis locum adtingas ? Quem quo minus Ovidius tractaret, nihil obstitit, quod iam Vergilius impleverat. Ne Severum quidem Cornelium uterque deterruit. Om- nibus praeterea feliciter hic locus se dedit et qui praecesserant, non praeripuisse mihi videntur, quae dici poterant, sed aperuisse.

6 Multum? interest, utrum ad consumptam materiam

1 ipsum ewvest Haase ; ipsum evesse or ipsum ex se est MSS.

2 nemo... describas Rubenius; nemo quid mandaret tibi donec aetnam describas (t) MSS.

3 sed before mulium deleted by Madvig.

@ Another description of this region is given by Pliny, NV. HH, ii. 106, who says that the stones in the rivers were red-hot ! The phenomenon is usually explained by supposing springs of burning naphtha.

> i.e., merely as an episode, instead of devoting a whole poem to the subject.

¢ Metam. xv. 340 ff.

@ Aeneid, iii. 570 ff.

202

EPISTLE LXXIX.

growing smaller because it is consumed from day to day, and that, on the other hand, it remains the same in size because the mountain is not devouring itself, but instead of this the matter which seethes forth collects in some subterranean valley and is fed by other material, finding in the mountain itself not the food which it requires, but simply a passage-way out. There is a well-known place in Lycia—called by the inhabitants “ Hephaestion” *—where the ground is full of holes in many places and is sur- rounded by a harmless fire, which does no injury to the plants that grow there. Hence the place is fertile and luxuriant with growth, because the flames do not scorch but merely shine with a force that is mild and feeble.

But let us postpone this discussion, and look into the matter when you have given me a descrip- tion just how far distant the snow lies from the crater,—I mean the snow which does not melt even in summer, so safe is it from the adjacent fire. But there is no ground for your charging this work to my account; for you were about to gratify your own craze for fine writing, without a commission from anyone at all. Nay, what am I to offer you not merely to describe ® Aetna in your poem, and not to touch lightly upon a topic which is a matter of ritual for all poets? Ovid * could not be prevented from using this theme simply because Vergil ¢ had already fully covered it; nor could either of these writers frighten off Cornelius Severus. Besides, the topic has served them all with happy results, and those who have gone before seem to me not to have forestalled all that could be said, but merely to have opened the way.

It makes a great deal of difference whether you

203

7

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

an ad subactam accedas; crescit in dies et inventuris inventa non obstant. Praeterea condicio optima est ultimi; parata verba invenit, quae aliter instructa novam faciem habent. Nec illis manus inicit tam- quam alienis. Sunt enim publica.! Aut ego te non novi aut Aetna tibisalivam movet. Iam cupis grande aliquid et par prioribus scribere. Plus enim sperare modestia tibi tua non permittit, quae tanta in te est, ut videaris mihi retracturus ingenii tui vires, si vincendi periculum sit; tanta tibi priorum reverentia

Sest. Inter cetera hoc habet boni sapientia: nemo

10

ab altero potest vinci, nisi dum ascenditur. Cum? ad summum perveneris, paria sunt, non est incre- mento locus, statur. Numquid sol magnitudini suae adicit? Numquid ultra quam solet, luna procedit? Maria non crescunt. Mundus eundem habitum ac modum servat. -Extollere se, quae iustam magni- tudinem implevere, non possunt. Quicumque fuerint sapientes, pares erunt et aequales. Habebit unus- quisque ex iis proprias dotes: alius erit adfabilior, alius expeditior, alius promptior in eloquendo, alius facundior ; illud, de quo agitur, quod beatum facit, aequalest 3 in omnibus. An Aetna tua possit sublabi

1 The phrase iurisconsulti negant quicguam publicum usu capt, which occurs here in the MSS., is transferred by Wolters to Hp. 88. 12, where it suits the context.

2 cum ad Gronovius ; dum ad MSS.

> aequale est later MSS. ; aequale VPb.

« The usual meaning of paria esse, or paria facere (a favourite phrase with Seneca—see for example Jp. ci. 7), is “*to square the account,” ‘* balance even.”

> «* Qualities desirable in themselves, but not essential for the possession of wisdom, the mponyuéva of the Stoics (Summers).

204

EPISTLE LXXIX.

approach a subject that has been exhausted, or one where the ground has merely been broken; in the latter case, the topic grows day by day, and what is already discovered does not hinder new discoveries. Besides, he who writes last has the best of the bargain; he finds already at hand words which, when marshalled in a different way, show a new face. And he is not pilfering them, as if they belonged to someone else, when he uses them, for they are common property. Now if Aetna does not make your mouth water, | am mistaken in you. You have for some time been desirous of writing something in the grand style and on the level of the older school. For your modesty does not allow you to set your hopes any higher; this quality of yours is so pro- nounced that, it seems to me, you are likely to curb the force of your natural ability, if there should be any danger of outdoing others; so greatly do you reverence the old masters. Wisdom has this advan- tage, among others,—that no man can be outdone by another, except during the climb. But when you have arrived at the top, it is a draw%; there is no room for further ascent, the game is over. Can the sun add to his size? Can the moon advance beyond her usual fulness? The seas do not increase in bulk. The universe keeps the same character, the same limits. Things which have reached their full stature cannot grow higher. Men who have attained wisdom will therefore be equal and on the same footing. Each of them will possess his own peculiar gifts ®: one will be more affable, another more facile, another more ready of speech, a fourth more eloquent ; but as regards the quality under discussion, —the element that produces happiness, —it is equal in them all. I do not know whether this Aetna of

205

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

et in se ruere, an hoc excelsum cacumen et conspi- cuum per vasti maris spatia detrahat adsidua vis ignium, nescio; virtutem non flamma, non ruina in- ferius adducet. Haec una maiestas deprimi nescit. Nec proferri ultra nec referri potest. Sic huius, ut caelestium, stata magnitudo est. Ad hance nos conemur educere.

11 Iam multum operis effecti est; immo, si verum fateri volo, non multum. Nec enim bonitas est pessimis esse meliorem. Quis oculis glorietur, qui suspicetur diem? Cui sol per caliginem splendet, licet contentus interim sit effugisse tenebras, adhuc

12 non fruitur bono lucis. Tune animus noster habebit, quod gratuletur sibi, cum emissus his tenebris, in quibus volutatur, non tenui visu clara prospexerit, sed totum diem admiserit et redditus caelo suo fuerit, cum receperit locum, quem occupavit sorte nascendi. Sursum illum vocant initia sua. Erit autem illic etiam antequam hac custodia exsolvatur, cum vitia disiecerit purusque ac levis in cogitationes divinas emicuerit.

13. Hoe nos agere, Lucili carissime, in hoc ire impetu toto, licet pauci sciant, licet nemo, iuvat. Gloria umbra virtutis est; etiam invitam! comitabitur. Sed

1 invitam Velz. ; invita V Pb.

206

EPISTLE LXXIX.

yours can collapse and fall in ruins, whether this lofty summit, visible for many miles over the deep sea, is wasted by the incessant power of the flames ; but I do know that virtue will not be brought down to a lower plane either by flames or by ruins. Hers is the only greatness that knows no lowering ; there can be for her no further rising or sinking. Her stature, like that of the stars in the heavens, is fixed. Let us therefore strive to raise ourselves to this altitude.

Already much of the task is accomplished ; nay, rather, if I can bring myself to confess the truth, not much. For goodness does not mean merely being better than the lowest. Who that could catch but a mere glimpse of the daylight would boast his powers of vision? One who sees the sun shining through a mist may be contented meanwhile that he has escaped darkness, but he does not yet enjoy the blessing of light. Our souls will not have reason to rejoice in their lot until, freed from this darkness in which they grope, they have not merely glimpsed the brightness with feeble vision, but have absorbed the full light of day and have been restored to their place in the sky,—until, indeed, they have regained the place which they held at the allotment of their birth. The soul is summoned upward by its very origin. And it will reach that goal even before it is released from its prison below, as soon as it has cast off sin and, in purity and lightness, has leaped up into celestial realms of thought.

I am glad, beloved Lucilius, that we are occupied with this ideal, that we pursue it with all our might, even though few know it, or none. Fame is the shadow of virtue; it will attend virtue even against

207

14

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

quemadmodum umbra aliquando antecedit, aliquando sequitur vel a tergo est, ita gloria aliquando ante nos est visendamque se praebet, aliquando in averso est maiorque quo serior, ubi invidia secessit. Quamdiu videbatur furere Democritus! Vix recepit Socraten fama. Quamdiu Catonem civitas ignoravit! Respuit nec intellexit, nisi cum perdidit. Rutili innocentia ac virtus lateret, nisi accepisset iniuriam ; dum violatur, effulsit. .Numaquid non sorti suae gratias egit et exilium suum complexus est? De his loquor, quos inlustravit fortuna, dum vexat; quam multorum pro- fectus in notitiam evasere post ipsos! Quam multos

15 fama non excepit, sed eruit! Vides Epicurum quant-

16

opere non tantum eruditiores, sed haec quoque im- peritorum turba miretur. Hic ignotus ipsis Athenis fuit, cirea quas delituerat. Multis itaque iam annis Metrodoro suo superstes in quadam epistula, cum amicitiam suam et Metrodori grata commemoratione cecinisset, hoc novissime adiecit, nihil sibi et Metro- doro inter bona tanta nocuisse, quod ipsos illa nobilis Graecia non ignotos solum habuisset, sed paene inauditos. _Numquid ergo non postea quam esse desierat, inventus est? Numquid non opinio eius enituit? Hoc Metrodorus quoque in quadam epistula

@ There is an unauthenticated story that the men of Abdera called in Hippocrates to treat his malady.

> Cf. Ep. xxiv. 4 exilium... tulit Rutilius etiam libenter,

e Frag. 188 Usener. @ Frag. 43 Korte.

208

EPISTLE LXXIX.

her will. But, as the shadow sometimes precedes and sometimes follows or even lags behind, so fame sometimes goes before us and shows herself in plain sight, and sometimes is in the rear, and is all the greater in proportion as she is late in coming, when once envy has beaten a retreat. How long did men believe Democritus % to be mad! lory barely came to Socrates. And how long did our state remain in ignorance of Cato! They rejected him, and did not know his worth until they had lost him. If Rutilius® had not resigned himself to wrong, his innocence and virtue would have escaped notice; the hour of his suffering was the hour of his triumph. Did he not give thanks for his lot, and welcome his exile with open arms? I have mentioned thus far those to whom Fortune has brought renown at the very moment of persecution; but how many there are whose progress toward virtue has come to light only after their death! And how many have been ruined, not rescued, by their reputation? There is Epicurus, for example; mark how greatly he is admired, not only by the more cultured, but also by this ignorant rabble. This man, however, was un- known to Athens itself, near which he had hidden himself away. And so, when he had already survived by many years his friend Metrodorus, he added in a letter these last words, proclaiming with thankful appreciation the friendship that had existed between them: “So greatly blest were Metrodorus and I that it has been no harm to us to be unknown, and almost unheard of, in this well-known land of Greece.” ¢ Is it not true, therefore, that men did not discover him until after he had ceased to be? Has not his renown shone forth, for all that? Metrodorus also admits this fact in one of his letters¢: that Epicurus

209

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

confitetur, se et Epicurum non satis enotuisse; sed post se et Epicurum magnum paratumque nomen habituros, qui voluissent per eadem ire vestigia.

17. ~—“ Nulla virtus latet, et latuisse non ipsius est dam- num. Veniet qui conditam et saeculi sui malignitate conpressam dies publicet. Paucis natus est, qui populum aetatis suae cogitat. Multa annorum milia, multa populorum supervenient; ad illarespice. Etiam si omnibus tecum viventibus silentium livor indixerit, venient qui sine offensa, sine gratia iudicent. Si quod est pretium virtutis ex fama, nec hoc interit. Ad nos quidem nihil pertinebit posterorum sermo ; tamen etiam non sentientes colet ac frequentabit.

18 Nulli non virtus et vivo et mortuo rettulit gratiam, si modo illam bona secutus est fide, si se non exor- navit et pinxit, sed idem fuit, sive ex denuntiato videbatur, sive inparatus ac subito. Nihil simulatio proficit. Paucis inponit leviter extrinsecus inducta facies; veritas in omnem partem sui eadem est. Quae decipiunt, nihil habent solidi. Tenue est menda-

cium; perlucet, si diligenter inspexeris. VaLe.

210

EPISTLE LXXIX.

and he were not well known to the public; but he declares that after the lifetime of Epicurus and him- self any man who might wish to follow in their foot- steps would win great and ready-made renown.

Virtue is never lost to view; and yet to have been lost to view is no loss. There will come a day which will reveal her, though hidden away or suppressed by the spite of her contemporaries. That man is born merely for a few, who thinks only of the people of his own generation. Many thousands of years and many thousands of peoples will come after you; it is to these that you should have regard. Malice may have imposed silence upon the mouths of all who were alive in your day; but there will come men who will judge you without prejudice and without favour. If there is any reward that virtue receives at the hands of fame, not even this can pass away. We ourselves, indeed, shall not be affected by the talk of posterity ; nevertheless, posterity will cherish and celebrate us even though we are not conscious thereof. Virtue has never failed to reward a man, both during his life and after his death, pro- vided he has followed her loyally, provided he has not decked himself out or painted himself up, but has been always the same, whether he appeared before men’s eyes after being announced, or suddenly and without preparation. Pretence accomplishes nothing. Few are deceived by a mask that is easily drawn over the face. ‘Truth is the same in every part. Things which deceive us have no real sub- stance. Lies are thin stuff; they are transparent, if you examine them with care. Farewell.

211

1

2

3

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

LXXX.

Seneca Lyvcitio svo SALVTEM

Hodierno die non tantum meo beneficio mihi vaco, sed spectaculi, quod omnes molestos ad sphae- romachian avocavit. Nemo inrumpet, nemo cogitatio- nem meam impediet, quae hac ipsa fiducia procedit audacius. Non crepuit subinde ostium, non adleva- bitur velum ; licebit tuto vadere,! quod magis neces- sarium est per se eunti et suam sequenti viam. Non ergo sequor priores? Facio, sed permitto mihi et invenire aliquid et mutare et relinquere. Non servio illis, sed adsentior.

Magnum tamen verbum dixi, qui mihi silentium promittebam et sine interpellatore secretum. Ecce ingens clamor ex stadio perfertur et me non excutit mihi, sed in huius ipsius rei contentionem transfert. Cogito mecum, quam multi corpora exerceant, ingenia quam pauci; quantus ad spectaculum non fidele et lusorium fiat concursus, quanta sit circa artes bonas solitudo ; quam inbecilli animo sint, quorum lacertos umerosque miramur. I[llud maxime reyolvo mecum : si corpus perduci exercitatione ad hanc patientiam potest, qua et pugnos pariter et calces non unius hominis ferat, qua solem ardentissimum in ferventis- simo pulvere sustinens aliquis et sanguine suo madens

1 tuto vadere Hense; uno vadere MSS.

« Probably a contest in which the participants attached leaden weights to their hands in order to increase the force of the blows.

’ Compare Pliny’s ‘‘den” (Ep. ii. 17. 21): quae speculari- bus et velis obductis reductisve modo adicitur cubiculo modo aufertur.

¢ Compare the ideas expressed in Ep. xv. 2 f.

212

EPISTLE LXXXxX.

LXXX. ON WORLDLY DECEPTIONS

To-day I have some free time, thanks not so much to myself as to the games, which have attracted all the bores to the boxing-match.* No one will interrupt me or disturb the train of my thoughts, which go ahead more boldly as the result of my very confidence. My door has not been continually creaking on its hinges nor will my curtain be pulled aside ;® my thoughts may march safely on,—and that is all the more necessary for one who goes independently and follows out his own path. Do I then follow no predecessors? Yes, but I allow myself to discover something new, to alter, to reject. I am not a slave to them, although I give them my approval.

And yet that was a very bold word which I spoke when I assured myself that I should have some quiet, and some uninterrupted retirement. For lo, a great cheer comes from the stadium, and while it does not drive me distracted, yet it shifts my thought to a con- trast suggested by this very noise. How many men, I say to myself, train their bodies, and how few train their minds!¢ What crowds flock to the games,— spurious as they are and arranged merely for pastime, —and what a solitude reigns where the good arts are taught! How feather-brained are the athletes whose muscles and shoulders we admire! The question which I ponder most of all is this: if the body can be trained to such a degree of endurance that it will stand the blows and kicks of several opponents at once, and to such a degree that a man can last out the day and resist the scorching sun in the midst of the burning dust, drenched all the while

213

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA diem ducat ; quanto facilius animus conroborari possit, ut fortunae ictus invictus excipiat, ut proiectus, ut conculcatus exsurgat.

Corpus enim multis eget rebus, ut valeat; animus ex se crescit, se ipse alit, se exercet. IIllis multo cibo, multa potione opus est, multo oleo, longa denique opera; tibi continget virtus sine apparatu, sine inpensa. Quicquid facere te potest bonum,

4 tecum est. Quid tibi opus est, ut sis bonus? Velle. Quid autem melius potes velle quam eripere te huic servituti, quae omnes premit, quam mancipia quoque condicionis extremae et in his sordibus nata omni modo exuere conantur? Peculium suum, quod con- paraverunt ventre fraudato, pro capite numerant; tu non concupisces quanticumque ad_ libertatem

5 pervenire, qui te in illa putas natum? Quid ad arcam tuam respicis? Emi non potest. Itaque in tabulas vanum coicitur nomen libertatis, quam nec qui emerunt, habent nec qui vendiderunt. ‘Tibi des oportet istud bonum, a te petas.

Libera te primum metu mortis: illa nobis iugum

6 inponit ; deinde metu paupertatis. Si vis scire, quam nihil in illa mali sit, compara inter se pauperum et

divitum vultus; saepius pauper et fidelius ridet;

@ For this figure see the ‘‘ lucellum,” ‘* diurna mercedula,” etc., of the opening letters of the correspondence (Vol. I.).

214

EPISTLE LXXX.

with his own blood,—if this can be done, how much more easily might the mind be toughened so that it could receive the blows of Fortune and not be con- quered, so that it might struggle to its feet again after it has been laid low, after it has been trampled under foot ?

For although the body needs many things in order to be strong, yet the mind grows from within, giving to itself nourishment and exercise. Yonder athletes must have copious food, copious drink, copious quantities of oil, and long training besides ; but you can acquire virtue without equipment and without expense. All that goes to make you a good man lies within yourself. And what do you need in order to become good? To wish it. But what better thing could you wish for than to break away from this slavery,—a slavery that oppresses us all, a slavery which even chattels of the lowest estate, born amid such degradation, strive in every possible way to strip off? In exchange for freedom they pay out the savings which they have scraped together by cheating their own bellies; shall you not be eager to attain liberty at any price, seeing that you claim it as your birthright? Why cast glances toward your strong-box? Liberty cannot be bought. It is therefore useless to enter in your ledger® the item of “Freedom,” for freedom is possessed neither by those who have bought it nor by those who have sold it. You must give this good to yourself, and seek it from yourself.

First of all, free yourself from the fear of death, for death puts the yoke about our necks; then free yourself from the fear of poverty. If you would know how little evil there is in poverty, compare the faces of the poor with those of the rich; the poor

215

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

nulla sollicitudo in alto est; etiam si qua incidit cura, velut nubes levis transit. Horum, qui felices vocantur, hilaritas ficta est at! gravis et subpurata tristitia, eo quidem gravior, quia interdum non licet palam esse miseros, sed inter aerumnas cor ipsum

7 exedentes necesse est agere felicem. Saepius hoc exemplo mihi utendum est, nec enim ullo efficacius exprimitur hic humanae vitae mimus, qui nobis partes, quas male agamus, adsignat. Ile, qui in scaena latus incedit et haec resupinus dicit

En impero Argis ; regna mihi liquit Pelops, Qua ponto ab Helles atque ab Ionio mari Urgetur Isthmos,

servus est, quinque modios accipit et quinque de- 8 narios; ille qui superbus atque inpotens et fiducia virium tumidus ait:

Quod nisi quieris, Menelae, hac dextra occides,

diurnum accipit, in centunculo dormit. Idem de istis licet omnibus dicas, quos supra capita hominuim supraque turbam delicatos lectica suspendit ; omnium istorum personata felicitas est. Contemnes illos, si despoliaveris.

9 Equum empturus solvi iubes stratum, detrahis vestimenta venalibus, ne qua vitia corporis lateant ;

1 at Madvig ; aut MSS.

@ Authors unknown; Ribbeck, Frag. Trag. pp. 289 and 276. The first passage (with one change) is also quoted by Quintilian, ix. 4. 140. See, however, Tyrrell, Latin Poetry, p. 39, who calls this passage the beginning of Attius’s Atreus.

216

EPISTLE LXXX.

man smiles more often and more genuinely; his troubles do not go deep down; even if any anxiety comes upon him, it passes like a fitful cloud. But the merriment of those whom men call happy is feigned, while their sadness is heavy and festering, and all the heavier because they may not meanwhile display their grief, but must act the part of happi- ness in the midst of sorrows that eat out their very hearts. I often feel called upon to use the following illustration, and it seems to me that none expresses more effectively this drama of human life, wherein we are assigned the parts which we are to play so badly. Yonder is the man who stalks upon the stage with swelling port and head thrown back, and says:

Lo, I am he whom Argos hails as lord,

Whom Pelops left the heir of lands that spread From Hellespont and from th’ Ionian sea

E’en to the Isthmian straits.

And who is this fellow? He is but a slave; his wage is five measures of grain and five denarii. Yon other who, proud and wayward and_ puffed up by confidence in his power, declaims:

Peace, Menelaus, or this hand shall slay thee !4

receives a daily pittance and sleeps on rags. You may speak in the same way about all these dandies whom you see riding in litters above the heads of men and above the crowd; in every case their happiness is put on like the actor's mask. Tear it off, and you will scorn them.

When you buy a horse, you order its blanket to be removed; you pull off the garments from slaves that are advertised for sale, so that no bodily flaws may escape your notice; if you judge a man, do you

217

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

hominem involutum aestimas? Mangones quicquid est, quod displiceat, aliquo lenocinio abscondunt, itaque ementibus ornamenta ipsa suspecta sunt. Sive crus alligatum sive brachium aspiceres, nudari iuberes

10 et ipsum tibi corpus ostendi. Vides illum Scythiae Sarmatiaeve regem insigni capitis decorum? Si vis illum aestimare totumque scire, qualis sit, fasciam solve; multum mali sub illa latet. Quid de aliis loquor? Si perpendere te voles, sepone pecuniam, domum, dignitatem, intus te ipse considera. Nune qualis sis, aliis credis. VALE

LXXXI. Seneca LyciLio svo SALVTEM

1 Quereris incidisse te in hominem ingratum. Si hoc nune primum, age aut fortunae aut diligentiae tuae gratias. Sed nihil facere hoc loco diligentia potest nisi te malignum. Nam si hoc periculum vitare volueris, non dabis beneficia ; ita ne apud alium pereant, apud te peribunt.

Non respondeant potius quam non dentur. Et post malam segetem serendum est; saepe quicquid perierat adsidua infelicis soli sterilitate, unius anni

2 restituit ubertas. Est tanti, ut gratum invenias, experiri et ingratos. Nemo habet tam certam in

@ A favourite trick; cf. Quintil. ii. 15. 25 mangones, qui colorem fuco et verum robur inant sagina mentiuntur.

»’ The reader will be interested to compare this letter with the treatise (or essay) Of Benefits, translated by Thomas Lodge in 1614 from Seneca’s work De Benejiciis, which was dedicated to Aebutius Liberalis, the subject of Ep. xci,

218

EPISTLES LXXX., LXXXTI.

judge him when he is wrapped ina disguise? Slave- dealers hide under some sort of finery any defect which may give offence,* and for that reason the very trappings arouse the suspicion of the buyer. If you catch sight of a leg or an arm that is bound up in cloths, you demand that it be stripped and that the body itself be revealed to you. Do you see yonder Scythian or Sarmatian king, his head adorned with the badge of his office? If you wish to see what he amounts to, and to know his full worth, take off his diadem; much evil lurks beneath it. But why do I speak of others? If you wish to set a value on yourself, put away your money, your estates, your honours, and look into your own soul. At present, you are taking the word of others for what you are. Farewell.

LXXXI. ON BENEFITS.

You complain that you have met with an ungrate- ful person. If this is your first experience of that sort, you should offer thanks either to your good luck or to your caution. In this case, however, caution can effect nothing buttomake you ungenerous. — For if you wish to avoid such a danger, you will not confer benefits; and so, that benefits may not be lost with another man, they will be lost to yourself.

It is better, however, to get no return than to confer no benefits. Even after a poor crop one should sow again; for often losses due to continued barrenness of an unproductive soil have been made good by one year’s fertility. In order to discover one grateful person, it is worth while to make trial of many ungrateful ones. No man has so unerring

VOL. II H 219

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

beneficiis manum, ut non saepe fallatur; aberrent, ut aliquando haereant. Post naufragium maria temp- tantur. Faeneratorem non fugat a foro decoctor.! Cito inerti otio vita torpebit, si relinquendum est, quicquid offendit ; te vero benigniorem haec ipsa res faciat. Nam cuius rei eventus incertus est, id ut

3 aliquando procedat, saepe temptandum est. Sed de isto satis multa in iis libris locuti sumus, qui de beneficiis inscribuntur.

Illud magis quaerendum videtur, quod non satis, ut existimo, explicatum est, an is, qui? profuit nobis, si postea nocuit, paria fecerit et nos debito solverit. Adice, si vis, et illud: multo plus postea nocuit quam

4 ante profuerat. Si rectam illam rigidi iudicis senten- tiam quaeris, alterum ab altero absolvet et dicet: “ Quamvis iniuriae praeponderent, tamen beneficiis donetur, quod ex iniuria superest.”” Plus nocuit; sed prius® profuit. Itaque habeatur et temporis ratio,

5 Iam illa manifestiora sunt, quam ut admoneri debeas quaerendum esse, quam libenter profuerit, quam invitus nocuerit, quoniam animo et beneficia et

iniuriae constant. “ Nolui beneficium dare; victus

1 decoctor Muretus, ‘from an old MS.” ; coctor, coactor, tortor, various hands of VPb.

2 is qui later MSS. ; id quod VPb.

3 prius Pincianus ; pius or plus MSS.

@ See De Ben. i. 1. 9 f. non est autem quod tardiores faciat ad bene merendum turba ingratorum.

220

EPISTLE LXXXI.

a hand when he confers benefits that he is not frequently deceived ; it is well for the traveller to wander, that he may again cleave to the path. After a shipwreck, sailors try the sea again. ‘The banker is not frightened away from the forum by the swindler. If one were compelled to drop every- thing that caused trouble, life would soon grow dull amid sluggish idleness; but in your case this very condition may prompt you to become more charitable. For when the outcome of any undertaking is unsure, you must try again and again, in order to succeed ultimately. I have, however, discussed the matter with sufficient fulness in the volumes which I have written, entitled “ On Benefits.” @

What I think should rather be investigated is this,—a question which I feel has not been made sufficiently clear: “ Whether he who has helped us has squared the account and has freed us from our debt, if he has done us harm later.”” You may add this question also, if you like: “when the harm done later has been more than the help rendered previously.” If you are seeking for the formal and just decision of a strict judge, you will find that he checks off one act by the other, and declares: “Though the injuries outweigh the benefits, yet we should credit to the benefits anything that stands over even after the injury.” The harm done was indeed greater, but the helpful act was done first. Hence the time also should be taken into account. Other cases are so clear that I need not remind you that you should also look into such points as: How gladly was the help offered, and how reluctantly was the harm done,—since benefits, as well as in- juries, depend on the spirit. “I did not wish to confer the benefit; but I was won over by my

221

6

8

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

sum aut verecundia aut instantis pertinacia aut spe.” Ko animo quidque debetur, quo datur, nec quantum sit, sed a quali profectum voluntate, perpenditur. Nunc coniectura tollatur; et illud beneficium fuit et hoe, quod modum beneficii prioris excessit, iniuria est. Vir bonus utrosque calculos sic ponit, ut se ipse circumscribat ; beneficio adicit, iniuriae demit.

Alter ille remissior iudex, quem esse me malo, iniuriae oblivisci iubebit,! officii meminisse. ‘ Hoc certe,’ inquis,? “iustitiae convenit, suum cuique reddere, beneficio gratiam, iniuriae talionem aut certe malam gratiam.” Verum erit istud, cum alius iniuriam fecerit, alius beneficium dederit; nam si idem est, beneficio vis iniuriae extinguitur. Nam cui, etiam si merita non antecessissent, oportebat ignosci, post beneficia laedenti plus quam venia debe- tur. Non pono utrique par pretium. Pluris aestimo beneficium quam iniuriam. Non omnes grati sciunt debere beneficium ; potest etiam inprudens et rudis et unus e turba, utique dum prope est ab accepto; ignorat autem, quantum pro eo debeat. Uni sapienti notum est, quanti res quaeque taxanda sit. Nam

1 jubebit Gertz ; debebit VPb. 2 inquis later MSS. ; ingquam VPb.

# Calculi were counters, spread out on the abacus, or counting-board ; they ran in columns, by millions, hundred thousands, etc.

» Talio (from talis, *‘ just so much ”) is the old Roman law of ‘‘eye for eye and tooth for tooth.” As law became less crude, it gave way to fines.

222

EPISTLE LXXXI.

respect for the man, or by the importunity of his request, or by hope.” Our feeling about every obligation depends in each case upon the spirit in which the benefit is conferred; we weigh not the bulk of the gift, but the quality of the good-will which prompted it. So now let us do away with guess-work ; the former deed was a benefit, and the latter, which transcended the earlier benefit, is an injury. The good man so arranges the two sides of his ledger® that he voluntarily cheats himself by adding to the benefit and subtracting from the injury.

The more indulgent magistrate, however (and I should rather be such a one), will order us to forget the injury and remember the accommodation. “ But surely,” you say, “it is the part of justice to render to each that which is his due,—thanks in return for a benefit, and retribution,? or at any rate ill-will, in return for an injury!” This, I say, will be true when it is one man who has inflicted the injury, and a different man who has conferred the benefit ; for if it is the same man, the force of the injury is nullified by the benefit conferred. Indeed, a man who ought to be pardoned, even though there were no good deeds credited to him in the past, should receive something more than mere leniency if he commits a wrong when he has a benefit to his credit. I do not set an equal value on benefits and injuries. I reckon a benefit at a higher rate than an injury. Not all grateful persons know what it involves to be in debt for a benefit; even a thoughtless, crude fellow, one of the common herd, may know, especially soon after he has received the gift; but he does not know how deeply he stands in debt therefor. Only the wise man knows exactly what value should be put

223

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

ille, de quo loquebar modo, stultus etiam si bonae voluntatis est, aut minus quam debet aut alio quam debet tempore! aut quo non debet loco reddit. Id

9 quod referendum est, effundit atque abicit. Mira in

quibusdam rebus verborum proprietas est et con- suetudo sermonis antiqui quaedam efficacissimis et officia docentibus notis signat. Sic certe solemus loqui: “ille illi gratiam rettulit.’”’ Referre est ultro, quod debeas, adferre. Non dicimus “ gratiam red- didit,’ reddunt enim et qui reposcuntur et qui in- viti et qui ubilibet et qui per alium. Non dicimus “yeposuit beneficium”’ aut “solvit’”’; nullum nobis

10 placuit, quod aeri alieno convenit, verbum. Referre

1

est ad eum, a quo acceperis, rem ferre. Haec vox significat voluntariam relationem; qui rettulit, ipse se appellavit.

Sapiens omnia examinabit secum: quantum ac- ceperit, a quo, quando, ubi, quemadmodum. Itaque negamus quemquam scire gratiam referre nisi sapien- tem; non magis quam beneficium dare quisquam scit nisi sapiens, hic scilicet, qui magis dato gaudet quam alius accepto. Hoc aliquis inter illa numerat, quae

1 aut alio quam debet tempore Buecheler ; aut tempore MSS.

« This ‘‘long-established terminology” applies to the verborum proprietas of philosophic diction, with especial reference to 7a kxa@jxovra, the appropriate duties of the philosopher and the seeker after wisdom. Thus, Bg is distinguished from reddere, reponere, solvere, and other financial terms.

> 2.¢., the Stoics.

224

EPISTLE LXXXI.

upon everything; for the fool whom I just men- tioned, no matter how good his intentions may be, either pays less than he owes, or pays it at the wrong time or the wrong place. That for which he should make return he wastes and loses. There isa marvellously accurate phraseology applied to certain subjects,t a long-established terminology which indicates certain acts by means of symbols that are most efficient and that serve to outline men’s duties. We are, as you know, wont to speak thus: “ A. has made a return for the favour bestowed by B.” Making a return means handing over of your own accord that which you owe. We do not say, “He has paid back the favour”’; for “pay back” is used of a man upon whom a demand for payment is made, of those who pay against their will, of those who pay under any circumstances whatsoever, and of those who pay through a third party. We do not say, “ He has ‘restored’ the benefit,” or ‘settled’ it; we have never been satisfied with a word which applies properly to a debt of money. Making a return means offering something to him from whom you have received something. The phrase implies a voluntary return; he who has made such a return has served the writ upon himself.

The wise man will inquire in his own mind into all the circumstances: how much he has received, from whom, when, where, how. And so we? declare that none but the wise man knows how to make return for a favour; moreover, none but the wise man knows how to confer a benefit,—that man, I mean, who enjoys the giving more than the recipient enjoys the receiving. Now some person will reckon this remark as one of the generally surprising state-

225

15

16

17

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

infusae, quod opportune dati mille denarii. Multum enim interest, donaveris an succurreris, servaverit illum tua liberalitas an instruxerit. Saepe quod datur, exiguum est, quod sequitur ex eo, magnum. Quantum autem existimas interesse, utrum aliquis quod derat a se,! quod praestabat, sumpserit an beneficium acceperit ut daret?

Sed ne in eadem, quae satis scrutati sumus, re- volvamur. In hae conparatione beneficii et iniuriae vir bonus iudicabit quidem quod erit aequissimum, sed beneficio favebit; in hance erit partem proclivior. Plurimum autem momenti persona solet adferre in rebus eiusmodi: “ Dedisti mihi beneficium in servo, iniuriam fecisti in patre. Servasti mihi filium, sed patrem 2 abstulisti.’” Alia deinceps, per quae procedit omnis conlatio, prosequetur et, si pusillum erit, quod intersit, dissimulabit. Etiam si multum fuerit, sed si id donari salva pietate ac fide poterit, remittet; id est, si ad ipsum tota pertinebit iniuria. Summa rei haec est: facilis erit in conmutando. Patietur plus inputari sibi. Invitus beneficium per conpensationem iniuriae solvet. In hance partem inclinabit, hue verget, ut cupiat debere gratiam, cupiat referre.

1 derat a se Haase; derata sed VP; dederat sed b; daret,

@ se, quod praesto erat Madvig. 2 patrem edd. ; patri Vb; patia P.

228

EPISTLE LXXXI.

thousand denaru given at the right time. Now it makes a great deal of difference whether you give outright, or come to a man’s assistance, whether your generosity saves him, or sets him up in life. Often the gift is small, but the consequences great. And what a distinction do you imagine there is between taking something which one lacks,—some- thing which was offered,— and receiving a benefit in order to confer one in return?

But we should not slip back into the subject which we have already sufficiently investigated. In this balancing of benefits and injuries, the good man will, to be sure, judge with the highest degree of fairness, but he will incline towards the side of the benefit ; he wiil turn more readily in this direction. Moreover, in affairs of this kind the person concerned is wont to count for a great deal. Men say: “ You conferred a benefit upon me in that matter of the slave, but you did me an injury in the case of my father”; or, “ You saved my son, but robbed me of a father.” Similarly, he will follow up all other matters in which comparisons can be made, and if the difference be very slight, he will pretend not to notice it. Even though the difference be great, yet if the concession can be made without impairment of duty and loyalty, our good man will overlook it— that is, provided the injury exclusively affects the good man himself. To sum up, the matter stands thus: the good man will be easy-going in striking a balance; he will allow too much to be set against his credit. He will be unwilling to pay a benefit by balancing the injury against it. The side towards which he will lean, the tendency which he will exhibit, is the desire to be under obligations for the favour, and the desire to make return therefor. For

229

15

16

17

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

infusae, quod opportune dati mille denarii. Multum enim interest, donaveris an succurreris, servaverit illum tua liberalitas an instruxerit. Saepe quod datur, exiguum est, quod sequitur ex eo, magnum. Quantum autem existimas interesse, utrum aliquis quod derat a se,! quod praestabat, sumpserit an beneficium acceperit ut daret ?

Sed ne in eadem, quae satis scrutati sumus, re- volvamur. In hae conparatione beneficii et iniuriae vir bonus iudicabit quidem quod erit aequissimum, sed beneficio favebit; in hane erit partem proclivior. Plurimum autem momenti persona solet adferre in rebus eiusmodi: “ Dedisti mihi beneficium in servo, iniuriam fecisti in patre. Servasti mihi filium, sed patrem 2 abstulisti.” Alia deinceps, per quae procedit omnis conlatio, prosequetur et, si pusillum erit, quod intersit, dissimulabit. Etiam si multum fuerit, sed si id donari salva pietate ac fide poterit, remittet ; id est, si ad ipsum tota pertinebit iniuria. Summa rei haec est: facilis erit in conmutando. Patietur plus inputari sibi. Invitus beneficium per conpensationem injuriae solvet. In hane partem inclinabit, hue verget, ut cupiat debere gratiam, cupiat referre.

1 derat a se Haase; derata sed VP; dederat sed b; daret,

a@ se, quod praesto erat Madvig. 2 patrem edd. ; patri Vb; patia P,

228

EPISTLE LXXXI.

thousand denarw given at the right time. Now it makes a great deal of difference whether you give outright, or come to a man’s assistance, whether your generosity saves him, or sets him up in life. Often the gift is small, but the consequences great. And what a distinction do you imagine there is between taking something which one lacks,—some- thing which was offered,— and receiving a benefit in order to confer one in return?

But we should not slip back into the subject which we have already sufficiently investigated. In this balancing of benefits and injuries, the good man will, to be sure, judge with the highest degree of fairness, but he will incline towards the side of the benefit ; he will turn more readily in this direction. Moreover, in affairs of this kind the person concerned is wont to count for a great deal. Men say: “ You conferred a benefit upon me in that matter of the slave, but you did me an injury in the case of my father” ; or, “ You saved my son, but robbed me of a father.” Similarly, he will follow up all other matters in which comparisons can be made, and if the difference be very slight, he will pretend not to notice it. Even though the difference be great, yet if the concession can be made without impairment of duty and loyalty, our good man will overlook it— that is, provided the injury exclusively affects the good man himself. To sum up, the matter stands thus: the good man will be easy-going in striking a balance; he will allow too much to be set against his credit. He will be unwilling to pay a benefit by balancing the injury against it. The side towards which he will lean, the tendency which he will exhibit, is the desire to be under obligations for the favour, and the desire to make return therefor. For

229

18

19

20

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

Errat enim, si quis beneficium accipit libentius quam reddit. Quanto hilarior est, qui solvit quam qui mutuatur, tanto debet laetior esse, qui se maximo aere alieno accepti benefici exonerat, quam qui cum maxime obligatur. Nam in hoe quoque falluntur ingrati, quod creditori quidem praeter sortem extra ordinem numerant, beneficiorum autem usum esse gratuitum putant. Et illa crescunt mora tantoque plus solvendum est, quanto tardius. Ingratus est, qui beneficium reddit sine usura. Itaque huius quo- que rei habebitur ratio, cum conferentur accepta et expensa. Omnia facienda sunt, ut quam gratissimi simus.

Nostrum enim hoe bonum est, quemadmodum iustitia non est, ut vulgo creditur, ad alios pertinens ; magna pars eius in se redit. Nemo non, cum alteri prodest, sibi profuit, non eo nomine dico, quod volet adiuvare adiutus, protegere defensus, quod bonum exemplum circuitu ad facientem revertitur, sicut mala exempla recidunt in auctores nec ulla miseratio contingit iis, qui patiuntur iniurias, quas posse fieri faciendo docuerunt, sed quod virtutum omnium pretium in ipsis est. Non enim exercentur ad prae- mium; recte facti fecisse merces est. Gratus sum, non ut alius mihi libentius praestet priore inritatus

« Literally, ‘‘ more than the capital and in addition to the rate of interest.”

» Beneficence is a subdivision of the second cardinal

virtue of the Stoics, Justice. Cicero discusses this topic at length in De Off. i. 42 ff.

230

EPISTLE LXXXI.

anyone who receives a benefit more gladly than he repays it is mistaken. By as much as he who pays is more light-hearted than he who borrows, by so much ought he to be more joyful who unburdens himself of the greatest debt—a benefit received— than he who incurs the greatest obligations. For ungrateful men make mistakes in this respect also: they have to pay their creditors both capital and interest,* but they think that benefits are currency which they can use without interest. So the debts grow through postponement, and the later the action is postponed the more remains to be paid. A man is an ingrate if he repays a favour without interest. Therefore, interest also should be allowed for, when you compare your receipts and your expenses. We should try by all means to be as grateful as possible. For gratitude is a good thing for ourselves, in a sense in which justice, that is commonly supposed to concern other persons, is not; gratitude returns in large measure unto itself. There is not a man who, when he has benefited his neighbour, has not benefited himself,—I do not mean for the reason that he whom you have aided will desire to aid you, or that he whom you have defended will desire to protect you, or that an example of good conduct returns in a circle to benefit the doer, just as examples of bad conduct recoil upon their authors, and as men find no pity if they suffer wrongs which they themselves have demonstrated the possibility of committing ; but that the reward for all the virtues lies in the virtues themselves. For they are not practised with a view to recompense; the wages of a good deed is to have done it.2 I am grateful, not in order that my neighbour, provoked by the earlier act of kind- ness, may be more ready to benefit me, but simply 231

21

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA exemplo, sed ut rem iucundissimam ac pulcherrimam faciam; gratus sum, non quia expedit, sed quia iuvat. Hoc ut scias ita esse, si gratum esse non licebit, nisi ut videar ingratus, si reddere beneficium non aliter quam per speciem iniuriae potero, aequissimo animo ad honestum consilium per mediam infamiam tendam. Nemo mihi videtur pluris aestimare virtutem, nemo illi magis esse devotus quam qui boni viri famam perdidit, ne conscientiam perderet. Itaque, ut dixi, maiori tuo quam alterius bono gratus es. Illi enim vulgaris et cottidiana res contigit, recipere, quod dederat, tibi magna et ex beatissimo animi statu profecta, gratum fuisse. Nam si malitia miseros facit, virtus beatos, gratum autem esse virtus est, rem usitatam reddidisti, inaestimabilem consecutus es, conscientiam grati, quae nisi in eee divinum fortunatumque non pervenit. Contrarium autem huie adfectum summa infelicitas urget ; nemo si ingratus est, miser erit. Non differo illum, statim miser est.

Itaque ingrati esse vitemus, non aliena causa, sed nostra. Minimum ex nequitia levissimumque ad alios redundat. Quod pessimum ex illa est et, ut ita dicam,

232

EPISTLE LXXXI.

in order that I may perform a most pleasant and beautiful act ; I feel grateful, not because it profits me, but because it pleases me. And, to prove the truth of this to you, I declare that even if I may not be grateful without seeming ungrateful, even if I am able to return a benefit only by an act which resembles an injury; even so, I shall strive in the utmost calmness of spirit toward the purpose which honour demands, in the very midst of disgrace. No one, I think, rates virtue higher or is more con- secrated to virtue than he who has lost his reputa- tion for being a good man in order to keep from losing the approval of his conscience. Thus, as I have said, your being grateful is more conducive to your own good than to your neighbour’s good. For while your neighbour has had a common, everyday experience,—namely, receiving back the gift which he had bestowed,—you have had a great experience which is the outcome of an utterly happy condition of soul,—to have felt gratitude. For if wickedness makes men unhappy and virtue makes men blest, and if it is a virtue to be grateful, then the return which you have made is only the customary thing, but the thing to which you have attained is price- less,—the consciousness of gratitude, which comes only to the soul that is divine and blessed. The opposite feeling to this, however, is immediately attended by the greatest unhappiness; no man, if he be ungrateful, will be unhappy in the future. I allow him no day of grace; he is unhappy forthwith.

Let us therefore avoid being ungrateful, not for the sake of others, but for our own sakes. When we do wrong, only the least and lightest portion of it flows back upon our neighbour; the worst and, if

233

23

24

25

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

spississimum, domi remanet et premit habentem, quemadmodum Attalus noster dicere solebat : “ mali- tia ipsa maximam partem veneni sui bibit.” Illud venenum, quod serpentes in alienam perniciem pro- ferunt, sine sua continent, non est huic simile; hoc habentibus pessimum est. Torquet ingratus se et macerat ; odit, quae accepit, quia redditurus est, et ex- tenuat, iniurias vero dilatat atque auget. Quid autem eo miserius, cui beneficia excidunt haerent iniuriae ?

At contra sapientia exornat omne beneficium ac sibi ipsa commendat et se adsidua eius commemora- tione delectat. Malis una voluptas est et haec brevis, dum accipiunt beneficia, ex quibus sapienti longum gaudium manet ac perenne. Non enim illum ac- cipere, sed accepisse delectat, quod inmortale est et adsiduum. Illa contemnit, quibus laesus est, nec obliviscitur per neglegentiam, sed volens. Non vertit omnia in peius nec quaerit, cui inputet casum, et peccata hominum ad fortunam potius refert. Non calumniatur verba nec vultus; quicquid accidit, be- nigne interpretando levat. Non offensae potius quam officii meminit. Quantum potest, in priore ac meliore se memoria detinet nec mutat animum adversus bene

@ Perhaps a figure from the vintage. [For the same metaphor, though in a different connexion, see Lp. i. 5, and Ep. cviii. 26: quemudmodum ex amphora primum, quod est sincerissimum, effiuit, gravissimum quodque turbi- dumque subsidit, sic in aetate nostra quod est optimum, in primo est.

> Of. § 6: ‘*The good man so arranges the two sides of his ledger that he voluntarily cheats himself by adding to the benefit and subtracting from the injury.” Cf also § 17: **The good man will be easy-going in striking a balance ; he will allow too much to be set against his credit.”

234

EPISTLE LXXXI.

I may use the term, the densest portion of it stays at home and troubles the owner.* My master Attalus used to say: “ Evil herself drinks the largest portion of her own poison.” The poison which serpents carry for the destruction of others, and secrete without harm to themselves, is not like this poison ; for this sort is ruinous to the possessor. The ungrateful man tortures and torments himself; he hates the gifts which he has accepted, because he must make a return for them, and he tries to belittle their value, but he really enlarges and exaggerates the injuries which he has received. And what is more wretched than a man who forgets his benefits and clings to his injuries?

Wisdom, on the other hand, lends grace to every benefit, and of her own free will commends it to her own favour, and delights her soul by continued recollection thereof. Evil men have but one pleasure in benefits, and a very short-lived pleasure at that ; it lasts only while they are receiving them. But the wise man derives therefrom an abiding and eternal joy. For he takes delight not so much in receiving the gift as in having received it; and this joy never perishes ; it abides with him always. He despises the wrongs done him; he forgets them, not accidentally, but voluntarily. He does not put a wrong construction upon everything, or seek for someone whom he may hold responsible for each happening ; he rather ascribes even the sins of men to chance. He will not misinterpret a word or a look ; he makes light of all mishaps by interpreting them in a generous way.? He does not remember an injury rather thana service. As far as possible, he lets his memory rest upon the earlier and the better deed, never changing his attitude towards those who have

235

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

meritos, nisi multum male facta praecedunt et mani- festum etiam coniventi! discrimen est; tune quoque in hoc dumtaxat, ut talis sit post maiorem iniuriam qualis ante beneficium. Nam cum beneficio par est iniuria, aliquid in animo benivolentiae remanet.

26 Quemadmodum reus sententiis paribus absolvitur et semper quicquid dubium est humanitas inclinat in melius, sic animus? sapientis, ubi paria maleficiis merita sunt, desinet quidem debere, sed non desinit velle debere et hoc facit, quod qui post tabulas novas solvunt.

27 Nemo autem gratus esse potest, nisi contempsit ista, propter quae vulgus insanit; si referre vis gratiam, et in exilium eundum est et effundendus sanguis et suscipienda egestas et ipsa innocentia saepe maculanda indignisque obicienda rumoribus.

28 Non parvo sibi constat homo gratus. Nihil carius aestimamus quam beneficium, quamdiu petimus, nihil vilius, cum accepimus. Quaeris quid sit, quod ob- livionem nobis acceptorum faciat? Cupiditas acci- piendorum. Cogitamus non quid inpetratum, sed quid petendum sit. Abstrahunt a recto divitiae, honores, potentia et cetera, quae opinione nostra cara

29 sunt, pretio suo vilia. Nescimus aestimare res, de

1 conniventi later MSS. ; contuenti VPb. 2 animus later MSS. ; animo VPb.

@ When by law or special enactment novae tabellae were granted to special classes of debtors, their debts, as in our bankruptcy courts, were cancelled.

> Cf. Ep. xxxi. 6 quid ergo est bonum ? rerum scientia.

236

EPISTLE LXXXI.

deserved well of him, except in cases where the bad deeds far outdistance the good, and the space between them is obvious even to one who closes his eyes to it; even then only to this extent, that he strives, after receiving the preponderant injury, to resume the attitude which he held before he received the benefit. For when the injury merely equals the benefit, a certain amount of kindly feeling is left over. Just as a defendant is acquitted when the votes are equal, and just as the spirit of kindliness always tries to bend every doubtful case toward the better interpretation, so the mind of the wise man, when another’s merits merely equal his bad deeds, will, to be sure, cease to feel an obligation, but does not cease to desire to feel it, and acts precisely like the man who pays his debts even after they have been legally cancelled.¢

But no man can be grateful unless he has learned to scorn the things which drive the common herd to distraction ; if you wish to make return for a favour, you must be willing to go into exile, or to pour forth your blood, or to undergo poverty, or,—and this will frequently happen,—even to let your very innocence be stained and exposed to shameful slanders. It is no slight price that a man must pay for being grate- ful. We hold nothing dearer than a benefit, so long as we are seeking one; we hold nothing cheaper after we have received it. Do you ask what it is that makes us forget benefits received? It is our extreme greed for receiving others. We consider not what we have obtained, but what we are to seek. We are deflected from the right course by riches, titles, power, and everything which is valuable in our opinion but worthless when rated at its real value. We do not know how to weigh matters? ;

237

30

31

32

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

quibus non cum fama, sed cum rerum natura de- liberandum est; nihil habent ista magnificum, quo mentes in se nostras trahant, praeter hoc, quod mirari illa consuevimus. Non enim, quia concupiscenda sunt, laudantur, sed concupiscuntur, quia laudata sunt, et cum singulorum error publicum fecerit, singulorum errorem facit publicus.

Sed quemadmodum illa credidimus, sic et hoc eidem populo credamus, nihil esse grato animo honestius. Omnes hoc urbes, omnes etiam ex bar- baris regionibus gentes conclamabunt. In hoc bonis malisque conveniet. Erunt qui voluptates laudent, erunt qui labores malint ; erunt qui dolorem maxi- mum malum dicant, erunt qui ne malum quidem appellent; divitias aliquis ad summum bonum ad- mittet, alius illas dicet malo vitae humanae repertas, nihil esse eo locupletius, cui quod donet fortuna non invenit. In tanta iudiciorum diversitate referendam bene merentibus gratiam omnes tibi uno, quod aiunt, ore adfirmabunt. In hoe tam discors turba consen- tiet; cum interim iniurias pro beneficiis reddimus, et prima causa est, cur quis ingratus sit, si satis gratus esse non potuit. Eo perductus est furor, ut periculosissima res sit beneficia in aliquem magna conferre; nam quia putat turpe non reddere, non

vult esse, cui reddat. Tibi habe, quod accepisti;

238

EPISTLE LXXXI.

we should take counsel regarding them, not with their reputation but with their nature; those things possess no grandeur wherewith to enthral our minds, except the fact that we have become accustomed to marvel at them. For they are not praised because they ought to be desired, but they are desired because they have been praised ; and when the error of individuals has once created error on the part of the public, then the public error goes on creating error on the part of individuals.

But just as we take on faith such estimates of values, so let us take on the faith of the people this truth, that nothing is more honourable than a grate- ful heart. This phrase will be echoed by all cities, and by all races, even those from savage countries. Upon this point good and bad will agree. Some praise pleasure, some prefer toil; some say that pain is the greatest of evils, some say it is no evil at al]; some will include riches in the Supreme Good, others will say that their discovery meant harm to the human race, and that none is richer than he to whom Fortune has found nothing to give. Amid all this diversity of opinion all men will yet with one voice, as the saying is, vote “aye” to the proposition that thanks should be returned to those who have deserved well of us. On this question the common herd, rebellious as they are, will all agree, but at present we keep paying back injuries instead of benefits, and the primary reason why a man is ungrateful is that he has found it impossible to be grateful enough. Our madness has gone to such lengths that it is a very dangerous thing to confer great benefits upon a person; for just because he thinks it shameful not to repay, so he would have none left alive whom he should repay. ‘‘ Keep for yourself what you

239

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

non repeto, non exigo. Profuisse tutum sit. Nullum est odium perniciosius quam e beneficii violati pudore. VALE,

LXXXII.

Seneca LyciLio svo SALVTEM

1 Desii iam de te esse sollicitus. “Quem,” inquis, “deorum sponsorem accepisti?” Kum scilicet, qui neminem fallit, animum recti ac boni amatorem. In tuto pars tui melior est. Potest fortuna tibi iniuriam facere ; quod ad rem magis pertinet, non timeo, ne tu facias tibi. I, qua ire coepisti et in isto te vitae

2habitu conpone placide, non molliter. Male mihi esse malo quam molliter; male! nunc sic excipe, quemadmodum a populo solet dici: dure, aspere, laboriose. Audire solemus sic quorundam vitam laudari, quibus invidetur: “molliter vivit”; hoe dicunt: “mollis est.” Paulatim enim effeminatur animus atque in similitudinem otii sui et pigritiae, in qua iacet, solvitur. Quid ergo? Viro non vel obrigescere satius est? Deinde idem delicati timent,? cui vitam suam fecere similem. Multum interest

1 male added by Muretus. 2 morti after timent deleted by Madvig.

4 The words are put into the mouth of an imaginary benefactor who fears for his own life.

> Of. Tac. Agric. 42 proprium humani ingenii est odisse quem laeseris.

¢ One who incurs liability by taking upon himself the debt of another. It is part of the process known as inter- cessio. # Rather than moliis.

240

EPISTLES LXXXI., LXXXII.

have received; I do not ask it back; I do not demand it. Let it be safe to have conferred a favour.’ * There is no worse hatred than that which springs from shame at the desecration of a benefit. ? Farewell.

LXXXII. ON THE NATURAL FEAR OF

LXXXII. ON THE NATURAL FEAR OF DEATH

I have already ceased to be anxious about you. “Whom then of the gods,’ you ask, “have you found as your voucher?’’¢ A god, let me tell you, who deceives no one,—a soul in love with that which is upright and good. The better part of yourself is on safe ground. Fortune can inflict injury upon you; what is more pertinent is that~I have no fears lest you do injury to yourself. Proceed as you have begun, and settle yourself in this way of living, not luxuriously, but calmly. I prefer to be in trouble rather than in luxury; and you had better interpret the term “in trouble” as popular usage is wont to interpret it: living a “hard,” “rough,” “toilsome” life. We are wont to hear the lives of certain men praised as follows, when they are objects of unpopularity: “‘So-and-So lives luxuriously”; but by this they mean: “ He is softened by luxury.” For the soul is made womanish by degrees, and is weakened until it matches the ease and laziness in which it lies. Lo, is it not better for one who is really a man even to become hardened 4? Next, these same dandies fear that which they have made their own lives resemble. Much difference is there between

241

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

3inter otium et conditivum. “Quid ergo?” inquis, “non satius est vel sic iacere quam in istis officiorum verticibus volutari?” Utraque res detestabilis est, et contractio et torpor. Puto, aeque qui in odoribus iacet, mortuus est quam qui rapitur unco.

Otium sine litteris mors est et hominis vivi 4sepultura. Quid deinde prodest secessisse? Tam- quam non trans maria nos sollicitudinum causae persequantur! Quae latebra est, in quam non intret metus mortis? Quae tam emunita et in altum subducta vitae quies, quam non dolor territet? Quacumque te abdideris, mala humana circumstre- pent. Multa extra sunt, quae circumeunt nos, quo aut! fallant aut urgeant, multa intus, quae in media solitudine exaestaant.

5 — Philosophia circumdanda est, inexpugnabilis murus, quem fortuna multis machinis lacessitum non transit. In insuperabili loco stat animus, qui externa deseruit, et arce se sua vindicat; infra illum omne telum cadit. Non habet, ut putamus, fortuna longas manus ; nemi-

6 nem occupat nisi haerentem sibi. Itaque quantum possumus, ab illa resiliamus ; quod sola praestabit sui naturaeque cognitio.? Sciat, quo iturus sit, unde ortus, quod illi bonum, quod malum sit, quid petat, quid evitet, quae sit illa ratio, quae adpetenda ac

1 guo aut later MSS. ; quae aut VPb. 2 cognitio later MSS. ; conditio Vb; condicio p.

*@ Conditivwm (more frequently and properly conditorium) is a grim jest. The word is mostly found in an adjectival sense applying to fruits and grain stored for later use.

» Compare Arnold’s nineteenth-century definition of culture.

242

EPISTLE LXXXII.

lying idle and lying buried*! “ But,” you say, “is it not better even to lie idle than to whirl round in these eddies of business distraction?” Both extremes are to be deprecated—both tension and sluggishness. I hold that he who lies on a perfumed couch is no less dead than he who is dragged along by the executioner’s hook.

Leisure without study is death; it is a tomb for the living man. What then is the advantage of retirement? As if the real causes of our anxieties did not follow us across the seas! What hiding- place is there, where the fear of death does not enter? What peaceful haunts are there, so fortified and so far withdrawn that pain does not fill them with fear? Wherever you hide yourself, human ills will make an uproar all around. There are many external things which compass us about, to deceive us or to weigh upon us; there are many things within which, even amid solitude, fret and ferment.

Therefore, gird yourself about with philosophy, - an impregnable wall. Though it be assaulted by many engines, Fortune can find no passage into it. The soul stands on unassailable ground, if it has abandoned external things; it is independent in its own fortress; and every weapon that is hurled falls short of the mark. Fortune has not the long reach with which we credit her; she can seize none ex- cept him that clings to her. Let us then recoil from her as far as we are able. This will be possible for us only through knowledge of self and of the world ? of Nature. The soul should know whither it is going and whence it came, what is good for it and what is evil, what it seeks and what it avoids, and what is that Reason which distinguishes between the desirable and the undesirable, and thereby tames

243

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

fugienda discernat, qua cupiditatum mansuescit insania, timorum saevitia conpescitur.

7 ~~ Haec quidam! putant ipsos etiam sine philosophia repressisse. Sed, cum securos aliquis casus expertus est, exprimitur sera confessio. Magna verba ex- cidunt, cum tortor poposcit manum, cum mors pro- pius? accessit. Possis illi dicere: facile provocabas mala absentia; ecce dolor, quem tolerabilem esse dicebas, ecce mors, quam contra multa animose

locutus es; sonant flagella, gladius micat : Nunc animis opus, Aenea, nunc pectore firmo.

8 Faciet autem illud firmum adsidua meditatio, si non verba exercueris, sed animum, si contra mortem te praeparaveris, adversus quam non exhortabitur nec adtollet, qui cavillationibus tibi persuadere tempta- verit mortem malum non esse. Libet enim, Lucili virorum optime, ridere ineptias Graecas, quas nondum,

9 quamvis mirer, excussi. Zenon noster hac collectione utitur: “nullum malum gloriosum est; mors autem gloriosa est ; mors ergo non est malum.” Profecisti ; liberatus sum metu; post hoc non dubitabo porrigere eervicem. Non vis severius loqui nec morituro risum

1 guidam later MSS. ; quidem VPb. 2 propius later MSS. ; potius VPb.

@ Vergil, Aeneid, vi. 261. > Frag. 196 von Arnim.

244.

EPISTLE LXXXII.

the madness of our desires and calms the violence of our fears.

Some men flatter themselves that they have checked these evils by themselves even without the aid of philosophy; but when some accident catches them off their guard, a tardy confession of error is wrung from them. Their boastful words perish from their lips when the torturer commands them to stretch forth their hands, and when death draws nearer! You might say tosucha man: “ It was easy for you to challenge evils that were not near-by ; but here comes pain, which you declared you could endure; here comes death, against which you uttered many a courageous boast! The whip cracks, the sword flashes :

Ah now, Aeneas, thou must needs be stout And strong of heart !”*4

This strength of heart, however, will come from con- stant study, provided that you practise, not with the tongue but with the soul, and provided that you pre- pare yourself to meet death. To enable yourself to meet death, you may expect no encouragement or cheer from those who try to make you believe, by means of their hair-splitting logic, that death is no evil. For I take pleasure, excellent Lucilius, in poking fun at the absurdities of the Greeks, of which, to my continual surprise, I have not yet succeeded in ridding myself. Our master Zeno? uses a syllogism like this: “ No evil is glorious ; but death is glorious ; therefore death is no evil.’ A cure, Zeno! I have been freed from fear; henceforth I shall not hesitate to bare my neck on the scaffold. Will you not utter sterner words instead of rousing a dying man to laughter? Indeed, Lucilius, I could

245

10

11

12

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

movere? Non mehercules facile tibi dixerim, utrum ineptior fuerit, qui se hac interrogatione iudicavit mortis metum extinguere, an qui hoc, tamquam ad rem pertineret, conatus est solvere. Nam et ipse interrogationem contrariam opposuit ex eo natam, quod mortem inter indifferentia ponimus, quae aduapopa Graeci vocant. “ Nihil,” inquit, “ indifferens gloriosum est; mors autem gloriosum est; ergo mors non est indifferens.” Haec interrogatio vides ubi obrepat: mors non est gloriosa, sed fortiter mori gloriosum est. Et cum dicis: “indifferens nihil gloriosum est,” concedo tibi ita, ut dicam_ nihil gloriosum esse nisi circa indifferentia. Tamquam indifferentia esse dico, id est nec bona nec mala, morbum, dolorem, paupertatem, exilium, mortem. Nihil horum per se gloriosum est, nihil tamen sine his. Laudatur enim non paupertas, sed ille, quem paupertas! non summittit nec? incurvat. Laudatur non exilium, sed ille qui in exilium ivit tanquam 3 misisset. Laudatur non dolor, sed ille, quem nihil coegit dolor. Nemo mortem laudat, sed eum, cuius mors ante abstulit animum quam conturbavit. Omnia ista per se non sunt honesta nec gloriosa, sed quic- quid ex illis virtus adiit tractavitque,; honestum et gloriosum facit ; illa in medio posita sunt; interest, utrum malitia illis an virtus manum admoverit. Mors enim illa, quae in Catone gloriosa est, in Bruto statim

1 Pb and V! omit sed . . . paupertas.

2 nec later MSS. ; sed VPb.

3 sed ille qui in ewilium ivit tanquam Madvig; ... wt

quam MSS.

@ Defined by the Greeks as ‘‘ things which have no direct

connexion either with happiness or with unhappiness.” See Cicero, De Finibus, iii. 50 ff.

> i.e., are ‘‘indifferent” (cf. § 14 indifferentia ac media dicuntur).

246

EPISTLE LXXXII.

not easily tell you whether he who thought that he was quenching the fear of death by setting up this syllogism was the more foolish, or he who attempted to refute it, just as if it had anything to do with the matter! For the refuter himself pro- posed a counter-syllogism, based upon the proposition that we regard death as “ indifferent,’—one of the things which the Greeks call adivigopu.* Nothing,” he says, “ that is indifferent can be glorious; death is glorious; therefore death is not indifferent.” You comprehend the tricky fallacy which is contained in this syllogism: mere death is, in fact, not glorious ; but a brave death is glorious. And when you say: ‘Nothing that is indifferent is glorious,’ I grant you this much, and declare that nothing is glorious - except as it deals with indifferent things. I classify as “indifferent,’--that is, neither good nor evil,— sickness, pain, poverty, exile, death. None of these things is intrinsically glorious; but nothing can be glorious apart from them. For it is not poverty that we praise, it is the man whom poverty cannot humble or bend. Nor is it exile that we praise, it is the man who withdraws into exile in the spirit in which he would have sent another into exile. It is not pain that we praise, it is the man whom pain has not coerced. One praises not death, but the man whose soul death takes away before it can confound it. All these things are in themselves neither honourable nor glorious ; but any one of them that virtue has visited and touched is made honourable and_ glorious by virtue; they merely lie in between,? and the decisive question is only whether wickedness or virtue has laid hold upon them. For instance, the death which in Cato’s case is glorious, is in the case

247

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

turpis est et erubescenda. Hic est enim Brutus, qui cum periturus mortis moras quaereret,ad exonerandum ventrem secessit et evocatus ad mortem iussusque praebere cervicem: “ praebebo,” inquit, “ ita vivam.” Quae dementia est fugere, cum retro ire non possis ? “Praebebo,” inquit, “ita vivam.” — Paene adiecit: “vel sub Antonio.” O hominem dignum, qui vitae dederetur !

13. Sed, ut coeperam dicere, vides ipsam mortem nec malum esse nec bonum; Cato illa honestissime usus est, turpissime Brutus. Omnis res quod non habuit decus, virtute addita sumit. Cubiculum lucidum

14 dicimus, hoc idem obscurissimum est nocte. Dies illi lucem infundit, nox eripit; sic istis, quae a nobis indifferentia ac media dicuntur, divitiis, viribus, for- mae, honoribus, regno et contra morti, exilio, malae valetudini, doloribus quaeque alia aut minus aut magis pertimuimus, aut malitia aut virtus dat boni vel mali nomen. Massa per se nec calida nec frigida est; in fornacem coniecta concaluit, in aquam demissa ! re- frixit. Mors honesta est per illud, quod honestum 2 est, id est virtus et animus extrema contemnens.

15 Est et horum, Lucili, quae appellamus media, grande discrimen. Non enim sic mors indifferens est, quomodo utrum capillos pares an inpares? habeas. Mors inter illa est, quae mala quidem non sunt, tamen habent mali speciem; sui amor est et

1 Haase; remissa VPb. 2 Later MSS.; honesta VPb. 5 an impares added by Koch.

* Presumably D. Junius Brutus, who finally incurred the enmity of both Octavian and Antony. He was ignominiously put to death by a Gaul while fleeing to join M. Brutus in Macedonia.

° media: a technical word in Stoic philosophy, meaning neither good nor bad.

248

EPISTLE LXXXII.

of Brutus ® forthwith base and disgraceful. For this Brutus, condemned to death, was trying to obtain postponement; he withdrew a moment in order to ease himself; when summoned to die and ordered to bare his throat, he exclaimed : “ I will bare my throat, if only I may live!’ What madness it is to run away, when it is impossible to turn back! “TI will bare my throat, if only I may live!’’ He came very near saying also: “even under Antony!” This fellow deserved indeed to be consigned to life!

But, as I was going on to remark, you see that death in itself is neither an evil nor a good; Cato experienced death most honourably, Brutus most basely. Everything, if you add virtue, assumes a glory which it did not possess before. We speak of a sunny room, even though the same room is pitch- dark at night. It is the day which fills it with light, and the night which steals the light away; thus it is with the things which we call indifferent and ‘ middle,®”’ like riches, strength, beauty, titles, king- ship, and their opposites, — death, exile, ill-health, pain, and all such evils, the fear of which upsets us to a greater or less extent; it is the wickedness or the virtue that bestows the name of good or evil. An object is not by its own essence either hot or cold ; it is heated when thrown into a furnace, and chilled when dropped into water. Death is honourable when related to that which is honourable; by this I mean virtue and a soul that despises the worst hardships.

Furthermore, there are vast distinctions among these qualities which we call “middle.” For ex- ample, death is not so indifferent as the question whether your hair should be worn evenly or unevenly. Death belongs among those things which are not in- deed evils, but still have in them a semblance of evil ;

249

16

17

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

permanendi conservandique se insita voluntas atque aspernatio dissolutionis, quia videtur multa nobis bona eripere et nos ex hac, cui adsuevimus, rerum copia educere. Illa quoque res morti nos alienat, quod haec iam novimus, illa, ad quae transituri sumus, nescimus, qualia sint, et horremus ignota. Naturalis praeterea tenebrarum metus est, in quas adductura mors creditur. Itaque etiam si indifferens mors est, non tamen ea est, quae facile neglegi possit. Magna exercitatione durandus est animus, ut conspectum eius accessumque patiatur.

Mors contemni debet magis quam solet. Multa enim de illa credidimus. Multorum ingeniis cer- tatum est ad augendam eius infamiam. Descriptus est carcer infernus et perpetua nocte oppressa regio, in qua

Ingens ianitor Orci Ossa super recubans antro semesa.cruento, Aeternum latrans exsangues terreat umbras. Etiam cum persuaseris istas fabulas esse nec quic- quam defunctis superesse, quod timeant, subit alius metus. Aeque enim timent, ne apud inferos sint, quam ne nusquam. His adversantibus, quae nobis offundit longa per-

suasio, fortiter pati mortem quidni gloriosum sit et

@ See Vergil, Aeneid, vi. 400 f. and viii. 296 f, 250

EPISTLE LXXXII.

for there are implanted in us love of self, a desire for existence and self-preservation, and also an abhorrence of dissolution, because death seems to rob us of many goods and to withdraw us from the abundance to

which we have become accustomed. And there is -

another element which estranges us from death: we are already familiar with the present, but are ignorant of the future into which we shall transfer ourselves, and we shrink from the unknown. Moreover, it is natural to fear the world of shades, whither death is supposed to lead. Therefore, although death is something indifferent, it is nevertheless not a thing which we can easily ignore. The soul must be hardened by long practice, so that it may learn to endure the sight and the approach of death.

Death ought to be despised more than it is wont to be despised. For we believe too many of the stories about death. Many thinkers have striven hard to increase its ill repute; they have portrayed the prison in the world below and the land over- whelmed by everlasting night, where

Within his blood-stained cave Hell’s warder huge Doth sprawl his ugly length on half-crunched bones, And terrifies the disembodied ghosts

With never-ceasing bark.

Even if you can win your point and prove that these are mere stories and that nothing is left for the dead to fear, another fear steals upon you. For the fear of going to the underworld is equalled by the fear of going nowhere.

In the face of these notions, which long-standing opinion has dinned in our ears, how can brave en- durance of death be anything else than glorious, and fit to rank among the greatest accomplishments of the

VOL. IT I 251

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

inter maxima opera mentis humanae? Quae num- quam ad virtutem exsurget, si mortem malum esse crediderit ; exsurget, si putabit indifferens esse. Non recipit rerum natura, ut aliquis magno animo accedat ad id, quod malum iudicat; pigre veniet et cunc- tanter. Non est autem gloriosum, quod ab invito et tergiversante fit; nihil facit virtus, quia necesse 18 est. Adice nunc, quod nihil honeste fit, nisi cui totus animus incubuit atque adfuit, cui nulla parte sui repugnavit. Ubi autem ad malum acceditur aut peiorum metu aut spe bonorum, ad quae pervenire tanti sit devorata unius mali patientia, dissident inter se iudicia facientis. Hine est, quod iubeat proposita perficere, illinc, quod retrahat et ab re suspecta ac periculosa fugiat. Igitur in diversa distrahitur; si hoc est, perit gloria. Virtus enim concordi animo

decreta peragit. Non timet, quod facit.

Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito Qua tua te fortuna sinet.

19 Non ibis audentior, si mala illa esse credideris. Eximendum hoc e pectore est; alioqui haesitabit inpetum moratura suspicio. Trudetur in id, quod invadendum est.

Nostri quidem videri volunt Zenonis interroga-

@ Vergil, Aeneid, vi. 95 f., the advice of the Sibyl to Aeneas.

292

EPISTLE LXXXII.

human mind? For the mind wil! never rise to virtue if it believes that death is an evil; but it will so rise if it holds that death is a matter of indifference. It is not in the order of nature that a man shall proceed with a great heart to a destiny which he believes to be evil; he will go sluggishly and with reluctance. But nothing glorious can result from unwillingness and cowardice; virtue does nothing under compulsion. Besides, no deed that a man does is honourable un- less he has devoted himself thereto and attended to it with all his heart, rebelling against it with no portion of his being. When, however, a man goes to face an evil, either through fear of worse evils or in the hope of goods whose attainment is of sufli- cient moment to him that he can swallow the one evil which he must endure,—in that case the judgment of the agent is drawn in two directions. On the one side is the motive which bids him carry out his pur- pose; on the other, the motive which restrains him and makes him flee from something which has aroused his apprehension or leads to danger. Hence he is torn in different directions ; and if this happens, the glory of his act is gone. For virtue accomplishes its plans only when the spirit is in harmony with itself. There is no element of fear in any of its actions.

Yield not to evils, but, still braver, go Where’er thy fortune shall allow.¢

You cannot “still braver go,” if you are persuaded that those things are the real evils. Root out this idea from your soul; otherwise your apprehensions will remain undecided and will thus check the impulse to action. You will be pushed into that towards which you ought to advance like a soldier.

Those of our school, it is true, would have men

258

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

tionem veram esse, fallacem autem alteram et falsam, quae illi opponitur. Ego non redigo ista ad legem dialecticam et ad illos artificii veternosissimi nodos. Totum genus istue exturbandum iudico, quo cireum- scribi se, qui interrogatur, existimat et ad con- fessionem perductus aliud respondet, aliud putat. Pro veritate simplicius agendum est, contra metum

20 fortius. Haec ipsa, quae volvuntur ab illis, solvere

21

malim et expendere, ut persuadeam, non ut inponam.

In aciem educturus exercitum pro coniugibus ac liberis mortem obiturum quomodo exhortabitur ? Do tibi Fabios totum rei publicae bellum in unam trans- ferentes domum. Laconas tibi ostendo in_ ipsis Thermopylarum angustiis positos. Nec victoriam sperant nec reditum. [lle locus illis sepulchrum futurus est. Quemadmodum exhortaris, ut totius gentis ruinam obiectis corporibus excipiant et vita potius quam loco cedant? Dices: “quod malum est, gloriosum non est; mors gloriosa est; mors ergo non malum”? O efficacem contionem! Quis post hance dubitet se infestis ingerere mucronibus et stans mori! At ille Leonidas quam fortiter illos adlocutus est! “Sic,” inquit, “commilitones, prandete tamquam apud inferos cenaturi.” Non in ore crevit cibus, non

@ Cf. 8 9 and 10. > Cf. Ep. xviii. 4 ff.

¢ Cf. Livy, ii. 49. 1 familiam unam subisse civitatis onus.

4 Olrws dpiutare ws év adov dervjcovtes, — quoted by Stobaeus, Plutarch, and Diodorus. Cicero says (Juse. i. 101) hodie apud inferos fortasse cenabimus.

254

EPISTLE LXXXII.

think that Zeno’s syllogism is correct, but that the second “ I mentioned, which is set up against his, is deceptive and wrong. But I for my part decline to reduce such questions to a matter of dialectical rules or to the subtleties of an utterly worn-outsystem. Away, I say, with all that sort of thing, which makes a man feel, when a question is propounded to him, that he is hemmed in, and forces him to admit a premiss, and then makes him say one thing in his answer when his real opinion is another.2 When truth is at stake, we must act more frankly; and when fear is to be combated, we must act more bravely. Such questions, which the dialecticians involve in subtleties, I prefer to solve and weigh rationally, with the purpose of winning conviction and not of forcing the judgment.

When a general is about to lead into action an army prepared to meet death for their wives and children, how will he exhort them to battle? I remind you of the Fabii,° who took upon a single clan a war which concerned the whole state. I point out to you the Lacedaemonians in position at the very pass of Thermopylae! They have no hope of victory, no hope of returning. The place where they stand is to be their tomb. In what language do you en- courage them to bar the way with their bodies and take upon themselves the ruin of their whole tribe, and to retreat from life rather than from their post? Shall you say: “That which is evil is not glorious ; but death is glorious ; therefore death is not an evil”’? What a powerful discourse! After such words, who would hesitate to throw himself upon the serried spears of the foemen, and die in his tracks? But take Leonidas: how bravely did he address his men! He said: “ Fellow-soldiers, let us to our breakfast, knowing that we shall sup in Hades!” 4 The food

255

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

haesit in faucibus, non elapsus est manibus; alacres

22 et ad prandium illi promiserunt et ad cenam. Quid? Dux ille Romanus, qui ad occupandum locum milites missos, cum per ingentem hostium exercitum ituri essent, sic adlocutus est: “ire, commilitones, illo necesse est, unde redire non est necesse.”

Vides, quam simplex et imperiosa virtus sit ; quem mortalium circumscriptiones vestrae fortiorem facere, quem erectiorem possunt? Frangunt animum, qui numquam minus contrahendus est et in minuta ac spinosa cogendus, quam cum aliquid grande com-

23 ponitur. Non trecentis, sed omnibus mortalibus mortis timor detrahi debet. Quomodo illos doces malum non esse? Quomodo opiniones totius aevi, quibus protinus infantia inbuitur, evincis? Quod auxilium invenis! inbecillitati humanae? Quid dicis, quo inflammati in media pericula inruant? Qua vratione hune timendi consensum, quibus ingeni viribus obnixam contra te persuasionem humani generis avertis? Verba mihi captiosa conponis et interrogatiunculas nectis? Magnis telis magna por-

24 tenta feriuntur. Serpentem illam in Africa saevam et Romanis legionibus bello ipso terribiliorem frustra sagittis fundisque petierunt; ne Pythio quidem vulnerabilis erat, cum ingens magnitudo pro vastitate

1 After invenis, Gertz removed quid dicis ...

« Calpurnius, in Sicily, during the first Punic war. Cf. Livy, xxii. 60. 11.

> The soldiers of Leonidas.

e Anespecially large machine for assaulting walls ; a nick- name, like the modern ‘* Long Tom.”

256

EPISTLE LXXXII.

of these men did not grow lumpy in their mouths, or stick in their throats, or slip from their fingers; eagerly did they accept the invitation to breakfast, and to supper also! Think, too, of the famous Roman general ;% his soldiers had been dispatched to seize a position, and when they were about to make their way through a huge army of the enemy, he addressed them with the words: “ You must go now, fellow-soldiers, to yonder place, whence there is no ‘must’ about your returning! ”’

You see, then, how straightforward and _ per- emptory virtue is; but what man on earth can your deceptive logic make more courageous or more up- right? Rather does it break the spirit, which should never be less straitened or forced to deal with petty and thorny problems than when some great work is being planned. It is not the Three Hundred,? —it is all mankind that should be relieved of the fear of death. But how can you prove to all those men that death is no evil? How can you overcome the notions of all our past life,—notions with which we are tinged from our very infancy ? What succour can you discover for man’s helplessness? What can you say that will make men rush, burning with zeal, into the midst of danger? By what persuasive speech can you turn aside this universal feeling of fear, by . what strength of wit can you turn aside the conviction of the human race which steadfastly opposes you? Do you propose to construct catchwords for me, or to string together petty syllogisms? It takes great weapons to strike down great monsters. You recall the fierce serpent in Africa, more frightful to the Roman legions than the war itself, and assailed in vain by arrows and slings; it could not be wounded even by “ Pythius,’° since its huge size, and the

257

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

corporis solida ferrum et quicquid humanae torserant manus reiceret. Molaribus demum fracta saxis est. Et adversus mortem tu tam! minuta iacularis? Subula leonem excipis? Acuta sunt ista, quae dicis; nihil est acutius arista. Quaedam inutilia et inefficacia ipsa subtilitas reddit. Vate.

LXXXIII.

Seneca LyvciLio svo SALVTEM

1 Singulos dies tibi meos et quidem totos indicari iubes; bene de me iudicas, si nihil esse in illis putas, quod abscondam. Sic certe vivendum est, tamquam in conspectu vivamus; sic cogitandum, tamquam aliquis in pectus intimum introspicere? possit; et potest. Quid enim prodest ab homine aliquid esse secretum? Nihil deo clusum est. Interest animis nostris et cogitationibus mediis intervenit—sic inter-

2 venit, dico, tamquam aliquando discedat. Faciam ergo, quod iubes, et quid agam et quo ordine, libenter tibi scribam. Observabo me protinus et, quod est utilissimum, diem meum recognoscam. Hoc nos pessimos facit, quod nemo vitam suam respicit. Quid facturi simus cogitamus. Atqui consilium futuri ex praeterito venit.

1 tu tam later MSS. ; totam VPb. 2 introspicere Hense ; prospicere VPb.

@ Cf. Ep. \xxxv. 1 pudet in aciem descendere pro dis hominibusque susceptam subula armatum.

’ Of. Ep. xli. 2 sacer intra nos spiritus, . . . malorwm bonorumgque nostrorum observator et custos.

¢ Of. Ep. i. 4 ratio constat inpensae (referring to his attempt to employ his time profitably).

258

EPISTLES LXXXII., LXXXIII.

toughness which matched its bulk, made spears, or any weapon hurled by the hand of man, glance off. It was finally destroyed by rocks equal in size to mill- stones. Are you, then, hurling petty weapons like yours even against death? Can you stop a lion’s charge by an awl?% Your arguments are indeed sharp; but there is nothing sharper than a stalk of grain. And certain arguments are rendered useless and unavailing by their very subtlety. Farewell.

LXXXIII. ON DRUNKENNESS

You bid me give you an account of each separate day, and of the whole day too; so you must have a good opinion of me if you think that in these days of mine there is nothing to hide. At any rate, it is thus that we should live,—as if we lived in plain sight of all men; and it is thus that we should think, —as if there were someone who could look into our inmost souls; and there is one who can so look. For what avails it that something is hidden from man? Nothing is shut off from the sight of God. He is witness of our souls,? and he comes into the very midst of our thoughts—comes into them, I say, as one who may at any time depart. I shall therefore do as you bid, and shall gladly inform you by letter what I am doing, and in what sequence. I shall keep watching myself continually, and—a most useful habit—shall review each day.¢ For this is what makes us wicked: that no one of us looks back over his own life. Our thoughts are devoted only to what we are about todo. And yet our plans for the future always depend on the past.

VOL. 11 Ea 259

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

3 Hodiernus dies solidus est ; nemo ex illo quicquam inihi eripuit. Totus inter stratum lectionemque divisus est. Minimum exercitationi corporis datum, et hoc nomine ago gratias senectuti: non magno mihi constat ; cum me movi, lassus sum. Hie autem

4 st exercitationis etiam fortissimis finis. Progym- nastas meos quaeris? Unus mihi sufficit Pharius! puer, ut scis, amabilis, sed mutabitur. Iam aliquem teneriorem quaero. Hic quidem ait nos eandem crisin habere, quia utrique dentes cadunt. Sed iam vix illum adsequor currentem et intra paucissimos dies non potero; vide, quid exercitatio cotidiana proficiat. Cito magnum intervallum fit inter duos in diversum euntes. Eodem tempore ille adscendit, ego descendo, nec ignoras, quanto ex his velocius alterum fiat. Mentitus sum; iam enim aetas nostra non de-

5 scendit, sed cadit. Quomodo tamen hodiernum certa-

men nobis cesserit quaeris? Quod raro cursoribus

evenit, hieran fecimus. Ab hac fatigatione magis quam exercitatione in frigidam descendi; hoc apud me vocatur parum calda. Ile tantus psychrolutes, qui kalendis Januariis euripum salutabam, qui anno novo quemadmodum legere, scribere, dicere aliquid, sic auspicabar in Virginem desilire, primum ad

Tiberim transtuli castra, deinde ad hoc solium, quod, 1 Pharius some MSS. ; farvius b; farivus PV ; Earinus

Erasmus.

@ See lp. xii. 3 for a similar witticism. > JIieran (coronam), as Lipsius thinks, when the result was doubtful, the garland was offered to the gods. From the Greek iepés, sacred. ¢ Constructed by Marcus Agrippa; now the fountain of Trevi.

260

EPISTLE LXXXIII.

To-day has been unbroken; no one has filched the slightest part of it from me. The whole time has been divided between rest and reading. A brief space has been given over to bodily exercise, and on this ground I can thank old age—my exercise costs very little effort; as soon as I stir, | am tired. And weariness is the aim and end of exercise, no matter how strong one is. Do you ask who are my pace- makers? One is enough for me,—the slave Pharius, a pleasant fellow, as you know; but I shall exchange him for another. At my time of life I need one who is of still more tender years. Pharius, at any rate, says that he and I are at the same period of life; for we are both losing our teeth.* Yet even now I can scarcely follow his pace as he runs, and within a very short time I shall not be able to follow him at all; so you see what profit we get from daily exercise. Very soon does a wide interval open between two persons who travel different ways. My slave is climbing up at the very moment when I am coming down, and you surely know how much quicker the latter is. - Nay, I was wrong; for now my life is not coming down ; itis falling outright. Do you ask, for all that, how our race resulted to-day? We raced toa tie,’— something which rarely happens in a running contest. After tiring myself out in this way (for I cannot call it exercise), I took a cold bath; this, at my house, means just short of hot. I, the former cold-water enthusiast, who used to celebrate the new year by taking a plunge into the canal, who, just as naturally as I would set out to do some reading or writing, or to compose a speech, used to inaugurate the first of the year with a plunge into the Virgo aqueduct,’ have changed my allegiance, first to the Tiber, and then to my favourite tank, which is warmed only by the

261

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

cum fortissimus sum et omnia bona fide fiunt, so} temperat. Non multum mihi ad balneum superest.

6 Panis deinde siccus et sine mensa prandium, post quod non sunt Javandae manus. Dormio minimum. Consuetudinem meam nosti: brevissimo somno utor et quasi interiungo. Satis est mihi vigilare desisse. Aliquando dormisse me scio, aliquando suspicor.

7 Ecce circensium obstrepit clamor. Subita aliqua et universa voce feriuntur aures meae. Nec cogita- tionem meam excutiunt, ne interrumpunt quidem. Fremitum patientissime fero. Multae voces et in unum confusae pro fluctu mihi sunt aut vento silvam verberante et ceteris sine intellectu sonantibus.

8 Quid ergo est nunc, cui animum adiecerim ? Dicam. Superest ex hesterno mihi cogitatio: quid sibi voluerint prudentissimi viri, qui rerum maximarum probationes levissimas et perplexas fecerunt, quae ut

9 sint verae, tamen mendacio similes sunt. Vult nos ab ebrietate deterrere Zenon, vir maximus, huius sectae fortissimae ac sanctissimae conditor. Audi ergo, quemadmodum colligat virum bonum non futurum ebrium: “ebrio secretum sermonem nemo comunittit; viro autem bono committit; ergo vir bonus ebrius non erit.” Quemadmodum opposita interrogatione simili derideatur, adtende. Satis est enim unam

«The same word is used by Seneca in De Trang. An. xvii. 7 quidam medio die interiunxerunt et in postmeridianas horas aliquid levioris operae distulerunt.

> Cf. Ep. lvi. 3 istum fremitum non magis curo quam Yuctum aut deiectum aquae.

¢ Zeno, Frag. 229 von Arnim,—quoting also Philo’s ef rq pedvovre odk dv Tis EvAdywS Adyov admOppnTOv WapaKkaTdBoTO... ovK dpa meBver 0 aoTetos.

262

EPISTLE LXXXIII.

sun, at times when I am most robust and when there is not a flaw in my bodily processes. I have very little energy left for bathing. After the bath, some stale bread and breakfast without a table; no need to wash the hands after such a meal. Then comes a very short nap. You know my habit; I avail myself of a scanty bit of sleep, — unharnessing, as it were. For I am satisfied if I can just stop staying awake. Sometimes I know that I have slept; at other times, I have a mere suspicion.

Lo, now the din of the Races sounds about me! My ears are smitten with sudden and _ general cheering. But this does not upset my thoughts or even break their continuity. I can endure an uproar with complete resignation. The medley of voices blended in one note sounds to me like the dashing of waves,? or like the wind that lashes the tree-tops, or like any other sound which conveys no meaning.

What is it, then, you ask, to which I have been giving my attention? I will tell you. A thought. | sticks in my mind, left over from yesterday,—namely, what men of the greatest sagacity have meant when they have offered the most trifling and intricate proofs for problems of the greatest importance, — proofs which may be true, but none the less resemble. fallacies. Zeno, that greatest of men, the revered founder of our brave and holy school of philosophy, wishes to discourage us from drunkenness. Listen, then, to his arguments proving that the good man will not get drunk: “No one entrusts a secret to a drunken man ; but one will entrust a secret to a good man; therefore, the good man will not get drunk.” ¢ Mark how ridiculous Zeno is made when we set up a similar syllogism in contrast with his. ‘There are

263

10

i

12

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

ponere ex multis: “dormienti nemo secretum sermonem committit; viro autem bono committit ; vir bonus ergo non dormit.” Quo uno modo potest, Posidonius Zenonis nostri causam agit, sed ne sic quidem, ut existimo, agi potest. Ait enim ebrium duobus modis dici: altero, cum aliquis vino gravis est et inpos sui; altero, si solet ebrius fieri et huic obnoxius vitio est. Hune a Zenone dici, qui soleat fieri ebrius, non qui sit. Huic autem neminem com- missurum arcana, quae per vinum eloqui possit. Quod est falsum. Prima enim illa interrogatio conplectitur eum, qui est ebrius, non eum, qui futurus est. Plurimum enim interesse concedes et inter ebrium et ebriosum. Potest et qui ebrius est, tune primum esse nec habere hoc vitium, et qui ebriosus est, saepe extra ebrietatem esse. Itaque id intellego, quod significari verbo isto solet, praesertim cum ab homine diligentiam professo ponatur et verba exa- minante. Adice nunc quod, si hoc intellexit Zenon et nos intellegere voluit, ambiguitate verbi quaesiit locum fraudi, quod faciendum non est, ubi veritas quaeritur.

