'^f^ DIEGO
THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY
EDITED BY E. CAPPS, PH.D., LL.D. T. E. PAGE, LITT.D. W. H. D. ROUSE, LiTT.D.
SENECA AD LUCILIUM EPISTULAE MORALES
SKXKC A
AD LUCir,irM KPISTI LAK MOUAI,
KS
WITH AX KXGI ISH TRANSLATION BV RKHAKI) M. GIMMKHK, Pm.D.
HE.\U MASTKR, WILUAM I'tNN CHARTER SOHOOU PHILADKLIMIIA
IN THREE VOLUMES II
LONDON: WILLIAM HllNKMANN NKW VOlvK: Ci. P. PL TNAM S SONS
MCNIXX
CONTENTS OF VOLUME 11
LXVI. ON VARIOUS ASPECTS OF VIRTUE
LXVII. ON ILL - HEALTH AND ENDURANCE OF
SUFFERING
LXVIII. ON WISDOM AND RETIREMENT
LXIX. ON REST AND RESTLESSNESS .
LXX. ON THE PROPER TIME TO SLIP THE CABLE
LXXI. ON THE SUPREME GOOD
LXXII. ON BUSINESS AS THE ENEMY OF PHILOSOPHY
LXXIII. ON PHILOSOPHERS AND KINGS
LXXIV. ON VIRTUE AS A REFUGE FROM WORLDLY
DISTRACTIONS ....
LXXV. ON THE DISEASES OF THE SOUL
LXXVI. ON LEARNING WISDOM IN OLD AGE .
LXXVII. ON TAKING ONe's OWN LIFE .
LXXVIII. ON THE HEALING POWER OF THE MIND
LXXIX. ON THE REWARDS OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY
LXXX. ON WORLDLY DECEPTIONS
LXXXI. ON BENEFITS
LXXXII. ON THE NATURAL FEAR OF DEATH
LXXXIII. ON DRUNKENNESS
LXXXIV. ON GATHERING IDEAS .
PACK 2
34 44 52 56 72 96 104
112 136 146 168 180 200 212 218 240 258 276
CONTENTS
PAGE LXXXV. ON SOME VAIN SYLLOGISMS . . . 284
LXXXVI. ON SCIPIO'S VILLA . . . .310
LXXXVII. SOME ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OF THE
SIMPLE LIFE ..... 322 LXXXVIII. ON LIBERAL AND VOCATIONAL STUDIES . 348 LXXXIX. ON THE PARTS OF PHILOSOPHY . 376
XC. ON THE PART PLAYED BY PHILOSOPHY IN
THE PROGRESS OF MAN . . . 394
XCI. ON THE LESSON TO BE DRAWN FROM THE
BURNING OF LYONS .... 430 XCII. ON THE HAPPY LIFE .... 446'
APPENDIX ....... 472
INDEX OF PROPER NAMES . . . . .474
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
L. ANNAEI SENECAE AD LUCILIUM EPISTULAE
LXVI.
Seneca Lvcilio svo salvtem
1 Claranum, condiscipulum meuni, vidi post multos annos. Non, puto, exspectas, ut adiciam senem, sed mehercules viridem animo ac vigentem et cum cor- pusculo suo conluctantem. Inique enim se natura gessit et talem animum male conlocavit ; aut fortasse voluit hoc ipsum nobis ostendere, posse ingenium fortissimum ac beatissimum sub qualibet cute latere. Vincit tamen omnia inpedimenta et ad cetera con-
2 temnenda a contemptu sui venit. Errare mihi visus estj qui dixit
gratior et pulchro veniens e ^ corpore virtus.
Non enim ullo honestamento eget ; ipsa magnum sui decus est et corpus suum consecrat. Aliter^ certe Claranum nostrum coepi intueri ; formosus mihi videtur et tarn rectus corpore quam est animo.