Sed sane hoc senserit ; quod sequitur, falsum est, ei qui soleat ebrius fieri, non committi sermonem secretum. Cogita enim, quam multis militibus non semper sobriis et imperator et tribunus et centurio

a Cf. Ep. xlix. 8 quod non perdidisti, hahes; cornua autem non perdidisti ; cornua ergo habes,—and the syllogisms given in Ep, xlviii.

264

EPISTLE LXXXIII.

many, but one will be enough: “ No one entrusts a secret to aman when he is asleep ; but one entrusts a secret to a good man ; therefore, the good man does not go to sleep.” % Posidonius pleads the cause of our master Zeno in the only possible way ; but it cannot, I hold, be pleaded even in this way. For Posidonius maintains that the word “drunken”’ is used in two ways,—in the one case of a man who is loaded with wine and has no control over himself; in the other, of a man who is accustomed to get drunk, and isa slave to the habit. Zeno, he says, meant the latter, —the man who is accustomed to get drunk, not the man who is drunk; and no one would entrust to this person any secret, for it might be blabbed out when the man was in his cups. This is a fallacy. For the first syllogism refers to him who is actually drunk and not to him who is about to get drunk. You will surely admit that there is a great difference between a man who is drunk and adrunkard. He who is actually drunk may be in this state for the first time and may not have the habit, while the drunkard is often free from drunkenness. I therefore interpret the word in its usual meaning, especially since the syllogism is set up by a man who makes a business of the careful use of words, and who weighs his language. Moreover, if this is what Zeno meant, and what he wished it to mean to us, he was trying to avail himself of an equivocal word in order to work in a fallacy ; and no man ought to do this when truth is the object of inquiry.

But let us admit, indeed, that he meant what Posidonius says; even so, the conclusion is false,— that secrets are not entrusted to an habitual drunkard. Think how many soldiers who are not always sober have been entrusted by a general or a captain or a centurion with messages which might not be divulged!

265

13

14

15

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

tacenda mandaverint. De illa C. Caesaris caede, illius dico, qui superato Pompeio rem publicam tenuit, tam creditum est Tillio Cimbro! quam C. Cassio. Cassius tota vita aquam bibit, Tillius Cimber et nimius erat in vino et scordalus. In hane rem locutus est ipse: “ego,” inquit, “ quemquam feram, qui vinum ferre non possum?” Sibi quisque nunc nominet eos, quibus scit et vinum male credi et sermonem bene, unum tamen exemplum, quod occurrit mihi, referam, ne intercidat. Instruenda est enim vita exemplis inlustribus. Non semper confugiamus ad vetera.

L. Piso, urbis custos, ebrius ex quo semel factus est, fuit. Maiorem noctis partem in convivio exigebat; usque in horam fere sextam dormiebat ; hoc eius erat matutinum. Officium tamen suum, quo tutela urbis continebatur, diligentissime administravit. Huic et divus Augustus dedit secreta mandata, cum illum praeponeret Thraciae, quam perdomuit, et Tiberius proficiscens in Campaniam, cum multa in urbe et suspecta relinqueret et invisa. Puto, quia illi bene cesserat Pisonis ebrietas, postea Cossum fecit urbis praefectum, virum gravem, moderatum, sed mersum et vino madentem, adeo ut ex senatu aliquando, in quem e convivio venerat, obpressus inexcitabili somno tolleretur. Huic tamen Tiberius

1 Tillio Cimbro Muretus ; illi Cimbro V ; illine imbro P ; illic imbro b.

@In 11 s3.c., when the Thracians were attacking Macedonia. The campaign lasted for three years, and Piso was rewarded with a triumph at its close.

266

EPISTLE LXXXIII.

With regard to the notorious plot to murder Gaius Caesar,—I mean the Caesar who conquered Pompey and got control of the state,—Tillius Cimber was trusted with it no less than Gaius Cassius. Now Cassius throughout his life drank water ; while Tillius Cimber was a sot as well as a brawler. Cimber him- self alluded to this fact, saying: “ J carry a master? I cannot carry my liquor!’’ So let each one call to mind those who, to his knowledge, can be ill trusted with wine, but well trusted with the spoken word ; and yet one case occurs to my mind, which I shall relate, lest it fall into oblivion. For life should be provided with conspicuous illustrations. Let us not always be harking back to the dim past.

Lucius Piso, the Director of Public Safety at Rome, was drunk from the very time of his appoint- ment. He used to spend the greater part of the night at banquets, and would sleep until noon. That was the way he spent his morning hours. Neverthe- less, he applied himse!f most diligently to his official duties, which included the guardianship of the city. Even the sainted Augustus trusted him with secret orders when he placed him in command of Thrace. Piso conquered that country. Tiberius, too, trusted him when he took his holiday in Campania, leaving behind him in the city many a critical matter that aroused both suspicion and hatred. I fancy that it was because Piso’s drunkenness turned out well for the Emperor that he appointed to the office of city prefect Cossus, a man of authority and balance, but so soaked and steeped in drink that once, at a meet- ing of the Senate, whither he had come after banqueting, he was overcome by a slumber from which he could not be roused, and had to be carried home. It was to this man that Tiberius sent many

267

16

17

18

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

multa sua manu scripsit, quae committenda ne ministris quidem suis iudicabat. Nullum Cosso aut privatum secretum aut publicum elapsum est.

Itaque declamationes istas de medio removeamus : “ Non est animus in sua potestate ebrietate devinctus. Quemadmodum musto dolia ipsa rampuntur et omne, quod in imo iacet, in summam partem vis caloris eiectat; sic vino exaestuante, quicquid in imo iacet abditum, effertur et prodit in medium. Onerati mero quemadmodum non continent cibum vino redundante, ita ne secretum quidem. Quod suum alienumque est, pariter effundunt.” Sed quamvis hoe soleat accidere, ita et illud solet, ut cum iis, quos sciamus libentius bibere, de rebus necessariis deliberemus. Falsum ergo est hoc, quod patrocinii loco ponitur, ei qui soleat ebrius fieri, non dari tacitum.

Quanto satius est aperte accusare ebrietatem et vitia eius exponere, quae etiam tolerabilis homo vitaverit, nedum perfectus ac sapiens, cui satis est sitim extinguere, qui, etiam si quando hortata est hilaritas aliena causa producta longius, tamen citra ebrietatem resistit. Nam de illo videbimus, an sapientis animus nimio vino turbetur et faciat ebriis solita; interim, si hoc colligere vis virum bonum non debere ebrium fieri, cur syllogismis agis? Dic, quam turpe sit plus sibi ingerere quam capiat et stomachi sui non nosse mensuram, guam multa ebrii 268

EPISTLE LXXXIII.

orders, written in his own hand, — orders which he believed he ought not to trust even to the officials of his household. Cossus never let a single secret slip out, whether personal or public.

So let us abolish all such harangues as this: “No man in the bonds of drunkenness has power over his soul. As the very vats are burst by new wine, and as the dregs at the bottom are raised to the surface by the strength of the fermentation; so, when the wine effervesces, whatever lies hidden below is brought up and made visible. As aman overcome by liquor can- not keep down his food when he has over-indulged in wine, so he cannot keep back a secret either. He pours forth impartially both his own secrets and those of other persons.” ‘This, of course, is what commonly happens, but so does this,—that we take counsel on serious subjects with those whom we know to be in the habit of drinking freely. Therefore this proposi- tion, which is laid down in the guise of a defence of Zeno’s syllogism, is false,—that secrets are not entrusted to the habitual drunkard.

How much better it is to arraign drunkenness frankly and to expose its vices! For even the middling good man avoids them, not to mention the perfect sage, who is satisfied with slaking his thirst ; the sage, even if now and then he is led on by good cheer which, for a friend’s sake, is carried somewhat too far, yet always stops short of drunkenness. We shall investigate later the question whether the mind of the sage is upset by too much wine and commits follies like those of the toper; but meanwhile, if you wish to prove that a good man ought not to get drunk, why work it out by logic? Show how base it is to pour down more liquor than one can carry, and not to know the capacity of one’s own stomach ; show

269

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

faciant, quibus sobrii erubescant, nihil aliud esse ebrietatem quam voluntariam insaniam. Extende in plures dies illum ebrii habitum ; numquid de furore 19 dubitabis? Nunc quoque non est minor, sed brevior. Refer Alexandri Macedonis exemplum, qui Clitum, carissimum sibi ac fidelissimum, inter epulas trans- fodit et intellecto facinore mori voluit, certe debuit.! Omne vitium ebrietas et incendit et detegit, obstantem malis conatibus verecundiam removet. Plures enim pudore peccandi quam bona voluntate 20 prohibitis abstinent. Ubi possedit animum nimia vis vini, quicquid mali latebat, emergit. Non facit ebrietas vitia, sed protrahit; tunc libidinosus ne cubiculum quidem expectat, sed cupiditatibus suis quantum petierunt sine dilatione permittit; tunc inpudicus morbum profitetur ac publicat; tune petulans non linguam, non manum continet. Crescit insolenti superbia, crudelitas saevo, malignitas livido.

21 Omne vitium laxatur? et prodit. Adice illam ignorationem sui, dubia et parum explanata verba, incertos oculos, gradum errantem, vertiginem capitis, tecta ipsa mobilia velut aliquo turbine circumagente totam domum, stomachi tormenta, cum effervescit merum ac viscera ipsa distendit. ~Tunc tamen

1 debuit Lipsius ; deruit VPb ; meruit Gruter. 2 laxatur Lipsius ; tawatur or texatur MSS.

@ Like anger, which was interpreted by the ancients as “ short-lived madness.”

>» For a dramatic account of the murder see Plutarch’s Alexander, ch. 51.

¢ This is the firm conviction of Seneca, himself a most temperate man. §§ 14and 15 admit that natural genius may triumph over drunkenness ; § 17 may allow (with Chrysippus) a certain amount of hilarity ; but the general conclusion is obvious.

270

EPISTLE LX XXIII.

how often the drunkard does things which make him blush when he is sober; state that drunkenness ”% is nothing but a condition of insanity purposely assumed. Prolong the drunkard’s condition to several days ; will you have any doubt about his madness? Even as it is, the madness is no less; it merely lasts a shorter time. Think of Alexander of Macedon,’ who stabbed Clitus, his dearest and most loyal friend, at a banquet; after Alexander understood what he had done, he wished to die, and assuredly he ought to have died.

Drunkenness kindles and discloses every kind of vice, and removes the sense of shame that veils our evil undertakings.° For more men abstain from forbidden actions because they are ashamed of sinning than because their inclinations are good. When the strength of wine has become too great and has gained control over the mind, every lurking evil comes forth from its hiding-place. Lrunkenness does not create vice, it merely brings it into view; at such times the lustful man does not wait even for the privacy of a bedroom, but without postponement gives free play to the demands of his passions; at such times the unchaste man proclaims and publishes his malady ; at such times your cross-grained fellow does not restrain his tongue or his hand. The haughty man increases his arrogance, the ruthless man his cruelty, the slanderer his spitefulness. Every vice is given free play and comes to the front. Besides, we forget who we are, we utter words that are halting and poorly enunciated, the glance is unsteady, the step falters, the head is dizzy, the very ceiling moves about as if a cyclone were whirling the whole house, and the stomach suffers torture when the wine generates gas and causes our very bowels to swell.

at

22

23

24

25

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

utcumque tolerabile est, dum illi vis sua est; quid, cum somno vitiatur et quae ebrietas fuit, cruditas facta est?

Cogita, quas clades ediderit publica ebrietas ; haec acerrimas gentes bellicosasque hostibus tradidit, haec multorum annorum pertinaci! bello defensa moenia patefecit, haee contumacissimos et iugum recusantes in alienum egit arbitrium, haec invictos acie mero domuit. Alexandrum, cuius modo feci mentionem, tot itinera, tot proelia, tot hiemes, per quas victa tem- porum locorumque difficultate transierat, tot flumina ex ignoto cadentia, tot maria tutum dimiserunt; intemperantia bibendi et ille Herculaneus ac fatalis scyphus condidit.

Quae gloria est capere multumr Cum penes te palma fuerit et propinationes tuas strati somno ac vomitantes recusaverint, cum superstes toti convivio fueris, cum omnes viceris virtute magnifica et nemo vini tam capax fuerit, vinceris a dolio. M. Antonium, magnum virum et ingenii nobilis, quae alia res per- didit et in externos mores ac vitia non Romana traiecit quam ebrietas nec minor vino Cleopatrae amor? Hifaec illum res hostem rei publicae, haec

1 wertinaci later MSS. ; pertinacia VPb.

@ Lipsius quotes Athenaeus as saying that Boeotian silver cups of large size were so called because the Boeotian Hercules drank from them ; Servius, however, on Verg. den. viii. 278, declared that the name was derived from the large wooden bow! brought by Hercules to italy and used for sacrificial purposes.

212

EPISTLE LXXXIII.

However, at the time, these troubles can be endured, so long as the man retains his natural strength; but what can he do when sleep impairs his powers, and when that which was drunkenness becomes indigestion ?

Think of the calamities caused by drunkenness in anation! This evil has betrayed to their enemies the most spirited and warlike races; this evil has made breaches in walls defended by the stubborn warfare of many years; this evil has forced under alien sway peoples who were utterly unyielding and defiant of the yoke; this evil has conquered by the wine-cup those who in the field were invincible. Alexander, whom I have just mentioned, passed through his many marches, his many battles, his many winter campaigns (through which he worked his way by overcoming disadvantages of time or place), the many rivers which flowed from unknown sources, and the many seas, all in safety; it was intemperance in drinking that laid him low, and the famous death- dealing bowl of Hercules.%

What glory is there in carrying much liquor? When you have won the prize, and the other banqueters, sprawling asleep or vomiting, have de- clined your challenge to still other toasts ; when you are the last survivor of the revels; when you have vanquished every one by your magnificent show of prowess and there is no man who has proved him- self of so great capacity as you,—you are vanquished by the cask. Mark Antony was a great man, a man of distinguished ability; but what ruined him and drove him into foreign habits and un-Roman vices, if it was not drunkenness and—no less potent than wine—love of Cleopatra? This it was that made him an enemy of the state; this it was that rendered him

273

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

hostibus suis imparem reddidit ; haec crudelem fecit, cum capita principum civitatis cenanti referrentur, cum inter apparatissimas epulas luxusque regales ora ac manus proscriptorum recognosceret, cum vino gravis sitiret tamen sanguinem. Intolerabile erat, quod ebrius fiebat, cum haec faceret; quanto in- tolerabilius, quod haec in ipsa ebrietate faciebat ! 26 Fere vinolentiam crudelitas sequitur; vitiatur enim exasperaturque sanitas mentis. Ut querulos difficiles- que! faciunt diutini morbi et ad minimam rabidos? offensionem, ita ebrietates continuae efferant animos. Nam cum saepe apud se non sint,’? consuetudo insaniae durat et ‘ vitia vino concepta etiam sine illo valent. 27 + Die ergo, quare sapiens non debeat ebrius fieri. Deformitatem rei et inportunitatem ostende rebus, non verbis. Quod facillimum est, proba istas, quae voluptates vocantur, ubi transcenderunt modum, poenas esse. Nam si illud argumentaberis, sapientem multo vino inebriari et retinere rectum tenorem, etiam si temulentus sit; licet colligas nee veneno poto moriturum nec sopore sumpto dormiturum nec elleboro accepto, quicquid in visceribus haerebit, eiecturum deiecturumque. Sed si temptantur pedes,

1 ut querulos difficilesque Madvig ; quem difficilesque VPb. rabidos Haupt; radios VPb; babidos Arg b. 3 sint later MSS. ; sunt VPb. 4 durat et Wolters ; durata, duracta, or durat ac MSS.

a «‘ Antony gave orders to those that were to kill Cicero, to cut off his head and right hand. . . ; and, when they were brought before him, he regarded them joyfully, actually bursting out more than once into laughter, and, when he had satiated himself with the sight of them, ordered them to be hung up... in the forum” (Clough’s translation of Plutarch’s Antony, p. 172).

> A plant which possessed cathartic properties and was

Q7 4

EPISTLE LXXXIIIL.

no match for his enemies; this it was that made him cruel, when as he sat at table the heads of the leaders of the state were brought in; when amid the most elaborate feasts and royal luxury he would identify the faces and hands of men whom he had proscribed ; # when, though heavy with wine, he yet thirsted for blood. It was intolerable that he was getting drunk while he did such things ; how much more intolerable that he did these things while actually drunk! Cruelty usually follows wine-bibbing; for a man’s soundness of mind is corrupted and made savage. Just as a lingering illness makes men querulous and irritable and drives them wild at the least crossing of their desires, so continued bouts of drunkenness bestialize the soul. For when people are often beside themselves, the habit of madness lasts on, and the vices which liquor generated retain their power even when the liquor is gone.

Therefore you should state why the wise man ought not to get drunk. Explain by facts, and not by mere words, the hideousness of the thing, and its haunting evils. Do that which is easiest of all—namely, demonstrate that what men call pleasures are punish- ments as soon as they have exceeded due bounds. For if you try to prove that the wise man can souse himself with much wine and yet keep his course straight, even though he be in his cups, you may go on to infer by syllogisms that he will not die if he swallows poison, that he will not sleep if he takes a sleeping-potion, that he will not vomit and reject the matter which clogs his stomach when you give him hellebore.?’. But, when a man’s feet totter

widely used by the ancients. It was also applied in cases of mental derangement. The native Latin term is veratrum.

215

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

lingua non constat, quid est, quare illum existimes in parte sobrium esse, in parte ebrium? VaLe,

LXXXIV.

Seneca LvcILIo svO SALVTEM

1 = Itinera ista, quae segnitiam mihi excutiunt, et valitudini meae prodesse iudico et studiis. Quare valitudinem adiuvent, vides: cum pigrum me! et neglegentem corporis litterarum amor faciat, aliena opera exerceor; studio quare prosint, indicabo: a lectionibus nihil? recessi. Sunt autem, ut existimo, necessariae, primum ne sim me uno contentus; deinde ut, cum ab aliis quaesita cognovero, tum et de inventis iudicem et cogitem de inveniendis. Allit lectio ingenium et studio fatigatum, non sine studio

2 tamen, reficit. Nec scribere tantum nec tantum legere debemus; altera res contristabit vires et exhauriet, de stilo dico, altera solvet ac diluet. Invicem hoe et illo commeandum est et alterum altero temperandum, ut quicquid lectione collectum est, stilus redigat in corpus.

8 Apes, ut aiunt, debemus imitari, quae vagantur et flores ad mel faciendum idoneos carpunt, deinde quicquid attulere, disponunt ac per favos digerunt et, ut Vergilius noster ait,

1 me later MSS. ; viae VPb. 2 nihil added by Buecheler, omitted by VPb.

« A considerable part of this letter is found in the preface to the Saturnalia of Macrobius, without any acknowledg- ment of indebtedness.

276

EPISTLES LXXXIII., LXXXIV.

and his tongue is unsteady, what reason have you for believing that he is half sober and half drunk? Farewell.

LXXXIV. ON GATHERING IDEAS2

The journeys to which you refer—journeys that shake the laziness out of my system—I hold to be profitable both for my health and for my studies. You see why they benefit my health: since my passion for literature makes me lazy and careless about my body, I can take exercise by deputy; as for my studies, I shall show you why my journeys help them, for I have not stopped my reading in the slightest degree. And reading, I hold, is indis- pensable—primarily, to keep me from being satisfied with myself alone, and besides, after I have learned what others have found out by their studies, to enable me to pass judgment on their discoveries and reflect upon discoveries that remain to be made. Reading nourishes the mind and refreshes it when it is wearied with study; nevertheless, this refresh- ment is not obtained without study. We ought not to confine ourselves either to writing or to reading ; the one, continuous writing, will cast a gloom over our strength, and exhaust it; the other will make our strength flabby and watery. It is better to have recourse to them alternately, and to blend one with the other, so that the fruits of one’s reading may be reduced to concrete form by the pen.

We should follow, men say, the example of the bees, who flit about and cull the flowers that are suitable for producing honey, and then arrange and assort in their cells all that they have brought in; these bees, as our Vergil says,

277

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

liquentia mella Stipant et dulci distendunt nectare cellas.

4 De illis non satis constat, utrum sucum ex floribus ducant, qui protinus mel sit, an quae collegerunt, in hune saporem mixtura quadam et proprietate spiritus sui mutent. Quibusdam enim placet non faciendi mellis scientiam esse illis, sed colligendi. Aiunt inveniri apud Indos mel in arundinum foliis, quod aut ros illius caeli aut ipsius arundinis umor dulcis et pinguior gignat. In nostris quoque herbis vim eandem, sed minus manifestam et notabilem poni, quam persequatur et contrahat animal huic rei genitum. Quidam existimant conditura et dis- positione in hanc qualitatem verti, quae ex tenerrimis virentium florentiumque decerpserint, non sine quo- dam, ut ita dicam, fermento, quo in unum diversa coalescunt.

5 Sed ne ad aliud quam de quo agitur abducar,! nos quoque has apes debemus imitari et quaecumque ex diversa lectione congessimus, separare, melius enim distincta servantur, deinde adhibita ingenii nostri cura et facultate in unum saporem varia illa libamenta confundere, ut etiam si apparuerit, unde sumptum sit, aliud tamen esse quam unde sumptum est, appareat. Quod in corpore nostro videmus sine

6 ulla opera nostra facere naturam: alimenta, quae

1 abducar Erasmus ; adducar VPb.

@ Aeneid, i. 432 f. > Cf. mel in harundinibus collectwm (from India) in Pliny, N.H. xii. 32 (Summers).

278

EPISTLE LXXXIV.

pack close the flowing honey, And swell their cells with nectar sweet.2

It is not certain whether the juice which they obtain from the flowers forms at once into honey, or whether they change that which they have gathered into this delicious object by blending something therewith and by a certain property of their breath. For some authorities believe that bees do not possess the art of making honey, but only of gathering it ; and they say that in India honey has been found on the leaves of certain reeds, produced by a dew peculiar to that climate, or by the juice of the reed itself, which has an unusual sweetness and richness.2. And in our own grasses too, they say, the same quality exists, although less clear and less evident; and a creature born to fulfil such a function could hunt it out and collect it. Certain others maintain that the materials which the bees have culled from the most delicate of blooming and flowering plants is transformed into this peculiar substance by a process of preserving and careful storing away, aided by what might be called fermentation,—whereby separate elements are united into one substance.

But I must not be led astray into another subject than that which we are discussing. We also, I say, ought to copy these bees, and sift whatever we have gathered from a varied course of reading, for such things are better preserved if they are kept separate ; then, by applying the supervising care with which our nature has endowed us,—in other words, our natural gifts,—we should so blend those several flavours into one delicious compound that, even though it betrays its origin, yet it nevertheless is clearly a different thing from that whence it came. This is what we see nature doing in our own bodies without any labour

279

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

accepimus, quamdiu in sua qualitate perdurant et solida innatant stomacho, onera sunt; at cum ex eo, quod erant, mutata sunt, tum demum in vires et in sanguinem transeunt. Idem in his, quibus aluntur ingenia, praestemus, ut quaecumque hausimus, non

7 patiamur integra esse, ne aliena sint. Concoquamus illa; alioqui in memoriam ibunt, non in ingenium. Adsentiamur illis fideliter et nostra faciamus, ut unum quiddam fiat ex multis, sicut unus numerus fit ex singulis, cum minores summas et dissidentes conputatio una comprendit. Hoc faciat animus noster: omnia, quibus est adiutus, abscondat, ipsum

8 tantum ostendat, quod effecit. Etiam si cuius in te comparebit similitudo, quem admiratio tibi altius fixerit, similem esse te volo quomodo filium, non quomodo imaginem ; imago res mortua est.

“ Quid ergo? Non intellegetur, cuius imiteris ora- tionem, cuius argumentationem, cuius sententias?” Puto aliquando ne intellegi quidem posse, si imago vera sit; haec enim! omnibus, quae ex quo velut exemplari traxit, formam suam inpressit, ut in uni-

9 tatem illa conpetant.? Non vides, quam multorum vocibus chorus constet? Unus tamen ex omnibus redditur ; aliqua illic acuta est, aliqua gravis, aliqua

1 si imago vera sit ; haec enim Madvig ; st magni viri nec enim V Pb. 2 competant later MSS. ; conparavit or conpetat MSS.

* The same figure is used with reference to reading, in Ep. ii. 2f., non prodest cibus nec corpori accedit, qui statim sumptus emittitur, etc.

280

EPISTLE LXXXIV.

on our part; the food we have eaten, as long as it retains its original quality and floats in our stomachs as an undiluted mass, is a burden;% but it passes into tissue and blood only when it has been changed from its original form. So it is with the food which nourishes our higher nature,—we should see to it that whatever we have absorbed should not be allowed to remain unchanged, or it will be no part of us. We must digest it; otherwise it will merely enter the memory and not the reasoning power. Let us loyally welcome such foods and make them our own, so that something that is one may be formed out of many elements, just as one number is formed of several elements whenever, by our reckoning, lesser sums, each different from the others, are brought together. This is what our mind should do: it should hide away all the materials by which it has been aided, and bring to light only what it has made of them. Even if there shall appear in you a likeness to him who, by reason of your admiration, has left a deep impress upon you, I would have you resemble him as a child resembles his father, and not as a picture resembles its original ; for a picture is a lifeless thing.

« What,” you say, “will it not be seen whose style you are imitating, whose method of reasoning, whose pungent sayings?’’ J think that sometimes it is impossible for it to be seen who is being imitated, if the copy is a true one; for a true copy stamps its own form upon all the features which it has drawn from what we may call the original, in such a way that they are combined into a unity. Do you not see how many voices there are in a chorus? Yet out of the many only one voice results. In that chorus one voice takes the tenor, another the bass,

281

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

media. Accedunt viris feminae, interponuntur tibiae. 10 Singulorum illic latent voces, omnium apparent. De choro dico, quem veteres philosophi noverant; in commissionibus nostris plus cantorum est quam in theatris olim spectatorum fuit. Cum omnes vias ordo canentium inplevit et cavea aenatoribus! cincta est et ex pulpito omne tibiarum genus organorumque consonuit, fit concentus ex dissonis. Talem animum nostrum esse volo; multae in illo artes, multa praecepta sint, multarum aetatum 11 exempla, sed in unum conspirata. “ Quomodo,” in- quis, “hoe effici poterit?’’ Adsidua intentione; si nihil egerimus nisi ratione suadente. Hance si audire volueris, dicet tibi: relinque ista iamdudum, ad quae discurritur. Relinque divitias, aut periculum possi- dentium aut onus. Relinque corporis atque animi voluptates; molliunt et enervant. Relinque am- bitum ; tumida res est, vana, ventosa, nullum habet terminum, tam sollicita est, ne quem ante se videat, quam ne quem post se. Laborat invidia et quidem duplici ; vides autem, quam miser sit, si is cui invide- tur et invidet. 12 Intueris illas potentium domos, illa tumultuosa rixa salutantium limina? Multum habent contu- 1 qenatoribus Buecheler; aeneatoribus VPb; cantoribus

Arg.b ; a venatoribus later MSS. 2 ne quem post se Hense ; ne se VWPb; ne post se later MSS.

@ Commissio means an entertainment, or a concert; cf, Pliny, Panegyric 54, ludis et commissionibus.

282

EPISTLE LXXXIV.

another the baritone. There are women, too, as well as men, and the flute is mingled with them. In that chorus the voices of the individual singers are hidden; what we hear is the voices of all together. To be sure, I am referring to the chorus which the old-time philosophers knew; in our present - day exhibitions “ we have a larger number of singers than there used to be spectators in the theatres of old. All the aisles are filled with rows of singers; brass instruments surround the auditorium; the stage resounds with flutes and instruments of every description; and yet from the discordant sounds a harmony is produced.

I would have my mind of such a quality as this ; it should be equipped with many arts, many precepts, and patterns of conduct taken from many epochs of history ; but all should blend harmoniously into one. « How,’ you ask, “can this be accomplished?” By constant effort, and by doing nothing without the approval of reason. And if you are willing to hear her voice, she will say to you: ‘ Abandon those pursuits which heretofore have caused you to run hither and thither. Abandon riches, which are either a danger or a burden to the possessor. Abandon the pleasures of the body and of the mind ; they only soften and weaken you. Abandon your quest for office; it is a swollen, idle, and empty thing, a thing that has no goal, as anxious to see no one outstrip it as to see no one at its heels. It is afflicted with envy, and in truth with a twofold envy ; and you see how wretched a man’s plight is if he who is the object of envy feels envy also.”

Do you behold yonder homes of the great, yonder thresholds uproarious with the brawling of those who would pay their respects? They have many

VOL. II K 283

13

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

meliarum, ut intres, plus, cum intraveris. Praeteri istos gradus divitum et magno adgestu suspensa vestibula; non in praerupto tantum istic stabis, sed in lubrico. Huc potius te ad sapientiam derige tran- quillissimasque res eius et simul amplissimas pete. (Juaecumque videntur eminere in rebus humanis, quamvis pusilla sint et comparatione humillimorum extent, per difficiles tamen et arduos tramites adeun- tur. Confragosa in fastigium dignitatis via est; at si conscendere hunce verticem libet, cui se fortuna sum- misit, omnia quidem sub te, quae pro excelsissimis habentur, aspicies, sed tamen venies ad summa per planum. VALE.

LXXXV.

Seneca LyciLio svo SALVTEM

Peperceram tibi et quicquid nodosi adhuc super- erat, praeterieram, contentus quasi gustum tibi dare eorum, quae a nostris dicuntur, ut probetur virtus ad explendam beatam vitam sola satis efficax. Iubes me quicquid est interrogationum aut nostrarum aut ad traductionem nostram excogitatarum comprendere. Quod si facere voluero, non erit epistula, sed liber. Illud totiens testor, hoc me argumentorum genere

@ For such treatment cf. Juvenal iii. 152 f.—

Nil habet infelix paupertas durius in se Quam quod ridiculos homines facit, ete.

’ Such as that in Hp. lxxxiii. 9 (constructed, however, by Seneca himself) dormienti nemo secretum sermonem com- mittit, etc. See ad loc. and n.

284

EPISTLES LXXXIV., LXXXV.

an insult” for you as you enter the door, and still more after you have entered. Pass by the steps that mount to rich men’s houses, and the porches rendered hazardous by the huge throng; for there you will be standing, not merely on the edge of a precipice but also on slippery ground. Instead of this, direct your course hither to wisdom, and seek her ways, which are ways of surpassing peace and plenty. Whatever seems conspicuous in the affairs of men—however petty it may really be and prominent only by contrast with the lowest objects—is nevertheless approached by a difficult and toilsome pathway. It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness; but if you desire to scale this peak, which lies far above the range of Fortune, you will indeed look down from above upon all that men regard as most lofty, but none the less you can proceed to the top over level ground. Farewell.

LXXXV. ON SOME VAIN SYLLOGISMS

I had been inclined to spare you, and had omitted any knotty problems that still remained undiscussed ; I was satisfied to give you a sort of taste of the views held by the men of our school, who desire to prove that virtue is of itself sufficiently capable of rounding out the happy life. But now you bid me - include the entire bulk either of our own syllogisms or of those which have been devised? by other schools for the purpose of belittling us. If I shall be willing to do this, the result will be a book, instead of a letter. And I declare again and again that I take no pleasure in such proofs. I am ashamed to

285

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

non delectari. Pudet in aciem descendere pro dis hominibusque susceptam subula armatum.

2 © Qui prudens est, et temperans est. Qui tempe- rans est, et constans. Qui constans est, inpertur- batus est. Qui inperturbatus est, sine tristitia est. Qui sine tristitia est, beatus est; ergo prudens beatus est et prudentia ad beatam vitam satis est.”

3 Huie collectioni hoe modo Peripatetici quidam respondent, ut inperturbatum et constantem et sine tristitia sic interpretentur, tamquam inperturbatus di- catur, qui raro perturbatur et modice, non qui num- quam. Item sine tristitia eum dici aiunt, qui non est obnoxius tristitiae nec frequens nimiusve in hoc vitio. Illud enim humanam naturam negare, alicuius animum inmunem esse tristitia. Sapientem non vinci maerore, ceterum tangi. Et cetera in hunc modum

4 sectae suae respondentia. Non his tollunt adfectus, sed temperant. Quantulum autem sapienti damus, si inbecillissimis fortior est et maestissimis laetior et effrenatissimis moderatior et humillimis maior? Quid, si miretur velocitatem suam Ladas! ad claudos debilesque respiciens ?

Illa vel intactae segetis per summa volaret Gramina nec cursu teneras laesisset aristas,

Vel mare per medium fluctu suspensa tumenti Ferret iter celeres nec tingueret aequore plantas,

1 Ladas Lipsius ; lawdans VPb.

@ Cf. Lp. Ixxxii. 24 subula leonem excipis ?

’ K. V. Arnold (Roman Stoicism, p. 333) calls attention to the passion of anger, for example, which the Peripatetics believed should be kept under control, but not stamped out.

¢ Vergil, Aeneid, vii. 808 ff. The lines describe Camilla, the Volscian warrior-huntress,

286

EPISTLE LXXXV.

enter the arena and undertake battle on behalf of gods and men armed only with an awl.@

“He that possesses prudence is also self- restrained ; he that possesses self- restraint is also unwavering ; he that is unwavering is unperturbed ; he that is unperturbed is free from sadness; he that is free from sadness is happy. Therefore, the prudent man is happy, and prudence is sufficient to constitute the happy life.”

Certain of the Peripatetics ° reply to this syllogism by interpreting “unperturbed,” “unwavering,” and “free from sadness”’ in such a way as to make “ un- perturbed” mean one who is rarely perturbed and only to a moderate degree, and not one who is never perturbed. Likewise, they say that a person is called “free from sadness’’ who is not subject to sadness, one who falls into this objectionable state not often nor in too great a degree. It is not, they say, the way of human nature that a man’s spirit should be exempt from sadness, or that the wise man is not overcome by grief but is merely touched by it, and other arguments of this sort, all in accordance with the teachings of their school. They do not abolish the passions in this way; they only moderate them. But how petty is the superiority which we attribute to the wise man, if he is merely braver than the most craven, happier than the most dejected, more self-controlled than the most unbridled, and greater than the lowliest! Would Ladas boast his swiftness in running by comparing himself with the halt and the weak ?

For she could skim the topmost blades of corn And touch them not, nor bruise the tender ears ; Or travel over seas, well-poised above

The swolien floods, nor dip her flying feet

In ocean’s waters.°

287

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

Haec est pernicitas per se aestimata, non quae tardis- simorum conlatione laudatur. Quid, si sanum voces leviter febricitantem? Non est bona valitudo medio-

5 critas morbi. “ Sic,’ inquit, “sapiens inperturbatus dicitur, quomodo apyrina dicuntur, non quibus nulla inest duritia granorum, sed quibus minor.” Falsum est. Non enim deminutionem malorum in bono viro intellego, sed vacationem; nulla debent esse, non parva. Nam si ulla sunt, crescent et interim in- pedient. Quomodo oculos maior et perfecta suffusio excaecat, sic modica turbat.

6 Si das aliquos adfectus sapienti, inpar illis erit ratio et velut torrente quodam auferetur, praesertim cum illi non unum adfectum des,! cum quo con- luctetur, sed omnis. Plus potest quamvis mediocrium

7 turba quam posset unius magni violentia. Habet pecuniae cupiditatem, sed modicam. Habet am- bitionem, sed non concitatam. MHabet iracundiam, sed placabilem. Habet inconstantiam, sed minus vagam ac mobilem. MHabet libidinem non insanam. Melius cum illo ageretur, qui unum vitium integrum haberet, quam cum eo, qui leviora quidem, sed omnia.

8 Deinde nihil interest, quam magnus sit adfectus ;

1 des later MSS. ; sed Pb; sit corr. from sed V.

a Seneca uses suffusio of jaundice in Ep. xev. 16. Celsus, vii. 7. 14, explains the cause of cataracts, vel ex morbo vel ex ictu concrescit humor, and outlines the treatment.

288

EPISTLE LXXXV.,

This is speed estimated by its own standard, not the kind which wins praise by comparison with that which is slowest. Would you call a man well who has a light case of fever? No, for good health does not mean moderate illness. They say, “The wise man is called unperturbed in the sense in which pomegranates are called mellow—not that there is no hardness at all in their seeds, but that the hardness is less than it was before.” That view is wrong ; for I am not referring to the gradual weeding out of evils in a good man, but to the complete absence of evils; there should be in him no evils at all, not even any small ones. For if there are any, they will grow, and as they grow will hamper him. Just as a large and complete cataract “ wholly blinds the eyes, so a medium-sized cataract dulls their vision.

If by your definition the wise man has any passions whatever, his reason will be no match for them and will be carried swiftly along, as it were, on a rushing stream,—particularly if you assign to him, not one passion with which he must wrestle, but all the passions. And a throng of such, even though they be moderate, can affect him more than the violence of one powerful passion. He has a craving for money, although in a moderate degree. He has ambition, but it is not yet fully aroused. He has a hot temper, but it can be appeased. He has inconstancy, but not the kind that is very capricious or easily set in motion. He has lust, but not the violent kind. We could deal better with a person who possessed one full-fledged vice, than with one who possessed all the vices, but none of them in extreme form. Again, it makes no difference how great the passion is; no matter what its size may

289

10

11

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

quantuscumque est, parere nescit, consilium non accipit. Quemadmodum rationi nullum animal optemperat, non ferum, non domesticum et mite, natura enim illorum est surda suadenti; sic non secuntur, non audiunt adfectus, quantulicumque sunt. Tigres leonesque numquam feritatem exuunt, aliquando summittunt, et cum minime expectaveris, exasperatur torvitas mitigata. Numquam bona fide vitia mansuescunt. Deinde, si ratio proficit, ne in- cipient quidem adfectus; si invita ratione coeperint, invita perseverabunt. Facilius est enim initia illo- rum prohibere quam impetum regere. Falsa est ita- que ista mediocritas et inutilis, eodem loco habenda, quo si quis diceret modice insaniendum, modice aegrotandum. Sola virtus habet, non _ recipiunt animi mala temperamentum. Facilius sustuleris illa quam rexeris. Numquid dubium est, quin vitia mentis humanae inveterata et dura, quae morbos vocamus, inmoderata sint, ut avaritia, ut crudelitas, ut inpotentia!? Ergo inmoderati sunt et adfectus. Ab his enim ad illa transitur. Deinde si das aliquid juris tristitiae, timori, cupiditati, ceteris motibus ? pravis, non erunt in nostra potestate. Quare? Quia extra nos sunt, quibus inritantur. Itaque crescent, prout magnas habuerint? minoresve causas, quibus concitentur. Maior erit timor, si plus, quo exter- reatur, aut propius aspexerit, acrior cupiditas, quo 1 inpietas, after inpotentia, removed by Madvig as a gloss; inpotentia later MSS. ; innocentia VPb ; inimicitia V?.

2 motibus later MSS. ; moribus VPb. 3 habuerint later MSS. ; habuerunt VPb.

# Another reply to the Peripatetic claim of § 3. 290

EPISTLE LXXXV.,

be, it knows no obedience, and does not welcome advice. Just as no animal, whether wild or tamed and gentle, obeys reason, since nature made it deaf to advice; so the passions do not follow or listen, however slight they are. Tigers and lions never put off their wildness ; they sometimes moderate it, and then, when you are least prepared, their softened fierceness is roused to madness. Vices are never genuinely tamed. Again, if reason prevails, the passions will not even get a start; but if they get under way against the will of reason, they will main- tain themselves against the will of reason. For it is easier to stop them in the beginning than to control them when they gather force. This half-way ground is accordingly misleading and useless; it is to be regarded just as the declaration that we ought to be “moderately” insane, or “moderately” ill. Virtue alone possesses moderation; the evils that afflict the mind do not admit of moderation. You can more easily remove than control them. Can one doubt that the vices of the human mind, when they have become chronic and callous (“ diseases” we call them), are beyond control, as, for example, greed, cruelty, and wantonness? Therefore the passions also are beyond control; for it is from the passions that we pass over to the vices. Again, if you grant any privileges to sadness, fear, desire, and all the other wrong impulses, they will cease to lie within our jurisdiction. And why? Simply because the means of arousing them lie outside our own power. They will accordingly increase in proportion as the causes by which they are stirred up are greater or less. Fear will grow to greater proportions, if that which causes the terror is seen to be of greater magnitude or in closer proximity ; and desire will grow keener

VOL. II K 2 291

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

12 illam amplioris rei spes evocaverit. Si in nostra

13

potestate non est, an sint adfectus, ne illud quidem est, quanti sint; si ipsis permisisti incipere, cum causis suis crescent tantique erunt, quanti fient. Adice nunc, quod ista, quamvis exigua sint, in maius excedunt. Numquam perniciosa servant modum. Quamvis levia initia morborum serpunt et aegra cor- pora minima interdum mergit accessio.

I}lud vero cuius dementiae est, credere, quarum rerum extra nostrum arbitrium posita principia sunt, earum nostri esse arbitrii terminos? Quomodo ad id finiendum satis valeo, ad quod prohibendum parum

valui, cum facilius sit excludere quam admissa con-

14 primere? Quidam ita distinxerunt, ut dicerent:

15

‘‘Temperans ac prudens positione quidem mentis et habitu tranquillus est, eventu non est. Nam, quan- tum ad habitum mentis suae, non perturbatur, nec contristatur nec timet, sed multae extrinsecus causae incidunt, quae illi perturbationem adferant.” Tale est, quod volunt dicere: iracundum quidem illum non esse, irasci tamen aliquando; et timidum quidem non esse, timere tamen aliquando; id est, vitio timoris carere, adfectu non carere. Quod si recipitur, usu frequenti timor transibit in vitium, et ira in

¢ For this topic of emotions as possible sources of the vices cf. Cicero, Zuse. iv. 10 ex perturbationibus autem primum morbi conficiuntur. . . . Hoc loco nimium operae con- sumitur a Stoicis.

292

EPISTLE LXXXV.

in proportion as the hope of a greater gain has summoned it to action. If the existence of the passions is not in our own control, neither is the extent of their power; for if you once permit them to get a start, they will increase along with their causes, and they will be of whatever extent they shall grow to be. Moreover, no matter how small these vices are, they grow greater. That which is harmful never keeps within bounds. No matter how trifling diseases are at the beginning, they creep on apace ; and sometimes the slightest augmentation of disease lays low the enfeebled body !

But what folly it is, when the beginnings of certain things are situated outside our control, to believe that their endings are within our control! How have I the power to bring something to a close, when [I have not had the power to check it at the beginning? For it is easier to keep a thing out than to keep it under after you have let it in. Some men have made a distinction as follows, say- ing: “If a man has self-control and wisdom, he is indeed at peace as regards the attitude and habit of his mind, but not as regards the outcome. For, as far as his habit of mind is concerned, he is not per- turbed, or saddened, or afraid; but there are many extraneous causes which strike him and bring per- turbation upon him.” What they mean to say is this: “So-and-so is indeed not a man of an angry disposition, but still he sometimes gives way to anger,” and “He is not, indeed, inclined to fear, but still he sometimes experiences fear’’; in other words, he is free from the fault, but is not free from the passion of fear. If, however, fear is once given an entrance, it will by frequent use pass over into a vice ;% and anger, once admitted into the mind, will

293

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

animum admissa habitum illum ira carentis animi

16 retexet. Praeterea si non contemnit venientes ex-

trinsecus causas et aliquid timet, cum fortiter eundum erit adversus tela, ignes, pro patria, legibus, libertate, cunctanter exibit et animo recedente. Non cadit

17 autem in sapientem haec diversitas mentis.

Illud praeterea iudico observandum, ne duo, quae separatim probanda sunt, misceamus. Per se enim colligitur unum bonum esse, quod honestum, per se rursus, ad vitam beatam satis esse virtutem. Si unum bonum est, quod honestum, omnes concedunt ad beate vivendum sufficere virtutem ; e contrario non remit- tetur, si beatum sola virtus facit, unum bonum esse,

18 quod honestum est. Xenocrates et Speusippus

19

putant beatum vel sola virtute fieri posse, non tamen unum bonum esse, quod honestum est. Epicurus quogue iudicat eum qui! virtutem habeat, beatum esse, sed ipsam virtutem non satis esse ad beatam vitam, quia beatum efficiat voluptas, quae ex virtute est, non ipsa virtus. Inepta distinctio. Idem enim negat umquam virtutem esse sine voluptate ; ita si el iuncta semper est atque inseparabilis, et sola satis est. Habet enim secum voluptatem, sine qua non est, etiam cum sola est. Illud autem absurdum est, quod dicitur beatum quidem futurum vel sola virtute, non futurum autem perfecte beatum. Quod quem-

1 judicat eum qui Koch, on the authority of MSS. cited by Fickert ; tudicat cwm MSS.

@ Representing the views of the Academic School. > Frag. 508 Usener.

294

EPISTLE LXXXV.

alter the earlier habit of a mind that was formerly free from anger. Besides, if the wise man, instead of despising all causes that come from without, ever fears anything, when the time arrives for him to go bravely to meet the spear, or the flames, on behalf of his country, his laws, and his liberty, he will go forth reluctantly and with flagging spirit. Such inconsistency of mind, however, does not suit the character of a wise man.

Then, again, we should see to it that two principles which ought to be tested separately should not be confused. For the conclusion is reached independently that that alone is good which is honourable, and again independently the conclusion that virtue is sufficient for the happy life. If that alone is good which is honourable, everyone agrees that virtue is sufficient for the purpose of living happily ; but, on the contrary, if virtue alone makes men happy, it will not be conceded that that alone is good which is honourable. Xenocrates* and Speusippus® hold that a man can become happy even by virtue alone, not, however, that that which is honourable is the only good. FEpicurus also decides ® that one who possesses virtue is happy, but that virtue of itself is not sufficient for the happy life, because the pleasure that results from virtue, and not virtue itself, makes one happy. This is a futile distinction. For the same philosopher declares that virtue never exists without pleasure; and therefore, if virtue is always connected with pleasure and always inseparable therefrom, virtue is of itself sufficient. For virtue keeps pleasure in its company, and does not exist without it, even when alone. But it is absurd to say that a man will be happy by virtue alone, and yet not absolutely happy. I

295

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

admodum fieri possit, non reperio. Beata enim vita bonum in se perfectum habet, inexsuperabile. Quod

si est, perfecte beata est. Si deorum vita nihil habet maius aut melius, beata autem vita divina est; nihil habet, in quod amplius 20 possit attolli. Praeterea si beata vita nullius est in- digens, omnis beata vita perfecta est eademque est et beata et beatissima. Numquid dubitas, quin beata vita summum bonum sit? Ergo si summum bonum habet, summe beata est. Quemadmodum summum bonum adiectionem non recipit (quid enim supra summum erit?), ita ne beata quidem vita, quae sine summo bono non est. Quod si aliquem magis beatum induxeris, induces et multo magis ; innumerabilia dis- crimina summi boni facies, cum. summum bonum in- 21 tellegam, quod supra se gradum non habet. Si est aliquis minus beatus quam alius, sequitur, ut hic alterius vitam beatioris magis concupiscat quam suam. Beatus autem nihil suae praefert. Utrum- libet ex his incredibile est: aut aliquid beato restare, quod esse quam quod est malit, aut id illum non malle, quod illo! melius est. Utique enim quo prudentior est, hoc magis se ad id, quod est optimum, extendet et id omni modo consequi cupiet. Quomodo autem beatus est, qui cupere etiamnunc potest, immo 22 qui debet? Dicam, quid sit, ex quo veniat hic error:

1 {llo later MSS. ; tlla VPb. 296

EPISTLE LXXXV.

cannot discover how that may be, since the happy life contains in itself a good that is perfect and cannot be excelled. Ifa man has this good, life is completely happy.

Now if the life of the gods contains nothing greater or better, and the happy life is divine, then there is no further height to which a man can be raised. Also, if the happy life is in want of nothing, then every happy life is perfect ; it is happy and at the same time most happy. Have you any doubt that the happy life is the Supreme Good? Accordingly, if it possesses the Supreme Good, it is supremely happy. Just as the Supreme Good does not admit of increase (for what will be superior to that which is supreme ?), exactly so the happy life cannot be increased either ; for it is not without the Supreme Good. If then you bring in one man who is “happier” than another, you will also bring in one who is “much happier” ; you will then be making countless distinctions in the Supreme Good; although I understand the Supreme Good to be that good which admits of no degree above itself. If one person is less happy than another, it follows that he eagerly desires the life of that other and happier man in preference to his own. But the happy man prefers no other man’s life to hisown. Either of these two things is incredible: that there should be anything left for a happy man to wish for in preference to what is, or that he should not prefer the thing which is better than what he already has. For certainly, the more prudent he is, the more he will strive after the best, and he will desire to attain it by every possible means. But how can one be happy who is still able, or rather who is still bound, to crave something else? I will tell you what is the

297

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

nesciunt beatam vitam unam esse. In optimo illam statu ponit qualitas sua, non magnitudo. Itaque in aequo est longa et brevis, diffusa et angustior, in multa loca multasque partes distributa et in unum coacta. Qui illam numero aestimat et mensura et partibus, id illi, quod habet eximium, eripit. Quid autem est in beata vita eximium? Quod plena est.

23 Finis, ut puto, edendi bibendique satietas est. Hic plus edit, ille minus; quid refert? Uterque iam satur est. Hic plus bibit, ille minus; quid refert? Uterque non sitit. Hic pluribus annis vixit, hic paucioribus; nihil interest, si tam illum multi anni beatum fecerunt quam hunc pauci. Ille, quem tu minus beatum vocas, non est beatus; non _ potest nomen inminui.

94 © Qui fortis est, sine timore est. Qui sine timore est, sine tristitia est. Qui sine tristitia est, beatus est.’ Nostrorum haec interrogatio est. Adversus hance sic respondere conantur: falsam nos rem et con- troversiosam pro confessa vindicare, eum, qui fortis est, sine timore esse. “Quid ergo?” inquit, “ fortis inminentia mala non timebit? Istuc dementis alienati- que, non fortis est. TIlle vero,” inquit, “‘ moderatis- sime timet, sed in totum extra metum non est.”

25 Qui hoe dicunt, rursus in idem revolvuntur, ut illis

@ The happy life constitutes virtue ; and virtue, as Seneca says so often, is absolute, permitting neither increase nor diminution.

298

EPISTLE LXXXV.

source of this error: men do not understand that the happy life is a unit; for it is its essence, and not its extent, that establishes such a life on the noblest plane. Hence there is complete equality between the life that is long and the life that is short, between that which is spread out and that which is confined, between that whose influence is felt in many places and in many directions, and that which is restricted to one interest. Those who reckon life by number, or by measure, or by parts, rob it of its distinctive quality. Now, in the happy life, what is the dis- tinctive quality? Itis its fulness. Satiety, I think, is the limit to our eating or drinking. A eats more and B eats less; what difference does it make? Each is now sated. Or A drinks more and B drinks less; what difference does it make? LKach is no longer thirsty. Again, A lives for many years and B for fewer; no matter, if only A’s many years have brought as much happiness as B’s few years. He whom you maintain to be “less happy” is not happy; the word admits of no diminution.

“ He who is brave is fearless; he who is fearless is free from sadness; he who is free from sadness is happy.” It is our own school which has framed this syllogism ; they attempt to refute it by this answer, namely, that we Stoics are assuming as admitted a premiss which is false and distinctly controverted, —that the brave man is fearless. “ What!” they say, “will the brave man have no fear of evils that threaten him? That would be the condition of a madman, a lunatic, rather than of a brave man. The brave man will, it is true, feel fear in only a very slight degree; but he is not absolutely free from fear.’”’ Now those who assert this are doub- ling back to their old argument, in that they regard

299

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

virtutum loco sint minora vitia. Nam qui timet quidem, sed rarius et minus, non caret malitia, sed leviore vexatur. “At enim dementem puto, qui mala imminentia non extimescit.”” WVerum est, quod dicis, si mala sunt; sed si scit mala illa non esse et unam tantum turpitudinem malum iudicat, debebit secure pericula aspicere et aliis timenda contemnere. Aut si stulti et amentis est mala non timere, quo quis 26 prudentior est, hoc timebit magis. “Ut vobis,”’ inquit, “videtur, praebebit se periculis fortis.” Minime; non timebit illa, sed vitabit. Cautio illum decet, timor non decet. “Quid ergo?” inquit, “mortem, vincla, ignes, alia tela fortunae non timebit?” Non. Scit enim illa non esse mala, sed videri. Omnia ista 27 humanae vitae formidines! putat. Describe captivi- tatem, verbera, catenas, egestatem et membrorum lacerationés vel per morbum vel per iniuriam et quic- quid aliud adtuleris: inter lymphatos metus numerat. Ista timidis timenda sunt. An id existimas malum, ad quod aliquando nobis nostra sponte veniendum est? 98 Quaeris quid sit malum? Cedere iis, quae mala

vocantur, et illis libertatem suam dedere, pro qua

1 Hense would add inanes after either humanae or formi- dines.

@ i.¢,, thereby allowing the aforesaid increase or diminu- tion in virtue.

> For the argument compare J’p. Ixxxii. 7 ff.—the topic, contra mortem te praeparare.

800

EPISTLE LXXXV.

vices of less degree as equivalent to virtues.* For indeed the man who does feel fear, though he feels it rather seldom and to a slight degree, is not free from wickedness, but is merely troubled by it in a milder form. “Not so,’ is the reply, “for I hold that a man is mad if he does not fear evils which hang over his head.” What you say is perfectly true, if the things which threaten are really evils ; but if he knows that they are not evils and believes that the only evil is baseness, he will be bound to face dangers without anxiety and to despise things which other men cannot help fearing. Or, if it is the characteristic of a fool and a madman not to fear evils, then the wiser a man is the more he will fear such things! “It is the doctrine of you Stoics, then,’ they reply, “that a brave man will expose himself to dangers.’” By no means; he will merely not fear them, though he will avoid them. It is proper for him to be careful, but not to be fearful.? “What then? Is he not to fear death, imprison- ment, burning, and all the other missiles of Fortune ?”’ Not at all ; for he knows that they are not evils, but only seem to be. He reckons all these things as the bugbears of man’s existence. Paint him a picture of slavery, lashes, chains, want, mutilation by disease or by torture,—or any thing else you may care to mention; he will count all such things as terrors caused by the derangement of the mind. These things are only to be feared by those who are fearful. Or do you regard as an evil that to which some day we may be compelled to resort of our own free will ?

What then, you ask, isanevil? Itis the yielding to those things which are called evils; it is the surrendering of one’s liberty into their control, when really we ought to suffer all things in order to pre-

301

29

30

ee

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

cuncta patienda sunt. Perit libertas, nisi illa con- temnimus, quae nobis iugum inponunt. Non dubi- tarent, quid conveniret forti viro, si scirent, quid esset fortitudo. Non est enim inconsulta temeritas nec periculorum amor nec formidabilium adpetitio ; scientia est distinguendi, quid sit malum et quid non sit. Diligentissima in tutela sui! fortitudo est et eadem patientissima eorum, quibus falsa species malorum est. “Quid ergo? Si ferrum intentatur cervicibus viri fortis, si pars subinde alia atque alia suffoditur, si viscera sua in sinu suo vidit, si ex inter- vallo, quo magis tormenta sentiat, repetitur et per adsiccata viscera recens demittitur sanguis, non timet? Istum tu dices nec dolere?”’ Iste vero dolet. Sensum enim hominis nulla exuit virtus. Sed non timet; invictus ex alto dolores suos spectat. Quaeris quis tune animus illi sit? Qui aegrum ami- cum adhortantibus.

“ Quod maium est, nocet. Quod nocet, deteriorem facit. Dolor et paupertas deteriorem ‘non faciunt ; ergo mala non sunt.” “ Falsum est,” inquit, “ quod proponitis ; non enim, si quid nocet, etiam deteriorem facit. Tempestas et procella nocet gubernatori, non tamen illum deterioremefacit.” Quidam e Stoicis ita adversus hoe respondent: deteriorem fieri guberna-

1 sui later MSS. ; vi VPb.

@ Besides this definition (a standard Stoic one) of the third cardinal virtue, we also find ‘*a knowledge of what to choose and what to avoid,” ‘* knowing how to endure things,” and finally ‘* the will to undertake great enterprises.”

302

EPISTLE LXXXV.

serve this liberty. Liberty is lost unless we despise those things which put the yoke upon our necks, If men knew what bravery was, they would have no doubts as to what a brave man’s conduct should be. For bravery is not thoughtless rashness, or love of danger, or the courting of fear-inspiring objects; it is the knowledge which enables us to distinguish between that which is evil and that which is not. Bravery takes the greatest care of itself, and likewise endures with the greatest patience all things which have a false appearance of being evils. “ What then?” is the query; “if the sword is brandished over your brave man’s neck, if he is pierced in this place and in that continually, if he sees his entre:!- in his lap, if he is tortured again after being kept wait- ing in order that he may thus feel the torture more keenly, and if the blood flows afresh out of bowels where it has but lately ceased to flow, has he no fear? Shall you say that he has felt no pain either?” Yes, he has felt pain; for no human virtue can rid itself of feelings. But he has no fear; unconquered he looks down from a lofty height upon his sufferings. Do you ask me what spirit animates him in these circumstances? It is the spirit of one who is comfort- ing a sick friend.

“That which is evil does harm; that which does harm makes a man worse. But pain and poverty do not make a man worse; there! -e they are not evils.” ‘Your proposition,” -says the objector, “is wrong; for what harms one dcvs not necessarily make one worse. The storm and the squall work harm to the pilot, but they do not make a worse pilot of him for all that.” Certain of the Stoic school reply to this argument as follows: “The pilot becomes a worse pilot because of storms or

303

32

33

34

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

tore tempestate ac procella, quia non possit id, quod proposuit, efficere nec tenere cursum suum ; deterio- rem illum in arte sua non fieri, in opere fieri. Quibus Peripateticus “ergo,” inquit, “et sapientem deterio- rem faciet paupertas, dolor et quicquid aliud tale fuerit. Virtutem enim illi non eripiet, sed opera eius inpediet.’’ Hoc recte diceretur, nisi dissimilis esset gubernatoris condicio et sapientis. Huic enim propositum est in vita agenda non utique, quod temp- tat, efficere, sed omnia recte facere. Gubernatori propositum est utique navem in portum perducere. Artes ministrae sunt, praestare debent, quod promit- tunt. Sapientia domina rectrixque est; artes serviunt vitae, sapientia imperat.

Ego aliter respondendum iudico: nec artem guber- natoris deteriorem ulla tempestate fieri nec ipsam ad- ministrationem artis. Gubernator tibi non felicitatem promisit, sed utilem operam et navis regendae scien- tiam. Haec eo magis apparet, quo illi magis aliqua fortuita vis obstitit. Qui hoc potuit dicere “ Neptune, numquam hance navem nisi rectam,” arti satis fecit ; tempestas non opus gubernatoris impedit, sed succes- sum. “ Quid ergo?”’ inquit, “non nocet gubernatori ea res, quae illum tenere portum vetat, quae conatus eius inritos efficit, quae aut refert illum aut detinet

@ Cf. Diogenes Laertius, ii. 79 rods Tov éyKuKNiwy mavdevudTwy peTacxivTas, Pirocodpias bé amoderpOévTas, dmolous érevyev elvat Tots THS Il yvedomys uynoTi pow.

> The figure of the pilot is a frequent one in philosophy, from Plato down. See Seneca, /’p. viii. 4. The same argument, as applied to the musician, is found in Ep, Ixxxvii. 12 ff 304

EPISTLE LXXXV.

squalls, inasmuch as he cannot carry cut his purpose and hold to his course; as far as his art is concerned, he becomes no worse a pilot, but in his work he does become worse.” To this the Peripatetics retort : “Therefore, poverty will make even the wise man worse, and so will pain, and so will anything else of that sort. For although those things will not rob him of his virtue, yet they will hinder the work of virtue.” This would be a correct statement, were it not for the fact that the pilot and the wise man are two different kinds of person. ‘The wise man’s purpose in conducting his life is not to accomplish at all hazards what he tries, but to do all things rightly ; the pilot’s purpose, however, is to bring his ship into port at all hazards. The arts are hand- maids ;% they must accomplish what they promise to do. But wisdom is mistress and ruler. The arts render a slave’s service to life; wisdom issues the commands.

For myself, I maintain that a different answer should be given: that the pilot’s art is never made worse by the storm, nor the application of his art either. The pilot has promised you, not a prosperous voyage, but a serviceable performance of his task— that is, an expert knowledge of steering a ship. And the more he is hampered by the stress of fortune, so much the more does his knowledge become apparent. He who has been able to say, “Neptune, you shall never sink this ship except on an even keel,” ® has fulfilled the requirements of his art; the storm does not interfere with the pilot’s work, but only with his success. “What then,” you say, “is not a pilot harmed by any circumstance which does not permit him to make port, frustrates all his efforts, and either carries him out to sea, or

305

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

et exarmat?”’ Non tamquam gubernatori, sed tam- quam naviganti nocet; alioqui gubernator ille non est. Gubernatoris ! artem aden non inpedit, ut ostendat ; tranquillo enim, ut aiunt, quilibet gubernator est. Navigio ista obsunt, non rectori eius, qua rector est. 35 Duas personas habet gubernator: alteram communem cum omnibus, qui eandem conscenderunt navem: ipse quoque vector est; alteram propriam: gubernator est. ‘Tempestas tamquam vectori nocet, non tam- 36 quam gubernatori. Deinde gubernatoris ars alienum bonum est: ad eos, quos vehit, pertinet, quomodo medici ad eos, quos curat. Commune bonum est sapientis?: est et eorum, cum quibus vivit, et pro- prium ipsius. Itaque gubernatori fortasse noceatur,? cuius ministerium aliist promissum tempestate in- 37 peditur ; sapienti non nocetur a paupertate, non a dolore, non ab aliis tempestatibus vitae. Non enim prohibentur opera eius omnia, sed tantum ad alios pertinentia; ipse semper in actu est, in effectu tune maximus, cum illi fortuna se opposuit. Tune enim ipsius sapientiae negotium agit, quam 38 diximus et alienum bonum esse et suum. Prae- terea ne aliis quidem tune prodesse prohibetur, cum illum aliquae necessitates premunt. Propter paupertatem prohibetur docere, quemadmodum tractanda res publica sit, at illud docet, quemad- modum sit tractanda paupertas. Per totam vitam

opus eius extenditur. Ita nulla fortuna, nulla res actus sapientis excludit.

1 alioqui gubernator ille non est. gubernatoris Buecheler ; alioquin gubernatis V ; alioqui bnatoris P. 2 est sapientis added by Hense. 3 noceatur Schweighaeuser ; noccat MSS. * alvis later MSS. ; abits VP ; abhis b.

306

EPISTLE LXXXV.

holds the ship in irons, or strips her masts?” No, it does not harm him as a pilot, but only as a voyager ; otherwise, he is no pilot. It is indeed so far from hindering the pilot’s art that it even exhibits the art; for anyone, in the words of the proverb, is a pilot on a calm sea. These mishaps obstruct the voyage but not the steersman qua steersman. A pilot has a double réle: one he shares with all his fellow-passengers, for he also is a passenger; the other is peculiar to him, for he is the pilot. The storm harms him as a passenger, but not as a pilot. Again, the pilot’s art is another’s good—it concerns his passengers just as a physician’s art concerns his patients. But the wise man’s good is a common .- good—it belongs both to those in whose company he lives, and to himself also. Hence our pilot may perhaps be harmed, since his services, which have been promised to others, are hindered by the storm ; but the wise man is not harmed by poverty, or by pain, or by any other of life’s storms. For all his functions are not checked, but only those which pertain to others; he himself is always in action, and is greatest in performance at the very time when fortune has blocked his way. For then he is actually engaged in the business of wisdom; and this wisdom I have declared already to be both the good of others, and also his own. Besides, he is not prevented from helping others, even at the time when constraining circumstances press him down. Because of his poverty he is prevented from showing how the State should be handled; but he teaches, none the less, how poverty should be handled. His

work goes on throughout his whole life. Thus no fortune, no external circumstance, can shut off the wise man from action. For the very 307

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

Id enim ipsum agit, quo alia agere prohibetur. Ad utrosque casus aptus est: bonorum rector est, malo- 39 rum victor. Sic, inquam, se exercuit, ut virtutem tam in secundis quam in adversis exhiberet nec materiam eius, sed ipsam intueretur. Itaque nec paupertas illum nec dolor nee quicquid aliud imperi- tos avertit et praecipites agit, prohibet. Tu illum 40 premi putas malis? Utitur. Non ex ebore tantum Phidias sciebat facere simulacra; faciebat ex aere. Si marmor illi, si adhuc viliorem materiam obtulisses, fecisset, quale ex illa fieri optimum posset. Sic sapiens virtutem, si licebit, in divitiis explicabit, si minus, in paupertate; si poterit, in patria, si minus, in exilio; si poterit, imperator, si minus, miles; si poterit, integer, si minus, debilis. Quamcumque fortunam acceperit, aliquid ex illa meimorabile efficiet. 4} Certi sunt domitores ferarum, qui saevissima ani- malia et ad occursum expavescenda! hominem pati subigunt ? nec asperitatem excussisse contenti usque in contubernium mitigant. Leonibus magister manum insertat, osculatur tigrim suus custos, elephantum minimus Aethiops iubet subsidere in genua et ambu- lare per funem. Sic sapiens artifex est domandi mala. Dolor, egestas, ignominia, carcer, exilium

1 expavescenda Gertz; expavescentia VPb. 2 subigunt Ludwig von Jan; sub iugum VPb.

« Cf. De Ben. i. 5 leonum ora a magistris inpune tractantur.

> Cf. Suet. Galba 6: atthe Floralia Galba novum spectaculi genus elephantos funambulos edidit ; also id. Nero, 1], and Pliny, V.H. viii. 2.

308

EPISTLE LXXXV.,

thing which engages his attention prevents him from attending to other things. He is ready for either outcome: if it brings goods, he controls them; if evils, he conquers them. So thoroughly, I mean, has he schooled himself that he makes manifest his virtue in prosperity as well as in adversity, and keeps his eyes on virtue itself, not on the objects with which virtue deals. Hence neither poverty, nor pain, nor anything else that deflects the inexperienced and drives them headlong, restrains him from his course. Do you suppose that he is weighed down by evils? He makes use of them. It was not of ivory only that Phidias knew how to make statues; he also made statues of bronze. If you had given him marble, or a still meaner material, he would have made of it the best statue that the material would permit. So the wise man will develop virtue, if he may, in the midst of wealth, or, if not, in poverty; if possible, in his own country—if not, in exile; if possible, as a commander—if not, as a common soldier; if possible, in sound health—if not, enfeebled. Whatever fortune he finds, he will

accomplish therefrom something noteworthy. Animal-tamers are unerring; they take the most savage animals, which may well terrify those who encounter them, and subdue them to the will of man; not content with having driven out their ferocity, they even tame them so that they dwell in the same abode. The trainer puts his hand into the lion’s mouth®; the tiger is kissed by his “keeper... The’ tiny “Acthiopian “orders ‘‘the elephant to sink down on its knees, or to walk the rope.? Similarly, the wise man is a skilled hand at taming evils. Pain, want, disgrace, im- prisonment, exile,—these are universally to be 309

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

ubique horrenda, cum ad hunc pervenere, mansueta sunt«? VALE:

LXXXVI.

Seneca LyvciLio svo SALVTEM

1 In ipsa Scipionis Africani villa iacens haec tibi scribo adoratis manibus eius et ara, quam sepulchrum esse tanti viri suspicor. Animum quidem eius in caelum, ex quo erat, redisse persuadeo mihi, non quia magnos exercitus duxit, hos enim et Cambyses furio- sus ac furore feliciter usus habuit, sed ob egregiam moderationem pietatemque, quam magis in illo ad- mirabilem iudico, cum reliquit patriam, quam cum defendit ; aut Scipio Romae esse debebat aut Roma

2 in libertate. “ Nihil,” inquit, “ volo derogare legibus, nihil institutis. Aequum inter omnes cives ius sit. Utere sine me beneficio meo, patria. Causa tibi libertatis fui, ero et argumentum ; exeo, si plus quam tibi expedit, crevi.”

3 Quidni ego admirer hance magnitudinem animi, qua in exilium voluntarium secessit et civitatem exoneravit? Eo perducta res erat, ut aut libertas Scipioni aut Scipio libertati faceret iniuriam. Neu- trum fas erat. Itaque locum dedit legibus et se

@ See E>. li. 11.

> Cf. Livy xxxvili. 53 morientem rure eo ipso loco sepeliri se lussisse ferunt monumentumque ibi aedificari.

¢ Herodotus iii. 25 éupavis te wy Kal ob ppevnpys.

310

EPISTLES LXXXV., LXXXVI.

feared; but when they encounter the wise man, they are tamed. Farewell.

LXXXVE, ON SCIPIO'’S., VILLA

I am resting at the country-house which once belonged to Scipio Africanus® himself; and I write to you after doing reverence to his spirit and to an altar which I am inclined to think is the tomb? of that great warrior. That his soul has indeed returned to the skies, whence it came, I am convinced, not because he commanded mighty armies—for Cambyses also had mighty armies, and Cambyses was a mad- man ¢ who made successful use of his madness—but because he showed moderation and a sense of duty to a marvellous extent. I regard this trait in him as more admirable after his withdrawal from his native land than while he was defending her; for there was the alternative: Scipio should remain in Rome, or Rome should remain free. “It is my wish,” said he, “not to infringe in the least upon our laws, or upon our customs; let all Roman citizens have equal rights. O my country, make the most of the good that I have done, but without me. I have been the cause of your freedom, and I shall also be its proof; I go into exile, if it is true that I have grown beyond what is to your advantage !”’

What can I do but admire this magnanimity, which led him to withdraw into voluntary exile and to relieve the state of its burden? Matters had gone so far that either liberty must work harm to Scipio, or Scipio to liberty. Either of these things was wrong in the sight of heaven. So he gave way

311

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

Liternum recepit tam suum exilium rei publicae in- putaturus quam Hannibalis.

4 Vidi villam extructam lapide quadrato, murum circumdatum silvae, turres quoque in propugnaculum villae utrimque subrectas, cisternam aedificiis ac viri- dibus subditam, quae sufficere in usum vel exercitus posset, balneolum angustum, tenebricosum ex con- suetudine antigua; non videbatur maioribus nostris caldum nisi obscurum. Magna ergo me voluptas

6 subiit contemplantem mores Scipionis ac nostros. In hoe angulo ille Carthaginis horror, cui Roma debet, quod tantum semel capta est, abluebat corpus labori- bus rusticis fessum. Exercebat enim opere se ter- ramque, ut mos fuit priscis, ipse subigebat. Sub hoc ille tecto tam sordido stetit, hoc illum pavimentum tam vile sustinuit.

6 At nunc guis est, qui sic lavari sustineat ? Pauper sibi videtur ac sordidus, nisi parietes magnis et pre- tiosis orbibus refulserunt, nisi Alexandrina marmora Numidicis crustis distincta sunt, nisi illis undique operosa et in picturae modum variata circumlitio praetexitur, nisi vitro absconditur camera, nisi Thasius lapis, quondam rarum in aliquo spectaculum templo, piscinas nostras cireumdedit, in quas multa sudatione corpora exinanita! demittimus, nisi aquam argentea

1 gxinanita edd. ; exsaniata Hense, with MSS.

@ Tivy’s account (see above) dwells more on the unwilling- ness of Scipio and his friends to permit the great conqueror to suffer the indignities of a trial.

> A phrase frequent in Roman literature; see Lucretius iii. 1034 Scipiadas, belli fulmen, Carthaginis horror.

¢ Porphyry, basalt, ete.

@ j.¢,, the so-called giallo antico, with red and yellow tints predominating.

e A white variety, from Thasos, an island off the Thracian coast.

312

EPISTLE LXXXVI.

to the laws and withdrew to Liternum, thinking to make the state a debtor for his own exile no less than for the exile of Hannibal.¢

I have inspected the house, which is constructed of hewn stone; the wall which encloses a forest ; the towers also, buttressed out on both sides for the purpose of defending the house; the well, concealed among buildings and shrubbery, large enough to keep a whole army supplied; and the small bath, buried in darkness according to the old style, for our ancestors did not think that one could have a hot bath except in darkness. It was therefore a great pleasure to me to contrast Scipio’s ways with our own. Think, in this tiny recess the “terror of Carthage,’® to whom Rome should offer thanks because she was not captured more than once, used to bathe a body wearied with work in the fields! For he was accustomed to keep himself busy and te cultivate the soil with his own hands, as the good old Romans were wont todo. Beneath this dingy roof he stood; and this floor, mean as it is, bore his weight.

But who in these days could bear to bathe in such a fashion? We think ourselves poor and mean if our walls are not resplendent with large and costly mirrors; if our marbles from Alexandria ® are not set off by mosaics of Numidian stone,? if their borders are not faced over on all sides with difficult patterns, arranged in many colours like paintings; if our vaulted ceilings are not buried in glass; if our swimming-pools are not lined with Thasian marble,’ once a rare and wonderful sight in any temple— pools into which we let down our bodies after they have been drained weak by abundant perspiration ; and finally, if the water has not poured from silver

313

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

7 epitonia fuderunt. Et adhuc plebeias fistulas loquor ; quid, cum ad balnea libertinorum pervenero? Quan- tum statuarum, quantum columnarum est nihil sus- tinentium, sed in ornamentum positarum inpensae causa! Quantum aquarum per gradus cum fragore labentium! Eo deliciarum pervenimus, ut nisi gem- mas calcare nolimus.

8 In hoc balneo Scipionis minimae sunt rimae magis quam fenestrae muro lapideo exsectae, ut sine iniuria munimenti lumen admitterent; at nunc blattaria vo- cant balnea, si qua non ita aptata sunt, ut totius diei solem fenestris amplissimis recipiant, nisi et lavantur simul et colorantur, nisi ex solio agros ac maria pro- spiciunt. Itaque quae concursum et admirationem habuerant, cum dedicarentur, devitantur et in! anti- quorum numerum reiciuntur, cum aliquid novi luxuria

9commenta est, quo ipsa se obrueret. At olim et pauca erant balnea nec ullo cultu exornata. Cur enim exornaretur res quadrantaria et in usum, non in oblectamentum reperta? Non suffundebatur aqua nec recens semper velut ex calido fonte currebat, nec referre credebant, in quam _ perlucida sordes

10 deponerent. Sed, di boni, quam iuvat illa balinea intrare obscura et gregali tectorio inducta, quae scires

1 dedicarentur, devitantur et in Hense ; dedicarentur et in VPb.

« Of. Pliny, Ep. ii. 17. 12 piscina, ex qua natanies mare aspiciunt. 314

EPISTLE LXXXVI.

spigots. I have so far been speaking of the ordinary bathing-establishments; what shall I say when I come to those of the freedmen? What a vast number of statues, of columns that support nothing, but are built for decoration, merely in order to spend money! And what masses of water that fall crashing from level to level! We have become so luxurious that we will have nothing but precious stones to walk upon.

In this bath of Scipio's there are tiny chinks— you cannot call them windows—cut out of the stone wall in such a way as to admit light without weaken- ing the fortifications; nowadays, however, people regard baths as fit only for moths if they have not been so arranged that they receive the sun all day long through the widest of windows, if men cannot bathe and get a coat of tan at the same time, and if they cannot look out from their bath-tubs over stretches of land and sea.“ So it goes; the establish- ments which had drawn crowds and had won admiration when they were first opened are avoided and put back in the category of venerable antiques as soon as luxury has worked out some new device, to her own ultimate undoing. In the early days, however, there were few baths, and they were not fitted out with any display. For why should men elaborately fit out that which costs a penny only, and was invented for use, not merely for delight? The bathers of those days did not have water poured over them, nor did it always run fresh as if from a hot spring ; and they did not believe that it mattered at all how perfectly pure was the water into which they were to leave their dirt. Ye gods, what a pleasure it is to enter that dark bath, covered with a common sort of roof, knowing that therein your hero Cato,

VOL. II b 315

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

Catonem tibi aedilem aut Fabium Maximum aut ex Corneliis aliqguem manu sua temperasse? Nam hoc quoque nobilissimi aediles fungebantur officio intrandi ea loca, quae populum receptabant, exigendique mun- ditias et utilem ac salubrem temperaturam, non hanc, quae nuper inventa est similis incendio, adeo quidem, ut convictum in aliquo scelere servum vivum lavari oporteat. Nihil mihi videtur iam interesse, ardeat balineum an caleat.

11 = Quantae nunc aliqui rusticitatis damnant Scipio- nem, quod non in caldarium suum latis speculari- bus diem admiserat, quod non in multa luce deco- quebatur et expectabat,! ut in balneo concoqueret. O hominem calamitosum! Nesciit? vivere. Non saccata aqua lavabatur, sed saepe turbida et, cum plueret vehementius, paene lutulenta. Nec multum eius intererat, an? sic lavaretur; veniebat enim ut

12 sudorem illic ablueret, non ut unguentum. Quas nunc quorundam voces futuras credis? “ Non invideo Scipioni; vere in exilio vixit, qui sic lavabatur.” Immo, si scias, non cotidie lavabatur. ‘Nam, ut aiunt, qui priscos mores urbis tradiderunt, brachia et crura cotidie abluebant, quae scilicet sordes opere college- rant, ceterum toti nundinis lavabantur. Hoc loco dicet aliquis: “olim‘* liquet mihi inmundissimos fuisse. Quid putas illos oluisse?” Militiam, laborem,

1 expectabat later MSS. ; spectabat VPb. 2 nesciit Gothofredus ; nescit VPb. 3 an later MSS. ; ac VPb. 4 aliquis: olim Hense ; aliquotis, aliquo, aliquis MSS.

4 ¢.g., Varro, in the Catus: balneum non cotidianum.

316

EPISTLE LXXXVI.

as aedile, or Fabius Maximus, or one of the Cornelii, has warmed the water with his own hands! For this also used to be the duty of the noblest aediles —to enter these places to which the populace resorted, and to demand that they be cleaned and warmed to a heat required by considerations of use and health, not the heat that men have recently made fashionable, as great as a conflagration — so much so, indeed, that a slave condemned for some criminal offence now ought to be bathed alive! It seems to me that nowadays there is no difference be- tween “ the bath is on fire,” and “the bath is warm.” How some persons nowadays condemn Scipio as a boor because he did not let daylight into his perspir- ing-room through wide windows, or because he did not roast in the strong sunlight and dawdle about until he could stew in the hot water! Poor fool,’ they say, “he did not know how to live! He did not bathe in filtered water; it was often turbid, and after heavy rains almost muddy!” But it did not matter much to Scipio if he had to bathe in that way ; he went there to wash off sweat, not ointment. And how do you suppose certain persons will answer me? They will say: “I don’t envy Scipio; that was truly an exile’s life—to put up with baths like those!"’ Friend, if you were wiser, you would know that Scipio did not bathe every day. Itis stated by those* who have reported to us the old-time ways of Rome that the Romans washed only their arms and legs daily—because those were the members which gathered dirt in their daily toil—and bathed all over only once a week. Here someone will retort : “Yes; pretty dirty fellows they evidently were! How they must have smelled!” But they smelled of the camp, the farm, and heroism. Now that Bil.

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

virum. Postquam munda balnea inventa sunt, spur- 13 ciores sunt. Descripturus infamem et nimiis ? nota- bilem deliciis Horatius Flaccus quid ait ?

Pastillos Buccillus olet.

Dares nunc Buccillum; proinde esset ac si hircum oleret, Gargonii loco esset, quem idem Horatius Buccillo opposuit. Parum est sumere unguentum, nisi bis die terque renovatur, ne evanescat in corpore. Quid, quod hoe odore tamquam suo glioriantur?

14. +Haec si tibi nimium tristia videbuntur, villae in- putabis, in qua didici ab Aegialo, diligentissimo patre familiae, is enim nunc huius agri possessor est, quam- vis vetus arbustum posse transferri. Hoc nobis seni- bus discere necessarium est, quorum nemo non olive- tum alteri ponit. Quod vidi illud arborum trimum

15 et quadrimum fastidiendi fructus aut deponere.? Te quoque proteget illa, quae

Tarda venit seris factura nepotibus umbram,

ut ait Vergilius noster, qui non quid verissime, sed quid decentissime diceretur aspexit nec agricolas 16 docere voluit, sed legentes delectare. Nam, ut alia omnia transeam, hoe quod mihi hodie necesse fuit deprehendere, adscribam : 1 nimiis Lipsius ; nimis VPb.

2 The passage quod vidi . . . aut deponere is hopelessly corrupt.

@ Horace calls him Rufillus (Sat. i. 2. 27): pastillos Rufillus olet, Gargonws hircum.

6 This seems to be the general meaning of the passage.

© Georgiecs, ii. 58. 318

EPISTLE LXXXVI.

spick - and -span bathing establishments have been devised, men are really fouler than of yore. What says Horatius Flaccus, when he wishes to describe a scoundrel, one who is notorious for his extreme luxury? He says: “ Buccillus® smells of perfume.” Show me a Buccillus in these days; his smell would be the veritable goat-smell—he would take the place of the Gargonius with whom Horace in the same passage contrasted him. It is nowadays not enough to use ointment, unless you put on a fresh coat two or three times a day, to keep it from evaporating on the body. But why should a man boast of this perfume as if it were his own ?

If what I am saying shall seem to you too pessi- mistic, charge it up against Scipio’s country-house, where I have learned a lesson from Aegialus, a most careful householder and now the owner of this estate; he taught me that a tree can be transplanted, no matter how far gone in years. We old men must learn this precept; for there is none of us who is not planting an olive-yard for his successor. I have seen them bearing fruit in due season after three or four years of unproductiveness.’ And you too shall be shaded by the tree which

Is slow to grow, but bringeth shade to cheer Your grandsons in the far-off years,°

as our poet Vergil says. Vergil sought, however, not what was nearest to the truth, but what was most appropriate, and aimed, not to teach the farmer, but to please the reader. For example, omitting all other errors of his, I will quote the passage in which it was incumbent upon me to-day to detect a fault :

319

17

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

Vere fabis satio est: tunc te quoque, medica, putres Accipiunt sulci, et milio venit annua cura.

An uno! tempore ista ponenda sint et an utriusque verna sit satio, hinc aestimes licet: Junius mensis est, quo tibi scribo, iam proclivis in Iulium; eodem die vidi fabam metentes, milium serentes.

Ad olivetum revertar, quod vidi duobus modis depositum?: magnarum arborum truncos circumcisis ramis et ad unum redactis pedem cum rapo suo transtulit amputatis radicibus, relicto tantum capite ipso, ex quo illae pependerant. Hoc fimo tinctum in scrobem demisit, deinde terram non adgessit tantum,

18 sed calcavit et pressit. Negat quicquam esse hac, ut

19

ait, pisatione efficacius; videlicet frigus excludit et ventum. Minus praeterea movetur et ob hoc nas- centes radices prodire patitur ac solum adprendere, quas necesse est cereas® adhuc et precario haerentes levis quoque revellat agitatio. Rapum‘ autem arboris, antequam obruat, radit.2 Ex omni enim materia, quae nudata est, ut ait, radices exeunt novae. Non plures autem super terram eminere debet truncus quam tres aut quattuor pedes. Statim enim ab imo vestietur nec magna pars quemadmodum in olivetis veteribus arida et retorrida erit. Alter ponendi modus hic fuit: ramos fortes nec corticis duri, quales esse novellarum arborum solent, eodem genere

1 an uno later MSS. ; annuo VPb. 2 depositum Gronovius ; dispositum VPb. 3 cereas later MSS.; ceteras (caeteras) MSS. ; teneras Erasmus. 4 rapum Ludwig von Jan; parum MSS. 5 yadit Pincianus ; radix MSS.

®* Georgics, i. 215 f.

® In Vitruvius vii. 1 G reads pinsatione, referring to the pounding of stones for flooring.

320

EPISTLE LXXXVI.

In spring sow beans ; then, too, O clover plant,

Thow’rt welcomed by the crumbling furrows ; and

The millet calls for yearly care.

You may judge by the following incident whether those plants should be set out at the same time, or whether both should be sowed in the spring. It is June at the present writing, and we are well on towards July; and I have seen on this very day farmers harvesting beans and sowing millet.

But to return to our olive-yard again. I saw it planted in two ways. If the trees were large, Aegialus took their trunks and cut off the branches to the length of one foot each; he then transplanted along with the ball, after cutting off the roots, leav- ing only the thick part from which the roots hang. He smeared this with manure, and inserted it in the hole, not only heaping up the earth about it, but stamping and pressing it down. There is nothing, he says, more effective than this packing process ?; in other words, it keeps out the cold and the wind. Besides, the trunk is not shaken so much, and for this reason the packing makes it possible for the young roots to come out and get a hold in the soil. These are of necessity still soft; they have but a slight hold, and a very little shaking uproots them. This ball, moreover, Aegialus lops clean before he covers it up. For he maintains that new roots spring from all the parts which have been shorn. Moreover, the trunk itself should not stand more than three or four feet out of the ground. For there will thus be at once a thick growth from the bottom, nor will there be a large stump, all dry and withered, as is the case with old olive-yards. The second way of setting them out was the following: he set out in similar fashion branches that were strong and of soft bark, as those

321

20

21

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

deposuit. Hi paulo tardius surgunt, sed cum tam- quam a planta processerint, nihil habent in se abhorridum aut triste.

Ilud etiamnunce vidi, vitem ex arbusto suo annosam transferri; huius capillamenta quoque, si fieri potest, colligenda sunt, deinde liberalius sternenda vitis, ut etiam ex corpore radicescat. Et vidi non tantum mense Februario positas, sed etiam Martio exacto; tenent et conplexae sunt non suas ulmos. Omnes autem istas arbores, quae, ut ita dicam, grandiscapiae sunt, ait aqua adiuvandas cisternina, quae si prodest, habemus pluviam in nostra potestate.

Plura te docere non cogito, ne quemadmodum Aegialus me sibi adversarium paravit, sic ego parem te mihi. Vater.

LXXXVII.

Seneca LyvciLio svO SALVTEM

Naufragium, antequam navem adscenderem, feci. Quomodo acciderit, non adicio, ne et hoc putes inter Stoica paradoxa ponendum, quorum nullum esse fal- sum nec tam mirabile quam prima facie videtur, cum volueris, adprobabo, immo etiam si nolueris. Interim hoc me iter docuit, quam multa haberemus super- vacua et quam facile iudicio possemus deponere,

a An agricultural term not elsewhere found.

> 7.e., on my journey I travelled with almost as meagre an equipment as a shipwrecked man.

e Of, Ep. \xxxi. 11 and note. aa

EPISTLES LXXXVI., LXXXVII.

of young saplings are wont to be. These grow a little more slowly, but, since they spring from what is practically a cutting, there is no roughness or ugliness in them.

This too I have seen recently—an aged vine trans- planted from its own plantation. In this case, the fibres also should be gathered together, if possible, and then you should cover up the vine- stem more generously, so that roots may spring up even from the stock. I have seen such plantings made not only in February, but at the very end of March; the plants take hold of and embrace alien elms. But all trees, he declares, which are, so to speak, “thick-stemmed,’% should be assisted with tank-water; if we have this help, we are our own rain-makers.

I do not intend to tell you any more of these precepts, lest, as Aegialus did with me, I may be training you up to be my competitor. Farewell.

LXXXVII. SOME ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR

LXXXVII. SOME ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OF THE SIMPLE LIFE

“IT was shipwrecked before I got aboard.”? I shall not add how that happened, lest you may reckon this also as another of the Stoic paradoxes ; ¢ and yet I shall, whenever you are willing to listen, nay, even though you be unwilling, prove to you that these words are by no means untrue, nor so surprising as one at first sight would think. Mean- time, the journey showed me this: how much we possess that is superfluous ; and how easily we can make up our minds to do away with things whose

VOL. II Ee 323

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

quae, si quando necessitas abstulit, non sentimus ablata.

2 Cum paucissimis servis, quos unum capere vehicu- lum potuit, sine ullis rebus, nisi quae corpore nostro continebantur, ego et Maximus meus biduum iam beatissimum agimus. Culcita in terra iacet, ego in culeita. Ex duabus paenulis altera stragulum, altera

3 opertorium facta est. De prandio nihil detrahi potuit ; paratum fuit non magis hora, nusquam sine caricis, numquam sine pugillaribus. Illae, si panem_ habeo, pro pulmentario sunt, si non habeo, pro pane. Cotidie mihi annum novum faciunt, quem ego faustum et felicem reddo bonis cogitationibus et animi magni- tudine, qui numquam maior est, quam ubi aliena seposuit et fecit sibi pacem nihil timendo, fecit sibi

4 divitias nihil concupiscendo. Vehiculum, in quod inpositus sum, rusticum est ; mulae vivere se am- bulando testantur; mulio excalceatus, non propter aestatem. Vix a me obtineo, ut hoc vehiculum velim! videri meum. Durat adhuc perversa recti verecundia, et quotiens in aliquem comitatum lautiorem incidi- mus, invitus erubesco, quod argumentum est ista, quae probo, quae laudo, nondum habere certam sedem et inmobilem. Qui sordido vehiculo erubescit, pre- tioso gloriabitur.

5 Parum adhuce profeci. Nondum audeo frugalitatem palam ferre. Etiamnune curo opiniones viatorum.

1 yelim V2; nolim V'}Pb, etc.

@ As Pliny the Elder (a man of the same inquiring turn of mind) did on his journeys, Pliny, Fp. iii. 5. 15.

» Caricae were sent as New Year gifts, implying by their sweetness the good wishes of the sender.

324

EPISTLE LXXXVII.

loss, whenever it is necessary to part with them, we do not feel.

My friend Maximus and I have been spending a most happy period of two days, taking with us very few slaves—one carriage-load—and no paraphernalia except what we wore on our persons. The mattress lies on the ground, and I upon the mattress. There are two rugs—one to spread beneath us and one to cover us. Nothing could have been subtracted from our luncheon ; it took not more than an hour to pre- pare, and we were nowhere without dried figs, never without writing tablets.? If 1 have bread, I use figs as arelish; if not, I regard figs as a substitute for bread. Hence they bring me a New Year feast every day,? and I make the New Year happy and prosperous by good thoughts and greatness of soul; for the soul is never greater than when it has laid aside all extrane- ous things, and has secured peace for itself by fear- ing nothing, and riches by craving no riches. The vehicle in which I have taken my seat is a farmer’s cart. Only by walking do the mules show that they are alive. The driver is barefoot, and not because it is summer either. I can scarcely force myself to wish that others shall think this cart mine. My false embarrassment about the truth still holds out, you see; and whenever we meet a more sumptuous party I blush in spite of myself—proof that this conduct which I approve and applaud has not yet gained a firm and steadfast dwelling-place within me. He who blushes at riding in a rattle-trap will boast when he rides in style.

So my progress is still insufficient. I have not yet the courage openly to acknowledge my thriftiness. Even yet I am bothered by what other travellers think of me. But instead of this, I should really

325

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

Contra totius generis humani opiniones mittenda vox erat: “ Insanitis, erratis, stupetis ad supervacua, neminem aestimatis suo. Cum ad patrimonium ven- tum est, diligentissimi conputatores sic rationem ponitis singulorum, quibus aut pecuniam credituri estis aut beneficia, nam haec quoque iam expensa

6 fertis: late possidet, sed multum debet; habet domum formosam, sed alienis nummis paratam: familiam nemo cito speciosiorem producet, sed no- minibus non respondet ; si creditoribus solverit, nihil illi supererit. Idem in reliquis quoque facere debe- bitis, excutere quantum proprii quisque habeat.”’

7 Divitem illum putas, quia aurea supellex etiam in via sequitur, quia in omnibus provinciis arat, quia mag- nus kalendari liber volvitur, quia tantum suburbani agri possidet, quantum invidiose in desertis Apuliae possideret. Cum omnia dixeris, pauper est. Quare Quia debet. “Quantum?” inquis. Omnia. Nisi forte iudicas interesse, utrum aliquis ab homine an a

8 fortuna mutuum sumpserit. Quid ad rem pertinent mulae saginatae unius omnes coloris? Quid ista vehicula caelata?

Instratos ostro alipedes pictisque tapetis, Aurea pectoribus demissa monilia pendent, Tecti auro fulvom mandunt sub dentibus aurum.

Ista nec dominum meliorem possunt facere nec mulam.

i

a Nomen in this sense means primarily the name entered in the ledger; secondarily, the item or transaction with which the name is connected.

> Vergil, Aeneid, vii. 277 ff., describing the gifts sent by King Latinus to Aeneas.

326

EPISTLE LXXXVII.

have uttered an opinion counter to that in which mankind believe, saying, “ You are mad, you are misled, your admiration devotes itself to superfluous things! You estimate no man at his real worth. When property is concerned, you reckon up in this way with most scrupulous calculation those to whom you shall lend either money or benefits ; for by now you enter benefits also as payments in your ledger. You say: ‘His estates are wide, but his debts are large.’ ‘He has a fine house, but he has built it on borrowed capital.’ ‘No man will display a more brilliant retinue on short notice, but he cannot meet his debts. ‘If he pays off his creditors, he will have nothing left.’”’ So you will feel bound to do in all other cases as well,—to find out by elimination the amount of every man’s actual possessions.

I suppose you call a man rich just because his gold plate goes with him even on his travels, because he farms land in all the provinces, because he unrolls a large account-book, because he owns estates near the city so great that men would grudge his holding them in the waste lands of Apulia. But after you have mentioned all these facts, he is poor. And why? He is in debt. “To what extent?” you ask. For all that he has. Or perchance you think it matters whether one has borrowed from another man or from Fortune. What good is there in mules caparisoned in uniform livery? Or in decorated chariots and

Steeds decked with purple and with tapestry, With golden harness hanging from their necks, Champing their yellow bits, all clothed in gold ??

Neither master nor mule is improved by such trappings. 327

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

9 M. Cato Censorius, quem tam e re publica fuit nasci quam Scipionem, alter enim cum hostibus nos- tris bellum, alter cum moribus gessit, cantherio vehe- batur et hippoperis quidem inpositis, ut secum utilia portaret. O quam cuperem illi nunc occurrere ali- quem ex his trossulis in via! cursores et Numidas et multum ante se pulveris agentem! Hic sine dubio cultior comitatiorque quam M. Cato videretur, hic, qui inter illos apparatus delicatos cum maxime dubi-

10 tat, utrum se ad gladium locet an ad cultrum. O quantum erat saeculi decus, imperatorem trium- phalem, censorium, quod super omnia haec est, Cato- nem uno caballo esse contentum et ne toto quidem ! Partem enim sarcinae ab utroque latere dependentes occupabant. Ita non omnibus obesis mannis et astur- conibus et tolutariis praeferres unicum illum equum

11 ab ipso Catone defrictum? Video non futurum finem in ista materia ullum, nisi quem ipse mihi fecero. Hic itaque conticescam, quantum ad ista, quae sine dubio talia divinavit futura, qualia nunc sunt, qui primus appellavit “inpedimenta.” Nunc volo pau- cissimas adhuc interrogationes nostrorum tibi reddere ad virtutem pertinentes, quam satisfaceré vitae beatae contendimus,

12. “Quod bonum est, bonos facit. Nam et in arte musica quod bonum est, facit musicum, Fortuita

1 After via Lipsius removed divitibus.

@ For trossuli cf. E'p. Ixxvi. 2, and footnote. > 7.¢., whether to turn gladiator or bestiarius. e «* Amblers ” from Asturia in Spain. Horses with rapid steps, compared with gradarii, ‘* slow pacers,” ef. np xl. 11- ¢ The literal meaning of impedimenta, ‘‘ luggage.” 328

aR

EPISTLE LXXXVII.

Marcus Cato the Censor, whose existence helped the state as much as did Scipio’s,—for while Scipio fought against our enemies, Cato fought against our bad morals,—used to ride a donkey, and a donkey, at that, which carried saddle-bags containing the master’s necessaries. O how I should love to see him meet to-day on the road one of our coxcombs,% with his outriders and Numidians, and a great cloud of dust before him! Your dandy would no doubt seem refined and well-attended in comparison with Marcus Cato,—your dandy, who, in the midst of all his luxurious paraphernalia, is chiefly concerned whether to turn his hand to the sword or to the hunting-knife.? O what a glory to the times in which he lived, for a general who had celebrated a triumph, a censor, and what is most noteworthy of all, a Cato, to be content with a single nag, and with less than a whole nag at that! For part of the animal was preempted by the baggage that hung down on either flank. Would you not therefore prefer Cato’s steed, that single steed, saddle-worn by Cato himself, to the coxcomb’s whole retinue of plump ponies, Spanish cobs,’ and trotters¢? I see that there will be no end in dealing with such a theme unless I make an end myself. So I shall now become silent, at least with reference to superfluous things like these ; doubtless the man who first called them “hindrances” @ had a _ prophetic inkling that they would be the very sort of thing they now are. At present I should like to deliver to you the syllogisms, as yet very few, belonging to our school and bearing upon the question of virtue, which, in our opinion, is sufficient for the happy life.

“That which is good makes men good. For example, that which is good in the art of music makes the musician. But chance events do not make a

329

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

bonum non faciunt. Ergo non sunt bona.” Adver: sus hoe sic respondent Peripatetici, ut quod primum proponimus, falsum esse dicant. ‘“ Ab eo,” inquiunt, “ quod est bonum, non utique fiunt boni. In musica est aliquid bonum tamquam tibia aut chorda aut organum aliquod aptatum ad usus canendi. Nihil

13 tamen horum facit musicum.” Hic respondebimus: “ Non intellegitis, qaomodo posuerimus quod bonum est in musica. Non enim id dicimus, quod instruit musicum, sed quod facit; tu ad supellectilem artis, non ad artem venis. Si quid autem in ipsa arte

14 musica bonum est, id utique musicum faciet.” Etiam- nunc facere istuc! planius volo. Bonum in arte musica duobus modis dicitur, alterum, quo effectus musici adiuvatur, alterum, quo ars. Ad effectum pertinent instrumenta, tibiae et organa et chordae, ad artem ipsam non pertinent. Est enim artifex etiam sine istis; uti forsitan non potest arte. Hoc non est aeque duplex in homine; idem enim est bonum et hominis et vitae.

15 “Quod contemptissimo cuique contingere ac turpissimo potest, bonum non est. Opes autem et lenoni et lanistae contingunt. Ergo non sunt bona.” “Falsum est,’ inquiunt, “quod proponitis. Nam et in grammatice et in arte medendi aut gubernandi vi-

16 demus bona humillimis quibusque contingere.” Sed istae artes non sunt magnitudinem animi professae,

1 istuc Hense; is me or his me MSS.

« Cf. Plato, Phaedo 86, where Socrates contrasts the material lyre with the ‘‘incorporeal, fair, divine” harmony which makes the music.

330

EPISTLE LXXXVII.

good man; therefore, chance events are not goods.”’ The Peripatetics reply to this by saying that the premiss is false; that men do not in every case become good by means of that which is good; that in music there is something good, like a flute, a harp, or an organ suited to accompany singing; but that none of these instruments makes the musician. We shall then reply: “ You do not understand in what sense we have used the phrase ‘ that which is good in music.’ For we do not mean that which equips the musician, but that which makes the musician; you, however, are referring to the instruments of the art, and not to the art itself* If, however, anything in the art of music is good, that will in every case make the musician.” And I should like to put this idea still more clearly. We define the good in the art of music in two ways: first, that by which the perform- ance of the musician is assisted, and second, that by which his art is assisted. Now the musical instru- ments have to do with his performance,—such as flutes and organs and harps; but they do not have to do with the musician’s art itself. For he is an artist even without them; he may perhaps be lack- ing in the ability to practise his art. But the good in man is not in the same way twofold ; for the good of man and the good of life are the same.

“That which can fall to the lot of any man, no matter how base or despised he may be, is not a good. But wealth falls to the lot of the pander and the trainer of gladiators; therefore wealth is not a good.” “Another wrong premiss,” they say, “for we notice that goods fall to the lot of the very lowest sort of men, not only in the scholar’s art, but also in the art of healing or in the art of navigating.” These arts, however, make no profession of greatness of

331

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

non consurgunt in altum nec fortuita fastidiunt. Vir- tus extollit hominem et super cara mortalibus conlo- cat; nec ea, quae bona, nec ea, quae mala vocantur, aut cupit nimis aut expavescit. Chelidon, unus ex Cleopatrae mollibus, patrimonium grande possedit. Nuper Natalis tam inprobae linguae quam inpurae, in cuius ore feminae purgabantur, et multorum heres fuit et multos habuit heredes. Quid ergo? Utrum illum pecunia inpurum effecit an ipse pecuniam in- spurcavit ? Quae sic in quosdam homines quomodo 17 denarius in cloacam cadit. Virtus super ista consistit. Suo aere censetur. Nihil ex istis quolibet incurrenti- bus bonum iudicat. Medicina et gubernatio non interdicit sibi ac suis admiratione talium rerum. Qui non est vir bonus, potest nihilominus medicus esse, potest gubernator, potest grammaticus tam meher- cules quam cocus. Cui contingit habere rem non quamlibet, hune non quemlibet dixeris; qualia quis- 18 que habet, talis est. Fiscus tanti est, quantum habet; immo in accessionem eius venit, quodhabet. Quis pleno sacculo ullum pretium ponit nisi quod pecuniae in eo conditae numerus effecit? Idem evenit mag- norum dominis patrimoniorum: accessiones illorum et appendices sunt. Quare ergo sapiens magnus est? Quia magnum animum habet. Verum est ergo quod contemptis- 19 simo cuique contingit, bonum non esse. Itaque in-

@ See Hp. lxxxviii., which is devoted to the development of this thought. > ¢.¢., at its own worth.

332

EPISTLE LXXXVII.

soul; they do not rise to any heights nor do they frown upon what fortune may bring.” It is virtue that uplifts man and places him superior to what mortals hold dear; virtue neither craves overmuch nor fears to excess that which is called good or that which is called bad. Chelidon, one of Cleopatra’s eunuchs, possessed great wealth; and recently Natalis —a man whose tongue was as shameless as it was dirty, a man whose mouth used to perform the vilest offices—was the heir of many, and also made many his heirs. What then? Was it his money that made him unclean, or did he himself besmirch his money? Money tumbles into the hands of certain men as a shilling tumbles down a sewer. Virtue stands above all such things. It is appraised in coin of its own minting ;? and it deems none of these random wind- falls to be good. But medicine and navigation do not forbid themselves and their followers to marvel at such things. One who is not a good man can nevertheless be a physician, or a pilot, or a scholar,— yes, just as well as he can be a cook! He to whose lot it falls to possess something which is not of a random sort, cannot be called a random sort of man; a person is of the same sort as that which he pos- sesses. A strong-box is worth just what it holds; or rather, it is a mere accessory of that which it holds. Who ever sets any price upon a full purse except the price established by the count of the money deposited therein? This also applies to the owners of great estates: they are only accessories and incidentals to their possessions.

Why, then, is the wise man great? Because he has a great soul. Accordingly, it is true that that which falls to the lot even of the most despicable person is not a good. Thus, I should never regard

333

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

dolentiam numquam bonum dicam; habet illam cicada, habet pulex. Ne quietem quidem et molestia vacare bonum dicam; quid est otiosius verme? Quaeris, quae res sapientem faciat? Quaedeum. Des oportet illi divinum aliquid, caeleste, magnificum. Non in

omnes bonum cadit nec quemlibet possessorem pati- 20 tur. Vide

Et quid quaeque ferat regio et quid quaeque recuset : Hic segetes, illic veniunt felicius uvae.

Arborei fetus alibi atque iniussa virescunt

Gramina. Nonne vides, croceos ut Tmolus odores, India mittat ebur, molles sua tura Sabaei ?

At Chalybes nudi ferrum.

21 Ista in regiones discripta sunt, ut necessarium mortalibus esset inter ipsos commercium, si invicem alius aliquid ab alio peteret. Summum illud bonum habet et ipsum suam sedem. Non _ nascitur, ubi ebur, nec ubi ferrum. Quis sit summi boni locus quaeris? Animus. Hic nisi purus ac sanctus est, deum non capit.

22 © Bonum ex malo non fit. Divitiae fiunt autem ! ex avaritia. Divitiae ergo non sunt bonum.” “© Non est,” inquit, “ verum, bonum ex malo non nasci. Ex sacrilegio enim et furto pecunia nascitur. Itaque malum quidem est sacrilegium et furtum, sed ideo, quia plura mala facit quam bona. Dat enim lucrum, sed cum metu, sollicitudine, tormentis et animi et

23 corporis.” Quisquis hoc dicit, necesse est recipiat

1 divitiae fiunt autem Gemoll; divitiae fiunt. fiunt autem iss:

@ Cf. the argument in Ixxvi. 9 f. » i.c., perfect reason and obedience to Nature, ° Vergil, Georg. i. 53 ff.

334

EPISTLE LXXXVII.

inactivity as a good; for even the tree-frog and the flea possess this quality.¢ Nor should I regard rest and freedom from trouble as a good ; for what is more at leisure than a worm? Do you ask what it is that produces the wise man? That which produces a god.2 You must grant that the wise man has an element of godliness, heavenliness, grandeur. The good does not come to every one, nor does it allow any random person to possess it. Behold

What fruits each country bears, or will not bear ; Here corn, and there the vine, grow richlier.

And elsewhere still the tender tree and grass Unbidden clothe themselves in green. Seest thou How Tmolus ships its saffron perfumes forth, And ivory comes from Ind ; soft Sheba sends

Its incense, and the unclad Chalybes

Their iron.°

These products are apportioned to separate countries in order that human beings may be constrained to trafic among themselves, each seeking something from his neighbour in his turn. So the Supreme Good has also its own abode. It does not grow where ivory grows, or iron. Do you ask where the Supreme Good dwells? In the soul. And unless the soul be pure and holy, there is no room in it for God.

“Good does not result from evil. But riches result from greed ; therefore, riches are not a good.” “It is not true,’ they say, “that good does not result from evil. For money comes from sacrilege and theft. Accordingly, although sacrilege and theft are evil, yet they are evil only because they work more evil than good. For they bring gain; but the gain is accompanied by fear, anxiety, and torture of mind and body.” Whoever says this

335

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

sacrilegium, sicut malum sit, quia multa mala facit, ita bonum quoque ex aliqua parte esse, quia aliquid boni facit. Quo quid fieri portentuosius potest? Quamquam! sacrilegium, furtum, adulterium inter bona haberi prorsus persuasimus. Quam multi furto non erubescunt, quam multi adulterio gloriantur! Nam sacrilegia minuta puniuntur, magna in trium-

24 phis feruntur. Adice nunc, quod sacrilegium, si omnino ex aliqua parte bonum est, etiam honestum erit et recte factum vocabitur: nostra enim actio est.? Quod nullius mortalium cogitatio recipit.

Ergo bona nasci ex malo non possunt. Nam si, ut ° dicitis, ob hoc unum sacrilegium malum est, quia multum mali adfert, si remiseris illi supplicia, si securitatem spoponderis, ex toto bonum erit. Atqui

25 maximum scelerum supplicium in ipsis est. Erras, inquam, si illa ad carnificem aut carcerem differs ; statim puniuntur, cum facta sunt, immo dum fiunt. Non nascitur itaque ex malo bonum, non magis quam ficus ex olea. Ad semen nata respondent, bona degenerare non possunt. Quemadmodum ex turpi honestum non nascitur, ita ne ex malo quidem bonum. Nam idem est honestum et bonum.

26 Quidam ex nostris adversus hoc sic respondent: ‘“‘Putemus pecuniam bonum esse undecumque sump-

1 guamquam Gruter ; quam Vb. 2 Hense would read vocahitur ; honesta (so Gemoll) enim

actio recta actio est. 3 sf ut later MSS. ; sic ut Vb.

a The good is absolute. The Stoics held that virtue and moral worth were identical, although those who followed the argument to its logical conelusion had to explain away many seeming inconsistencies. Cf. Lp. Ixxxv. 17.

336

EPISTLE LXXXVII.

must perforce admit that sacrilege, though it be an evil because it works much evil, is yet partly good because it accomplishes a certain amount of good. What can be more monstrous than this? We have, to be sure, actually convinced the world that sacrilege, theft, and adultery are to be regarded as among the goods. How many men there are who do not blush at theft, how many who boast of having committed adultery! For petty sacrilege is punished, but sacrilege on a grand scale is honoured by a triumphal procession. Besides, sacrilege, if it is wholly good in some respect, will also be honourable and will be called right conduct; for it is conduct which concerns ourselves. But no human being, on serious con- sideration, admits this idea.

Therefore, goods cannot spring from evil. For if, as you object, sacrilege is an evil for the single reason that it brings on much evil, if you but absolve sacrilege of its punishment and pledge it immunity, sacrilege will be wholly good. And yet the worst punishment for crime lies in the crime itself. You are mistaken, I maintain, if you propose to reserve your punishments for the hangman or the prison ; the crime is punished immediately after it is com- mitted; nay, rather, at the moment when it is committed. Hence, good does not spring from evil, any more than figs grow from olive-trees. Things which grow correspond to their seed; and goods cannot depart from their class. As that which is honourable does not grow from that which is base, so neither does good grow from evil. For the honour- able and the good are identical.@

Certain of our school oppose this statement as follows: “ Let us suppose that money taken from any source whatsoever is a good; even though it is taken by

337

28

29

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

tam; non tamen ideo ex sacrilegio pecunia est, etiam si ex sacrilegio sumitur. Hoc sic intellege: in eadem urna et aurum est et vipera. Si aurum ex urna sus- tuleris, quia illic et vipera est, non ideo, inquam, mihi urna aurum dat, quia viperam habet, sed aurum dat, cum et viperam habeat. Eodem modo ex sacrilegio lucrum fit, non quia turpe et sceleratum est sacrile- gium, sed quia et lucrum habet. Quemadmodum in illa urna vipera malum est, non aurum, quod cum vipera iacet, sic in sacrilegio malum est scelus, non lucrum.” A quibus dissentio!: dissimillima enim utriusque rei condicio est. Illic aurum possum sine vipera tollere, hic lucrum sine sacrilegio facere non possum. Lucrum istud non est adpositum sceleri, sed inmixtum.

“Quod dum consequi volumus, in multa mala incidimus, id bonum non est. Dum divitias autem consequi volumus, in multa mala incidimus; ergo divitiae bonum non sunt.” Duas,” inquit, “ signi- ficationes habet propositio vestra, unam: dum divi- tias consequi volumus, in multa nos mala incidere. In multa autem mala incidimus et dum virtutem con- sequi volumus. Aliquis dum navigat studii causa, naufragium fecit, aliquis captus est. ' Altera signi- ficatio talis est: per quod in mala incidimus, bonum non est. Huic propositioni non erit consequens per

1 a quibus dissentio later MSS. ; a quibus VPb.

« That riches are not a good, but merely an advantage, was one of the Stoic paradoxes. In another passage (Dial. vii. 24. 5) Seneca speaks of them in a kindlier manner - divitias nego bonum esse; nam si essent, bonos facerent. Ceterum et habendas esse et utiles et magna commoda vitae adferentis fateor. Cf. § 36 of this letter.

338

EPISTLE LXXXVII.

an act of sacrilege, the money does not on that account derive its origin from sacrilege. You may get my mean- ing through the following illustration: In the same jar there is a piece of gold and there is a serpent. If you take the gold from the jar, it is not just because the serpent is there too, I say, that the jar yields me the gold——because it contains the serpent as well,—but it yields the gold in spite of contain- ing the serpent also. Similarly, gain results from sacrilege, not just because sacrilege is a base and accursed act, but because it contains gain also. As the serpent in the jar is an evil, and not the gold which lies there beside the serpent; so in an act of sacrilege it is the crime, not the profit, that is evil.” But I differ from these men; for the conditions in each case are not at all the same. In the one instance I can take the gold without the serpent, in the other I cannot make the profit without com- mitting the sacrilege. The gain in the latter case does not lie side by side with the crime; it is blended with the crime.

“That which, while we are desiring to attain it, involves us in many evils, is not a good. But while we are desiring to attain riches, we become involved in many evils; therefore, riches are not a good,’ % “Your first premiss,” they say, “ contains two mean- ings; one is: we become involved in many evils while we are desiring to attain riches. But we also become involved in many evils while we are desiring to attain virtue. One man, while travelling in order to prosecute his studies, suffers shipwreck, and another is taken captive. The second meaning is as follows: that through which we become involved in evils is not a good. And it will not logically follow from our proposition that we become involved

339

30

31

32

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

divitias nos aut per voluptates in mala incidere; aut si per divitias in multa mala incidimus, non tantum bonum non sunt divitiae, sed malum sunt; vos autem illas dicitis tantum bonum non esse. Praeterea,” inquit, “conceditis divitias habere aliquid usus. Inter commoda illas numeratis ; atqui eadem ratione ne! commodum quidem erunt. Per illas enim multa nobis incommoda eveniunt.’’ His quidam hoc respon- dent: “ Erratis, qui incommoda® divitiis inputatis. Ilae neminem laedunt ; aut sua nocet cuique stultitia aut aliena nequitia, sic quemadmodum gladius nemi- nem occidit ; occidentis telum est. Non ideo divitiae tibi nocent, si propter divitias tibi nocetur.” Posidonius, ut ego existimo, melius, qui ait divitias esse causam malorum, non quia ipsae faciunt aliquid, sed quia facturos inritant. Alia est enim causa efh- ciens, quae protinus necesse est noceat, alia prae- cedens. Hane praecedentem causam divitiae habent; inflant animos, superbiam pariunt, invidiam contra- hunt et usque eo mentem alienant, ut fama pecuniae nos etiam nocitura delectet. Bona autem omnia carere culpa decet; pura sunt, non corrumpunt ani- mos, non sollicitant. Extollunt quidem et dilatant, sed sine tumore. Quae bona sunt fiduciam faciunt,

divitiae audaciam. Quae bona sunt magnitudinem

1 ne inserted by Fickert. 2 gui incommoda later MSS. ; qui commoda Vb.

340

EPISTLE LXXXVII.

but riches give us arrogance. And arrogance is nothing else than a false show of greatness.

* According to that argument,” the objector says, “riches are not only not a good, but are a positive evil.” Now they would be an evil if they did harm of themselves, and if, as I remarked, it were the efficient cause which inheres in them; in fact, how- ever, it is the antecedent cause which inheres in riches, and indeed it is that cause which, so far from merely arousing the spirit, actually drags it along by force. Yes, riches shower upon us a semblance of the good, which is like the reality and wins credence in the eyes of many men. The ante- cedent cause inheres in virtue also; it is this which brings on envy—for many men become un- popular because of their wisdom, and many men because of their justice. But this cause, though it inheres in virtue, is not the result of virtue itself, nor is it a mere semblance of the reality ; nay, on the contrary, far more like the reality is that vision which is flashed by virtue upon the spirits of men, summoning them to love it and marvel thereat.

Posidonius thinks that the syllogism should be framed as follows: “Things which bestow upon the soul no greatness or confidence or freedom from care are not goods. But riches and health and similar conditions do none of these things; therefore, riches and health are not goods.” This syllogism he then goes on to extend still further in the following way: “Things which bestow upon the soul no greatness or confidence or freedom from care, but on the other hand create in it arrogance, vanity, and insolence, are evils. But things which are the gift of Fortune drive us into these evil ways. Therefore these

343

36

37

38

39

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

ergo non sunt bona.” “ Hac,” inquit, “ratione ne commoda quidem ista erunt.”’ Alia est commodorum condicio, alia bonorum; commodum est, quod plus usus habet quam molestiae. Bonum sincerum esse debet et ab omni parte innoxium. Non est id bonum, quod plus prodest, sed quod tantum prodest. Prae- terea commodum et ad animalia pertinet et ad inper- fectos homines et ad stultos. Itaque potest ei esse incommodum mixtum, sed commodum dicitur a maiore sui parte aestimatum; bonum ad unum sapientem pertinet ; inviolatum esse oportet.

Bonum animum habere ; unus tibi nodus, sed Her- culaneus restat: ‘ex malis bonum non fit. Ex multis paupertatibus divitiae fiunt; ergo divitiae bonum non sunt.’’ Hance interrogationem nostri non agnoscunt, Peripatetici et fingunt illam et solvunt. Ait autem Posidonius hoc sophisma, per omnes dia- lecticorum scholas iactatum, sic ab Antipatro refelli: “paupertas non per possessionem dicitur, sed per detractionem vel, ut antiqui dixerunt, orbationem. Graeci kata orépnow dicunt. Non quod habeat dicit, sed quod non habeat.! Itaque ex multis inanibus nihil inpleri potest; divitias multae res faciunt, non

1 Hense doubts the genuineness of non quod . . . habeat.

a The ‘* knot of Hercules” is associated with the caduceus (twining serpents) in Macrob. Sat. i. 19. 16; and in Pliny, N.H. xxviii. 63, it has magic properties in the binding up of wounds.

> Frag. 54 von Arnim.

¢ Per possessionem translates the Greek xa6’ eéwv, as per orbalionem (or detractionem) translates xara orépnow.

344

EPISTLE LXXXVII.

things are not goods.” “ But,” says the objector, “by such reasoning, things which are the gift of Fortune will not even be advantages.’ No, advantages and goods stand each in a different situation. An advantage is that which contains more of usefulness than of annoyance. Buta geod ought to be unmixed and with no element in it of harmfulness. A thing is not good if it contains more benefit than injury, but only if it contains nothing but benefit. Besides, advantages may be predicated of animals, of men who are less than perfect, and of fools. Hence the advantageous may have an element of disadvantage mingled with it, but the word “advantageous” is used of the compound because it is judged by its predominant element. The good, however, can be predicated of the wise man alone; it is bound to be without alloy,

Be of good cheer; thereis only one knot® left for you to untangle, though it is a knot for a Hercules: “ Good does not result from evil. But riches result from numerous cases of poverty; there- fore, riches are not a good.’ This syllogism is not recognized by our school, but the Peripatetics both concoct it and give its solution. Posidonius, how- ever, remarks that this fallacy, which has been bandied about among all the schools of dialectic, is refuted by Antipater? as follows: “The word ‘poverty’ is used to denote, not the possession’ of something, but the non-possession or, as the ancients have put it, deprivation, (for the Greeks use the phrase ‘by deprivation, meaning ‘negatively ’). ‘Poverty’ states, not what a man has, but what he has not. Consequently there can be no fulness resulting from a multitude of voids ; many positive things, and not many deficiencies, make up riches.

345

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

multae inopiae. Aliter,’ inquit, “quam debes, pau- pertatem intellegis. Paupertas enim est non quae pauca possidet, sed quae multa non possidet ; ita non ab eo dicitur, quod habet, sed ab eo, quod ei deest.”

40 Facilius, quod volo, exprimerem, si Latinum verbum esset, quo avurapéia significatur. Hane paupertati Antipater adsignat; ego non video, quid aliud sit paupertas quam parvi possessio. De isto videbimus, si quando valde vacabit, quae sit divitiarum, quae paupertatis substantia; sed tune quoque considera- bimus, numquid satius sit paupertatem permulcere, divitiis demere supercilium quam litigare de verbis, quasi iam de rebus iudicatum sit.

41 Putemus nos ad contionem vocatos; lex de abo- lendis divitiis fertur. His interrogationibus suasuri aut dissuasuri sumus? His effecturi, ut populus Romanus paupertatem, fundamentum et causam im- perii sui, requirat ac laudet,! divitias autem suas timeat, ut cogitet has se apud victos repperisse, hine ambitum et largitiones et tumultus in urbem sanctis- simam et temperantissimam inrupisse, nimis luxuriose ostentari gentium spolia, quod unus populus eripuerit

omnibus, facilius ab omnibus uni eripi posse? Hane

1 laudet later MSS. ; laudes VPb.

@ Seneca here bursts into a diatribe on the corruption of Rome, a habit which we find in many other of his writings, especially in the Naturales Quaestiones.

346

EPISTLE LXXXVII.

You have,” says he, “a wrong notion of the meaning of what poverty is. For poverty does not mean the possession of little, but the non-possession of much ; it is used, therefore, not of what a man has, but of what he Jacks.”” I could express my meaning more easily if there were a Latin word which could trans- late the Greek word which means “ not-possessing.”’ Antipater assigns this quality to poverty, but for my part I cannot see what else poverty is than the possession of little. If ever we have plenty of leisure, we shall investigate the question: What is the essence of riches, and what the essence of poverty ; but when the time comes, we shall also consider whether it is not better to try to mitigate poverty, and to relieve wealth of its arrogance, than to quibble about the words as if the question of the things were already decided.

Let us suppose that we have been summoned to an assembly; an act dealing with the abolition of riches has been brought before the meeting. Shall we be supporting it, or opposing it, if we use these syllogisms? Will these syllogisms help us to bring it about that the Roman people shall demand poverty and praise it—poverty, the foundation and cause of their empire,—and, on the other hand, shall shrink in fear from their present wealth, reflecting that they have found it among the victims of their con- quests, that wealth is the source from which office- seeking and bribery and disorder® have burst into a city once characterized by the utmost scrupulousness and sobriety, and that because of wealth an exhibition all too lavish is made of the spoils of conquered nations ; reflecting, finally, that whatever one people has snatched away from all the rest may still more easily be snatched by all away from one? Nay, it

VOL. II M 347

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

satius est suadere! et expugnare adfectus, non cir- cumscribere. Si possumus, fortius loquamur; si minus, apertius. VALE.

LXXXVIII.

Seneca LycILio svo SALVTEM

1 De liberalibus studiis quid sentiam, scire desideras: nullum suspicio, nullum in bonis numero, quod ad aes exit. Meritoria artificia sunt, hactenus utilia, si prae- parant ingenium, non detinent. Tamdiu enim istis inmorandum est, quamdiu nihil animus agere maius

2 potest ; rudimenta sunt nostra, non opera. Quare liberalia studia dicta sint, vides; quia homine libero digna sunt. Ceterum unum studium vere liberale est, quod liberum facit. Hoc est sapientiae, sublime, forte, magnanimum. Cetera pusilla et puerilia sunt; an tu quicquam in istis esse credis boni, quorum pro- fessores turpissimos omnium ac flagitiosissimos cernis ? Non discere debemus ista, sed didicisse.

Quidam illud de liberalibus studiis quaerendum judicaverunt, an virum bonum facerent; ne promit- tunt quidem nec huius rei scientiam adfectant.

1 After swadere Hense added re.

a The regular round of education, éyx’«dos madela, includ- ing grammar, music, geometry, arithmetic, astrology, and certain phases of rhetoric and dialectic, are in this letter contrasted with liberal studies—those which have for their object the pursuit of virtue. Seneca is thus interpreting studia liberalia in a higher sense than his contemporaries would expect. Compare J. R. Lowell’s definition of a university, ‘‘a place where nothing useful is taught.”

348

EPISTLES LXXXVII., LXXXVIII.

were better to support this law by our conduct and to subdue our desires by direct assault rather than to circumvent them by logic. If we can, let us speak more boldly; if not, let us speak more frankly.

LXXXVIII. ON LIBERAL AND

LXXXVIII. ON LIBERAL AND VOCATIONAL STUDIES

You have been wishing to know my views with regard to liberal studies. My answer is this: I respect no study, and deem no study good, which results in money-making. Such studies are profit- bringing occupations, useful only in so far as they give the mind a preparation and do not engage it permanently. One should linger upon them only so long as the mind can occupy itself with nothing greater ; they are our apprenticeship, not our real work. Hence you see why “liberal studies” are so called ; it is because they are studies worthy of a free-born gentleman. But there is only one really liberal study,—that which gives a man his liberty. It is the study of wisdom, and that is lofty, brave, and great-souled. All other studies are puny and puerile. You surely do not believe that there is good in any of the subjects whose teachers are, as you see, men of the most ignoble and base stamp? We ought not to be learning such things; we should have done with learning them.

Certain persons have made up their minds that the point at issue with regard to the liberal studies is whether they make men good; but they do not even profess or aim at a knowledge of this particular

349

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

3 Grammaticus circa curam sermonis versatur et, si latius evagari vult, circa historias, iam ut longissime fines suos proferat, circa carmina. Quid horum ad virtutem viam sternit? Syllabarum enarratio et verborum diligentia et fabularum memoria et versuum lex ac modificatio? Quid ex his metum demit,

4 cupiditatem eximit, libidinem frenat?... Quaeritur! utrum doceant isti virtutem an non; si non docent, ne tradunt quidem. Si docent, philosophi sunt. Vis scire, quam non ad docendam virtutem con- sederint? Aspice, quam dissimilia inter se omnium studia sint; atqui similitudo esset idem docentium.

5 Nisi forte tibi Homerum philosophum fuisse persuadent, cum his ipsis, quibus colligunt, negent. Nam modo Stoicum illum faciunt, virtutem solam probantem et voluptates refugientem et ab honesto ne inmortalitatis quidem pretio recedentem, modo Epicureum, laudantem statum quietae civitatis et inter convivia cantusque vitam exigentis, modo Peri- pateticum, tria bonorum genera inducentem, modo Academicum, omnia incerta dicentem. Adparet nihil horum esse in illo, quia omnia sunt. Ista enim

1 After frenat MSS. give ad geometriam transeamus et ad musicen ; nihil apud illas invenies, quod vetet timere, vetet cupere. Quisquis ignorat, alia frustra scit, leaving an im- possible syntax before utrwm. Videndum utrum later MSS. Quaeritur would be a reasonable conjecture.

¢ Grammaticus in classical Greek means ‘fone who is familiar with the alphabet”; in the Alexandrian age a **student of literature”; in the Roman age the equivalent of litteratus. Seneca means here a ‘‘ specialist in linguistic science.”

> 7.e., philosophy (virtue).

¢ This theory was approved by Democritus, Hippias of Elis, and the allegorical interpreters; Xenophanes, Hera- clitus, and Plato himself condemned Homer for his supposed unphilosophic fabrications,

350

EPISTLE LXXXVIII.

subject. The scholar® busies himself with investiga- tions into language, and if it be his desire to go farther afield, he works on history, or, if he would extend his range to the farthest limits, on poetry. But which of these paves the way to virtue? Pro- nouncing syllables, investigating words, memorizing plays, or making rules for the scansion of poetry, what is there in all this that rids one of fear, roots out desire, or bridles the passions? The question is: do such men teach virtue, or not? If they do not teach it, then neither do they transmit it. If they do teach it, they are philosophers. Would you like to know how it happens that they have not taken the chair for the purpose of teaching virtue? See how unlike their subjects are ; and yet their subjects would resemble each other if they taught the same thing.?

It may be, perhaps, that they make you believe that Homer was a_ philosopher,’ although they disprove this by the very arguments through which they seek to prove it. For sometimes they make of him a Stoic, who approves nothing but virtue, avoids pleasures, and refuses to relinquish honour even at the price of immortality ; sometimes they make him an Epicurean, praising the condition of a state in repose, which passes its days in feasting and song ; sometimes a Peripatetic, classifying goodness in three ways?; sometimes an Academic, holding that all things are uncertain. It is clear, however, that no one of these doctrines is to be fathered upon Homer, just because they are all there ; for they are

4 The tria genera bonorum of Cicero’s De Fin. v. 84. Cf. ib. 18, where the three proper objects of man’s search are given as the desire for pleasure, the avoidance of pain, and the attainment of such natural goods as health, strength, and soundness of mind. ‘The Stoics held that the good was absolute.

351

6

8

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

inter se dissident. Demus illis Homerum philoso- phum fuisse; nempe sapiens factus est, antequam carmina ulla cognosceret. Ergo illa discamus, quae Homerum fecere sapientem.

Hoc quidem me quaerere, uter maior aetate fuerit, Homerus an Hesiodus, non magis ad rem pertinet quam scire, cum minor Hecuba fuerit quam Helena, quare tam male tulerit aetatem. Quid? Inquam, annos Patrocli et Achillis inquirere ad rem existimas pertinere? Quaeris, Vlixes ubi erraverit, potius quam efflicias, ne nos semper erremus? Non vacat audire, utrum inter Italiam et Siciliam iactatus sit an extra notum nobis orbem, neque enim potuit in tam angusto error esse tam longus; tempestates nos animi cotidie iactant et nequitia in omnia Vlixis mala inpellit. Non deest forma, quae sollicitet oculos, non hostis; hine monstra effera et humano cruore gaudentia, hince insidiosa blandimenta aurium, hinc naufragia et tot varietates malorum. Hoc me doce, quomodo patriam amem, quomodo uxorem, quomodo patrem, quomodo ad haec tam honesta vel naufragus navigem. Quid inquiris, an Penelopa pudica! fuerit, an verba saeculo suo dederit? An Vlixem illum esse, quem videbat, antequam sciret, suspicata sit ?

1 pudica later MSS. ; inpudica VPb.

# Summers compares Lucian, Gall. 17. Seneca, however, does not take such gossip seriously.

> This sentence alludes to Calypso, Circe, the Cyclops, and the Sirens.

¢ Unfavourable comment by Lycophron, and by Cicero, De Nat. Deor. iii. 22 (Mercurius) ex quo et Penelopa Pana natum ferunt,

392

EPISTLE LXXXVIII.

irreconcilable with one another. We may admit to these men, indeed, that Homer was a philosopher ; yet surely he became a wise man before he had any knowledge of poetry. So let us learn the particular things that made Homer wise.

It is no more to the point, of course, for me to investigate whether Homer or Hesiod was the older poet, than to know why Hecuba, although younger than Helen,* showed her years so lamentably. What, in your opinion, I say, would be the point in trying to determine the respective ages of Achilles and Patroclus? Do you raise the question, “Through what regions did Ulysses stray?” instead of trying to prevent ourselves from going astray at all times? We have no leisure to hear lectures on the question whether he was sea-tost between Italy and Sicily, or outside our known world (indeed, so long a wandering could not possibly have taken place within its narrow bounds); we ourselves encounter storms of the spirit, which toss us daily, and our depravity drives us into all the ills which troubled Ulysses. For us there is never lacking the beauty to tempt our eyes, or the enemy to assail us; on this side are savage monsters that delight in human blood, on that side the treacherous allure- ments of the ear, and yonder is shipwreck and all the varied category of misfortunes.2 Show me rather, by the example of Ulysses, how I am to love my country, my wife, my father, and how, even after suffering shipwreck, I am to sail toward these ends, honourable as they are. Why try to discover whether Penelope was a pattern of purity,° or whether she had the laugh on her contemporaries? Or whether she suspected that the man in her presence was Ulysses, before she knew it was he? Teach me

353

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

Doce me, quid sit pudicitia et quantum in ea bonum,

in corpore an in animo posita sit. $ Ad musicum transeo: doces me, quomodo inter se acutae ac graves consonent, quomodo nervorum dis- parem reddentium sonum fiat concordia; fac potius, quomodo animus secum meus consonet nec consilia mea discrepent. Monstras mihi, qui sint modi flebiles ; monstra potius, quomodo inter adversa non 10 emittam flebilem vocem. Metiri me geometres docet latifundia potius quam doceat, quomodo metiar, quantum homini satis sit. Numerare docet me et avaritiae commodat digitos potius quam doceat nihil ad rem pertinere istas conputationes, non _ esse feliciorem, cuius patrimonium tabularios lassat, imma quam supervacua possideat, qui infelicissimus futurus est, si quantum habeat per se conputare cogetur. 11 Quid mihi prodest scire agellum in partes dividere, si nescio cum fratre dividere? Quid prodest col- ligere subtiliter pedes iugeri et conprendere etiam si quid decempedam effugit, si tristem me facit vicinus inpotens et aliquid ex meo abradens? Docet quo- modo nihil perdam ex finibus meis; at ego discere 12 volo, quomodo totos hilaris amittam, “ Paterno agro

et avito,’ inquit, “expellor.” Quid? Ante avum

@ With acutae and graves supply voces. 6 Perhaps the equivalent of a ‘* minor.”

354

EPISTLE LXXXVIII.

rather what purity is, and how great a good we have in it, and whether it is situated in the body or in the soul.

Now I will transfer my attention to the musician. You, sir, are teaching me how the treble and the bass* are in accord with one another, and how, though the strings produce different notes, the result is a harmony; rather bring my soul into harmony with itself, and let not my purposes be out of tune. You are showing me what the doleful keys® are; show me rather how, in the midst of adversity, I may keep from uttering a doleful note. The mathematician teaches me how to lay out the dimensions of my estates; but I should rather be taught how to lay out what is enough for a man to own. He teaches me to count, and adapts my fingers to avarice; but I should prefer him to teach me that there is no point in such calculations, and that one is none the happier for tiring out the book- keepers with his possessions—or rather, how useless property is to any man who would find it the greatest misfortune if he should be required to reckon out, by his own wits, the amount of his holdings. What good is there for me in knowing how to parcel out a piece of land, if I know not how to share it with my brother? What good is there in working out to a nicety the dimensions of an acre, and in detecting the error if a piece has so much as escaped my measuring -rod, if I am embittered when an ill-tempered neighbour merely scrapes off a bit of my land? The mathematician teaches me how I may lose none of my boundaries; I, however, seek to learn how to lose them all with a light heart. “ But,” comes the reply, “I am being driven from the farm which my father and grandfather owned !” Well? Who owned the land before your grand-

VOL. II M 2 355

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

tuum quis istum agrum tenuit? Cuius, non dico hominis, sed populi fuerit, expedire potes? Non dominus isto, sed colonus intrasti. Cuius colonus es? Si bene tecum agitur, heredis. Negant iurisconsulti quicqguam usu capi! publicum ; hoc, quod tenes, quod tuum dicis, publicum est et quidem generis humani.

130 egregiam artem! Scis rotunda metiri, in qua- dratum redigis quamcumque acceperis formam, inter- valla siderum dicis, nihil est, quod in mensuram tuam non cadat. Si artifex es, metire hominis animum. Dic quam magnus sit, dic quam pusillus sit. Scis, quae recta sit linea; quid tibi prodest, si quid in vita rectum sit ignoras ?

14 Venio nunc ad illum, qui caelestium notitia gloriatur :

Frigida Saturni sese quo stella receptet, Quos ignis caeli Cyllenius erret in orbes.

Hoc scire quid proderit? Ut sollicitus sim, cum Saturnus et Mars ex contrario stabunt aut cum Mer- curius vespertinum faciet occasum vidente Saturno, potius quam hoc discam, ubicumque sunt ista, pro- 15 pitia esse, non posse mutari? Agit illa continuus ordo fatorum et inevitabilis cursus. Pér statas vices remeant et effectus rerum omnium aut movent aut

1 After usu capi the later MSS. give publicum .. . dicis; omitted by VPb.

a 4.¢e., for a certain term of years; see R. W. Leage, Roman Private Law, pp. 183 ff. Compare also Lucretius iii. 971, and Horace, Jvp. ii. 2. 159.

> Vergil, Georg. i. 336 f.

e Saturn and Mars were regarded as unlucky stars. Astrology, which dates back beyond 3000 x.c. in Babylonia, was developed by the Greeks of the Alexandrian age and got a foothold in Rome by the second century B.c., flourished

356

EPISTLE LXXXVIII.

father? Can you explain what people (I will not say what person) held it originally? You did not enter upon it as a master, but merely as a tenant. And whose tenant are you? If your claim is success- ful, you are tenant of the heir. The lawyers say that public property cannot be acquired privately by possession®; what you hold and call your own is public property—indeed, it belongs to mankind at large. O what marvellous skill! You know how to measure the circle; you find the square of any shape which is set before you; you compute the distances between the stars; there is nothing which does not come within the scope of your calculations. But if you are a real master of your profession, measure me the mind of man! Tell me how great it is, or how puny! You know what a straight line is; but how does it benefit you if you do not know what is straight in this life of ours?

I come next to the person who boasts his know- ledge of the heavenly bodies, who knows

Whither the chilling star of Saturn hides, And through what orbit Mercury doth stray.’

Of what benefit will it be to know this? That I shall be disturbed because Saturn and Mars are in opposition, or when Mercury sets at eventide in plain view of Saturn, rather than learn that those stars, wherever they are, are propitious,“ and that they are not subject to change? They are driven along by an unending round of destiny, on a course from which they cannot swerve. They return at stated seasons; they either set in motion, or mark the

greatly under Tiberius. Cf. Horace, Od. i. 11. 1 f.; Juv. iii. 42 f., and F. Cumont, Astrology and Religion among the Greeks and Romans (trans.), esp. pp. 68 ff. and 84 ff.

357

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

notant. Sed sive quicquid evenit faciunt, quid in- mutabilis rei notitia proficiet? Sive significant, quid refert providere quod effugere non possis? Scias 16 ista, nescias; fient. Si vero solem ad rapidum stellasque sequentes

Ordine respicies, numquam te crastina fallet Hora nec insidiis noctis capiere serenae.

Satis abundeque provisum est, ut ab insidiis tutus

17 essem. “Numquid me crastina non fallit hora? Fallit enim quod nescienti evenit.’’ Ego quid futurum sit, nescio; quid fieri possit, scio. Ex hoc nihil desperabo, totum expecto; si quid remittitur, boni consulo. Fallit me hora, si parcit, sed ne sic quidem fallit. Nam quemadmodum scio omnia accidere posse, sic scio et non utique casura. Utique secunda expecto, malis paratus sum.

18 In illo feras me necesse est non per praescriptum euntem. Non enim adducor, ut in numerum libera- lium artium pictores recipiam, non magis quam statuarios aut marmorarios aut ceteros luxuriae minis- tros. Aeque luctatores et totam oleo ac luto con- stantem scientiam expello ex his studiis liberalibus ; aut et unguentarios recipiam et cocos et ceteros! voluptatibus nostris ingenia accommodantes sua.

1 ceteros later MSS. ; ceteris VPb.

@ Vergil, Georg. i. 424 ff. > An allusion to the sand and oil of the wrestling-ring.

358

EPISTLE LXXXVIII.

intervals of the whole world’s work. But if they are responsible for whatever happens, how will it help you to know the secrets of the immutable? Or if they merely give indications, what good is there in foreseeing what you cannot escape? Whether you know these things or not, they will take place.

Behold the fleeting sun, The stars that follow in his train, and thou Shalt never find the morrow play thee false, Or be misled by nights without a cloud.¢

It has, however, been sufficiently and fully ordained that I shall be safe from anything that may mislead me. “What,” you say, “does the ‘morrow never play me false’? Whatever happens without my knowledge plays me false.” I, for my part, do not know what is to be, but I do know what may come to be. I shall have no misgivings in this matter ; I await the future in its entirety; and if there is any abatement in its severity, I make the most of it. If the morrow treats me kindly, it is a sort of de- ception; but it does not deceive me even at that. For just as I know that all things can happen, so I know, too, that they will not happen in every case. I am ready for favourable events in every case, but I am prepared for evil.

In this discussion you must bear with me if I do not follow the regular course. For I do not consent to admit painting into the list of liberal arts, any more than sculpture, marble - working, and other helps toward luxury. I also debar from the liberal studies wrestling and all knowledge that is com- pounded of oil and mud°; otherwise, I should be compelled to admit perfumers also, and cooks, and all others who lend their wits to the service of our

359

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

19 Quid enim, oro te, liberale habent isti ieiuni vomi- tores, quorum corpora in sagina, animi in macie et veterno sunt? An liberale studium istuc_ esse iuventuti nostrae credimus, quam maiores nostri rectam exercuerunt hastilia iacere, sudem torquere, equum agitare, arma tractare? Nihil liberos suos docebant, quod discendum esset iacentibus. Sed nec hae nec illae docent aluntve virtutem. Quid enim prodest equum regere et cursum eius freno temperare, adfectibus effrenatissimis abstrahi? Quid prodest multos vincere luctatione vel caestu, ab iracundia vinci ?

20 “Quid ergo? Nihil nobis liberalia conferunt studia?” Ad alia multum, ad virtutem nihil. Nam et hae viles ex professo artes, quae manu constant, ad instrumenta vitae plurimum conferunt, tamen ad virtutem non pertinent. “Quare ergo liberalibus studiis filios erudimus?’”’ Non quia virtutem dare possunt, sed quia animum ad accipiendam virtutem praeparant. Quemadmodum prima illa, ut antiqui vocabant, litteratura, per quam pueris elementa traduntur, non docet liberales artes, sed mox per- cipiendis locum parat, sic liberales artes non perdu- cunt animum ad virtutem, sed expediunt.

e Of. Ep. xv. 3 copia ciborum subtilitas inpeditur.

> In a strict sense; not, as in § 2, as Seneca thinks that the term should really be defined—the ‘liberal ” study, ae. the pursuit of wisdom.

e For the rpérn aywyn see Quintilian, ii. 1. 4.

360

EPISTLE LXXXVIII.

pleasures. For what “liberal” element is there in these ravenous takers of emetics, whose bodies are fed to fatness while their minds are thin and dull?* Or do we really believe that the training which they give is “liberal” for the young men of Rome, who used to be taught by our ancestors to stand straight and hurl a spear, to wield a pike, to guide a horse, and to handle weapons? Our ancestors used to teach their children nothing that could be learned while lying down. But neither the new system nor the old teaches or nourishes virtue. For what good does it do us to guide a horse and control his speed with the curb, and then find that our own passions, utterly uncurbed, bolt with us? Or to beat many opponents in wrestling or boxing, and then to find that we ourselves are beaten by anger?

“What then,’ you say, “do the liberal studies contribute nothing to our welfare?” Very much in other respects, but nothing at all as regards virtue. For even these arts of which I have spoken, though admittedly of a low grade—depending as they do upon handiwork — contribute greatly toward the equipment of life, but nevertheless have nothing to do with virtue. And if you inquire, “ Why, then, do we educate our children in the liberal studies ?”’® it is not because they can bestow virtue, but because they prepare the soul for the reception of virtue. Just as that “primary course,’® as the ancients called it, in grammar, which gave boys their elementary training, does not teach them the liberal arts, but prepares the ground for their early acquisi- tion of these arts, so the liberal arts do not conduct the soul all the way to virtue, but merely set it going in that direction.

361

21

24

25

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

Quattuor ait esse artium Posidonius genera: sunt volgares et sordidae, sunt ludicrae, sunt pueriles, sunt liberales. Volgares opificum, quae manu con- stant et ad instruendam vitam occupatae sunt, in quibus nulla decoris, nulla honesti simulatio est. Ludicrae sunt, quae ad voluptatem oculorum atque aurium tendunt. His adnumeres licet machinatores, qui pegmata per se surgentia excogitant et tabulata tacite in sublime crescentia et alias ex inopinato varietates aut dehiscentibus, quae cohaerebant, aut his, quae distabant, sua sponte coeuntibus aut his, quae eminebant, paulatim in se residentibus. His imperitorum feriuntur oculi omnia subita, quia causas non novere, mirantium. Pueriles sunt et aliquid habentes liberalibus simile hae artes, quas éyxuxA/ovs Graeci, nostri autem liberales vocant. Solae autem liberales sunt, immo, ut dicam verius, liberae, quibus curae virtus est.

“Quemadmodum,” inquit, “ est aliqua pars philoso- phiae naturalis, est aliqua moralis, est aliqua rationalis, sic et haec quoque liberalium artium turba locum sibi in philosophia vindicat. Cum ventum est ad naturales quaestiones, geometriae testimonio statur ; ergo eius, quam adiuvat, pars est.” Multa adiuvant

¢ From what work of Posidonius Seneca is here quoting we do not know; it may perhaps be from the Hoorpemrixd, or Exhortations, indicating the training preliminary to philosophy.

> See note a, p. 348.

¢ 74.é, mathematics is a department of philosophia naturalis.

362

EPISTLE LXXXVIII.

Posidonius® divides the arts into four classes: first we have those which are common and low, then those which serve for amusement, then those which refer to the education of boys, and, finally, the liberal arts. ‘The common sort belong to workmen and are mere hand-work ; they are concerned with equipping life; there is in them no pretence to beauty or honour. The arts of amusement are those which aim to please the eye and the ear. To this class you may assign the stage-machinists, who invent scaffolding that goes aloft of its own accord, or floors that rise silently into the air, and many other surprising devices, as when objects that fit together then fall apart, or objects which are separate then join together automatically, or objects which stand erect then gradually collapse. The eye of the inexperienced is struck with amazement by these things ; for such persons marvel at everything that takes place without warning, because they do not know the causes. The arts which belong to the education of boys, and are somewhat similar to the liberal arts, are those which the Greeks call the “cycle of studies,’ ® but which we Romans call the “liberal.”” However, those alone are really liberal —or rather, to give them a truer name, “ free” whose concern is virtue.

« But,” one will say, “just as there is a part of philosophy which has to do with nature, and a part which has to do with ethics, and a part which has to do with reasoning, so this group of liberal arts also claims for itself a place in philosophy. When one approaches questions that deal with nature, a decision is reached by means of a word from the mathe- matician. Therefore mathematics is a department of that branch which it aids.”¢ But many things

363

26

27

28

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

nos nec ideo partes nostri! sunt. Immo si partes essent, non adiuvarent. Cibus adiutorium corporis nec tamen pars est. Aliquid nobis praestat geo- metriae ministerium ; sic philosophiae necessaria est, quomodo ipsi faber. Sed nec hic geometriae pars est nec illa philosophiae. Praeterea utraque fines suos habet. Sapiens enim causas naturalium et quaerit et novit, quorum numeros mensurasque geo- metres persequitur et subputat. Qua ratione con- stent caelestia, quae illis sit vis quaeve natura, sapiens scit; cursus et recursus et quasdam observationes, per quas descendunt et adlevantur ac speciem inter- dum stantium praebent, cum caelestibus stare non liceat, colligit mathematicus. Quae causa in speculo imagines exprimat, sciet sapiens ; illud tibi geometres potest dicere, quantum abesse debeat corpus ab imagine et qualis forma speculi quales imagines reddat. Magnum esse solem philosophus probabit ; quantus sit, mathematicus, qui usu quodam et exer- citatione procedit; sed ut procedat, impetranda illi quaedam principia sunt. Non est autem ars sui iuris, cui precarium fundamentum est. Philosophia nil ab alio petit, totum opus a solo excitat ; mathe- matice, ut ita dicam, superficiaria est, in alieno aedificat. Accipit prima, quorum beneficio ad ul-

1 nostri Madvig; nostrae MSS.

« This line of argument inversely resembles the criticism by Seneca of Posidonius in Hp. xc.—that the inventions of early science cannot be properly termed a part of philosophy.

2 pee LV.Q. 1. 4 if.

¢ According to Roman law, superficies solo cedit, ** the building goes with the ground.”

364

EPISTLE LXXXVIII.

aid us and yet are not parts of ourselves. Nay, if they were, they would not aid us. Food is an aid to the body, but is not a part of it. We get some help from the service which mathematics renders ; and mathematics is as indispensable to philosophy as the carpenter is to the mathematician. But carpentering is not a part of mathematics, nor is mathematics a part of philosophy. Moreover, each has its own limits; for the wise man investigates and learns the causes of natural phenomena, while the mathematician follows up and computes their numbers and their measurements.? The wise man knows the laws by which the heavenly bodies persist, what powers belong to them, and what attributes; the astronomer merely notes their comings and goings, the rules which govern their settings and their risings, and the occasional periods during which they seem to stand still, although as a matter of fact no heavenly body can stand still. The wise man will know what causes the reflection in a mirror; but the mathematician can merely tell you how far the body should be from the reflection, and what shape of mirror will produce a given reflection.2 The philosopher will demonstrate that the sun is a large body, while the astronomer will compute just how large, progressing in knowledge by his method of trial and experiment; but in order to progress, he must summon to his aid certain principles. No art, however, is sufficient unto itself, if the foundation upon which it rests depends upon mere favour. Now philosophy asks no favours from any other source; it builds everything on its own soil; but the science of numbers is, so to speak, a structure built on another man’s land—it builds on alien soil. It accepts first principles, and by their

365

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

teriora perveniat. Si per se iret ad verum, si totius mundi naturam posset conprendere, dicerem multum conlaturam mentibus nostris, quae tractatu caelestium erescunt trahuntque aliquid ex alto.) Una re con- summatur animus, scientia bonorum ac malorum inmutabili; nihil? autem ulla ars alia de bonis ac malis quaerit.

99 Singulas lubet? circumire virtutes. Fortitudo contemptrix timendorum est; terribilia et sub iugum libertatem nostram mittentia despicit, provocat, frangit. Numquid ergo hanc liberalia studia cor- roborant? Fides sanctissimum humani_ pectoris bonum est, nulla necessitate ad fallendum cogitur, nullo corrumpitur praemio. “Ure,” inquit, “ caede, occide ; non prodam, sed quo magis secreta quaeret dolor, hoe illa altius condam.” Numquid liberalia studia hos animos facere possunt? Temperantia voluptatibus imperat, alias odit atque abigit, alias dispensat et ad sanum modum redigit nec umquam ad illas propter ipsas venit. Scit optimum esse modum cupitorum non quantum velis, sed quantum

30 debeas sumere. Humanitas vetat superbum esse adversus socios, vetat avarum. Verbis, rebus, ad- fectibus comem‘ se facilemque omnibus _praestat. Nullum alienum malum putat. Bonum autem suum ideo maxime, quod alicui bono futurum est, amat. Numquid liberalia studia hos mores praecipiunt ?

1 alto Gruter ; alio VP ; aliquo b. 2 Before nihil later MSS. give quae soli philosophias conpetit ; om. by the better MSS. 3 lubet Muretus ; hahet VPb. 4 comem later MSS. ; communem V Pb.

« Kxcept philosophy. > 7.e., in the more commonly accepted sense of the term.

366

EPISTLE LXXXVIII.

favour arrives at further conclusions. If it could march unassisted to the truth, if it were able to understand the nature of the universe, I should say that it would offer much assistance to our minds ; for the mind grows by contact with things heavenly, and draws into itself something from on_ high. There is but one thing that brings the soul to per- fection—the unalterable knowledge of good and evil. But there is no other art % which investigates good and evil.

I should like to pass in review the several virtues. Bravery is ascorner of things which inspire fear ; it - looks down upon, challenges, and crushes the powers of terror and all that would drive our freedom under the yoke. But do “ liberal studies ” 8 strengthen this virtue? Loyalty is the holiest good in the human heart; it is forced into betrayal by no constraint, and it is bribed by no rewards. Loyalty cries: “Burn me, slay me, kill me! I shall not betray my trust; and the more urgently torture shall seek to find my secret, the deeper in my heart will I bury it!’’ Can the “liberal arts’”’ produce such a spirit within us? Temperance controls our desires ; some it hates and routs, others it regulates and restores to a healthy measure, nor does it ever approach our desires for their own sake. Temperance knows that the best measure of the appetites is not what you want to take, but what you ought to take. Kindliness forbids you to be over-bearing towards your associates, and it forbids you to be grasping. In words and in deeds and in feelings it shows itself gentle and courteous to all men. It counts no evil as another’s solely. And the reason why it loves its own good is chiefly because it will some day be the good of another. Do “liberal studies” teach a man

367

31

Oo ~

=

33

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

Non magis quam simplicitatem, quam modestiam ac moderationem, non magis quam frugalitatem ac par- simoniam, non magis quam clementiam, quae alieno sanguini tamquam suo parcit et scit homini non esse homine prodige utendum.

“Cum dicatis,” inquit, “ sine liberalibus studiis ad virtutem non perveniri, quemadmodum negatis illa nihil conferre virtuti?’” Quia nec sine cibo ad virtutem pervenitur, cibus tamen ad virtutem non pertinet. Ligna navi nihil conferunt, quamvis non fiat navis nisi ex lignis. Non est, inquam, cur aliquid putes eius adiutorio fieri, sine quo non potest fieri. Potest quidem etiam illud dici: sine liberalibus studiis veniri ad sapientiam posse; quamvis enim virtus discenda sit, tamen non per haec discitur.

Quid est autem, quare existimem non futurum sapientem eum, qui litteras nescit, cum sapientia non sit in litteris? Res tradit, non verba, et nescio an certior memoria sit, quae nullum extra se sub- sidium habet. Magna et spatiosa res est sapientia. Vacuo illi loco opus est. De divinis humanisque discendum est, de praeteritis de futuris, de caducis de acternis, de tempore. De quo uno vide quam multa quaerantur: primum an per se sit aliquid ; deinde an aliquid ante tempus sit sine tempore; cum

« This usage is a not infrequent one in Latin; ef. Petronius, Sat. 42 neminem nihil boni facere oportet ; id. ib. 58; Verg. Ecl. v. 25, etc. See Draeger, fist. Syn. ii. 75, and Roby, ii. 2246 ff.

> Cf. Epp. xxxi. 6 and lxxxi. 29 aestimare res, de quibus .. . cum rerum natura deliberandum est.

¢ The ancient Stoics defined Time as ‘‘ extension of the world’s motion.” ‘The seasons were said to be ‘‘alive” because they depended on material conditions. But the Stoics really acknowledged Time to be immaterial. The same problem of corporeality was discussed with regard to the ‘* good,

368

EPISTLE LXXXVIII.

such character as this? No; no more than they teach simplicity, moderation and_ self - restraint, thrift and economy, and that kindliness which spares a neighbour’s life as if it were one’s own and knows that it is not for man to make wasteful use of his fellow-man.

“ But,” one says, “since you declare that virtue cannot be attained without the ‘liberal studies,’ how is it that you deny that they offer any assistance to virtue?”’* Because you cannot attain virtue without food, either; and yet food has nothing to do with virtue. Wood does not offer assistance to a ship, although a ship cannot be built except of wood. There is no reason, I say, why you should think that anything is made by the assistance of that without which it cannot be made. We might even make the statement that it is possible to attain wisdom without the “liberal studies’; for although virtue is a thing that must be learned, yet it is not learned by means of these studies.

What reason have I, however, for supposing that one who is ignorant of letters will never be a wise man, since wisdom is not to be found in letters? Wisdom communicates facts ® and not words; and it may be true that the memory is more to be depended upon when it has no support outside itself. Wisdom is a large and_ spacious thing. It needs plenty of free room. One must learn about things divine and human, the past and the future, the ephemeral and the eternal; and one must learn about Time.“ See how many questions arise concerning time alone: in the first place, whether it is anything in and by itself; in the second place, whether anything exists prior to time and without time; and again, did time

369

36

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

mundo coeperit an etiam ante mundum quia fuerit aliquid, fuerit et tempus. Innumerabiles quaestiones sunt de animo tantum: unde sit, qualis sit, quando esse incipiat, quamdiu sit; aliunde alio transeat et domicilia mutet in! alias animalium formas aliasque coniectus, an non amplius quam semel serviat et emissus vagetur in toto; utrum corpus sit an non sit; quid sit facturus, cum per nos aliquid facere desierit, quomodo libertate sua usurus, cum ex hac effugerit cavea; an obliviscatur priorum et illinc? nosse se incipiat, unde corpori abductus in sublime secessit.

Quamcumgue partem rerum humanarum divina- rumque conprenderis, ingenti copia quaerendorum ac discendorum fatigaberis. Haec tam multa, tam magna ut habere possint liberum hospitium, super- vacua ex animo tollenda sunt. Non dabit se in has angustias virtus; laxum spatium res magna desiderat. Expellantur omnia, totum pectus illi vacet.

«At enim delectat artium notitia multarum.” Tantum itaque ex illis retineamus, quantum neces- sarium est. An tu existimas reprendendum, qui supervacua usibus conparat et pretiosarum rerum pompam in domo explicat, non putas eum, qui occupatus est in supervacua litterarum supellectile ? Plus scire velle quam sit satis, intemperantiae genus

1 in Koch ; ad MSS. ® dllinc Hense ; ili (ille) (illic) ne MSS. 370

EPISTLE LXXXVIITI.

begin along with the universe, or, because there was something even before the universe began, did time also exist then? There are countless questions con- cerning the soul alone: whence it comes, what is its nature, when it begins to exist, and how long it exists; whether it passes from one place to another and changes its habitation, being transferred succes- sively from one animal shape to another, or whether it isa slave but once, roaming the universe after it is set free ; whether it is corporeal or not; what will become of it when it ceases to use us as its medium ; how it will employ its freedom when it has escaped from this present prison ; whether it will forget all its past, and at that moment begin to know itself when, released from the body, it has withdrawn to the skies.

Thus, whatever phase of things human and divine you have apprehended, you will be wearied by the vast number of things to be answered and things to be learned. And in order that these manifold and mighty subjects may have free enter- tainment in your soul, you must remove therefrom all superfluous things. Virtue will not surrender herself to these narrow bounds of ours; a great subject needs wide space in which to move. Let all other things be driven out, and let the breast be emptied to receive virtue.

“ But it is a pleasure to be acquainted with many arts.” Therefore let us keep only as much of them as is essential. Do you regard that man as blame- worthy who puts superfluous things on the same footing with useful things, and in his house makes a lavish display of costly objects, but do not deem him blameworthy who has allowed himself to become engrossed with the useless furniture of learning? This desire to know more than is sufficient is a sort

871

37

38

39

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

est. Quid? Quod ista liberalium artium consectatio molestos, verbosos, intempestivos, sibi placentes facit et ideo non discentes necessaria, quia supervacua didicerunt. Quattuor milia librorum Didymus grammaticus scripsit. Misererer, si tam multa supervacua legisset. In his libris de patria Homeri quaeritur, in his de Aeneae matre vera, in his libids- nosior Anacreon an ebriosior vixerit, in his an Sappho publica fuerit, et alia, quae erant dediscenda, si scires. I nunc et longam esse vitam nega. Sed ad nostros quoque cum _ perveneris, ostendam multa securibus recidenda.

Magno impendio temporum, magna alienarum aurium molestia laudatio haec constat: O hominem litteratum! Simus hoc titulo rusticiore contenti: O virum bonum! Itane est? Annales evolvam om- nium gentium et quis primus carmina scripserit quaeram? Quantum temporis inter Orphea intersit et Homerum, cum fastos non habeam, computabo? Et Aristarchi ineptias, quibus aliena carmina con- punxit, recognoscam et aetatem in syllabis conteram? Itane in geometriae pulvere haerebo? Adeo mihi praeceptum illud salutare excidit : “Tempori parce”’ ? Haec sciam? Et quid ignorem?

« Compare the schoolmaster of Juvenal (vii. 234 ff.), who must know

Nutricem Anchisae, nomen patriamque novercae Anchemoli, dicat quot Acestes vixerit annis, etc., and Friedlinder’s note.

> A tradition, probably begun by the Greek comic writers, and explained by Professor Smyth (Greek Melic Poets, pp. 227 f.) as due to the more independent position of women among the Aeolians.

¢ Marking supposedly spurious lines by the obelus, and using other signs to indicate variations, repetitions, and interpolations. He paid special attention to Homer, Pindar, Hesiod, and the tragedians.

372

EPISTLE LXXXVIII.

of intemperance. Why? Because this unseemly pursuit of the liberal arts makes men troublesome, wordy, tactless, self-satisfied bores, who fail to learn the essentials Just because they have learned the non-essentials. _Didymus the scholar wrote four thousand books. I should feel pity for him if he had only read the same number of superfluous volumes. In these books he investigates Homer's birthplace,@ who was really the mother of Aeneas, whether Anacreon was more of a rake or more of a drunkard, whether Sappho was a bad lot,? and other problems the answers to which, if found, were forthwith to be forgotten. Come now, do not tell me that life is long! Nay, when you come to consider our own countrymen also, I can show you many works which ought to be cut down with the axe.

It is at the cost of a vast outlay of time and of vast discomfort to the ears of others that we win such praise as this: “ What a learned man you are!” Let us be content with this recommendation, less citified though it be: “ What a good man you are!” Do I mean this? Well, would you have me unroll the annals of the world’s history and try to find out who first wrote poetry? Or, in the absence of written records, shall I make an estimate of the number of years which lie between Orpheus and Homer? Or shall I make a study of the absurd writings of Aristarchus, wherein he branded the text of other men’s verses, and wear my life away upon syllables? Shall I then wallow in the geometrician’s dust 7? Have I so far forgotten that useful saw “‘ Save your time”? Must I know these things ? And what may I choose not to know ?

ee geometricians drew their figures in the dust or sand.

373

40

4]

44

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

Apion grammaticus, qui sub C. Caesare tota circu- latus! est Graecia et in nomen Homeri ab omnibus civitatibus adoptatus, aiebat Homerum utraque materia consummata, et Odyssia et Iliade, principium adiecisse operi suo, quo bellum Troianum complexus est. Huius rei argumentum adferebat, quod duas litteras in primo versu posuisset ex industria librorum suorum numerum continentes. Talia sciat oportet, qui multa vult scire, non cogitare, quantum temporis tibi auferat mala valetudo, quantum occupatio publica, quantum occupatio privata, quantum occupatio coti- diana, quantum somnus. Metire aetatem tuam; tam multa non capit.

De liberalibus studiis loquor; philosophi quantum habent supervacui, quantum ab usu recedentis! Ipsi quoque ad syllabarum distinctiones et coniunctionum ac praepositionum proprietates descenderunt et in- videre grammaticis, invidere geometris. Quicquid in illorum artibus supervacuum erat, transtulere in suam. Sic effectum est, ut diligentius loqui scirent quam vivere. Audi, quantum mali faciat nimia sub- tilitas et quam infesta veritati sit. Protagoras ait de omni re in utramque partem disputari posse ex aequo et de hac ipsa, an omnis res in utramque partem dis- putabilis sit. Nausiphanes ait ex his, quae videntur esse, nihil magis esse quam non esse. Parmenides

1 circulatus a MS. of Lipsius ; circumlatus Vb.

@ Originally, rhapsodists who recited from Homer; in general, ‘‘interpreters and admirers—in short. the whole ‘spiritual kindred ’—of Homer” (D. B. Monro)

®’ An ancient explanation of the (now disproved) author- ship by Homer of such poems as the Cypria, Little Lliad Sack of Troy, ete.

374

EPISTLE LXXXVIII.

Apion, the scholar, who drew crowds to his lectures all over Greece in the days of Gaius Caesar and was acclaimed a Homerid® by every state, used to maintain that Homer, when he had finished his two poems, the J/iad and the Odyssey, added a preliminary poem to his work, wherein he embraced the whole Trojan war.?’. The argument which Apion adduced to prove this statement was that Homer had purposely inserted in the opening line two letters which contained a key to the number of his books. A man who wishes to know many things must know such things as these, and must take no thought of all the time which one loses by ill-health, public duties, private duties, daily duties, and sleep. Apply the measure to the years of your life; they have no room for all these things.

I have been speaking so far of liberal studies ; but think how much superfluous and unpractical matter the philosophers contain! Of their own accord they also have descended to establishing nice divisions of syllables, to determining the true mean- ing of conjunctions and prepositions; they have been envious of the scholars, envious of the mathe- maticians. They have taken over into their own art all the superfluities of these other arts; the result is that they know more about careful speaking than about careful living. Let me tell you what evils are due to over-nice exactness, and what an enemy it is of truth! Protagoras declares that one can take either side on any question and debate it with equal success—even on this very question, whether every subject can be debated from either point of view. Nausiphanes holds that in things which seem to exist, there is no difference between existence and non-existence. Parmenides maintains that nothing

375

45

46

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

ait ex his, quae videntur, nihil esse uno excepto! universo. Zenon Eleates omnia negotia de negotio deiecit: ait nihil esse. Circa eadem fere Pyrrhonei versantur et Megarici et Eretrici? et Academici, qui novam induxerunt scientiam, nihil scire. Haec omnia in illum supervacuum studiorum liberalium gregem coice; illi mihi non profuturam scientiam tradunt, hi spem omnis scientiae eripiunt. Satius est supervacua scire quam nihil. Ili non praeferunt lumen, per quod acies derigatur ad verum; hi oculos mihi effodiunt. Si Protagorae credo, nihil in rerum natura est nisi dubium; si Nausiphani, hoc unum certum est, nihil esse certi; si Parmenidi, nihil est praeter unum; si Zenoni, ne unum quidem.

Quid ergo nos sumus? Quid ista, quae nos cir- cumstant, alunt, sustinent? Tota rerum natura umbra est aut inanis aut fallax. Non facile dixerim, utris magis irascar, illis, qui nos nihil scire voluerunt, an illis, qui ne hoe quidem nobis reliquerunt, nihil scire. VALE.

LXXXIX

Seneca LycILio svo SALVTEM Rem utilem desideras et ad sapientiam 8 prope-

1 uno excepto inserted by Kalbfleisch ; nihil esse universo Vb. 2 Eretrici Lipsius ; cretici Vb. 8 ad sapientiam later MSS. ; sapientem B.

« In other words, the unchangeable, perfect Being of the universe is contrasted with the mutable Non-Being of opinion and unreality.

> 7.¢., the universe.

¢ See §§ 9 ff., which give the normal division,

376

EPISTLES LXXXVIII., LXXXIX.

exists of all this which seems to exist, except the universe alone.“ Zeno of Elea removed all the difficulties by removing one; for he declares that nothing exists. The Pyrrhonean, Megarian, Eretrian, and Academic schools are all engaged in practically the same task; they have introduced a new know- ledge, non-knowledge. You may sweep all these theories in with the superfiuous troops of “liberal” studies; the one class of men give me a knowledge that will be of no use to me, the other class do away with any hope of attaining knowledge. It is better, of course, to know useless things than to know nothing. One set of philosophers offers no light by which I may direct my gaze toward the truth ; the other digs out my very eyes and leaves me blind. If I cleave to Protagoras, there is nothing in the scheme of nature that is not doubtful; if I hold with Nausiphanes, I am sure only of this—that everything is unsure; if with Parmenides, there is nothing except the One®; if with Zeno, there is not even the One.

What are we, then? What becomes of all these things that surround us, support us, sustain us? The whole universe is then a vain or deceptive shadow. I cannot readily say whether I am more vexed at those who would have it that we know nothing, or with those who would not leave us even this privilege. Farewell.

LXXXIX. ON THE PARTS OF

LXXXIX. ON THE PARTS OF PHILOSOPHY ¢

It is a useful fact that you wish to know, one which is essential to him who hastens after wisdom

377

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

ranti necessariam, dividi philosophiam et ingens corpus eius in membra disponi. F[acilius enim per partes in cognitionem! totius adducimur. Utinam quidem quemadmodum universa mundi facies in conspectum venit, ita philosophia tota nobis posset occurrere, simillimum mundo spectaculum. Profecto enim omnes mortales in admirationem sui raperet relictis iis, quae nunc magna magnorum ignorantia credimus. Sed quia contingere hoc non potest, est sic? nobis aspicienda,? quemadmodum mundi secreta cernuntur.

Sapientis quidem animus totam molem eius am- pleetitur nec minus illam velociter obit quam caelum acies nostra; nobis autem, quibus perrumpenda caligo est et quorum visus in proximo deficit, singula quaeque ostendi facilius possunt universi nondum capacibus. Faciam ergo quod exigis, et philosophiam in partes, non in frusta,* dividam. Dividi enim illam, non concidi, utile est. Nam conprehendere quem- admodum maxima ita minima difficile est. Dis- cribitur in tribus populus, in centurias exercitus. Quicquid in maius crevit, facilius agnoscitur, si discessit in partes, quas, ut dixi, innumerabiles esse et parvulas non oportet. Idem enim vitii habet nimia quod nulla divisio; simile confuso est, quid- quid usque in pulverem sectum est.

1 cognitionem later MSS. ; cogitationem B. 2 est sic Buecheler ; e¢ sic B; et sic erit later MSS. 3 aspicienda Mentel. ; abscienda B. 4 frusta later MSS. ; frustra B.

~ @ See Plato, especially Symposium 211 ff. > j.¢., an infinitely small divisio is the same as its opposite —confusio

378

EPISTLE LXAXXIX.

—namely, the parts of philosophy and the division of its huge bulk into separate members. For by studying the parts we can be brought more easily to understand the whole. I only wish that philosophy might come before our eyes in all her unity, just as the whole expanse of the firmament is spread out for us to gaze upon! It would be a sight closely resembling that of the firmament. For then surely philosophy would ravish all mortals with love for her“; we should abandon all those things which, in our ignorance of what is great, we believe to be great. Inasmuch, however, as this cannot fall to our lot, we must view philosophy just as men gaze upon the secrets of the firmament.

The wise man’s mind, to be sure, embraces the whole framework of philosophy, surveying it with no less rapid glance than our mortal eyes survey the heavens; we, however, who must break through the gloom, we whose vision fails even for that which is near at hand, can be shown with greater ease each separate object even though we cannot yet com- prehend the universe. I shall therefore comply with your demand, and shall divide philosophy into parts, but not into scraps. For it is useful that philosophy should be divided, but not chopped into bits. Just as it is hard to take in what is indefinitely large, so it is hard to take in what is indefinitely small. The people are divided into tribes, the army into centuries. Whatever has grown to greater size is more easily identified if it is broken up into parts ; but the parts, as I have remarked, must not be countless in number and diminutive in size. For over-analysis is faulty in precisely the same way as no analysis at all; whatever you cut so fine that it becomes dust is as good as blended into a mass again.?

VOL. II N 379

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

4 Primum itaque, si videtur! tibi, dicam, inter sapientiam et philosophiam quid intersit. Sapientia perfectum bonum est mentis humanae. Philosophia sapientiae amor est et adfectatio. Haec eo tendit,? quo illa pervenit. Philosophia unde dicta sit, ap- paret. Ipso enim nomine fatetur quid amet.’

5 Sapientiam quidam ita finierunt, ut dicerent divino- rum et humanorum scientiam. Quidam ita: sapientia est nosse divina et humana et horum causas. Su- pervacua mihi haec videtur adiectio, quia causae divinorum humanorumque pars divinorum sunt. Philosophiam quoque fuerunt qui aliter atque aliter finirent. Alii studium illam virtutis esse dixerunt, alii studium corrigendae mentis, a quibusdam dicta

6 est adpetitio rectae rationis. I[llud quasi constitit, aliquid inter philosophiam et sapientiam interesse. Neque enim fieri potest ut idem sit quod adfectatur et quod adfectat. Quomodo multum inter avaritiam et pecuniam interest, cum illa cupiat, haec concupis- catur, sic inter philosophiam et sapientiam. Haec enim illius effectus ac praemium est; illa venit, ad

7 hane venitur.4 Sapientia est, quam Graeci cod¢/av vocant. Hoc verbo Romani quoque utebantur, sicut philosophia nune quoque utuntur. Quod et togatae

1 si videtur Haase; si ut videtur MSS. 2 ¢o tendit Cornelissen ; ostendit B. 3 quid amet Madvig ; quidam et B.

4 venitur Hense ; itur MSS. W. Schultz argues that § 7 (sapientia . . . Dossenni lege) has by some error been trans- ferred from its proper position after quo illa pervenit in § 4 to its present place, where it disturbs the sequence of the thought.

@ ** T ove-of-Wisdom.”

» Qelwv Te Kal avOpwrivwv émiothun, quoted by Plutarch, De Plac. Phil. 874 §.

¢ Cicero, De Off. ii. 2. 5.

380

EPISTLE LXXXIX.

In the first place, therefore, if you approve, I shall draw the distinction between wisdom and philosophy. Wisdom is the perfect good of the human inind; philosophy is the love of wisdom, and the endeavour to attain it. The latter strives toward the goal which the former has already reached. And it is clear why philosophy was so called. For it acknowledges by its very name the object of its love. Certain persons have defined wisdom as the knowledge of things divine and things human. Still others say: “ Wisdom is knowing things divine and things human, and their causes also.” ° This added phrase seems to me to be superfluous, since the causes of things divine and things human are a part of the divine system. Philosophy also has been defined in various ways; some have called it “the study of virtue,’ % others have referred to it as “a study of the way to amend the mind,’* and some have named it “the search for right reason.” One thing is practically settled, that there is some difference between philosophy and wisdom. Nor indeed is it possible that that which is sought and that which seeks are identical. As there is a great difference between avarice and wealth, the one being the subject of the craving and the other its object, so between philosophy and wisdom. For the one is a result and a reward of the other. Philosophy does the going, and wisdom is the goal. Wisdom is that which the Greeks call codia. The Romans also were wont to use this word in the sense in which they now use “philosophy” also. This will be proved to your satisfaction by our old national

@ The doxnors dperijs of the earlier Stoics. Seneca (Frag. 17) also calls it recta vivendi ratio. * i.6., to make a bona mens out of a mala mens.

381

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

tibi antiquae probabunt et inscriptus Dossenni monumento titulus :

Hospes resiste et sophian Dossenni lege.

8 Quidam ex nostris, quamvis philosophia studium virtutis esset et haec peteretur, illa peteret, tamen non putaverunt illas distrahi posse. Nam nec philo- sophia sine virtute est nec sine philosophia virtus. Philosophia studium virtutis est, sed per ipsam virtutem; nec virtus autem esse sine studio sui potest nec virtutis studium sine ipsa. Non enim quemadmodum in iis, qui aliquid ex distanti loco ferire conantur, alibi est qui petit, alibi quod petitur. Nec quemadmodum itinera quae ad urbes perducunt, sic viae ad virtutem sunt! extra ipsam; ad virtutem venitur per ipsam; cohaerent inter se philosophia virtusque.

9 Philosophiae tres partes esse dixerunt et maximi et plurimi auctores: moralem, naturalem, rationalem. Prima conponit animum. Secunda rerum naturam scrutatur. Tertia proprietates verborum exigit et structuram et argumentationes, ne pro vero falsa subrepant. Ceterum inventi sunt et qui in pauciora

10 philosophiam et qui in plura diducerent. Quidam ex Peripateticis quartam partem adiecerunt ? civilem, quia propriam quandam exercitationem desideret et

1 sic . . . sunt added by Buecheler, giving the general sense ; there is a lacuna in B, in which traces of a corrupt

text can be made out. 2 adiecerunt later MSS. ; adicerent B.

@ It is doubtful whether this was the name of a real person, or a mere ‘‘Joe Miller” type from the Fabula Atellana. The character,in Tlorace,~ Hp. ii. 42. 1%5,_ is certainly the latter; and the testimony of Pliny (V.7. xiv. 15), who quotes a line from a play called Acharistio, is not reliable,

382

EPISTLE LXXXIX.

plays, as well as by the epitaph that is carved on the tomb of Dossennus @ :

Pause, stranger, and read the wisdom of Dossennus.

Certain of our school, however, although philosophy meant to them “the study of virtue,” and though virtue was the object sought and philosophy the seeker, have maintained nevertheless that the two cannot be sundered. For philosophy cannot exist without virtue, nor virtue without philosophy. Philosophy is the study of virtue, by means, however, of virtue itself; but neither can virtue exist without the study of itself, nor can the study of virtue exist without virtue itself. For it is not like trying to hit a target at long range, where the shooter and the object to be shot at are in different places. Nor, as roads which lead into a city, are the approaches to virtue situated outside virtue herself; the path by which one reaches virtue leads by way of virtue herself; philosophy and virtue cling closely together.

The greatest authors, and the greatest number of authors, have maintained that there are three divisions of philosophy—moral, natural, and rational.® The first keeps the soul in order; the second in- vestigates the universe; the third works out the essential meanings of words, their combinations, and the proofs which keep falsehood from creeping in and displacing truth. But there have also been those who divided philosophy on the one hand into fewer divisions, on the other hand into more. Certain of the Peripatetic school have added a fourth division, “civil philosophy,’ because it calls for a special sphere of activity and is interested in

2'4.¢., logic;

383

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

circa aliam materiam occupata sit. Quidam adie- cerunt his partem, quam otkovopiKyv vocant, ad- ministrandae familiaris rei scientiam. Quidam et de generibus vitae locum separaverunt. Nihil autem horum non in illa! parte morali reperietur.

11 Epicurei duas partes philosophiae putaverunt esse, naturalem atque moralem; rationalem remo- verunt. Deinde cum ipsis rebus cogerentur ambigua secernere, falsa sub specie veri latentia coarguere, ipsi quoque locum, quem de iudicio et regula appellant, alio nomine rationalem induxerunt, sed eum accessionem esse naturalis partis existimant.

12 Cyrenaici naturalia cum rationalibus sustulerunt et contenti fuerunt moralibus, sed hi quoque quae removent, aliter inducunt. In quinque enim partes moralia dividunt, ut una sit de fugiendis et petendis, altera de adfectibus, tertia de actionibus, quarta de causis, quinta de argumentis. Causae rerum ex

13 naturali parte sunt, argumenta ex rationali.? Ariston Chius non tantum supervacuas esse dixit naturalem et rationalem,’ sed etiam contrarias. Moralem quo-

1 non in illa the later MSS. ; non illa B. 2 rationali later MSS. ; morali B. Buecheler thinks that a phrase neutrum ex morali may have dropped out—“ neither

belongs to the ‘ moral.’ ” 3 rationalem later MSS. ; formalem B.

@ 7.¢., **the management of the home.”

» That is, of the various arts which deal with the depart- ments of living, such as generalship, politics, business, etc.

¢ Frag. 242 Usener.

4 Seneca by de iudicio is translating the Greek adjective dixavixds, **that which has to do with the courts of law.” and by de regula the word kavovxds, ‘* that which has to do with rules,” here the rules of logic. The Epicureans used for logic xavovixy, in contrast with Aristotle and his successors, who used doyix7. The Latin rationalis is a translation of the latter.

384

EPISTLE LXXXIX,

a different subject matter. Some have added a department for which they use the Greek term ‘economics,’ * the science of managing one’s own household. Still others have made a distinct head- ing for the various kinds of life? There is no one of these subdivisions, however, which will not be found under the branch called “ moral” philosophy.

The Epicureans¢ held that philosophy was two- fold, natural and moral; they did away with the rational branch. Then, when they were compelled by the facts themselves to distinguish between equivocal ideas and to expose fallacies that lay hidden under the cloak of truth, they themselves also introduced a heading to which they give the name “forensic and regulative,’% which is merely “rational” under another name, although they hold that this section is accessory to the depart- ment of “natural” philosophy. The Cyrenaic ° school abolished the natural as well as the rational department, and were content with the moral side alone ; and yet these philosophers also include under another title that which they have rejected. For they divide moral philosophy into five parts: (1) What to avoid and what to seek, (2) The Passions, (3) Actions, (4) Causes, (5) Proofs. Now the causes of things really belong to the “natural” division, the proofs to the “rational.” Aristo’ of Chios remarked that the natural and the rational were not only superfluous, but were also contradictory. He even limited the “moral,” which was all that was

e Led by Aristippus of Cyrene. As the Cynics developed into the Stoics, so the Cyrenaics developed into the Epicureans.

f Frag. 357 von Arnim.