3 Potest ex casa vir magnus exire, potest et ex defoi-mi humilique corpusculo formosus animus ac magnus. Quosdam itaque mihi videtur in hoc tales natui'a
1 The Vergil MSS. give in. ^ consecrat aliter Haase ; consecraUter MSS.
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LXVI. ON VARIOUS ASPECTS OF VIRTUE
I HAVE just seen my former school-mate Claraiius for the first time in many years. You need not wait for me to add that he is an old man ; but I assure you that I found him hale in spirit and sturdy, although he is wrestling with a frail and feeble body. For Nature acted unfairl}^ when she gave him a poor domicile for so rare a soul ; or perhaps it was because she wished to prove to us that an absolutely strong and happy mind can lie hidden under any exterior. Be that as it may, Claranus overcomes all these hindrances, and by despising his own body has arrived at a stage where he can despise other things also. The poet who sang
Worth shows more pleasing in a form that's fair,"
is, in my opinion, mistaken. For virtue needs notliing to set it off; it is its own great glory, and it hallows the bod}' in which it dwells. At any rate, 1 have begun to regard Claranus in a different light ; he seems to me handsome, and as well-set-up in body as in mind. A great man can spring from a hovel ; so can a beautiful and great soul from an ugly and insignificant body. For this reason Nature seems to
" Vergil, Aeneid, v. 344.
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generare, ut adprobet virtutem omni loco nasci. Si posset per se nudos edere animos^ fecisset ; nunc, quod amplius est, facit ; quosdam enim edit cor- poribus inpeditos, sed nihilominus perrumpentes
4 obstantia. Claranus mihi videtur in exemplar editus, ut scire possemus non deformitate corporis foedari animum, sed pulchritudine animi corpus ornari.
Quamvis autem paucissimos una fecerimus dies, tamen multi nobis seiTnones fuerunt, quos subinde
5 egerani et ad te permittam. Hoc primo die quaesi- tum est : quomodo possint paria ^ bona esse, si triplex eorum condicio est. Quaedam, ut nostris videtur, prima bona sunt, tamquam gaudium, pax, salus patriae ; quaedam secunda, in materia infelici expressa, tamquam tormentorum patientia et in morbo gravi temperantia. Ilia bona derecto optabi- mus nobis, haec, si necesse erit. Sunt adhuc tertia, tamquam modestus incessus et conpositus ac probus
6 voltus et conveniens prudenti viro gestus. Quomodo ista inter se paria ^ esse possunt, cum alia optanda sint, alia aversanda ? Si volumus ista distinguere, ad primum bonum revertamur et consideremus id quale sit : animus intuens vera, peritus fugiendorum ac
^ paria the later MSS. ; tria pVPb.
« Seneca is not speaking here of the three generic virtues (physical, ethical, logical), nor of the three kinds of goods (based on bodily advantage) which were classified by the Peripatetic school ; he is only speaking of three sorts of circumstances under which the good can manifest itself. And in §§ 36 ff. he shows that he regards only the first two classes as real goods. See Zeller, Stoics, p. 230, n. 3.
4
EPISTLE LXVI.
me to breed certain men of this stamp with the idea of proving that virtue springs into birth in any place whatevei-. Had it been possible for her to produce souls by themselves and naked, she would have done so ; as it is. Nature does a still greater thing, for she produces certain men who, though hampered in their bodies, none the less break through the obstruction. I think Claranus has been produced as a pattern, that Ave might be enabled to understand that the soul is not disfigured by the ugliness of the body, but rather the opposite, that the body is beautified by the comeliness of the soul.
Now, though Claranus and I have spent very few days together, we have nevertheless had many con- versations, which I at once took up for study and shall pass on to you. The first day we investigated this problem : how can goods be equal if they are of three kinds .'' " For certain of them, according to our philosophical tenets, are primary, such as joy, peace, and the welfare of one's country. Others are of the second order, moulded in an unhappy material, such as the endurance of suffering, and self-control during severe illness. We shall pray outright for the goods of the first class ; for the second class we shall pray only if the need shall arise. There is still a third variety, as, for example, a modest gait, a calm and honest countenance, and a bearing that suits the man of wisdom. Now how can these things be equal when we compare them, if you grant that we ought to pray for the one and avoid the other ? If we would make distinctions among them, we had better return to the First Good, and consider what its nature is : the soul that gazes upon truth, that is skilled in what should be sought and what should
5
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petendorum, non ex opinionCj sed ex natura pretia rebus inponens, toti se inserens mundo et in omnes eius actus contemplationem suam mittens, cogita- tionibus aetionibusque intentus, ex aequo magnus ac vehemens, asperis blandisque pariter invictus, neutri se fortunae summittens, supra omnia quae contingunt aceiduntque eminens, pulcherrimus, ordinatissimus cum decore turn ^ viribus, sanus ac siccus, inpertur- batus, intrepidus, quern nulla vis frangat, quern nee adtollant fortuita nee deprimant ; talis animus virtus
7 est. Haec eius est facies, si sub unum veniat aspectum et semel tota se ostendat. Ceterum multae eius species sunt. Pro vitae vai-ietate et pro actionibus explicantur ; nee minor fit aut maior ipsa, decrescere enim summum bonum non potest nee virtuti ire retro licet ; sed in alias atque alias quali- tates convertitur ad rerum, quas actura est, habituni
8 figurata. Quidquid attigit, in similitudinem sui adducit et tinguit ; actiones, amicitias, interdum domos totas, quas intravit disposuitque, condecorat. Quidquid tractavit, id amabile, conspicuum, mirabile facit.
Itaque vis eius et magnitudo ultra non potest surgere, quando incrementum maximo non est. Nihil invenies rectius recto, non magis quam verius
9 vero, quam temperato temperatius. Omnis sine
^ turn Haase ; cian MSS.
« Siccus (not in the sense of Ep. xviii. 4) here means "vigorous," "healthy," "dry"; i.e., free from drops}', catarrh, etc.
* Cf., from among many passages, Ep. bcxi. 20 f. and xcii. 16 flf.
EPISTLE LXVI.
be avoided, establishing standards of value not according to opinion, but according to nature, — the soul that penetrates the whole world and directs its contemplating gaze upon all its phenomena, paying strict attention to thoughts and actions, equally great and forceful, superior alike to hardships and blandishments, yielding itself to neither extreme of fortune, rising above all blessings and tribulations, absolutely beautiful, perfectly equipped with grace as well as with strength, healthy and sinewy," unruffled, undismayed, one which no violence can shatter, one which acts of chance can neither exalt nor depress, — a soul like this is virtue itself. There you have its outward ajjpearance, if it should ever come under a single view and show itself once in all its completeness. But there are many aspects of it. They unfold themselves accord- ing as life varies and as actions differ ; but virtue itself does not become less or greater.^ For the Supreme Good cannot diminish, nor may virtue retrograde ; rather is it transformed, now into one quality and now into another, shaping itself accord- ing to the part which it is to play. Whatever it has touched it brings into likeness with itself, and dyes with its own colour. It adorns our actions, our fi-iendships, and sometimes entire households which it has entered and set in order. Whatever it has handled it forthwith makes lovable, notable, admirable.
Therefore the power and the greatness of virtue cannot rise to greater heights, because increase is denied to that which is superlatively gi-eat. You will find nothing sti-aighter than the straight, nothing truer than the truth, and nothing more temperate than that which is temperate. Every virtue is
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modo ^ est virtus ; modo certa mensura est. Constantia non habet, quo procedatj non magis quam fiducia aut Veritas aut fides. Quid accedere perfecto potest ? Nihil, aut perfectum non erat, cui accessit. Ergo ne virtuti quidem, cui si quid adici potest, defuit. Honestum quoque nullam accessionem recipit ; honestum est enini propter ista, quae rettuli. Quid porro .'' Decorum et iustum et legitimum non eiusdem esse formae putas, certis terminis con- prensum ? Crescere posse inperfectae rei signum est.