385

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

que, quam solam reliquerat, cireumcidit; nam eum locum, qui monitiones continet, sustulit et paedagogi esse dixit, non philosophi, tamquam quidquam aliud sit sapiens quam humani generis paedagogus.

14 Ergo cum tripertita sit philosophia, moralem eius partem primum incipiamus disponere. Quam in tria rursus dividi placuit, ut prima esset inspectio suum cuique distribuens et aestimans quanto quidque dignum sit, maxime utilis. Quid enim est tam necessarium quam pretia rebus inponere? Secunda de impetu, de actionibus tertia.! Primum enim est, ut quanti? quidque sit indices, secundum, ut im- petum ad illa capias ordinatum temperatumque, tertium, ut inter impetum tuum actionemque con- veniat, ut in omnibus istis tibi ipse consentias.

15 Quicquid ex tribus defuit, turbat et cetera. Quid enim prodest inter se? aestimata habere omnia, si sis in impetu nimius? Quid prodest impetus repres- sisse et habere cupiditates in tua‘ potestate, si in ipsa rerum actione tempora ignores nec scias quando quidque et ubi et quaemadmodum agi debeat? Aliud est enim dignitates et pretia rerum nosse, aliud articulos, aliud impetus refrenare et ad agenda ire, non ruere. ‘Tunc ergo vita concors sibi est, ubi actio non destituit impetum, impetus ex dignitate rei cuius-

1 This is the order followed by Buecheler; B gives secunda de actionibus tertia de impetu. 2 quanti Muretus ; quantum B. 3 inter se Gloeckner ; inter B. 4 tua later MSS. ; sua B.

« Seneca translates dewpyrik7.

> ‘Opunrixy; the dpual, impetus, in the Stoic philosophy, are the natural instincts, which require training and regulation before they can be trusted.

© TIpaxrix7. 386

EPISTLE LXXXIX.

left to him; for he abolished that heading which embraced advice, maintaining that it was the business of the pedagogue, and not of the philosopher —as if the wise man were anything else than the pedagogue of the human race !

Since, therefore, philosophy is threefold, let us first begin to set in order the moral side. It has been agreed that this should be divided into three parts. First, we have the speculative® part, which assigns to each thing its particular function and weighs the worth of each; it is highest in point of utility. For what is so indispensable as giving to everything its proper value? The second has to do with impulse,? the third with actions.“ For the first duty is to determine severally what things are worth ; the second, to conceive with regard to them a regulated and ordered impulse; the third, to make your impulse and your actions harmonize, so that under all these conditions you may be consistent with yourself. If any of these three be defective, there is confusion in the rest also. For what benefit is there in having all things appraised, each in its proper relations, if you go to excess in your impulses? What benefit is there in having checked your impulses and in having your desires in your own control, if when you come to action you are unaware of the proper times and seasons, and if you do not know when, where, and how each action should be carried out? It is one thing to under- stand the merits and the values of facts, another thing to know the precise moment for action, and still another to curb impulses and to proceed, instead of rushing, toward what is to be done. Hence life is in harmony with itself only when action has not deserted impulse, and when impulse toward an

VOL. II N 2 387

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

que, quam solam reliquerat, cireumcidit; nam eum locum, qui monitiones continet, sustulit et paedagogi esse dixit, non philosophi, tamquam quidquam aliud sit sapiens quam humani generis paedagogus.

14. Ergo cum tripertita sit philosophia, moralem eius partem primum incipiamus disponere. Quam in tria rursus dividi placuit, ut prima esset inspectio suum cuique distribuens et aestimans quanto quidque dignum sit, maxime utilis. Quid enim est tam necessarium quam pretia rebus inponere? Secunda de impetu, de actionibus tertia.! Primum enim est, ut quanti” quidque sit indices, secundum, ut im- petum ad illa capias ordinatum temperatumque, tertium, ut inter impetum tuum actionemque con- veniat, ut in omnibus istis tibi ipse consentias.

15 Quicquid ex tribus defuit, turbat et cetera. Quid enim prodest inter se? aestimata habere omnia, si sis in impetu nimius? Quid prodest impetus repres- sisse et habere cupiditates in tua‘ potestate, si in ipsa rerum actione tempora ignores nec scias quando quidque et ubi et quemadmodum agi debeat? Aliud est enim dignitates et pretia rerum nosse, aliud articulos, aliud impetus refrenare et ad agenda ire, non ruere. Tunc ergo vita concors sibi est, ubi actio non destituit impetum, impetus ex dignitate rei cuius-

1 This is the order followed by Buecheler; B gives secunda de actionibus tertia de impetu. 2 quanti Muretus ; quantum B. 3 inter se Gloeckner ; inter B. 4 tua later MSS. ; sua B.

« Seneca translates Qewpyriky.

> ‘Opunrixy; the dpual, impetus, in the Stoic philosophy, are the natural instincts, which require training and regulation before they can be trusted.

© TIpaxrix7. 386

EPISTLE LXXXIX.

left to him; for he abolished that heading which embraced advice, maintaining that it was the business of the pedagogue, and not of the philosopher —as if the wise man were anything else than the pedagogue of the human race!

Since, therefore, philosophy is threefold, let us first begin to set in order the moral side. It has been agreed that this should be divided into three parts. First, we have the speculative® part, which assigns to each thing its particular function and weighs the worth of each; it is highest in point of utility. For what is so indispensable as giving to everything its proper value? The second has to do with impulse,? the third with actions.” For the first duty is to determine severally what things are worth ; the second, to conceive with regard to them a regulated and ordered impulse; the third, to make your impulse and your actions harmonize, so that under all these conditions you may be consistent with yourself. If any of these three be defective, there is confusion in the rest also. For what benefit is there in having all things appraised, each in its proper relations, if you go to excess in your impulses? What benefit is there in having checked your impulses and in having your desires in your own control, if when you come to action you are unaware of the proper times and seasons, and if you do not know when, where, and how each action should be carried out? It is one thing to under- stand the merits and the values of facts, another thing to know the precise moment for action, and still another to curb impulses and to proceed, instead of rushing, toward what is to be done. Hence life is in harmony with itself only when action has not deserted impulse, and when impulse toward an

VOL. II N 2 387

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

que concipitur proinde remissus vel acrior,! prout illa digna est peti.

16 Naturalis pars philosophiae in duo scinditur: cor- poralia et incorporalia. Utraque dividuntur in suos, ut ita dicam, gradus. Corporum locus in hos primum, in ea quae faciunt et quae ex his gignuntur; gignun- tur autem elementa. Ipse de? elementis locus, ut quidam putant, simplex est, ut quidam, in materiam et causam omnia moventem et elementa dividitur.

17. Superest ut rationalem partem philosophiae divi- dam. Omnis oratio aut continua est aut inter respondentem et interrogantem discissa. Hane Siadextixyy, illam pytopexynv placuit vocari. “Pytopixi) verba curat et sensus et ordinem. AvadAexrix?) in duas partes dividitur, in verba et significationes, id est in res quae dicuntur et vocabula quibus dicuntur. Ingens deinde sequitur utriusque divisio. Itaque hoc loco finem faciam et

Summa sequar fastigia rerum ;

alioqui si voluero facere partium partes, quaestionum 18 liber fiet. Haec, Lucili virorum optime, quo minus legas non deterreo, dummodo quicquid legeris,? ad mores statim referas. Illos conpesce, marcentia in te excita, soluta con- stringe, contumacia doma, cupiditates tuas publicas-

1 vel acrior some later MSS. ; acrior B; acriorque other MSS. 2 ipse de one later MS. ; de is omitted by B and the rest. = legeris later MSS. ; elegeris B.

@ Ywuarixyn and dowpuaros.

> Jlounrixa and radnrixd. ° i.e., has no subdivisions.

4 Vergil, Aeneid, i. 342,

388

EPISTLE LXXXIX.

object arises in each case from the worth of the object, being languid or more eager as the case may be, according as the objects which arouse it are worth seeking.

The natural side of philosophy is twofold: bodily and non-bodily.¢ Each is divided into its own grades of importance, so to speak. The topic concerning bodies deals, first, with these two grades: the creative and the created’; and the created things are the elements. Now this very topic of the elements, as some writers hold, is integral °¢; as others hold, it is divided into matter, the cause which moves all things, and the elements.

It remains for me to divide rational philosophy into its parts. Now all speech is either continuous, or split up between questioner and answerer. It has been agreed upon that the former should be called rhetoric, and the latter dialectic. Rhetoric deals with words, and meanings, and arrangement. Dialectic is divided into two parts: words and their meanings, that is, into things which are said, and the words in which they are said. Then comes a subdivision of each—and it is of vast extent. There- fore I shall stop at this point, and

But treat the climax of the story ;4

for if I should take a fancy to give the subdivisions, my letter would become a debater’s handbook! I am not trying to discourage you, excellent Lucilius, from reading on this subject, provided only that you promptly relate to conduct all that you have read.

It is your conduct that you must hold in check ; you must rouse what is languid in you, bind fast what has become relaxed, conquer what is obstinate, persecute your appetites, and the appetites of man-

389

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

que quantum potes vexa; et istis dicentibus “ quo

19 usque eadem?” responde: “ego debebam dicere ‘quo usque eadem peccabitis?’” Remedia ante vultis quam vitia desinere? Ego vero eo magis dicam et, quia recusatis, perseverabo. Tune incipit medicina proficere, ubi in corpore alienato dolorem tactus expressit. Dicam etiam invitis profutura. Aliquando aliqua ad vos non blanda vox veniat, et quia verum singuli audire non vultis, publice audite.

20 Quo usque fines possessionum propagabitis? Ager uni domino, qui populum cepit, angustus est. Quo usque arationes vestras! porrigetis, ne provinciarum quidem spatio? contenti circumscribere praediorum modum? Inlustrium fluminum per privatum de- cursus est et amnes magni magnarumque gentium termini usque ad ostium a fonte vestri sunt. Hoc quoque parum est, nisi latifundiis vestris maria cinxistis, nisi trans Hadriam et Ionium Aegaeumque vester vilicus regnat, nisi insulae, ducum domicilia magnorum, inter vilissima rerum numerantur. Quam vultis late possidete, sit fundus qued aliquando impe- rium vocabatur; facite vestrum quicquid potestis, duin plus sit alieno.

21 Nunc vobiscum loquor, quorum aeque spatiose luxuria quam illorum avaritia diffunditur. Vobis

1 arationes vestras Erasmus ; a rationib; vestris B. 2 spatio de Jan; statione B.

@ For the thought compare Petronius, Sat. 48 nunc coniungere agellis Siciliam volo, ut, cum Africam libuerit ire, per meos fines navigem.

390

EPISTLE LXXXIX.

kind, as much as you can; and to those who say: a ce long will this unending talk go on?” answer with the words: “I ought io be asking you ‘ How long will these unending sins of yours go on?’” Bo. you oa lly desire my remedies to stop before your vices? But I shall speak of my remedies all the more, and just because you offer objections I shall keep on talking. Medicine begins to do good at the time when a touch makes the diseased body tingle with pain. I shall utter words that will help men even against their will. At times you should allow words other than compliments to reach your ears, and because as individuals you are unwilling to hear the truth, hear it collectively. How far will you extend the boundaries of your estates? An estate which held a nation is too narrow for a single lord. How far will you push forward your ploughed fields—you who are not content to confine the measure of your farms even within the amplitude of provinces?” You have noble rivers flowing down through your private grounds; you have mighty streams—boundaries of mighty nations—under your dominion from source to outlet. This also is too little for you unless you also surround whole seas with your estates, unless your steward holds sway on the other side of the Adriatic, the Ionian, and the Aegean seas, unless the islands, homes of famous chieftains, are reckoned by you as the most paltry of possessions! Spread them as widely as you will, if only you may have as a “farm” what was once called a kingdom ; make whatever you can your own, provided only that it is more than your neighbour's!

And now for a word with you, whose luxury spreads itself out as widely as the greed of those to whom I have just referred. To you I say; “ Will

391

‘

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

dico: quo usque nullus erit lacus cui non villarum vestrarum fastigia immineant? Nullum flumen cuius non ripas aedificia vestra praetexant? Ubicumque scatebunt aquarum calentium venae, ibi nova de- versoria luxuriae excitabuntur. Ubicumque in ali- quem sinum litus curvabitur, vos protinus fundamenta iacietis! nec contenti solo nisi quod manu feceritis, mare? agetis introrsus. Omnibus licet locis tecta vestra resplendeant, aliubi inposita montibus in vastum terrarum marisque prospectum, aliubi ex plano in altitudinem montium educta, cum multa aedificaveritis, cum ingentia, tamen et singula cor- pora estis et parvola. Quid prosunt multa cubicula ? In uno iacetis. Non est vestrum ubicumque non estis.

2 Ad vos deinde transeo, quorum profunda et in- satiabilis gula hine maria scrutatur, hine terras, alia hamis, alia laqueis, alia retium variis generibus cum magno labore persequitur ; nullis animalibus nisi ex fastidio pax est. Quantulum® ex istis epulis, quae per tot comparatis manus, fesso voluptatibus ore libatis? Quantulum ex ista fera periculose capta dominus crudus ac nauseans gustat? , Quantulum ex tot conchyliis tam longe advectis per istum stomachum inexplebilem labitur? Infelices, eequid 4 intellegitis maiorem vos famem habere quam ventrem ?

3 Haec aliis dic, ut dum dicis, audias ipse; scribe,

1 jacietis later MSS. ; facietis B. 2 marea MS. of Gruter; arme B.

3 guantulum later MSS. ; quantulum est B. 4 ecquid Gronovius ; esse quid B.

@ j.e., by building embankments, ete. Cf Horace, Od. in. 18. 22 parum locuples continente ripa.

392

EPISTLE LXXXIX.

this custom continue until there is no lake over which the pinnacles of your country-houses do not tower? Until there is no river whose banks are not bordered by your lordly structures? Wherever hot waters shall gush forth in rills, there you will be causing new resorts of luxury to rise. Wherever the shore shall bend into a bay, there will you straightway be laying foundations, and, not content with any land that has not been made by art, you will bring the sea within your boundaries.* On every side let your house-tops flash in the sun, now set on mountain peaks where they command an extensive outlook over sea and land, now lifted from the plain to the height of mountains; build your manifold structures, your huge piles,—you are nevertheless but individuals, and puny ones at that! What profit to you are your many bed-chambers? You sleep in one. No place is yours where you yourselves are not. “Next I pass to you, you whose bottomless and insatiable maw explores on the one hand the seas, on the other the earth, with enormous toil hunting down your prey, now with hook, now with snare, now with nets of various kinds ; no animal has peace except when you are cloyed with it. And how slight a portion of those banquets of yours, prepared for you by so many hands, do you taste with your pleasure-jaded palate! How slight a portion of all that game, whose taking was fraught with danger, does the master’s sick and squeamish stomach relish? How slight a portion of all those shell-fish, imported from so far, slips down that insatiable gullet? Poor wretches, do you not know that your appetites are bigger than your bellies?” Talk in this way to other men,—provided that while you talk you also listen; write in this way,— 393

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

ut dum scribis, legas, omnia ad mores et ad sedandam rabiem adfectuum referens. Stude, non ut plus aliquid scias, sed ut melius. VALE.

xe Seneca LvycILIO SVO SALVTEM

1 Quis dubitare, mi Lucili, potest, quin deorum im- mortalium munus sit quod vivimus, philosophiae quod bene vivimus? Itaque tanto plus huic nos debere quam dis, quanto maius beneficium est bona vita quam vita, pro certo haberetur, nisi ipsam philoso- phiam di tribuissent. Cuius scientiam nulli! de-

2 derunt, facultatem omnibus. Nam si hane quoque bonum vulgare fecissent? et prudentes nasceremur, sapientia quod in se optimum habet, perdidisset: inter fortuita non esse.2 Nunc enim hoc in illa pretiosum atque magnificum est, quod non obvenit, quod illam sibi quisque debet, quod non ab alio petitur.

Quid haberes quod in philosophia suspiceres, si

3 beneficiaria res esset? Huius opus unum est de divinis humanisque verum invenire.# Ab hac num- quam recedit religio, pietas, iustitia et omnis alius comitatus virtutum consertarum et inter se cohaeren-

1 nulli later MSS. ; ulli B. 2 fecissent later MSS. ; fecisset B. 8 non esse Gloeckner; non esset MSS. + invenire later MSS. ; inveniri B.

Rie? Th a eT ei ee ee ae ee oS ee 2 Of, § 18. : » Cf, Plato, Crito 48, ‘* not life itself, but a good life, is chiefly to be desired.”

394

EPISTLES LXXXIX., XC.

provided that while you write you read, remember-- ing that everything® you hear or read, is to be applied to conduct, and to the alleviation of passion’s fury. Study, not in order to add anything to your knowledge, but to make your knowledge better. Farewell.

nO ON. THE PARL PLAYED “BY, PHLLO- SOPHY IN THE PROGRESS OF MAN

Who can doubt, my dear Lucilius, that life is the gift of the immortal gods, but that living well® is the gift of philosophy? Hence the idea that our debt to philosophy is greater than our debt to the gods, in proportion as a good life is more of a benefit than mere life, would be regarded as correct, were not philosophy itself a boon which the gods have bestowed upon us. They have given the knowledge thereof to none, but the faculty of acquiring it they have given to all. For if they had made philosophy also a general good, and if we were gifted with understanding at our birth, wisdom would have lost her best attribute—that she is not one of the gifts of fortune. For as it is, the precious and noble characteristic of wisdom is that she does not advance to meet us, that each man is indebted to himself for her, and that we do not seek her at the hands of others.

What would there be in philosophy worthy of your respect, if she were a thing that came by bounty? Her sole function is to discover the truth about things divine and things human. From her side religion never departs, nor duty, nor justice, nor any of the whole company of virtues which cling

395

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

tium. Haec docuit colere divina, humana diligere, et penes deos imperium esse, inter homines con- sortium. Quod aliquandiu inviolatum mansit, ante- quam societatem avaritia distraxit et paupertatis causa etiam is, quos fecit locupletissimos, fuit. Desierunt! enim omnia possidere, dum volunt propria.

4 Sed primi mortalium quique ex his geniti naturam incorrupti sequebantur, eundem habebant et ducem et legem, commissi melioris arbitrio. Naturae est enim potioribus deteriora summittere. Mutis quidem gregibus aut maxima corpora praesunt aut vehemen- tissima. Non praecedit armenta degener taurus, sed qui magnitudine ac toris ceteros mares vicit. Elephantorum gregem excelsissimus ducit; inter homines pro summo? est optimum. Animo itaque rector eligebatur, ideoque summa felicitas erat gen- tium, in quibus non poterat potentior esse nisi melior. Tuto® enim quantum vult potest, qui se nisi quod debet non putat posse.?

5 [lo ergo saeculo, quod aureum perhibent, penes sapientes fuisse regnum Posidonius iudicat. Hi con-

1 desierunt later MSS. ; desiderium B.

2 pro summo ed. Ven. (1492); proximo or pro maximo MSS.

3 tuto Buecheler; toto B; tantwm others.

4 putat posse some later MSS. ; putat esse B.

« Compare the ‘‘ knowledge of things divine and things human’ of Ixxxix. 5.

» The ‘** Golden Age” motif was a frequent one in Latin literature. Compare, ¢.g., Tibullus, i. 3. 35 ff., the passage beginning :

Quam bene Saturno vivebant rege, priusquam Tellus in longas est patefacta vias ! Cf. § 46, summing up the message of Seneca’s letter.

¢ While modern philosophy would probably side with Seneca rather than with Posidonius, it is interesting to know the opinion of Macaulay, who holds (Essay on Bacon) that

396

EPISTLE XC.

together in close-united fellowship. Philosophy has taught us to worship that which is divine, to love that which is human®; she has told us that with the gods lies dominion, and among men, fellowship. This fellowship remained unspoiled for a long time, until avarice tore the community asunder and became the cause of poverty, even in the case of those whom she herself had most enriched. For men cease to possess all things the moment they desire all things for their own.

But the first men and those who sprang from them, still unspoiled, followed nature, having one man as both their leader and their law, entrusting themselves to the control of one better than them- selves. For nature has the habit of subjecting the weaker to the stronger. Even among the dumb animals those which are either biggest or fiercest hold sway. It is no weakling bull that leads the herd ; it is one that has beaten the other males by his might and his muscle. In the case of elephants, the tallest goes first; among men, the best is regarded as the highest. That is whyit was to the mind that a ruler was assigned ; and for that reason the greatest happiness rested with those peoples among whom a man could not be the more powerful unless he were the better. For that man can safely accomplish what he will who thinks he can do nothing except what he ought to do. |

Accordingly, in that age which is maintained to be the golden age,? Posidonius® holds that the government was under the jurisdiction of the wise.

there is much in common between Posidonius and the English inductive philosopher, and thinks but little of Seneca’s ideas on the subject. Cf W. C. Summers, Select Letters of Seneca, p. 312.

397

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

tinebant manus et infirmiorem a validioribus tue- bantur, suadebant dissuadebantque et utilia atque inutilia monstrabant. _Horum prudentia ne quid deesset suis providebat, fortitudo pericula arcebat, beneficentia augebat! ornabatque subiectos. Officium erat imperare, non regnum. Nemo quantum posset, adversus eos experiebatur, per quos coeperat posse, nec erat cuiquam aut animus in iniuriam aut causa, cum bene imperanti bene pareretur nihilque rex maius minari male parentibus posset, quam ut abirent 2 e regno.

6 Sed postquam subrepentibus vitiis in tyrannidem regna conversa sunt, opus esse legibus coepit, quas et ipsas inter initia tulere sapientes. Solon qui Athenas aequo iure fundavit, inter septem fuit? sapientia notos. Lycurgum si eadem aetas tulisset, sacro illi numero accessisset octavus. Zaleuci leges Charondaeque laudantur. Hi non in foro nec in consultorum atrio, sed in Pythagorae tacito illo sanctoque secessu didicerunt iura, quae florenti tune Siciliae et per Italiam Graeciae ponerent.

7 Hactenus Posidonio adsentior; artes* quidem a philosophia inventas, quibus in cotidiano vita utitur, non concesserim nec illi fabricae adseram gloriam. “ I}la,” inquit, “ sparsos et aut cavis tectos ° aut aliqua

1 augebat later MSS. ; agehat B.

2 abirent later MSS.; abiret B; quam abire se regno Gronovius.

3 fuit Madvig ; cui B.

4 adsentior ; artes Erasraus ; adsentio partes (artes) MSS.

5 sparsos . . . tectos Lipsius; sparsose cuucasis lectos B.

a Cleobulus of Rhodes, Periander of Corinth, Pittacus of Mitylene, Bias of Priene, Thales of Miletus, Chilon of Sparta, and Solon of Athens. For some of these substitutions are made in certain lists.

® Of. Ep. Ixxxviii. 20 ad alia multum, ad viriutem nihil,

398

EPISTLE XC.

They kept their hands under control, and protected the weaker from the stronger. They gave advice, both to do and not to do; they showed what was useful and what was useless. Their forethought provided that their subjects should lack nothing ; their bravery warded off dangers; their kindness enriched and adorned their subjects. For them ruling was a service, not an exercise of royalty. No ruler tried his power against those to whom he owed the beginnings of his power; and no one had the inclination, or the excuse, to do wrong, since the ruler ruled well and the subject obeyed well, and the king could utter no greater threat against disobedient subjects than that they should depart from the kingdom.

But when once vice stole in and kingdoms were transformed into tyrannies, a need arose for laws ; and these very laws were in turn framed by the wise. Solon, who established Athens upon a firm basis by just laws, was one of the seven men renowned for their wisdom. Had Lycurgus lived in the same period, an eighth would have been added to that hallowed number seven. The laws of Zaleucus and Charondas are praised; it was not in the forum or in the offices of skilled counsellors, but in the silent and holy retreat of Pythagoras, that these two men learned the principles of justice which they were to establish in Sicily (which at that time was prosperous) and throughout Grecian Italy.

Up to this point I agree with Posidonius; but that philosophy discovered the arts of which life makes use in its daily round? I refuse to admit, nor will I ascribe to it an artisan’s glory. Posidonius says: “When men were scattered over the earth, protected by caves or by the dug-out shelter of a

399

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

rupe suffossa aut exesae arboris trunco docuit tecta moliri.”” Ego vero philosophiam iudico non magis excogitasse has machinationes tectorum supra tecta surgentium et urbium urbes prementium quam vivaria

g piscium in hoc clausa, ut tempestatum periculum

10

non adiret gula et quamvis acerrime pelago saeviente haberet luxuria portus suos, in quibus distinctos piscium greges saginaret. Quid ais? Philosophia homines docuit habere clavem et seram? Quid! aliud erat avaritiae signum dare? Philosophia haec cum tanto Relea periculo inminentia tecta suspendit? Parum enim erat fortuitis tegi et sine arte et sine difficultate naturale invenire sibi aliquod receptaculum. Mihi crede, felix illud saeculum ante architectos fuit, ante tectores.2 Ista nata sunt iam nascente luxuria, in quadratum tigna decidere et serra per designata currente certa manu trabem scindere, Nam primi cuneis scindebant fissile lignum.

Non enim tecta cenationi epulum recepturae para- bantur, nec in hunc usum pinus aut abies deferebatur longo vehiculorum ordine vicis intrementibus, ut ex illa lacunaria auro gravia penderent. Furcae utrimque suspensae fulciebant casam. Spissatis ramalibus ac fronde congesta et in proclive disposita

1 quid later MSS. ; quidquid B. 2 ante architectos . . . ita Hense; antea architektos fuit. antetacteres. ista B.

* Vergil, Georg. i. 144. ’ Cf. Juvenal, iii. 254 ff. :

Longa coruscat Serraco veniente abies, atque altera pinum Plaustra vehunt, nutant alte populoque minantur.

Compare also the ‘‘ towering tenements” of § 8, 400

EPISTLE XC.

cliff or by the trunk of a hollow tree, it was philosophy that taught them to build houses.” But I, for my part, do not hold that philosophy devised these shrewdly - contrived dwellings of ours which rise story upon story, where city crowds against city, any more than that she invented the fish-preserves, which are enclosed for the purpose of saving men’s gluttony from having to run the risk of storms, and in order that, no matter how wildly the sea is raging, luxury may have its safe harbours in which to fatten fancy breeds of fish. What! Was it philosophy that taught the use of keys and bolts? Nay, what was that except giving a hint to avarice? Was it philosophy that erected all these towering tenements, so dangerous to the persons who dwell in them? Was it not enough for man to provide himself a roof of any chance covering, and to contrive for himself some natural retreat without the help of art and without trouble? Believe me, that was a happy age, before the days of architects, before the days of builders! All this sort of thing was born when luxury was being born,—this matter of cutting timbers square and cleaving a beam with unerring hand as the saw made its way over the marked-out line.

The primal man with wedges split his wood.@

For they were not preparing a roof for a future banquet-hall; for no such use did they carry the pine- trees or the firs along the trembling streets? with a long row of drays—merely to fasten thereon panelled ceilings heavy with gold. Forked poles erected at either end propped up their houses. With close- packed branches and with leaves heaped up and laid

401

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

decursus imbribus quamvis magnis erat. Sub his tectis habitavere, sed securi. Culmus liberos texit, sub marmore atque auro servitus habitat. In illo quoque dissentio a Posidonio, quod ferra- menta fabrilia excogitata a sapientibus viris iudicat. 11 Isto enim modo dicat licet sapientes fuisse, per quos Tunc laqueis captare feras et fallere visco Inventum et magnos canibus circumdare saltus. Omnia enim ista sagacitas hominum, non sapientia 12 invenit. In hoe quoque dissentio, sapientes fuisse qui ferri metalla et aeris invenerint, cum incendio silvarum adusta tellus in summo venas iacentis lique- factas! fudisset ; ista® tales inveniunt, quales colunt. 13 Ne illa quidem tam suptilis mihi quaestio videtur quam Posidonio, utrum malleus in usu esse prius an forcipes coeperint. Utraque invenit aliquis excitati ingenii, acuti, non magni nec elati, et quicquid aliud corpore incurvato et animo humum spectante quae- rendum est. Sapiens facilis victu fuit, quidni?, Cum hoc quoque saeculo esse quam expeditissimus cupiat. 14 Quomods, oro te, convenit, ut et Diogenen mireris et Daedalum? Uter ex his sapiens tibi videtur? Qui serram commentus est, an ille qui cum vidisset puerum cava manu bibentem aquam, fregit protinus

1 liquefactas later MSS. ; liquefacta B. 2 ista Pincianus ; ipsa B.

@ Vergil, Georg. i. 139 f. > Cf. T. Rice Holmes, Ancient Britain, pp. 121 f., who concludes that the discovery of ore-smelting was accidental.

402

EPISTLE XC,

sloping they contrived a drainage for even the heaviest rains. Beneath such dwellings they lived, but they lived in peace. A thatched roof once covered free men; under marble and gold dwells slavery.

On another point also I differ from Posidonius, when he holds that mechanical tools were the invention of wise men. For on that basis one might maintain that those were wise who taught the arts

Of setting traps for game, and liming twigs For birds, and girdling mighty woods with dogs.

It was man’s ingenuity, not his wisdom, that dis- covered all these devices. And I also differ from him when he says that wise men discovered our mines of iron and copper, “ when the earth, scorched by forest fires, melted the veins of ore which lay near the surface and caused the metal to gush forth.” ® Nay, the sort of men who discover such things are the sort of men who are busied with them. Nor doI consider this question so subtle as Posidonius thinks, namely, whether the hammer or the tongs came first into use. They were both invented by some man whose mind was nimble and keen, but not great or exalted; and the same holds true of any other discovery which can only be made by means of a bent body and of a mind whose gaze is upon the ground.

The wise man was easy-going in his way of living. And why not? Even in our own times he would prefer to be as little cumbered as possible. How, I ask, can you consistently admire both Diogenes and Daedalus? Which of these two seems to you a wise man—the one who devised the saw, or the one who, on seeing a boy drink water from the hollow of his hand, forthwith took his cup from his wallet and

4.03

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

exemptum e perula calicem cum! hac obiurgatione sui: “quamdiu homo stultus supervacuas sarcinas habui]! ” qui se conplicuit in dolio et in eo cubitavit ?

15 Hodie utrum tandem sapientiorem putas, qui invenit

16

quemadmodum in inmensain altitudinem crocum Jatentibus fistulis exprimat, qui euripos subito aquarum impetu implet aut siccat et versatilia ce- nationum laquearia ita coagmentat, ut subinde alia facies atque alia succedat et totiens tecta quotiens fericula mutentur, an eum, qui et aliis et sibi hoc monstrat, quam nihil nobis natura durum ac difficile imperaverit, posse nos habitare sine marmorario ac fabro, posse nos vestitos esse sine commercio seri- corum,” posse nos habere usibus nostris necessaria, si contenti fuerimus iis quae terra posuit in summo ? Quem si audire humanum genus voluerit, tam super- vacuum sciet sibi cocum esse quam militem. _ Illi sapientes fuerunt aut certe sapientibus similes, quibus expedita erat tutela corporis. Simplici cura constant necessaria ; in delicias laboratur. Non desiderabis artifices ; sequere naturam.

Illa noluit esse districtos. Ad quaecumque nos cogebat, instruxit. “Frigus intolerabilest corpori_ nudo.” Quid ergo? Non pelles ferarum et aliorum animalium a frigore satis abundeque defendere queunt? Non corticibus arborum pleraeque gentes

1 cum added by Bachrens. 2 sericorum Fickert ; servorum B.

ee eee ee

* Cf. Diog. Laert. vi. 37 Oeacduerss more maidlov rais Xepot wivoy, éféppupe THs mipas rhv Kor’\nv, elroy, Iacdiov Me vevixnkey evTe Eig.

* Compare the halls of Nero which Seneca may easily have had in mind: (Suet. Mero 31) cenationes laqueatae tabulis eburneisversatilibus . . . praecipua cenationumrotunda, quae perpetuo diebus ac noctibus vice mundi circumageretur.

404

EPISTLE XC.

broke it, upbraiding himself with these words :4% “ Fool that I am, to have been carrying superfluous baggage all this time!’’ and then curled himself up in his tub and lay down to sleep? In these our own times, which man, pray, do you deem the wiser —the one who invents a process for spraying saffron perfumes to a tremendous height from hidden pipes, who fills or empties canals by a sudden rush of waters, who so cleverly constructs a dining-room with a ceiling of movable panels that it presents one pattern after another, the roof changing as often as the courses,2—or the one who proves to others, as well as to himself, that nature has laid upon us no stern and difficult law when she tells us that we can live without the marble-cutter and the engineer, that we can clothe ourselves without traffic in silk fabrics, that we can have everything that is indis- pensable to our use, provided only that we are content with what the earth has placed on _ its surface? If mankind were willing to listen to this sage, they would know that the cook is as super- fluous to them as the soldier. Those were wise men, or at any rate like the wise, who found the care of the body a problem easy to solve. The things that are indispensable require no elaborate pains for their acquisition; it is only the luxuries that call for labour. Follow nature, and you will need no skilled craftsmen.

Nature did not wish us to be harassed. For whatever she forced upon us, she equipped us. “ But cold cannot be endured by the naked body.’ What then? Are there not the skins of wild beasts and other animals, which can protect us well enough, and more than enough, from the cold? Do not many tribes cover their bodies with the bark of

405

17

18

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

tegunt corpora? Non avium plumae in usum vestis conseruntur? Non hodieque magna Scytharum pars tergis vulpium induitur ac murum, quae tactu mollia et inpenetrabilia ventis sunt? “Opus est tamen calorem solis aestivi umbra crassiore propellere.” Quid ergo? Non vetustas multa dedit! loca, quae vel iniuria temporis vel alio quolibet casu excavata in specum recesserunt? Quid ergo? Non quilibet? virgeam cratem texuerunt manu et vili obliverunt luto, deinde stipula? aliisque silvestribus operuere fastigium, et pluviis per devexa labentibus hiemem transiere 4 securi? Quid ergo? Non in defosso latent Syrticae gentes quibusque propter nimios solis ardores nullum tegimentum satis repellendis caloribus solidum est nisi ipsa arens humus?

Non fuit tam inimica natura, ut, cum omnibus aliis animalibus facilem actum vitae daret, homo solus non posset sine tot artibus vivere. Nihil horum ab illa nobis imperatum est, nihil aegre quaerendum, ut possit vita produci. Ad parata nati sumus; nos omnia nobis difficilia facilium fastidio fecimus. Tecta tegimentaque et fomenta corporum et cibi et quae nune ingens negotium facta sunt, obvia erant et

1 dedit Madvig; abdidit MSS. Buecheler suspects the whole clause to be corrupt. H. Miiller suggests abdita dedit.

* quilibet later MSS.; quaelibet B. G. Gemoll believes that the words quid ergo . . . securi should be placed at the head of § 17.

® stipula Hense et al. ; despicula B; de stipula cod. Harl. followed by Haase.

4 transiere later MSS. ; transire B.

2 Of. Ovid, Met. i. 121 f. :

Domus antra fuerunt Et densi frutices et vinctae cortice virgae.

4.06

EPISTLE XC.

trees? Are not the feathers of birds sewn together to serve for clothing? Even at the present day does not a large portion of the Scythian tribe garb itself in the skins of foxes and mice, soft to the touch and impervious to the winds? “ For all that, men must have some thicker protection than the skin, in order to keep off the heat of the sun in summer.” What then? Has not antiquity produced many retreats which, hollowed out either by the damage wrought by time or by any other occurrence you will, have opened into caverns? What then? Did not the very first- comers take twigs® and weave them by hand into wicker mats, smear them with common mud, and then with stubble and other wild grasses construct a roof, and thus pass their winters secure, the rains carried off by means of the sloping gables? What then? Do not the peoples on the edge of the Syrtes dwell in dug-out houses— and indeed all the tribes who, because of the too fierce blaze of the sun, possess no protection sufficient to keep off the heat except the parched soil itself? Nature was not so hostile to man that, when she gave all the other animals an easy réle in life, she made it impossible for him alone to live without all these artifices. None of these was imposed upon us by her; none of them had to be painfully sought out that our lives might be prolonged. All things were ready for us at our birth; it is we that have made everything difficult for ourselves, through our disdain for what is easy. Houses, shelter, creature comforts, food, and all that has now become the source of vast trouble, were ready at hand, free to Among many accounts by Roman writers of early man,

compare this passage of Ovid, and that in the fifth book of Lucretius.

407

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

gratuita et opera levi parabilia. Modus enim omnium prout necessitas erat; nos ista pretiosa, nos mira,} nos magnis multisque conquirenda artibus fecimus.

19 Sufficit ad id natura, quod poscit. A natura luxuria descivit, quae cotidie se ipsa incitat et tot saeculis crescit et ingenio adiuvat vitia. Primo supervacua coepit concupiscere, inde contraria, novissime animum corpori addixit et illius deservire libidini iussit. Omnes istae artes, quibus aut circitatur civitas aut strepit, corporis? negotium gerunt, cui omnia olim tamquam servo praestabantur, nunc tamquam domino parantur. Itaque hine textorum, hine fabrorum officinae sunt, hinc odores coquentium, hine mollitia 3 molles corporis motus docentium mollesque cantus et infractos. Recessit enim ille naturalis modus desideria ope necessaria finiens; iam rusticitatis et miseriae est velle, quantum sat est.

20 = Incredibilest, mi Lucili, quam facile etiam magnos viros dulcedo orationis abducat vero. Ecce Posidonius, ut mea tert opinio, ex is‘ qui plurimum philosophiae contulerunt, dum vult describere primum, quemad- modum alia torqueantur fila, alia ex molli soluto-

que ducantur, deinde quemadmodum tela suspensis

1 mira Pincianus ; misera B. 2 conporis later MSS. ; corpori BA, mollitia added by Capps. 4 is Buecheler; his BA.

408

EPISTLE XC,

all, and obtainable for trifling pains. For the limit everywhere corresponded to the need; it is we that have made all those things valuable, we that have made them admired, we that have caused them to be sought for by extensive and manifold devices. Nature suffices for what she demands. Luxury has turned her back upon nature ; each day she expands herself, in all the ages she has been gathering strength, and by her wit promoting the vices. At first, luxury began to lust for what nature regarded as superfluous, then for that which was contrary to nature ; and finally she made the soul a bondsman to the body, and bade it be an utter slave to the body’s lusts. All these crafts by which the city is patrolled —or shall I say kept in uproar—are but engaged in the body’s business; time was when all things were offered to the body as to a slave, but now they are made ready for it as for a master. Accordingly, hence have come the workshops of the weavers and the carpenters; hence the savoury smells of the professional cooks; hence the wantonness of those who teach wanton postures, and wanton and affected singing. For that moderation which nature pre- scribes, which limits our desires by resources restricted to our needs, has abandoned the field; it has now come to this—that to want only what is enough is a sign both of boorishness and of utter destitution.

It is hard to believe, my dear Lucilius, how easily the charm of eloquence wins even great men away from the truth. Take, for example, Posidonius— who, in my estimation, is of the number of those who have contributed most to philosophy—when he wishes to describe the art of weaving. He tells how, first, some threads are twisted and some drawn out from the soft, loose mass of wool; next, how the

409

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

ponderibus rectum stamen extendat, quemadmodum subtemen insertum, quod duritiam utrimque! con- primentis tramae remolliat, spatha coire cogatur et iungi. ‘Textrini quoque artem a sapientibus dixit inventam, oblitus postea repertum hoc subtilius genus, in quo Tela iugo vincta? est, stamen secernit harundo, Inseritur medium radiis subtemen acutis, Quod lato paviunt® insecti pectine dentes. Quid, si contigisset illi adire* has nostri temporis telas, quibus® vestis nihil celatura conficitur, in qua non dico nullum corpori auxilium, sed nullum pudori este 21 ‘Transit deinde ad agricolas nec minus facunde describit proscissum aratro solum et iteratum,® quo solutior terra facilius pateat radicibus, tune sparsa semina et collectas manu herbas, ne quid fortuitum et agreste succrescat, quod necet segetem. Hoc quoque opus ait esse sapientium, tamquam non nunc quoque plurima cultores agrorum nova inveniant, per 22 quae fertilitas augeatur. Deinde non est contentus his artibus, sed in pistrinum sapientem summittit. Narrat enim quemadmodum rerum naturam imitatus panem coeperit facere. “ Receptas,’ inquit, “in os fruges concurrens inter se duritia dentium frangit, 1 utrimque later MSS. ; utrumque BA. 2 vincta (with Ovid) a later MS. ; iwncta BA. 3 paviunt Gruter ; pariunt BA. 4 adirve later MSS. ; addere BA.

5 quibus later MSS. ; in quibus BA. 6 iteratum Pincianus ; inter aratrum BA.

#@ Ovid, Met. vi. 55 ff.

» Professor Summers calls attention to the similarity of this passage and Cicero, De Nat. Deor. ii. 131 ff. dentibus maunditur...a@ lingua adiuvari videtur ...im alvo... culore. . . in religuum corpus dividantur.

410

EPISTLE XC.

upright warp keeps the threads stretched by means of hanging weights; then, how the inserted thread of the woof, which softens the hard texture of the web which holds it fast on either side, is forced by the batten to make a compact union with the warp. He maintains that even the weaver's art was discovered by wise men, forgetting that the more complicated art which he describes was invented in later days—the art wherein

The web is bound to frame ; asunder now

The reed doth part the warp. Between the threads

Is shot the woof by pointed shuttles borne ; The broad comb’s well-notched teeth then drive it home.?

Suppose he had had the opportunity of seeing the weaving of our own day, which produces the clothing that will conceal nothing, the clothing which affords —I will not say no protection to the body, but none even to modesty !

Posidonius then passes on to the farmer. With no less eloquence he describes the ground which is broken up and crossed again by the plough, so that the earth, thus loosened, may allow freer play to the roots; then the seed is sown, and the weeds plucked out by hand, lest any chance growth or wild plant spring up and spoil the crop. This trade also, he declares, is the creation of the wise,—just as if cultivators of the soil were not even at the present day discovering countless new methods of increasing the soil’s fertility! Furthermore, not confining his attention to these arts, he even degrades the wise man by sending him to the mill. For he tells us how the sage, by imitating the processes of nature, began to make bread. “The grain,’? he says, “once taken into the mouth, is crushed by the flinty teeth, which meet in hostile encounter, and

VOL. II Oo 411

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

et quicquid excidit, ad eosdem dentes lingua re- fertur; tune vero miscetur, ut facilius per fauces lubricas transeat. Cum pervenit in ventrem, aequali eius fervore concoquitur, tune demum corpori accedit.

23 Hoe aliquis secutus exemplar lapidem asperum aspero inposuit ad similitudinem dentium, quorum pars immobilis motum alterius exspectat ; deinde utriusque attritu grana franguntur et saepius rege- runtur, donec ad minutiam frequenter trita redigantur. Tum farinam aqua sparsit et adsidua tractatione per- domuit finxitque panem, quem primo cinis calidus et fervens testa percoxit, deinde furni paulatim reperti et alia genera, quorum fervor serviret arbitrio.” Non multum afuit, quin sutrinum quoque inventum a sapientibus diceret.

24 Omnia ista ratio quidem, sed non recta ratio com- menta est. Hominis enim, non sapientis inventa sunt, tam mehercules quam navigia, quibus amnes quibusque maria transimus aptatis ad excipiendum ventorum impetum velis et additis a tergo guber- naculis, quae hue atque illuc cursum navigii tor- queant. Exemplum a piscibus tractum est, qui cauda reguntur et levi eius in utrumque momento velocita-

25 tem suam flectunt. “ Omnia,’ inquit, “ haec sapiens

quidem invenit ; sed minora quam ut ipse tractaret,

412

EPISTLE XC.

whatever grain slips out the tongue turns back to the selfsame teeth. Then it is blended into a mass, that it may the more easily pass down the slippery throat. When this has reached the stomach, it is digested by the stomach’s equable heat; then, and not till then, it is assimilated with the body. Following this pattern,” he goes on, “ someone placed two rough stones, the one above the other, in imitation of the teeth, one set of which is stationary and awaits the motion of the other set. Then, by the rubbing of the one stone against the other, the grain is crushed and brought back again and again, until by frequent rubbing it is reduced to powder. Then this man sprinkled the meal with water, and by continued manipulation subdued the mass and moulded the loaf. This loaf was, at first, baked by hot ashes or by an earthen vessel glowing hot ; later on ovens were gradually discovered and the other devices whose heat will render obedience to the sage’s will.” Posidonius came very near declaring that even the cobbler’s trade was the discovery of the wise man.

Reason did indeed devise all these things, but it was not right reason. It was man, but not the wise man, that discovered them; just as they invented ships, in which we cross rivers and seas—ships fitted with sails for the purpose of catching the force of the winds, ships with rudders added at the stern in order to turn the vessel’s course in one direction or another. The model followed was the fish, which steers itself by its tail, and by its slightest motion on this side or on that bends its swift course. “ But,” says Posidonius, “ the wise man did indeed discover all these things; they were, however, too petty for him to deal with himself and so he entrusted them

413

26

27

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

sordidioribus ministris dedit.”” Immo non aliis ex- cogitata ista sunt quam quibus hodieque curantur. Quaedam nostra demum prodisse! memoria scimus, ut speculariorum usum perlucente testa clarum transmittentium lumen, ut suspensuras balneorum et inpressos parietibus tubos, per quos circumfunde- retur calor, qui ima simul ac summa foveret aequaliter. Quid loquar marmora, quibus templa, quibus domus fulgent ? Quid lapideas moles in rotundum ac leve formatas, quibus porticus et capacia populorum tecta suscipimus? Quid verborum notas, quibus quamvis citata excipitur oratio et celeritatem linguae manus sequitur? Vilissimorum mancipiorum ista commenta sunt; sapientia altius sedet nec manus edocet, ani- morum magistra est.

Vis scire, quid illa eruerit, quid effecerit? Non decoros? corporis motus nec varios per tubam ac tibiam cantus, quibus exceptus spiritus aut in exitu aut in transitu formatur in vocem. Non arma nec muros nec bello? utilia molitur, paci favet et genus humanum ad concordiam vocat. Non est, inquam, instrumentorum ad usus necessarios opifex. Quid illi tam parvola adsignas? Artificem vides vitae. Alias quidem artes sub dominio habet. Nam cui

1 prodisse later MSS. ; prodidisse BA. 2 decoros later MSS. ; dedecoros BA. 3 bello Madvig; bella BA.

« Besides lapis specularis (window-glass) the Romans used alabaster, mica, and shells for this purpose.

® Suetonius tells us that a certain Ennius, a grammarian of the Augustan age, was the first to develop shorthand on a scientific basis, and that Tiro, Cicero’s freedman, had invented the process. He also mentions Seneca as the most scientific and encyclopaedic authority on the subject.

414

EPISTLE XC.

to his meaner assistants.” Not so; these early inventions were thought out by no other class of men than those who have them in charge to-day. We know that certain devices have come to light only within our own memory—such as the use of windows which admit the clear light through transparent tiles,“ and such as the vaulted baths, with pipes let into their walls for the purpose of diffusing the heat which maintains an even temperature in their lowest as well as in their highest spaces. Why need I mention the marble with which our temples and our private houses are resplendent? Or the rounded and_ polished masses of stone by means of which we erect colon- nades and buildings roomy enough for nations? Or our signs? for whole words, which enable us to take down a speech, however rapidly uttered, matching speed of tongue by speed of hand? All this sort of thing has been devised by the lowest grade of slaves. Wisdom’s seat is higher; she trains not the hands, but is mistress of our minds.

Would you know what wisdom has brought forth to light, what she has accomplished? It is not the graceful poses of the body, or the varied notes produced by horn and flute, whereby the breath is received and, as it passes out or through, is transformed into voice. It is not wisdom that con- trives arms, or walls, or instruments useful in war ; nay, her voice is for peace, and she summons all mankind to concord. It is not she, I maintain, who is the artisan of our indispensable implements of daily use. Why do you assign to her such petty things? You see in her the skilled artisan of life. The other arts, it is true, wisdom has under her

415

28

29

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

vita, illi vitam ornantia quoque! serviunt; ceterum ad beatum statum tendit, illo ducit, illo vias aperit. Quae sint mala, quae videantur ostendit, vanitatem exuit mentibus, dat magnitudinem solidam, inflatam vero et ex inani speciosam reprimit, nec ignorari sinit inter magna quid intersit et tumida, totius naturae notitiam ac suae tradit. Quid sint di qua- lesque declarat, quid inferi, quid lares et genii, quid in secundam numinum 2 formam animae perpetuatae,’ ubi consistant, quid agant, quid possint, quid velint.

Haec eius initiamenta sunt, per quae non muni- cipale sacrum, sed ingens deorum omnium templum, mundus ipse reseratur, cuius vera simulacra verasque facies cernendas ‘ mentibus protulit. Nam ad specta- cula tam magna hebes visus est. Ad initia deinde rerum redit aeternamque rationem toti inditam et vim omnium seminum singula proprie figurantem. Tum de animo coepit inquirere, unde esset, ubi, quamdiu, in quot membra divisus Deinde a cor- poribus se ad incorporalia transtulit veritatemque et

1 yitam ornantia quoque Hense; vitae quoque ornantia MSS.

2 numinum Erasmus; nominum BA.

3 perpetuatae Schweighaeuser; perpetitae MSS. and Hense.

4 cernendas later MSS. ; cernendis BA.

@ Possibly either the manes or the indigitamenta of the early Roman religion. > 4.6.5 AOYos.

416

EPISTLE XC.

control ; for he whom life serves is also served by the things which equip life. But wisdom’s course is toward the state of happiness; thither she guides us, thither she opens the way for us. She shows us what things are evil and what things are seemingly evil; she strips our minds of vain illusion. She bestows upon us a greatness which is substantial, but she represses the greatness which is inflated, and showy but filled with emptiness; and she does not permit us to be ignorant of the difference between what is great and what is but swollen; nay, she delivers to us the knowledge of the whole of nature and of her own nature. She discloses to us what the gods are and of what sort they are; what are the nether gods, the household deities, and the protecting spirits; what are the souls which have been endowed with lasting life and have been admitted to the second class of divinities,“ where is their abode and what their activities, powers, and will.

Such are wisdom’s rites of initiation, by means of which is unlocked, not a village shrine, but the vast temple of all the gods—the universe itself, whose true apparitions and true aspects she offers to the gaze of our minds. For the vision of our eyes is too dull for sights so great. Then she goes back to the beginnings of things, to the eternal Reason? which was imparted to the whole, and to the force which inheres in all the seeds of things, giving them the power to fashion each thing according to its kind. Then wisdom begins to inquire about the soul, whence it comes, where it dwells, how long it abides, into how many divisions it falls. Finally, she has turned her attention from the corporeal to the incorporeal, and has closely examined truth and the

417

30

31

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

argumenta eius excussit, post haec quemadmodum discernerentur vitae aut vocis ambigua, in utraque enim falsa veris inmixta sunt.

Non abduxit, inquam, se, ut Posidonio videtur, ab istis artibus sapiens, sed ad illas omnino non venit. Nihil enim dignum inventu iudicasset, quod non erat dignum perpetuo usu iudicaturus. Ponenda non sumeret.

« Anacharsis,” inquit, “invenit rotam figuli, cuius circuitu vasa formantur.”” Deinde quia apud Homerum invenitur figuli rota, malunt ! videri versus falsos esse quam fabulam. Ego nee Anacharsim auctorem huius rei fuisse contendo et, si fuit, sapiens quidem hoc invenit, sed non tamquam sapiens, sicut multa sapientes faciunt, qua homines sunt, non qua sapientes. Puta velocissimum esse sapientem; cursu omnes anteibit, qua velox est, non qua sapiens. Cuperem Posidonio aliquem vitrearium ostendere, qui spiritu vitrum in habitus plurimos format, qui vix diligenti manu effingerentur. Haec inventa sunt, postquam sapientiam ? invenire desimus.

1 malunt MSS. ; mavult several editors. 2 sapientiam Buecheler ; sapientem BA.

@ Seneca, himself one of the keenest scientific observers in history (witness the Vat. Quaest., Epp. \vii., lxxix., etc.), is pushing his argument very far in this letter. His message is clear enough ; but the modern combination of natural science, psychology, and philosophy shows that Posidonius had some justification for his theories. Cf. also Lucretius, v. 1105-7 ff.

> This Scythian prince and friend of Solon, who visited Athens in the sixth century B.c., is also said to have invented the bellows and the anchor. Cf., however, /liad xviii. 600 f. ws dre Tis Tpoxdy dpuevoy év Taddunow Efduevos Kepameds mecpjoerat, and Leaf’s comment: ‘‘ The potter’s wheel was

418

EPISTLE XC.

marks whereby truth is known, inquiring next how that which is equivocal can be distinguished from the truth, whether in life or in language; for in both are elements of the false mingled with the true.

It is my opinion that the wise man has not with- drawn himself, as Posidonius thinks, from those arts which we were discussing, but that he never took them up at all. For he would have judged that nothing was worth discovering that he would not afterwards judge to be worth using always. He would not take up things which would have to be laid aside.

“ But Anacharsis,” says Posidonius, “invented the potter's wheel, whose whirling gives shape to vessels.” Then because the potter's wheel is mentioned in Homer, people prefer to believe that Homer’s verses are false rather than the story of Posidonius! But I maintain that Anacharsis was not the creator of this wheel; and even if he was, although he was a wise man when he invented it, yet he did not invent it qua “wise man ’’—just as there are a great many things which wise men do as men, not as wise men. Suppose, for example, that a wise man is exceedingly fleet of foot; he will outstrip all the runners in the race by virtue of being fleet, not by virtue of his wisdom. I should like to show Posidonius some glass-blower who by his breath moulds the glass into manifold shapes which could scarcely be fashioned by the most skilful hand. Nay, these discoveries have been made since we men have ceased to discover wisdom.

known in pre-Mycenean times, and was a very ancient invention to the oldest Epic poets.” Seneca is right.

VOL. II 0 2 419

33

34

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

“ Democritus,’ inquit, “ invenisse dicitur fornicem, ut lapidum curvatura paulatim inclinatorum medio saxo alligaretur.’’ Hoe dicam falsum esse; necesse est enim ante Democritum et pontes et portas fuisse, quarum fere summa curvantur. Excidit porro vobis eundem Democritum invenisse, quemadmodum ebur molliretur, quemadmodum decoctus calculus’ in zmaragdum converteretur, qua hodieque coctura in- venti lapides in! hoc utiles colorantur. Ista sapiens licet invenerit, non qua sapiens erat, invenit ; multa enim facit, quae ab inprudentissimis aut aeque fieri videmus ” aut peritius atque exercitatius.

Quid sapiens investigaverit, quid in lucem pro- traxerit, quaeris? Primum verum naturamque, quam non ut cetera animalia oculis secutus est tardis ad divina. Deinde vitae legem, quam ad_ universa derexit, nec nosse tantum sed sequi deos docuit et accidentia non aliter excipere quam imperata. Vetuit parere opinionibus falsis et quanti quidque esset, vera aestimatione perpendit. Damnavit mixtas paenitentia voluptates et bona semper placitura laudavit et palam fecit felicissimum esse cui felicitate

1 jin added by Schweighaeuser. 2 videmus Erasmus ; vidimus BA.

@ Seneca (see next sentence) is right again. The arch was known in Chaldaea and in Egypt before 3000 z.c. Greek bee-hive tombs, Etruscan gateways, and early Roman remains, testify to its immemorial use.

> The ancients judged precious stones merely by their colour; their smaragdus included also malachite, jade, and several kinds of quartz. Exposure to heat alters the colour of some stones; and the alchemists believed that the ‘‘angelical stone” changed common flints into diamonds, rubies, emeralds, etc. See G. F. Kunz, The Magic of Jewels and Charms, p. 16. It was also an ancient superstition that emeralds were produced from jasper.

420

EPISTLE XC,

But Posidonius again remarks: “ Democritus is said to have discovered the arch,* whose effect was that the curving line of stones, which gradually lean toward each other, is bound together by the key- stone.” I am inclined to pronounce this statement false. For there must have been, before Democritus, bridges and gateways in which the curvature did not begin until about the top. It seems to have quite slipped your memory that this same Democritus dis- covered how ivory could be softened, how, by boiling, a pebble could be transformed into an emerald,’ —the same process used even to-day for colouring stones which are found to be amenable to this treat- ment! It may have been a wise man who discovered all such things, but he did not discover them by virtue of being a wise man; for he does many things which we see done just as well, or even more skil- fully and dexterously, by men who are utterly lacking in sagacity.

Do you ask what, then, the wise man has found out and what he has brought to light? First of all there is truth, and nature; and nature he has not followed as the other animals do, with eyes too dull to perceive the divine in it. In the second place, there is the law of life, and life he has made to conform to universal principles ; and he has taught us, not merely to know the gods, but to follow them, and to welcome the gifts of chance precisely as if they were divine commands. He has forbidden us to give heed to false opinions, and has weighed the value of each thing by a true standard of appraise- ment. He has condemned those pleasures with which remorse is intermingled, and has praised those goods which will always satisfy ; and he has published the truth abroad that he is most happy who has no

4.21

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

non opus est, potentissimum esse qui se habet in potestate.

35 Non de ea philosophia loquor, quae civem extra patriam posuit, extra mundum deos, quae virtutem donavit voluptati, sed de illa,) quae nullum bonum putat nisi quod honestum est, quae nec hominis nec fortunae muneribus deleniri? potest, cuius hoc pretium est, non posse pretio capi. Hance philosophiam fuisse illo rudi saeculo, quo adhue artificia deerant et ipso usu discebantur utilia, non credo.

36 Secutast 3 fortunata tempora, cum in medio iacerent beneficia naturae promiscue utenda, antequam avaritia atque luxuria dissociavere mortales et ad rapinam ex consortio discurrere.4 Non erant illi sapientes viri,

37 etiam si faciebant facienda sapientibus. Statum quidem generis humani non alium quisquam sus- pexerit magis, nec si cui permittat deus terrena formare et dare gentibus mores, aliud probaverit quam quod apud illos fuisse memoratur, apud quos

Nulli subigebant arva coloni, Ne signare quidem aut partiri limite campum Fas erat ; in medium quaerebant, ipsaque tellus Omnia liberius nullo poscente ferebat.

38 Quid hominum illo genere felicius? In commune rerum natura fruebantur; sufficiebat illa ut parens

1 de illa attested by Pincianus ; dla BA. 2 deleniri Muretus ; deleri BA. 3 secutast Buecheler ; sicuéaut BA. 4 After discurrere Buecheler suggested docuere.

@ j.¢., the Epicureans, who withdrew from civil life and regarded the gods as taking no part in the affairs of men.

» i.¢., live according to nature.

¢ Verg. Georg. i. 125 ff.

4.22

EPISTLE XC.

need of happiness, and that he is most powerful who has power over himself.

I am not speaking of that philosophy which has placed the citizen outside his country and the gods outside the universe, and which has bestowed virtue upon pleasure,” but rather of that philosophy which counts nothing good except what is honourable,—one which cannot be cajoled by the gifts either of man or of fortune, one whose value is that it cannot be bought for any value. That this philosophy existed in such a rude age, when the arts and crafts were still unknown and when useful things could only be learned by use, —this I refuse to believe.

Next there came the fortune-favoured period when the bounties of nature lay open to all, for men’s indis- criminate use, before avarice and luxury had broken the bonds which held mortals together, and they, abandoning their communal existence, had separated and turned to plunder. The men of the second age were not wise men, even though they did what wise men should do.2 Indeed, there is no other condition of the human race that anyone would regard more highly; and if God should commission a man to fashion earthly creatures and to bestow institutions upon peoples, this man would approve of no other system than that which obtained among the men of that age, when

No ploughman tilled the soil, nor was it right

To portion off or bound one’s property.

Men shared their gains, and earth more freely gave Her riches to her sons who sought them not.¢

What race of men was ever more blest than that race? They enjoyed all nature in_ partnership. Nature sufficed for them, now the guardian, as before

423

39

40

4]

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

ita tutela’ omnium, haec erat publicarum opum secura possessio. Quidni ego illud locupletissimum mortalium genus dixerim, in quo pauperem invenire non posses?

Inrupit in res optime positas avaritia et, dum seducere aliquid cupit atque in suum vertere, omnia fecit aliena et in angustum se ex inmenso redegit.? Avaritia paupertatem intulit et multa concupiscendo omnia amisit. Licet itaque nunc conetur reparare ® quod perdidit, licet agros agris adiciat vicinum vel pretio pellens* vel iniuria, licet in provinciarum spatium rura dilatet et possessionem vocet per sua longam peregrinationem, nulla nos finium propagatio eo reducet unde discessimus.

Cum omnia fecerimus, multum habebimus; universum habebamus. Terra ipsa fertilior erat in- laborata et in usus populorum non diripientium larga. Quidquid natura protulerat, id non minus invenisse quam inventum monstrare alteri voluptas, erat. Nec ulli aut superesse poterat aut deesse ; inter concordes dividebatur. Nondum valentior inposuerat infirmiori manum, nondum avarus abscondendo quod sibi iaceret, alium necessariis quoque excluserat ; par erat alterius ac suicura. Arma cessabant incruentaeque humano

1 ita tutela Buecheler ; in tutela or in tutelam MSS. * redegit Buecheler and a late MS. ; redacti BA. > conetur reparare Buecheler and Gloeckner ; concurreve parare BA. 4 pellens a late MS. ; pelleris BA.

424

EPISTLE XC.

she was the parent, of all; and this her gift consisted of the assured possession by each man of the common resources. Why should I not even call that race the richest among mortals, since you could not find a poor person among them?

But avarice broke in upon a condition so happily ordained, and, by its eagerness to lay something away and to turn it to its own private use, made all things the property of others, and reduced itself from boundless wealth to straitencd need. It was avarice that introduced poverty and, by craving much, lost all. And so, although she now tries to make good her loss, although she adds one estate to another, evicting a neighbour either by buying him out or by wronging him, although she extends her country-seats to the size of provinces and defines ownership as meaning extensive travel through one’s own property,—in spite of all these efforts of hers, no enlargement of our boundaries will bring us back to the condition from which we have departed.

When there is no more that we can do, we shall possess much; but we once possessed the whole world! The very soil was more productive when untilled, and yielded more than enough for peoples who refrained from despoiling one another. What- ever gift nature had produced, men found as much pleasure in revealing it to another as in having dis- covered it. It was possible for no man either to surpass another or to fall short of him; what there was, was divided among unquarrelling friends. Not yet had the stronger begun to lay hands upon the weaker; not yet had the miser, by hiding away what lay before him, begun to shut off his neighbour from even the necessities of life; each cared as much for his neighbour as for himself. Armour lay

425

43

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

sanguine manus odium omne in feras verterant. Dh quos aliquod nemus densum a sole protexerat, qui adversus saevitiam hiemis aut imbris vili receptaculo tuti sub fronde vivebant, placidas transigebant sine suspirio noctis. Sollicitudo nos in nostra purpura versat et acerrimis excitat stimulis ; at quam mollem somnum illis dura tellus dabat! Non inpendebant caelata laquearia, sed in aperto iacentes sidera super- labebantur et insigne spectaculum noctium mundus in praeceps agebatur silentio tantum opus ducens.! Tam interdiu illis quam nocte patebant? prospectus huius pulcherrimae domus. Libebat intueri signa ex media caeli parte vergentia, rursus ex occulto alia surgentia. Quidni iuvaret vagari inter tam late sparsa miracula? At vos ad omnem tectorum pavetis sonum et inter picturas vestras, si quid increpuit, fugitis adtoniti. Non habebant domos instar urbium. Spiritus ac liber inter aperta perflatus et levis umbra rupis aut arboris et perlucidi fontes rivique non opere nec fistula nec ullo coacto itinere obsolefacti, sed sponte currentes et prata sine arte formosa, inter haec agreste domicilium rustica politum manu. Haec erat secundum naturam domus, in qua libebat

1 ducens later MSS. ; dicens BA.

2 patebant MSS.; patebat an old reading found by Pincianus.

=°Cf. Horace, ‘Ep. 1.1020 f.%

Purior in vicis aqua tendit rumpere plumbum Quam quae per pronum trepidat cum murmure rivum ?

426

EPISTLE XC.

unused, and the hand, unstained by human _ blood, had turned all its hatred against wild beasts. ‘The men of that day, who had found in some dense grove protection against the sun, and security against the severity of winter or of rain in their mean hiding- places, spent their lives under the branches of the trees and passed tranquil nights without a sigh. Care vexes us in our purple, and routs us from our beds with the sharpest of goads; but how soft was the sleep the hard earth bestowed upon the men of that day! No fretted and panelled ceilings hung over them, but as they lay beneath the open sky the stars glided quietly above them, and the firmament, night's noble pageant, marched swiftly by, conduct- ing its mighty task in silence. For them by day, as well as by night, the visions of this most glorious abode were free and open. It was their Joy to watch the constellations as they sank from mid-heaven, and others, again, as they rose from their hidden abodes. What else but joy could it be to wander among the marvels which dotted the heavens far and wide? But you of the present day shudder at every sound your houses make, and as you sit among your frescoes the slightest creak makes you shrink in terror. They had no houses as big as cities. The air, the breezes blowing free through the open spaces, the flitting shade of crag or tree, springs crystal-clear and streams not spoiled by man’s work, whether by water-pipe % or by any con- finement of the channel, but running at will, and meadows beautiful without the use of art,—amid such scenes were their rude homes, adorned with rustic hand. Such a dwelling was in accordance with nature; therein it was a joy to live, fearing neither the dwelling itself nor for its safety. In

427

44

45

46

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

habitare nec ipsam nec pro ipsa timentem; nunc magna pars nostri metus tecta sunt.

Sed quamvis egregia illis vita fuerit et carens fraude, non fuere sapientes, quando hoc iam in opere maximo nomen est. Non tamen negaverim fuisse alti spiritus viros et, ut ita dicam, a dis recentes. Neque enim dubium est, quin meliora mundus non- dum effetus ediderit. Quemadmodum autem omni- bus indoles fortior fuit et ad labores paratior, ita non erant ingenia omnibus consummata. Non enim dat natura virtutem; ars est bonum fieri. Illi quidem non aurum nec argentum nec perlucidos lapides? in ? ima terrarum faece quaerebant parcebantque adhuc etiam mutis? animalibus; tantum aberat ut* homo hominem non iratus, non timens, tantum spectaturus occideret. Nondum vestis illis erat picta, nondum texebatur aurum, adhuc nec eruebatur.

Quid ergo est®? Ignorantia rerum innocentes erant. Multum autem interest, utrum peccare aliquis nolit an® nesciat. Deerat illis iustitia, deerat pru- dentia, deerat temperantia ac fortitudo.. Omnibus his virtutibus habebat similia quaedam rudis vita; virtus non contingit animo nisi instituto et edocto et ad summum adsidua exercitatione perducto. Ad hoc quidem, sed sine hoc nascimur et in optimis

1 lapides later MSS. ; omitted by BA. 2 in added by Schweighaeuser. 3 mutis later MSS. ; multis BA. * wt later MSS. ; omitted by BA.

5 est added by Feige. 6 an later MSS. ; aut BA.

# Because virtue depends upon reason, and none but voluntary acts should meet with praise or blame.

428

EPISTLE XC.

these days, however, our houses constitute a large portion of our dread.

But no matter how excellent and guileless was the life of the men of that age, they were not wise men; for that title is reserved for the highest achievement. Still, I would not deny that they were men of lofty spirit and—if I may use the phrase—fresh from the gods. For there is no doubt that the world produced a better progeny before it was yet worn out. However, not all were endowed with mental faculties of highest perfection, though in all cases their native powers were more sturdy than ours and more fitted for toil. For nature does not bestow virtue; it is an art to become good. They, at least, searched not in the lowest dregs of the earth for gold, nor yet for silver or trans- parent stones; and they still were merciful even to the dumb animals—so far removed was that epoch from the custom of slaying man by man, not in anger or through fear, but just to make a show! They had as yet no embroidered garments nor did they weave cloth of gold; gold was not yet even mined.

What, then, is the conclusion of the matter? It was by reason of their ignorance of things that the men of those days were innocent; and it makes a great deal of difference whether one wills not to sin or has not the knowledge to sin. Justice was un- known to them, unknown prudence, unknown also self-control] and bravery ; but their rude life possessed certain qualities akin to all these virtues. Virtue is not vouchsafed to a soul unless that soul has been trained and taught, and by unremitting practice brought to perfection. For the attainment of this boon, but not in the possession of it, were we born ;

4.29

1

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

quoque, antequam erudias, virtutis materia, non virtus est. VALE.

XCI

Seneca LyvcILio svO SALVTEM

Liberalis noster nunc tristis est nuntiato incendio, quo Lugdunensis colonia exusta est. Movere hic casus quemlibet posset, nedum hominem patriae suae amantissimum. Quae res effecit, ut firmitatem animi sui quaerat, quam videlicet ad ea, quae timeri posse putabat, exercuit. Hoc vero tam inopinatum malum et paene inauditum non miror si sine metu fuit, cum esset sine exemplo. Multas enim civitates incendium vexavit, nullam abstulit. Nam etiam ubi hostili manu in tecta! ignis inmissus est, multis locis deficit,? et quamvis subinde excitetur, raro tamen sic cuncta depascitur, ut nihil ferro relinquat. Terrarum quoque vix umquam tam gravis et perniciosus fuit motus, ut tota oppida everteret. _Numquam denique tam infestum ulli exarsit incendium, ut nihil alteri superesset incendio. Tot pulcherrima opera, quae singula inlustrare urbes singulas possent, una nox stravit, et in tanta pace quantum ne bello quidem timeri potest accidit. Quis hoc credat? Ubique

1 jn tecla Erasmus 3 iniecta MSS.

2 deficit later MSS. ; defecit BA.

@ In spite of the centesimus annus of § 14 (q.v.), the most probable date of this letter, based on Tac. Ann. xvi. 13 and other general evidence, is July-September 64 a.p. 58 a.p. would be too early for many reasons—among them that ‘* peace all over the world” would not be a true state- ment until January of 62. (See the monographs of Jonas, O. Binder, Peiper, and Schultess.)

430

EPISTLES XC., XCI.

and even in the best of men, before you refine them by instruction, there is but the stuff of virtue, not virtue itself. Farewell.

XCI. ON THE LESSON TO BE DRAWN

XCI. ON THE LESSON TO BE DRAWN FROM THE BURNING OF LYONS24

Our friend Liberalis? is now downcast; for he has just heard of the fire which has wiped out the colony of Lyons. Such a calamity might upset any- one at all, not to speak of a man who dearly loves his country. But this incident has served to make him inquire about the strength of his own character, which he has trained, I suppose, just to meet situations that he thought might cause him fear. I do not wonder, however, that he was free from apprehension touching an evil so unexpected and practically unheard of as this, since it is without precedent. For fire has damaged many a city, but has annihilated none. Even when fire has been hurled against the walls by the hand of a foe, the flame dies out in many places, and although continually renewed, rarely devours so wholly as to leave nothing for the sword. Even an earthquake has scarcely ever been so violent and destructive as to overthrow whole cities. Finally, no conflagration has ever before blazed forth so savagely in any town that nothing was left for a second. So many beautiful buildings, any single one of which would make a single town famous, were wrecked in one night. In time of such deep peace an event has taken place worse than men can possibly fear even in time of war. Who can believe

» Probably Aebutius Liberalis, to whom the treatise De Beneficiis was dedicated.

431

3

a

iy |

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

armis quiescentibus, cum toto orbe terrarum diffusa securitas sit, Lugudunum, quod ostendebatur in Gallia, quaeritur.

Omnibus fortuna, quos publice adflixit, quod passuri erant, timere permisit. Nulla res magna non aliquod habuit ruinae suae spatium; in hac una nox interfuit inter urbem maximam et nullam. Denique diutius illam tibi perisse quam perit narro.

Haec omnia Liberalis nostri adfectum inclinant! adversus sua firmum et erectum. Nec sine causa concussus est; inexpectata plus adgravant; novitas adicit calamitatibus pondus, nec quisquam mortalium non magis quod etiam miratus est, doluit.

Ideo nihil nobis inprovisum esse debet. In omnia praemittendus ? animus cogitandumque non quidquid solet, sed quicquid potest fieri. Quid enim est, quod non fortuna, cum voluit, ex florentissimo detrahat ? Quod non eo magis adgrediatur et quatiat, quo speciosius fulget? Quid illi arduum quidve difficile est? Non una via semper, ne tota quidem incurrit, modo nostras in nos manus advocat, modo suis con- tenta viribus invenit pericula sine auctore. Nullum tempus exceptum est; in ipsis voluptatibus causae

1 inclinant cod. Harl.; inclinandum BA. 2 praemittendus later MSS. ; permitiendus BA.

@ That Lyons, situated at the junction of the Arar and the Rhone, was of especial prominence in Gaul, may be also gathered from the fact that it boasted a government mint and the Ara Augusti—a shrine established for the annual worship of all the Gallic states. Moreover, the Emperor Claudius delivered his famous address in that city (see Tac, Ann. xi, 23'T.):

432

EPISTLE XCI.

it? When weapons are everywhere at rest, and when peace prevails throughout the world, Lyons, the pride of Gaul,“ is missing !

Fortune has usually allowed all men, when she has assailed them collectively, to have a foreboding of that which they were destined to suffer. Every great creation has had granted to it a period of reprieve before its fall ; but in this case, only a single night elapsed between the city at its greatest and the city non-existent. In short, it takes me longer to tell you it has perished than it took for the city to perish.

All this has affected our friend Liberalis, bending his will, which is usually so steadfast and erect in the face of his own trials. And not without reason has he been shaken; for it is the unexpected that puts the heaviest load upon us. Strangeness adds to the weight of calamities, and every mortal feels the greater pain as a result of that which also brings surprise.

Therefore, nothing ought to be unexpected by us. Our minds should be sent forward in advance to meet all problems, and we should consider, not what is wont to happen, but what can happen. For what is there in existence that Fortune, when she has so willed, does not drag down from the very height of its prosperity? And what is there that she does not the more violently assail the more brilliantly it shines? What is laborious or difficult for her? She does not always attack in one way, or even with her full strength; at one time she summons our own hands against us; at another time, content with her own powers, she makes use of no agent in devising perils for us. No time is exempt; in the midst of our very pleasures there spring up causes of suffering.

433

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

doloris oriuntur. Bellum in media pace consurgit et auxilia securitatis in metum transeunt; ex amico inimicus, hostis ex socio. In subitas tempestates hibernisque maiores agitur aestiva tranquillitas. Sine hoste patimur hostilia, et cladis causas, si alia de- ficiunt, nimia sibi felicitas invenit. Invadit tem- perantissimos morbus, validissimos phthisis, inno- centissimos poena, secretissimos tumultus. Eligit aliquid novi casus, per quod velut oblitis 6 vires suas ingerat. Quidquid longa series multis laboribus, multa deum indulgentia struxit, id unus dies spargit ac dissipat. Longam moram dedit malis properantibus, qui diem dixit; hora! momentumque temporis evertendis imperiis sufficit. Esset aliquod inbecillitatis nostrae solacium rerumque nostrarum, si tam tarde perirent? cuncta quam fiunt?; nune incrementa lente exeunt, festinatur in damnum. 7 Nihil privatim, nihil publice stabile est ; tam hominum quam urbium fata volvuntur. Inter placidissima terror existit nihilque extra tumultuantibus causis mala, unde minime exspectabantur, erumpunt. Quae domesticis bellis steterant regna, quae externis, inpellente nullo ruunt. Quota quaeque felicitatem civitas pertulit ? Cogitanda ergo sunt omnia et animus adversus ea,

1 hora Gruter; horam BA. * tam tarde perirent later MSS. ; tanta reperirent BA. 3 fiunt later MSS. ; finiunt BA.

* Cf. Ep. iv. 7, esp. the words noli huic tranquillitati confidere ; momento mare evertitur.

434

EPISTLE XCl.

War arises in the midst of peace, and that which we depended upon for protection is transformed into a cause of fear; friend becomes enemy, ally becomes foeman. The summer calm is stirred into sudden storms, wilder than the storms of winter.* With no foe in sight we are victims of such fates as foes inflict, and if other causes of disaster fail, excessive good fortune finds them for itself. The most temperate are assailed by illness, the strongest by wasting disease, the most innocent by chastisement, the most secluded by the noisy mob.

Chance chooses some new weapon by which to bring her strength to bear against us, thinking we have forgotten her. Whatever structure has been reared by a long sequence of years, at the cost of great toil and through the great kindness of the gods, is scattered and dispersed by a single day. Nay, he who has said “a day” has granted too long a postponement to swift- coming misfortune; an hour, an instant of time, suffices for the overthrow of empires! It would be some consolation for the feebleness of our selves and our works, if all things should perish as slowly as they comejinto being ; but as it is, increases are of sluggish growth, but the way to ruin is rapid. Nothing, whether public or private, is stable; the destinies of men, no less than those of cities, are in a whirl. Amid the greatest calm terror arises, and though no external agencies stir up commotion, yet evils burst forth from sources whence they were least expected. Thrones which have stood the shock of civil and foreign wars crash to the ground though no one sets them tottering. How few the states which have carried their good fortune through to the end!

We should therefore reflect upon all contingencies,

435

8

9

10

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

quae possunt evenire, firmandus. Exilia, tormenta morbi,! bella, naufragia meditare.2_ Potest te patriae, potest patriam tibi casus eripere, potest te in soli- tudines abigere,? potest hoc ipsum, in quo turba suffocatur, fieri solitudo. ‘Tota ante oculos sortis humanae condicio ponatur, nec quantum frequenter evenit, sed quantum plurimum potest evenire, prae- sumamus animo, si nolumus opprimi nec illis in- usitatis velut novis obstupefieri ; in plenum cogitanda fortuna est.

Quotiens Asiae, quotiens Achaiae urbes uno tre- more ceciderunt? Quot oppida in Syria, quot in Macedonia devorata sunt? Cypron quotiens vastavit haec clades? Quotiens in se Paphus corruit? Fre- quenter nobis nuntiati sunt totarum urbium interitus, et nos inter quos ista frequenter nuntiantur, quota pars omnium sumus ?

Consurgamus itaque adversus fortuita et quicquid inciderit, sciamus non esse tam magnum quam rumore iactetur. Civitas arsit opulenta ornamen- tumque provinciarum, quibus et inserta erat et excepta, uni tamen inposita et huic non latissimo 4

1 morbi BA; morbos later MSS.’

2 meditare later MSS. ; meditari BA. 3 abigere Matthiae; abicere BA.

4 latissimo Buecheler ; altissimo BA.

@ The passage bears a striking resemblance to the words of Theseus in an unknown play of Euripides (Nauck, Frag. 964) quoted by Cicero, Tuse. iii. 14. 29, and by Plutarch, Consolation to Apollonius, 112 d.

» Seneca (NV.Q. vi. 26) speaks of Paphos (on the island of Cyprus) as having been more than once devastated. We know of two such accidents—one under Augustus and another under Vespasian. See the same passage for other earthquake shocks in various places.

¢ Lyons held an exceptional position in relation to the

436

EPISTLE XCIl.

and should fortify our minds against the evils which may possibly come. Exile, the torture of disease, wars, sShipwreck,—we must think on these. Chance may tear you from your country or your country from you, or may banish you to the desert; this very place, where throngs are stifling, may become a) desert...) Let us place.) before. our.,eyes in its entirety the nature of man’s lot, and if we would not be overwhelmed, or even dazed, by those un- wonted evils, as if they were novel, let us summon to our minds beforehand, not as great an evil as oftentimes happens, but the very greatest evil that possibly can happen. We must reflect upon fortune fully and completely.

How often have cities in Asia, how often in Achaia, been laid low by a single shock of earth- quake! How many towns in Syria, how many in Macedonia, have been swallowed up! How often has this kind of devastation laid Cyprus? in ruins! How often has Paphos collapsed! Not infrequently are tidings brought to us of the utter destruction of entire cities; yet how small a part of the world are we, to whom such tidings often come!

Let us rise, therefore, to confront the operations of Fortune, and whatever happens, let us have the assurance that it is not so great as rumour advertises it to be. A rich city has been laid in ashes, the jewel of the provinces, counted as one of them and yet not included with them’; rich though it was, nevertheless it was set upon a single hill,? and that

three Gallic provinces; it was a free town, belonging to none and yet their capital, much like the city of Washington in relation to the United States.

“ A fact mentioned merely to suggest Rome with her seven hills,

437

11

12

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

monti; omnium istarum civitatium, quas nunc magni- ficas ac nobiles audis, vestigia quoque tempus eradet. Non vides, quemadmodum in Achaia clarissimarum urbium iam fundamenta consumpta sint nec quicquam extet, ex quo! appareat illas saltim fuisse? Non tantum manu facta labuntur, nec tantum humana arte atque industria posita vertit dies; iuga montium diffluunt, totae desedere regiones, operta sunt flucti- bus quae procul a conspectu maris stabant. Vasta vis? ignium colles, per quos relucebat, erosit et quondam altissimos vertices, solacia navigantium ac speculas, ad humile deduxit. Ipsius naturae opera vexantur et ideo aequo animo ferre debemus urbium excidia. Casurae stant.2 Omnes hic exitus manet, sive interna vis flatusque praeclusa via violenti pondus,* sub quo tenentur, excusserint, sive torren- tium impetus® in abdito vastior obstantia effregerit, sive fllammarum violentia conpaginem soli ruperit, sive vetustas, a qua® nihil tutum est, expugnaverit minutatim, sive gravitas caeli egesserit populos et situs deserta corruperit. Enumerare omnes fatorum vias longum est. Hoc unum scio: omnia mortalium

1 quo later MSS. ; qua BA. 2 vasta vis Haupt; vastavit BA. 3 casurae stant Haupt; casura evstant BA. 4 sive . . . pondus H. Mueck; sive . . . preclusa violents pondus MSS. 5 impetus added by Buecheler. 8 a qua Erasmus ; in qua BA.

a For example, Mycenae and Tiryns. 438

EPISTLE XCI.

not very large in extent. But of all those cities, of whose magnificence and grandeur you hear to-day, the very traces will be blotted out by time. Do you not see how, in Achaia, the foundations of the most famous cities have already crumbled to nothing, so that no trace is left to show that they ever even existed?% Not only does that which has been made with hands totter to the ground, not only is that which has been set in place by man’s art and man’s efforts overthrown by the passing days; nay, the peaks of mountains dissolve, whole tracts have settled, and places which once stood far from the sight of the sea are now covered by the waves. The mighty power of fires has eaten away the hills through whose sides they used to glow, and has levelled to the ground peaks which were once most lofty —the sailor's solace and his beacon. The works of nature herself are harassed; hence we ought to bear with untroubled minds the destruction of cities. They stand but to fall! This doom awaits them, one and all; it may be that some internal force, and blasts of violence which are tremendous because their way is blocked, will throw off the weight which holds then down; or that a whirlpool of raging currents, mightier because they are hidden in the bosom of the earth, will break through that which resists its power; or that the vehemence of flames will burst asunder the frame- work of the earth’s crust; or that time, from which nothing is safe, will reduce them little by little; or that a pestilential climate will drive their inhabitants away and the mould will corrode their deserted walls. It would be tedious to recount all the ways by which fate may come; but this one thing I know: all the works of mortal man have been doomed to

439

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

opera mortalitate damnata sunt, inter peritura vivimus.

13 Haec ergo atque eiusmodi solacia admoveo Liberali nostro incredibili quodam patriae suae amore flagranti, quae fortasse consumpta est, ut in melius excitaretur. Saepe maiori fortunae locum fecit iniuria. Multa ceciderunt, ut altius surgerent. Timagenes felicitati urbis inimicus aiebat Romae sibi incendia ob hoc unum dolori esse, quod sciret meliora surrectura

14 quam arsissent. In hac quoque urbe veri simile est certaturos omnes, ut maijora certioraque quam amisere restituantur.! Sint utinam diuturna et melioribus auspiciis in aevum longius condita! Nam _ huic coloniae ab origine sua centensimus annus est, aetas ne homini quidem extrema. A Planco deducta in hance frequentiam ? loci opportunitate convaluit, quot tamen gravissimos casus intra spatium humanae senectutis tulit.®

15 itaque formetur animus ad intellectum patien- tiamque sortis suae et sciat* nihil inausum esse for- tunae, adversus imperia illam idem habere iuris quod adversus imperantes, adversus urbes, idem _ posse quod adversus homines. Nihil horum indignandum

1 restituantur Buecheler, who thought it the reading of BA, which is more probably restituant, according to Hense. 2 in hane frequentiam later MSS. ; in hac frequentia BA.

3 tulit added by Buecheler. 4 sciat later MSS. ; sciant BA.

@ Probably the writer, and intimate friend of Augustus, who began life in Rome as a captive from Egypt. Falling into disfavour with the Emperor, he took refuge with the malcontent Asinius Pollio at Tusculum, and subsequently died in the East. Cf. Seneca, De Ira, iii. 23.

® It was in 43 B.c. that Plancus led out the colonists who were chiefly Roman citizens driven from Vienna. Seneca would have been more accurate had he said ‘* one hundred and eighth (or seventh).” Buecheler and Schultess would

440

EPISTLE XCI.

mortality, and in the midst of things which have been destined to die, we live !

Hence it is thoughts like these, and of this kind, which I am offering as consolation to our friend Liberalis, who burns with a love for his country that is beyond belief. Perhaps its destruction has been brought about only that it may be raised up again to a better destiny. Oftentimes a reverse has but made room for more prosperous fortune. Many structures have fallen only to rise to a greater height. Timagenes,* who had a grudge against Rome and her prosperity, used to say that the only reason he was grieved when conflagrations occurred in Rome was his knowledge that better buildings would arise than those which had gone down in the flames. And probably in this city of Lyons, too, all its citizens will earnestly strive that everything shall be rebuilt better in size and security than what they have lost. May it be built to endure and, under happier auspices, for a longer existence! This is indeed but the hundredth year since this colony was founded—not the limit even of a man’s lifetime.2 Led forth by Plancus, the natural advantages of its site have caused it to wax strong and reach the numbers which it contains to-day ; and yet how many calamities of the greatest severity has it endured within the space of an old man’s life !

Therefore let the mind be disciplined to under- stand and to endure its own lot, and let it have the knowledge that there is nothing which fortune does not dare—that she has the same jurisdiction over empires as over emperors, the same power over cities as over the citizens who dwell therein. We must

(unnecessarily) emend to read centesimus septimus. But Seneca was using round numbers.

44]

16

Ly

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

est. In eum intravimus mundum, in quo his legibus vivitur. Placet; pare. Non placet; quacumque vis, exi. Indignare, si quid in te iniqui proprie con- stitutum est; sed si haec summos imosque necessitas alligat, in gratiam cum fato revertere, a quo omnia resolvuntur. Non est quod nos tumulis metiaris et his monumentis, quae viam disparia praetexunt ; aequat omnes cinis. Inpares nascimur, pares mori- mur. Idem de urbibus quod de urbium incolis dico: tam Ardea capta quam Roma est. Conditor ille iuris humani non natalibus! nos nec nominum clari- tate distinxit, nisi dum sumus. Ubi vero ad finem mortalium ventum est, “ discede,’” inquit, “ ambitio! omnium, quae terram premunt, siremps? lex esto.” Ad omnia patienda pares sumus ; nemo altero fragilior est, nemo in crastinum sui certior.

Alexander Macedonum rex discere geometriam coeperat, infelix, sciturus, quam pusilla terra esset, ex qua minimum occupaverat, Ita dico: infelix ob hoc, quod intellegere debebat falsum se gerere cognomen. Quis enim esse magnus in pusillo potest? Erant illa, quae tradebantur, suptilia et diligenti in- tentione discenda, non quae perciperet vesanus homo

1 natalibus later MSS. ; non talibus BA. 2 siremps Cuiacius ; seremiles B; sere miles A.

« Ardea, the earliest capital of Latium, and Rome, the present capital of the empire. Seneca probably refers to Ardea’s capture and destruction by the Samnites in the fourth century ; Rome was captured by the Celts in 390 B.c. The former greatness of Ardea was celebrated by Vergil. Aeneid, vii. 411 ff. :

et nunc magnum manet Ardea nomen, Sed fortuna fuit.

> Siremps (or sirempse—Plaut. Amph. 73), an ancient 44.2

EPISTLE XCl

not cry out at any of these calamities. Into such a world have we entered, and under such laws do we live. If you like it, obey ; if not, depart whitherso- ever you wish. Cry out in anger if any unfair measures are taken with reference to you individu- ally; but if this inevitable law is binding upon the highest and the lowest alike, be reconciled to fate, by which all things are dissolved. You should not estimate our worth by our funeral mounds or by these monuments of unequal size which line the road; their ashes level all men! We are unequal at birth, but are equal in death. What I say about cities I say also about their inhabitants: Ardea was captured as well as Rome.* The great founder of human law has not made distinctions between us on the basis of high lineage or of illustrious names, except while we live. When, however, we come to the end which awaits mortals, he says: “ Depart, ambition! To all creatures that burden the earth let one and the same ? law apply !”’ For enduring all things, we are equal; no one is more frail than another, no one more certain of his own life on the morrow.

Alexander, king of Macedon, began to study geometry °; unhappy man, because he would thereby learn how puny was that earth of which he had seized but a fraction! Unhappy man, I repeat, because he was bound to understand that he was bearing a false title. For who can be “ great” in that which is puny? The lessons which were being taught him were intricate and could be learned only by assiduous application; they were not the kind to be

legal term, is derived by Festus from similis re ipsa; but Corssen explains it as from sic rem pse. ¢ 4.¢,, surveying. See Hp. Ixxxviii. 10.

VOL. II P 443

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

et trans oceanum cogitationes suas mittens. “ Fa- cilia,” inquit, “me doce.” Cui praeceptor “ ista,” 18 inquit, “omnibus eadem sunt, aeque difficilia.” Hoe puta rerum naturam dicere: “ista, de quibus quereris, omnibus eadem sunt. Nulli dare faciliora possum,} sed quisquis volet, sibi ipse? illa reddet faciliora.”’ Quomodo? Aequanimitate. Et doleas oportet et sitias et esurias et senescas, si tibi longior contigerit inter homines mora, et aegrotes et perdas aliquid et 19 pereas. Non est tamen quod istis, qui te circum- strepunt, credas; nihil horum malum est, nihil in- tolerabile aut durum. Ex consensu istis metus est. Sic mortem times quomodo famam. Quid autem stultius homine verba metuente? Eleganter Demetrius noster solet dicere eodem loco sibi esse voces inperitorum, quo ventre redditos crepitus. “Quid enim,” inquit, “mea,? susum isti an deosum 20 sonent?” Quanta dementia est vereri, ne infameris ab infamibus? Quemadmodum famam extimuistis sine causa, sic et illa, quae numquam timeretis, nisi fama iussisset. Num quid detrimenti faceret vir 21 bonus iniquis rumoribus sparsus? Ne morti quidem hoc apud nos‘ noceat; et haec malam olitionem habet. Nemo eorum, qui illam accusant,> expertus est.

1 possum Buecheler; possunt BA. 2 ipse Haase; ipsi BA. 3 mea susum B corr.; mea refert susum B; meas refert

usum A. 4 nos later MSS. ; vos BA. 5 accusant later MSS. ; accusat BA.

@ i.¢., OQxeavds, the stream which encircles the earth.

» This plain-living, plain- speaking philosopher appears also in pp. xx. 9 and lxii. 3. Seneca refers to him as seminudum, quanto minus quam stramentis incubantem.

444

EPISTLE XCI.

comprehended by a madman, who let his thoughts range beyond the ocean.* “Teach me something easy!” he cries; but his teacher answers: “ These things are the same for all, as hard for one as for another.” Imagine that nature is saying to us: “Those things of which you complain are the same for all. I cannot give anything easier to any man, but whoever wishes will make things easier for himself.” In what way? By equanimity. You must suffer pain, and thirst, and hunger, and old age too, if a longer stay among men shall be granted you; you must be sick, and you must suffer loss and death. Nevertheless, you should not believe those whose noisy clamour surrounds you; none of these things is an evil, none is beyond your power to bear, or is burdensome. It is only by common opinion that there is anything formidable in them. Your fearing death is therefore like your fear of gossip. But what is more foolish than a man afraid of words? Our friend Demetrius® is wont to put it cleverly when he says: “For me the talk of ignorant men is like the rumblings which issue from the belly. For,” he adds, “what difference does it make to me whether such rumblings come from above or from below?” What madness it is to be afraid of dis- repute in the judgment of the disreputable! Just as you have had no cause for shrinking in terror from the talk of men, so you have no cause now to shrink from these things, which you would never fear had not their talk forced fear upon you. Does it do any harm to a good man to be besmirched by unjust gossip? Then let not this sort of thing damage death, either, in our estimation; death also is in bad odour. But no one of those who malign death has made trial of it.

445

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

Interim temeritas est damnare, quod nescias. At illud scis, quam multis utilis sit, quam multos liberet tormentis, egestate, querellis, suppliciis, taedio. Non sumus in ullius potestate, cum mors in nostra potestate sit. Vater.

XCII

Seneca LvcILIO SVO SALVTEM

1 Puto, inter me teque conveniet externa corpori adquiri, corpus in honorem animi coli, in animo esse partes ministras, per quas movemur alimurque, propter ipsum principale nobis datas. In hoe principali est aliquid inrationale, est et rationale. Illud huic servit, hoc unum est, quod alio non refertur, sed omnia ad se refert.1 Nam illa quoque divina ratio omnibus praeposita est, ipsa sub nullo est; et haec autem nostra eadem est, quia? ex illa

2 est. Si de hoc inter nos convenit, sequitur ut de illo quoque conveniat, in hoc uno positam esse beatam vitam, ut in nobis ratio perfecta sit. Haec enim sola non submittit animum, stat contra fortu- nam; in quolibet rerum habitu securos% servat. Id autem unum bonum est, quod numquam defringitur. Is est, inguam, beatus quem nulla res minorem facit 5

1 refert a later MS. and Madvig ; perfert BA. 2 guia later MSS. ; quae BA. 3 securos later MSS. ; servitus BA.

@ The reader will find this topic treated at greater lengih in Seneca’s De Vita Beata.

> j.¢., the soul. See Aristotle, Hth. i. 13: ‘*It is stated that the soul has two parts, one irrational and the other possessing reason.” Aristotle further subdivides the irrational part into (1) that which makes for growth and increase, and (2) desire (which will, however, obey reason). In this passage Seneca uses ‘‘ soul” in its widest sense.

446

EPISTLES XCI., XCII.

Meanwhile it is foolhardy to condemn that of which you are ignorant. This one thing, however, you do know—that death is helpful to many, that it sets many free from tortures, want, ailments, sufferings, and weariness. We are in the power of nothing when once we have death in our own power! Farewell.

MCLE ON THE: HAPPY: LIBS

You and I will agree, I think, that outward things are sought for the satisfaction of the body, that the body is cherished out of regard for the soul, and that in the soul there are certain parts which minister to us, enabling us to move and to sustain life, bestowed upon us just for the sake of the primary part of us.2- In this primary part there is something irrational, and something rational. The former obeys the latter, while the latter is the only thing that is not referred back to another, but rather refers all things to itself. For the divine reason also is set in supreme command over all things, and is itself subject to none; and even this reason which we possess is the same, because it is derived from the divine reason. Now if we are agreed on this point, it is natural that we shall be agreed on the following also—namely, that the happy life depends upon this and this alone: our attainment of perfect reason. For it is naught but this that keeps the soul from being bowed down, that stands its ground against Fortune; whatever the condition of their affairs may be, it keeps men untroubled. And that alone is a good which is never subject to impairment. That man, I declare, is happy whom nothing makes

44,7

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

tenet summa, et ne ulli quidem nisi sibi innixus, Nam qui aliquo auxilio sustinetur, potest cadere. Si aliter est, incipient multum in nobis valere non nostra. Quis autem vult constare fortunam! aut quis se prudens ob aliena miratur ?

3 Quid est beata vita? Securitas et perpetua tranquillitas. Hane dabit animi magnitudo, dabit constantia bene iudicati tenax. Ad haec quomodo pervenitur? Si veritas tota perspecta est; si servatus est in rebus ageridis ordo, modus, decor, innoxia voluntas ac benigna, intenta rationi nec umquam ab illa recedens, amabilis simul mirabilisque. Denique ut breviter tibi formulam scribam, talis animus esse sapientis viri debet, qualis deum deceat.

4 Quid potest desiderare is, cui omnia honesta con- tingunt? Nam si possunt aliquid non _ honesta conferre ad optimum statum, in his erit beata vita, sine quibus honesta.2 Et quid turpius stultiusve quam bonum rationalis animi ex inrationalibus

5 nectere? Quidam tamen augeri summum bonum iudicant, quia parum plenum sit fortuitis repugnan- tibus. Antipater quoque inter magnos sectae huius auctores aliquid se tribuere dicit externis, sed exiguum admodum, Vides autem quale sit die non ? esse contentum, nisi aliquis igniculus adluxerit. Quod potest in hac claritate solis habere scintilla

1 fortunam Buecheler ; fortuna BA. 2 honesta Hense ; non est BA. 3 die non Erasmus ; zenon BA.

@ Certain of the Peripatetic and Academic school.

’ Probably due to the criticism of the Stoics by Carneades, who said that everything which is according to nature should be classed among the goods.

448

EPISTLE XCII.

less strong than he is; he keeps to the heights, leaning upon none but himself; for one who sustains himself by any prop may fall. If the case is other- wise, then things which do not pertain to us will begin to have great influence over us. But who desires Fortune to have the upper hand, or what sensible man prides himself upon that which is not his own? What is the happy life? It is peace of mind, and lasting tranquillity. This will be yours if you possess greatness of soul; it will be yours if you possess the steadfastness that resolutely clings to a good judgment just reached. How does a man reach this condition? By gaining a complete view of truth, by maintaining, in all that he does, order, measure, fitness, and a will that is inoffensive and kindly, that is intent upon reason and never departs therefrom, that commands at the same time love and admiration. In short, to give you the principle in brief compass, the wise man’s soul ought to be such as would be proper for a god. What more can one desire who possesses all honourable things? For if dishonourable things can contribute to the best estate, then there will be the possibility of a happy life under conditions which do not include an honour- able life. And what is more base or foolish than to connect the good of a rational soul with things irrational? Yet there are certain philosophers who hold that the Supreme Good admits of increase because it is hardly complete when the gifts of fortune are adverse.* Even Antipater,? one of the great leaders of this school, admits that he ascribes some influence to externals, though only a very slight influence. You see, however, what absurdity lies in not being content with the daylight unless it is increased by a tiny fire. What importance can 449

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

6 momentum? Si non es sola honestate! contentus, necesse est aut quietem adici velis, quam daoxAnoiav vocant Graeci, aut voluptatem. Horum alterum utcumque recipi potest. Vacat enim animus molestia liber ad inspectum universi, nihilque illum avocat a contemplatione naturae. Alterum illud, voluptas, bonum pecoris est. Adicimus rationali inrationale, honesto inhonestum. Ad hance vitam? facit titil-

7 latio corporis; quid ergo dubitatis dicere bene esse homini, si palato bene est? Et hune tu, non dico inter viros numeras, sed inter homines, cuius summum bonum saporibus et coloribus? sonisque* constat? Excedat ex hoe animaliuam numero pulcherrimo ac dis secundo: mutis adgregetur animal pabulo laetum.

8 _Inrationalis pars animi duas habet partes, alteram animosam, ambitiosam, inpotentem, positam in ad- fectionibus, alteram humilem, languidam, volup- tatibus deditam; illam effrenatam, meliorem tamen, certe fortiorem ac digniorem viro reliquerunt, hance necessariam beatae vitae putaverunt, et ener-

9 vem et abiectam. Huie rationem servire iusse- runt et fecerunt animalis generosissimi summum 6 bonum demissum et ignobile, praeterea mixtum portentosumque et ex diversis ac male’ con-

1 honestate later MSS. ; honesta BA,

2 ad hance vitam Buecheler; magno vitam B; magne- vitam A.

8 coloribus later MSS. ; caloribus BA.

4 sonisque Windhaus ; sonis or solis MSS.

5 et enervem Rossbach ; inenervem BA. :

ant oak summum Buecheler ; generosissimum (or -t) MSS.

7 ae male Schweighaeuser ; animalis BA.

4 If we call pleasure a good. ’ Cf. § 1 of this letter. Plato gives three divisions—the

450

EPISTLE XCII.

a spark have in the midst of this clear sunlight? If you are not contented with only that which is honourable, it must follow that you desire in addition either the kind of quiet which the Greeks call “ undisturbedness,” or else pleasure. But the former may be attained in any case. For the mind is free from disturbance when it is fully free to contemplate the universe, and nothing distracts it from the con- templation of nature. The second, pleasure, is simply the good of cattle. We are but adding @ the irrational to the rational, the dishonourable to the honourable. A pleasant physical sensation affects this life of ours ; why, therefore, do you hesitate to say that all is well with a man just because all is well with his appetite ? And do you rate, I will not say among heroes, but among men, the person whose Supreme Good is a matter of flavours and colours and sounds? Nay, let him withdraw from the ranks of this, the noblest class of living beings, second only to the gods; let him herd with the dumb brutes—an animal whose delight is in fodder !

The irrational part of the soul is twofold®: the one part is spirited, ambitious, uncontrolled ; its seat is in the passions; the other is lowly, sluggish, and devoted to pleasure. Philosophers have neglected the former, which, though unbridled, is yet better, and is certainly more courageous and more worthy of a man, and have regarded the latter, which is nerveless and ignoble, as indispensable to the happy life. They have ordered reason to serve this latter ; they have made the Supreme Good of the noblest living being an abject and mean affair, and a monstrous hybrid, too, composed of various members hoyorixdy, the ériOupunrixdy, and the @usuoedés which obeys either the first or the second. See his Republic, 440.

VOL. II P2 451

10

1]

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

gruentibus membris. Nam ut ait Vergilius noster in Scylla

Prima hominis facies et pulchro pectore virgo

Pube tenus, postrema inmani corpore pistrix

Delphinum caudas utero commissa luporum. Huic tamen Scyllae fera animalia adiuncta sunt, horrenda, velocia; at isti sapientiam ex quibus conposuere portentis! Prima ars hominis est ipsa virtus; huic committitur inutilis caro et fluida, receptandis tantum cibis habilis, ut ait Posidonius. Virtus illa divina in lubricum desinit et superioribus eius partibus venerandis atque caelestibus animal iners ac marcidum adtexitur. Illa utcumque altera quies nihil quidem ipsa praestabat animo, sed inpedimenta removebat; voluptas ultro dissolvit et omne robur emollit. Quae invenietur tam discors inter se iunctura corporum? Fortissimae rei inertis- sima adstruitur, severissimae parum seria, sanctissimae intemperans usque ad incesta.’ “Quid ergo?” inquit, “si virtutem nihil inpeditura sit bona valitudo et quies et dolorum vacatio,? non petes illas?” Quidni petam? Non quia bona sunt, sed quia secundum naturam sunt, et quia bono a me iudicio sumentur. Quid erit tune in illis bonum? Hoc unum, bene eligi. Nam cum? vestem qualem decet,

1 incesta Gruter ; ingesta BA.

2 yacatio later MSS. ; vagatio BA.

3 cum omitted in A and supplied by a late hand in B. Buecheler suggests nam vestem qualem decet cwm sumo.

a Aeneid, iii. 426 ft. 452

EPISTLE XCII.

which harmonize but ill. For as our Vergil, describ- ing Scylla, says?:

Above, a human face and maiden’s breast,— A beauteous breast,—below, a monster huge Of bulk and shapeless, with a dolphin’s tail Joined to a wolf-like belly.

And yet to this Scylla are tacked on the forms of wild animals, dreadful and swift ; but from what monstrous shapes have these wiseacres compounded wisdom ! Man’s primary art is virtue itself; there is joined to this the useless and fleeting flesh, fitted only for the reception of food, as Posidonius remarks. This divine virtue ends in foulness, and to the higher parts, which are worshipful and heavenly, there is fastened a sluggish and flabby animal. As for the second desideratum, — quiet,—although it would indeed not of itself be of any benefit to the soul, yet it would relieve the soul of hindrances ; pleasure, on the contrary, actually destroys the soul and softens all its vigour. What elements so inharmonious as these can be found united? To that which is most vigorous is joined that which is mest sluggish, to that which is austere that which is far from serious, to that which is most holy that which is unrestrained even to the point of impurity. “ What, then,’ comes the retort, “if good health, rest, and freedom from pain are not likely to hinder virtue, shall you not seek all these?” Of course I shall seek them, but not because they are goods,—I shall seek them because they are according to nature and because they will be acquired through the exercise of good judgment on my part. What, then, will be good in them? This alone,—that it is a good thing to choose them. For when I don suitable attire, or

453

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

sumo, cum ambulo ut oportet, cum ceno quemad- modum debeo, non cena aut ambulatio aut vestis bona sunt, sed meum in iis propositum servantis in

12 quaque re rationi convenientem modum. Etiamnunce adiciam: mundae vestis electio adpetenda est homini. Natura enim homo mundum! et elegans animal est. Itaque non est bonum per se munda vestis, sed mundae vestis electio, quia non in re bonum est, sed in electione quali. Actiones nostrae

13 honestae sunt, non ipsa quae aguntur. Quod de veste dixi, idem me dicere de corpore existima. Nam hoc quoque natura ut quandam vestem animo circumdedit ; velamentum eius est. Quis autem umquam vestimenta aestimavit arcula? Nec bonum nec malum vagina gladium facit. Ergo de corpore quoque idem tibi respondeo: sumpturum quidem me, si detur electio, et sanitatem et vires, bonum autem futurum iudicium de illis meum, non ipsa.

14 “Est quidem,” inquit, “sapiens beatus; summum tamen illud bonum non consequitur, nisi illi et naturalia instrumenta respondeant. Ita miser qui- dem esse, qui virtutem habet, non potest, beatissimus autem non est, qui naturalibus bonis destituitur ut

15 valitudine, ut membrorum integritate.” Quod in- credibilius videtur, id concedis, aliquem in maximis et continuis doloribus non esse miserum, esse etiam beatum ; quod levius est, negas, beatissimum esse.

1 mundum later MSS. ; mundus BA. 45 A

EPISTLE XCII.

wall as I should, or dine as I ought to dine, it is not my dinner, or my walk, or my dress that are goods, but the deliberate choice which I show in regard to - them, as I observe, in each thing I do, a mean that conforms with reason. Let me also add that the choice of neat clothing is a fitting object of a man’s efforts ; for man is by nature a neat and well-groomed animal. Hence the choice of neat attire, and not neat attire in itself, is a good ; since the good is not in the thing selected, but in the quality of the selection. Our actions are honourable, but not the actual things which we do. And you may assume that what I have said about dress applies also to the body. For nature has surrounded our soul with the body as with a sort of garment; the body is its cloak. But who has ever reckoned the value of clothes by the wardrobe which contained them? The scabbard does not make the sword good or bad. Therefore, with regard to the body I shall return the same answer to you,—that, if I have the choice, I shall choose health and strength, but that the good involved will be my judgment regarding these things, and not the things themselves.

Another retort is: “Granted that the wise man is happy; nevertheless, he does not attain the Supreme Good which we have defined, unless the means also which nature provides for its attain- ment are at his call. So, while one who possesses virtue cannot be unhappy, yet one cannot be perfectly happy if one lacks such natural gifts as health, or soundness of limb.” But in saying this, you grant the alternative which seems the more difficult to believe,—that the man who is in the midst of un- remitting and extreme pain is not wretched, nay, is even happy; and you deny that which is much less

455

16

Li

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

Atqui si potest virtus efficere, ne miser aliquis sit, facilius efficiet, ut beatissimus sit. Minus enim intervalli a beato! ad beatissimum restat quam a misero ad beatum. An quae res tantum valet, ut ereptum calamitatibus inter beatos locet, non potest adicere quod superest, ut beatissimum faciat? In summo deficit clivo? Commoda sunt in vita? et incommoda, utraque extra nos. Si non est miser vir bonus, quamvis omnibus prematur incommodis, quo- modo non est beatissimus, si aliquibus commodis deficitur? Nam quemadmodum incommodorum onere usque ad miserum non deprimitur, sic commo- dorum inopia non deducitur a beatissimo, sed tam sine commodis beatissimus est, quam non est sub incommodis miser ; aut potest illi eripi bonum suum, si potest minui.

Paulo ante dicebam igniculum nihil conferre lumini solis. Claritate enim eius quicquid sine illo luceret absconditur. “Sed quaedam,’ inquit, “ soli quoque opstant.” At sol integer est? etiam inter opposita, et quamvis aliquid interiacet, quod nos prohibeat eius aspectu, in opere est, cursu suo fertur. Quotiens inter nubila eluxit, non est sereno minor,

1 a beato later MSS. ; beato BA. 2 in vila later MSS. ; invicta BA. 8 at sol integer est Buecheler ; ipsamasole integra est BA.

a § 5, 456

EPISTLE XCII.

serious,—that he is completely happy. And _ yet, if virtue can keep a man from being wretched, it will be an easier task for it to render him completely happy. For the difference between happiness and complete happiness is less than that between wretchedness and happiness. Can it be possible that a thing which is so powerful as to snatch a man from disaster, and place him among the happy, cannot also accomplish what remains, and render him supremely happy? Does its strength fail at the very top of the climb? There are in life things which are advantageous and disadvantageous,—both beyond our control. If a good man, in spite of being weighed down by all kinds of disadvantages, is not wretched, how is he not supremely happy, no matter if he does lack certain advantages? For as he is not weighted down to wretchedness by his burden of disadvantages, so he is not withdrawn from supreme happiness through lack of any advantages; nay, he is just as supremely happy without the advantages as he is free from wretched- ness though under the load of his disadvantages. Otherwise, if his good can be impaired, it can be snatched from him altogether.

A short space above, I remarked that a tiny fire does not add to the sun’s light. For by reason of the sun’s brightness any light that shines apart from the sunlight is blotted out. “ But,’ one may say, “there are certain objects that stand in the way even of the sunlight.” The sun, however, is un- impaired even in the midst of obstacles, and, though an object may intervene and cut off our view thereof, the sun sticks to his work and goes on his course. Whenever he shines forth from amid the clouds, he is no smaller, nor less punctual either, than when

457

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

ne tardior quidem, quoniam multum interest, utrum

18 aliquid obstet tantum, an inpediat. Eodem modo virtuti opposita nihil detrahunt; non est minor, sed minus fulget. Nobis forsitan non aeque apparet ac nitet, sibi eadem est et more solis obscuri in occulto vim suam exercet. Hoc itaque adversus virtutem possunt calamitates et damna et iniuriae, quod adversus solem potest nebula.

19 Invenitur, qui dicat sapientem corpore parum prospero usum nec miserum esse nec beatum. Hic quogue fallitur, exaequat enim fortuita virtutibus et tantundem tribuit honestis quantum honestate carentibus. Quid autem foedius, quid indignius quam comparari veneranda contemptis? Veneranda enim sunt iustitia, pietas, fides, fortitudo, prudentia ; e contrario vilia sunt, quae saepe contingunt pleniora vilissimis, crus solidum et lacertus et dentes et

99 tororum! sanitas firmitasque. Deinde si sapiens, cui corpus molestum est, nec miser habebitur nec beatus, sed in medio? relinquetur, vita quoque eius nec adpetenda erit nec fugienda. Quid autem tam absurdum quam sapientis vitam adpetendam non esse? Aut quid tam extra fidem quam esse aliquam

vitam nec adpetendam nec fugiendam? Deinde si

1 tororum Capps; horum MES. ; ceterorwm Buecheler ; nervorum Kronenberg. 2 in medio later MSS. ; medio BA

458

EPISTLE XCII.

he is free from clouds; since it makes a great deal of difference whether there is merely something in the way of his light or something which interferes with his shining. Similarly, obstacles take nothing away from virtue; it is no smaller, but merely shines with less brilliancy. In our eyes, it may perhaps be less visible and less luminous than before; but as regards itself it is the same and, like the sun when he is eclipsed, is still, though in secret, putting forth its strength. Disasters, therefore, and losses, and wrongs, have only the same power over virtue that a cloud has over the sun.

We meet with one person who maintains that a wise man who has met with bodily misfortune is neither wretched nor happy. But he also is in error, for he is putting the results of chance upon a parity with the virtues, and is attributing only the same influence to things that are honourable as to things that are devoid of honour. But what is more detestable and more unworthy than to put contemptible things in the same class with things worthy of reverence! [For reverence is due to justice, duty, loyalty, bravery, and prudence; on the contrary, those attributes are worthless with which the most worthless men are often blessed in fuller measure, — such as a sturdy leg, strong shoulders, good teeth, and healthy and solid muscles. Again, if the wise man whose body is a trial to him shall be regarded as neither wretched nor happy, but shall be left in a sort of half-way position, his life also will be neither desirable nor undesirable. But what is so foolish as to say that the wise man’s life is not desirable? And what is so far beyond the bounds of credence as the opinion that any life is neither desirable nor undesirable? Again, if bodily

459

bo bo

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

damna corporis miserum non faciunt, beatum esse patiuntur. Nam quibus potentia non est in peiorem transferendi! statum, ne interpellandi quidem optimum.

“ Frigidum,’ inquit, “ aliquid et calidum novimus, inter utrumque tepidum est; sic aliquis beatus est, aliquis miser, aliquis nec beatus nec miser.’’ Volo hane contra nos positam imaginem excutere. Si tepido illi plus frigidi ingessero, fiet frigidum. Si plus calidi adfudero, fiet novissime calidum. At huic nee misero nec beato quantumcumque ad miserias adiecero, miser non erit, quemadmodum

2 dicitis ; ergo imago ista dissimilis est. Deinde trado

tibi hominem nec miserum nec beatum. MHuic adicio caecitatem ; non fit miser. Adicio debilitatem ; non fit miser. Adicio dolores continuos et graves; miser non fit. Quem tam multa mala in miseram vitam non transferunt, ne ex beata quidem educunt.

23 Si non potest, ut dicitis, sapiens ex beato in miserum

24

decidere, non potest in non beatum. Quare enim qui labi coepit,? alicubi subsistat? Quae res illum non patitur ad imum devolvi, retinet in summo. Quidni non possit beata vita rescindi? Ne remitti quidem potest, et ideo virtus ad illam per se ipsa satis est.

“ Quid ergo?” inquit, “sapiens non est beatior,

1 transferendi later MSS. ; transiendi BA. 2 qui labi coepit Muretus ; qui illa coepit BA.

2 Answering the objection raised in § 14.

EPISTLE XCII.

ills do not make a man wretched, they consequently allow him to be happy. For things which have no power to change his condition for the worse, have not the power, either, to disturb that condition when it is at its best.

«“ But,” someone will say, “we know what is cold and what is hot; a lukewarm temperature lies between. Similarly, A is happy, and B is wretched, and C is neither happy nor wretched.” I wish to examine this figure, which is brought into play against us. If I add to your lukewarm water a larger quantity of cold water, the result will be cold water. But if I pour in a larger quantity of hot water, the water will finally become hot. In the case, however, of your man who is neither wretched nor happy, no matter how much I add to his troubles, he will not be unhappy, according to your argument; hence your figure offers no analogy. Again, suppose that I set before you a man who is neither miserable nor happy. I add blindness to his misfortunes; he is not rendered unhappy. I cripple him; he is not rendered unhappy. I add afflictions which are un- ceasing and severe; he is not rendered unhappy. Therefore, one whose life is not changed to misery by all these ills is not dragged by them, either, from his life of happiness. Then if, as you say, the wise man cannot fall from happiness to wretchedness, he cannot fall into non-happiness. For how, if one has begun to slip, can one stop at any particular place? That which prevents him from rolling to the bottom, keeps him at the summit. Why, you urge, may not a happy life possibly be destroyed ? It cannot even be disjointed; and for that reason virtue is itself of itself sufficient for the happy life.¢

«“ But,” it is said, “is not the wise man happier if

461

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

qui diutius vixit, quem nullus avocavit dolor, quam ille, qui cum mala fortuna semper luctatus est?” Responde mihi: numquid et melior est et honestior ? Si haec non sunt, ne beatior quidem est. Rectius vivat oportet, ut beatius vivat ; si rectius non potest, ne beatius quidem.! Non intenditur virtus, ergo ne beata quidem vita, quae ex virtute est. Virtus enim tantum bonum est, ut istas accessiones minutas non sentiat, brevitatem aevi et dolorem et corporum varias offensiones. Nam voluptas non est digna, ad 25 quam respiciat. Quid est in virtute praecipuum ? Futuro non indigere nec dies suos computare ; in quantulo libet tempore bona aeterna consummat. Incredibilia nobis haec videntur et supra humanam naturam excurrentia. Maiestatem enim eius ex nostra inbecillitate metimur ? et vitiis nostris nomen virtutis inponimus. Quid porro? Non aeque in- credibile videtur aliquem in summis_ cruciatibus positum dicere “beatus sum”? Atqui haec vox in ipsa officina voluptatis audita est. “ Beatissimum,”’ inquit, “hune et hunc diem ago” Epicurus, cum illum hine urinae difficultas torqueret, hine insana- 26 bilis exulcerati dolor ventris. Quare ergo incredibilia ista sint aput eos, qui virtutem colunt, quom? aput eos quoque reperiantur,‘ aput quos voluptas imperavit ? Hi quoque degeneres et humillimae mentis aiunt in summis doloribus, in summis calamitatibus sapientem

1 ne beatius quidem later MSS. ; ne beatus quidem BA. 2 metimur later MSS. ; mentimur BA. 3 quom O. Rossbach ; cum BA. 4 reperiantur later MSS. ; aperiantur BA.

@ Cf. Ep. \xxi. 16 non intenditur virtus. 'The Stoic idea of tension may be combined here with the raising of a note to a higher pitch.

’ Frag. 138 Usener. Cf. Sen. Ep. Ixvi. 47.

462

EPISTLE XCII.

he has lived longer and has been distracted by no pain, than one who has always been compelled to grapple with evil fortune?” Answer me now,—is he any better or more honourable? If he is not, then he is not happier either. In order to live more happily, he must live more rightly; if he cannot do that, then he cannot live more happily either. Virtue cannot be strained tighter, and therefore neither can the happy life, which depends on virtue. For virtue is so great a good that it is not affected by such insignificant assaults upon it as shortness of life, pain, and the various bodily vexations. For pleasure does not deserve that virtue should even glance at it. Now what is the chief thing in virtue? It is the quality of not needing a single day beyond the present, and of not reckoning up the days that are ours; in the slightest possible moment of time virtue completes an eternity of good. These goods seem to us incredible and transcending man’s nature ; for we measure its grandeur by the standard of our own weakness, and we call our vices by the name of virtue. Furthermore, does it not seem just as incredible that any man in the midst of extreme suffering should say, “I am happy’? And yet this utterance was heard in the very factory of pleasure, when Epicurus said:’ “To-day and one other day have been the happiest of all!” although in the one case he was tortured by strangury, and in the other by the incurable pain of an ulcerated stomach. Why, then, should those goods which virtue bestows be incredible in the sight of us, who cultivate virtue, when they are found even in those who acknowledge pleasure as their mistress? These also, ignoble and base-minded as they are, declare that even in the midst of excessive pain and mis-

463

bo “I

bo

9

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

nec miserum futurum nec beatum. Atqui hoc quoque incredibile est, immo incredibilius. Non video enim, quomodo non in infimum?’ agatur e fastigio suo deiecta virtus. Aut beatum praestare debet, aut si ab hoc depulsa est, non prohibebit fieri miserum. Stans non potest mitti; aut vincatur oportet aut vincat.

“Dis,” inquit, “inmortalibus solis et virtus et beata vita contigit, nobis umbra quaedam_ illorum bonorum et similitudo. Accedimus ad illa, non per- venimus.” Ratio vero dis hominibusque communis est; haec in illis consummata est, in nobis consum- mabilis. Sed ad desperationem nos vitia nostra perducunt; nam ille alter secundus est ut aliquis parum constans ad custodienda optima, cuius iudicium labat etiamnunc et incertum est. Desideret oculorum atque aurium sensum, bonam valitudinem et non foedum aspectum corporis et habitu manente suo aetatis praeterea longius spatium. Per hanc potest non paenitenda agi vita, at? inperfecto viro huic malitiae vis quaedam inest, quia animum _habet mobilem ad prava. Illa apparens malitia et exagitata 3 abest 4; non est adhuc bonus, sed in bonum fingitur. Cuicumque autem deest aliquid ad bonum, malus est.

1 non in infimum vulg.; non in imum Buecheler; non infirmum BA.

2 agi vita at Buecheler ; agitavit BA.

> apparens malitia et exagitata Buecheler ; aitarens malitia

et ea agitata BA. + A and B give de bono after abest ; in B the words are added at the end of the line.

4.04

EPISTLE XCII.

fortune the wise man will be neither wretched nor happy. And yet this also is incredible,—nay, still more incredible than the other case. For I do not understand how, if virtue falls from her heights, she can help being hurled all the way to the bottom. She either must preserve one in happiness, or, if driven from this position, she will not prevent us from becoming unhappy. If virtue only stands her ground, she cannot be driven from the field; she must either conquer or be conquered.

But some say: “Only to the immortal gods is given virtue and the happy life; we can attain but the shadow, as it were, and semblance of such goods as theirs. We approach them, but we never reach them.” Reason, however, is a common attribute of both gods and men; in the gods it is already perfected, in us it is capable of being perfected. But it is our vices that bring us to despair; for the second class of rational being, man, is of an inferior order,—a guardian, as it were, who is too unstable to hold fast to what is best, his judgment still wavering and uncertain. He may require the faculties of sight and hearing, good health, a bodily exterior that is not loathsome, and, besides, greater length of days conjoined with an unimpaired con- stitution. Though by means of reason he can lead a life which will not bring regrets, yet there resides in this imperfect creature, man, a certain power that makes for badness, because he possesses a mind which is easily moved to perversity. Suppose, how- ever, the badness which is in full view, and has previously been stirred to activity, to be removed ; the man is still not a good man, but he is being moulded to goodness. One, however, in whom there is lacking any quality that makes for goodness, is bad.

465

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA Sed

Si cui virtus animusque in corpore praesens,

hic deos aequat, illo tendit originis suae memor.

30 Nemo inprobe eo conatur ascendere, unde de-

31

scenderat. Quid est autem cur non existimes in eo divini aliquid existere, qui dei pars est? Totum hoc, quo continemur, et unum est et deus; et socii sumus eius et membra. Capax est noster animus, perfertur illo, si vitia non deprimant. Quemadmodum corporum nostrorum habitus erigitur et spectat in caelum, ita animus, cui in quantum vult licet porrigi, in hoe a natura rerum formatus est, ut paria dis vellet. Et si utatur suis viribus ac se in spatium suum extendat, non aliena via! ad summa nititur. Magnus erat labor ire in caelum; redit. Cum hoe iter nactus est, vadit audaciter contemptor omnium nec ad pecuniam respicit aurumque et argentum illis, in quibus iacuere, tenebris dignissima, non ab hoc aestimat splendore,? quo inperitorum’ verberantoculos, sed a vetere caeno,* ex quo illa secrevit cupiditas nostra et effodit. :

Scit, inquam, aliubi positas esse divitias quam quo congeruntur; animum impleri debere, non arcam. Hunc inpenere dominio rerum omnium licet, hune in possessionem rerum naturae inducere, ut sua

1 via Schweighaeuser ; vifa BA.

2 ab hoc aestimat splendore Rubenius; ad hoc aestimat splendorem BA.

3 inperitorum cod. Velz. ; inperitior B; inpericior A.

4 @ vetere caeno Rubenius ; avertero caelo BA.

@ Vergil, Aeneid, v. 363. WVergil MSS. read pectore. ’ 7.¢., to participation in the divine existence. 466

EPISTLE. ‘XCII- But

He in whose body virtue dwells, and spirit E’er present,

is equal to the gods; mindful of his origin, he strives to return thither. No man does wrong in attempting to regain the heights from which he once came down. And why should you not believe that some- thing of divinity exists in one who is a part of God? All this universe which encompasses us is one, and it is God; we are associates of God; we are his members. Our soul has capabilities, and is carried thither,? if vices do not hold it down. Just as it is the nature of our bodies to stand erect and look upward to the sky, so the soul, which may reach out as far as it will, was framed by nature to this end, that it should desire equality with the gods. And if it makes use of its powers and stretches upward into its proper region it is by no alien path that it struggles toward the heights. It would be a great task to journey heavenwards; the soul but returns thither. When once it has found the road, it boldly marches on, scornful of all things. It casts no backward glance at wealth; gold and silver— things which are fully worthy of the gloom in which they once lay—it values not by the sheen which smites the eyes of the ignorant, but by the mire of ancient days, whence our greed first detached and dug them out.

The soul, I affirm, knows that riches are stored elsewhere than in men’s heaped-up treasure-houses ; that it is the soul, and not the strong-box, which should be filled. It is the soul that men may set in dominion over all things, and may install as owner of the universe, so that it may limit its riches only

407

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA orientis occidentisque terminis finiat! deorumque ritu cuncta possideat,? cum opibus suis divites superne despiciat, quorum nemo tam suo laetus est

53 quam tristis alieno. Cum se in hance sublimitatem

tulit, corporis quogue ut? oneris necessarii non amator, sed procurator est nec se illi, cui inpositus est, subicit. Nemo liber est, qui corpori servit. Nam ut alios dominos, quos nimia pro illo sollicitudo invenit, transeas, ipsius morosum imperium delica-

34 tumque est. Ab hoc modo aequo animo exit, modo

magno prosilit, nec quis deinde relicti eius futurus sit exitus quaerit. Sed ut ex barba capilloque tonsa neglegimus, ita ille divinus animus egressurus hominem, quo receptaculum suum conferatur, ignis illud exurat an lapis includat‘ an terra contegat an ferae distrahant, non magis ad se iudicat pertinere quam secundas ad editum infantem. Utrum pro- iectum aves differant. an consumatur

Canibus data praeda marinis,'

5 quid ad illum, qui nullus est®*? Sed tune quoque,

cum inter homines est, non timet ullas7 post mortem minas €orum, quibus usque ad mortem timeri parum est. Non conterret, inquit, me nec uncus nec proiecti

? finiat later MSS. ; fiat BA.

* possidzat later MSS. : possideant BA.

* ut Buecheler ; rel or relut BA.

* After dlud Rossbach reads ecurat an lapis includat an terra, etc. ; ulud excludat an terra BA ; exurat (for excludat) later MSS.

* pracda Latinis Vergil.

* qui nullus est Hense: qui nullus BA.

7 est, non timet ullaz Buecheler ; est timet ullas BA.

* Vergil, Aeneid, ix. 485. 468

a ee

EPISTLE XCII,

by the boundaries of East and West, and, like the gods, may possess all things; and that it may, with its own vast resources, look down from on high upon the wealthy, no one of whom rejoices as much in his own wealth as he resents the wealth of another. When the soul has transported itself to this lofty height, it regards the body also, since it is a burden which must be borne, not as a thing to love, but as a thing to oversee; nor is it subservient to that over which it is set in mastery. For no man is free who is a slave to his body. Indeed, omitting all the other masters which are brought into being by excessive care for the body, the sway which the body itself exercises is captious and fastidious. Forth from this body the soul issues, now with un- ruffed spirit, now with exultation, and, when once it has gone forth, asks not what shall be the end of the deserted clay. No; just as we do not take thought for the clippings of the hair and the beard, even so that divine soul, when it is about to issue forth from the mortal man, regards the destination of its earthly vessel—whether it be consumed by fire, or shut in by a stone, or buried in the earth, or torn by wild beasts—as being of no more concern to itself than is the afterbirth to a child just born. And whether this body shall be cast out and plucked to pieces by birds, or devoured when

thrown to the sea-dogs as prey,*

how does that concern him who is nothing? Nay, even when it is among the living, the soul fears nothing that may happen to the body after death ; for though such things may have been threats, they were not enough to terrify the soul previous to the moment of death. It says: “I am not frightened

469

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

ad contumeliam cadaveris laceratio foeda visuris. Neminem de supremo officio rogo, nulli reliquias meas commendo. Ne quis imsepultus esset, rerum natura prospexit._ Quem saevitia proiecerit, dies condet.? Diserte Maecenas ait :

Nec tumulum curo. Sepelit natura relictos.

Alte cinctum putes dixisse. Habuit enim ingenium et grande et virile, nisi illud secundis discinxisset.* VaLe } prospezit Buecheler; prospicit BA. = cond later MSS. ;: condit BA. + sscundiz discinzissd later MSS. ; secundis cinzisset BA.

* Cf. Javenal, x. 65 Seianus ducifur unco zpectandus. The bodies of crimimals were dragged by the hook through the city to the Scealaz Gemoniaz, down which they were flung.

* Frag. 6 Lundersiedt.

———EoOOOoOoOo

EPISTLE XCII.

by the executioner’s hook,* nor by the revolting mutilation of the corpse which is exposed to the scorn of those who would witness the spectacle. I ask no man to perform the last rites for me; I entrust my remains to none. Nature has made provision that none shall go unburied. Time will lay away one whom cruelty has cast forth.” Those were eloquent words which Maecenas uttered :

I want no tomb; for Nature doth provide For outcast bodies burial.’

You would imagine that this was the saying of a man of strict principles. He was indeed a man of noble and robust native gifts, but in prosperity he impaired these gifts by laxness.© Farewell.

¢ The figure is taken from the Roman dress,—one who was “‘girt high ” (alie cinctus), ready for vigorous walking, being contrasted with the loosely-girdled person (discinctus), indolent or effeminate. On the character of Maecenas see Epp. cxiv. 4 ff., xix. 9, cxx. 19,

471

APPENDIX

containing some new readings found in the Codex Quiri-

nianus (Q), a MS. of the ninth or tenth century, published

at Brescia by Achilles Beltrami in 1916. The MS. includes

Epp. -LXXXVIII.

I. 5. superest, sat est vulg.

de homine moderato sat est Q. da hominem moderatum ; sat est Beltrami. VIII. 7. differetur Q. differtur vulg.

XIV. 17. adde Q, confirming L’; ede rell.

XXV. 2. perfecturus Q; profecturus vulg.

XXXIII. 9. quid est quod a(r) te Q; quid est quare et Hense ; etc.

XLVIII. 1. quae tam longa quam Q ; tam longam quam rell

LXV. 22. vindicet Q; ducet vulg.

LXVI. 32. virtuti: nihil enim aliud est virtus quam recta ratio. omnes virtutes rationes sunt Q, confirming Schweighaeuser.

LXXI. 7. Before nisi qui omnia bona exaequaverit, Q adds nisi qui omnia prior i(p)se contempserit.

LXXI. 12. de hoc cursu Q; ex h. c. vulg.

LXXII. 3. Q adds (after philosophandum est) sed ut philo- sopheris vacandum est.

LXXV. 1. desideremus Q ; sederemus vulg.

472

APPENDIX

LXXVI. 20. @ adds (after calcasse) inventus est qui divitias proiceret.

LXXVII. 17. Q adds (after doleas) amicos scis enim amicus esse.

LXXVIII. 9. longior impetus mora Q ; impetus mora rell.

LXXXI. 8. esse grati Q; esse rell.

LXXXI. 21. Q adds (after urget) nemo sibi gratus est qui alteri non fuit. hoe me putas dicere qui ingratus est maser erit.

LXXXII. 11. sed tlle Rutilius qui fortiore vultu in exilium vit quam misisset Q; ut quam misisset MSS. LXXXIII. 2. Q@ adds (after cogitamus) et id raro; quid

Secerimus non cogitamus.

LXXXIV. 11. Q adds nihil vitaverimus nisi ratione sua- dente, with a twelfth-century MS.

LXXXVII. 26. After sustuleris Q adds non ideo sustuleris,

LXXXVIII. 41. non vis cogitare Q, with some later MSS. 5 non cogitare rell.

473

INDEX OF PROPER NAMES

Acapemic (School of Philo- sophy), a definition of happiness, lxxi. 18; scepti- cism of, Ixxxviii. 44 f.

Achaia (province of Greece), earthquakes in, xci. 9 f.

Achilles, age of, compared with that of Patroclus, Ixxxviii. 6

Aegialus, a farmer on the old estate of Scipio, Ixxxvi. 14 ff.

Aetna, proposed ascent of, by Lucilius, xxix. 2 ff.

Agamemnon, his desire to return home to Mycenae, Ixvi. 26

Alexander of Macedon (the Great, d. 323 3.c.), crimes and tragedy of, due to drink, Ixxxiii. 19 ff.; his desire to conquer the globe, SCL.

Alexandria, fast-sailing ships from, Ixxvii. If.

Anacharsis (Scythian philo- sopher, fl. 600 B.c.), dis-

cussed as the _ inventor of the potter’s wheel, xc. 31

47 4

Antipater (of Tarsus, Stoic philosopher, 2nd century B.c.), refutation of a Peri- patetic syllogism, Ixxxvii. 38 ff. ; his view regarding non-essentials, xcii. 5

M. Antonius (friend of Caesar and rival of Augustus), ruined by wine and Cleo- patra, Ixxxiii. 25

Apion (grammarian, Ist century a.pD.), his opinion concerning the authorship of the Homeric cycle, Ixxxviii. 40 f.

Ardea (ancient city of La- tium, capital of the Rutu- lians), capture of, xci. 16

Argos (kingdom in the Pelo- ponnesus), a fictitious king Ot.-ixxx: J

Aristo of Chius (Stoic, 3rd century B.c.), weeds out many departments of philo- sophy, Ixxxix. 13

Asia, earthquakes in, xci. 9

Attalus (Stoic, teacher of Seneca), on the value of pain, lxvii. 15 ; simile used by, lxxii. 8; on ‘‘ returning

INDEX

the chalice to our own lips,” lxxxi. 22

Augustus (Roman Emperor), confidence in the hard drinkers Piso and Cossus, Ixxxiii. 14 f.

Decimus Iuntus Brutus (ce. 84-43 B.c.,seen.), cowardly death of, Ixxxii. 12 f.

Gaius Carsar_ (Caligula, emperor 37-41 a.p.), witti- cism of, Ixxvii. 18

Gaius Iulius Caesar, con- queror of Pompey, Ixxxiil. 12

Cambyses (son of Cyrus the Great, king of the Medes and Persians, 6th century B.c.), madness of, Ixxxvi. 1

Capreae (modern Capri, the outpost of the bay of Naples), Ixxvii. 2

Gaius Cassius (one of the murderers of Caesar), tem- perate habits of Ixxxiii. 12

M. Porcius Cato (the Elder), simple life of, Ixxxvi. 10; his scorn of trappings, Ixxxvii. 9 ff.

M. Porcius Cato (the Younger, d. 46 3.c.), heroic suicide of, Levin? 13 = Tex.19; 22 ; defeat of, Ixxi. 8, 10, 11; obedience to fate, 1xxi. 16 f. ; dictum of, Ixxi. 15.

Charondas (Sicilian law- giver, 6th century B.c.),

xe.-6

Charybdis (between Italy and Sicily, opposite to Scylla), phenomena of, Ixxix. 1 f.

VOL. II

Chelidon (a eunuch of Cleo- patra), richness of, Ixxxvil. 16

Tillius Cimber (one of the con- spirators against Caesar), his inordinate love of liquor, xxiii: 12) f.

Claranus (a friend of Seneca), his heroic conduct during illness, Ixvi. 1-4

Cyprus, often wasted by earthquakes, xci. 9

Cyrenaic school (offshoot of Epicureanism), remove physics and logic, and are content with ethics alone, Ixxxix. 12

DanakE (see n.), objects of Roman conquest, xxi. ST.

P. Decius Mus (both father and son, heroes of the Latin wars, 4th century B.c.), heroism and _ self- sacrifice of, Ixvii. 9

Demetrius (of Sunium, philo- sopher and _ friend of Seneca), definition of an untroubled existence, Lxvii.

14; his contempt for gossip, xci. 19 Democritus (Greek philo-

sopher, of Abdera, 5th century B.c.), supposed madness of, Ixxix. 14; dis- cussed as the inventor of the arch, xc. 32 f. Didymus(surnamed‘‘Brazen- Bowels,” scholar of Alex- andria, fl. lst century B.c.), his voluminous and varie- gated writings, on Aeneas,

475

INDEX

Anacreon, Sappho, etc., Ixxxviii. 37

Diogenes (the Cynic), con- trasted as a philosopher with Daedalus the in- ventor, xc. 14

Dossennus (ancient Latin comic writer, or a type in the Atellane farce), in- scription on the tomb of, ixxexe i

Epicurean, a philosophy of leisure, Ixviii. 10; void, Ixxii. 9; definition of philosophy as_ twofold, Ixxxix. ‘11

Epicurus (founder of the school, 342-279 B.c.), on the joy of suffering, lxvi. 18, lxvii. 15; on the pain- less body and the serene mind, lxvi. 45; on the different classes of goods, Ixvi. 47 f.; late-won re- nown of, Ixxix. 15 f.; on the payment of obliga- tions, Ixxxi. 11; declares virtue alone not sufficient for happiness, lxxxv. 18; on calm amid pain, xcii. 25

Eretrian school (somewhat inclined toward the Socratic), scepticism of, Ixxxviii. 44 f.

Faxir (clan famous in early Roman history), sacrifice in behalf of the state, Ixxxii. 20

Q. Fabius Maximus (hero of second Punic war), simple life of, lxxxvi. 10

476

German (gladiator), revolt- ing suicide of a, lxx. 20 Graeci, their use of para- doxes (inopinata) in philo- sophy, lxxxi. 11; futilities of dialectic, Ixxxii. 8f. ; their use of indifferentia, Ixxxii. 10; encyclic arts of the, Ixxxviii. 23; definition of wisdom, lxxxix. 7; de- finition of orbatio, |xxxvii.

39; on calm, xcii. 6

Hawnipat, contrasted with Scipio, Ixxxvi. 3

Helen, age of, compared with Hecuba’s, Ixxxviil. 6

Hephaestion(volcanic region in Lycia, in Asia Minor), xxix...

Hesiod, compared’ with Homer in seniority, Ixxxviil. 6

Homer, claimed by various schools of philosophy as a witness in their behalf, Ixxxvili. 5f.3; in various connexions, Ixxxvili. pas- sim ; mentions the potter’s wheel, xc. 31

Q. Horatius Flaccus (Roman poet, 65-8 B.c.), quoted, Ixxxvi. 13

JuprrEr, comparison of, with the ideal sage, Ixxiii. 12 ff.

Lacon, Spartan boy who re- fused to do menial service, Ixxvii. 14 f.

Lacones (Spartans under

INDEX

Leonidas at Thermopylae), Ixxxii. 20 ff.

Ladas, a traditionally swift runner, Ixxxv. 4

Aebutius Liberalis (friend of Seneca), disconsolate over the Lyons conflagra- tion of wel: 642 ani xc. passim

Drusus Libo (duped into dreams of empire, com- mitted suicide a.p. 16), contemplated self-destruc- tion of, Ixx. 10

Liternum (Campanian coast- town), retreat of Scipio, Ixxxvi. 3

Lucilius (procurator in Sicily and contemporary of Seneca), addressed, pas- sim. See Introduction, Vol. ips ix

Lucrine oysters (from a lake near the Bay of Naples), fork taste of, Ixxviii.

Lugudunum (capital of Gaul, now Lyons), destruction of, xci. passim

Lycurgus (of Sparta, 9th cen- tury B.c. ?), giver of laws, xc. 6

Maceponta, earthquakes in, Xin 9

Maecenas (prime minister of Augustus), witty saying of, xcii. 35

Tullius Marcellinus (a friend of Seneca), suicide of, bexvilg Suit;

Maximus(a friend of Seneca), Ixxxvii. 2 ff.

Medi, objects of Roman con- quest, Ixxi. 37

Megaric school, scepticism of, Ixxxviii. 44 f.

Menelaus (Homeric hero), actor posing as, Ixxx. 8

Metrodorus (follower of Epi- curus), his modest manner of life, Ixxix. 15 f. ; on the thankfulness of the sage, Eoxxast'l

Metronax (a philosopher, see Ep. xciii. 1), lectures by, Ixxvi. 4

Naratis (early Empire), vile-

ness and richness of, Ixxxvii. 16 Nausiphanes (disciple of

Pyrrho the Sceptic, 4th century B.C.), on seeming and non-being, \xxxviil. 43 f.

Neapolis (now Naples), a place for retirement, Ixviii. 5; theatre at, Ixxvi. 4

Neptune, the god to whom the sailor prays, lxxiii. 5; invoked by the Rhodian pilot, Ixxxv. 33

Nestor (Homeric hero), long life of, lxxvii. 20

P. Ovintus Naso (Roman poet, 43 z.c.-18 a.p.), his description of Aetna, Ixxix. 5; quoted, xc. 20

Parnus (city on west coast of Cyprus), often wrecked by earthquakes, xci. 9

Parmenides (Greek philoso- pher, jf. 500 3.c.), on the One, Ixxxviii. 44 f.

477

INDEX

Penelope, moral character of, Ixxxviii. 8

Peripatetics, their softening of Stoic paradoxes, Ixxxv. 3;\o1, ete. s-) their, ebjec- tions to Stoic syllogisms, Ixxxvii. 12, 38; their estab- lishment of economic phil- osophy, Ixxxix. 10

Persae(the Persians), objects of Roman conquest, Ixxi. ai

Phalaris, tyrant of Agrigen- tum in Sicily (6th century B.c.), the bronze bull of, Ixvi. 18

Pharius, pacemaker for Seneca, lxxxiii. 4

Phidias (Athenian sculptor, 5th century B.c.), variety of his materials, Ixxxv. 40

Lucius Piso (Roman official under Augustus), ab- normal drunkenness of, Ixxxiii. 14 f.

L. Munatius Plancus (gov. of Transalpine Gaul, 43 B.c.), founder of Lyons, xci. 14

Pompeii (possibly the birth- place of Lucilius), recalls memories of Seneca’s boy- hood, Ixx. 1

Gn. Pompeius Magnus, three defeats of his forces, xxi. 8 ff.

Lars Porsenna, king of the Etruscans, who yielded to Mucius Scaevola, lxvi. 51 ff.

Posidonius (Stoic philoso- pher, fl. Ist century B.c.), on lengt of life, xxviii. 28; opinion on drunken-

4.78

ness, lxxxiii. 10 ; definition of riches, Ixxxvii. 31 ff. ; on the arts and crafts, Ixxxviii. 21; on the sage and the inventor, xc. 5 ff. ; on the weakness of the flesh, xcii. 10

Protagoras (Greek philoso- pher of Abdera, 5th cen- tury B.c.), opinion on the flexibility of dialectic, Ixxxviii. 43 f.

Puteoli (a coast-town near Naples in Campania), the idlers of, Ixxvii. 1

Pyrrhonic school, scepticism of, Ixxxviii. 44 f.

Pythagoras (Greek philoso- pher, 6th century B.c.), teacher of many famous lawgivers, xc. 6

M. Aririus Recutus (hero of first Punic war), the suffer- ines ak,” bovis 1671 oe" shis pledge of honour, lxxi. 17

Rhodian (Telesphorus the), cowardly words of, Ixx. 6

P. Rutilius Rufus (states- man, banished 92 B.c.), exile“of, lxvil.- #3 retire= ment of, Ixxix. 14

Sarmatia (on the eastern side of Scythia), vanity of its rulers, lxxx. 10

Sattia, anecdote about the longevity of, Ixxvii. 20

Gaius Mucius Scaevola (Roman legendary period), voluntary self-mutilation of, Ixvi, SEE

INDEX

P. Cornelius Scipio (Afri- canus Maior, conqueror of Hannibal), adoration by Seneca at his house and tomb, Ixxxvi. 1 ff.

P. Cornelius Scipio (Afri- canus Minor, conqueror of Carthage in 146 B.c., and of Numantia in 133 Bic)) dsviods

P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica (admiral, defeated by Caesar’s fleet, 46 B.c.), heroism of, lxx. 22 ; defeat of, xxi. 10

Scribonia (see n.), witty say- ing of, Ixx. 10

Scylla (dangerous rock on Italian side of Sicilian Strait); bacax., Pf. xcii.9.

Scythia (from the Car- pathians eastward), vanity Of dts rrillers, « bork. 10's clothing of its inhabitants, xe. LG

Seneca (see Introduction, vol. i.), addresses himself, Ixviii. 10

Cornelius Severus (contemp. of Ovid, author of a Bellum Siculum), descrip- tion of Aetna, Ixxix. 5

Sextius (see Ep. lxiv. 2 n., vol. i.), his comparison of the sage with Jupiter, Ixxiii. 12, 15

Sicily, Lucilius’ through, lxxix. 1

Socrates, drinks the poison, Ixvii. 7; resignation of, Ixx. 9, Ixxi. 17; emphasis upon character, lxxi. 7; on truth and virtue, lxxi.

travels

16; late-won renown of, Ixxix. 14

Solon (see n. ad loc.), law- giver of Athens, and one of the seven wise men, Xes6

Speusippus (4th century B.c., predecessor of Xenocrates as head of the Academy), qualifies the definition of the bonum, Ixxxv. 18

Stoic, a certain, who gave good advice to Marcelli- nus, Ixxvii. 6

Stoic (school of philosophy), recommendation of the quiet life, Ixviii. 1; reply to Peripatetics regarding virtue, Ixxxv. 31; para- doxes of the, Ixxxvii. 1

Syria, earthquakes in, xci. 9

Syrtes (north coastof Africa), cave-homes of dwellers by the, xe. 17

Tarentum (city in Southern Italy), a place for retire- ment, Ixviii. 5

Tauromenium (now ‘Taor- mina) in Sicily, Ixxix. 1

Tiberius (emperor 14-37 a.p.), his confidence in the drunken Cossus, Ixxxiii. 15

Timagenes (from Alexan- dria, historian, and one- time friend of Augustus), grudge against Rome, xci. 13

Utysses, home-sickness of, Ixvi. 26; wanderings of, Ixxxviii. 7 f.

479

INDEX

P. Vereitivs Maro (Roman poet, 70-19 B.c.), quoted, ixvii: S;.ixx. 9, ize. 40:4, 15, xxvii. 12, Ixxviii. 15; description of Aetna, Ixxix. 5; quoted, Ixxxii. 7, 16, 18, kxxxiv. 3, lxxxv. 4, Ixxxvi. 15 f., Ixxxvii. 20, Ixxxviii. 14, 16, Ixxxix. | Pe cee! Meee Ee Pees y gee 2 | Scylla, xcii. 9; quoted, xcll. 29, 34

Virgo, the aqueduct, a colder plunge than the Tiber, ixxxili. 5

XENOCRATES

(4th century

B.c., successor of Speusip- pus as head of the Acad- emy), qualifies the defini- tion of the bonum, lxxxv. 18

Za eucus (of Magna Graecia, 7th century Bs.c.), law- maker, xc. 6

Zeno (founder of Stoicism, ji. 300 B.c.), over-subitle syllogism of, Ixxxii. 9, 19; objections to drunkenness, Ixxxiii. 9 ff.

Zeno, of Elea (Greek dia- lectic philosopher, 5th century s.c.), denial of everything, lxxxviii. 44 f.

END OF YOL. Hi

Printed in Great Britain by R. & R. Crarx, Limitep, Edinburgh

(76)

THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY

VOLUMES ALREADY PUBLISHED LATIN AUTHORS

Am™ianus Marcettrnus. J.C. Rolfe. 3 Vols.

Aputrius : THe Gotpen Ass (Mertamorpuosss). W. Adling- ton (1566). Revised by S. Gaselee.

St. Aucustine: Crry or Gop. 7 Vols. Vol. I. G. E. McCracken. Vol. Il. W. M. Green. Vol. III. D. Wie sen. Vol. IV. P. Levine. Vol. V. E. M. Sanford and W. M. Green. Vol. VI. W. C. Greene.

Sr. Aucustine, Conressions oF. W. Watts (1631). 2 Vols.

St. Aucustixe: Sevecr Letters. J. H. Baxter.

Ausontus. H. G. Evelyn White. 2 Vols.

Breve. J. E. King. 2 Vols.

Bortruius: Tracts aND De ConsoLATIONE PHILOSOPHIAE. Rev. H. F. Stewart and E. K. Rand.

pes ts : ALEXANDRIAN, AFRICAN AND SpanisH Wars. A. G. Way.

Carsar: Crvit Wars. A. G. Peskett.

Carsar: Garrtic War. H. J. Edwards.

Cato anp Varro: De Re Rustica. H. B. Ash and W. D. Hooper.

Carutius. F. W. Cornish; Trsutius. J. B. Postgate: and Pervicttium VENeErtis. J. W. Mackail.

Crrsus: De Mepicrya. W.G. Spencer. 3 Vols.

Cicero: Brutus anp Orator. G. L. Hendrickson and H. M. Hubbell.

Cicero: Der Fixisus. H. Rackham.

Cicero: Der Inventione, etc. H. M. Hubbell.

Cicero: De Natura Drorum anp Acapemica. H. Rackham.

Cicero: Dre Orricus. Walter Miller.

Cicero: Dre Ornatore, ete. 2 Vols. Vol. 1: De Onatore, BooksIandII. E. W. Suttonand H. Rackham. Vol. II: De Oratore, Book III]; De Faro; Parapoxa Srot- corum; De PanrtirionE Ornatorta. H. Rackham.

Cicero: De Repustica, De Lecrsus, Somytum ScIrionis. Clinton W. Keves.

THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY

Cicero: Der Senecrutr, De Amicitia, De DrvinaTIone. W. A. Falconer.

Cicero: In CatininamM, Pro Murena, Pro Sutta, Pro Friacco. Louis E. Lord.

Cicero: Lertrers To Atticus. E. O. Winstedt. 3 Vols.

Cicero: Lerrers To nis Frrenps. W.Glynn Williams. 3 Vols

Cicero: Puiwrrics. W. C. A. Ker.

Cicero: Pro Arcuia, Post Repirum, De Domo, Dre Ha- RUSPICUM Responsis, Pro Piancio. N. H. Watts.

Cicero: Pro Carctna, Pro Lecr Mantis, Pro CLuentio, Pro Rastrio. H. Grose Hodge.

Cicero: Pro Cartio, DE Provinciis ConsuLarisus, Pro Bago. R. Gardner.

Ciczkro: Pro Muttonr, In Pisonem, Pro Scauro, Pro Fontre1o, Pro Rasrrio Postumo, Pro Marcetro, Pro Licario, Pro Reece Dertotaro. N. H. Watts.

Cicero: Pro Quinctio, Pro Roscrio AmeErtno, Pro Roscto ComoeEpo, Contra Rutium. J. H. Freese.

Cicrro: Pro Srstio, In Vatinium. R. Gardner.

[Cicero]: Ruerorica AD Herennium. H. Caplan.

Cicero: Tuscutan Disputations. J. E. King.

Cicero: VERRINE Orations. L.H. G. Greenwood. 2 Vols.

Craupian. M. Platnauer. 2 Vols.

CotumEetta: Der Re Rustica, De Arsorisus. H. B. Ash, E. S. Forster, E. Heffner. 3 Vols.

Curtius, Q.: Hisrory or ALExANDER. J.C. Rolfe. 2 Vols.

Frorus. E.S. Forster; and Cornetius Nepos. J.C. Rolfe.

Frontinus: STRATAGEMS AND Aaquepucts. -C. E. Bennett and M. B. McElwain.

Fronto : CorrEesponpENce. C. R. Haines. 2 Vols.

Getiius. J.C. Rolfe. 3 Vols.

Horace: Opes anp Eropes. C. E. Bennett.

Horace: Satires, Episties, Ars Poetica. H. Rh. Fairclough.

Jerome: Sevecr Lerrers. F. A. Wright.

JUVENAL AND Persius. G. G. Ramsay.

Livy. B. O. Foster, F..G. Moore, Evan T. Sage, A. C. Schlesinger and R. M. Geer (General Index). 14 Vols.

Lucan. J. D. Dn.

Lucretius. W.H. D. Rouse.

Martiat. W.C. A. Ker. 2 Vols.

Minor Latin Poets: from Pusxiitrus Syrus to Rutirius Namatianus, including Grarrius, Catpurnius Sicutus, Nemestanus, Avianus, with “ Aetna,” ‘* Phoenix” and other poems. J. Wight Duff and Arnold M. Duff.

2

THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY

Ovip: Tuer Art or LOVE AND OTHER Poems. J. H. Moz-

Ovip: Fastr. Sir James G. Frazer.

Ovip: HerorpEes anp Amores. Grant Showerman.

Ovip: Metamorpuoses. F. J. Miller. 2 Vols.

Ovip: Tristria AND Ex Ponto. A. L. Wheeler.

Petronius. M. Heseltine; Seneca: ApocoLocynrosis. W. H. D. Rouse.

PHaEDRus AND Basrius (Greek). 5B. E. Perry.

Prautus. Paul Nixon. 5 Vols.

Pury: Lerrers, Panrcyricus. B. Radice. 2 Vols.

Puryy: Narurat History. 10 Vols. Vols. I-V and IX. H. Rackham... Vols. VI-VIII. W. H. S. Jones... Vol. X. D. E. Eichholz.

Proprertius. H. E. Butler.

Prupentius. H.J. Thomson. 2 Vols.

Qumntitian. H. E. Butler. 4 Vols.

Remains oF Otp Latin. E. H. Warmington. 4 Vols. Vol. I (Ennius and Caecilius). Vol. II (Livius, Naevius, Pacuvius, Accius). Vol. III (Lucilius, Laws of the XII Tables). Vol. IV (Archaic Inscriptions).

Satuust. J.C. Rolfe.

Scriptores HistortaE Aucustar. D. Magie. 3 Vols.

Seneca: Apocotocyntosis. Cf. PETRontus.

Seneca: EpistutarE Moraes. R. M. Gummere. 3 Vols.

Seneca: Morat Essays. J. W. Basore. 3 Vols.

Seneca: Tracepies. F. J. Miller. 2 Vols.

Stpontus: Porms anp Letrers. W. B. Anderson. 2 Vols.

Sru1us Itaticus. J. D. Duff. 2 Vols.

Statius. J. H. Mozley. 2 Vols.

Suetonius. J.C. Rolfe. 2 Vols.

Tacitus: AGricoLa AND GEerMaAnIA. Maurice Hutton; Dt1a- Locus. Sir Wm. Peterson.

Tacitus: Hisrorres anp Annats. C. H. Moore and J. Jackson. 4 Vols.

Terence. John Sargeaunt. 2 Vols.

TERTULLIAN : APOLOGIA AND De Specracutis. T. R. Glover: Minucius Ferrx. G. H. Rendall.

Vatenius Fuaccus. J. H. Mozley.

Varro: De Lineva Latina. R.G. Kent. 2 Vols.

VELLEIUS PatTeRcuLUS aND Res Gestae Divi AucGustTi. F. W. Shipley.

Vireiw. H.R. Fairclough. 2 Vols.

Vitruvius: De Arcuirectura. F. Granger. 2 Vols.

3

THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY

GREEK AUTHORS

Acuittres Tatius. S. Gaselee.

= & Ox tHE Nature or Anrwats. A. F. Scholfield. 3 Vols.

Arweas Tacticus, ASCLEPIODOTUS AND ONASANDER. The Illinois Greek Club.

Agscutyes. C. D. Adams.

Arscuytus. H. Weir Smyth. 2 Vols.

AtcipHrox, AELIAN AND Puitostratus: Letters. A. R. Benner and F. H. Fobes.

Apottoporvus. Sir James G. Frazer. 2 Vols.

Apottonivus Ruopius. R. C. Seaton.

Tue Apostotic FatHers. Kirsopp Lake. 2 Vols.

Appran’s Roman History. Horace White. 4 Vols.

Anatus. Cf. CALLDMACHUS.

ARIsTOPHANES. Benjamin Bickley Rogers. 3 Vols. Verse trans.

ArtstoTLte: Art or Rueroric. J. H. Freese.

ARIsTOTLE: ATHENIAN ConstITuTION, Eupremran Eruics, Virtues anp Vices. H. Rackham.

AristoTte: Tue Catecories. Own Iyterpreration. H. P. Cooke; Prior Anatytics. H. Tredennick.

ARISTOTLE: GENERATION OF AnraaLs. A. L. Peck.

ArisToTLe: Historra Anrmwatium. A. L. Peck. 3 Vols. Vols. I and II.

AristoTtLte: Metrapuysics. H. Tredennick. 2 Vols.

ArRisTtoTLe: Merreorcotocica. H. D. P. Lee.

ARISTOTLE: Mixon Works. W. S. Hett. ‘“ On Colours,” “On Things Heard,” “‘ Physiognomics,” “ On Plants,” “On Marvellous Things Heard,” ** Mechanical Problems,” “On Indivisible Lines,” “ Situations and Names of Winds,” “ On Melissus, Xenophanes, and Gorgias.”

ARISTOTLE: NicoMacHEAN Ernics. H. Rackham.

ARISTOTLE: Oxrconomica anpD Macnwa Moratia. G. C. Armstrong. (With Merapnysics, Vol. II.)

ApistoTLte: Os THE Heavens. W. K. C. Guthrie.

ARISTOTLE: Own THE Sout, Parva Naturaria. On Breata. W. S. Hett.

ARISTOTLE: Parts or Antrwats. A. L. Peck: Movement AnD Procression or Anrwats. E. S. Forster.

AristoTLte: Pxysics. Rey. P. Wicksteed and F. M. Corn- ford. 2 Vols.

THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY

ARISTOTLE: Portics; Loneinus on THE SusLime. W. Hamilton Fyfe; Demetrius on Styte. W. Rhys Roberts.

ARISTOTLE: Poxirics. H. Rackham.

ARISTOTLE: Posrertor AnaALytics. H. Tredennick; Topics. FE. S. Forster.

ARISTOTLE: Prospiems. W.S. Hett. 2 Vols.

ARISTOTLE: RueToricA AD ALExanpDRUM. H. Rackham. (With Prosiems, Vol. II.)

ARISTOTLE: SopuisticAL REFuTATIONS. CoOMING-TO-BE AND ans aeme E. S. Forster; On toe Cosmos. D. J. Fur- ey.

ARRIAN: History oF ALEXANDER AND Inpica. Rey. E. Iliffe Robson. 2 Vols.

ATHENAEUS: DeErpnosopHisTaE. C. B. Gulick. 7 Vols.

Basrivus AND Puarprus (Latin). B. E. Perry.

St. Basit: Letters. R. J. Deferrari. 4 Vols.

Catirmacuus: Fracments. C. A. Trypanis.

Catumacnus: Hymns anp Epicrams, AND LycopHRON. A. W. Mair; Aratus. G. R. Mair.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA. Rev. G. W. Butterworth.

Cottutuus. Cf. Oppran.

Darunis AND Cutor. Cf. Loneus.

DemostHEenes I: Onynrutacs, Puriprics anp Murvnor Orations: I-XVII ann XX. J. H. Vince.

DemostHENES IIT: Dre Corona ano De Fatsa LEGATIONE, C. A. Vince and J. H. Vince.

DemostHenes III: Merpras, Anprotion, ARISTOCRATES, TimocratEs, ARISTOGEITON. J. H. Vince.

DemostHEeNeEs IV-VI: Private Orations AND In NEAERAM. A. T. Murray.

DemostHEenes VII: Funrerat Sprreecu, Erotic Essay. Exorpia AND Letters. N. W. and N. J. DeWitt.

Dro Casstus: Roman History. E. Cary. 9 Vols.

Dio Curysostom. 5 Vols. Vols. I and II. J. W. Cohoon. Vol. III. J. W. Cohoon and H. Lamar Crosby. Vols. IV and V. H. Lamar Crosby.

Dioporus Sicutus. 12 Vols. Vols. I-VI. C. H. Oldfather. Vol. VII. C. L. Sherman. Vol. VIII. C. B. Welles. Vols. IX and X. Russel M. Geer. Vols. XI and XII. F. R. Walton. General Index. Russel M. Geer.

Diocenses Larrtius. R. D. Hicks. 2 Vols.

Dionysius oF Haticarnassus: Roman Antiquities. Spei- man’s translation revised by E. Cary. 7 Vols.

Epictetus. W. A. Oldfather. 2 Vols.

~

o

THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY

Euriripes. A. S. Way. 4 Vols. Verse trans.

Eusesius: EccrrstasticaL History. Kirsopp Lake and J. E.4 Oulton.” 2 -Wioels:

Gaten: On THE Naturat Facuttiss. A. J. Brock.

Tue Greek Antuotocy. W.R. Paton. 5 Vols.

Tue Greek Bucotic Ports (THeocritus, Bron, Moscuus). J. M. Edmonds.

Greek ELEGY AND [AMBUS WITH THE ANACREONTEA. J. M. Edmonds. 2 Vols.

Greek MatnematicaL Works. Ivor Thomas. 2 Vols.

Heroves. Cf. THropHrastus : CHARACTERS.

Heropian: C. R. Whittaker. 2 Vols. Vol. I.

Heropotus. A. D. Godley. 4 Vols.

HeEsiop AND THE Homeric Hymns. H. G. Evelyn White.

HiprocraTEs AND THE FRAGMENTS OF Heracteirus. W.H.S Jones and FE. T. Withington. 4 Vols.

Homer: Inrap. A. T. Murray. 2 Vols.

Homer: Opyssey. A. T. Murray. 2 Vols.

Isarus. KE. S. Forster.

Isocrates. George Norlin and LaRue Van Hook. 3 Vols.

[St. Joun Damascene]: Bartaam anv loasapu. Rev. G. R. Woodward, Harold Mattingly and D. M. Lang.

Joseruus. 9 Vols. Vols. I-IV. H. St. J. Thackeray. Vol. V. H. St. J. Thackeray and Ralph Marcus. Vols. VI and VII. Ralph Marcus. Vol. VIII. Ralph Marcus and Allen Wikgren. Vol. IX. L. H. Feldman.

Jutian. Wilmer Cave Wright. 3 Vols.

Lisanrus: SELECTED Works. A.F. Norman. 3Vols. Vol. I.

Loneus: Daprunis anp Cutor. ‘Thornley’s translation re- vised by J. M. Edmonds: and Parruentus. S. Gaselee.

Lucian. 8 Vols. Vols. I-V. A.M. Harmon. Vol. VI. K. Kilburn. Vols. VII and VIII. M. D. Macleod.

LycopHron. Cf. CaLiimacnus.

Lyra Grarca. J. M. Edmonds. 3 Vols.

Lysias. W.R. M. Lamb.

Manetuo. W.G. Waddell; Protemy: Tretrasisios. F. E. Robbins.

Marcus Auretius. C. R. Haines.

Menanper. F. G. Allinson.

Minor Artic Orarors. 2 Vols. K. J. Maidment and J.20. Burtt:

Nonnos: Dronysitaca. W.H.D. Rouse. 3 Vols.

Oprian, Cottutuus, IT rypHioporus. A. W. Mair.

Paryri. Non-Lirerary Sevecrions. A. S. Hunt and C. C.

6

THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY

Edgar. 2 Vols. Lirerary Serecrions (Poetry). D. L. Page.

PartTuenius. Cf. Loneus.

Pausanias: Description of Greece. W.H.S. Jones. 5 Vols. and Companion Vol. arranged by R. E. Wycherley.

Puito. 10 Vols. Vols. I-V. F. H. Colson and Rev. G. H. Whitaker. Vols. VI-X. F. H. Colson. General Index. Rev. J. W. Earp. Two Supplementary Vols. ‘Translation only trom an

Armenian Text. Ralph Marcus.

Puitostratus: Tue Lire or Apottontus oF Tyana. F.C. Conybeare. 2 Vols.

Puitostratus: Imacines; CALuistraTus: DeEscrIPTIONS A. Fairbanks.

Puitostratus AND Evuwnaprus: Lives oF THE SOPHISTS Wilmer Cave Wright.

Prnpar. Sir J. E. Sandys.

Prato: CHarmipes, AtcrsB1apEs, Hipparcuus, [He Lovers. Tueraces, Minos anp Epinomis. W. R. M. Lamb.

Prato: Cratyitus, PARMENIDES, GREATER Hippras, Lesser Hirrias. H. N. Fowler.

Piato: EurnyrHro, Apotocy, Crito, PHarpo, PHAEDRUS. H. N. Fowler.

Prato: Lacnes, Protracoras, Meno, EuTHyDEmus. W. R. M. Lamb.

Prato: Laws. Rev. R. G. Bury. 2 Vols.

Prato: Lysis, Sympostum, Gorcias. W. R. M. Lamb.

Prato: Repustic. Paul Shorey. 2 Vols.

Prato: Sraresman, Puitesus. H. N. Fowler: Ion. W.-R: M: Lamb.

Piato: THEAETETUS AND Sopuist. H. N. Fowler.

Prato: ‘Trmarus, Crirtas, CirropHo, Menexenus, Eptr- stuLAE. Rev. R. G. Bury.

Protinus. A. H. Armstrong. 6 Vols. Vols. I-III.

Prurarcu: Morauta. 16 Vols. Vols. I-V. F. C. Babbitt. Vol. VI. W. C. Helmbold. Vol. VII. P. H. De Lacy and B. Einarson. Vol. VIII. P. A. Clement, H. B. Hoffleit. Vol. IX. E.L. Minar, Jr., F. H. Sandbach, W.C. Helmbold. Volo &.. H.. NU Fowler. Volo Xt: 1. Pearson, F. A. Sandbach. Vol. XII. H.Cherniss, W.C. Helmbold. Vol. XIV. P.H. De Lacy and B. Einarson. Vol. XV. F.H. Sandbach.

Prurarcu: THe Parauytet Lives. B. Perrin. 11 Vols.

Potysius. W.R. Paton. 6 Vols.

7

THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY

Procorius: History or tHE Wars. H. B. Dewing. 7 Vols.

Protemy: Trerrasistos. Cf. MANETHO.

Quintus SMyrnaEus.. A.S. Way. Verse trans.

Sextus Emprricus. Rev. R.G. Bury. 4 Vols.

Sopuoctes. F. Storr. 2 Vols. Verse trans.

Straso: GrocrapHy. Horace L. Jones. 8 Vols.

THEOPHRASTUS: CHARACTERS. J. M.Edmonds: HeEropes, etc. A. D. Knox.

THEOPHRASTUS: EN@QurryY INTO Prants. Sir Arthur Hort. 2 Vols.

Tuucypipes. C.F.Smith. 4 Vols.

TrypHioporus. Cf. Oppran.

XenopHon: Anasasis. C. L. Brownson.

XENOPHON: CyropaEpDIA. Walter Miller. 2 Vols.

XENOPHON: HeEttentca. C. L. Brownson.

XENOPHON: MEMORABILIA AND Orconomicus. E. C. Mar- chant. Symposium anp Apotocy. O. J. Todd.

XENOPHON: Scripta Minora. E. C. Marchant and G. W. Bowersock.

VOLUMES IN PREPARATION

GREEK AUTHORS

ArIstipEs: Orations. C. A. Behr.

Musarus: Herero anp Leranper. ‘T. Gelzer and C. H. Whitman.

TuropHurastus: De Causis PLrantrarum. G. K. K. Link and B. Einarson.

LATIN AUTHORS

Asconius: COMMENTARIES ON CicEROo’s OratTions. G. W. Bowersock.

Benepict: ‘THre Rute. P. Meyvaert.

Justix—Trocus. R. Moss.

Manitius. G. P. Goold.

DESCRIPTIVE PROSPECTUS ON APPLICATION

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. LONDON HARVARD UNIV. PRESS WILLIAM HEINEMANN LTD

8

vaya PAD Ps i " ‘ H iver im te uu mi { i “ f mY ih

| i athe 2 ’ , \ ty $s Vee PUL , iy rt} ha we ate) i. / | a Ne hh t f P +s Ay } ‘ 7 Pos }

‘

ee el

Other philosophical writers in

the Loeb Series

CICERO De Finibus De Natura Deorum De Officiis De Oratore

De Senectute

PLUTARCH

Moralia

# Moral Letters to Lucilius, vol. 3

©

W^OVO. UTAH

Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from Brigham Young University

http://www.archive.org/details/adluciliumepistu03sene

THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY

FOUNDED BY JAMES LOEB, LL.D. EDITED BY

E. H. WARMINGTON, m.a., f.r.hist.soc.

PREVIOUS EDITORS

t T. E. PAGE, C.H., LiTT.D. t E. CAPPS, ph.d., ll.d.

t W. H. D. ROUSE, LITT.D. t L. A. POwST, l.h.d.

SENECA

VI

AD LUeiLIUM EPISTULAE MORALES

III

77

\ V

copy p.

SENECA

IN TEN VOLUMES VI

AD LUOILIUM BPISTULAB MORALES

WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY

RICHARD M. GUMMERE, Ph.D.

HEADMASTER, WILLIAM PENN CHARTER SCHOOL, PHILADELPHIA

IN THREE VOLUMES III

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS

LONDON

WILLIAM HEINEMANN LTD

MCMLXXI

American

ISBN 0-674-99086-2

British

ISBN 0 434 99077 9

First printed 1925 Repnnted 1943. 1953, 1962, 1971

Printed in Great Britain

HAROLD B lU LrS^AW MK)VO. UTAH

CONTENTS OF VOLUME III

LETTERS

XCIII, ON THE QUALITY, AS CONTRASTED WITH

THE LENGTH, OF LIFE . .

XCIV. ON THE VALUE OF ADVICE

XCV. ON THE USEFULNESS OF BASIC PRINCIPLES

XCVI. ON FACING HARDSHIPS

XCVII. ON THE DEGENERACY OF THE AGE

XCVI II. ON THE FICKLENESS OF FORTUNE

XCIX. ON CONSOLATION TO THE BEREAVED .

C. ON THE WRITINGS OF FAIJIANUS

CL ON THE FUTILITY OF PLANNING AHEAD

ClI. ON THE INTIMATIONS OF OUR IMMORTALITY

CIII. ON THE DANGEIIS OF ASSOCIATION WITH

OUR FELLOW-MEN CIV. ON CARE OF HEALTH AND PEACE OF MIND

CV. ON FACING THE WORLD WITH CONFIDENCE. PAGE

CV. ON FACING THE WORLD WITH CONFIDENCE CVI. ON THE CORPOREALITY OF VIRTUE CVII. ON OBEDIENCE TO THE UNIVERSAL WILL CVIIL ON THE APPROACHES TO PHILOSOPHY CIX. ON THE FELLOWSHIP OF WISE MEN ex. ON TRUE AND FALSE RICHES CXI. ON THE VANITY OF MENTAL GYMNASTICS

PAGE

10

58 104 108 118 128 148 158 16S

186 190 212 216

222 228 254 264 276

Y

CONTENTS

PAGB

CXII. ON REFORMING HARDENED SINNERS . ' 280 CXIII. ON THE VITALITY OF THE SOUL AND ITS

ATTRIBUTES ..... 282

CXIV. ON STYLE AS A MIRROR OF CHARACTER . 300

CXV. ON THE SUPERFICIAL BLESSINGS . . . 318

CXVI. ON SELF-CONTROL . . . . .332

CXVII. ON REAL ETHICS AS SUPERIOR TO SYLLO- GISTIC SUBTLETIES .... 3S6

CXVIII. ON THE VANITY OF PLACE-SEEKING . . 360

CXIX. ON NATURE AS OUR BEST PROVIDER . . 370

CXX. MORE ABOUT VIRTUE .... 380

CXXI. ON INSTINCT IN ANIMALS .... 396

CXXn. ON DARKNESS AS A VEIL FOR WICKEDNESS . 410 CXXIII. ON THE CONFLICT BETWEEN PLEASURE AND

VIRTUE ...... 424

CXXIV. ON THE TRUE GOOD AS ATTAINED BY REASON 434

APPENDIX A . , . . . . .451

APPENDIX B ...... . 453

INDEX OF PROPER NAMKS ..... 455

SUBJECT INDEX . • , « . . . 459

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

L. ANNAEI SENECAE AD. XCIII.

L. ANNAEI SENECAE AD LUCILIUM EPISTULAE

XCIII.

Seneca Lvcilio svo salvtem

1 In epistula, qua de morte Metronactis philosophi querebaris tamquam et potuisset diutius vivere et debuisset, aequitatem tuam desideravi, quae tibi in omni persona, in omni negotio superest, in una re deest, in qua omnibus. Multos inveni aequos ad- versus homine-s, adversus deos neminem. Obiurgamus cotidie fatum : ** quare ille in medio cursu raptus est ? Quare ille non rapitur ? Quare senectutem et sibi et aliis gravem extendit ? **

2 Utrum, obsecro te, aequius iudicas te naturae an tibi parere naturam ? Quid autem interest, quam cito exeas, unde utique exeundum est ? Non ut diu vivamus curandum est, sed ut satis ; nam ut diu vivas, fat© opus est, ut satis, animo. Longa est vita,

<* A philosopher of Naples, mentioned as giving lectures there : c/. Ep. Ixxvi. 4.

* i.^., " adequately," equivalent to wj Set,

2

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

XCIII. ON THE QUALITY, AS

XCIII. ON THE QUALITY, AS CONTRASTED WITH THE LENGTH, OF LIFE

While reading the letter in which you were lamenting the death of the philosopher Metronax * as if he might have, and indeed ought to have, lived longer, I missed the spirit of fairness which abounds in all your discussions concerning men and things, but is lacking when you approach one single subject, — as is indeed the case with us all. In other words, I have noticed many who deal fairly with their fellow-men, but nome who de-als fairly with the gods. We rail every day at Fate, saying : ** Why has A. been carried off in the very middle of his career ? Why is not B. carried off instead ? Why should he prolong his old age, which is a burden to himself as well as to others ? '*

But tell me, pray, do you consider it fairer that you should obey Nature, or that Nature should obey you ? And what diiterence does it make how soon you depart from a place which you must depart from sooner or later ? We should strive, not to live long, but to live rightly ^ ; for to achieve long life you have need of Fate only, but for right living you

VOL. Ill A 2 3

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

si plena est ; impletur autem, cum animus sibi bonum

3 suum reddidit et ad se potestatem sui transtulit. Quid ilium octoginta anni iuvant per inertiam exacti ? Non vixit iste, sed in vita moratus est, nee sero mortuus est, sed diu. Octoginta annis vixit. Interest, mortem

4 eius ex quo die numeres. At ille obiit viridis. Sed officia boni civis, boni amici, boni filii executus est ; in nulla parte cessavit. Licet aetas eius inperfecta sit, vita perfecta est. Octoginta annis vixit. Immo octoginta annis fuit, nisi forte sic vixisse eum dicis, quomodo dicuntur arbores vivere.

Obsecro te, Lucili, hoc agamus, ut quemadmodum pretiosa rerum sic vita nostra non multum pateat, sed multum pendeat. Actu illam metiamur, non tempore. Vis scire, quid inter hunc intersit vegetum contemptoremque fortunae functum omnibus vitae humanae stipendiis atque in summum bonum eius evectum, et ilium, cui multi anni transmissi sunt ? Alter post mortem quoque est, alter ante mortem periit.

5 Laudemus itaque et in numero felicium reponamus eum, cui quantulumcumque temporis contigit, bene conlocatum est. Vidit enim veram lucem. Non fuit

" For a complete definition of the Supreme Good c/. Ep. Ixxi. 4 ff.

^ i.e,y the Metronax mentioned above.

<' For the same phrase see Ep, Ixvi. 30 and footnote.

'* C/. Ep, Ix. 4 mortem suam antecesserunt,

4

EPISTLE XCIII.

need the soul. A life is really long if it is a full life ; but fulness is not attained until the soul has rendered to itself its proper Good,^ that is, until it has assumed control over itself. What benefit does this older man derive from the eighty years he has spent in idleness ? A person like him has not lived ; he has merely tarried awhile in life. Nor has he died late in life ; he has simply been a long time dying. He has lived eighty years, has he ? That depends upon the date from which you reckon his death ! Your other friend,* however, departed in the bloom of his manhood. But he had fulfilled all the duties of a good citizen, a good friend, a good son ; in no respect had he fallen short. His age may have been incomplete, but his life was complete. The other man has lived eighty years, has he ? Nay, he has existed eighty years, unless perchance you mean by ** he has lived *' what we mean when we say that a tree ** lives.*'

Pray, let us see to it, my dear Lucilius, that our lives, like jewels of great price, be noteworthy not because of their width but because of their weight.*' Let us measure them by their performance, not by their duration. Would you know wherein lies the difference between this hardy man who, despising Fortune, has served through every campaign of life and has attained to life's Supreme Good, and that other person over whose head many years have passed ? The former exists even after his death ; the latter has died even before he was dead.^

We should therefore praise, and number in the company of the blest, that man who has invested well the portion of time, however little, that has been allotted to him ; for such a one has seen the true light. He has not been one of the common herd.

5

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

unus e multis. Et vixit et viguit. Aliquando sereno usus est, aliquando, ut solet, validi sideris fulgor per nubila emicuit. Quid quaeris quamdiu vixerit ? Vivit ; ad posteros usque transiluit et se in memoriam dedit.

6 Nee ideo mihi plures annos accedere recusaverim, nihil tamen mihi ad beatam vitam defuisse dicam, si spatium eius inciditur. Non enim ad eum diem me aptavi, quem ultimum mihi spes avida promiserat, sed nullum non tamquam ultimum aspexi. Quid me interrogas, quando natus sim, an inter iuniores adhuc

7 censear ? Habeo meum. Quemadmodum in minore corporis habitu potest homo esse perfectus, sic et in minore temporis modo potest vita esse perfecta. Aetas inter externa est. Quamdiu sim, alienum est ; quamdiu ero,^ ut sim, meum est. Hoc a me exige, ne velut per tenebras aevum ignobile emetiar, ut agam vitam, non ut praetervehar.

8 Quaeris quod sit amplissimum vitae spatium ? Usque ad sapientiam vivere. Qui ad illam pervenit, attigit non longissimum finem, sed maximum. Ille vero glorietur audacter et dis agat gratias interque eos sibi, et rerum naturae inputet, quod fuit. Merito enim inputabit ; meliorem illi vitam reddidit quam

^ ero Buecheler ; vero BA.

* i,e.^ the Sun.

^ As in the original comltia centuriata^ men between the ages of seventeen and forty-six. ^ As riches, health, etc.