10 Bonum omne in easdem cadit leges; iuncta est privata et publica utilitas, tarn mehercules quam inseparabile est laudandum petendumque. Ergo virtutes inter se pares sunt et opera virtutis et omnes
11 homines, quibus illae contigere. Satorum vero animaliumque virtutes cum mortales sint, fragiles quoque caducaeque sunt et incertae. Exiliunt residuntque et ideo non eodem pretio aestimantur ; una inducitur humanis virtutibus regula. Una enim est ratio recta simplexque. Nihil est divino divinius,
12 caelesti caelestius. Moi'talia minuuntur, cadunt, deteruntur, crescunt, exhauriuntur, inplentur. Itaque illis in tam incerta sorte inaequalitas est ; divinorura una natura est. Ratio autem nihil aliud est quam in corpus humanum pars divini spiritus
^ sirie modo Capps ; in modo MSS. and Hense.
" i.e., constancy, fidelity, etc.
EPISTLE LXVI.
limitless ; for limits depend upon definite measure- ments. Constancy cannot advance further, any more than fidelity, or truthfulness, or loj^alty. What can be added to that which is perfect? Nothing; otherwise that was not perfect to which something has been added. Nor can anything be added to virtue, either, for if an}i;hing can be added thereto, it must have contained a defect. Honour, also, permits of no addition ; for it is honourable because of the very qualities which I have men- tioned.® What then ? Do you think that propriety, justice, lawfulness, do not also belong to the same type, and that they are kept within fixed limits ? The ability to increase is proof that a thing is still imperfect.
The good, in every instance, is subject to these same laws. The advantage of the state and that of the individual are yoked together ; indeed it is as impossible to separate them as to separate the commendable from the desirable. Therefore, virtues are mutually equal : and so are the works of virtue, and all men who are so fortunate as to possess these virtues. But, since the virtues of plants and of animals are perishable, they are also frail and fleeting and uncertain. They spring up, and they sink down again, and for this reason they are not rated at the same value ; but to human virtues only one rule applies. For right reason is single and of but one kind. Nothing is more divine than the divine, or more heavenly than the heavenly. Mortal things decay, fall, are worn out, grow up, are exhausted, and replenished. Hence, in their case, in view of the uncertainty of their lot, there is inequality ; but of things divine the nature is one. Reason, however, is nothing else than a portion of the divine spirit set
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mersa. Si ratio divina est, nullum autem bonum sine ratione est, bonum omne divinum est. Nullum porro inter divina discrimen est ; ergo nee inter bona. Paria itaque sunt et gaudium et fortis atque obstinata tormentorum perpessio ; in utroque enim eadem est animi magnitudo, in altero remissa et
1 3 laeta, in altera pugnax et intenta. Quid .'' Tu non putas parem esse virtutem eius, qui fortiter hostium moenia expugnat, et eius, qui obsidionem patientissime sustinet ? Magnus ^ Scipio, qui Numan- tiam cludit et conprimit cogitque invictas manus in exitium ipsas suum verti ; magnus ille obsessoruni animus, qui scit non esse clusum, cui mors aperta est, et in conplexu libertatis expirat. Aeque reliqua quoque inter se paria sunt, tranquillitas, simplicitas, liberalitas, constantia, aequanimitas, tolerantia. Omnibus enim istis una virtus subest, quae animum rectum et indeclinabilem praestat.
^ * " Quid ergo ? Nihil interest inter gaudium et dolorum inflexibilem patientiam ? " Nihil, quantum ad ipsas virtutes ; plurimum inter ilia, in quibus virtus utraque ostenditur. In altero enim naturalis est animi remissio ac laxitas, in altero contra naturam dolor. Itaque media sunt haec, quae plurimum intervalh recipiunt ; virtus in utroque par est.
15 Virtutem materia non mutat ; nee peiorem facit dura
1 et magnus MSS. ; Haase deletes et.
" Ratio {\byoi) is also defined as God, as Absolute Truth, Destiny, etc. The same idea Is evident in the definition of sapientia (the object of philosophy) as reritm divinarum et humanarum . . . scientta (Cic. Off. ii. -2. 5, etc.), and 7iosse divina et Mimana et Jiorum caiisas, etc.