6

EPISTLE XCIII.

He has not only lived, but flourished. Sometimes he enjoyed fair sides ; sometimes, as often happens, it was only through the clouds that there flashed to him the radiance of the mighty star.^ Why do you ask : " How long did he live ? " He still lives ! At one bound he has passed over into posterity and has consigned himself to the guardianship of memory.

And yet I would not on that account decline for myself a few additional years ; although, if my life's space be shortened, I shall not say that I have lacked aught that is essential to a happy life. For I have not planned to live up to the very last day that my greedy hopes had promised me ; nay, I have looked upon every day as if it were my last. Why ask the date of my birth, or whether I am still enrolled on the register of the younger men ? ^ What I have is my own. Just as one of small stature can be a perfect man, so a life of small compass can be a perfect life. Age ranks among the external things .^' How long I am to exist is not mine to decide, but how long I shall go on existing in my present way is in my own control. This is the only thing you have the right to require of me, — that I shall cease to measure out an inglorious age as it were in dark- ness, and devote myself to living instead of being carried along past life.

And what, you ask, is the fullest span of life ? It is living until you possess wisdom. He who has attained wisdom has reached, not the furthermost, but the most important, goal. Such a one may indeed exult boldly and give thanks to the gods — aye, and to himself also — and he may count himself Nature's creditor for having lived. He will indeed have the right to do so, for he has paid her back a better life than he has received. He has set up the

7

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

accepit. Exemplar boni viri posuit, qualis quantus- que esset ostendit. Si quid adiecisset, fuisset simile praeterito. 9 Et tamen quo usque vivimus ? Omnium rerum cognitione fruiti sumus. Scimus a quibus principiis^ natura se adtollat, quemadmodum ordinet mundum, per quas annum vices revocet, quemadmodum omnia, quae usquam erant, cluserit et se ipsam finem sui fecerit. Scimus sidera impetu suo vadere, praeter terram nihil stare, cetera continua velocitate decur- rere. Scimus quemadmodum solem luna praeter eat, quare tardior velociorem post se relinquat, quomodo lumen accipiat aut perdat, quae causa inducat noctem, quae reducat diem. lUuc eundum est, ubi ista

10 propius aspicias. " Nee hac spe," inquit sapiens ille, ** fortius exeo, quod patere mihi ad deos meos iter iudico. Merui quidem admitti et iam inter illos fui animumque illo meum misi et ad me illi suum miserant. Sed tolli me de medio puta et post mortem nihil ex homine restare ; aeque magnum animum habeo, etiam si nusquam transiturus excedo/*

11 " Non tam multis vixit annis quam potuit." Et

paucorum versuum liber est et quidem laudandus

atque utilis ; annales Tanusii ^ scis quam ponderosi

^ principiis Lipsius ; principalis BA. ^ an(n)ale est anvsii BA ; corr. cdd.

^ i.e.^ Nature herself is eternal.

* See, however, Seneca, N.Q. vii. 2. 3 sciamus utrum niundus terra stante circumeat an mimdo stante terra vertatur. For such doubts and discoveries c/, Arnold, Ilmian Stoicism^ pp. 178 f.

^ See Index of Proper Names.

8

EPISTLE XCIII.

pattern of a good man, showing the quality and the greatness of a good man. Had another year been added, it would merely have been like the past.

And yet how long are we to keep living } We have had the joy of learning the truth about the universe. We know from what beginnings Nature arises ; how she orders the course of the heavens ; by what successive changes she summons back the year ; how she has brought to an end all things that ever have been, and has established herself as the only end of her own being. ^ We know that the stars move by their own motion, and that nothing except the earth stands still, while all the other bodies run on with uninterrupted swiftness.^ We know how the moon outstrips the sun ; why it is that the slower leaves the swifter behind ; in what manner she receives her light, or loses it again ; what brings on the night, and what brings back the day. To that place you must go where you are to have a closer view of all these things. ** And yet," says the wise man, " I do not depart more valiantly be- cause of this hope — because I judge the path lies clear before me to my own gods. I have indeed earned admission to their presence, and in fact have already been in their company ; I have sent my soul to them as they had previously sent theirs to me. But suppose that I am utterly annihilated, and that after death nothing mortal remains ; I have no less courage, even if, when I depart, my course leads — nowhere."

** But," you say, " he has not lived as many years as he might have lived." There are books which contain very few lines, admirable and useful in spite of their size ; and there are also the Annals of Tanusius,^ — ^you know how bulky the book is, and

9

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

sint et quid vocentur. Hoc est vita quorumdam 12 longa, et quod Tanoisii sequitur annales. Numquid feliciorem iudicas eum, qui summo die muneris, quam eum, qui medio occiditur ? Numquid aliquem tarn stulte cupidum esse vitae putas, ut rugulari in spoliario quam in harena malit ? Non maiore spatio alter alterum praeoedimus. Mors per omnes it ; qui oecidit, cons^quitur oecisum. Minimum est, de quo sollicitissime agitur. Quid autem ad rem pertinet, quam diu vites, quod evitare non possis ? Vale.

xeiv.

Seneca Lvcilio svo salvtem

1 Eam partem philosophiae, quae dat propria cuique personae praecepta nee m universum conponit hominem, sed marito suadet quomodo se gerat adversus uxorem, patri quomodo educet liberos, domin© quomodo servos regat, quidam solam rece- perunt, ceteras quasi extra utilitatem nostram va- gantes reliquerunt, tamquam quis posset de parte suadere nisi qui summam prius totius vitae eomplexus est.

2 Sed Ariston Stoieus contrario banc partem levem existimat et quae non descendat in pectus usque

* For technical terms in Epp, xciv. and xcv. see Appendix A.

" See Cicero, De off, i. 3. 7 if. for a full discussion of principles and duties. As one would expect, the Romans were more interested in practical precepts than were the Greeks.

« Frag. 358 von Arnim.

10

EPISTLES XCIIL, XCIV,

what men say of it. This is the case with the long life of certain persons, — a state which resembles the Annals of Tanusius ! Do you regard as more fortunate the fighter who is slain on the last day of the games than one who goes to his death in the middle of the festivities ? Do you believe that any- one is so foolishly covetous of life that he would rather have his throat cut in the dressing-room than in the amphitheatre ? It is by no longer an interval than this that we precede one another. Death visits each and all ; the slayer soon follows the slain. It is an insignificant trifle, after all, that people discuss with so much concern. And anyhow, what does it matter for how long a time you avoid that which you cannot escape } Farewell.

XCIV. ON THE VALUE OF ADVICE «

That department of philosophy which supplies precepts ^ appropriate to the individual case, instead of framing them for mankind at large — which, for instance, advises how a husband should conduct himself towards his wife, or how a father should bring up his children, or how a master should rule his slaves — this department of philosophy, I say, is accepted by some as the only significant part, while the other departments are rejected on the ground that they stray beyond the sphere of practical needs — as if any man could give advice concerning a portion of life without having first gained a know- ledge of the sum of life as a whole !

But Aristo the Stoic, on the contrary, believes ^ the above-mentioned department to be of slight import : he holds that it does not sink into the mind,

11

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

anilia ^ habentem praecepta, plurimum ait proficere ipsa decreta philosophiae constitutionemque summi boni. Quam qui bene intellexit ac didicit, quid in

3 quaque re faciendum sit sibi ipse praecipit.^ Quem- admodum qui iaculari discit, destinatum locum captat et manum format ad derigenda quae mittet, cum banc vim ex disciplina et exercitatione percepit, quocumque vult ilia utitur, didicit enim non hoc aut illud ferire, sed quodcumque voluerit : sic qui se ad totam vitam instruxit, non desiderat particulatim admoneri, doctus in totum, non enim quomodo cum uxore aut cum filio viveret, sed quomodo bene viveret. In hoc est et quomodo cum uxore ac liberis vivat.

4 Cleanthes utilem quidem iudicat et banc partem, sed inbecillam nisi ab universo fluit, nisi decreta ipsa philosophiae et capita cognovit. In duas ergo quae- stiones locus iste dividitur : utrum utilis an inutilis sit, et an solus virum bonum possit efficere, id est utrum supervacuus sit an omnes faciat supervacuos.

5 Qui banc partem videri volunt supervacuam, hoc aiunt : *' Si quid oculis oppositum moratur aciem, removendum est. Illo quidem obiecto operam perdit ^

* anilia Bucchcler ; anilia B ; anillam or atillam A,

2 praeripit later MSS. ; praecepit BA.

' perdit Buecheler and others ; perdidit BA,

12

EPISTLE XCIV.

having in it nothing but old wives* precepts, and that the greatest benefit is derived from the actual dogmas of philosophy and from the definition of the Supreme Good. When a man has gained a complete understanding of this definition and has thoroughly learned it, he can frame for himself a precept directing what is to be done in a given case. Just as the student of javelin-throwing keeps aiming at a fixed target and thus trains the hand to give direction to the missile, and when, by instruction and practice, he has gained the desired ability, he can then employ it against any target he wishes (having learned to strike not any random object, but precisely the object at which he has aimed), — so he who has equipped himself for the whole of life does not need to be advised concerning each separate item, because he is now trained to meet his problem as a whole ; for he knows not merely how he should live with his wife or his son, but how he should live aright. In this knowledge there is also included the proper way of living with wife and children.

Cleanthes holds that this department of wisdom is indeed useful, but that it is a feeble thing unless it is derived from general principles — that is, unless it is based upon a knowledge of the actual dogmas of philosophy and its main headings. This subject is therefore twofold, leading to two separate lines of inquiry : first. Is it useful or useless ? and, second, Can it of itself produce a good man ? — in other words. Is it superfluous, or does it render all other departments superfluous ?

Those who urge the view that this department is superfluous argue as follows : "If an object that is held in front of the eyes interferes with the vision, it must be removed. For just as long as it is in the

13

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

qui praecipit : sic ambulabis, illo manum porriges. Eodem modo ubi aliqua res occaecat animum et ad officiorum dispiciendum ordinem inpedit, nihil agit qui praecipit : sic vives cum patre, sic cum uxore. Nihil enim proficient praecepta, quamdiu menti error ofFusus est ; si ille discutitur, apparebit, quid cuique debeatur ofRcio. Alioqui doces illum,^ quid sano

6 faciendum sit, non efficis sanum. Pauperi ut agat divitem monstras ; hoc quomodo manente pauper- tate fieri potest ? Ostendis esurienti quid tamquam satur faciat ; fixam potius medullis famem detrahe.

" Idem tibi de omnibus vitiis dico : ipsa removenda sunt, non praecipiendum quod fieri illis manentibus non potest. Nisi opiniones falsas, quibus laboramus, expuleris, nee avarus, quomodo pecunia utendum sit, exaudiet, nee timidus, quomodo periculosa contem-

7 nat. Efficias oportet, ut sciat pecuniam nee bonum

nee malum esse ; ostendas illi miserrimos divites.

Efficias, ut quicquid publice expavimus, sciat non

esse tam timendum quam fama circumfert, nee

dolere ^ nee mori ; saepe in morte, quam pati lex est,

magnum esse solacium, quod ad neminem redit ; in

^ ilium cod. Rhedig.2 ; illo BA. * von Arnim removed quemqxiam after dolere,

" In other words, that it is one of the *' external " things, media^ indifferentla,

14

I

EPISTLE XCIV.

way, it is a waste of time to offer such precepts as these : * Walk thus and so ; extend your hand in that direction/ Similarly, when something blinds a man's soul and hinders it from seeing a line of duty clearly, there is no use in advising him : * Live thus and so with your father, thus and so with your wife/ For precepts will be of no avail while the mind is clouded with error ; only when the cloud is dispersed will it be clear what one's duty is in each case. Otherwise, you will merely be showing the sick man what he ought to do if he were well, instead of making him well. Suppose you are trying to reveal to the poor man the art of ' acting rich ' ; how can the thing be accomplished as long as his poverty is unaltered ? You are trying to make clear to a starveling in what manner he is to act the part of one with a well-filled stomach ; the first requisite, however, is to relieve him of the hunger that grips his vitals.

** The same thing, I assure you, holds good of all faults ; the faults themselves must be removed, and precepts should not be given which cannot possibly be carried out while the faults remain. Unless you drive out the false opinions under which we suffer, the miser will never receive instruction as to the proper use of his money, nor the coward regarding the way to scorn danger. You must make the miser know that money is neither a good nor an evil ; ^ show him men of wealth who are miserable to the last degree. You must make the coward know that the things which generally frighten us out of our wits are less to be feared than rumour advertises them to be, whether the object of fear be suffering or death ; that when death comes — fixed by law for us all to suffer — it is often a great solace to reflect that it can never come again ; that in the midst of suffering

15

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

dolore pro remedio futuram obstinationem animi, qui levins sibi facit, quicquid contumaciter passus est. Optimam doloris esse naturam, quod non potest nee qui extenditur magnus esse nee qui est magnus extendi ; omnia fortiter excipienda, quae nobis mundi necessitas imperat.

8 " His decretis cum ilium in conspectum suae con- flicionis adduxeris et cognoverit beatam esse vitam non quae secundum voluptatem ^ est, sed secundum naturam, cum virtutem unicum bonum hominis adamaverit, turpitudinem solum malum fugerit, re- liqua omnia, divitias, honores, bonam valitudinem, vires, imperia, scierit esse mediam partem nee bonis adnumerandam nee malis, monitorem non deside- rabit ^ ad singula, qui dicat : sic incede, sic cena. Hoc viro hoc feminae, hoc marito hoc caelibi con-

9 venit. Ista enim qui diligentissime monent, ipsi facere non possunt. Haec paedagogus puero, haec avia nepoti praecipit, et irascendum non esse magister iracundissimus disputat. Si ludum litterarium in- traveris, scies ista, quae ingenti supercilio philosophi iactant, in puerili esse praescripto.

10 " Utrum deinde manifesta an dubia praecipies ? Non desiderant manifesta monitorem, praecipienti dubia non creditur ; supervacuum est ergo praecipere. Id

^ voluptatem later MSS. ; voluntatem BA. * desiderabit later MSS. ; desideravit BA..

^ Compare, among similar passages, Ep. xxiv. 14 levis €s^ si ferre possum^ brevu es, si ferre non possum,

16

EPISTLE XCIV.

resoluteness of soul will be as good as a cure, for the soul renders lighter any burden that it endures with stubborn defiance. Remember that pain has this most excellent quality : if prolonged it cannot be severe, and if severe it cannot be prolonged ; ^ and that we should bravely accept whatever commands the inevitable laws of the universe lay upon us.

** When by means of such doctrines you have brought the erring man to a sense of his own condition, when he has learned that the happy life is not that which conforms to pleasure, but that which conforms to Nature, when he has fallen deeply in love with virtue as man's sole good and has avoided baseness as man's sole evil, and when he knows that all other things — riches, office, health, strength, dominion — fall in between and are not to be reckoned either among goods or among evils, then he will not need a monitor for every separate action, to say to him : * Walk thus and so ; eat thus and so. This is the conduct proper for a man and that for a woman ; this for a married man and that for a bachelor.' Indeed, the persons who take the greatest pains to proffer such advice are themselves unable to put it into practice. It is thus that the pedagogue advises the boy, and the grandmother her grandson ; it is the hottest-tempered school- master who contends that one should never lose one's temper. Go into any elementary school, and you will learn that just such pronouncements, emanating from high-browed philosophers, are to be found in the lesson-book for boys !

** Shall you then offer precepts that are clear, or precepts that are doubtful ? Those which are clear need no counsellor, and doubtful precepts gain no credence; so the giving of precepts is superfluous.

17

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

adeo sic disce. Si id mones,quod obscurum est et ambi- guum, probationibus adiuvanduni erit. Si probaturus es, ilia per quae probas plus valent satisque per se sunt.

11 Sic amico utere, sic cive, sic socio. Quare ? Quia iustum est. Omnia ista inihi de iustitia locus tradit. Illic invenio aequitatem per se expetendam, nee metu nos ad illam cogi nee mercede conduci, non esse iustum, cui quidquam in hac virtute placet praeter ipsam. Hoc cum persuasi mihi et perbibi,^ quid ista praecepta proficiunt, quae eruditum docent ? Prae- cepta dare scienti supervacuum est, nescienti parum. Audire enim debet non tantum, quid sibi prae-

12 cipiatur, sed etiam quare. Utrum, inquam, veras opiniones habenti de bonis malisque sunt necessaria an non habenti ? Qui non habet, nihil a te adiu- vabitur ; aures eius contraria monitionibus tuis fama possedit. Qui habet exactum indicium de fugiendis petendisque, scit, quid ^ sibi faciendum sit, etiam te tacente. Tota ergo pars ista philosophiae sum- moveri potest.

13 " Duo sunt, propter quae delinquimus : aut inest animo pravis opinionibus malitia contracta aut, etiam

si non est falsis occupatus, ad falsa proclivis est et

^ perbibi later MSS. ; perhibi BA. 2 scit quid later IMSS. ; scit BA. 18

EPISTLE XCIV.

Indeed you should study the problem in this way : if you are eounselling someone on a matter which is of doubtful clearness and doubtful meaning, you must supplement your precepts by proofs ; and if you must resort to proofs, your means of proof are more effec- tive and more satisfactory in themselves. * It is thus that you must treat your friend, thus your fellow- citizen, thus your associate/ And why ? * Because it is just/ Yet I can find all that material included under the head of Justice. I find there that fair play is desirable in itself, that we are not forced into it by fear nor hired to that end for pay, and that no man is just who is attracted by anything in this virtue other than the virtue itself. After convincing myself of this view and thoroughly absorbing it, what good can I obtain from such precepts, which only teach one who is already trained ? To one who knows, it is superfluous to give precepts ; to one who does not know, it is insufficient. For he must be told, not only what he is being instructed to do, but also why. I repeat, are such precepts useful to him who has correct ideas about good and evil, or to one who has them not ? The latter will receive no benefit from you ; for some idea that clashes with your counsel has already monopolized his attention. He who has made a careful decision as to what should be sought and what should be avoided knows what he ought to do, without a single word from you. Therefore, that whole department of philosophy may be abolished.

** There are two reasons why we go astray : either there is in the soul an evil quality which has been brought about by wrong opinions, or, even if not possessed by false ideas, the soul is prone to false- hood and rapidly corrupted by some outward appear-

19

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

cito specie quo non oportet trahente corrumpitur. Itaque debemus aut percurare mentem aegram et vitiis liberare, aut vacantem ^ quidem, sed ad peiora pronain praeoccupare. Utrumque decreta philo- sophiae faciunt ; ergo tale praecipiendi genus nil

14 agit. Praeterea si praecepta singulis damus, incon- prehensibile opus est. Alia enim dare debemus faeneranti, alia colenti agrum, alia negotianti, alia regum amicitias sequenti, alia pares, alia inferiores

15 amaturo. In matrimonio praecipies, quomodo vivat cum uxore aliquis, quam virginem duxit, quomodo cum ea, quae alicuius ante matrimonium experta est, quemadmodum cum locuplete, quemadmodum cum indotata. An non putas aliquid esse discriminis inter sterilem et fecundam, inter provectiorem et puellam, inter matrem et novercam ? Omnes species conplecti non possumus, atqui singulae propria exigunt ; leges autem philosophiae breves sunt et omnia alligant.

16 Adice nunc, quod sapientiae praecepta finita debent esse et certa : si qua finiri non possunt, extra sa- pientiam sunt ; sapientia rerum terminos novit.

" Ergo ista praeceptiva pars summovenda est, quia quod paucis promittit, praestare omnibus non potest ;

17 sapientia autem omnes tenet. Inter insaniam pub-

^ vacantem later MSS. ; vagantem BA,

20

EPISTLE XCIV.

ance which attracts it in the wrong direction. For this reason it is our duty either to treat carefully the diseased mind and free it from faults, or to take possession of the mind when it is still un- occupied and yet inclined to what is evil. Both these results can be attained by the main doctrines of philo- sophy; therefore the giving of such precepts is of no use. Besides, if we give forth precepts to each individual, the task is stupendous. For one class of advice should be given to the financier, another to the farmer, another to the business man, another to one who cultivates the good graces of royalty, another to him who will seek the friendship of his equals, another to him who will court those of lower rank. In the case of marriage, you will advise one person how he should conduct himself with a wife who before her marriage was a maiden, and another how he should behave with a woman who had previously been wedded to another ; how the husband of a rich woman should act, or another man with a dowerless spouse. Or do you not think that there is some difference between a barren woman and one who bears children, between one advanced in years and a mere girl, between a mother and a step-mother ? We cannot include all the types, and yet each type requires separate treatment ; but the laws of philo- sophy are concise and are binding in all cases. Moreover, the precepts of wisdom should be definite and certain : when things cannot be defined, they are outside the sphere of wisdom ; for wisdom knows the proper limits of things.

** We should therefore do away with this depart- ment of precepts, because it cannot afford to all what it promises only to a few ; wisdom, however, embraces all. Between the insanity of people in general and

21

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

licam et hanc, quae medicis traditur, nihil interest nisi quod haec morbo laborat, ilia opinionibus falsis. Altera causas furoris traxit ex valitudine, altera animi mala valitudo est. Si quis furioso praecepta det, quomodo loqui debeat, quomodo procedere, quomodo in publico se gerere, quomodo in privato, erit ipso, quem monebit, insanior. Ei bills ^ nigra curanda est et ipsa furoris causa removenda. Idem in hoc alio animi furore faciendum est. Ipse discuti debet ; alioqui abibunt in vanum monentium verba.**

18 Haec ab Aristone dicuntur ; cui respondebimus ad singula. Primum adversus illud, quod ait, si quid obstat oculo et inpedit visum, debere removeri. Fateor huic non esse opus praeceptis ad videndum, sed remedio, quo purgetur acies et officientem sibi moram effugiat. Natura enim videmus, cui usum sui reddit qui removet^ obstantia. Quid autem cuique

19 debeatur officio, natura non docet. Deinde cuius curata suffusio est, is non protinus cum visum recepit, aliis quoque potest reddere ; malitia liberatus et liberat. Non opus est exhortatione, ne consilio quidem, ut colorum proprietates oculus intellegat, a nigro album etiam nullo monente distinguet. Multis

* ei bills Kronenberg ; sibills BA ; bilis vulg. 2 removet ed. Rom. ; removit BA.

** For the same figure, in the same connexion, see Ep, Ixviii. 8 in pectore ipso colled io et vomica est,

^ By means of hellebore, Lat. veratrum, the favourite cathartic of the ancients.

22

EPISTLE XCIV.

the insanity which is subject to medical treatment; there is no dilFerence, except that the latter is suffering from disease and the former from false opinions." In the one case, the symptoms of madness may be traced to ill-health ; the other is the ill-health of the mind. If one should offer precepts to a mad- man— how he ought to speak, how he ought to walk, how he ought to conduct himself in public and in private, he would be more of a lunatic than the person whom he was advising. What is really necessary is to treat the black bile ^ and remove the essential cause of the madness. And this is what should also be done in the other case — that of the mind diseased. The madness itself must be shaken off; otherwise, your words of advice will vanish into thin air/*

This is what Aristo says ; and I shall answer his arguments one by one. First, in opposition to what he says about one's obligation to remove that which blocks the eye and hinders the vision. I admit that such a person does not need precepts in order to see, but that he needs treatment for tlie curing of his eyesight and the getting rid of the hindrance that handicaps him. For it is Nature that gives us our eyesight ; and he who removes obstacles restores to Nature her proper function. But Nature does not teach us our duty in every case. Again, if a man's cataract is cured, he cannot, immediately after his recovery, give back their eyesight to other men also ; but when we are freed from evil we can free others also. There is no need of encouragement, or even of counsel, for the eye to be able to dis- tinguish different colours ; black and white can be differentiated without prompting from another.

23

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

contra praeceptis eget animus, ut videat, quid agen- dum sit in vita ; quamquam oculis quoque aegros

20 medicus non tantum curat sed etiam monet. " Non est/* inquit, " quod protinus inbecillam aciem com- mittas inprobo lumini ; a tenebris primum ad um- brosa procede, deinde plus aude et paulatim claram lucem pati adsuesce. Non est quod post cibum studeas, non est quod plenis oculis ac tumentibus imperes ; adflatum et vim frigoris in os occurrentis evita '' ; alia eiusmodi, quae non minus quam medica- menta proficiunt. Adicit remediis medicina con- silium.

21 ** Error,*' inquit, ** est causa peccandi. Hunc nobis praecepta non detrahunt nee expugnant opiniones de bonis ac malis falsas." Concedo per se efficacia praecepta non esse ad evertendam pravam animi persuasionem ; sed non ideo nihil ne ^ aliis quidem adiecta proficiunt. Primum memoriam renovant ; deinde quae in universo confusius videbantur, in partes divisa diligentius considerantur. Aut isto ^ modo licet et consolationes dicas supervacuas et exhortationes ; atqui non sunt supervacuae, ergo ne monitiones quidem.

22 ** Stultum est,*' inquit, ** praecipere aegro, quid facere tamquam sanus debeat, cum restituenda sanitas sit, sine qua inrita sunt praecepta.** Quid,

^ nihil ne added by Buecheler. ^ aut isto Buecheler ; aut in isto BA.

« This is in harmony with the idea of Socrates; sin is a lack of knowledge regarding what is true and what is false. ^ i.e,^ Aristo and others.

24

EPISTLE XCIV.

The mind, on the other hand, needs many precepts in order to see what it should do in Ufe ; although in e} e-treatment also the physician not only accom- plishes the cure, but gives advice into the bargain. He says : ** There is no reason why you should at once expose your weak vision to a dangerous glare ; begin with darkness, and then go into half-lights, and finally be more bold, accustoming yourself grad- ually to the bright light of day. There is no reason why you should study immediately after eating; there is no reason why you should impose hard tasks upon your eyes when they are swollen and inflamed ; avoid winds and strong blasts of cold air that blow into your face,'* — and other suggestions of the same sort, which are just as valuable as drugs themselves. The physician^s art supplements remedies by advice.

** But,'* comes the reply, ** error is the source of sin ; *» precepts do not remove error, nor do they rout our false opinions on the subject of Good and Evil.'' I admit that precepts alone are not effective in overthrowing the mind's mistaken beliefs ; but they do not on that account fail to be of service when they accompany other measures also. In the first place, they refresh the memory ; in the second place, when sorted into their proper classes, the matters which showed themselves in a jumbled mass when considered as a whole, can be considered in this way with greater care. According to our opponents* * theory, you might even say that consolation and exhortation were superfluous. Yet they are not superfluous ; neither, therefore, is counsel.

** But it is folly," they retort, ** to prescribe what a sick man ought to do, just as if he were well, when you should really restore his health ; for without health precepts are not >s oj th a jot." But have not

25

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

quod habent aegri quaedam sanique communia, de quibus admonendi sunt ? Tamquam ne avide cibos adpetant, ut lassitudinem vitent. Habent quaedam

23 praecepta communia pauper et dives. ** Sana,*' ^ inquit, ** avaritiam, et nihil habebis quod admoneas aut pauperem aut divitem, si cupiditas utriusque eonsedit.2 " Quid, quod aliud est non concupiscere pecuniam, aliud uti pecunia scire ? Cuius avari modum ignorant, etiam non avari usum. ** Tolle,** inquit, '* errores ; supervacua praecepta sunt/' Falsum est. Puta enim avaritiam relaxatam, puta adstrictam esse luxuriam, temeritati frenos iniectos, ignaviae subditum calcar ; etiam remotis vitiis quid et quemadmodum debeamus facere, discendum est.

24 ** Nihil," inquit, *' efficient monitiones admotae gravibus vitiis.'* Ne medicina quidem morbos in- sanabiles vincit, tamen adhibetur aliis in remedium, aliis in levamentum. Ne ipsa quidem universae philosophiae vis, licet totas in hoc vires suas advoeet, duram iam et veterem animis extrahet pestem. Sed

25 non ideo nihil sanat, quia non omnia. *' Quid prodest," inquit, *' aperta monstrare ? " Plurimum ; interdum enim scimus nee adtendimus. Non docet admonitio,

^ Sana later MSS. ; saniat BA. ■ consedit Schweighaeuser ; considet BA.

26

EPISTLE XCIV.

sick men and sound men something in common, concerning which they need continual advice ? For example, not to grasp greedily after food, and to avoid getting over- tired. Poor and rich have certain precepts which fit them both. ** Cure their greed, then,'* people say, ** and you will not need to lecture either the poor or the rich, provided that in the case of each of them the craving has subsided/* But is it not one thing to be free from lust for money, and another thing to know how to use this money ? Misers do not know the proper limits in money matters, but even those who are not misers fail to comprehend its use. Then comes the reply : ** Do away with error, and your precepts become un- necessary.** That is wrong ; for suppose that avarice is slackened, that luxury is confined, that rashness is reined in, and that laziness is pricked by the spur ; even after vices are removed, we must continue to learn what we ought to do, and how we ought to do it.

** Nothing,** it is said, ** will be accomplished by applying advice to the more serious faults.** No ; and not even medicine can master incurable diseases ; it is nevertheless used in some cases as a remedy, in others as a relief. Not even the power of universal philosophy, though it summon all its strength for the purpose, will remove from the soul what is now a stubborn and chronic disease. But Wisdom, merely because she cannot cure everything, is not incapable of making cures. People say : ** What good does it do to point out the obvious ? *' A great deal of good ; for we sometimes know facts without paying attention to them. Advice is not teaching ; it merely engages the attention and rouses us, and

VOL. Ill B 27

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

sed advertit, sed excitat, sed memoriam continet nee patitur elabi. Pleraque ante oculos posita transimus. Admonere genus adhortandi est. Saepe animus etiam aperta dissimulat ; ingerenda est itaque illi notitia rerum notissimarum. Ilia hoc loco in Va- tinium Calvi repetenda sententia est : ** factum esse

26 ambitum scitis, et hoc vos scire omnes sciunt.** Scis amicitias sancte colendas esse, sed non facis. Scis inprobum esse, qui ab uxore pudicitiam exigit, ipse alienarum corruptor uxorum ; scis ut illi nil cum adultero, sic ^ tibi nil esse debere cum paelice, et non facis. Itaque subinde ad memoriam reducendus es ; non enim reposita ilia esse oportet, sed in promptu. Quaecumque salutaria sunt, saepe agitari debent, saepe versari, ut non tantum nota sint nobis, sed etiam parata. Adice nunc, quod aperta quoque apertiora fieri solent.

27 *' Si dubia sunt,'* inquit, ** quae praecipis, proba- tiones adicere debebis ; ergo illae, non praecepta proficient.'' Quid, quod etiam sine probationibus ipsa monentis auctoritas prodest ? Sic quomodo iurisconsultorum valent responsa, etiam si ratio non redditur. Praeterea ipsa, quae praecipiuntur, per se multum habent ponderis, utique si aut carmini intexta sunt aut prosa oratione in sententiam

1 sic later MSS. : sit BA.

" monitio includes consolatio, dissuasio^ ohiurgatio, laudatio, and hortatio, Cf. § 39 of this letter.

* Quoted also by Quintilian, vi. 1. 13. Between the years 58 and 54 b.c. Calvus, a friend of the poet Catullus, in three famous speeches prosecuted Vatinius, one of the creatures of Caesar who had illegally obtained office.

28

EPISTLE XCIV.

concentrates the memory, and keeps it from losing grip. We miss much that is set before our very eyes. Advice is, in fact, a sort of exhortation.^ The mind often tries not to notice even that which hes before our eyes ; we must therefore force upon it the knowledge of things that are perfectly well known. One might repeat here the saying of Calvus about Vatinius : ^ ** You all know that bribery has been going on, and everyone knows that you know it.** You know that friendship should be scrupulously honoured, and yet you do not hold it in honour. You know that a man does wrong in requiring chastity of his wife while he himself is intriguing with the wives of other men ; you know that, as your wife should have no dealings with a lover, neither should you yourself with a mistress ; and yet you do not act accordingly. Hence, you must be continually brought to re- member these facts ; for they should not be in storage, but ready for use. And whatever is wholesome should be often discussed and often brought before the mind, so that it may be not only familiar to us, but also ready to hand. And remember, too, that in this way what is clear often becomes clearer.

** But if,** comes the answer, " your precepts are not obvious, you will be bound to add proofs ; hence the proofs, and not the precepts, will be helpful.** But cannot the influence of the monitor avail even without proofs ? It is like the opinions of a legal expert, which hold good even though the reasons for them are not delivered. Moreover, the precepts which are given are of great weight in themselves, whether they be woven into the fabric of song, or condensed into prose proverbs, like the famous Wisdom of

29

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

coartata, sicut ilia Catoniana : ** em as non quod opus est, sed quod necesse est ; quod non opus est, asse carum est," qualia sunt ilia aut reddita oraculo

28 aut similia : ** tempori parce," " te nosce/' Num- quid rationem exiges, cum tibi aliquis hos dixerit versus ?

Iniuriarum remedium est oblivio.

Audentes fortuna iuvat, piger ipse sibi opstat.

Advocatum ista non quaerunt ; adfectus ipsos tan- gunt et natura vim suam exercente proficiunt.

29 Omnium honestarum rerum semina animi gerunt, quae admonitione excitantur, non aliter quam scin- tilla flatu levi adiuta ignem suum explicat. Erigitur virtus, cum tacta est et inpulsa. Praeterea quaedam sunt quidem in animo, sed parum prompta, quae incipiunt in expedito esse, cum dicta sunt. Quaedam diversis locis iacent sparsa, quae contrahere inexer- citata mens non potest. Itaque in unum conferenda sunt et iungenda, ut plus valeant animumque magis

30 adlevent. Aut si praecepta niliil adiuvant, omnis institutio tollenda est, ipsa natura contenti esse debemus.

Hoc qui dicunt, non vident alium esse ingenii mobilis et erecti, alium tardi et hebetis, utique alium alio ingeniosiorem. Ingenii vis praeceptis alitur et crescit novasque persuasiones adicit innatis

31 et depravata corrigit. ** Si quis," inquit, ** non habet

* Catonis Reliq, p. 79 lordan.

* From Publilius vSyrus — Frag. 250 Ribbeck.

* A verse made up from Vergil, A en. x. 284, and an unknown author, <* ue,^ who Would abolish precepts. 30

EPISTLE XCIV.

Cato ^ : " Buy not what you need, but what you must have. That which you do not need, is dear even at a farthing/* Or those oracular or oracular-hke rephes, such as ** Be thrifty with time ! " ** Know thyself! " Shall you need to be told the meaning when someone repeats to you lines like these :

Forgetting trouble is the way to cure it.^

Fortune favours the brave ; but the coward is foiled by his faint heart. ^'

Such maxims need no special pleader ; they go straight to our emotions, and help us simply because Nature is exercising her proper function. The soul carries within itself the seed of everything that is honourable, and this seed is stirred to growth by advice, as a spark that is fanned by a gentle breeze develops its natural fire. Virtue is aroused by a touch, a shock. Moreover, there are certain things which, though in the mind, yet are not ready to hand but begin to function easily as soon as they are put into words. Certain things lie scattered about in various places, and it is impossible for the unpractised mind to arrange them in order. There- fore, we should bring them into unity, and join them, so that they may be more pov/erful and more of an uplift to the soul. Or, if precepts do not avail at all, then every method of instruction should be abolished, and we should be content with Nature alone.

Those who maintain this view ^ do not understand that one man is lively and alert of wit, another sluggish and dull, while certainly some men have more intelligence than others. The strength of the wit is nourished and kept growing by precepts ; it adds new points of view to those which are in- born and corrects depraved ideas. ** But suppose,'*

31

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

recta decreta, quid ilium admonitiones iuvabunt vitiosis obligatum ? " Hoc scilicet, ut illis liberetur ; non enim extincta in illo indoles naturalis est, sed obscurata et oppressa. Sic quoque temptat resurgere et contra prava nititur, nancta vero praesidium et adiuta praeceptis evalescit, si tamen illam diutina pestis non infecit nee enecuit ; banc enim ne dis- ciplina quidem philosophiae toto inpetu suo conisa restituet. Quid enim interest inter decreta philo- sophiae et praecepta, nisi quod ilia generalia prae- cepta sunt, haec specialia ? Utraque res praecipit, sed altera in totum, particulatim altera.

32 "Si quis," inquit, ** recta habet et honesta decreta, hie ex supervacuo monetur." Minime ; nam hie quoque doctus quidem est facere quae debet, sed haec non satis perspicit. Non enim tantum adfecti- bus inpedimur, quo minus probanda faciamus, sed inperitia inveniendi quid quaeque res exigat. Habe- mus interdum compositum animum, sed residem et inexercitatum ad inveniendam ^ officiorum viam,

33 quam admonitio demonstrat. ** Expelle," inquit, ** falsas opiniones de bonis et malis, in locum autem earum veras repone, et nihil habebit admonitio, quod agat." Ordinatur sine dubio ista ratione animus,

^ ad inveniendam later MSS. ; adveniendam BA. 32

EPISTLE XCIV.

people retort, '* that a man is not the possessor of sound dogmas, how can advice help him when he is chained down by vicious dogmas ? " In this, as- suredly, that he is freed therefrom ; for his natural disposition has not been crushed, but over-shadowed and kept down. Even so it goes on endeavouring to rise again, struggling against the influences that make for evil ; but when it wins support and receives the aid of precepts, it grows stronger, provided only that the chronic trouble has not corrupted or anni- hilated the natural man. For in such a case, not even the training that comes from philosophy, striv- ing with all its might, will make restoration. What difference, indeed, is there between the dogmas of philosophy and precepts, unless it be this — that the former are general and the latter special ? Both deal with advice — the one through the universal, the other through the particular.

Some say : " If one is familiar with upright and honourable dogmas, it will be superfluous to advise him." By no means ; for this person has indeed learned to do things which he ought to do ; but he does not see with sufficient clearness what these things are. For we are hindered from accomplishing praiseworthy deeds not only by our emotions, but also by want of practice in discovering the demands of a particular situation. Our minds are often under good control, and yet at the same time are inactive and untrained in finding the path of duty, — and advice makes this clear. Again, it is written : ** Cast out all false opinions concerning Good and Evil, but replace them with true opinions ; then advice will have no function to perform/* Order in the soul can doubt- less be established in this way ; but these are not the

S3

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

sed non ista tantum. Nam quamvis argumentis coUectum sit, quae bona malaque sint, nihilominus habent praecepta partes suas. Et prudentia et iustitia offieiis constat, officia praeceptis disponuntur.

34 Praeterea ^ ipsum de malis bonisque iudieium con- firmatur officiorum exsecutione, ad quam praecepta perducunt. Utraque enim inter se consentiunt ; nee ilia possunt praecedere, ut non haec sequantur. Et haec ordinem sequuntur suum ; unde apparet ilia praecedere.

35 ** Infinita,** inquit, " praecepta sunt." Falsum est. Nam de maximis ac necessariis rebus non sunt infinita. Tenues autem difFerentias habent, quas exigunt tempora, loca, personae, sed his quoque

36 dantur praecepta generalia. ** Nemo,'' inquit, ** prae- ceptis curat insaniam ; ergo ne malitiam quidem." Dissimile est. Nam si insaniam sustuleris, sanitas redit, at^ si falsas opiniones exclusimus, non statim sequitur dispectus rerum agendarum. Ut sequatur, tamen admonitio conroborabit rectam de bonis malisque sententiam. lUud quoque falsum est, nihil apud insanos proficere praecepta. Nam quemad- modum sola non prosunt, sic curationem adiuvant. Et denuntiatio et castigatio insanos coercuit. De illis nunc insanis loquor, quibus mens mota est, non erepta.

37 ** Leges,'* inquit, ** ut faciamus, quod oportet, non efficiunt, et quid aliud sunt quam minis mixta prae- cepta ? " Primum omnium ob hoc illae non per- suadent, quia minantur, at haec non cogunt, sed

^ praeterea later MSS. ; praeter BA. ^ reditu at Buecheler ; redita est BA.

" A further answer to the objection in § 17 above, where all madness is held curable by physical treatment,

34

EPISTLE XCIV.

only ways. For although we may infer by proofs just what Good and Evil are, nevertheless precepts have their proper role. Prudence and justice consist of certain duties ; and duties are set in order by precepts. Moreover, judgment as to Good and Evil is itself strengthened by following up our duties, and precepts conduct us to this end. For both are in accord with each other ; nor can precepts take the lead unless the duties follow. They observe their natural order ; hence precepts clearly come first.

** Precepts," it is said, ** are numberless." Wrong again ! For they are not numberless so far as concerns important and essential things. Of course there are slight distinctions, due to the time, or the place, or the person ; but even in these cases, precepts are given which have a general application. ** No one, however," it is said, ** cures madness by precepts, and therefore not wickedness either." There is a distinction ; for if you rid a man of insanity, he becomes sane again, but if we have removed false opinions, insight into practical conduct does not at once follow. Even though it follows, counsel will none the less confirm one's right opinion concerning Good and Evil. And it is also wrong to believe that precepts are of no use to madmen. For though, by themselves, they are of no avail, yet they are a help towards the cure.^ Both scolding and chastening rein in a lunatic. Note that I here refer to lunatics whose wits are disturbed but not hopelessly gone.

" Still," it is objected, ** laws do not always make us do what we ought to do ; and what else are laws than precepts mingled with threats ? " Now first of all, the laws do not persuade just because they threaten ; precepts, however, instead of coercing, VOL. Ill B 2 S5

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

exorant. Deinde leges a scelere deterrent, prae- cepta in offieium adhortantur. His adice quod^ leges quoque proficiunt ad bonos mores, utique si

38 non tantum imperant, sed decent. In hac re dis- sentio a Posidonio, qui ** inprobo,'* inquit, ** quod^ Platonis legibus adiecta prineipia sunt. Legem enim brevem esse oportet, quo faeilius ab imperitis te- neatur. Velut emissa divinitus vox sit ; iubeat, non disputet. Nihil videtur mihi frigidius, nihil ineptius quam lex cum prologo. Mone,^ die, quid me velis fecisse ; non disco, sed pareo." Proficiunt vero * ; itaque malis moribus uti videbis civitates usas malis legibus. ** At non apud omnis proficiunt."

39 Ne philosophia quidem ; nee ideo inutilis et for- mandis animis inefficax est. Quid autem ? Philo- sophia non vitae lex est ? Sed putemus non proficere leges ; non ideo sequitur, ut ne monitiones quidem proficiant. Aut sic et consolationes nega proficere dissuasionesque et adhortationes et obiurgationes et laudationes. Omnia ista monitionum genera sunt. Per ista ad perfectum animi statum pervenitur.

40 Nulla res magis animis honesta induit dubiosque et in pravum inclinabiles revocat ad rectum quam bonorum virorum conversatio. Paulatim enim de- scendit in pectora, et vim praeceptorum obtinet frequenter aspici, frequenter audiri.

BA

^ qtiod later MSS. ; quo BA.

^ qui inprobo inquit quod Rossbach ; qui pro {eo) quod

V.

^ cum prologo, wone Erasmus ; cum prolegomene BA.

* proficiunt vero Schweighaeuser ; proficiuntur BA.

" See, for example, the Fifth Book, which opens with the preliminary remarks of the Athenian Stranger (pp. 726-34 St.).

* A frequent thought in Seneca, c/. Ep, xxv. 6, lii. 8, etc. S6

EPISTLE XCIV.

correct men by pleading. Again, laws frighten one out of communicating crime, while precepts urge a man on to his duty. Besides, the laws also are of assistance towards good conduct, at any rate if they instruct as well as command. On this point I dis- agree with Posidonius, who says : ** I do not think that Plato's Laws should have the preambles ^ added to them. For a law should be brief, in order that the uninitiated may grasp it all the more easily. It should be a voice, as it were, sent down from heaven ; it should command, not discuss. Nothing seems to me more dull or more foolish than a law with a preamble. Warn me, tell me what you wish me to do ; I am not learning but obeying.'* But laws framed in this way are helpful ; hence you will notice that a state with defective laws will have defective morals. " But,'' it is said, ** they are not of avail in every case." Well, neither is philosophy ; and yet philosophy is not on that account ineffect- ual and useless in the training of the soul. Further- more, is not philosophy the Law of Life ? Grant, if we will, that the laws do not avail ; it does not necessarily follow that advice also should not avail. On this ground, you ought to say that consolation does not avail, and warning, and ex- hortation, and scolding, and praising ; since they are all varieties of advice. It is by such methods that we arrive at a perfect condition of mind. Nothing is more successful in bringing honourable influences to bear upon the mind, or in straightening out the wavering spirit that is prone to evil, than association with good men.^ For the frequent seeing, the frequent hearing of them little by little sinks into the heart and acquires the force of precepts.

37

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

Occursus mehercules ipse sapientium iuvat, et est aliquid. quod ex magno viro vel tacente ^ profieias.

41 Nee tibi facile dixerim quemadmodum prosit, sicut illud intellego ^ profuisse. ** Minuta quaedam," ut ait Phaedon, '* animalia cum mordent non sentiuntur ; adeo tenuis illis et fallens in periculum vis est. Tumor indicat morsum et in ipso tumore nullum vulnus apparet. Idem tibi in conversatione virorum sapientium eveniet : non deprehendes, quemad- modum aut quando tibi prosit, profuisse deprendes/*

42 Quorsus, inquis, hoc pertinet ? Aeque praecepta bona, si saepe tecum sint, profutura quam bona exempla. Pythagoras ait alium animum fieri intran- tibus templum deorumque simulacra ex vicino cernentibus et alicuius oraculi opperientibus vocem.

43 Quis autem negabit ^ feriri quibusdam praeceptis efficaciter etiam inperitissimos ? Velut his brevis- simis vocibus, sed multum habentibus ponderis :

Nil nimis.

Avarus animus niillo satiatur lucro.

Ab alio exspectes, alteri quod feceris.

Haec cum ictu quodam audimus, nee uUi licet dubitare aut interrogare ** quare ? ** ; adeo etiam

44 sine ratione ipsa Veritas ducit. Si reverentia frenat animos ac vitia compescit, cur non et admonitio idem possit ? Si inponit pudorem castigatio, cur admo- nitio non faciat, etiam si nudis praeceptis utitur ? Ilia vero efficacior est et altius penetrat, quae

^ tacente later MSS. ; iacente BA. 2 intellego Schweighaeiiser ; intellegam MSwS. • negabit Buecheler and Windhaus ; negavit BA.

" Presumably Phaedo the friend of Plato and pupil of Socrates, author of dialogues resembling those of Plato.

* Com. incert., Frag. 81 Ribbeck, and Pub. Syrus, Frag. 2 Ribbeck.

38

EPISTLE XCIV.

We are indeed uplifted merely by meeting wise men ; and one can be helped by a great man even when he is silent. I could not easily tell you how it helps us, though I am certain of the fact that I have received help in that way. Phaedo * says : ** Certain tiny animals do not leave any pain when they sting us ; so subtle is their power, so deceptive for purposes of harm. The bite is disclosed by a swelling, and even in the swelling there is no visible wound." That will also be your experience when dealing with wise men : you will not discover how or when the benefit comes to you, but you will discover that you have received it . * * What is the point of this remark ? ' * you ask. It is, that good precepts, often welcomed within you, will benefit you just as much as good examples. Pythagoras declares that our souls experience a change when we enter a temple and behold the images of the gods face to face, and await the utterances of an oracle. Moreover, who can deny that even the most inexperienced are effectively struck by the force of certain precepts ? For example, by such brief but weighty saws as : ** Nothing in excess,'* ** The greedy mind is satisfied by no gains," ** You must expect to be treated by others as you yourself have treated them." ^ We receive a sort of shock when we hear such sayings ; no one ever thinks of doubting them or of asking : ** Why ? " So strongly, indeed, does mere truth, unaccompanied by reason, attract us. If reverence reins in the soul and checks vice, why cannot counsel do the same ? Also, if rebuke gives one a sense of shame, why has not counsel the same power, even though it does use bare precepts ? The counsel which assists suggestion by reason — which adds the motive

39

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

adiuvat ratione quod praecipit, quae adicit, quare quidque faciendum sit et quis facientem oboedien- temque praeceptis fructus exspectet. Si imperio proficitur, et admonitione ; atqui ^ proficitur imperio ; ergo et admonitione.

45 In duas partes virtus dividitur, in contemplationem veri et actionem. Contemplationem institutio tradit, actionem admonitio. Virtutem et exercet et ostendit recta actio. Acturo autem si prodest qui suadet, et qui monet proderit. Ergo si recta actio virtuti necessaria est, rectas autem actiones admonitio

46 demonstrat, et admonitio necessaria est. Duae res plurimum roboris animo dant, fides veri et fiducia ; utramque ^ admonitio facit. Nam et creditur illi et, cum creditum est, magnos animus spiritus concipit ac fiducia impletur. Ergo admonitio non est super- vacua.

M. Agrippa, vir ingentis animi, qui solus ex iis, quos civilia bella claros potentesque fecerunt, felix in publicum fuit, dicere solebat multum se huic debere sententiae : " Nam concordia parvae res crescunt, discordia maximae dilabuntur.*' Hac se

47 aibat et fratrem et amicum optimum factum. Si eiusmodi sententiae familiariter in animum receptae formant eum, cur non haec pars philosophiae, quae talibus sententiis constat, idem possit ? Pars virtutis disciplina constat, pars exercitatione ; et discas oportet et quod didicisti agendo confirmes. Quod si est, non tantum scita sapientiae prosunt, sed etiam

^ atqui Erasmus ; atque B ; aeque A. 2 utramque Pincianus (from an old MS.) ; utraque BA.

* i.e., belief. * From Sallust, Jugurtha, x. G,

40

EPISTLE XCIV.

for doing a given thing and the reward which awaits one who carries out and obeys such precepts — is more effective and settles deeper in the heart. If commands are helpful, so is advice. But one is helped by commands ; therefore one is helped also by advice.

Virtue is divided into two parts — into contempla- tion of truth, and conduct. Training teaches contemplation, and admonition teaches conduct. And right conduct both practises and reveals virtue. But if, when a man is about to act, he is helped by advice, he is also helped by admonition. Therefore, if right conduct is necessary to virtue, and if, more- over, admonition makes clear right conduct, then admonition also is an indispensable thing. There are two strong supports to the soul — trust ® in the truth and confidence ; both are the result of admonition. For men believe it, and when belief is established, the soul receives great inspiration and is filled with confidence. Therefore, admonition is not superfluous.

Marcus Agrippa, a great-souled man, the only per- son among those whom the civil wars raised to fame and power whose prosperity helped the state, used to say that he was greatly indebted to the proverb ** Harmony makes small things grow ; lack of harmony makes great things decay." ^ He held that he him- self became the best of brothers and the best of friends by virtue of this saying. And if proverbs of such a kind, when welcomed intimately into the soul, can mould this very soul, why cannot the department of philosophy which consists of such proverbs possess equal influence ? Virtue depends partly upon training and partly upon practice ; you must learn first, and then strengthen your learning by action. If this be true, not only do the doctrines

41

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

praecepta, quae adfectus nostros velut edicto coercent et ablegant.

48 ** Philosophia,** inquit, ** dividitur in haec, scientiam et habitum animi. Nam qui didicit et facienda ac vitanda pereepit, nondum sapiens est, nisi in ea, quae didicit, animus eius transfiguratus est. Tertia ista pars praecipiendi ex utroque est, et ex decretis et ex habitu. Itaque supervacua est ad implendam

49 virtutem, cui duo ilia sufficiunt/* Isto ergo modo et consolatio supervacua est, nam haec quoque ex utroque est, et adhortatio et suasio et ipsa argumen- tatio. Nam et haec ab habitu animi compositi validique proficiscitur. Sed quamvis ista ex optimo habitu animi veniant, optimus animi habitus ex his

50 est ; et facit ilia et ex illis ipse fit. Deinde istud, quod dicis, iam perfecti viri est ac summam consecuti feUcitatis humanae. Ad haec autem tarde per- venitur ; interim etiam inperfecto sed proficienti demonstranda est in rebus agendis via. Hanc for- sitan etiam sine admonitione dabit sibi ipsa sapientia, quae iam eo perduxit animum, ut moveri nequeat nisi in rectum. Inbecillioribus quidem ingeniis necessarium est aliquem praeire : hoc vitabis, hoc

51 facies. Praeterea si expectat tempus, quo per se sciat quid optimum factu sit, interim errabit et

** C/. Ep, xciv. 12 exactum iudicium de fugiendis petendisque,

* The last stage of knowledge — complete assent — accord- ing to the Stoic view, which went beyond the mere sensation- theory of Epicurus.

42

EPISTLE XCIV.

of wisdom help us, but the precepts also, which check and banish our emotions by a sort of official decree. It is said : ** Philosophy is divided into knowledge and state of mind. For one who has learned and understood what he should do and avoid, ^ is not a wise man until his mind is metamorphosed into the shape of that which he has learned. This third department — that of precept — is compounded from both the others, from dogmas of philosophy and state of mind. Hence it is superfluous as far as the perfecting of virtue is concerned ; the other two parts are enough for the purpose." On that basis, therefore, even consolation would be superfluous, since this also is a combination of the other two, as likewise are exhortation, persuasion, and even proof ^ itself. For proof also originates from a well- ordered and firm mental attitude. But, although these things result from a sound state of mind, yet the sound state of mind also results from them ; it is both creative of them and resultant from them. Furthermore, that which you mention is the mark of an already perfect man, of one who has attained the height of human happiness. But the approach to these qualities is slow, and in the meantime, in practical matters, the path should be pointed out for the benefit of one who is still short oiP perfection, but is making progress. Wisdom by her own agency may perhaps show herself this path without the help of admonition ; for she has brought the soul to a stage where it can be impelled only in the right direction. Weaker characters, however, need someone to precede them, to say : ** Avoid this," or ** Do that." Moreover, if one awaits the time when one can know of oneself what the best line of action is, one will sometimes go astray and by going astray will be

43

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

errando inpedietur, quo minus ad illud perveniat, quo possit se esse contentus. Regi ergo debet, dum ineipit posse se regere. Pueri ad praescriptum diseunt. Digiti illorum tenentur et aliena manu per litterarum simulacra ducuntur, deinde imitari iubentur proposita ^ et ad ilia reformare chiro- graphum. Sic animus noster dum eruditur ad prae-

52 scriptum, iuvatur.^ Haec sunt, per quae probatur hanc philosophiae partem supervacuam non esse.

Quaeritur deinde, an ad faciendum sapientem sola sufficiat. Huic quaestioni suum diem dabimus ; in- terim omissis argumentis nonne apparet opus esse nobis aliquo advocato, qui contra populi praecepta

53 praecipiat ? Nulla ad aures nostras vox inpune perfertur ; nocent qui optant, nocent qui execrantur. Nam et horum inprecatio falsos nobis metus inserit et illorum amor male docet bene optando. Mittit enim nos ad longinqua bona et incerta et errantia,

54 cum possimus felicitatem domo promere. Non licet, inquam, ire recta via. Trahunt in pravum parentes, trahunt servi. Nemo errat uni sibi, sed dementiam spargit in proximos accipitque invicem. Et ideo in singulis vitia populorum sunt, quia ilia populus dedit. Dum facit quisque peiorem, f actus est ; didicit de- teriora, deinde ^ docuit, efFectaque est ingens ilia

^ proposita later MSS. ; praeposita BA.

* iuvahir later MSS. ; iuvat A ; vivat B,

2 deinde later MSS. ; dein BA.

" In this whole discussion Seneca is a much sounder Stoic than Aristo and the opposition. The next letter {Ep. xcv.) develops still further the preceptive function of philosophy — through wpoKOTrrj (progress) to fierapoXi] (con- version).

44

EPISTLE XCIV:

hindered from arriving at the point where it is possible to be content with oneself. The soul should accordingly be guided at the very moment when it is becoming able to guide itself.^ Boys study according to direction. Their fingers are held and guided by others so that they may follow the outlines of the letters ; next, they are ordered to imitate a copy and base thereon a style of penman- ship. Similarly, the mind is helped if it is taught according to direction. Such facts as these prove that this department of philosophy is not superfluous. The question next arises whether this part alone is sufficient to make men wise. The problem shall be treated at the proper time ; but at present, omitting all arguments, is it not clear that we need someone whom we may call upon as our preceptor in opposition to the precepts of men in general ? There is no word which reaches our ears without doing us harm ; we are injured both by good wishes and by curses. The angry prayers of our enemies instil false fears in us ; and the affection of our friends spoils us through their kindly wishes. For this affection sets us a-groping after goods that are far away, unsure, and wavering, when we really might open the store of happiness at home. We are not allowed, I maintain, to travel a straight road. Our parents and our slaves draw us into wrong. Nobody confines his mistakes to himself ; people sprinkle folly among their neighbours, and receive it from them in turn. For this reason, in an individual, you find the vices of nations, because the nation has given them to the individual. Each man, in corrupting others, corrupts himself ; he imbibes, and then imparts, badness ; — the result is a vast mass of wickedness, because the

45

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

nequitia congesto in unum quod cuique pessimum scitur.

55 Sit ergo aliquis custos et aurem subinde pervellat abigatque rumores et reelamet populis laudantibus. Erras enim, si existimas nobiscum vitia nasci ; super- venerunt, ingesta sunt. Itaque monitionibus crebris

56 opiniones, quae nos circumsonant, repellantur. Nulli nos vitio natura conciliat ; ilia ^ integros ac liberos genuit. Nihil quo avaritiam nostram inritaret, posuit in aperto. Pedibus aurum argentumque subiecit calcandumque ac premendum dedit quidquid est propter quod calcamur ac premimur. Ilia vultus nostros erexit ad caelum et quidquid magnificum mirumque fecerat, videri a suspicientibus voluit. Ortus occasusque et properantis mundi volubilem cursum, interdiu terrena aperientem, nocte caelestia, tardos siderum incessus si conpares toti, citatissimos autem si cogites, quanta spatia numquam intermissa velocitate circumeant, defectus solis ac lunae invicem obstantium, alia deinceps digna miratu, sive per ordinem subeunt sive subitis causis mota prosiliunt, ut nocturnos ^ ignium tractus et sine uUo ictu sonitu- que fulgores caeli patescentis columnasque ac trabes et varia simulacra flammarum. Haec supra nos itura

57 disposuit ; aurum quidem et argentum et propter ista numquam pacem agens ferrum, quasi male nobis

1 ilia later MSS. ; nulla BA. * nocturnos Buecheler ; nocturni BA.

^ This theme is carefully elaborated in Ep, vii., '* On Crowds " : " There is no person who does not make some vice attractive to us, or stamp it upon us, or taint us un- consciously therewith ** (§ 2).

^ These are fully discussed in Seneca's Naturales Quacstiones, a work almost contemporary with the Letters.

46

EPISTLE XCIV.

worst in every separate person is concentrated in one mass.^

We should, therefore, have a guardian, as it were, to pluck us continually by the ear and dispel rumours and protest against popular enthusiasms. For you are mistaken if you suppose that our faults are inborn in us ; they have come from without, have been heaped upon us. Hence, by receiving frequent admonitions, we can reject the opinions which din about our ears. Nature does not ally us with any vice ; she produced us in health and freedom. She put before our eyes no object which might stir in us the itch of greed. She placed gold and silver beneath our feet, and bade those feet stamp down and crush everything that causes us to be stamped down and crushed. Nature elevated our gaze towards the sky and willed that we should look upward to behold her glorious and wonderful works. She gave us the rising and the setting sun, the whirhng course of the on-rushing world which discloses the things of earth by day and the heavenly bodies by night, the movements of the stars, which are slow if you compare them with the universe, but most rapid if you reflect on the size of the orbits which they describe with unslackened speed ; she showed us the successive eclipses of sun and moon, and other phenomena, wonderful because they occur regularly or because, through sudden causes, they leap into view — such as nightly trails of fire, or flashes in the open heavens unaccompanied by stroke or sound of thunder, or columns and beams and the various pheno- mena of flames.^ She ordained that all these bodies should proceed above our heads ; but gold and silver, with the iron which, because of the gold and silver, never brings peace, she has hidden away, as if they

47

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

committerentur, abscondit. Nos in lucem, propter quae pugnaremus, extulimus ; nos et causas peri- culorum nostrorum et instrumenta disiecto terrarum pondere eruimus ; nos fortunae mala nostra tradidi- mus nee erubescimus summa apud nos haberi, quae

58 fuerant ima terrarum. Vis scire, quam falsus oculos tuos deceperit fulgor ? Nihil est istis, quamdiu mersa et involuta caeno suo iacent, foedius, nihil obscurius, quidni ? Quae per longissimorum cuniculorum tene- bras extrahuntur. Nihil est illis, dum fiunt et a faece sua separantur, informius. Denique ipsos opifices intuere, per quorum manus sterile terrae genus et infernum perpurgatur ; videbis quanta

59 fuligine oblinantur. Atqui ista magis inquinant animos quam corpora, et in possessore eorum quam in artifice plus sordium est.

Necessarium itaque admoneri est,^ habere aliquem advocatum bonae mentis et in tanto ^ fremitu tumultuque falsorum unam denique audire vocem. Quae erit ilia vox ? Ea scilicet, quae tibi tantis clamoribus ambitionis exsurdato salubria insusurret

60 verba, quae dicat : non est quod invideas istis, quos magnos felicesque populus vocat, non est quod tibi compositae mentis habitum et sanitatem plausus excutiat, non est quod tibi tranquillitatis tuae fasti- dium fjiciat ille sub illis fascibus purpura cultus, non

^ est Buecheler ; et BA. 2 et in tanto Schweighaeuser ; etantanto BA.

^ Both literally and figuratively, — the sheen of the metal and the glitter of the false idea.

^ i.e.^ the bundle of rods and axes, carried by the attend- ants of a Roman magistrate.

48

EPISTLE XCIV.

were dangerous things to trust to our keeping. It is we ourselves that have dragged them into the Hght of day to the end that we might fight over them ; it is we ourselves who, tearing away the superincumbent earth, have dug out the causes and tools of our own destruc- tion ; it is we ourselves who have attributed our own misdeeds to Fortune, and do not blush to regard as the loftiest objects those which once lay in the depths of earth. Do you wish to know how false is the gleam ^ that has deceived your eyes ? There is really nothing fouler or more involved in darkness than these things of earth, sunk and covered for so long a time in the mud where they belong. Of course they are foul ; they have been hauled out through a long and murky mine-shaft. There is nothing uglier than these metals during the process of refinement and separation from the ore. Furthermore, watch the very work- men who must handle and sift the barren grade of dirt, the sort which comes from the bottom ; see how soot-besmeared they are ! And yet the stuff they handle soils the soul more than the body, and there is more foulness in the owner than in the workman. It is therefore indispensable that we be admonished, that we have some advocate with upright mind, and, amid all the uproar and jangle of falsehood, hear one voice only. But what voice shall this be ? Surely a voice which, amid all the tumult of self-seeking, shall whisper wholesome words into the deafened ear, saying : ** You need not be envious of those whom the people call great and fortunate ; applause need not disturb your composed attitude and your sanity of mind ; you need not become disgusted with your calm spirit because you see a great man, clothed in purple, protected by the well-known symbols of authority ; ^ you need not judge the

49

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

est quod feliciorem eum indices cui suminovetur, quam te quern ^ lictor semita deicit. Si vis exercere tibi utile, nuUi autem grave imperium, summove

61 vitia. Multi inveniuntur qui ignem infer ant urbibus, qui inexpugnabilia saeeulis et per aliquot aetates tuta prosternant, qui aequum arcibus aggerem attollant et muros in miram altitudinem eductos arietibus ac machinis quassent. Multi sunt qui ante se agant agmina et tergis hostium ^ graves instent et ad mare magnum perfusi caede gentium veniant ; sed hi quoque, ut vincerent hostem, cupiditate victi sunt. Nemo illis venientibus restitit, sed nee ipsi ambitioni crudelitatique restiterant ; tunc, cum agere alios visi

62 sunt, agebantur. Agebat infelicem Alexandrum furor aliena vastandi et ad ignota mittebat. An tu putas sanum, qui a Graeciae primum cladibus, in qua eruditus est, incipit ? Qui quod cuique optimum est, eripit, Lacedaemona servire iubet, Athenas tacere ? Non contentus tot civitatium strage, quas aut vicerat Philippus aut emerat, alias alio loco proicit et toto orbe arma circumfert, nee subsistit usquam lassa crudelitas immanium ferarum modo, quae plus quam

63 exigit fames mordent. lam in unum regnum multa

^ qvem later MSS. : om. BA. * later INISS. omit et (BA) after hostium.

° A name usually applied to the eastern end of the Mediterranean.

* Especially Thebes in 335 b.c, which he sacked. Athens and Sparta were treated with more consideration.

50

EPISTLE XCIV.

magistrate for whom the road is cleared to be any happier than yourself, whom his officer pushes from the road. If you would wield a command that is profitable to yourself, and injurious to nobody, clear your own faults out of the way. There are many who set fire to cities, who storm garrisons that have remained impregnable for generations and safe for numerous ages, who raise mounds as high as the walls they are besieging, who with battering-rams and engines shatter towers that have been reared to a wondrous height. There are many who can send their columns ahead and press de- structively upon the rear of the foe, who can reach the Great Sea " dripping with the blood of nations ; but even these men, before they could conquer their foe, were conquered by their own greed. No one withstood their attack ; but they themselves could not withstand desire for power and the impulse to cruelty ; at the time when they seemed to be hounding others, they were themselves being hounded. Alexander was hounded into misfortune and dispatched to unknown countries by a mad desire to lay waste other men's territory. Do you believe that the man was in his senses who could begin by devastating Greece, the land where he received his education ? One who snatched away the dearest guerdon of each nation, bidding Spartans be slaves, and Athenians hold their tongues ? Not content with the ruin of all the states which Pliilip had either conquered or bribed into bondage,^ he overthrew various commonwealths in various places and carried his weapons all over the world ; his cruelty was tired, but it never ceased — like a wild beast that tears to pieces more than its hunger demands. Already he has joined many kingdoms into one

51

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

regna coniecit ; iam Graeci Persaeque eundem timent; iam etiam a Dareo liberae nationes iugum accipiunt : it tamen ultra oceanum solemque, in- dignatur ab Herculis Liberique vestigiis victoriam flectere, ipsi naturae vim parat. Non ille ire vult, sed non potest stare, non aliter quam in praeceps deiecta pondera, quibus eundi finis est iacuisse.

64 Ne Gnaeo quidem Pompeio externa bella ae domestica virtus aut ratio suadebat, sed insanus amor magnitudinis falsae. Modo in Hispaniam at Sertoriana arma, modo ad colligandos ^ piratas ac

65 maria pacanda vadebat. Hae praetexebantur causae ad continuandam potentiam. Quid ilium in Africam, quid in septentrionem, quid in Mithridaten et Armeniam et omnis Asiae angulos traxit ? Infinita scilicet cupido crescendi, cum sibi uni parum magnus videretur. Quid C. Caesarem in sua fata pariter ac publica inmisit ? Gloria et ambitio et nullus supra

66 ceteros eminendi modus. Unum ante se ferre non potuit, cum res publica supra se duos ferret. Quid, tu C. Marium semel consulem — unum enim consulatum accepit, ceteros rapuit — cum Teutonos Cimbrosque concideret, cum lugurtham per Afri- cae deserta sequeretur, tot pericula putas adpetisse virtutis instinctu ? Marius exercitus, Marium ambitio ducebat.

^ colligandos Madvig ; colligendos BA.

" ^.^., the Ilyrcanians, and other tribes attacked daring and after 8.S0 b.c.

* Heracles in his various forms hails all the way from Tyre to the Atlantic Ocean ; Dionysus from India through Lydia, Thrace, and the Eastern Mediterranean to Greece.

« 76 B.C. ^ 67 B.C.

* Beginning with the passage of the Manilian Law of eQ B.C.

f 107 B.C. (also 104, 103, 102, 101, 100, and 86).

52

EPISTLE XCIV.

kingdom ; already Greeks and Persians fear the same lord ; already nations Darius had left free submit to the yoke : « yet he passes beyond the Ocean and the Sun, deeming it shame that he should shift his course of victory from the paths which Hercules and Bacchus had trod ; ^ he threatens violence to Nature herself. He does not wish to go ; but he cannot stay ; he is like a weight that falls head- long, its course ending only when it lies motionless.

It was not virtue or reason which persuaded Gnaeus Pompeius to take part in foreign and civil warfare ; it was his mad craving for unreal glory. Now he attacked Spain and the faction of Sertorius ; ^ now he fared forth to enchain the pirates and subdue the seas.^ These were merely excuses and pretexts for extending his power. What drew him into Africa, into the North, against Mithridates, into Armenia and all the corners of Asia ? ^ Assuredly it was his boundless desire to grow bigger ; for only in his own eyes was he not great enough. And what impelled Gains Caesar to the combined ruin of himself and of the state ? Renown, self-seeking, and the setting no limit to pre-eminence over all other men. He could not allow a single person to outrank him, although the state allowed two men to stand at its head. Do you think that Gains Marius, who was once consul^ (he received this office on one occasion, and stole it on all the others) courted all his perils by the inspiration of virtue when he was slaughtering the Teutons and the Cimbri, and pursuing Jugurtha through the wilds of Africa ? ^ Marius commanded armies, ambition Marius.

• 102 and 101 b.c, at Aquae Sextiae and Vercellae ; the Jugurthine war lasted from 109 to 106 b.c.

53

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

67 Isti cum omnia concuterent, concutiebantur tur- binum more, qui rapta convolvunt, sed ipsi ante volvuntur et ob hoc maiore impetu incurrunt, quia nullum illis sui regimen est ideoque cum multis fuerunt malo, pestiferam illam vim, qua plerisque nocuerunt, ipsi quoque sentiunt. Non est quod credas quemquam fieri aliena infelicitate felicem.

68 Omnia ista exempla, quae oculis atque auribus nostris ingeruntur, retexenda sunt et plenum malis sermoni- bus pectus exhauriendum. Inducenda in occupatum locum virtus, quae mendacia et contra verum pla- centia exstirpet, quae nos a populo, cui nimis credi- mus, separet ac sinceris opinionibus reddat. Hoc est enim sapientia, in naturam converti et eo restitui,

69 unde publicus error expulerit. Magna pars sanitatis est hortatores insaniae reliquisse et ex isto coitu invicem noxio procul abisse.

Hoc ut esse verum scias, aspice, quanto aliter unusquisque populo vivat, aliter sibi. Non est per se magistra innocentiae solitudo nee frugalitatem decent rura, sed ubi testis ac spectator abscessit, vitia subsidunt, quorum monstrari et conspici fructus

70 est. Quis cam, quam nulli ostenderet, induit pur-

puram ? Quis posuit secretam in auro dapem ? Quis

sub alicuius arboris rusticae proiectus umbra luxu-

<* i,€.f as Pompeius, Caesar, Marius. 54

EPISTLE XCIV.

When such men as these ^ were disturbing the world, they were themselves disturbed — ^like cyclones that whirl together what they have seized, but which are first whirled themselves and can for this reason rush on with all the greater force, having no control over themselves ; hence, after causing such destruction to others, they feel in their own body the ruinous force which has enabled them to cause havoc to many. You need never believe that a man can become happy through the unhappiness of another. We must unravel all such cases ^ as are forced before our eyes and crammed into our ears ; we must clear out our hearts, for they are full of evil talk. Virtue must be conducted into the place these have seized, — a kind of virtue which may root out falsehood and doctrines which contravene the truth, or may sunder us from the throng, in which we put too great trust, and may restore us to the possession of sound opinions. For this is wisdom — a return to Nature and a restoration to the condition from which man's errors have driven us. It is a great part of health to have forsaken the coun- sellors of madness and to have fled far from a companionship that is mutually baneful.

That you may know the truth of my remark, see how different is each individual's life before the pubhc from that of his inner self. A quiet life does not of itself give lessons in upright conduct; the countryside does not of itself teach plain living ; no, but when witnesses and onlookers are removed, faults which ripen in publicity and display sink into the background. Who puts on the purple robe for the sake of flaunting it in no man's eyes ? Who uses gold plate when he dines alone ? Who, as he flings himself down beneath the shadow of some rustic tree,

55

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

riae suae pompam solus explicuit ? Nemo oculis suis lautus est, ne paucorum quidem aut familiarium, sed apparatum vitiorum suorum pro modo turbae

71 spectantis expandit. Ita est : inritamentum est omnium, in quae insanimus, admirator at conseius. Ne concupiscamus efRcies, si ne ostendamus efFeceris. Ambitio et luxuria et inpotentia scaenam desiderant ; sanabis ista, si absconderis.

72 Itaque si in medio urbium fremitu conlocati sumus, stet ad latus monitor et contra laudatores ingentium patrimoniorum laudet parvo divitem et usu opes metientem. Contra illos, qui gratiam ac potentiam attoUunt, otium ipse suspieiat traditum litteris et

73 animum ab externis ad sua reversum. Ostendat ex constitutione vulgi beatos in illo invidioso fastigio suo trementes et adtonitos longeque aliam de se opi- nionem habentes quam ab aliis habetur. Nam quae aliis excelsa videntur, ipsis praerupta sunt. Itaque exanimantur et trepidant, quotiens despexerunt in illud magnitudinis suae praeceps. Cogitant enim

74 varios casus et in sublimi maxime lubricos. Tunc adpetita formidant et quae illos graves aliis reddit, gravior ipsis felicitas incubat. Tunc laudant otium lene et sui iuris, odio est fulgor et fuga a rebus adhuc stantibus quaeritur. Tunc demum videas philosophantis metu ^ et aegrae fortunae sana con-

* metu Muretus ; metus BA. 56

EPISTLE XCIV.

displays in solitude the splendour of his luxury ? No one makes himself elegant only for his own beholding, or even for the admiration of a few friends or relatives. Rather does he spread out his well-appointed vices in proportion to the size of the admiring crowd. It is so : claqueurs and witnesses are irritants of all our mad foibles. You can make us cease to crave, if you only make us cease to display. Ambition, luxury, and waywardness need a stage to act upon ; you will cure all those ills if you seek retirement.

Therefore, if our dwelling is situated amid the din of a city, there should be an adviser standing near us. When men praise great incomes, he should praise the person who can be rich with a slender estate and measures his wealth by the use he makes of it. In the face of those who glorify influence and power, he should of his own vohtion recommend a leisure devoted to study, and a soul which has left the external and found itself. He should point out persons, happy in the popular estimation, who totter on their envied heights of power, who are dismayed and hold a far different opinion of them- selves from what others hold of them. That which others think elevated, is to them a sheer precipice. Hence they are frightened and in a flutter whenever they look down the abrupt steep of their greatness. For they reflect that there are various ways of falling and that the topmost point is the most slippery. Then they fear that for which they strove, and the good fortune which made them weighty in the eyes of others weighs more heavily upon themselves. Then they praise easy leisure and independence ; they hate the glamour and try to escape while their fortunes are still unimpaired. Then at last you may see them studying philosophy amid their fear, and

57

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

silia. Nam quasi ista inter se contraria sint, bona fortuna et mens bona, ita melius in malis sapimus ; secunda rectum auferunt. Vale.

xcv.

Seneca Lvcilio svo salvtem

1 Petis a me, ut id, quod in diem suum dixeram debere difFerri, repraesentem et scribam tibi, an haec pars philosophiae, quam Graeci paraeneticen vocant, nos praeceptivam dicimus, satis sit ad consum- mandam ^ sapientiam. Scio te in bonam partem accepturum si negavero. Eo magis promitto et ver- bum publicum perire non patior : ** postea noli

2 rogare, quod inpetrare nolueris." Interdum enim enixe petimus id, quod recusaremus, si quis ofFerret. Haec sive levitas est sive vernilitas, punienda est annuendi ^ facilitate. Multa videri volumus velle, sed nolumus. Recitator historiam ingentem attulit minutissime scriptam, artissime plicatam, et magna parte perlecta " desinam,'' inquit, ** si vultis.^ " Adclamatur ** recita, recita " ab iis, qui ilium om-

* consummandam later MSS. ; consum{m)endam BA.

^ annuendi Windhaus and Buecheler ; mutendi BA.

^ si vultis later MSS. ; si multis B ; simultis A.

^ Literally, to pay money on the spot or perform a task without delay.

^ i,e,j the department of " advice by precepts," discussed in the preceding letter from another angle. The Greek term is nearest to the Latin sub-division hortatio,

• i,e.^ the pertness of a home-bred slave {verna),

58

I

EPISTLES XCIV., XCV.

hunting sound advice when their fortunes go awry. For these two things are, as it were, at opposite poles — good fortune and good sense ; that is why we are wiser when in the midst of adversity. It is prosperity that takes away righteousness. Farewell.

XCV. ON THE USEFULNESS OF BASIC

XCV. ON THE USEFULNESS OF BASIC PRINCIPLES

You keep asking me to explain without postpone- ment " a topic which I once remarked should be put off until the proper time, and to inform you by letter whether this department of philosophy which the Greeks call paraenetic,^ and we Romans call the ** preceptorial,'* is enough to give us perfect wisdom. Now I know that you will take it in good part if I refuse to do so. But I accept your request all the more willingly, and refuse to let the common saying lose its point :

Don't ask for what you'll wish you hadn't got.

For sometimes we seek with effort that which we should decline if offered voluntarily. Call that fickle- ness or call it pettishness,^ — we must punish the habit by ready compliance. There are many things that we would have men think that we wish, but that we really do not wish. A lecturer sometimes brings upon the platform a huge work of research, written in the tiniest hand and very closely folded ; after reading off a large portion, he says : " I shall stop, if you wish ; " and a shout arises : ** Read on, read on ! *' from the lips of those who are anxious for the speaker to hold

VOL. Ill c 59

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

mutescere illic cupiunt. Saepe aliud volumus, aliud optamus et verum ne dis quidem dicimus, sed di aut

3 non exaudiunt aut miserentur. Ego me omissa misericordia vindicabo et tibi ingentem epistulam inpingam, quam tu si invitus leges, dicito : " ego mihi hoc contraxi '* teque inter illos numera, quos uxor magno ducta ambitu torquet, inter illos, quos divitiae per summum adquisitae sudorem male habent, inter illos, quos honores nulla non arte atque opera petiti discruciant, et ceteros malorum suorum compotes.

4 Sed ut omisso principio rem ipsam adgrediar, ** beata," inquiunt, ** vita constat ex actionibus rectis; ad actiones rectas praecepta perducunt ; ergo ad beatam vitam praecepta sufficiunt.** Non semper ad actiones rectas praecepta perducunt, sed cum obsequens ingenium est ; aliquando frustra admoven-

5 tur, si animum opiniones obsident pravae. Deinde etiam si recte faciunt, nesciunt facere se recte. Non potest enim quisquam nisi ab initio formatus et tota ratione compositus omnes exequi numeros, ut sciat, quando oporteat et in quantum et cum quo et quemadmodum et quare. Non potest toto animo ho- nesta ^ conari, ne constanter quidem aut libenter, sed respiciet, sed haesitabit.

6 ** Si honesta,'' inquit, ** actio ex praeceptis venit, ad beatam vitam praecepta abunde sunt ; atqui est ^

^ animo honesta Hense ; animo ad honesta later MSS. ; animoteonesta BA.

* atqui est Pincianus ; atque BA.

60

EPISTLE XCV.

his peace then and there. We often want one thing and pray for another, not telling the truth even to the gods, while the gods either do not hearken, or else take pity on us. But I shall without pity avenge myself and shall load a huge letter upon your shoulders ; for your part, if you read it with reluctance, you may say : ** I brought this burden upon myself," and may class yourself among those men whose too ambitious wives drive them frantic, or those whom riches harass, earned by extreme sweat of the brow, or those who are tortured with the titles which they have sought by every sort of device and toil, and all others who are responsible for their own misfortunes.

But I must stop this preamble and approach the problem under consideration. Men say : ** The happy life consists in upright conduct ; precepts guide one to upright conduct ; therefore precepts are sufficient for attaining the happy life." But they do not always guide us to upright conduct ; this occurs only when the will is receptive ; and some- times they are applied in vain, when wrong opinions obsess the soul. Furthermore, a man may act rightly without knowing that he is acting rightly. For nobody, except he be trained from the start and equipped with complete reason, can develop to perfect proportions, understanding when he should do certain things, and to what extent, and in whose company, and how, and why. Without such training a man cannot strive with all his heart after that which is honourable, or even with steadiness or glad- ness, but will ever be looking back and wavering.

It is also said : ** If honourable conduct results from precepts, then precepts are amply sufficient for the happy life ; but the first of these statements is

61

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

illud, ergo et hoc." His respondebimus actiones honestas et praeceptis fieri, non tantum praeeeptis.

7 ** Si aliae,*' inquit, " artes contentae sunt praeceptis, contenta erit et sapientia, nam et haec ars vitae est. Atqui gubernatorem facit ille, qui praecipit : sic move gubernaculum, sic vela summitte, sic secundo vento utere, sic adverso resiste, sic dubium com- munemque tibi vindica. Alios quoque artifices prae- cepta conformant ^ ; ergo in hoc idem poterunt

8 artifice vivendi." Omnes istae artes circa instru- menta vitae occupatae sunt, non circa totam vitam, Itaque multa illas inhibent extrinsecus et inpediunt, spes, cupiditas, timor. At haec, quae artem vitae professa est, nulla re, quo minus se exerceat, vetari potest ; discutit enim inpedimenta et traicit ^ ob- stantia. Vis scire, quam dissimilis sit aliarum artium condicio et huius ? In illis excusatius est voluntate peccare quam casu, in hac maxima culpa est sponte

9 delinquere. Quod dico, tale est. Grammaticus non erubescet soloecismo, si sciens fecit, erubescet, si nesciens ; medicus si deficere aegrum non intellegit, quantum ad artem, magis peccat quam si se intel- legere dissimulat. At in hac arte vivendi turpior volentium culpa est.

Adice nunc, quod artes quoque pleraeque, immo ex omnibus liberalissimae habent decreta sua, non

*• conformant Hermes and Gertz ; confirmant BA. ^ traicit Bartsch ; tractat BA.

<* The argument here is similar to Ep, Ixxxviii. 20 hae . . . artes ad instrumenta vitae plurimum conferunt^ tamen ad virtutem non pertinent.

^ i,e., philosophy.

62

EPISTLE XCV,

true ; therefore the second is true also." We shall reply to these words that honourable conduct is, to be sure, brought about by precepts, but not by precepts alone. ** Then,*' comes the reply, ** if the other arts are content with precepts, wisdom will also be content therewith ; for wisdom itself is an art of living. And yet the pilot is made by precepts which tell him thus and so to turn the tiller, set his sails, make use of a fair wind, tack, make the best of shifting and variable breezes, — all in the proper manner. Other craftsmen also are drilled by precepts ; hence precepts will be able to accomplish the same result in the case of our craftsman in the art of living.'* Now all these arts are concerned with the tools of life, but not with life as a whole. ^ Hence there is much to clog these arts from without and to complicate them — such as hope, greed, fear. But that art ^ which professes to teach the art of life cannot be forbidden by any circumstance from exercising its functions ; for it shakes oiF complica- tions and pierces through obstacles. Would you like to know how unlike its status is to the other arts ? In the case of the latter, it is more pardonable to err voluntarily rather than by accident ; but in the case of wisdom the worst fault is to commit sin wilfully. I mean something like this : A scholar will blush for shame, not if he makes a grammatical blunder inten- tionally, but if he makes it unintentionally ; if a physician does not recognize that his patient is failing, he is a much poorer practitioner than if he recognizes the fact and conceals his knowledge. But in this art of living a voluntary mistake is the more shameful.

Furthermore, many arts, aye and the most liberal of them all, have their special doctrines, and not mere

63

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

tantum praecepta, sicut medicina. Itaque alia est Hippocratis secta, alia Asclepiadis, alia Themisonis.

10 Praeterea nulla ars contemplativa sine decretis suis est, quae Graeci vocant dogmata, nobis vel deer eta licet appellare vel seita vel placita, quae et in geo- metria et in astronomia invenies. Philosophia autem et contemplativa est et activa ; spectat simul agitque. Err as enim, si tibi illam put as tantum terrestres operas ^ promittere ; altius spirat. Totum, inquit, mundum scrutor nee me intra contubernium mortale contineo suadere vobis ac dissuadere contenta. Magna me vocant supraque vos posita t

11 Nam tibi de summa caeli ratione deumque Disserere incipiam et rerum primordia pandam ; Unde omnis natura creet res, auctet alatque, Quoqiie eadem rursus ^ natura perempta resolvat,

ut ait Lucretius. Sequitur ergo ut, cum contem-

12 plativa sit, habeat decreta sua. Quid ? Quod faci- enda quoque nemo rite obibit nisi is, cui ratio erit tradita, qua in quaque re omnes officiorum numeros exequi possit, quos non servabit, qui in rem prae- sentem^ praecepta acceperit, non in omnem.* In- becilla sunt per se et, ut ita dicam, sine radice, quae partibus dantur. Decreta sunt, quae muniant, quae securitatem nostram tranquillitatemque tueantur, quae totam vitam totamque rerum naturam simul

^ operas later MSS. ; opera BA,

2 quove eadem rursum Lucr.

5 in rem praesentem Hermes ; in rem BA.

* omnem later MSS. ; omne BA.

^ Hippocrates belonged to the ** Clinical " School ; Asclepi.'ides and his pupil Themison to the " Methodical.'' See Index of Proper Names.

* " Axioms " and " postulates.*'

• i. 54 ff.

64

EPISTLE XCV.

precepts of advice — the medical profession, for example. There are the different schools of Hippo- crates, of Asclepiades, of Themison.® And besides, no art that concerns itself with theories can exist without its own doctrines ; the Greeks call them dogmas^ while we Romans may use the term ** doctrines,*' or ** tenets," or ** adopted principles,** ^ — such as you will find in geometry or astronomy. But philosophy is both theoretic and practical ; it contemplates and at the same time acts. You are .kideed mistaken if you think that philosophy offers you nothing but worldly assistance ; her aspira- tions are loftier than that. She cries : ** I investigate the whole universe, nor am I content, keeping myself within a mortal dwelling, to give you favourable or unfavourable advice. Great matters invite and such as are set far above you. In the words of Lucretius : *

To thee shall I reveal the ways of heaven

And of the gods, spreading before thine eyes

The atoms, — whence all things are brought to birth.

Increased, and fostered by creative power.

And eke their end when Nature casts them oif.

Philosophy, therefore, being theoretic, must have her doctrines. And why ? Because no man can duly perform right actions except one who has been entrusted with reason, which will enable him, in all cases, to fulfil all the categories of duty. These categories he cannot observe unless he receives pre- cepts for every occasion, and not for the present alone. Precepts by themselves are weak and, so to speak, rootless if they be assigned to the parts and not to the whole. It is the doctrines which will strengthen and support us in peace and calm, which will include simultaneously the whole of life and the

65

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

contineant. Hoc interest inter deereta philosophiae et praecepta, quod inter elementa et membra ; haec ex illis dependent, ilia et horum causae sunt et omnium.

13 ** Antiqua," inquit, ** sapientia nihil aliud quam facienda ac vitanda praecepit, et tunc longe meliores erant viri. Postquam docti prodierunt, boni desunt. Simplex enim ilia et aperta virtus in obscuram et soUertem scientiam versa est docemurque disputare,

14 non vivere/' Fuit sine dubio, ut dicitis, vetus ilia sapientia cum maxime nascens rudis non minus quam ceterae artes, quarum in processu subtilitas crevit. Sed ne opus quidem adhuc erat remediis diligentibus. Nondum in tantum nequitia surrexerat nee tam late se sparserat. Poterant vitiis simplicibus obstare remedia simplicia ; nunc necesse est tanto operosiora esse munimenta, quanto vehementiora sunt, quibus

15 petimur. Medicina quondam paucarum fuit scientia herbarum, quibus sisteretur fluens sanguis, vulnera coirent ; paulatim deinde in banc pervenit tam multi- plicem varietatem. Nee est mirum tunc illam minus negotii habuisse firmis adhuc solidisque corporibus et facili cibo nee per artem voluptatemque corrupto, qui postquam coepit non ad tollendam, sed ad inritandam famem quaeri et inventae sunt mille conditurae, quibus aviditas excitaretur, quae desiderantibus ali-

16 menta erant, onera sunt plenis. Inde pallor et nervorum vino madentium tremor et miserabilior ex cruditatibus quam ex fame macies. Inde incerti

^ Whether elementa and membra mean " letters and clauses " or ** matter and forms of matter " is difficult to say.

* Le.^ before the advent of any theoretical philosophy.

66

EPISTLE XGV.

universe in its completeness. There is the same difference between philosophical doctrines and pre- cepts as there is between elements and members * ; the latter depend upon the former, while the former are the source both of the latter and of all things.

People say : *' The old-style wisdom advised only what one should do and avoid ; ^ and yet the men of former days were better men by far. When savants have appeared, sages have become rare. For that frank, simple virtue has changed into hidden and crafty knowledge ; we are taught how to debate, not how to live.*' Of course, as you say, the old- fashioned wisdom, especially in its beginnings, was crude ; but so were the other arts, in which dexterity developed with progress. Nor indeed in those days was there yet any need for carefully-planned cures. Wickedness had not yet reached such a high point, or scattered itself so broadcast. Plain vices could be treated by plain cures ; now, however, we need defences erected with all the greater care, because of the stronger powers by which we are attacked. Medicine once consisted of the knowledge of a few simples, to stop the flow of blood, or to heal wounds ; then by degrees it reached its present stage of com- plicated variety. No wonder that in early days medi- cine had less to do ! Men's bodies were still sound and strong ; their food was light and not spoiled by art and luxury, whereas when they began to seek dishes not for the sake of removing, but of rousing, the appetite, and devised countless sauces to whet their gluttony, — then what before was nourishment to a hungry man became a burden to the full stomach. Thence come paleness, and a trembling of wine- sodden muscles, and a repulsive thinness, due rather to indigestion than to hunger. Thence weak tottering

VOL. Ill c 2 67

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

labantium ^ pedes et semper qualis in ipsa ebrietate titubatio. Inde in totam cutem umor admissus dis- tentusque venter, dum male adsueseit plus capere quam poterat. Inde suffusio luridae bills et decolor vultus tabesque in se putrescentium et retorridi digiti articulis obrigescentibus nervorumque sine sensu iaeentium torpor aut palpitatio ^ sine intermissione

17 vibrantium. Quid capitis vertigines dicam ? Quid oculorum auriumque tormenta et cerebri exaestuan- tis verminationes et omnia, per quae exoneramur, internis ulceribus adfecta ? Innumerabilia praeterea febrium genera, aliarum impetu saevientium, aliarum tenui peste repentium, aliarum cum horrore et multa

18 membrorum quassatione venientium ? Quid alios referam innumerabiles morbos, supplicia luxuriae ?

Immunes erant ab istis malis, qui nondum se deliciis solverant, qui sibi imperabant, sibi mini- strabant. Corpora opere ac vero labore durabant aut cursu defatigati aut venatu aut tellure ^ versanda.* Excipiebat illos cibus, qui nisi esurientibus placere non posset. Itaque nihil opus erat tam magna medicorum supellectile nee tot ferramentis atque pyxidibus. Simplex erat ex causa simplici valitudo ;

19 multos morbos multa fericula fecerunt. Vide, quan- tum rerum per unam gulam transiturarum permisceat luxuria, terrarum marisque vastatrix. Necesse est itaque inter se tam diversa dissideant et hausta male ^

^ labantium later MwSS. ; labentium BA. 2 Muretus removed corporum after palpitatio : Buecheler suggested praecordiorum, and Windhaus cordum. ^^ tellure later MSS. ; toll ere BA.

* versanda Windhaus ; versantia BA.

* Gertz added another male to the text.

" verminatio^ defined by Festus as cum corpus quodam minuto motu quasi a vermibus scindatur,

68

EPISTLE XCV.

steps, and a reeling gait just like that of drunkenness. Thence dropsy, spreading under the entire skin, and the belly growing to a paunch through an ill habit of taking more than it can hold. Thence yellow jaundice, discoloured countenances, and bodies that rot inwardly, and fingers that grow knotty when the joints stiffen, and muscles that are numbed and without power of feeling, and palpitation of the heart with its ceaseless pounding. Why need I mention dizziness ? Or speak of pain in the eye and in the ear, itching and aching^ in the fevered brain, and internal ulcers throughout the digestive system ? Besides these, there are countless kinds of fever, some acute in their malignity, others creeping upon us with subtle damage, and still others which approach us with chills and severe ague. Why should I mention the other innumerable diseases, the tor- tures that result from high living ?

Men used to be free from such ills, because they had not yet slackened their strength by indulgence, because they had control over themselves, and suppUed their own needs. ^ They toughened their bodies by work and real toil, tiring themselves out by running or hunting or tilUng the earth. They were refreshed by food in which only a hungry man could take pleasure. Hence, there was no need for all our mighty medical paraphernalia, for so many instruments and pill-boxes. For plain reasons they enjoyed plain health ; it took elaborate courses to pro- duce elaborate diseases. Mark the number of things — all to pass down a single throat — that luxury mixes together, after ravaging land and sea. So many different dishes must surely disagree ; they are

* For this sort of Golden Age reminiscence see Ep, xc. 5 ff. (vol. ii. p. 397) and note.

69

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

male digerantur aliis alio nitentibus. Nee mirum, quod inconstans variusque ex discordi cibo morbus est et ilia ex contrariis naturae partibus in eundem compulsa redundant. Inde tarn multo^ aegrotamus

20 genere quam vivimus. Maximus ille medicorum et huius scientiae conditor feminis nee capillos defluere dixit nee pedes laborare ; atqui et capillis desti- tuuntur et pedibus aegrae sunt. Non mutata femi- narum natura, sed victa est ; nam cum virorum licentiam aequaverint, corporum quoque virilium

21 incommoda aequarunt. Non minus pervigilant, non minus potant, et oleo et mero viros provocant ; aeque invitis ingesta visceribus per os reddunt et vinum omne vomitu remetiuntur ; aeque nivem rodunt, solaeium stomachi aestuantis. Libidine vero ne mari- bus quidem cedunt, pati natae, di illas deaeque male perdant ! Adeo perversum commentae genus in- pudicitiae viros ineunt. Quid ergo mirandum est maximum medicorum ac naturae peritissimum in mendacio prendi, cum tot feminae podagricae calvaeque sint ? Beneficium sexus sui vitiis perdi- derunt et, quia feminam exuerant, damnatae sunt morbis virilibus.

22 Antiqui medici nesciebant dare cibum saepius et

^ multo Haupt ; nulla BA.

* Hippocrates. 70

EPISTLE XCV.

bolted with difficulty and are digested with diffi- culty, each jostling against the other. And no wonder, that diseases which result from ill-assorted food are variable and manifold ; there must be an overflow when so many unnatural combinations are jumbled together. Hence there are as many ways of being ill as there are of Uving. The illustrious founder of the guild and profession of medicine ** remarked that women never lost their hair or suffered from pain in the feet ; and yet nowadays they run short of hair and are afflicted with gout. This does not mean that woman's physique has changed, but that it has been conquered ; in rival- ling male indulgences, they have also rivalled the ills to which men are heirs. They keep just as late hours, and drink just as much liquor ; they challenge men in wrestling and carousing ; they are no less given to vomiting from distended stomachs and to thus discharging all their wine again ; nor are they behind the men in gnawing ice, as a relief to their fevered digestions. And they even match the men in their passions, although they were created to feel love passively (may the gods and goddesses confound them !). They devise the most impossible varieties of unchastity, and in the company of men they play the part of men. What wonder, then, that we can trip up the statement of the greatest and most skilled physician, when so many women are gouty and bald ! Because of their vices, women have ceased to deserve the privileges of their sex ; they have put off their womanly nature and are therefore condemned to suffer the diseases of men.

Physicians of old time knew nothing about pre- scribing frequent nourishment and propping the

71

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

vino fulcire venas cadentes, nesciebant sanguinem mittere et diutinam aegrotationem balneo sudoribus- que laxare, nesciebant crurum vinculo brachiorum- que latentem vim et in medio sedentem ad extrema revocare. Non erat necesse circumspicere multa auxiliorum genera, cum essent periculorum

23 paucissima. Nunc vero quam longe processerunt mala valitudinis ! Has usuras voluptatium pendimus ultra modum fasque concupitarum. Innumerabiles esse morbos non miraberis : cocos numera. Cessat omne studium et liberalia professi sine ulla frequentia desertis angulis praesident. In rhetorum ac philoso- phorum scholis solitudo est ; at quam celebres culinae sunt, quanta circa nepotum focos iuventus

24 premitur ! Transeo puerorum infelicium greges, quos post transacta convivia aliae cubiculi contumeliae exspectant. Transeo agmina exoletorum per nationes coloresque discripta, ut eadem omnibus levitas sit, eadem primae mensura lanuginis, eadem species capillorum, ne quis, cui rectior est coma, crispulis misceatur. Transeo pistorum turbam, transeo minis- tratorum, per quos signo dato ad infer endam cenam discurritur. Di boni, quantum hominum unus venter exercet ! Quid ? Tu illos boletos, voluptarium vene- num, nihil occulti operis iudicas facere, etiam si

25 praesentanei non fuerunt ? Quid ? Tu illam aesti- vam nivem non putas callum iocineribus obducere ?

" Mushrooms, as in the case of the Emperor Claudius, were a frequent aid to secret murder.

72

EPISTLE XCV,

feeble pulse with wine ; they did not understand the practice of blood-letting and of easing chronic com- plaints with sweat-baths ; they did not understand how, by bandaging ankles and arms, to recall to the outward parts the hidden strength which had taken refuge in the centre. They were not compelled to seek many varieties of relief, because the varieties of suffering were very few in number. Nowadays, however, to what a stage have the evils of ill-health advanced ! This is the interest which we pay on pleasures which we have coveted beyond what is reasonable and right. You need not wonder that diseases are beyond counting : count the cooks ! All intellectual interests are in abeyance ; those who follow culture lecture to empty rooms, in out-of-the- way places. The halls of the professor and the philosopher are deserted ; but what a crowd there is in the cafes ! How many young fellows besiege the kitchens of their gluttonous friends ! I shall not mention the troops of luckless boys who must put up with other shameful treatment after the banquet is over. I shall not mention the troops of catamites, rated according to nation and colour, who must all have the same smooth skin, and the same amount of youthful down on their cheeks, and the same way of dressing their hair, so that no boy with straight locks may get among the curly-heads. Nor shall I mention the medley of bakers, and the numbers of waiters who at a given signal scurry to carry in the courses. Ye gods ! How many men are kept busy to humour a single belly ! What ? Do you imagine that those mushrooms, the epicure's poison, work no evil results in secret,* even though they have had no immediate effect ? What ? Do you suppose that your summer snow does not harden

73

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

Quid ? Ilia ostrea, inertissimam carnem caeno sagina- tam, nihil existimas limosae gravitatis inferre ? Quid? lUud sociorum garum, pretiosam malorum piscium saniem, non credis urere salsa tabe praecordia ? Quid ? Ilia purulenta et quae tantum non ex ipso igne in os transferuntur, iudicas sine noxa in ipsis visceribus extingui ? Quam foedi itaque pestilentes- que ructus sunt, quantum fastidium sui exhalan- tibus crapulam veterem ! Scias putrescere sumpta, non eoncoqui.

26 Memini fuisse quondam in sermone nobilem patinam, in quam quicquid apud lautos solet diem ducere, properans in damnum suum popina con- gesserat ; veneriae spondylique et ostrea eatenus circumcisa, qua eduntur, intervenientibus distingue- bantur echinis. Totam dissecti structique ^ sine uUis

27 ossibus muUi constraverant. Piget esse iam singula ; coguntur in unum sapores. In cena fit, quod fieri debebat^ in ventre. Expecto iam, ut manducata ponantur. Quantulo autem hoc minus est, testas excerpere atque ossa et dentium opera cocum fungi ?

" Gravest luxuriari per singula ; omnia semel et in eundem saporem versa ponantur. Quare ego ad unam rem manum porrigam ? Plura veniant simul,

* dissecti structique Buecheler ; destructique BA. 2 dehehat Gertz ; debet saturo BA.

* The finest variety of garum was made from Spanish mackerel-roe.

74

EPISTLE XGV.

the tissue of the Uver ? What ? Do you suppose that those oysters, a sluggish food fattened on sHme, do not weigh one down with mud-begotten heaviness ? What ? Do you not think that the so-called ** Sauce from the Provinces/* ^ the costly extract of poisonous fish, burns up the stomach with its salted putrefaction ? What ? Do you judge that the corrupted dishes which a man swallows almost burning from the kitchen fire, are quenched in the digestive system without doing harm ? How repulsive, then, and how unhealthy are their belchings, and how disgusted men are with themselves when they breathe forth the fumes of yesterday's debauch ! You may be sure that their food is not being digested, but is rotting.

I remember once hearing gossip about a notorious dish into which everything over which epicures love to dally had been heaped together by a cookshop that was fast rushing into bankruptcy ; there were two kinds of mussels, and oysters trimmed round at the line where they are edible, set off at intervals by sea-urchins ; the whole was flanked by mullets cut up and served without the bones. In these days we are ashamed of separate foods ; people mix many flavours into one. The dinner table does work which the stomach ought to do. I look forward next to food being served masticated ! And how little we are from it already when we pick out shells and bones and the cook performs the office of the teeth !

They say : " It is too much trouble to take our luxuries one by one ; let us have everything served at the same time and blended into the same flavour. Why should I help myself to a single dish ? Let us have many coming to the table at once ; the dainties of

75

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

multorum ferculorum ornamenta coeant et cohaere-

28 ant. Sciant protinus hi, qui iactationem ex istis peti et gloriam aiebant, non ostendi ista, sed eonscientiae dari. Pariter sint, quae disponi solent, uno iure perfusa. Nihil intersit : ostrea, echini, spondyli, mulh perturbati concoctique ponantur.*' Non esset

29 confusior vomentium cibus. Quomodo ista perplexa sunt, sic ex istis non singulares morbi nascuntur, sed inexplicabiles, diversi, multiformes, adversus quos et medicina armare se coepit multis generibus, multis observationibus .

Idem tibi de philosophia dico. Fuit aliquando sim- phcior inter minora peccantes et levi quoque cura remediabiles ; adversus tantam morum eversionem omnia conanda sunt. Et utinam sic denique lues

30 ista vindicetur ! Non privatim solum, sed publice furimus. Homicidia compescimus et singulas caedes ; quid bella et occisarum gentium gloriosum scelus ? Non avaritia, non crudelitas modum novit. Et ista quamdiu furtim et a singulis fiunt, minus noxia minusque monstruosa sunt ; ex senatus consultis plebisque scitis saeva exercentur et publice iubentur

31 vetata privatim. Quae clam commissa capite luerent, tum quia paludati fecere, laudamus. Non pudet ^ homines, mitissimum genus, gaudere sanguine alterno

* pudet later MSS. ; putet BA.

76

EPISTLE XCV.

various courses should be combined and confounded. Those who used to declare that this was done for display and notoriety should understand that it is not done for show, but that it is an oblation to our sense of duty ! Let us have at one time, drenched in the same sauce, the dishes that are usually served separ- ately. Let there be no difference : let oysters, sea-urchins, shell -fish, and mullets be mixed to- gether and cooked in the same dish." No vomited food could be jumbled up more helter-skelter. And as the food itself is complicated, so the resulting diseases are complex, unaccountable, manifold, variegated ; medicine has begun to campaign against them in many ways and by many rules of treatment. Now I declare to you that the same statement applies to philosophy. It was once more simple be- cause men's sins were on a smaller scale, and could be cured with but slight trouble ; in the face, however, of all this moral topsy-turvy men must leave no remedy untried. And would that this pest might so at last be overcome ! We are mad, not only individu- ally, but nationally. We check manslaughter and isolated murders ; but what of war and the much- vaunted crime of slaughtering whole peoples ? There are no limits to our greed, none to our cruelty. And as long as such crimes are committed by stealth and by individuals, they are less harmful and less portentous ; but cruelties are practised in accordance with acts of senate and popular assembly, and the public is bidden to do that which is forbidden to the individual. Deeds that would be punished by loss of life when committed in secret, are praised by us because uniformed generals have carried them out. Man, naturally the gentlest class of being, is not ashamed to revel in the blood of others, to wage

77

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

et bella gerere gerendaque liberis tradere, cum inter

32 se etiam mutis ac feris pax sit. Adversus tarn poten- tem explicitumque late furorem operosior philo- sophia facta est et tantum sibi virium sumpsit, quantum iis, adversus quae parabatur, accesserat.

Expeditum erat obiurgare indulgentes mero et petentes delicatiorem cibum; non erat animus ad frugalitatem magna vi reducendus, a qua pauUum discesserat :

33 Nunc manibus rapidis opus est, nunc arte magistra. Voluptas ex omni quaeritur. Nullum intra se manet vitium ; in avaritiam luxuria praeceps est. Hones ti oblivio invasit. Nihil turpest, cuius placet pretium. Homo, sacra res homini, iam per lusum ac iocum occiditur et quem erudiri ad inferenda accipiendaque vulnera nefas erat, is iam nudus inermisque pro- ducitur satisque spectaculi ex homine mors est.

84 In hac ergo morum perversitate desideratur solito vehementius aliquid, quod mala inveterata discutiat ; decretis agendum est, ut revellatur penitus falsorum recepta persuasio. His si adiunxerimus praecepta, consolationes, adhortationes, poterunt valere ; per

35 se inefficaces sunt. Si volumus habere obligatos et malis, quibus iam tenentur, avellere, discant, quid malum, quid bonum sit. Sciant omnia praeter virtu-

* Vergil, Aen. viii. 442.

78

EPISTLE XCV.

war, and to entrust the waging of war to his sons, when even dumb beasts and wild beasts keep the peace with one another. Against this overmastering and widespread madness philosophy has become a matter of greater effort, and has taken on strength in proportion to the strength which is gained by the opposition forces.

It used to be easy to scold men who were slaves to drink and who sought out more luxurious food ; it did not require a mighty effort to bring the spirit back to the simplicity from which it had departed only slightly. But now

One needs the rapid hand, the master-craft.*

Men seek pleasure from every source. No vice remains within its limits ; luxury is precipitated into greed. We are overwhelmed with forgetfulness of that which is honourable. Nothing that has an attractive value, is base. Man, an object of reverence in the eyes of man, is now slaughtered for jest and sport; and those whom it used to be unholy to train for the purpose of inflicting and enduring wounds, are thrust forth exposed and defenceless ; and it is a satisfying spectacle to see a man made a corpse.

Amid this upset condition of morals, something stronger than usual is needed, — something which will shake off these chronic ills ; in order to root out a deep-seated belief in wrong ideas, conduct must be regulated by doctrines. It is only when we add pre- cepts, consolation, and encouragement to these, that they can prevail ; by themselves they are ineffective. If we would hold men firmly bound and tear them away from the ills which clutch them fast, they must learn what is evil and what is good. They must know

79

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

tern mutare nomen, modo mala fieri, modo bona. Quemadmodum primum militiae vinculum est religio et signorum amor et deserendi nefas, tunc deinde facile cetera exiguntur mandanturque iusiurandum adactis, ita in iis, quos velis ad beatam vitam per- ducere : prima fundamenta iacienda sunt et insinu- anda virtus. Huius quadam superstitione teneantur ; banc ament ; cum hac vivere velint, sine hac nolint.

36 " Quid ergo ? Non quidam sine institutione subtili evaserunt probi magnosque profectus adsecuti sunt, dum nudis tantum praeceptis obsecuntur ? '* Fateor, sed felix illis ingenium fuit et salutaria in transitu rapuit. Nam ut di inmortales nullam didicere virtu- tem cum omni editi et pars naturae eorum est bonos esse, ita quidam ex hominibus egregiam sortiti indolem in ea, quae tradi solent, perveniunt sine longo magisterio et honesta complexi sunt, cum primum audiere ; unde ista tam rapacia virtutis ingenia vel ex se fertilia. Illis autem^ hebetibus et optusis aut mala consuetudine obsessis diu robigo

37 animorum effricanda est. Ceterum, ut illos in bonum pronos citius educit ad summa, et hos inbeeilliores adiuvabit malisque opinionibus extrahet, qui illis philosophiae placita tradiderit ; quae quam sint

^ illis auteni cod. Harl. ; et illis aut BA.

** Cf. Ep. xxxvii. 2 wW, vinciri, ferroqiie necarl and note. * t.^., not reinforced by general dogmas.

80

EPISTLE XCV.

that everything except virtue changes its name and becomes now good and now bad. Just as the soldier's primary bond of union is his oath of allegiance and his love for the flag, and a horror of desertion, and just as, after this stage, other duties can easily be demanded of him, and trusts given to him when once the oath * has been administered ; so it is with those whom you would bring to the happy life : the first foundations must be laid, and virtue worked into these men. Let them be held by a sort of super- stitious worship of virtue ; let them love her ; let them desire to live with her, and refuse to live without her.

** But what, then," people say, ** have not certain persons won their way to excellence without com- plicated training ? Have they •. not made great progress by obeying bare precepts alone ^ ? '* Very true ; but their temperaments were propitious, and they snatched salvation as it were by the way. For just as the immortal gods did not learn virtue — having been born with virtue complete, and contain- ing in their nature the essence of goodness — even so certain men are fitted with unusual qualities and reach without a long apprenticeship that which is ordinarily a matter of teaching, welcoming honourable things as soon as they hear them. Hence come the choice minds which seize quickly upon virtue, or else produce it from within themselves. But your dull, sluggish fellow, who is hampered by his evil habits, must have this soul-rust incessantly rubbed off. Now, as the former sort, who are inclined towards the good, can be raised to the heights more quickly : so the weaker spirits will be assisted and freed from their evil opinions if we entrust to them the accepted prin- ciples of philosophy ; and you may understand how

81

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

necessaria, sic licet ^ videas. Quaedam insident nobis, quae nos ad alia pigros, ad alia temerarios faciunt. Nee haec audacia reprimi potest nee ilia inertia suscitari, nisi causae eorum eximuntur, falsa admiratio et falsa formido. Haec nos quamdiu possi- dent, dicas licet : ** Hoc patri praestare debes, hoc liberis, hoc amicis, hoc hospitibus ; " temptantem avaritia retinebit. Sciet pro patria pugnandum esse, dissuadebit timer ; sciet pro amicis desudandum esse ad extremum usque sudorem,^ sed deliciae veta- bunt ; sciet in uxore gravissimum esse genus iniuriae paelicem, sed ilium libido in contraria inpinget.^

38 Nihil ergo proderit dare praecepta, nisi prius amoveris obstatura praeceptis, non magis quam proderit arma in conspectu posuisse propiusque ad- movisse, nisi usurae manus expediuntur. Ut ad praecepta, quae damus, possit animus ire, solvendus

39 est. Putemus aliquem facere, quod oportet ; non faciet adsidue, non faciet aequaliter : nesciet enim, quare faciat. Aliqua vel casu vel exercitatione exi- bunt recta, sed non erit in manu regula, ad quam exigantur, cui credat recta esse, quae fecit. Non promittet se talem in perpetuum, qui bonus casu *

40 est. Deinde praestabunt tibi fortasse praecepta ut

* sic licet Haase ; scilicet BA.

* We retain usque sudor em, the reading of A, in spite of the objections of Gruter and others.

^ imping et Erasmus ; inpinglt BA.

* casu later MSS. ; casus BA.

82

EPISTLE XGV.

essential these principles are in the following way. Certain things sink into us, rendering us sluggish in some ways, and hasty in others. These two qualities, the one of recklessness and the other of sloth, cannot be respectively checked or roused unless we remove their causes, which are mistaken admiration and mistaken fear. As long as we are obsessed by such feelings, you may say to us : ** You owe this duty to your father, this to your children, this to your friends, this to your guests ** ; but greed will always hold us back, no matter how we try. A man may know that he should fight for his country, but fear will dissuade him. A man may know that he should sweat forth his last drop of energy on behalf of his friends, but luxury will forbid. A man may know that keeping a mistress is the worst kind of insult to his wife, but lust will drive him in the opposite direction. It will therefore be of no avail to give precepts unless you first remove the conditions that are likely to stand in the way of precepts ; it will do no more good than to place weapons by your side and bring yourself near the foe without having your hands free to use those weapons. The soul, in order to deal with the precepts which we offer, must first be set free. Suppose that a man is acting as he should ; he cannot keep it up continuously or consistently, since he will not know the reason for so acting. Some of his conduct will result rightly because of luck or practice ; but there will be in his hand no rule by which he may regulate his acts, and which he may trust to tell him whether that which he has done is right. One who is good through mere chance will not give promise of retaining such a character for ever. Furthermore, precepts will perhaps help you to do what should be done ; but

83

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

quod oportet facial, non praestabunt ut quemadmo- dum oportet ; si hoc non praestant, ad virtutem non perducunt. Faciet quod oportet monitus, concedo ; sed id parum est, quoniam quidem non in facto laus

41 est, sed in eo, quemadmodum fiat. Quid est cena sumptuosa flagitiosius et equestrem censum con- sumente ? Quid tarn dignum censoria nota, si quis, ut isti ganeones loquuntur, sibi hoc et genio suo praestet ? Et deciens ^ tamen sestertio aditiales cenae frugahssimis viris constiterunt. Eadem res, si gulae datur, turpis est ; si honori, reprensionem effugit. Non enim luxuria, sed inpensa sollemnis est,

42 Mullum ingentis formae — quare autem non pondus adicio et aUquorum gulam inrito ? quattuor pondo et selibram fuisse aiebant — Tiberius Caesar missum sibi cum in macellum deferri et veniri iussisset : ** amici," inquit, " omnia me fallunt, nisi istum mulhim aut Apicius emerit aut P. Octavius.*' Ultra spem ilh coniectura processit : liciti sunt, \icit Octavius et ingentem consecutus est inter suos gloriam, cum quinque sestertiis emisset piscem, quem Caesar vendiderat, ne Apicius quidem emerat. Numerare tantum Octavio fuit turpe, non illi,^ qui emerat, ut Tiberio mitteret, quamquam ilium quo- que reprenderim ; admiratus est rem, qua putavit Caesarem dignum.

^ deciens Hermes ; docens BA. ^ non illi Pincianus ; nam ille BA.

** The nota was the mark of disgrace which the censor registered when he struck a man's name off the list of senators or knights.

* The genius was properly a man's alter ego or " better self " : every man had his genius. For the colloquial use compare the " indulge genio " of the Ptoman poets.

* See Index of Proper Names. 84

EPISTLE XCV.

they will not help you to do it in the proper way ; and if they do not help you to this end, they do not conduct you to virtue. I grant you that, if warned, a man will do what he should ; but that is not enough, since the credit lies, not in the actual deed, but in the way it is done. What is more shameful than a costly meal which eats away the income even of a knight ? Or what so worthy of the censor's con- demnation ^ as to be always indulging oneself and one's ** inner man," ^ if I may speak as the gluttons do ? And yet often has an inaugural dinner cost the most careful man a cool million ! The very sum that is called disgraceful if spent on the appetite, is beyond reproach if spent for official purposes ! For it is not luxury but an expenditure sanctioned by custom.

A mullet of monstrous size was presented to the Emperor Tiberius. They say it weighed four and one half pounds (and why should I not tickle the palates of certain epicures by mentioning its weight ?). Tiberius ordered it to be sent to the fish-market and put up for sale, remarking : *' I shall be taken entirely by surprise, my friends, if either Apicius ^ or P. Octavius ^ does not buy that mullet." The guess came true beyond his expecta- tion : the two men bid, and Octavius won, thereby acquiring a great reputation among his intimates because he had bought for five thousand sesterces a fish which the Emperor had sold, and which even Apicius did not succeed in buying. To pay such a price was disgraceful for Octavius, but not for the individual who purchased the fish in order to present it to Tiberius, — though I should be inclined to blame the latter as well ; but at any rate he admired a gift of which he thought Caesar worthy.

85

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

43 Amico aliquis aegro adsidet : probamus. At hoc hereditatis causa facit : vultur est, cadaver expectat. Eadem aut turpia sunt aut honesta ; refert, quare aut quemadmodum fiant. Omnia autem honesta fient, si honesto nos addixerimus idque unum in rebus humanis bonum iudicaverimus quaeque ex eo sunt ;

44 cetera in diem bona sunt. Ergo infigi debet persuasio ad totam pertinens vitam : hoc est, quod decretum voco. QuaUs haec persuasio fuerit, talia erunt, quae agentur, quae cogitabuntur. Qualia autem haec fuerint, taUs vita erit. In particulas suasisse totum

45 ordinanti parum est. M. Brutus in eo Hbro, quem Trepl KciOiJKovTos inscripsit, dat multa praecepta et parentibus et hberis et fratribus ; haec nemo faciet quemadmodum debet, nisi habuerit quo referat.^ Proponamus oportet finem summi boni, ad quem nitamur, ad quem omne factum nostrum dictum- que respiciat ; veluti navigantibus ad aUquod sidus

46 derigendus est cursus. Vita sine proposito vaga est : quod si utique proponendum est, incipiunt necessaria esse decreta. Illud, ut puto, concedes, nihil esse tur- pius dubio et incerto ac timide ^ pedem referente. Hoc in omnibus rebus accidet nobis, nisi ^ eximuntur, quae reprendunt^ animos et detinent et pericUtari conarique ^ totos vet ant.

47 Quomodo sint di colendi, solet praecipi. Accendere ahquem lucernas sabbatis prohibeamus, quoniam

^ referat Muretus ; perferat BA.

2 ac timide Bartsch ; actimido BA.

^ nisi later MSS. ; om. BA.

* reprendunt later MSS. ; reppendunt BA.

* pericUtari conarique Hense ; et preconarique BA.

* A frequent vice under the Empire, nicknamed captatio,

* ITept KaOt'iKouTos, — a subject handled by Panaetius, and by Cicero (De Ojfficiis),

86

EPISTLE XCV.

When people sit by the bedsides of their sick friends, we honour their motives. But when people do this for the purpose of attaining a legacy,^ they are like vultures waiting for carrion. The same act may be either shameful or honourable : the purpose and the manner make all the difference. Now each of our acts will be honourable if we declare allegiance to honour and judge honour and its results to be the only good that can fall to man's lot ; for other things are only temporarily good. I think, then, that there should be deeply implanted a firm belief which will apply to life as a whole : this is what I call a ** doctrine.*' And as this belief is, so will be our acts and our thoughts. As our acts and our thoughts are, so will our lives be. It is not enough, when a man is arranging his existence as a whole, to give him advice about details. Marcus Brutus, in the book which he has entitled Concerning T>uty^ gives many precepts to parents, children, and brothers; but no one will do his duty as he ought, unless he has some principle to which he may refer his conduct. We must set before our eyes the goal of the Supreme Good, towards which we may strive, and to which all our acts and words may have reference — ^just as sailors must guide their course according to a certain star. Life without ideals is erratic : as soon as an ideal is to be set up, doctrines begin to be necessary. I am sure you will admit that there is nothing more shameful than uncertain and wavering conduct, than the habit of timorous retreat. This will be our experience in all cases unless we remove that which checks the spirit and clogs it, and keeps it from making an attempt and trying with all its might.

Precepts are commonly given as to how the gods should be worshipped. But let us forbid lamps to

87

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

nee lumine di egent et ne homines quidem delec- tantur fuligine. Vet emus salutationibus matutinis fungi et foribus adsidere templorum ; humana am- bitio istis officiis capitur, deum colit qui novit. Vete- mus lintea et strigiles lovi ferre et speculum tenere lunoni ; non quaerit ministros deus. Quidni ? Ipse humano generi ministrat, ubique et omnibus praesto est. Audiat licet, quem modum servare in sacrificiis debeat, quam procul resilire a molestis superstitioni- bus, numquam satis profectum erit, nisi qualem debet deum mente conceperit, omnia habentem, omnia tribuentem, beneficum ^ gratis. Quae causa est dis

49 bene faciendi ? Natura. Errat, si quis illos putat nocere nolle ; non possunt. Nee accipere iniuriam queunt nee facere ; laedere etenim laedique coniunc- tum est. Summa ilia ac pulcherrima omnium natura quos periculo exemit, ne periculosos quidem fecit.

50 Primus est deorum cultus deos credere ; deinde reddere illis maiestatem suam, reddere bonitatem, sine qua nulla maiestas est. Scire illos esse, qui praesident mundo, qui uni versa vi sua temperant, qui humani generis tutelam gerunt interdum in- curiosi ^ singulorum. Hi nee dant malum nee habent ; ceterum castigant quosdam et coercent et inrogant

^ beneficum cod. Velz., also Windhaus and Madvig ; heneficiuni BA.

2 incur iosi Madvig ; curiosi BA.

^ t.^., the significant features of athletics and adornment for men and women respectively.

88

EPISTLE XCV.

be lighted on the Sabbath, since the gods do not need light, neither do men take pleasure in soot. Let us forbid men to offer morning salutation and to throng the doors of temples ; mortal ambitions are attracted by such ceremonies, but God is worshipped by those who truly know Him Let us forbid bringing towels and flesh-scrapers to Jupiter, and proffering mirrors to Juno ; ^ for God seeks no servants. Of course not ; he himself does service to mankind, everywhere and to all he is at hand to help. Although a man hear what limit he should observe in sacrifice, and how far he should recoil from burdensome superstitions, he will never make sufficient progress until he has conceived a right idea of God, — ^regarding Him as one who possesses all things, and allots all things, and bestows them without price. And what reason have the gods for doing deeds of kindness ? It is their nature. One who thinks that they are unwilling to do harm, is wrong ; they cannot do harm. They cannot receive or inflict injury ; for doing harm is in the same category as suffering harm. The universal nature, all-glorious and all-beautiful, has rendered incapable of inflicting ill those whom it has removed from the danger of ill.

The first way to worship the gods is to believe in the gods ; the next to acknowledge their majesty, to acknowledge their goodness without which there is no majesty. Also, to know that they are supreme commanders in the universe, controlling all things by their power and acting as guardians of the human race, even though they are sometimes unmindful of the individual. They neither give nor have evil ; but they do chasten and restrain certain persons, and impose penalties, and sometimes punish by bestowing

^9

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

poenas et aliquando specie boni puniunt. Vis deos propitiare ? Bonus esto. Satis illos coluit, quisquis imitatus est.

51 Ecce altera quaestio, quomodo hominibus sit utendum. Quid agimus ? Quae damus prae- cepta ? Ut pareamus sanguini humano ? Quantulum est ei non nocere, cui debeas prodesse ! Magna scilicet laus est, si homo mansuetus homini est. Praecipiemus, ut naufrago manum porrigat, erranti viam monstret, cum esuriente panem suum dividat ? Quando omnia, quae praestanda ac vitanda sunt, dicam, cum possim breviter hanc illi formulam humani

52 officii tradere : omne hoc, quod vides, quo divina atque humana conclusa sunt, unum est ; membra sumus corporis magni. Natura nos cognatos edidit, cum ex isdem et in eadem gigneret. Haec nobis amorem indidit mutuum et sociabiles fecit. Ilia aequum iustumque composuit ; ex illius constitu- tione miserius est nocere quam laedi. Ex illius im-

53 perio paratae sint iuvandis manus. lUe versus et in pectore et in ore sit :

Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto.

Habeamus in commune ; nati sumus. Societas nostra lapidum fornicationi simillima est, quae casura, nisi in vicem obstarent, hoc ipso sustinetur.

54 Post deos hominesque dispiciamus, quomodo rebus

• Terence, Heautontimorumenos, 77«

90

EPISTLE XGV.

that which seems good outwardly. Would you win over the gods ? Then be a good man. Whoever imitates them, is worshipping them sufficiently.

Then comes the second problem, — how to deal with men. What is our purpose ? What precepts do we offer ? Should we bid them refrain from bloodshed ? What a little thing it is not to harm one whom you ought to help ! It is indeed worthy of great praise, when man treats man with kindness ! Shall we advise stretching forth the hand to the shipwrecked sailor, or pointing out the way to the wanderer, or sharing a crust with the starving ? Yes, if I can only tell you first everything which ought to be afforded or withheld ; meantime, I can lay down for mankind a rule, in short compass, for our duties in human relationships : all that you behold, that which comprises both god and man, is one — we are the parts of one great body. Nature produced us related to one another, since she created us from the same source and to the same end. She engendered in us mutual affection, and made us prone to friend- ships. She established fairness and justice ; accord- ing to her ruling, it is more wretched to commit than to suffer injury. Through her orders, let our hands be ready for all that needs to be helped. Let this verse be in your heart and on your lips :

I am a man ; and nothing in man's lot Do I deem foreign to me.**

Let us possess things in common ; for birth is ours in common. Our relations with one another are like a stone arch, which would collapse if the stones did not mutually support each other, and which is upheld in this very way.

Next, after considering gods and men, let us see VOL. Ill D 91

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

situtendum. In supervacuum praecepta iactavimus, nisi illiid praecesserit, qualem de quacumque re habere debeamus opinionem, de paupertate de divitiis, de gloria de ignominia, de patria de exilio. Aestimemus singula fama remota et quaeramus, quid sint, non quid vocentur.

55 Ad virtutes transeamus. Praeeipiet aliquis, ut prudentiam magni aestimemus, ut fortitudinem com- plectamur, iustitiam, si fieri potest, propius etiam quam ceteras nobis adplicemus. Sed nil aget, si ignoramus, quid sit virtus, una sit an plures, separatae aut innexae, an qui unam habet et ceteras habeat,

56 quo inter se differ ant. Non est necesse fabro de | fabrica quaerere, quod eius initium, quis usus sit, non magis quam pantomimo de arte saltandi ; omnes istae artes si se seiunt,^ nihil deest ; non enim ad totam pertinent vitam. ^ irtus et aliorum scientia est et sui ; discendum de ipsa est, ut ipsa discatur.

57 Actio recta non erit, nisi recta fuerit voluntas, ab hac enim est actio. Rursus voluntas non erit recta, nisi habitus animi rectus fuerit, ab hoc enim est voluntas. Habitus porro animi non erit in optimo, nisi totius vitae leges perceperit et quid de quoque iudicandum sit, exegerit, nisi res ad verum redegerit. Non con- tingit tranquillitas nisi inmutabile certumque iudi-

* istae artcs si se sciunt liaiipt ; ista certa esse sciunt BA.

92

EPISTLE XGV.

how we should make use of things. It is useless for us to have mouthed out precepts, unless we begin by- reflecting what opinion we ought to hold concerning everything — concerning poverty, riches, renown, dis- grace, citizenship, exile. Let us banish rumour and set a value upon each thing, asking what it is and not what it is called.

Now let us turn to a consideration of the virtues. Some persons will advise us to rate prudence very high, to cherish bravery, and to cleave more closely, if possible, to justice than to all other qualities. But this will do us no good if we do not know what virtue is, whether it is simple or compound, whether it is one or more than one, whether its parts are separate or interwoven with one another ; whether he who has one virtue possesses the other virtues also ; and just what are the distinctions between them. The carpenter does not need to inquire about his art in the light of its origin or of its function, any more than a pantomime need inquire about the art of dancing ; if these arts understand themselves, nothing is lacking, for they do not refer to hfe as a whole. But virtue means the know- ledge of other things besides herself : if we would learn virtue we must learn all about virtue. Conduct will not be right unless the will to act is right ; for this is the source of conduct. Nor, again, can the will be right without a right attitude of mind ; for this is the source of the will. Furthermore, such an attitude of mind will not be found even in the best of men unless he has learned the laws of life as a whole and has worked out a proper judgment about everything, and unless he has reduced facts to a standard of truth. Peace of mind is enjoyed only by those who have attained a fixed and unchanging

93

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

cium adeptis ; ceteri decidunt subinde et reponuntur et inter missa adpetitaque alternis fluctuantur.

58 Causa his ^ quae iaetationis est ? Quod nihil Uquet incertissimo regimine utentibus, fama. Si vis eadem semper velle, vera oportet velis. Ad verum sine decretis non pervenitur ; continent vitam. Bona et mala, honesta et turpia, iusta et iniusta, pia et impia, virtutes ususque virtutum, rerum commodarum possessio, existimatio ac dignitas,^ valitudo, vires, forma, sagacitas ^ sensuum ; haee omnia aestima- torem desiderant. Scire liceat, quanti quidque in

69 censum deferendum sit. Falleris enim et pluris quaedam quam sunt putas, adeoque falleris, ut, quae maximi inter nos habentur, divitiae, gratia, potentia, sestertio nummo aestimanda sint.

Hoc nescies, nisi constitutionem ipsam, qua ista inter se aestimantur, inspexeris. Quemadmodum folia per se virere non possunt, ramum desiderant, cui inhaereant, ex quo trahant sucum ; sic ista praecepta, si sola sunt, marcent ; infigi volunt sectae.

60 Praeterea non intellegunt hi, qui decreta tollunt, eo ipso confirmari ilia, quo tolluntur. Quid enim dicunt ? Praeceptis vitam satis explicari, supervacua esse decreta sapientiae, id est dogmata. Atqui hoc

^ causa his Gertz ; causarisque BA.

* dignitas later MSS. ; dignitatis BA.

' sagacitas later MSS. ; sagittal or sanitas BA.

• C/. Ep. xciv. 12 and note. 94

EPISTLE XGV.

standard of judgment ; the rest of mankind continually ebb and flow in their decisions, floating in a condition where they alternately reject things and seek them And what is the reason for this tossing to and fro ? It is because nothing is clear to them, because they make use of a most unsure criterion — rumour. If you would always desire the same things,^ you must desire the truth. But one cannot attain the truth without doctrines ; for doctrines embrace the whole of life. Things good and evil, honourable and dis- graceful, just and unjust, dutiful and undutiful, the virtues and their practice, the possession of comforts, worth and respect, health, strength, beauty, keenness of the senses — all these qualities call for one who is able to appraise them. One should be allowed to know at what value every object is to be rated on the list ; for sometimes you are deceived and believe that certain things are worth more than their real value ; in fact, so badly are you deceived that you will find you should value at a mere penny- worth those things which we men regard as worth most of all — for example, riches, influence, and power.

You will never understand this unless you have in- vestigated the actual standard by which such condi- tions are relatively rated. As leaves cannot flourish by their own efforts, but need a branch to which they may cling and from which they may draw sap, so your precepts, when taken alone, wither away ; they must be grafted upon a school of philosophy. Moreover, those who do away with doctrines do not under- stand that these doctrines are proved by the very arguments through which they seem to disprove them. For what are these men saying ? They are saying that precepts are sufficient to develop life, and that the doctrines of wisdom (in other words, dogmas) are

95

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

ipsum, quod dicunt, decretum est tarn me hercules ^ quam si nunc ego dicerem recedendum a praeceptis velut supervacuis, utendum esse decretis, in haec sola studium conferendum ; hoc ipso, quo negarem

61 curanda esse praecepta, praeciperem. Quaedam ad- monitionem in philosophia desiderant, quaedam probationem et quidem multam,^ quia involuta sunt vixque summa diligentia ac summa subtilitate ape- riuntur. Si probationes necessariae sunt, et decreta, quae veritatem argumentis colligunt. Quaedam aperta sunt, quaedam obscura : aperta, quae sensu conprehenduntur, quae memoria ; obscura, quae extra haec sunt.

Ratio autem non impletur manifestis ; maior eius pars pulchriorque in occultis est. Occulta pro- bationem exigunt, probatio non sine decretis est ;

62 necessaria ergo decreta sunt. Quae res communem sensum facit, eadem perfectum, certa rerum ^ per- suasio ; sine qua si omnia in animo natant, necessaria sunt decreta, quae dant animis inflexibile iudicium.

63 Denique cum monemus aliquem, ut amicum eodem habeat loco, quo se, ut ex inimico cogitet fieri posse amicum, in illo amorem incitet, in hoc odium moderetur, adicimus : ** iustum est et honestum.** lustum autem honestumque decretorum nostrorum continet ratio ; ergo haec necessaria est, sine qua

64 nee ilia sunt. Sed utrumque iungamus. Namque

^ tarn me hercules cod. Velz. ; tarn hercules BA.

2 multam Madvig ; multa BA.

^ certa rerum Schweii^haeuser ; certarum and certum BA.

" i.e.^ progressing from a (pauraaia in general to a (pavracria KaTaXrfTTTiKr}.

^ Seneca characteristically ignores the unpleasant half of the proverb : (piKelv w$ fXLa-rjawv Kai incelv ws (pLXrjawu.

96

EPISTLE XGV.

superfluous. And yet this very utterance of theirs is a doctrine, — ^just as if I should now remark that one must dispense with precepts on the ground that they are superfluous, that one must make use of doctrines, and that our studies should be directed solely towards this end ; thus, by my very statement that precepts should not be taken seriously, I should be uttering a precept. There are certain matters in philosophy which need admonition ; there are others which need proof, and a great deal of proof, too, because they are complicated and can scarcely be made clear with the greatest care and the greatest dialectic skill. If proofs are necessary, so are doc- trines ; for doctrines deduce the truth by reasoning. Some matters are clear, and others are vague : those which the senses and the memory can embrace are clear ; those which are outside their scope are vague. But reason is not satisfied by obvious facts ; its higher and nobler function is to deal with hidden things. Hidden things need proof; proof cannot come without doctrines ; therefore, doctrines are necessary. That which leads to a general agreement, and likewise to a perfect one,^ is an assured belief in certain facts ; but if, lacking this assurance, all things are adrift in our minds, then doctrines are indispensable ; for they give to our minds the means of unswerving decision. Furthermore, when we advise a man to regard his friends as highly as himself, to reflect that an enemy may become a friend,^ to stimulate love in the friend, and to check hatred in the enemy, we add : * * This is j ust and honourable . ' * Now the j ust and honourable element in our doctrines is embraced by reason ; hence reason is necessary ; for without it the doctrines cannot exist, either. But let us unite the two. For indeed branches are useless

97

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

et sine radice inutiles rami sunt et ipsae radices iis, quae genu ere, adiuvantur. Quantum utilitatis manus habeant, nescire nulli licet, aperte iuvant ; cor illud, quo manus vivunt, ex quo impetum sumunt, quo moventur, latet. Idem dicere de praeceptis possum : aperta sunt, decreta vero sapientiae in abdito. Sicut sanctiora sacrorum tantum initiati sciunt, ita in philosophia arcana ilia admissis receptisque in sacra ostenduntur ; at praecepta et alia eiusmodi profanis quoque nota sunt.

66 Posidonius non tantum praeceptionem, nihil enim nos hoc verbo uti prohibet, sed etiam suasionem et consolationem et exhortationem necessariam iudicat. His adicit causarum inquisitionem, aetiologian quam quare nos dicere non audeamus, cum grammatici, custodes Latini sermonis, suo iure ita appellent, non video. Ait utilem futuram et descriptionem cuiusque virtutis ; hanc Posidonius ethologian vocat, quidam characterismon appellant, signa cuiusque virtutis ac vitii et notas reddentem, quibus inter se similia

66 discriminentur. Haec res eandem vim ^ habet quam praecipere. Nam qui praecipit, dicit : ** ilia facies, si voles temperans esse.*' Qui describit, ait : ** tem- perans est, qui ilia facit, qui illis abstinet.*' Quaeris, quid intersit ? Alter praecepta virtutis dat, alter exemplar. Descriptiones has et, ut publicanorum

* eande'in vim cod, Velz. : earn demiim BA.

** e.p., in the mysteries of Eleusis, etc.

^ For these terms see Spengel, Rhet, Graec, passim, Quintilian i. 9. 3 says ethologia personis continetur ; and Cicero, Be Orat. iii. 205, in a list of figures with which the orator should be familiar, includes characterismos, or descriptio.

98

I

EPISTLE XGV.

without their roots, and the roots themselves are strengthened by the growths which they have pro- duced. Everyone can understand how useful the hands are ; they obviously help us. But the heart, the source of the hands' growth and power and motion, is hidden. And I can say the same thing about precepts : they are manifest, while the doc- trines of wisdom are concealed. And as only the initiated^ know the more hallowed portion of the rites, so in philosophy the hidden truths are revealed only to those who are members and have been admitted to the sacred rites. But precepts and other such matters are familiar even to the uninitiated.

Posidonius holds that not only precept-giving (there is nothing to prevent my using this word), but even persuasion, consolation, and encouragement, are necessary. To these he adds the investigation of causes (but I fail to see why I should not dare to call it aetiology^ since the scholars who mount guard over the Latin language thus use the term as having the right to do so). He remarks that it will also be useful to illustrate each particular virtue ; this science Posidonius calls ethology, while others call it characterization fi It gives the signs and marks which belong to each virtue and vice, so that by them dis- tinction may be drawn between hke things. Its function is the same as that of precept. For he who utters precepts says : "If you would have self- control, act thus and so ! " He who illustrates, says : ** The man who acts thus and so, and refrains from certain other things, possesses self-control.*' If you ask what the difference here is, I say that the one gives the precepts of virtue, the other its embodi- ment. These illustrations, or, to use a commercial

VOL. Ill D 2 99

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

utar verbo, iconismos ^ ex usu esse eonfiteor ; pro-

67 ponamus laudanda, invenietur imitator. Putas utile dari tibi argumenta, per quae intellegas nobilem equum, ne fallaris empturus, ne operam perdas in ignavo ? Quanto hoe utilius est, excellentis animi notas nosse, quas ex alio in se transferre permittitur,

68 Continue pecoris generosi puUus in arvis Altius ingreditur et mollia crura reponit ; Primus et ire viam et fluvios temptare minantis Audet et ignoto sese committere ponti,

Nee vanos horret strepitus. Illi ardua cervix Argutumque caput, brevis alvus obesaque terga, Luxuriatque toris animosum pectus. . . . . . . Turn, si qua sonum procul arma dederunt, Stare loco nescit, micat auribus et tremit artus Conlectumque premens volvit sub naribus ignem.

69 Dum aliud agit, Vergilius noster descripsit virum fortem ; ego certe non aliam imaginem magno viro dederim. Si mihi M. Cato exprimendus sit,^ inter fragores bellorum civilium inpavidus et primus in- cessens admotos^ iam exercitus Alpibus civilique se bello ferens obvium, non alium illi adsignaverim

70 vultum, non alium habitum. Altius certe nemo ingredi potuit quam qui simul contra Caesarem

^ iconismos cod. Velz. ; iconismo BA,

2 sit added by Hermes.

^ admotos Pine. ; admotus BA.

" For the same figure, similarly applied, see Ep, Ixxx. 9 and note.

* Vergil, Georg, iii. 75 flF.

100

EPISTLE XGV.

term, these samples, have, I confess, a certain utihty ; just put them up for exhibition well recommended, and you will find men to copy them. Would you, for instance, deem it a useful thing to have evidence given you by which you may recognize a thorough- bred horse, and not be cheated in your purchase or waste your time over a low-bred animal ? ^ But how much more useful it is to know the marks of a surpassingly fine soul — marks which one may appropriate from another for oneself !

Straightway the foal of the high-bred drove, nursed up in the

pastures, Marches with spirited step, and treads with a delicate motion ; First on the dangerous pathway and into the threatening

river. Trusting himself to the unknown bridge, without fear at its

creakings, Neck thrown high in the air, and clear-cut head, and a belly Spare, back rounded, and breast abounding in courage and

muscle. He, when the clashing of weapons is heard to resound in the

distance. Leaps from his place, and pricks up his ears, and all in a

tremble Pours forth the pent-up fire that lay close-shut in his nostrils.^

VergiVs description, though referring to something else, might perfectly well be the portrayal of a brave man; at any rate, I myself should select no other simile for a hero. If I had to describe Cato, who was unterrified amid the din of civil war, who was first to attack the armies that were already making for the Alps, who plunged face-forward into the civil conflict, this is exactly the sort of expression and attitude which I should give him. Surely none could ** march with more spirited step " than one who rose against Caesar and Pompey at the same

101

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

Pompeiumque se sustulit et aliis Caesareanas opes, aliis Pompeianas foventibus ^ utrumque provocavit ostenditque aliquas esse et rei publicae partes. Nam parum est in Catone dicere : ** nee vanos horret strepitus.*' Quidni ? Cum veros ^ vieinosque non horreat, cum contra decem legiones et Gallica auxilia et mixta barbarica arma civilibus vocem liberam mittat et rem publicam hortetur, ne pro libertate decidat, sed omnia ^ experiatur, honestius in servi-

71 tutem casura quam itura. Quantum in illo vigoris ac spiritus, quantum in publica trepidatione fiducia est ! Scit se unum esse, de cuius statu non agatur ; non enim quaeri, an liber Cato, sed an inter liberos sit ; inde periculorum gladiorumque ^ contemptus. Libet admirantem invictam constantiam viri inter publicas ruinas non labantis dicere : ** luxuriatque toris animosum pectus/*

72 Proderit non tantum quales esse soleant boni viri dicere formamque eorum et lineamenta deducere, sed quales fuerint narrare et exponere, Catonis illud ultimum ac fortissimum vulnus, per quod libertas emisit ^ animam, Laeli sapientiam et cum suo Scipione concordiam, alterius Catonis domi forisque egregia facta, Tuberonis ligneos lectos, cum in pub- licum sternerent, haedinasque pro stragulis pelles et

^ foventibus later MSS. ; tihi foventibus BA ; sibi foventibus edd.

^ veros later MSS. ; viros BA.

^ omnia cod. Harl. ; omitted by BA.

* gladiorumque later MSS. ; gladiatorumque BA.

' emisit Stephanus ; amisit BA.

" For example, Cato had from the first opposed any assumption of illegal power, — objecting to the consulship of Pompey and Crassus in 5S b.c, and to the conduct of Caesar throughout. His disapproval of both simultaneously is hinted in Plutarch's Cato the Younger^ liv. 4.

102

EPISTLE XGV.

time and, when some were supporting Caesar's party and others that of Pompey, issued a challenge to both leaders,** thus showing that the republic also had some backers. For it is not enough to say of Gato ** without fear at its creakings." Of course he is not afraid ! He does not quail before real and imminent noises ; in the face of ten legions, Gallic auxiliaries, and a motley host of citizens and foreigners, he utters words fraught with freedom, encouraging the Republic not to fail in the struggle for freedom, but to try all hazards ; he declares that it is more honourable to fall into servitude than to fall in Hne with it. What force and energy are his ! What confidence he displays amid the general panic ! He knows that he is the only one whose standing is not in question, and that men do not ask whether Cato is free, but whether he is still among the free. Hence his contempt for danger and the sword. What a pleasure it is to say, in admiration of the unflinching steadiness of a hero who did not totter when the whole state was in ruins :

A breast abounding in courage and muscle !

It will be helpful not only to state what is the usual quality of good men, and to outline their figures and features, but also to relate and set forth what men there have been of this kind. We might picture that last and bravest wound of Cato's, through which Freedom breathed her last ; or the wise Laelius and his harmonious life with his friend Scipio ; or the noble deeds of the Elder Cato at home and abroad ; or the wooden couches of Tubero, spread at a public feast, goatskins instead of tapestry, and vessels of earthernware set out for

103

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

ante ipsius lovis cellam adposita conviviis vasa fictilia Quid aliud paupertatem in Capitolio consecrare ? Ut nullum aliud factum eius habeam, quo ilium Catonibus inseram, hoc parum credimus ? Censura 73 fuit ilia, non cena. O quam ignorant homines cupidi gloriae, quid ilia sit aut quemadmodum petenda ! Illo die populus Romanus multorum supellectilem spectavit, unius miratus est. Omnium illorum aurum argentumque fractum est et milliens ^ conflatum, at omnibus saecuUs Tuberonis fictilia durabunt. Vale.

XCVI.

Seneca Lvcilio svo salvtem

1 Tamen tu indignaris aliquid aut quereris et non intellegis nihil esse in istis mali nisi hoc unum, quod indignaris et quereris ? Si me interrogas, nihil puto viro miserum nisi aliquid esse in rerum natura, quod putet miserum. Non feram me, quo die aliquid ferre non potero.

Male valeo ; pars fati est. Familia decubuit, faenus ofFendit, domus crepuit, damna, vulnera, labor es, metus incucurrerunt ; solet fieri. Hoc parum

2 est ; debuit fieri. Decernuntur ista, non accidunt. Si quid credis mihi, intimos adfectus meos tibi cum maxime detego ; in omnibus, quae adversa videntur et dura, sic formatus sum : non pareo deo, sed

* et milliens later MSB. ; et in milliens BA.

<* The Latin term can hardly be reproduced, though ** he did not regale but regulate '' comes near it. Tubero's act was that of a true censor morum.

104

EPISTLES XCV., XGVI.

the banquet before the very shrine of Jupiter! What else was this except consecrating poverty on the Capitol ? Though I know no other deed of his for which to rank him with the Catos, is this one not enough ? It was a censorship, not a banquet.^ How lamentably do those who covet glory fail to under- stand what glory is, or in what way it should be sought ! On that day the Roman populace viewed the furniture of many men ; it marvelled only at that of one ! The gold and silver of all the others has been broken up and melted down times without number ; but Tuberous earthenware will endure throughout eternity. Farewell.

XGVI. ON FACING HARDSHIPS

Spite of all do you still chafe and complain, not understanding that, in all the evils to which you refer, there is really only one — the fact that you do chafe and complain ? If you ask me, I think that for a man there is no misery unless there be some- thing in the universe which he thinks miserable. I shall not endure myself on that day when I find anything unendurable.

I am ill ; but that is a part of my lot. My slaves have fallen sick, my income has gone off, my house is rickety, I have been assailed by losses, accidents, toil, and fear ; this is a common thing. Nay, that was an understatement ; it was an inevitable thing. Such affairs come by order, and not by accident. If you will believe me, it is my inmost emotions that I am just now disclosing to you : when everything seems to go hard and uphill, I have trained myself not merely to obey God, but to agree with His

105

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

adsentior. Ex animo ilium, non quia necesse est, gequor. Nihil umquam mihi incidet, quod tristis excipiam, quod malo vultu. Nullum tributum invitus confer am. Omnia autem, ad quae gemimus, quae expaveseimus, tributa vitae sunt ; horum, mi Lucili, nee speraveris immunitatem nee petieris. S Vesicae ^ te dolor inquietavit, epistulae venerunt ^ parum dulces, detrimenta continua, propius ^ acce- dam, de capite timuisti. Quid, tu nesciebas haec te optare, cum optares senectutem ? Omnia ista in longa vita sunt, quomodo in longa via et pulvis et

4 lutum et pluvia. ** Sed volebam vivere, car ere tamen incommodis omnibus." Tam efFeminata vox virum dedecet. Videris, quemadmodum hoc votum meum excipias ; ego illud magno animo, non tantum bono facio : neque di neque deae faciant, ut te fortuna

5 in deliciis habeat. Ipse te interroga, si quis potes- tatem tibi deus faciat, utrum velis vivere in macello an in castris.

Atqui vivere, Lucili, militare est. Itaque hi, qui iactantur et per operosa atque ardua sursum ac deorsum eunt et expeditiones periculosissimas obeunt, fortes viri sunt primoresque castrorum ; isti, quos putida * quies aliis laborantibus molliter habet, turturillae sunt, tuti contumeliae causa. Vale.

^ vesicae later MSS. ; vesica BA.

2 venerunt von Ian ; vero erunt BA.

^ propius later MSS. ; propitius BA.

* putida later MSS. ; putica BA.

106

EPISTLE XCVI.

decisions. I follow Him because my soul wills it, and not because I must.^ Nothing will ever happen to me that I shall receive with ill humour or with a wry face. I shall pay up all my taxes willingly. Now all the things which cause us to groan or recoil, are part of the tax of life — things, my dear Lucilius, which you should never hope and never seek to escape.

It was disease of the bladder that made you appre- hensive ; downcast letters came from you ; you were continually getting worse ; I will touch the truth more closely, and say that you feared for your life. But come, did you not know, when you prayed for long life, that this was what you were praying for ? A long life includes all these troubles, just as a long journey includes dust and mud and rain. ** But,'* you cry, ** I wished to live, and at the same time to be immune from all ills.*' Such a womanish cry does no credit to a man. Consider in what attitude you shall receive this prayer of mine (I offer it not only in a good, but in a noble spirit) : ** May gods and goddesses alike forbid that Fortune keep you in luxury ! " Ask yourself voluntarily which you would choose if some god gave you the choice — Ufe in a caf^ or life in a camp.

And yet life, Lucilius, is really a battle. For this reason those who are tossed about at sea, who proceed uphill and downhill over toilsome crags and heights, who go on campaigns that bring the greatest danger, are heroes and front-rank fighters ; but persons who live in rotten luxury and ease while others toil, are mere turtle-doves — safe only because men despise them. Farewell.

** C/. the words ducunt volentem fata, nolentem trahunt of Ep. cvii. 11,

107

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

XCVII.

Seneca Lvcilio svo salvtem

1 Erras, mi Lucili, si existimas nostri saeculi esse vitium luxuriam et neglegentiam boni moris et alia, quae obiecit suis quisque temporibus ; hominum sunt ista, non temporum. Nulla aetas vacavit a culpa. Et si aestimare licentiam cuiusque saeculi incipias, pudet dicer e, numquam apertius quam coram Catone

2 peccatum est. Credat aliquis pecuniam esse ver- satam in eo iudicio, in quo reus erat P.^ Clodius ob id adulterium, quod cum Caesaris uxore in operto ^ commiserat violatis religionibus eius sacrificii, quod pro populo fieri dicitur sic summotis extra consaep- tum omnibus viris, ut picturae quoque masculorum animalium contegantur ? Atqui dati iudicibus num- mi sunt et, quod hac etiamnunc pactione turpius est, stupra insuper matronarum et adulescentulorum

3 nobilium stilari loco exacta sunt. Minus crimine quam absolutione peccatum est : adulterii reus adul- teria di visit nee ante fuit de salute securus, quam similes sui indices suos reddidit. Haec in eo iudicio facta sunt, in quo, si nihil aliud, Cato testimonium dixerat.

Ipsa ponam verba Ciceronis, quia res fidem excedit?

1 P. ed. Mentel. ; ^. BA. * operto later MSS. ; aperto BA.

" For the best account of this scandal see Plutarch, Caesar, ix. f.

* From stilla, " a drop.*' The phrase is equivalent to our proverbial " last straw."

* Epp. ad Atticum, i. 16.

108

EPISTLE XGVII.

XCVII. ON THE DEGENERACY OF THE AGE

You are mistaken, my dear Lucilius, if you think that luxury, neglect of good manners, and other vices of which each man accuses the age in which he lives, are especially characteristic of our own epoch ; no, they are the vices of mankind and not of the times. No era in history has ever been free from blame. Moreover, if you once begin to take account of the irregularities belonging to any particular era, you will find — to man's shame be it spoken — that sin never stalked abroad more openly than in Cato*s very presence. Would anyone believe that money changed hands in the trial when Glodius was defendant on the charge of secret adultery with Caesar's wife, when he violated ® the ritual of that sacrifice which is said to be offered on behalf of the people when all males are so rigorously removed outside the precinct, that even pictures of all male creatures are covered up ? And yet, money was given to the jury, and, baser even than such a bargain, sexual crimes were demanded of married women and noble youths as a sort of ad- ditional contribution.^ The charge involved less sin than the acquittal ; for the defendant on a charge of adultery parcelled out the adulteries, and was not sure of his own safety until he had made the jury criminals like himself. All this was done at the trial in which Cato gave evidence, although that was his sole part therein.

I shall quote Cicero's actual words ,^ because the facts are so bad as to pass beUef : ** He made

109

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

4 ** Accersivit ad se, promisit, intercessit, dedit. lam vero — o di boni,^ rem perditam ! — etiam noctes cer- tarum mulierum atque adulescentulorum nobilium introductiones nonnullis iudicibus pro mercedis cu-

5 mulo fuerunt." Non vacat de pretio queri, plus in accessionibus fuit. ** Vis severi illius uxorem ? Dabo illam. Vis divitis huius ? Tibi praestabo concubi- tum. Adulterium nisi feceris, damna. Ilia formonsa, quam desideras, veniet. Illius tibi noctem promitto nee differo ; intra comperendinationem fides promissi mei stabit.2 " Plus est distribuere adult eria quam facere ; hoc vero matribus familiae denuntiare est.

6 Hi iudices Clodiani a senatu petierant praesidium, quod non erat nisi damnaturis necessarium, et in- petraverant. Itaque eleganter illis Catulus absolute reo, ** quid vos/' inquit, *' praesidium a nobis pete- batis ? An ne nummi vobis eriperentur ? " Inter hos tamen iocos inpune tulit ante iudicium adulter, in iudicio leno, qui damnationem peius efFugit quam meruit.

7 Quicquam fuisse corruptius illis ^ moribus credis, quibus libido non sacris inhiberi, non iudiciis poterat, quibus in ea ipsa quaestione, quae extra ordinem senatusconsulto exercebatur, plus quam quaerebatur, admissum est ? Quaerebatur, an post adulterium aliquis posset tutus esse ; apparuit sine adulterio

•• di boni Cicero, Ad Att. i. 16. 5; di omitted by BA, 2 mei stabit ed. Yen. ; me extabit BA. » illis later MSS. ; illius BA.

110

EPISTLE XCVII.

assignations, promises, pleas, and gifts. And more than this (merciful Heavens, what an abandoned state of affairs !) upon several of the jury, to round out their reward, he even bestowed the enjoyment of certain women and meetings with noble youths." It is superfluous to be shocked at the bribe ; the additions to the bribe were worse. ** Will you have the wife of that prig, A. ? Very good. Or of B., the millionaire ? I will guarantee that you shall he with her. If you fail to commit adultery, condemn Clodius. That beauty whom you desire shall visit you. I assure you a night in that woman's company without delay ; my promise shall be carried out faithfully within the legal time of postponement." It means more to parcel out such crimes than to commit them ; it means blackmailing dignified matrons. These jurymen in the Clodius trial had asked the Senate for a guard — a favour which would have been necessary only for a jury about to convict the accused ; and their request had been granted. Hence the witty remark of Catulus after the defend- ant had been acquitted : ** Why did you ask us for the guard ? Were you afraid of having your money stolen from you ? " And yet, amid jests like these, he got off unpunished who before the trial was an adulterer, during the trial a pander, and who escaped conviction more vilely than he deserved it.

Do you believe that anything could be more disgraceful than such moral standards — when lust could not keep its hands either from rehgious worship or from the courts of law, when, in the very inquiry which was held in special session by order of the Senate, more crime was committed than investi- gated ? The question at issue was whether one could be safe after committing adultery ; it was

111

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

8 tutum esse non posse. Hoc inter Pompeium et Caesarem, inter Ciceronem Catonemque commissum est, Catonem inquam ilium, quo sedente populus negatur permisisse sibi postulare Florales iocos nudandarum meretricum, si credis spectasse tunc severius homines quam iudicasse. Et fient et facta sunt ista, et licentia urbium aliquando disciplina metuque, numquam sponte considet.

9 Non est itaque quod credas nos ^ plurimum libidini permisisse, legibus minimum. Longe enim frugalior haec inventus est quam ilia, cum reus adulterium apud indices negaret, indices apud reum ^ confiterentur, cum stuprum committeretur rei iudicandae causa, cum Clodius isdem vitiis gratiosus, quibus nocens, conciliaturas exerceret in ipsa causae dictione. Credat hoc quisquam ? Qui damnabatur uni adul-

10 terio, absolutus est multis. Omne tempus Clodios, non omne Catones feret. Ad deteriora faciles sumus, quia nee dux potest nee comes deesse, et res ipsa etiam sine duce, sine comite procedit. Non pronum est ^ tantum ad vitia, sed praeceps, et quod plerosque inemendabiles facit, omnium aliarum artium peccata artificibus pudori sunt offenduntque deerrantem,

11 vitae peccata delectant. Non gaudet navigio guber-

^ nos Haase ; non BA.

* reum Pincianus ; eum BA.

* non pronum est Lipsius ; non prae nuntius BA.

<* A plebeian festival, held April 28, in honour of Flora, an Italian divinity connected with Ceres and Venus. For the story of Cato (SB B.C.) see Valer. Max. ii. 10. 8.

112

EPISTLE XGVIL

shown that one could not be safe without committing adultery ! All this bargaining took place in the presence of Pompey and Caesar, of Cicero and Cato, — yes, that very Cato whose presence, it is said, caused the people to refrain from demanding the usual quips and cranks of naked actresses at the Floralia,^ — if you can believe that men were stricter in their conduct at a festival than in a court-room ! Such things will be done in the future, as they have been done in the past ; and the licentiousness of cities will sometimes abate through discipline and fear, never of itself.

Therefore, you need not believe that it is we who have yielded most to lust and least to law. For the young men of to-day hve far more simple lives than those of an epoch when a defendant would plead not guilty to an adultery charge before his judges, and his judges admit it before the defendant, when debauchery was practised to secure a verdict, and when Clodius, befriended by the very vices of which he was guilty, played the procurer during the actual hearing of the case. Could one believe this ? He to whom one adultery brought condemnation was acquitted because of many. All ages will produce men like Clodius, but not all ages men like Cato. We degenerate easily, because we lack neither guides nor associates in our wickedness, and the wickedness goes on of itself, even without guides or associates. The road to vice is not only downhill, but steep ; and many men are rendered incorrigible by the fact that, while in all other crafts errors bring shame to good craftsmen and cause vexation to those who go astray, the errors of life are a positive source of pleasure. The pilot is not glad when his ship is thrown on her beam-ends ; the

113

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

nator everso, non gaudet aegro medicus elato, non gaudet orator, si patroni culpa reus cedidit ; at contra omnibus crimen suum voluptati est. Laetatur ille adulterio, in quod inritatus est ipsa difRcultate. Laetatur ille circumscriptione furtoque, nee ante illi culpa quam culpae fortuna displicuit. Id prava consuetudine evenit.

12 Alioquin ut scias subesse animis etiam in pessima abductis boni sensum nee ignorari turpe, sed neglegi ; omnes peccata dissimulant et, quamvis feliciter cesse- rint, fructu illorum utuntur, ipsa subducunt. At bona conscientia prodire vult et conspici ; ipsas

13 nequitia tenebras timet. Eleganter itaque ab Epi- cure dictum puto : ** potest nocenti contingere, ut lateat, latendi fides non potest/' aut si hoc modo melius hunc explicari posse iudicas sensum : ** ideo non prodest latere peccantibus, quia latendi etiam si felicitatem habent, fiduciam non habent.*' Ita est : tuta scelera esse possunt, secura esse non possunt.

14 Hoc ego repugnare sectae nostrae, si sic expedia- tur, non iudico. Quare ? Quia prima ilia et maxima peccantium est poena peccasse, nee ullum scelus, licet illud fortuna exornet muneribus suis, licet tueatur ac vindicet, inpunitum est, quoniam sceleris

" Epic, Frag. 532 Usener. 114

EPISTLE XGVII.

physician is not glad when he buries his patient ; the orator is not glad when the defendant loses a case through the fault of his advocate ; but on the other hand every man enjoys his own crimes. A. delights in an intrigue — for it was the very difficulty which attracted him thereto. B. delights in forgery and theft, and is only displeased with his sin when his sin has failed to hit the mark. And all this is the result of perverted habits.

Conversely, however, in order that you may know that there is an idea of good conduct present sub- consciously in souls which have been led even into the most depraved ways, and that men are not ignorant of what evil is but indifferent — I say that all men hide their sins, and, even though the issue be successful, enjoy the results while concealing the sins themselves. A good conscience, however, wishes to come forth and be seen of men ; wickedness fears the very shadows. Hence I hold Epicurus 's saying <* to be most apt : ** That the guilty may haply remain hidden is possible, that he should be sure of remaining hidden is not possible," or, if you think that the meaning can be made more clear in this way : *' The reason that it is no advantage to wrong-doers to remain hidden is that even though they have the good fortune they have not the assurance of remaining so.** This is what I mean : crimes can be well guarded ; free from anxiety they cannot be.

This view, I maintain, is not at variance with the principles of our school, if it be so explained. And why ? Because the first and worst penalty for sin is to have committed sin ; and crime, though Fortune deck it out with her favours, though she protect and take it in her charge, can never go unpunished ;

115

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

in scelere supplicium est. Sed nihilominus et hae illam secundae poenae premunt ac secuntur, timere semper et expavescere et securitati diffidere.

Quare ego hoc supplicio nequitiam liberem ? Quare

15 non semper illam in suspenso relinquam ? Illic dissentiamus cum Epicuro, ubi dicit nihil iustum esse natura et crimina vitanda esse, quia vitari metus non posse ; hie consentiamus mala facinora conscientia flagellari et plurimum illi tormentorum esse eo, quod perpetua illam sollicitudo urget ac verberat, quod sponsoribus securitatis suae non potest credere. Hoc enim ipsum argumentum est, Epicure,^ natura nos a scelere abhorrere, quod nulli non etiam inter tuta timor est. Multos fortuna liberat poena,

16 metu neminem. Quare nisi quia infixa nobis eius rei aversatio est, quam natura damnavit ? Ideo numquam fides latendi fit etiam latentibus, quia coarguit illos conscientia et ipsos sibi ostendit. Pro- prium autem est nocentium trepidare. Male de nobis actum erat, quod multa scelera legem et vindicem efFugiunt et scripta supplicia, nisi ilia naturalia et gravia de praesentibus solverent et in locum patientiae timor cederet. Vale.

* est Epicure cod. Velz. ; Epicuri est B ; Epicure A.

116

EPISTLE XCVII.

since the punishment of crime hes in the crime itself. But none the less do these second penalties press close upon the heels of the first — constant fear, constant terror, and distrust in one's own security.

Why, then, should I set wickedness free from such a punishment ? Why should I not always leave it trembling in the balance ? Let us disagree with Epicurus on the one point, when he declares that there is no natural justice, and that crime should be avoided because one cannot escape the fear which results therefrom ; let us agree with him on the other — that bad deeds are lashed by the whip of conscience, and that conscience is tortured to the greatest degree because unending anxiety drives and whips it on, and it cannot rely upon the guarantors of its own peace of mind. For this, Epicurus, is the very proof that we are by nature reluctant to commit crime, because even in circumstances of safety there is no one who does not feel fear. Good luck frees many men from punishment, but no man from fear. And why should this be if it were not that we have ingrained in us a loathing for that which Nature has condemned ? Hence even men who hide their sins can never count upon remaining hidden ; for their conscience convicts them and reveals them to them- selves. But it is the property of guilt to be in fear. It had gone ill with us, owing to the many crimes which escape the vengeance of the law and the prescribed punishments, were it not that those grievous offences against nature must pay the pen- alty in ready money, and that in place of suffering the punishment comes fear. Farewell.

117

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

XCVIII. Seneca Lvcilio svo salvtem

1 Numquam credideris felicem quemquam ex felici- tate suspensum. Fragilibus innititur, qui adventieio laetus est ; exibit gaudium, quod intravit. At illud ex se ortum fidele firmumque est et crescit et ad extremum usque prosequitur ; cetera, quorum ad- miratio est vulgo, in diem bona sunt. '* Quid ergo ? Non Usui ac voluptati esse possunt ? " Quis negat ? Sed ita, si ilia ex nobis pendent, non ex illis nos.

2 Omnia, quae fortuna intuetur, ita fructifera ac iucunda fiunt, si qui habet ilia, se quoque habet nee in rerum suarum potestate est. Errant enim, Lucili, qui aut boni aliquid nobis aut malum indicant tribuere fortunam ; materiam dat bonorum ac ma- lorum et initia rerum apud nos in malum bonumve exiturarum. Valentior enim omni fortuna animus est et in utramque partem ipse res suas ducit beatae- que ac miserae vitae sibi causa est.

S Malus omnia in malum vertit, etiam quae cum specie optimi venerant ; rectus atque integer corrigit prava fortunae et dura atque aspera ferendi scientia mollit, idemque et secunda grate excipit modesteque

" Compare the ^x^ ^iW' ovk ^x^/j-aL of Aristippus, and the (equally Epicurean) mihi res, non me rebus subiungere of Horace, Epp. i. 1. 19.

118

EPISTLE XGVIII.

XCVIII. ON THE FICKLENESS OF FORTUNE

You need never believe that anyone who depends upon happiness is happy ! It is a fragile support — this delight in adventitious things ; the joy which entered from without will some day depart. But that joy which springs wholly from oneself is leal and sound ; it increases and attends us to the last ; while all other things which provoke the admiration of the crowd are but temporary Goods. You may reply : ** What do you mean ? Cannot such things serve both for utility and for delight ? ** Of course. But only if they depend on us, and not we on them. All things that Fortune looks upon become produc- tive and pleasant, only if he who possesses them is in possession also of himself, and is not in the power of that which belongs to him.^ For men make a mis- take, my dear Lucilius, if they hold that anything good, or evil either, is bestowed upon us by Fortune ; it is simply the raw material of Goods and Ills that she gives to us — the sources of things which, in our keep- ing, will develop into good or ill. For the soul is more powerful than any sort of Fortune ; by its own agency it guides its affairs in either direction, and of its own power it can produce a happy life, or a wretched one.

A bad man makes everything bad — even things which had come with the appearance of what is best ; but the upright and honest man corrects the wrongs of Fortune, and softens hardship and bitterness because he knows how to endure them ; he likewise accepts prosperity with appreciation and moderation, and stands up against trouble with steadiness and

119

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

et adversa constanter ac fortiter. Qui licet prudens sit, licet exacto faciat cuncta iudicio, licet nihil supra vires suas temptet, non continget illi bonum illud integrum et extra minas positum, nisi certus adversus

4 incerta est. Sive alios observare volueris — liberius enim inter aliena iudicium est, sive te ipsum favore seposito — et senties hoc et confiteberis, nihil ex his optabilibus et caris utile esse, nisi te contra levitatem casus rerumque casum sequentium instruxeris, nisi illud frequenter et sine querella inter singula damna

5 dixeris : ** dis aliter visum est.** Immo mehercules ut carmen fortius ac iustius petam, quo animum tuum magis fulcias, hoc dicito, quotiens aliquid aliter quam cogitabas evenerit : ** di melius.'*

Sic composito nihil accidet. Sic autem conponetur, si, quid humanarum rerum varietas possit, cogitaverit, antequam senserit, si et liberos et coniugem et patrimonium sic habuerit tamquam non utique semper habiturus et tamquam non futurus ob hoc miserior, si habere desierit. Calamitosus est animus

6 futuri anxius et ante miserias miser, qui sollicitus est, ut ea, quibus delectatur, ad extremum usque per- maneant. Nullo enim tempore conquiescet et ex- pectatione venturi praesentia, quibus frui poterat,

" Vergil, Aen. ii. 428. 120

EPISTLE XGVIII.

courage. Though a man be prudent, though he conduct all his interests with well-balanced judg- ment, though he attempt nothing beyond his strength, he will not attain the Good which is unalloyed and beyond the reach of threats, unless he is sure in dealing with that which is unsure. For whether you prefer to observe other men (and it is easier to make up one's mind when judging the affairs of others), or whether you observe yourself, with all prejudice laid aside, you will perceive and acknowledge that there is no utility in all these desirable and beloved things, unless you equip yourself in opposition to the fickleness of chance and its consequences, and unless you repeat to yourself often and uncomplain- ingly, at every mishap, the words : ** Heaven decreed it otherwise ! '' * Nay rather, to adopt a phrase which is braver and nearer the truth — one on which you may more safely prop your spirit — say to yourself, whenever things turn out contrary to your expectation : ** Heaven decreed better \''

If you are thus poised, nothing will affect you ; and a man will be thus poised if he reflects on the possible ups and downs in human affairs before he feels their force, and if he comes to regard children, or wife, or property, with the idea that he will not necessarily possess them always and that he will not be any more wretched just because he ceases to possess them. It is tragic for the soul to be appre- hensive of the future and wretched in anticipation of wretchedness, consumed with an anxious desire that the objects which give pleasure may remain in its possession to the very end. For such a soul will never be at rest ; in waiting for the future it will lose the present blessings which it might enjoy. And

121

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

amittet. In aequo est autem amissae rei miseratio * et timor amittendae.

7 Nee ideo praecipio tibi neglegentiam. Tu vero metuenda deelina. Quidquid consilio prospici potest, prospice. Quodcumque laesurum est, multo ante quam accidat, speculare et averte. In hoc ipsum tibi plurimum conferet fiducia et ad tolerandum omne obfirmata mens. Potest fortunam cavere, qui potest ferre. Certe in tranquillo non tumultuatur. Nihil est nee miserius nee stultius quam praetimere. Quae ista dementia est malum suum antecedere ?

8 Denique ut breviter includam quod sentio, et istos satagios ac sibi molestos deseribam tibi, tam intem- perantes in ipsis miseriis quam sunt ante illas. Plus dolet quam necesse est, qui ante dolet quam necesse est ; eadem enim infirmitate dolorem non aestimat, qua non exspectat ; eadem intemperantia fingit sibi perpetuam felieitatem suam, fingit crescere debere quaecumque contigerunt, non tantum durare ; et obhtus huius petauri, quo humana iactantur, sibi uni fortuitorum constantiam spondet.

9 Egregie itaque videtur mihi Metrodorus dixisse in ea epistula, qua sororem amisso optimae indolis fiUo adloquitur : ** mortale est omne mortalium bonum." De his loquitur bonis, ad quae coneurritur. Nam illud verum bonum non moritur, certum est sempiter- numque, sapientia et virtus ; hoc unum contingit

1 miseratio added by Buecheler.

" i.e., a sort of platform for mountebanks or acrobats, — figuratively applied to life's Vanity Fair. * Frag. 35 Korte.

122

EPISTLE XCVIII.

there is no difference between grief for something lost and the fear of losing it.

But I do not for this reason advise you to be in- different. Rather do you turn aside from you what- ever may cause fear. Be sure to foresee whatever can be foreseen by planning. Observe and avoid, long before it happens, anything that is likely to do you harm. To effect this your best assistance will be a spirit of confidence and a mind strongly resolved to endure all things. He who can bear Fortune, can also beware of Fortune. At any rate, there is no dashing of billows when the sea is calm. And there is nothing more wretched or foolish than premature fear. What madness it is to anticipate one's troubles ! In fine, to express my thoughts in brief compass and portray to you those busybodies and self-tormentors — they are as uncontrolled in the midst of their troubles as they are before them. He suffers more than is necessary, who suffers before it is necessary ; such men do not weigh the amount of their suffering, by reason of the same failing which prevents them from being ready for it ; and with the same lack of restraint they fondly imagine that their luck will last for ever, and fondly imagine that their gains are bound to increase as well as merely continue. They forget this spring-board ^ on which mortal things are tossed, and they guarantee for themselves exclusively a steady continuance of the gifts of chance.

For this very reason I regard as excellent the saying ^ of Metrodorus, in a letter of consolation to his sister on the loss of her son, a lad of great promise : ** All the Good of mortals is mortal." He is referring to those Goods towards which men rush in shoals. For the real Good does not perish ; it is certain and lasting, and it consists of wisdom and virtue ; it is

VOL. Ill E 123

I

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

10 inmortale mortalibus. Ceterum tarn inprobi sunt tamque obliti, quo eant, quo illos singuli dies turbent, ut mirentur aliquid ipsos amittere amissuri uno die omnia. Quicquid est, dominus inscriberis, apud te est, tuum non est ; nihil firmum infirmo, nihil fragili aeternum et invictum est. Tarn necesse est perire quam perdere, et hoc ipsum, si intellegimus, solacium est. Aequo animo perde, pereundum ^ est.

11 Quid ergo adversus has amissiones auxili inveni- mus ? Hoe, ut memoria teneamus amissa nee cum ipsis fructum excidere patiamur, quem ex illis per- cepimus. Habere eripitur, habuisse numquam. Per- ingratus est, qui cum amisit, pro accepto nihil debet. Rem nobis eripit casus, usum ^ fructumque apud nos relinquit, quem nos iniquitate desiderii perdidimus.

12 Die tibi : " Ex istis, quae terribilia videntur, nihil est invictum. Singula vicere iam multi : ignem Mucius, crucem Regulus, venenum Socrates, exilium Rutilius, mortem ferro adactam Cato; et nosvincamus aliquid.**

13 Rursus ista, quae ut ^ speciosa et felicia trahunt

vulgum, a multis et saepe contempta sunt. Fabricius

divitias imperator reiecit, censor notavit. Tubero

1 perde^ pereundum Madvi^ ; perdere pereundum BA.

2 usum later MSS. ; usus BA.

' ista quae ut later MSS. ; ita quae vis BA.

124

EPISTLE XGVIIL

the only immortal thing that falls to mortal lot. But men are so wayward, and so forgetful of their goal and of the point toward which every day jostles them, that they are surprised at losing anything, although some day they are bound to lose every- thing. Anything of which you are entitled the owner is in your possession but is not your own; for there is no strength in that which is weak, nor anything lasting and invincible in that which is frail. We must lose our Uves as surely as we lose our property, and this, if we understand the truth, is itself a consolation. Lose it with equanimity; for you must lose your Hfe also.

What resource do we find, then, in the face of these losses ? Simply this — to keep in memory the things we have lost, and not to suffer the enjoyment which we have derived from them to pass away along with them. To have may be taken from us, to have had, never. A man is thankless in the highest degree if, after losing something, he feels no obliga- tion for having received it. Chance robs us of the thing, but leaves us its use and its enjoyment — and we have lost this if we are so unfair as to regret. Just say to yourself : "Of all these experiences that seem so frightful, none is insuperable. Separate trials have been overcome by many : fire by Mucins, crucifixion by Regulus, poison by Socrates, exile by RutiUus, and a sword-inflicted death by Cato ; therefore, let us also overcome something." Again, those objects which attract the crowd under the appearance of beauty and happiness, have been scorned by many men and on many occasions. Fabricius when he was general refused riches ,* and when he was censor branded them with disapproval.

• t.«., when he declined the bribe of Pyrrhus, 280 b.c.

125

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

paupertatem et se dignam et Capitolio iudicavit, cum fictilibus in publica cena usiis ostendit debere iis hominem esse contentum, quibus di etiamnunc uterentur. Honores reppulit pater Sextius, qui ita natus, ut rem publicam deberet capessere, latum clavum divo lulio dante non recepit. Intellegebat enim quod dari posset, et eripi posse.

Nos quoque aliquid et ipsi faciamus animose ; simus

14 inter exempla. Quare defeeimus ? Quare de- speramus ? Quicquid fieri potuit, potest, nos modo purgemus animum sequamurque naturam, a qua aberranti cupiendum timendumque est et fortuitis serviendum. Licet reverti in viam, licet in integrum restitui ; restituamur, ut possimus dolor es, quocum- que modo corpus invaserint, perferre et fortunae dicer e : " cum viro tibi negotium est ; quaere, quem vincas.*'

15 His sermonibus ^ et his similibus lenitur ilia vis ulceris, quam opto mehercules mitigari et aut sanari aut stare et cum ipso senescere. Sed securus de illo sum ; de nostro damno agitur, quibus senex egregius eripitur. Nam ipse vitae plenus est, cui adici nihil desiderat sua causa, sed eorum, quibus utilis est.

16 Liberaliter facit, quod vivit. Alius iam hos ^ cruciatus

^ The testimony of an ancient grammarian, and the change of subject in the text, may, as Hense states, indicate that a considerable passage is lost and that another letter begins here. Cf the senex egregius of § 15.

2 hos later MSS. ; }iis BA.

<» Cf, Ep. xcv. 72 f. omnibus saeculis Tuberonis fictilia durabunt.

* Cf. Ep. lix. 7 and note b (vol. L),

126

EPISTLE XCVIII.

Tubero deemed poverty worthy both of himself and of the deity on the Capitol when, by the use of earthenware dishes at a public festival, he showed that man should be satisfied with that which the gods could still use.^ The elder Sextius rejected the honours of office ; * he was born with an obliga- tion to take part in public affairs, and yet would not accept the broad stripe even when the deified Julius offered it to him. For he understood that what can be given can also be taken away.

Let us also, therefore, carry out some courageous act of our own accord ; let us be included among the ideal types of history. Why have we been slack ? Why do we lose heart ? That which could be done, can be done, if only we purify our souls and follow Nature ; for when one strays away from Nature one is compelled to crave, and fear, and be a slave to the things of chance. We may return to the true path ; we may be restored to our proper state ; let us therefore be so, in order that we may be able to endure pain, in whatever form it attacks our bodies, and say to Fortune : ** You have to deal with a man ; seek someone whom you can conquer ! '*

By these words, and words of a like kind, the malignity of the ulcer is quieted down ; and I hope indeed that it can be reduced, and either cured or brought to a stop, and grow old along with the patient himself. I am, however, comfortable in my mind regarding him ; what we are now discussing is our own loss — the taking-off of a most excellent old man. For he himself has lived a full life, and any- thing additional may be craved by him, not for his own sake, but for the sake of those who need his services. In continuing to live, he deals generously. Some other person might have put an end to these

127

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

finisset ^ ; hie tarn turpe putat mortem fugere quam ad mortem eonfugere. ** Quid ergo? Non, sisuade- bit res, exibit ? " Quidni exeat, si nemo iam uti eo poterit ? Si nihil aUud quam dolori operam dabit ?

17 Hoc est, mi LuciU, philosophiam in opere discere et ad verum exerceri : videre, quid homo prudens animi habeat contra mortem, contra dolorem, cum ilia accedat, hie premat. Quid faciendum sit, a faciente discendum est. Adhuc argumentis actum est, an posset aliqui dolori resistere, an mors magnos

18 quoque animos admota summittere. Quid opus est verbis ? In rem praesentem eamus : nee mors ilium contra dolorem facit fortiorem nee dolor contra mortem. Contra utrumque sibi fidit nee spe mortis patienter dolet nee taedio doloris libenter moritur ; hunc fert, illam expectat. Vale.

XCIX.

Seneca Lvcilio svo salvtem

Epistulam, quam scripsi MaruUo, cum filium par- vulum amisisset et dicer etur molliter ferre, misi tibi, in qua non sum solitum morem secutus nee putavi leniter ilium debere tractari, cum obiurgatione esset quam solacio dignior. Adflicto enim et magnum vulnus male ferenti paulisper cedendum est ; exsatiet ^ finisset later MSS. ; finis est BA.

^ Possibly Junius Marullus, consul designatus in a.d. 62 (Tac. Ann, xiv. 48).

128

EPISTLES XCVIII., XCIX.

sufferings ; but our friend considers it no less base to flee from death than to flee towards death. ** But," comes the answer, ** if circumstances warrant, shall he not take his departure ? *' Of course, if he can no longer be of service to anyone, if all his business will be to deal with pain. This, my dear Lucilius, is what we mean by studying philosophy while apply- ing it, by practising it on truth — to note what courage a prudent man possesses against death, or against pain, when the one approaches and the other weighs heavily. What ought to be done must be learned from one who does it. Up to now we have dealt with arguments — whether any man can resist pain, or whether the approach of death can cast down even great souls. Why discuss it further ? Here is an immediate fact for us to tackle — death does not make our friend braver to face pain, nor pain to face death. Rather does he trust himself in the face of both ; he does not suffer with resignation because he hopes for death, nor does he die gladly because he is tired of suffering. Pain he endures, death he awaits. Farewell.

XCIX. ON CONSOLATION TO THE BEREAVED

I enclose a copy of the letter which I wrote to MaruUus ^ at the time when he had lost his little son and was reported to be rather womanish in his grief — a letter in which I have not observed the usual form of condolence : for I did not believe that he should be handled gently, since in my opinion he deserved criticism rather than consolation. When a man is stricken and is finding it most difficult to endure a grievous wound, one must humour him for a while ;

129

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

se aut certe primum impetum effundat ; hi, qui sibi lugere sumpserunt, protinus castigentur et discant quasdam etiam lacrimarum ineptias esse.

2 ** Solacia expectas ? Convicia accipe. Mollitertu fers mortem filii ; quid faceres, si amicum perdidisses ? Decessit filius incertae spei, parvulus ; pusillum tem-

3 poris periit. Causas doloris conquirimus et de for- tuna etiam inique queri volumus, quasi non sit iustas querendi causas praebitura. At mehercules satis mihi iam videbaris animi habere etiam adversus solida mala, nedum ad istas umbras malorum, quibus ingemescunt homines moris causa. Quod damnorum omnium maximum est, si amicum perdidisses, danda opera erat, ut magis gauderes, quod habueras, quam maereres, quod amiseras.

4 " Sed plerique non computant, quanta perceperint, quantum gavisi sint. Hoc habet inter reliqua mah dolor iste : non supervacuus tantum, sed ingratus est. Ergo quod habuisti talem amicum, periit opera? Tot annis, tanta coniunctione vitae, tam familiari studiorum societate nil actum est ? Cum amico efFers amicitiam ? Et quid doles amisisse, si habuisse non prodest ? Mihi crede, magna pars ex iis, quos amavimus, licet ipsos casus abstulerit,apud nos manet. Nostrum est, quod praeteriit, tempus nee quicquam

5 est loco tutiore quam quod fuit. Ingrati adversus

* As Lipsius pointed out, the remainder of Seneca's letter consists of the quoted epistle to Marullus.

* The Roman view differs from the modern view, just as this Ivetter is rather more severe than Ep, Ixiii. (on the death of Lucilius's friend Fiaccus).

130

EPISTLE XCIX.

let him satisfy his grief or at any rate work off the first shock ; but those who have assumed an in- dulgence in grief should be rebuked forthwith, and should learn that there are certain follies even in tears.

<» ** Is it solace that you look for ? Let me give you a scolding instead ! You are like a woman in the way you take your son's death ; what would you do if you had lost an intimate friend ? A son, a little child of unknown promise, is dead ; a fragment of time has been lost. We hunt out excuses for grief ; we would even utter unfair complaints about Fortune, as if Fortune would never give us just reason for complaining ! But I had really thought that you possessed spirit enough to deal with concrete troubles, to say nothing of the shadowy troubles over which men make moan through force of habit. Had you lost a friend (which is the greatest blow of all),^ you would have had to endeavour rather to rejoice because you had possessed him than to mourn because you had lost him.

** But many men fail to count up how manifold their gains have been, how great their rejoicings. Grief like yours has this among other evils : it is not only useless, but thankless. Has it then all been for nothing that you have had such a friend ? During so many years, amid such close associations, after such intimate communion of personal interests, has nothing been accomplished ? Do you bury friend- ship along with a friend ? And why lament having lost him, if it be of no avail to have possessed him ? Believe me, a great part of those we have loved, though chance has removed their persons, still abides with us. The past is ours, and there is nothing more secure for us than that which has been. We are

VOL. Ill E 2 131

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

percepta spe futuri sumus, quasi non quod futurum est, si modo successerit nobis, cito in praeterita transiturum sit. Anguste fructus rerum determinat, qui tantum praesentibus laetus est ; et futura et praeterita deleetant, haec exspeetatione, ilia me- moria, sed alterum pendet et non fieri potest, alterum non potest non fuisse.

" Quis ergo furor est certissimo excidere ? Ad- quiescamus iis, quae iam hausimus, si modo non per- forato animo hauriebamus et transmittente quicquid

6 acceperat. Innumerabilia sunt exempla eorum, qui liberos iuvenes sine laerimis extulerint, qui in sena- tum aut in aliquod publicum officium a rogo redierint et statim aliud egerint. Nee inmerito ; nam primum supervacuum est dolere, si nihil dolendo proficias. Deinde iniquum est queri de eo, quod uni accidit, omnibus restat. Deinde desiderii stulta conquestio est, ubi minimum interest inter amissum et desideran- tem. Eo itaque aequiore animo esse debemus, quod quos amisimus, sequimur.

7 " Respiee celeritatem rapidissimi temporis, cogita brevitatem huius spatii, per quod eitatissimi currimus, observa hunc comitatum generis humani eodem tendentis minimis intervallis distinetum, etiam ubi maxima videntur ; quem putas perisse, praemissus est. Quid autem dementius quam, cum idem tibi

° Almost identical language with the closing words of Ep. kill. : quem putamus perisse, praemissus est,

132

EPISTLE XGIX.

ungrateful for past gains, because we hope for the future, as if the future — if so be that any future is ours — will not be quickly blended with the past. People set a narrow limit to their enjoyments if they take pleasure only in the present ; both the future and the past serve for our delight — the one with anticipation, and the other with memories — but the one is contingent and may not come to pass, while the other must have been.

** What madness it is, therefore, to lose our grip on that which is the surest thing of all ? Let us rest content with the pleasures we have quaffed in past days, if only, while we quaffed them, the soul was not pierced like a sieve, only to lose again whatever it had received. There are countless cases of men who have without tears buried sons in the prime of manhood — men who have returned from the funeral pyre to the Senate chamber, or to any other official duties, and have straightway busied themselves with something else. And rightly ; for in the first place it is idle to grieve if you get no help from grief. In the second place, it is unfair to complain about what has happened to one man but is in store for all. Again, it is foolish to lament one's loss, when there is such a slight interval between the lost and the loser. Hence we should be more resigned in spirit, because we follow closely those whom we have lost.

** Note the rapidity of Time — that swiftest of things ; consider the shortness of the course along which we hasten at top speed ; mark this throng of humanity, all straining toward the same point with briefest intervals between them — even when they seem longest ; he whom you count as passed away has simply posted on ahead .^ And what is more irrational than to bewail your predecessor, when

133

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

iter emetiendum sit, flere eum, qui antecessit ? Flet aliquis factum, quod non ignoravit futurum ? Aut

8 si mortem in homine non cogitavit, sibi inposuit. Flet aliquis factum, quod aiebat non posse non fieri ? Quisquis aliquem queritur mortuum esse, queritur ^ hominem fuisse. Omnis eadem condicio devinxit : cui

9 nasci contigit, mori restat. Intervallis distinguimur, exitu aequamur. Hoc quod inter primum diem et ultimum iacet, varium incertumque est : si molestias aestimes, etiam puero longum, si velocitatem, etiam seni angustum. Nihil non lubricum et fallax et omni tempestate mobilius.^ lactantur cuncta et in contrarium transeunt iubente fortuna, et in tanta volutatione rerum humanarum nihil cuiquam nisi mors certum est. Tamen de eo queruntur omnes, in quo uno nemo decipitur. * Sed puer decessit/ Nondum dico melius agi cum eo, qui cito ^ vita defungitur ; ad eum transeamus, qui consenuit.

10 Quantulo vincit infantem ! Propone temporis pro- fundi vastitatem et universum complect ere, deinde hoc, quod aetatem vocamus humanam, conpara im- menso ; videbis, quam exiguum sit, quod optamus, quod extendimus. Ex hoc quantum lacrimae, quan-

11 tum sollicitudines occupant ! Quantum mors, ante- quam veniat, optata, quantum valitudo, quantum timor ! Quantum tenent aut rudes aut inutiles

^ mortuum esse queritur later MSS. ; om. by B and A^.

* mohilius later MSS. ; mobilibus BA.

^ cito added by Gertz.

134

EPISTLE XGIX,

you yourself must travel on the same journey ? Does a man bewail an event which he knew would take place ? Or, if he did not think of death as man's lot, he has but cheated himself. Does a man bewail an event which he has been admitting to be unavoidable ? Whoever complains about the death of anyone, is complaining that he was a man. Everyone is bound by the same terms : he who is privileged to be born, is destined to die. Periods of time separate us, but death levels us. The period which lies between our first day and our last is shift- ing and uncertain : if you reckon it by its troubles, it is long even to a lad, if by its speed, it is scanty even to a greybeard. Everything is slippery, treacherous, and more shifting than any weather. All things are tossed about and shift into their opposites at the bidding of Fortune ; amid such a turmoil of mortal affairs nothing but death is surely in store for anyone. And yet all men complain about the one thing wherein none of them is deceived. * But he died in boyhood.* I am not yet prepared to say that he who quickly comes to the end of his Ufe has the better of the bargain ; let us turn to consider the case of him who has grown to old age. How very little is he superior to the child ! * Place before your mind's eye the vast spread of time's abyss, and consider the universe ; and then contrast our so-called human life with infinity : you will then see how scant is that for which we pray, and which we seek to lengthen. How much of this time is taken up with weeping, how much with worry ! How much with prayers for death before death arrives, how much with our health, how much with our fears ! How much is occupied by our years of inexperience « For a similar argument see Ep, xii. 6 f.

135

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

anni ! Dimidium ex hoc edormitur. Adice labores, luctus, pericula, et intelleges etiam in longissima

12 vita minimum esse, quod vivitur. Sed quis tibi con- cedet non melius se habere eum, cui cito reverti licet, cui ante lassitudinem peractum est iter ? Vita nee bonum nee malum est ; boni ac mali locus est. Ita nihil ille perdidit m*si aleam in damnum certiorem. Potuit evadere modestus et prudens, potuit sub cura tua in meliora formari, sed, quod iustius timetur,

13 potuit fieri pluribus similis. Aspice illos iuvenes, quos ex nobilissimis domibus in harenam luxuria proiecit ; aspice illos, qui suam alienamque libidinem exercent mutuo inpudici, quorum nullus sine ebrie- tate, nullus sine aliquo insigni flagitio dies exit ; plus timeri quam sperari potuisse manifestum erit.

"Non debes itaque causas doloris accersere nee

14 levia incommoda indignando cumulare. Non hortor, ut nitaris et surgas ; non tam male de te iudico, ut tibi adversus hoc totam put em virtutem advocandam. Non est dolor iste, sed morsus ; tu ilium dolor em facis.

"Sine dubio multum philosophia profecit,si puerum nutrici adhuc quam patri notiorem animo forti

15 desideras. Quid ? Nunc ego duritiam suadeo et in

* i.^., who have had to turn gladiators. 136

EPISTLE XGIX.

or of useless endeavour ! And half of all this time is wasted in sleeping. Add, besides, our toils, our griefs, our dangers — and you will comprehend that even in the longest life real living is the least portion thereof. Nevertheless, who will make such an admission as : * A man is not better off who is allowed to return home quickly, whose journey is accomplished before he is wearied out * ? Life is neither a Good nor an Evil ; it is simply the place where good and evil exist. Hence this little boy has lost nothing except a hazard where loss was more assured than gain. He might have turned out temperate and prudent ; he might, with your fostering care, have been moulded to a better standard ; but (and this fear is more reasonable) he might have become just Uke the many. Note the youths of the noblest lineage whose extravagance has flung them into the arena ^ ; note those men who cater to the passions of themselves and others in mutual lust, whose days never pass without drunken- ness or some signal act of shame ; it will thus be clear to you that there was more to fear than to hope for.

** For this reason you ought not to invite excuses for grief or aggravate slight burdens by getting indignant. I am not exhorting you to make an effort and rise to great heights ; for my opinion of you is not so low as to make me think that it is necessary for you to summon every bit of your virtue to face this trouble. Yours is not pain ; it is a mere sting — and it is you yourself who are turning it into pain.

** Of a surety philosophy has done you much service if you can bear courageously the loss of a boy who was as yet better known to his nurse than to his father ! And what, then ? Now, at this time, am I

137

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

funere ipso rigere vultum volo et animum ne contrahi quidem patior ? Minime. Inhumanitas est ista, non virtus, funera suorum isdem oculis, quibus ipsos, videre nee commoveri ad primam familiarium divul- sionem. Puta autem me vetare ; quaedam sunt sui iuris. Excidunt etiam retinentibus lacrimae et

16 animum profusae levant. Quid ergo est ? Per- mittamus illis cadere, non imperemus ; fluat, quan- tum adfeetus eiecerit, non quantum poscet imitatio. Nihil vero maerori adiciamus nee ilium ad alienum augeamus exemplum. Plus ostentatio doloris exigit quam dolor : quotus quisque sibi tristis est ! Clarius, cum audiuntur, gemunt et taciti quietique dum secretum est, cum aliquos videre, in fletus novos excitantur. Tunc capiti suo manus ingerunt, quod potuerant facere nullo prohibente liberius, tunc mortem comprecantur sibi, tunc lectulo devolvuntur ;

17 sine spectatore cessat dolor. Sequitur nos ut in aliis rebus, ita in hac quoque hoc vitium, ad plurium exempla componi nee quid oporteat, sed quid soleat, aspicere. A natura discedimus, populo nos damus nullius rei bono auctori et in hac re sicut in aliis ^ omnibus inconstantissimo. Videt aliquem fortem in

* aliis Hermes ; his MSS. 138

EPISTLE XGIX.

advising you to be hard-hearted, desiring you to keep your countenance unmoved at the very funeral ceremony, and not allowing your soul even to feel the pinch of pain ? By no means. That would mean lack of feeling rather than virtue — to behold the burial ceremonies of those near and dear to you with the same expression as you beheld their living forms, and to show no emotion over the first bereavement in your family. But suppose that I forbade you to show emotion ; there are certain feelings which claim their own rights. Tears fall, no matter how we try to check them, and by being shed they ease the soul. What, then, shall we do ? Let us allow them to fall, but let us not command them do so ; let us weep according as emotion floods our eyes, but not as much as mere imitation shall demand. Let us, indeed, add nothing to natural grief, nor augment it by following the example of others. The display of grief makes more demands than grief itself : how few men are sad in their own company ! They lament the louder for being heard ; persons who are reserved and silent when alone are stirred to new paroxysms of tears when they behold others near them ! At such times they lay violent hands upon their own persons, — though they might have done this more easily if no one were present to check them ; at such times they pray for death ; at such times they toss themselves from their couches. But their grief slackens with the departure of onlookers. In this matter, as in others also, we are obsessed by this fault — conforming to the pattern of the many, and regarding convention rather than duty. We abandon nature and surrender to the mob — who are never good advisers in anything, and in this respect as in all others are most inconsistent. People see a man

139

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

luctu suo : impium vocat et efferatum ; videt aliquem conlabentem et corpori adfusum : efFeminatum ait

18 et enervem. Omnia itaque ad rationem revocanda sunt. Stultius vero nihil est quam famam captare tristitiae et lacrimas adprobare, quas iudico sapienti viro alias permissas cadere, alias vi sua latas.

" Dicam quid intersit. Cum primus nos nuntius acerbi funeris pereulit, cum tenemus corpus e com- plexu nostro in ignem transiturum, lacrimas naturalis necessitas exprimit et spiritus ictu doloris inpulsus quemadmodum totum corpus quatit, ita oculos, quibus

19 adiacentem umorem perpremit et expellit. Hae lacrimae per elisionem cadunt nolentibus nobis ; aliae sunt, quibus exitum damus, cum memoria eorum, quos amisimus, retractatur. Et inest quiddam dulce tris- titiae, cum occurrunt sermones eorum iucundi, con- versatio hilaris, officiosa pietas ; tunc oculi velut in gaudio relaxantur. His indulgemus, illis vincimur.

20 " Non est itaque, quod lacrimas propter circulum adstantem^ adsidentemque aut contineas aut ex- primas ; nee cessant nee fluunt umquam tam turpiter quam finguntur ; eant sua sponte. Ire autem pos- sunt placidis atque compositis. Saepe salva sapientis auctoritate fluxerunt tanto temperamento, ut illis nee humanitas nee dignitas deesset. Licet, inquam,

^ circulum adstantem Rossbach ; circum stantem A. 140

EPISTLE XGIX.

who bears his grief bravely : they call him undutiful and savage-hearted ; they see a man who collapses [ and clings to his dead : they call him womanish and weak. Everything, therefore, should be referred to reason. But nothing is more foolish than to court a reputation for sadness and to sanction tears ; for I hold that with a wise man some tears fall by consent, others by their own force.

** I shall explain the difference as follows : When the first news of some bitter loss has shocked us, when we embrace the form that will soon pass from our arms to the funeral flames — then tears are wrung from us by the necessity of Nature, and the life-force, smitten by the stroke of grief, shakes both the whole body, and the eyes also, from which it presses out and causes to flow the moisture that lies within. Tears like these fall by a forcing-out process, against our v/ill ; but different are the tears which we allow to escape when we muse in memory upon those whom we have lost. And there is in them a certain sweet sadness when we remember the sound of a pleasant voice, a genial conversation, and the busy duties of yore ; at such a time the eyes are loosened, as it were, with joy. This sort of weeping we indulge ; the former sort overcomes us.

** There is, then, no reason why, just because a group of persons is standing in your presence or sitting at your side, you should either check or pour forth your tears ; whether restrained or outpoured, they are never so disgraceful as when feigned. Let them flow naturally. But it is possible for tears to flow from the eyes of those who are quiet and at peace. They often flow without impairing the influence of the wise man — with such restraint that they show no want either of feeling or of self-respect.

141

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

21 naturae obsequi gravitate servata. Vidi ego in funere suorum verendos, in quorum ore amor emine- bat remota omni lugentium scaena, nihil erat nisi quod veris dabatur adfectibus. Est aliquis et dolendi decor ; hie sapienti servandus est et quemadmodum in ceteris rebus, ita etiam in lacrimis ahquid sat est ; inprudentium ^ ut gaudia sic dolores exundavere.

22 "Aequo animo excipe necessaria. Quid incredibile, quid novum evenit ? Quam multis cum maxime funus locatur, quam multis vitalia emuntur, quam multi post luctum tuum lugent ! Quotiens cogita- veris puerum fuisse, cogita et hominem, cui nihil certi promittitur, quem fortuna non utique perducit ad

23 senectutem ; unde visum est, dimittit. Ceterum frequenter de illo loquere et memoriam eius, quantum potes, celebra. Quae ad te saepius revertetur, si erit sine acerbitate ^ ventura ; nemo enim libenter tristi conversatur, nedum tristi tiae. Si quos sermones eius, si quos quamvis parvoli iocos cum voluptate ^ audi- eras, saepius repete ; potuisse ilium implere spes tuas, quas paterna mente conceperas, audacter ad-

24 firma. Oblivisci quidem suorum ac memoriam cum

^ imprudentium later MvSS. ; ut prudentium BA.

2 sine acerbitate later MSS. ; inea cervitate BA.

^ voluptate later MSS. ; voluntate BA.

" i.e. 9 a shroud for the funeral couch, lectus vitalis. 142

EPISTLE XGIX.

We may, I assure you, obey Nature and yet maintain our dignity. I have seen men worthy of reverence, during the burial of those near and dear, with countenances upon which love was written clear even after the whole apparatus of mourning was removed, and who showed no other conduct than that which was allowed to genuine emotion. There is a come- liness even in grief. This should be cultivated by the wise man ; even in tears, just as in other matters also, there is a certain sufficiency ; it is with the unwise that sorrows, like joys, gush over.

*' Accept in an unruffled spirit that which is

inevitable. What can happen that is beyond belief?

Or what that is new ? How many men at this very

moment are making arrangements for funerals !

How many are purchasing grave-clothes ^ ! How

many are mourning, when you yourself have finished

mourning ! As often as you reflect that your boy

has ceased to be, reflect also upon man, who has

no sure promise of anything, whom Fortune does

not inevitably escort to the confines of old age, but

lets him go at whatever point she sees fit. You

may, however, speak often concerning the departed,

and cherish his memory to the extent of your power.

This memory will return to you all the more often

if you welcome its coming without bitterness ; for

no man enjoys converse with one who is sorrowful,

much less with sorrow itself. And whatever words,

whatever jests of his, no matter how much of a child

he was, may have given you pleasure to hear —

these I would have you recall again and again ;

assure yourself confidently that he might have

fulfilled the hopes which you, his father, had

entertained. Indeed, to forget the beloved dead,

to bury their memory along with their bodies, to

143

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

corporibus efFerre et efFusissime flere, meminisse^ parcissime, — inhumani animi est. Sic aves, sic ferae suos diligunt, quarum concitatus ^ est amor et paene rabidus, sed cum ^ amissis totus extinguitur. Hoc prudentem virum non decet ; meminisse perseveret,

25 lugere desinat. lUud nullo modo probo, quod * ait Metrodorus : esse aliquam cognatam tristitiae volup- tatem, hanc esse captandam in eiusmodi tempore. Ipsa Metrodori verba subscripsi. MrjTpoSiopov iin- crroAtov irpo^ rrjv dSeAc^T^v.^ ecrrtv yap tls rjSovrj Xviryj

26 crvyyevrj^iy r)v xp) Orjpeveiv Kara rovrov rov Kaipov, De quibus non dubito quid sis sensurus. Quid enim est turpius quam captare in ipso luctu voluptatem, immo per luctum, et inter lacrimas quoque quod iuvet, quaerere ? Hi sunt, qui nobis obiciunt nimium rigorem et infamant praecepta nostra duritiae,^ quod dicamus dolorem aut admittendum in animum non esse aut cito expellendum. Utrum*^ tandem est aut incredibilius aut inhumanius non sentire amisso amico dolorem an voluptatem in ipso dolore aucupari ?

27 Nos quod praecipimus, honestum est ; cum aliquid lacrimarum adfectus efFuderit et, ut ita dicam, despumaverit, non esse tradendum animum dolori. Quid, tu dicis miscendam ipsi dolori voluptatem ?

^ meminisse later MSS. ; memisse BA.

* quarum concitatus later MSS. ; quorum contria con- citatus actus BA.

^ cum later MSS. ; eum BA.

* quod later MSS. ; quid BA.

* Rossbach holds that these five words belong in the margin.

® duritiae Madvig ; duritia BA. ' utrvm later MSS. ; virum BA.

144

EPISTLE XCIX.

bewail them bounteously and afterwards think of them but scantily — this is the mark of a soul below that of man. For that is the way in which birds and beasts love their young ; their affection is quickly roused and almost reaches madness, but it cools away entirely when its object dies. This quality does not befit a man of sense ; he should continue to remember, but should cease to mourn. And in no wise do I approve of the remark of Metrodorus — that there is a certain pleasure akin to sadness, and that one should give chase thereto at such times as these. I am quoting the actual words of Metrodorus.^ I have no doubt what your feelings will be in these matters ; for what is baser than to * chase after * pleasure in the very midst of mourning — nay rather by means of mourning — and even amid one*s tears to hunt out that which will give pleasure ? These ^ are the men who accuse us ^ of too great strictness, slandering our precepts because of supposed harshness — because (say they) we declare that grief should either not be given place in the soul at all, or else should be driven out forth- with. But which is the more incredible or inhuman — to feel no grief at the loss of one's friend, or to go a-hawking after pleasure in the midst of grief? That which we Stoics advise, is honourable ; when emotion has prompted a moderate flow of tears, and has, so to speak, ceased to effervesce, the soul should not be surrendered to grief. But what do you mean, Metrodorus, by saying that with our very grief there should be a blending of pleasure ? That is

" This passage, which Buecheler corrected in several places, is omitted in the English, because Seneca has already translated it literally. M. was addressing his sister.

^ i,e.y men like Metrodorus. • i.^., the Stoics.

145

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

Sic consolamur crustulo pueros, sic infantium fletum infuso lacte conpescimus.

** Ne illo quidem tempore, quo filius ardet aut amicus expirat, cessare pateris voluptatem, sed ipsum vis titillare maerorem ? Utrum honestius dolor ab animo summovetur an voluptas ad dolorem quoque admittitur ? ' Admittitur * dico ? Captatur et qui-

28 dem ex ipso. * Est aliqua * inquit * voluptas cognata tristitiae/ Istuc nobis licet dicere, vobis quidem non licet. Unum bonum nostis voluptatem, unum malum dolorem ; quae potest inter bonum et malum esse cognatio ? Sed puta esse ; nunc potissimum eruitur ? Et ipsum dolorem scrutamur, an quid ^

29 habeat iucundum circa se et voluptarium ? Quaedam remedia aliis partibus corporis salutaria velut foeda et indecora adhiberi aliis nequeunt, et quod aliubi prodesset sine damno verecundiae, id fit inhonestum loco vulneris. Non te pudet luctum voluptate sa- nare ? Severius ista plaga curanda est. lUud potius admone, nullum mali sensum ad eum, qui periit,

30 pervenire ; nam si pervenit, non periit. Nulla, inquam, res eum laedit, qui nullus est ; vivit, si laeditur. Utrum putas illi male esse, quod nullus est, an quod est adhuc aliquis ? Atqui nee ex eo

* an quid Buecheler ; aliquid BA ; an aliquid later MSS.

" i.e,^ the Epicureans.

^ i.e., grief should not be replaced by pleasure; otherwise i

grief will cease to exist. |

146

EPISTLE XGIX.

the sweetmeat method of pacifying children ; that is the way we still the cries of infants, by pouring milk down their throats !

** Even at the moment when your son's body is on the pyre, or your friend breathing his last, will you not suffer your pleasure to cease, rather than tickle your very grief with pleasure ? Which is the more honourable — to remove grief from your soul, or to admit pleasure even into the company of grief ? Did I say * admit ' ? Nay, I mean * chase after,' and from the hands, too, of grief itself. Metrodorus says : * There is a certain pleasure which is related to sadness/ We Stoics may say that, but you may not. The only Good which you ^ recognize, is pleasure, and the only Evil, pain ; and what relationship can there be between a Good and an Evil ? But suppose that such a relationship does exist ; now, of all times, is it to be rooted out ? * Shall we examine grief also, and see with what elements of delight and pleasure it is surrounded ? Certain remedies, which are beneficial for some parts of the body, cannot be applied to other parts because these are, in a way, revolting and unfit ; and that which in certain cases would work to a good purpose without any loss to one's self-respect, may become unseemly because of the situation of the wound. Are you not, similarly, ashamed to cure sorrow by pleasure ? No, this sore spot must be treated in a more drastic way. This is what you should prefer- ably advise : that no sensation of evil can reach one who is dead ; for if it can reach him, he is not dead. And I say that nothing can hurt him who is as naught ; for if a man can be hurt, he is alive. Do you think him to be badly off because he is no more, or because he still exists as somebody ? And

147

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

potest ei tormentum esse, quod non est ; quis enim nullius sensus est ? Nee ex eo, quod est ; efFugit enim maximum mortis incommodum, non esse.

31 '* lUud quoque dicamus ei, qui deflet ae desiderat in aetate prima raptum : omnes, quantum ad brevita- tem aevi, si universo conpares, et iuvenes et senes, in aequo sumus. Minus enim ad nos ex aetate omni venit quam quod minimum esse quis dixerit, quoniam quidem minimum aliqua pars est. Hoc quod vivimus, proximum nihilost ; et tamen, o dementiam nostram, late disponitur.

82 " Haec tibi scripsi, non tamquam expectaturus esses remedium tam serum, liquet enim mihi te locutum tecum quicquid lecturus es, sed ut castigarem exi- guam illam moram, qua a te recessisti, et in reliquom adhortarer, contra fortunam tolleres animos et omnia eius tela, non tamquam possent venire, sed tamquam utique essent ventura, prospiceres." Vale.

C.

Seneca Lvcilio svo salvtem

1 Fabiani Papiri libros, qui inscribuntur Civilium, legisse te cupidissime scribis, et non respondisse expectationi tuae, deinde oblitus de philosopho agi conpositionem eius accusas.

148

EPISTLES XGIX., 0.

yet no torment can come to him from the fact that he is no more — for what feeling can belong to one who does not exist? — nor from the fact that he exists ; for he has escaped the greatest disadvantage that death has in it — namely, non-existence.

** Let us say this also to him who mourns and misses the untimely dead : that all of us, whether young or old, live, in comparison with eternity, on the same level as regards our shortness of life. For out of all time there comes to us less than what any one could call least, since ' least ' is at any rate some part ; but this life of ours is next to nothing, and yet (fools that we are !), we marshal it in broad array !

" These words I have written to you, not with the idea that you should expect a cure from me at such a late date — for it is clear to me that you have told yourself everything that you will read in my letter — but with the idea that I should rebuke you even for the slight delay during which you lapsed from your true self, and should encourage you for the future, to rouse your spirit against Fortune and to be on the watch for all her missiles, not as if they might possibly come, but as if they were bound to come.*' Farewell.

C. ON THE WRITINGS OF FABIANUS

You write me that you have read with the greatest eagerness the work by Fabianus Papirius entitled The Duties of a Citizen, and that it did not come up to your expectations ; then, forgetting that you are dealing with a philosopher, you proceed to criticize his style.

149

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

Puta esse quod dicis et efFundi verba, non figi ; primum habet ista res suam gratiam et est decor proprius orationis leniter lapsae. Multum enim interesse existimo, utrum exciderit an fluxerit. Adice ^ nunc, quod in hoc quoque, quod dicturus

2 sum, ingens ^ differentia est : Fabianus mihi non efFundere videtur orationem, sed fundere ; adeo larga est et sine perturbatione, non sine cursu tamen veniens. lUud plane fatetur et praefert, non esse ^ tractatam nee diu tortam. Sed ita, ut vis, esse credamus ; mores ille, non verba conposuit et animis

3 scripsit ista, non auribus. Praeterea ipso dicente non vacasset tibi partes intueri, adeo te summa rapuisset ; et fere quae inpetu placent, minus praestant ad manum relata.

Sed illud quoque multum est primo aspectu oculos occupasse, etiam si contemplatio diligens inventura

4 est quod arguat. Si me interrogas, maior ille est, qui indicium abstulit quam qui meruit ; et scio hunc tutiorem esse, scio audacius sibi de futuro promittere. Oratio sollicita philosophum non decet ; ubi tandem erit fortis et constans, ubi periculum sui faciet, qui

5 timet verbis ? Fabianus non erat neglegens in oratione, sed securus. Itaque nihil invenies sordi-

^ adice added by Hense.

* ingens later MSS. ; indigens BA.

^ esse Muretus ; esset BA.

" i.e,^ his style is like a river rather than a torrent. 150

EPISTLE 0.

Suppose, now, that your statement is true — that he pours forth rather than places his words ; let me, however, tell you at the start that this trait of which you speak has a peculiar charm, and that it is a grace appropriate to a smoothly-gliding style. For, I maintain, it matters a great deal whether it tumbles forth, or flows along. Moreover, there is a deal of difference in this regard also — as I shall make clear to you : Fabianus seems to me to have not so much an ** efflux'' as a **flow'' of words : ^ so copious is it, without confusion, and yet not without speed. This is indeed what his style declares and announces — that he has not spent a long time in working his matter over and twisting it into shape. But even supposing the facts are as you would have them ; the man was building up character rather than words, and was writing those words for the mind rather than for the ear. Besides, had he been speaking them in his own person, you would not have had time to consider the details — the whole work would have so swept you along. For as a rule that which pleases by its swiftness is of less value when taken in hand for reading.

Nevertheless, this very quality, too, of attracting at first sight is a great advantage, no matter whether careful investigation may discover something to criticize. If you ask me, I should say that he who has forced approval is greater than he who has earned it ; and yet I know that the latter is safer, I know that he can give more confident guarantees for the future. A meticulous manner of writing does not suit the philosopher ; if he is timid as to words, when will he ever be brave and steadfast, when will he ever really show his worth ? Fabianus *s style was not careless, it was assured. That is why

151

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

dum : electa verba sunt, non captata nee huius saeculi more contra naturam suam posita et inversa, splendida tamen, quamvis sumantur e^ medio. Sensus honestos et magnificos habes, non coactos in sententiam, sed latius dictos. Videbimus, quid parum recisum sit, quid parum structum, quid non ^ huius recentis politurae ; cum circumspexeris omnia,

6 nuUas videbis angustias inanis. Desit sane varietas marmorum et concisura aquarum cubiculis interfluen- tium et pauperis cella et quicquid aliud luxuria non contenta decore simplici miscet ; quod dici solet, domus recta est.

Adice nunc, quod de compositione non constat. Quidam illam volunt esse ex horrido comptam, quidam usque eo aspera gaudent, ut etiam quae mollius casus explicuit, ex industria dissipent et clausulas abrumpant, ne ad expectatum respon-

7 deant. Lege Ciceronem : compositio eius una est, pedem curvat lenta et sine infamia mollis. At contra Pollionis Asinii salebrosa et exiliens et ubi minime exspectes, relictura. Denique omnia apud Cicero- nem desinunt, aput Pollionem cadunt exceptis paucissimis, quae ad certum modum et ad unum exemplar adstricta sunt.

1 e later MSS. ; a BA. ^ non later MSS. ; om. BA.

** Concisura : from concido, to *' cut into sections," " dis- tribute " (of water-pipes).

* 0/. Ep. xviii. 7, and Martial iii. 48 :

Pauperis extruxit cellam, sed vendidit Olus prdedia ; nunc cellam pauperis Olus habet.

Rich men sometimes fitted up in their palaces an imitation ** poor man's cabin " by way of contrast to their other rooms or as a gesture towards simple living; Seneca uses the phrase figuratively for certain devices in composition.

• Quintilian x. 1. 113 says: multa in Asinio Pollione inventio, summa diligentia, adeo ut quibusdam etiam nimia

152

EPISTLE 0.

you will find nothing shoddy in his work : his words are well chosen and yet not hunted for ; they are not unnaturally inserted and inverted, according to the present-day fashion ; but they possess distinction, even though they are taken from ordinary speech. There you have honourable and splendid ideas, not fettered into aphorisms, but spoken with greater freedom. We shall of course notice passages that are not sufficiently pruned, not constructed with sufficient care, and lacking the polish which is in vogue nowadays ; but after regarding the whole, you will see that there are no futile subtleties of argument. There may, doubtless, be no variety of marbles, no water-supply ® which flows from one apartment to another, no ** pauper -rooms," ^ or any other device that luxury adds when ill content with simple charms ; but, in the vulgar phrase, it is ** a good house to live in.**

Furthermore, opinions vary with regard to the style. Some wish it to be polished down from all roughness ; and some take so great a pleasure in the abrupt manner that they would intentionally break up any passage which may by chance spread itself out more smoothly, scattering the closing words in such a way that the sentences may result unexpect- edly. Read Cicero : his style has unity ; it moves with a modulated pace, and is gentle without being degenerate. The style of Asinius PoUio, on the other hand, is ** bumpy,*' jerky, leaving off when you least expect it.^ And finally, Cicero always stops gradually ; while Pollio breaks off, except in the very few cases where he cleaves to a definite rhythm and a single pattern.

videatur ; et consilii et animi satis ; a nitore et iucunditate Ciceronis ita longe abest, ut videri possit saeculo prior.

153

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

8 Humilia praeterea tibi videri dicis omnia et parum erecta ; quo vitio car ere eum iudico. Non sunt enim humilia ilia sed placida et ad animi tenorem ^ quietum compositumque formata, nee depressa sed plana. Deest illis oratorius vigor stimulique, quos quaeris, et subiti ictus sententiarum. Sed totum corpus videris quam sit comptum ; honestum est. Non habet oratio eius, sed dabit,^ dignitatem.

9 Adfer, quern Fabiano possis praeponere. Die Ciceronem, cuius libri ad philosophiam pertinentes paene totidem sunt, quot Fabiani ; cedam, sed non statim pusillum est, si quid maximo minus est. Die Asinium Pollionem ; cedam, et respondeamus : in re tanta eminere est post duos esse. Nomina adhuc T. Livium, scripsit enim et dialogos, quos non magis philosophiae adnumerare possis quam historiae, et ex professo philosophiam continentis libros ; huic quoque dabo locum. Vide tamen, quam multos antecedat, qui a tribus vincitur et trjbus eloquentis- simis.

10 Sed non praestat omnia : non est fortis oratio eius, quamvis elata sit ; non est violenta nee torrens, quamvis efFusa sit ; non est perspicua, sed pura. ** Desideres/' inquis, ** contra vitia aliquid aspere dici, contra pericula animose, contra fortunam superbe,

^ enim humilia ilia sed placida et ad animi tenorem later MSS. and Harl. ; enim tenorem BA. 2 dahit Lipsius : debet BA.

* The wording here resembles strikingly that of the Elder Seneca, Controv. ii. pr. 2 deerat illi (sc. Fabiano) oratorium robur et ille pugnatorius mucro.

154

EPISTLE 0.

In addition to this, you say that every- thing in Fabianus seems to you commonplace and lacking in elevation ; but I myself hold that he is free from such a fault. For that style of his is not commonplace, but simply calm and adjusted to his peaceful and well - ordered mind — not on a low level but on an even plane. There is lacking the verve and spur of the orator (for which you are looking), and a sudden shock of epigrams.^ But look, please, at the whole work, how well-ordered it is : there is a distinction in it. His style does not possess, but will suggest, dignity.

Mention someone whom you may rank ahead of Fabianus. Cicero, let us say, whose books on philosophy are almost as numerous as those of Fabianus. I will concede this point ; but it is no slight thing to be less than the greatest. Or Asinius Pollio, let us say. I will yield again, and content myself by replying : ** It is a distinction to be third in so great a field.** You may also include Livy ; for Livy wrote both dialogues (which should be ranked as history no less than as philosophy), and works which professedly deal with philosophy. I shall yield in the case of Livy also. But consider how many writers Fabianus outranks, if he is sur- passed by three only — and those three the greatest masters of eloquence !

But, it may be said, he does not offer everything : though his style is elevated, it is not strong ; though it flows forth copiously, it lacks force and sweep ; it is not translucent, but it is lucid. *'One would fail,** you urge, ** to find therein any rugged denunciation of vice, any courageous w^ords in the face of danger, any proud defiance of Fortune, any scornful threats

VOL. Ill F 155

h

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

contra ambitionem contumeliose. Volo luxuriam obiurgari, libidinem traduci, inpotentiam frangi. Sit aliquid oratorie acre, tragice grande, cornice exile.*' Vis ilium adsidere pusillae rei, verbis ; ille rerum se magnitudini addixit/ eloquentiam velut umbram non hoc agens trahit.

11 Non erunt sine dubio singula circumspecta nee in se collecta nee omne verbum excitabit ac punget,^ fateor. Exibunt multa nee ferient et interdum otiosa praeterlabetur oratio, sed multum erit in omni- bus lucis, sed ingens sine taedio spatium. Denique illud praestabit, ut liqueat tibi ilium sensisse quae scripsit. Intel] eges hoc actum, ut tu scires quid illi placeret, non ut ille placeret tibi. Ad profectum omnia tendunt, ad bonam mentem, non quaeritur plausus.

12 Talia esse script a eius non dubito, etiam si magis reminiscor quam teneo haeretque mihi color eorum non ex recenti conversatione familiariter, sed sum- matim, ut solet ex vetere notitia. Cum audirem certe ilium, talia mihi videbantur, non solida, sed plena, quae adulescentem indolis bonae attollerent et ad imitationem sui evocarent sine desperatione vincendi, quae mihi adhortatio videtur efficacissima. Deterret enim qui imitandi cupiditatem fecit, spem abstulit.

^ addixit later MSS. ; adduxit BA. ■ ac punget later MSS. ; ag pugnet BA.

156

I

EPISTLE C.

against self-seeking. I wish to see luxury rebuked, lust condemned, waywardness crushed out. Let him show us the keenness of oratory, the loftiness of tragedy, the subtlety of comedy.*' You wish him to rely on that pettiest of things, phraseology ; but he has sworn allegiance to the greatness of his subject and draws eloquence after him as a sort of shadow, but not of set purpose.

Our author will doubtless not investigate every detail, nor subject it to analysis, nor inspect and emphasize each separate word. This I admit. Many phrases will fall short, or will fail to strike home, and at times the style will slip along indolently ; but there will be plenty of light throughout the work ; there will be long stretches which will not weary the reader. And, finally, he will offer this quality — of making it clear to you that he meant what he wrote. You will understand that his aim was to have you know what pleased him, rather than that he should please you. All his work makes for pro- gress and for sanity, without any search for applause.

I do not doubt that his writings are of the kind I have described, although I am harking back to him rather than retaining a sure memory of him, and although the general tone of his writings remains in my mind, not from a careful and recent perusal, but in outline, as is natural after an acquaintance of long ago. But certainly, whenever I heard him lecture, such did his work seem to me — not solid but full, the kind which w^ould inspire young men of promise and rouse their ambition to become like him, without making them hopeless of surpassing him ; — and this method of encouragement seems to me the most helpful of all. For it is disheartening to inspire in a man the desire, and to take away from

157

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

Ceterum verbis abundabat, sine commendation e partium singularum in universum magnificus. Vale.

CI.

Seneca Lvcilio svo salvtem

1 Omnis dies, omnis hora quam nihil simus ostendit ^ et aliquo argumento recenti admonet fragilitatis oblitos ; turn aeterna meditatos respicere cogit ad mortem.

Quid sibi istud principium velit quaeris ? Sene- cionem Cornelium, equitem Romanum splendidum et offieiosum, noveras : ex tenui principio se ipse promo verat et iam illi declivis erat cursus ad cetera.

2 Facilius enim crescit dignitas quam incipit. Pecunia quoque circa paupertatem plurimum morae ^ habet, dum ex ilia erepat haeret. Iam ^ Senecio divitiis imminebat, ad quas ilium duae res ducebant efficacis- simae, et quaerendi et custodiendi scientia, quarum

3 vel altera locupletem facere potuisset. Hie homo summae frugalitatis, non minus patrimonii quam corporis diligens, cum me ex consuetudine mane vidisset, cum per totum diem amico graviter ad- fecto et sine spe iacenti usque in noctem adsedisset, cum hilaris cenasset, genere valitudinis praecipiti arreptus, angina, vix conpressum artatis faucibus spirit um traxit in lucem. Intra paucissimas ergo

^ simus ostendit later MSS. ; sumostendit BA.

2 morae Pincianus ; amor em BA.

' haeret ; iam Buecheler ; hoe (or hoc) etiam BA,

158

EPISTLES 0., CL

him the hope, of emulation. At any rate, his language was fluent, and though one might not approve every detail, the general effect was noble. Farewell.

CI. ON THE FUTILITY OF PLANNING

CI. ON THE FUTILITY OF PLANNING AHEAD

Every day and every hour reveal to us what a nothing we are, and remind us with some fresh evidence that we have forgotten our weakness ; then, as we plan for eternity, they compel us to look over our shoulders at Death.

Do you ask me what this preamble means ? It refers to Cornelius Senecio, a distinguished and capable Roman knight, whom you knew : from humble beginnings he had advanced himself to for- tune, and the rest of the path already lay downhill before him. For it is easier to grow in dignity than to make a start ; and money is very slow to come where there is poverty ; until it can creep out of that, it goes halting. Senecio was already bordering upon Avealth, helped in that direction by two very powerful assets — knowing how to make money and how to keep it also ; either one of these gifts might have made him a rich man. Here was a person who lived most simply, careful of health and wealth alike. He had, as usual, called upon me early in the morning, and had then spent the whole day, even up to night- fall, at the bedside of a friend who was seriously and hopelessly ill. After a comfortable dinner, he was suddenly seized with an acute attack of quinsy, and, with the breath clogged tightly in his swollen throat, barely lived until daybreak. So within a very few hours after the time when he had been performing

159

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

horas, quam omnibus erat sani ac valentis ofRciis

4 functus, decessit. Ille, qui et mari et terra pecuniam agitabat, qui ad publica quoque nullum relinquens inexpertum genus quaestus accesserat, in ipso actu bene cedentium rerum, in ipso procurrentis pecuniae impetu raptus est.

Insere nunc, Meliboee, piros, pone ordine ^ vites. Quam stultum est aetatem disponere ne crastini quidem dominum ! O quanta dementia est spes longas inchoantium : emam aedificabo, credam exi- gam, honores geram, tum deinde lassam et plenam

5 senectutem in otium refer am. Omnia, mihi crede, etiam felicibus dubia sunt. Nihil sibi quisquam de futuro debet promittere. Id quoque, quod tenetur, per manus exit et ipsam, quam premimus, horam casus incidit. Volvitur tempus rata quidem lege, sed per obscurum ; quid autem ad me, an naturae certum sit quod mihi incertum est ?

6 Navigationes longas et pererratis litoribus alienis seros in patriam reditus proponimus, militiam et castrensium labor um tarda manipretia, procurationes ofBciorumque per officia processus, cum interim ad latus mors est, quae quoniam numquam cogitatur nisi aliena, subinde nobis ingeruntur mortalitatis exempla non diutius quam dum miramur haesura.

7 Quid autem stultius quam mirari id ullo die factum,

^ pone in ordine BA.

« Vergil, Eel, i. 74.

* Perhaps a bint to Lucilius, who was at this time procurator in Sicily,

1 60

EPISTLE CI.

all the duties of a sound and healthy man, he passed away. He who was venturing investments by land and sea, who had also entered public life and left no type of business untried, during the very realization of financial success and during the very onrush of the money that flowed into his coffers, was snatched from the world !

Graft now thy pears, Meliboeus, and set out thy vines in their order ! *

But how foolish it is to set out one's life, when one is not even owner of the morrow ! O what madness it is to plot out far-reaching hopes ! To say : ** I will buy and build, loan and call in money, win titles of honour, and then, old and full of years, I will sur- render myself to a life of ease." Believe me when I say that everything is doubtful, even for those who are prosperous. No one has any right to draw for himself upon the future. The very thing that we grasp slips through our hands, and chance cuts into the actual hour which we are crowding so full. Time does indeed roll along by fixed law, but as in dark- ness ; and what is it to me whether Nature's course is sure, when my own is unsure ?

We plan distant voyages and long-postponed home-comings after roaming over foreign shores, we plan for military service and the slow rewards of hard campaigns, we canvass for governorships ^ and the promotions of one office after another — and all the while death stands at our side ; but since we never think of it except as it affects our neighbour, instances of mortality press upon us day by day, to remain in our minds only as long as they stir our wonder.

Yet what is more foolish than to wonder that some- thing which may happen every day has happened

I6l

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

quod omni potest fieri ? Stat quidem terminus nobis, ubi ilium inexorabilis fatorum necessitas fixit, sed nemo scit nostrum, quam prope versetur ter- minum.^ Sic itaque formemus animum, tamquam ad extrema ventum sit. Nihil diiferamus. Cotidie

8 cum vita paria faciamus. Maximum vitae vitium est, quod inperfecta semper est, quod aliquid ^ ex ilia difFertur. Qui cotidie vitae suae summam manum inposuit, non indiget tempore. Ex hac autem in- digentia timor nascitur et cupiditas futuri exedens animum. Nihil est miserius dubitatione venientium quorsus evadant ; quantum sit illud quod restat aut quale, soUicita^ mens inexplicabili formidine agitatur.

9 Quo modo effugiemus hanc volutationem ? Uno, si vita nostra non prominebit, si in se coUigitur. Ille enim ex futuro suspenditur, cui inritum est praesens. Ubi vero, quidquid mihi debui, redditum est, ubi stabilita mens scit nihil interesse inter diem et saeculum, quicquid deinceps dierum rerumque venturum est, ex alto prospicit et cum multo risu seriem temporum cogitat. Quid enim varietas mobilitasque casuum perturbabit, si certus sis ad- versus incerta ?

10 Ideo propera, Lucili mi, vivere et singulos dies singulas vitas puta. Qui hoc modo se aptavit,* cui vita sua cotidie fuit tota, securus est ; in spem ^ viventibus proximum quodque tempus elabitur subit-

1 terminum Buecheler ; terminus BA.

2 in aliquid BA. The best solution, in spite of several emendations, is to drop in.

3 sollicita Buecheler ; collecta BA. * aptavit Stephanus ; aptabit BA, ^ spem later MSS. ; spe BA.

162

EPISTLE CI.

on any one day ? There is indeed a limit fixed for us, just where the remorseless law of Fate has fixed it ; but none of us knows how near he is to this limit. Therefore, let us so order our minds as if we had come to the very end. Let us postpone nothing. Let us balance life's account every day. The greatest flaw in life is that it is always imperfect, and that a certain part of it is postponed. One who daily puts the finishing touches to his life is never in want of time. And yet, from this want arise fear and a craving for the future which eats away the mind. There is nothing more wretched than worry over the outcome of future events ; as to the amount or the nature of that which remains, our troubled minds are set a-flutter with unaccountable fear.

How, then, shall we avoid this vacillation ? In one way only, — if there be no reaching forward in our life, if it is withdrawn into itself. For he only is anxious about the future, to whom the present is unprofitable. But when I have paid my soul its due, when a soundly-balanced mind knows that a day differs not a whit from eternity — whatever days or problems the future may bring — then the soul looks forth from lofty heights and laughs heartily to itself when it thinks upon the ceaseless succession of the ages. For what disturbance can result from the changes and the instability of Chance, if you are sure in the face of that which is unsure ?

Therefore, my dear Lucilius, begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life. He who has thus prepared himself, he whose daily life has been a rounded whole, is easy in his mind ; but those who live for hope alone find that the immediate future always slips from their grasp and that greed

VOL. Ill

F 2 163

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

que aviditas et miserrimus ac miserrima omnia effi- ciens metus mortis. Inde illud Maecenatis tur- pissimum votum, quo et debilitatem non recusat et deformitatem et novissime acutam crucem, dum- modo inter haee mala spiritus prorogetur :

11 Dcbilem facito manu, debilem pede coxo, Tuber adstrue gibber um, lubricos quate dentes ; Vita dum superest, benest ; banc ^ mihi, vel acuta Si sedeam cruce, sustine.

12 Quod miserrimum erat, si incidisset, optatur et tamquam vita petitur supplici mora. Contemptis- simum putarem, si vivere vellet usque ad crucem : '* Tu vero '' inquit, " me debilites licet, dum spiritus in corpore fracto et inutili maneat. Depraves licet, dum monstroso et distorto ^ temporis aliquid accedat. Suffigas licet et acutam sessuro crucem subdas." Est tanti vulnus suum premere et patibulo pendere di- strictum, dum difFerat id, quod est in malis optimum, supplicii finem ? Est tanti habere animam, ut agam ?

13 Quid huic optes nisi deos faciles ? Quid sibi vult ista carminis efFeminati turpitudo ? Quid timoris demen-

^ hanc later MSS. ; hac BA. 2 distorto Erasmus ; detorto Haase ; deserto BA.

" Frag. 1, p. 35 Lunderstedt.

* Horace, his intimate friend, wrote Od, ii. 17 to cheer the despondent Maecenas ; and Pliny {N.H, vii. 54) mentions his fevers and his insomnia — perpetua febris. . . . Eidem triennio supremo nullo horae momento contigit somnus,

164

EPISTLE CI.

steals along in its place, and the fear of death, a curse which lays a curse upon everything else. Thence came that most debased of prayers, in which Maecenas ^ does not refuse to suffer weakness, deformity, and as a climax the pain of crucifixion — provided only that he may prolong the breath of life amid these sufferings : ^

Fashion me with a palsied hand, Weak of foot, and a cripple ; Build upon me a crook-backed hump ; Shake my teeth till they rattle ; All is well, if my life remains. Save, oh, save it, I pray you. Though I sit on the piercing cross !

There he is, praying for that which, if it had be- fallen him, would be the most pitiable thing in the world ! And seeking a postponement of suffering, as if he were asking for life ! I should deem him most despicable had he wished to live up to the very time of crucifixion : ** Nay,*' he cries, ** you may weaken my body if you will only leave the breath of life in my battered and ineffective carcase T* ** Maim me if you will, but allow me, misshapen and deformed as I may be, just a little more time in the world ! You may nail me up and set my seat upon the piercing cross ! ** Is it worth while to weigh down upon one's own wound, and hang impaled upon a gibbet, that one may but postpone something which is the balm of troubles, the end of punishment ? Is it worth all this to possess the breath of life only to give it up ? What would you ask for Maecenas but the indulgence of Heaven ? What does he mean by such womanish and indecent verse ? What does he mean by making terms with panic fear ? What does

165

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

tissimi pactio ? Quid tarn foeda vitae mendicatio ? Huic ^ putes umquam recitasse Vergilium :

Usque adeone mori miserum est ?

Optat ultima malorum, et quae pati gravissimum est extendi ac sustineri eupit ; qua mercede ? Scilicet vitae longioris. Quod autem vivere est diu mori ?

14 Invenitur aliquis, qui velit inter supplicia tabescere et perire membratim et totiens per stilicidia emittere animam quam semel exhalare ? Invenitur, qui velit adactus ad illud infelix lignum, iam debilis, iam pravus et in foedum scapularum ac pectoris ^ tuber elisus, cui multae moriendi causae etiam citra crucem fuerant, trahere animam tot tormenta tracturam ?

Nega nunc magnum beneficium esse naturae, quod necesse est mori. Multi peiora adhuc pacisci parati

15 sunt : etiam amicum prodere, ut diutius vivant, et liberos ad stuprum manu sua tradere, ut contingat lucem videre tot consciam scelerum. Excutienda vitae cupido ^ est discendumque nihil interesse, quando patiaris, quod quandoque patiendum est. Quam bene vivas refert, non quam diu ; saepe autem in hoc est ^ bene, ne diu. Vale.

^ huic Muretus ; cui BA.

* ac pectoris later MSS. ; acceptoris BA.

* cupido later MSS. ; cui pido BA.

* est Gruter ; esse BA.

166

EPISTLE GI.

he mean by begging so vilely for life ? He cannot ever have heard Vergil read the words :

Tell me, is Death so wretched as that ? ^

He asks for the climax of suffering, and — what is still harder to bear — prolongation and extension of suffering ; and what does he gain thereby ? Merely the boon of a longer existence. But what sort of life is a lingering death ? Can anyone be found who would prefer wasting away in pain, dying limb by limb, or letting out his life drop by drop, rather than expiring once for all ? Can any man be found willing to be fastened to the accursed tree,* long sickly, already deformed, swelling with ugly tumours on chest and shoulders, and draw the breath of life amid long-drawn-out agony ? I think he would have many excuses for dying even before mounting the cross !

Deny, now, if you can, that Nature is very generous in making death inevitable. Many men have been prepared to enter upon still more shameful bargains : to betray friends in order to live longer themselves, or voluntarily to debase their children and so enjoy the light of day which is witness of all their sins, We must get rid of this craving for life, and learn that it makes no difference when your suffering comes, because at some time you are bound to suffer. The point is, not how long you live, but how nobly you live. And often this living nobly means that you cannot live long. Farewell.

" Aeneid xii. 646. ^ Infelix lignum (or arbor) is the cross.

167

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

CII.

Seneca Lvcilio svo salvtem

1 Quomodo molestus est iucundum somnium videnti qui excitat, aufert enim voluptatem, etiam si falsam, efFectum tamen verae habentem ; sic epistula tua mihi fecit iniuriam. Revocavit enim me cogitationi aptae traditum et iturum, si licuisset, ulterius.

2 luvabat de aeternitate animarum quaerere, immo mehercules credere. Praebebam^ enim me facilem opinionibus magnorum virorum rem gratissimam promittentium magis quam probantium. Dabam me spei tantae. lam eram fastidio mihi, iam reliquias aetatis infractae contemnebam in immensum illud tempus et in possessionem omnis aevi trans- iturus ; cum subito experrectus ^ sum epistula tua accepta et tam bellum somnium perdidi. Quod repetam, si te dimisero, et redimam.

3 Negat me epistula prima totam quaestionem ex- plicuisse, in qua probare conabar id quod nostris placet, claritatem, quae post mortem contingit, bonum esse. Id enim me non solvisse, quod op- ponitur nobis : ** Nullum/' inquiunt, ** bonum ex distantibus. Hoc autem ex distantibus constat.**

4 Quod interrogas, mi Lucili, eiusdem quaestionis est

^ praeheham Buecheler ; credebam BA. ^ experrectus later MSS. ; experfectiis BA.

" Seneca, worn out by his poUtical experiences, was at this time not less than sixty-seven years of age.

168

EPISTLE CII,

GIL ON THE INTIMATIONS OF OUR IMMORTALITY

Just as a man is annoying when he rouses a dreamer of pleasant dreams (for he is spoihng a pleasure which may be unreal but nevertheless has the appearance of reality), even so your letter has done me an inj ury . For it brought me back abruptly, absorbed as I was in agreeable meditation and ready to proceed still further if it had been permitted me. I was taking pleasure in investigating the immortality of souls, nay, in beUeving that doctrine. For I was lending a ready ear to the opinions of the great authors, who not only approve but promise this most pleasing condition. I was giving myself over to such a noble hope ; for I was already weary of myself, beginning already to despise the fragments of my shattered existence,^ and feeling that I was destined to pass over into that infinity of time and the heritage of eternity, when I was suddenly awakened by the receipt of your letter, and lost my lovely dream. But, if I can once dispose of you, I shall reseek and rescue it.

There was a remark, at the beginning of your letter, that I had not explained the whole problem — wherein I was endeavouring to prove one of the beliefs of our school, that the renown which falls to one's lot after death is a good ; for I had not solved the problem with which we are usually confronted : ** No good can consist of things that are distinct and separate ; yet renown consists of such things." What you are asking about, my dear Lucilius, belongs to another topic of the same subject, and that

169

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

loci alterius, et ideo non hoc ^ tantum, sed alia quoque eodem ^ pertinentia distuleram. Quaedam enim, ut scis, moralibus ^ rationalia inmixta sunt. Itaque illam partem rectam et ad mores pertinentem trac- tavi : numquid stultum sit ac supervacuum ultra extremum diem cur as transmittere, an cadant bona nostra nobiscum nihilque sit eius, qui nullus est, an ex eo, quod, cum erit, sensuri non sumus, ante- quam sit, aliquis fructus percipi ^ aut peti possit.

5 Haec omnia mores spectant ; itaque suo loco posita sunt. At quae a dialecticis contra banc opinionem dicuntur, segreganda fuerunt et ideo seposita sunt. Nunc, quia omnia exigis, omnia quae dicunt per-

6 sequar, deinde singulis occurram. Nisi aliquid prae- dixero, intellegi non poterunt quae refellentur. Quid est, quod praedicere ^ velim ? Quaedam con- tinua corpora esse, ut hominem ; quaedam esse composita, ut navem, domum, omnia denique, quorum diversae partes iunctura in unum coactae sunt ; quaedam ex distantibus, quorum adhuc membra separata sunt, tamquam exercitus, populus. senatus. Illi enim, per quos ista corpora efficiuntur, iure aut officio cohaerent, natura diducti et singuli sunt. Quid est, quod etiamnunc praedicere velim ?

7 Nullum bonum putamus esse, quod ex distantibus constat. Uno ^ enim spiritu unum bonum contineri

1 hoc added in later MSS.

2 eodem later MSS. ; om. BA.

^ moralihus later MSS. ; moralia BA.

* percipi later MSS. ; percipit BA.

* praedicere later MSS. : praecidere BA.

^ lino later MSS. ; unde BA.

« Seneca is perhaps popularizing the Stoic combinations^ — Trapddeais (juxtaposition), /xI^ls (mixture) or Kpdats (fusion), and ffvyxvo-Ls (chemical mixture). C/. E. V. Arnold, Roman Stoicism, p. 169.

170

EPISTLE CII.

is why I had postponed the arguments, not only on this one topic, but on other topics which also covered the same ground. For, as you know, certain logical questions are mingled with ethical ones. Accord- ingly, I handled the essential part of my subject which has to do with conduct — as to whether it is fooUsh and useless to be concerned with what lies beyond our last day, or whether our goods die with us and there is nothing left of him who is no more, or whether any profit can be attained or attempted beforehand out of that which, when it comes, we shall not be capable of feeling.

All these things have a view to conduct, and there- fore they have been inserted under the proper topic. But the remarks of dialecticians in opposition to this idea had to be sifted out, and were accordingly laid aside. Now that you demand an answer to them all, I shall examine all their statements, and then refute them singly. Unless, however, I make a preliminary remark, it will be impossible to under- stand my rebuttals. And what is that preliminary remark ? Simply this : there are certain continuous bodies, such as a man ; there are certain composite bodies, — as ships, houses, and everything which is the result of joining separate parts into one sum total : there are certain others made up of things that are distinct,^ each member remaining separate — like an army, a populace, or a senate. For the persons who go to make up such bodies are united by virtue of law or function ; but by their nature they are distinct and individual. Well , what further prefatory remarks do I still wish to make ? Simply this : we believe that nothing is a good, if it be composed of things that are distinct. For a single good should be checked and controlled by a single soul ; and the

171

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

ac regi debet, unum esse unius boni principale. Hoc si quando desideraveris, per se probatur ; interim ponendum fuit, quia in nos ^ nostra tela mittuntur.

8 ** Dieitis/' inquit, ** nullum bonum ex distantibus esse ? Claritas autem ista bonorum virorum secunda opinio est. Nam quomodo fama non est unius sermo nee infamia unius mala existimatio, sic nee claritas uni bono placuisse. Consentire in hoc plures insignes et spectabiles viri debent, ut claritas sit. Haec autem ex iudiciis plurium ^ efRcitur, id est distantium ;

9 ergo non est bonum. Claritas/' inquit, ** laus est a bonis bono reddita ; laus oratio, vox est aliquid signi- ficans ; vox est autem, licet virorum sit bonorum, non ^ bonum. Nee enim quicquid vir bonus facit, bonum est. Nam et plaudit et sibilat, sed nee plausum quisquam nee sibilum, licet omnia eius admiretur et laudet, bonum dicit, non magis quam sternu- mentum aut tussim. Ergo claritas bonum non est.

10 Ad summam dicite nobis, utrum laudantis an laudati bonum sit : si laudati * bonum esse dicitis, tam ridiculam rem facitis, quam si adfirmetis meum esse, quod alius bene valeat. Sed laudare dignos honesta actio est ; ita laudantis bonum est, cuius actio est,

^ nos added by Schweighaeuser.

^ plurium later MSS. ; plurimum BA.

^ bonorum non inserted by Erasmus.

* laudati Madvig ; laudantis BA.

^ i.e., the arguments of the Stoics.

172

EPISTLE CIL

essential quality of each single good should be single. This can be proved of itself whenever you desire ; in the meanwhile, however, it had to be laid aside, because our own weapons ^ are being hurled at us.

Opponents speak thus : ** You say, do you, that no good can be made up of things that are distinct ? Yet this renown, of which you speak, is simply the favourable opinion of good men. For just as reputation does not consist of one person's remarks, and as ill repute does not consist of one person's disapproval, so renown does not mean that we have merely pleased one good person. In order to constitute renown, the agreement of many distinguished and praiseworthy men is necessary. But this results from the decision of a number — in other words, of persons who are distinct. There- fore, it is not a good. You say, again, that renown is the praise rendered to a good man by good men. Praise means speech : now speech is utterance with a particular meaning ; and utterance, even from the lips of good men, is not a good in itself. For any act of a good man is not necessarily a good ; he shouts his applause and hisses his disapproval, but one does not call the shouting or the hissing good — although his entire conduct may be admired and praised — any more than one would applaud a sneeze or a cough. Therefore, renown is not a good. Finally, tell us whether the good belongs to him who praises, or to him who is praised : if you say that the good belongs to him who is praised, you are on as foolish a quest as if you were to maintain that my neighbour's good health is my own. But to praise worthy men is an honourable action ; thus the good is exclusively that of the man who does the praising, of the man who performs the action, and not of us, who are

173

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

non nostrum, qui laudamur. Atqui hoc quaere* batur/'

11 Respondebo nunc singulis cursim. Primum, an sit aliquod ex distantibus bonum, etiamnunc quaeritur et pars utraque sententias habet. Deinde claritas desiderat multa sufFragia ? Potest et unius boni viri iudicio esse contenta ; unus nos ^ bonus bonos iudicat.

12 ** Quid ergo ? " inquit, ** et fama erit unius hominis existimatio et infamia unius malignus sermo ? Gloriam quoque," inquit, ** latius fusam intellego, consensum enim multorum exigit." Diversa horum condicio est et illius. Quare ? Quia, si de me bene vir bonus sentit, eodem loco sum, quo si omnes boni idem sentirent ; omnes enim, si me cognoverint, idem sentient. Par illis idemque indicium est, aeque vero inficiscitur. Dissidere non possunt ; ita pro eo est, ac si omnes idem sentiant, quia aliud

13 sentire non possunt. ** Ad gloriam aut famam non est satis unius opinio.'* Illic idem potest una sen- tentia, quod omnium, quia omnium, si perrogetur, una erit ; hie diversa dissimilium indicia sunt. Difficiles adfectus, dubia omnia invenies, levia, suspecta. Putas tu posse unam omnium esse sen- tentiam ? Non est unius una sententia. lUi placet verum, veritatis una vis, una facies est ; apud hos

^ unus nos Hense ; nos BA.

** t.^., of the unus vir bonus, as contrasted with the many

174

EPISTLE Gil.

being praised. And yet this was the question under discussion."

I shall now answer the separate objections hurriedly. The first question still is, whether any good can consist of things that are distinct — and there are votes cast on both sides. Again, does renown need many votes ? Renown can be satisfied with the decision of one good man : it is one good man who decides that we are good. Then the retort is : ** What ! Would you define reputation as the esteem of one individual, and ill-repute as the rancorous chatter of one man ? Glory, too, we take to be more widespread, for it demands the agreement of many men.'* But the position of the ** many " is different from that of ** the one.*' And why ? Because, if the good man thinks well of me, it practically amounts to my being thought well of by all good men ; for they will all think the same, if they know me. Their judgment is alike and identical; the effect of truth on it is equal. They cannot dis- agree, which means that they would all hold the same view, being unable to hold different views. ** One man's opinion,'* you say, ** is not enough to create glory or reputation." In the former case,^ one judgment is a universal judgment, because all, if they were asked, would hold one opinion ; in the other case, however, men of dissimilar character give divergent judgments. You will find perplexing emotions — everything doubtful, inconstant, untrust- worthy. And can you suppose that all men are able to hold one opinion ? Even an individual does not hold to a single opinion. With the good man it is truth that causes belief, and truth has but one function and one likeness ; while among the second class of which I spoke, the ideas with which they

175

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

falsa sunt, quibus adsentiuntur. Numquam autem

14 falsis constantia est : variantur et dissident. ** Sed laus/' inquit, ** nihil aliud quam vox est, vox autem bonum non est." Cum dicunt^ claritatem esse laudem bonorum a bonis redditam,^ non ad vocem referunt, sed ad sententiam. Licet enim vir bonus taceat, sed aliquem iudieet dignum laude esse,

15 laudatus est. Praeterea aliud est laus, aliud laudatio, haee et vocem exigit. Itaque nemo dicit laudem funebrem, sed laudationem, cuius officium oratione constat. Cum dicimus aliquem laude dignum, non verba illi benigna hominum, sed indicia promittimus. Ergo laus etiam taciti est bene sentientis ac bonum virum apud se laudantis.

16 Deinde, ut dixi, ad animum refertur laus, non ad verba, quae conceptam laudem egerunt et in noti- tiam^ plurium emittunt. Laudat qui laudandum esse iudicat. Cum tragicus ille apud nos ait magnifi- cum esse ** laudari a laudato viro,*' laude digno ait. Et cum aeque antiquus poeta ait ** laus alit artis," * non laudationem dicit, quae corrumpit artes. Nihil enim aeque et eloquentiam et omne aliud studium auribus deditum vitiavit quam popularis adsensio.

17 Fama vocem utique desiderat, claritas potest etiam ^ citra vocem contingere contenta iudicio. Plena

^ dicunt Lipsius ; dicant BA.

^ redditam later MSS. ; reddi iam BA.

^ in notiiiayn later MSS. ; innocentiam BA.

* alit artes Erasmus ; alitteris BA.

^ etiam Buecheler ; enhn BA.

*» i.e.^ the Stoics.

^ Naevius, quoted by Cicero, Tusc, Disp. iv. 31 (of Hector) :

laetus sum laudari me abs te, pater, laudato viro.

* A commonplace sentiment, found, e.g», in Cicero, Tusc, Disp. i. 2, 4>,

176

EPISTLE CIL

agree are unsound. Moreover, those who are false are never steadfast : they are irregular and discord- ant. ** But praise/* says the objector, "is nothing but an utterance, and an utterance is not a good." When they ^ say that renown is praise bestowed on the good by the good, what they refer to is not an utterance but a judgment. For a good man may remain silent ; but if he decides that a certain person is worthy of praise, that person is the object of praise. Besides, praise is one thing, and the giving of praise another ; the latter demands utterance also. Hence no one speaks of ** a funeral praise," but says ** praise - giving " — for its function depends upon speech. And when we say that a man is worthy of praise, we assure human kindness to him, not in words, but in judgment. So the good opinion, even of one who in silence feels inward approval of a good man, is praise.

Again, as I have said, praise is a matter of the mind rather than of the speech ; for speech brings out the praise that the mind has conceived, and publishes it forth to the attention of the many. To judge a man worthy of praise, is to praise him. And when our tragic poet ^ sings to us that it is wonderful " to be praised by a well-praised hero," he means, " by one who is worthy of praise." Again, when an equally venerable bard says : ^ ** Praise nurtureth the arts," he does not mean the giving of praise, for that spoils the arts. Nothing has corrupted ora.tory and all other studies that depend on hearing so much as popular approval.^ Reputation necessarily demands words, but renown can be content with men's judgments, and suffice without the spoken

^ C/. Ep, xl. 4 haec popularis (oratio) nihil habet veri*

177

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

est non tantum inter tacentis, sed etiam inter re- clamantis. Quid intersit inter claritatem et gloriam dicam : gloria multorum iudiciis constat, claritas

18 bonorum. ** Cuius/* inquit, ** bonum est claritas, id est laus bono a bonis reddita ? Utrum laudati an laudantis ? '* Utriusque. Meum, qui laudor ; quia natura me^ ajuantem omnium genuit, et bene fecisse gaudeo, et gratos me invenisse virtutum interpretes laetor ; hoc plurium ^ bonum est, quod grati sunt, sed et meum. Ita enim animo conpositus sum, ut^ aliorum bonum meum iudicem, utique

19 eorum, quibus ipse* sum boni causa. Est istud laudantium bonum, virtu te enim geritur ; omnis autem virtutis actio bonum est. Hoc contingere illis non potuisset, nisi ego talis essem. Itaque utriusque bonum est merito laudari, tam mehercules quam bene iudicasse iudicantis bonum est et eius, secundum quem iudicatum est. Numquid dubitas, quin iustitia et habentis bonum sit et autem sit eius, cui debitum solvit ? Merentem laudare iustitia est ; ergo utriusque bonum est.

20 Cavillatoribus istis abunde responderimus.^ Sed non debet hoc nobis esse propositum arguta disserere et philosophiam in has angustias ex sua maiestate detrahere ; quanto satius est ire aperta ^ via et recta quam sibi ipsum flexus disponere, quos cum magna

^ natura me later MSS. ; naturam mea BA.

* plurium later MSS. ; plurimum BA.

8 ut later MSS. ; et BA.

* ipse or istius later MSS. ; iste BA.

' responderimus Pincianus ; respondebimus BA

* aperta later MSS. ; aperte BA},

178

EPISTLE on.

word. It is satisfied not only amid silent approval, but even in the face of open protest. There is, in my opinion, this difference between renown and glory — the latter depends upon the judgments of the many ; but renown on the judgments of good men. The retort comes : ** But whose good is this renown, this praise rendered to a good man by good men ? Is it of the one praised, or of the one who praises ? *' Of both, I say. It is my own good, in that I am praised, because I am naturally born to love all men, and I rejoice in having done good deeds and congratulate myself on having found men who express their ideas of my virtues with gratitude ; that they are grateful, is a good to the many, but it is a good to me also. For my spirit is so ordered that I can regard the good of other men as my own — in any case those of whose good I am myself the cause. This good is also the good of those who render the praise, for it is applied by means of virtue ; and every act of virtue is a good. My friends could not have found this blessing if I had not been a man of the right stamp. It is therefore a good belonging to both sides, — this being praised when one deserves it — just as truly as a good decision is the good of him who makes the decision and also of him in whose favour the decision was given. Do you doubt that justice is a blessing to its possessor, as well as to the man to whom the j ust due was paid ? To praise the deserving is justice ; therefore, the good belongs to both sides. This wdll be a sufficient answer to such dealers in subtleties. But it should not be our purpose to dis- cuss things cleverly and to drag Philosophy down from her majesty to such petty quibbles. How much better it is to follow the open and direct road, rather than to map out for yourself a circuitous route

179

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

molestia debeas relegere ? Neque enim quicquam aliud istae disputationes sunt quam inter se perite

21 captantium lusus. Die potius, quam naturale sit in inmensum mentem suam extendere. Magna et generosa res est humanus animus : nullos sibi poni nisi communes et cum deo terminos patitur. Primum humilem non accipit patriam, Ephesum aut Alexan- driam aut si quod est etiamnunc frequentius accolis ^ laetiusve tectis ^ solum ; patria est illi quodcumque suprema et universa circuitu suo cingit, hoc omne convexum, intra quod iacent maria cum terris, intra quod aer humanis divina secernens etiam ^ coniungit, in quo ^ disposita tot lumina ^ in actus suos excubant.

22 Deinde artam aetatem sibi dari non sinit : ** omnes," inquit, " anni ^ mei sunt. Nullum saeculum magnis ingeniis clusum est, nullum non cogitationi pervium tempus. Cum venerit dies ille, qui mixtum hoc divini humanique secernat, corpus" hie, ubi inveni, relinquam, ipse me dis® reddam. Nee nunc sine

23 illis sum, sed gravi terrenoque detineor." Per has mortalis aevi moras illi meliori vitae longiorique proluditur. Quemadmodum decem ^ mensibus tenet nos maternus uterus et praeparat non sibi, sed ^^ illi loco, in quem videmur emitti iam idonei spiritum trahere et in aperto durare ; sic per hoc spatium, quod ab infantia patet in senectutem, in alium maturescimus partum. Alia origo nos expectat,

* accolis Pincianus ; oculis BA ; incolis or occulis later MSS.

^ laetiusve tectis Windhaus ; laetius vecfis BA.

3 etiam Pincianus ; iam BA.

* quo Schweighaeuser ; quod BA.

^ lumina Haase ; numina BA. * anni Pine. ; ante BA.

' corpus Pine. ; tempus BA.

8 diis later MSS. : diei BA.

* decem later MSS. ; invicem BA.

10 sed later MSS. ; et BA.

180

EPISTLE OIL

which you must retrace with infinite trouble ! For such argumentation is nothing else than the sport of men who are skilfully juggling with each other. Tell me rather how closely in accord with nature it is to let one's mind reach out into the boundless universe ! The human soul is a great and noble thing; it permits of no limits except those which can be shared even by the gods. First of all, it does not consent to a lowly birthplace, like Ephesus or Alexandria, or any land that is even more thickly populated than these, and more richly spread with dwellings. The soul's homeland is the whole space that encircles the height and breadth of the firma- ment, the whole rounded dome within which lie land and sea, within which the upper air that sunders the human from the divine also unites them, and where all the sentinel stars are taking their turn on duty. Again, the soul will not put up with a narrow span of existence. ** All the years,'* says the soul, ** are mine ; no epoch is closed to great minds ; all Time is open for the progress of thought. When the day comes to separate the heavenly from its earthly blend, I shall leave the body here where I found it, and shall of my own volition betake myself to the gods. I am not apart from them now, but am merely detained in a heavy and earthly prison." These delays of mortal existence are a prelude to the longer and better life. As the mother's womb holds us for ten months, making us ready, not for the womb itself, but for the existence into which we seem to be sent forth when at last we are fitted to draw breath and live in the open ; just so, throughout the years extending between infancy and old age, we are making ourselves ready for another birth. A different beginning, a different condition, await us.

181

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

alius rerum status. Nondum caelum nisi ex inter-

24 vallo pati possumus ; proinde intrepidus horam illam decretoriam prospice : non est animo suprema, sed corpori. Quidquid circa te iacet rerum, tamquam hospitalis loci sarcinas specta : transeundum est.

25 Excutit redeuntem natura sicut intrantem. Non licet plus efFerre quam intuleris, immo etiam ex eo, quod ad vitam adtulisti, pars magna ponenda est : detrahetur tibi haec circumiecta, novissimum vela- mentum tui, cutis ; detrahetur caro et sufFusus sanguis discurrensque per totum ; detrahentur ossa nervique, firmamenta fluidorum ac labentium.

26 Dies iste, quem tamquam extremum reformidas, aeterni natalis est. Depone onus ; quid cunctaris, tamquam non prius quoque relicto, in quo latebas, corpore exieris ? Haeres, reluctaris ; tum quoque magno nisu matris expulsus es. Gemis, ploras ; et hoc ipsum flere nascentis est, sed tunc debebat ignosci : rudis et imperitus omnium veneras. Ex maternorum viscerum calido mollique fomento emissum adflavit aura liberior, deinde ofFendit durae manus tactus, tenerque adhuc et nullius rei gnarus obstipuisti inter ignota.

27 Nunc tibi non est novum separari ab eo, cuius ante pars fueris ; aequo animo membra iam supervacua dimitte et istuc corpus inhabitatum diu pone.

° A metaphor from the arena : decretoria were real " decisive weapons with which death was faced, as opposed to lusoriay " sham " weapons. C/, Sen. Ep. cxvii. 26,

182

EPISTLE Gil.

We cannot yet, except at rare intervals, endure the light of heaven ; therefore, look forward without fearing to that appointed hour,^ — the last hour of the body but not of the soul. Survey everything that lies about you, as if it were luggage in a guest- chamber : you must travel on. Nature strips you as bare at your departure as at your entrance. You may take away no more than you brought in ; what is more, you must throw away the major portion of that which you brought with you into life : you will be stripped of the very skin which covers you — that which has been your last protection ; you will be stripped of the flesh, and lose the blood which is suffused and circulated through your body ; you will be stripped of bones and sinews, the frame- work of these transitory and feeble parts.

That day, which you fear as being the end of all things, is the birthday of your eternity. Lay aside your burden — why delay ? — just as if you had not previously left the body which was your hiding- place ! You cling to your burden, you struggle ; at your birth also great effort was necessary on your mother's part to set you free. You weep and wail ; and yet this very weeping happens at birth also ; but then it was to be excused : for you came into the world wholly ignorant and inexperienced. When you left the warm and cherishing protection of your mother's womb, a freer air breathed into your face ; then you winced at the touch of a rough hand, and you looked in amaze at unfamiliar objects, still delicate and ignorant of all things.

But now it is no new thing for you to be sundered from that of which you have previously been a part ; let go your already useless limbs with resignation and dispense with that body in which you have dwelt for

183

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

Scindetur, obruetur, abolebitur. Quid contristaris ? Ita solet fieri : pereunt semper ^ velamenta naseen- tium. Quid ista sic diligis quasi tua ? Istis opertus es. Veniet, qui te revellat dies et ex contubernio

28 foedi atque olidi ventris educat. Huic nunc quoque tUj quantum potes, subdue te voluptatique,^ nisi quae necessariis seriisque ^ cohaerebit ; alienus iam hinc altius aliquid sublimiusque meditare. Aliquando naturae tibi arcana retegentur, discutietur ista caligo et lux undique clara percutiet,

Imaginare tecum, quantus ille sit fulgor tot si- deribus inter se lumen miscentibus ; nulla serenum umbra turbabit. Aequaliter splendebit omne caeli latus ; dies et nox aeris infimi vices sunt. Tunc in tenebris vixisse te dices, cum totam lucem et totus aspexeris, quam nunc per angustissimas oculorum vias obscure intueris. Et tamen admiraris illam iam procul ; quid tibi videbitur divina lux, cum illam suo loco videris ?

29 Haec cogitatio nihil sordidum animo subsidere sinit, nihil humile, nihil crudele. Deos rerum omnium esse testes ait. Illis nos adprobari, illis in futurum parari iubet et aeternitatem proponere. Quam qui mente concepit, nullos horret exercitus, non terretur tuba, nuUis ad timorem minis agitur.

^ semper Pincianus ; saepe BA.

2 subdue te voluptatique Bartsch and Hense ; suhvoluptari- quae BA.

^ necessariis seriisque Hense ; necessariisque BA.

^ The departure from life is compared to the release from the womb. There is also possibly a double meaning implied in the word venter,

184

EPISTLE GIL

so long. It will be torn asunder, buried out of sight, and wasted away. Why be downcast ? This is what ordinarily happens : when we are born, the afterbirth always perishes. Why love such a thing as if it were your own possession ? It was merely your covering. The day will come which will tear you forth and lead you away from the company of the foul and noisome womb. Withdraw from it now too * as much as you can, and withdraw from pleasure, except such as may be bound up with essential and important things ; estrange yourself from it even now, and ponder on something nobler and loftier. Some day the secrets of nature shall be disclosed to you, the haze will be shaken from your eyes, and the bright light will stream in upon you from all sides.

Picture to yourself how great is the glow when all the stars mingle their fires ; no shadows will disturb the clear sky. The whole expanse of heaven will shine evenly ; for day and night are interchanged only in the lowest atmosphere. Then you will say that you have lived in darkness, after you have seen, in your perfect state, the perfect light — that light which now you behold darkly with vision that is cramped to the last degree. And yet, far off as it is, you already look upon it in wonder ; what do you think the heavenly hght will be when you have seen it in its proper sphere ?

Such thoughts permit nothing mean to settle in the soul, nothing low, nothing cruel. They maintain that the gods are witnesses of everything. They order us to meet the gods' approval, to prepare ourselves to join them at some future time, and to plan for immortality. He that has grasped this idea shrinks from no attacking army, is not terrified by the trumpet-blast, and is intimidated by no threats;

185

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA

30 Quidni non timeat qui mori sperat ? Is quoque,^ qui animum tamdiu iudicat manere, quamdiu retine- tur corporis vinculo, solutum statim spargit, ut etiam post mortem utilis esse possit. Quamvis enim ipse ereptus sit oculis, tamen

Multa viri virtus animo multusque recursat Gentis honos.

Cogita, quantum nobis exempla bona prosint ; scies magnorum virorum non minus praesentiam esse utilem quam memoriam. Vale.

cm.

Seneca Lvcilio svo salvtem

1 Quid ista circumspicis, quae tibi possunt fortasse evenire, sed possunt et non evenire ? Incendium dico, ruinam, alia, quae ^ nobis incidunt, non in- sidiantur ; ilia potius vide, ilia devita, quae ^ nos observant, quae captant. Rariores sunt* casus, etiam si graves, naufragium facere, vehiculo everti ; ab homine homini cotidianum periculum. Adversus hoc te expedi, hoc intentis oculis intuere. Nullum est malum frequentius, nullum pertinacius, nullum

2 blandius. Ac ^ tempestas minatur antequam surgat, crepant aedificia antequam corruant, praenuntiat

^ qui mori sperat ? is quoque Buecheler ; qui mori speriat. 8e quoque BA.

2 incendium . . . alia quae Pincianus ; incidentium . . . aliqua BA.

^ ilia de vita quae later MSS. ; ilia videvita ilia quae BA.

* rariores sunt Gruter ; pari essunt BA.

• ac Buecheler ; ah BA.

186

EPISTLES GIL, CIIL

How should it not be that a man feels no fear, if he looks forward to death ? He also who believes that the soul abides only as long as it is fettered in the body, scatters it abroad forthwith when dissolved, so that it may be useful even after death. For though he is taken from men's sight, still

Often our thoughts run back to the hero, and often the glory Won by his race recurs to the mind. ^»

Consider how much we are helped by good example ; you will thus understand that the presence of a noble man is of no less service than his memory. Farewell.

CIIL ON THE DANGERS OF ASSOCIATION WITH OUR FELLOW-MEN ^

Why are you looking about for troubles which may perhaps come your way, but which may indeed not come your way at all ? I mean fires, falling buildings, and other accidents of the sort that are mere events rather than plots against us. Rather beware and shun those troubles which dog our steps and reach out their hands against us. Accidents, though they may be serious, are few — such as being shipwrecked or thrown from one's carriage ; but it is from his fellow-man that a man's everyday danger comes. Equip yourself against that ; watch that with an attentive eye. There is no evil more frequent, no evil more persistent, no evil more insinuating. Even the storm, before it gathers, gives a warning ; houses crack before they crash ; and smoke is the forerunner

<* Vergil, A en» iv. 3 f. * Compare this with the Seventh letter (vol. i.). VOL. Ill G 187

THE EPISTLES OF SENEGA

fumus incendium ; subita est ex homine pernieies et eo diligentius tegitur, quo propius accedit.

Err as, si istorum tibi qui occurrunt vultibus credis ; hominum effigies liabent, animos ferarum, nisi quod illarum perniciosus ^ est primus incursus : quos trans- iere, non quaerunt. Numquam enim illas ad nocen- dum nisi necessitas incitat ; aut ^ fame aut timore coguntur ad pugnam ; homini perdere hominem libet.

3 Tu tamen ita cogita, quod ex homine periculum sit, ut cogites, quod sit hominis officium. Alterum intuere, ne laedaris, alterum ne laedas. Commodis omnium laeteris, movearis incommodis et memineris,

4 quae praestare debeas, quae cavere. Sic vivendo quid consequaris ? Non te ne noeeant, sed ne fallant. Quantum potes aut em, in philosophiam recede : ilia te sinu ^ suo proteget, in huius sacrario eris aut tutus aut tutior. Non arietant inter se nisi

5 in eadem ambulantes via.* Ipsam autem philo- sophiam non debebis iactare ; multis fuit periculi causa insolenter tractata et contumaciter. Tibi vitia detrahat, non aliis exprobret. Non abhorreat a publicis moribus nee hoc agat, ut quicquid non facit, damnare videatur. Licet sapere sine pompa, sine invidia. Vale.

^ perniciosus von Ian ; perniciosius BA. * incitat : aut Buecheler ; inicit^ hae aut BA, * te sinu Erasmus ; te nisu BA. * via Madvig ; quia BA.

188

EPISTLE cm.

of fire. But damage from man is instantaneous, and the nearer it comes the more carefully it is concealed.

You are wrong to trust the countenances of those you meet. They have the aspect of men, but the souls of brutes ; the difference is that only beasts damage you at the first encounter ; those whom they have passed by they do not pursue. For nothing ever goads them to do harm except when need compels them : it is hunger or fear that forces them into a fight. But man delights to ruin man.

You must, however, reflect thus what danger you run at the hands of man, in order that you may deduce what is the duty of man. Try, in your dealings with others, to harm not, in order that you be not harmed. You should rejoice with all in their joys and sympathize with them in their troubles, remembering what you should offer and what you should withhold. And what may you attain by living such a life ? Not necessarily freedom from harm at their hands, but at least freedom from deceit. In so far, however, as you are able, take refuge with philosophy : she will cherish you in her bosom, and in her sanctuary you shall be safe, or, at any rate, safer than before. People collide only when they are travelling the same path. But this very philosophy must never be vaunted by you ; for philosophy when employed with insolence and arrog- ance has been perilous to many. Let her strip off your faults, rather than assist you to decry the faults of others. Let her not hold aloof from the customs of mankind, nor make it her business to condemn whatever she herself does not do. A man may be wise without parade and without arousing enmity. Farewell.

189

THE EPISTLES OF SENECA CIV.

Seneca Lvcilio svo salvtem

1 In Nomentanum meum fugi, quid putas ? Urbem ? Immo febrem et quidem subrepentem. lam manum mihi iniecerat. Medicus initia esse dicebat motis venis et ineertis et naturalem turbantibus modum. Protinus itaque parari vehieulum iussi ; Paulina mea retinente exire perseveravi ; illud mihi ore erat domini mei Gallionis, qui cum in Achaia febrem habere coepisset, protinus navem ascendit clamitans

2 non corporis esse, sed loci morbum. Hoc ego Pauhnae meae dixi, quae mihi vaUtudinem meam commendat. Nam cum sciam^ spiritum iUius in meo verti, incipio, ut ilU consulam, mihi consulere. Et cum me fortiorem senectus ad multa reddiderit, hoc beneficium aetatis amitto. Venit enim mihi in mentem, in hoc sene et adulescentem esse, cui parcitur. Itaque quoniam ego ab ilia non impetro, ut me fortius amet, a me ^ impetrat ilia, ut me

3 diligentius amem. Indulgendum est enim honestis adfectibus ; et interdum, etiam si premunt causae, spiritus in honorem suorum vel cum tormento re- vocandus et in ipso ore retinendus est, cum bono viro vivendum sit non quamdiu iuvat sed quamdiu

^ sciam later MSS. ; scias BA.

^ a me was inserted by Gertz at this point ; Muretus placed it after ilia,

*» Pompeia Paulina, the second wife of Seneca ; c/. Tac. Ann, XV. 60. Though much younger than her husband, she was a model of devotion, and remained loyal to him through all the Neronian persecution.

^ Elder brother of Seneca, whose name before his adop- tion by Lucius lunius Gallio was Annaeus Novatus. He was governor of Achaia from a.d. July 1, 51 to July 1, 52,

190

EPISTLE CIV