* A Spanish city, reduced and razed to the ground in 133 B.C. by Scipio Africanus, the conqueror of Carthage.
« Cf. Ep. xxxi. 4 and footnote (Vol. I.).
10
EPISTLE LXVI.
in a human body.** If reason is divine, and the good in no case lacks reason, then the good in every case is divine. And furthermore, there is no distinction between things divine ; hence there is none between goods, either. Thei-efore it follows that joy and a brave unyielding endurance of torture are equal goods ; for in both there is the same greatness of soul, relaxed and cheerful in the one case, in the other combative and bi'aced for action. What ? Do you not think that the virtue of him who bravely storms the enemy's stronghold is equal to that of him who endui-es a siege with the utmost patience ? Great is Scipio when he invests Numantia,'' and constrains and compels the hands of an enemy, whom he could not conquei", to resort to their own destruction. Great also are the souls of the defenders — men who know that, as long as the path to death lies open, the blockade is not complete, men who breathe their last in the arms of liberty. In like manner, the other virtues are also equal as compared with one another : tranquillity, simplicity, generosity, con- stancy, equanimity, endui-ance. For underlying them all is a single virtue — that which renders the soul straight and unswerving.
" What then," you say ; " is there no difference between joy and unyielding endurance of pain?" None at all, as regards the virtues themselves ; very great, however, in the circumstances in which either of these two virtues is displayed. In the one case, there is a natural relaxation and loosening of the soul ; in the Qther there is an unnatural pain. Hence these circumstances, between which a great distinc- tion can be drawn, belong to the category of in- different things,"^ but the virtue shown in each case is equal. Virtue is not changed by the matter with
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ac difficilis, nee meliorem hilaris et laeta. Necesse est ergo par sit.^ In utraque enim quod fit, aeque recte fit, aeque prudentei", aeque honeste. Ergo aequalia sunt bona, ultra quae - nee hie potest se melius in hoc gaudio gerere nee ille mehus in illis cruciatibus. Duo autem, quibus nihil fieri melius
16 potest, paria sunt. Nam si, quae extra virtutem posita sunt, aut minuere illam aut augere possunt, desinit unum bonum esse, quod honestum. Si hoc concesseris, omne honestum perit. Quare ? Dicam : quia nihil honestum est, quod ab invito, quod coactum ^ fit. Omne honestum voluntarium est. Admisce illi pigritiam, querellam, tergiversationem, metum ; quod habet in se optimum, perdidit, sibi placere. Non potest honestum esse, quod non est liberum ;
17 nam quod timet, servit. Honestum omne securum est, tranquillum est ; si recusat aliquid, si conplorat, si malum iudicat, perturbationem recepit et in magna discordia volutatur. Hinc enim species recti vocat, illinc suspicio mali retrahit. Itaque qui honeste aliquid facturus est, quicquid opponitur, id etiam si incommodum putat, malum non putet, velit, libens faciat. Omne honestum iniussum incoactumque est, sincerum et nulli malo mixtum.
18 Scio, quid mihi responderi hoc loco possit : "hoc
^ par sit Haase ; pars sit p etc.
^ ultra quae Haase ; litteraque MSS.
^ coactum Haase ; aco actum p ; a coacto Vb ; aco acto P.
« Cf. Cicero, De Fin. ii. 14 f. Rackhara translates as " moral worth," — a reminiscence of rd KaXov.
12
EPISTLE LXVI.
which it deals ; if the matter is hard and stubborn, it does not make the virtue worse ; if pleasant and joyous, it does not make it better. Therefore, virtue necessarily remains equal. For, in each case, what is done is done with equal uprightness, with equal wisdom, and with equal honour. Hence the states of goodness involved are equal, and it is impossible for a man to transcend these states of goodness by con- ducting himself better, either the one man in his joy, or the other amid his suffering. And two goods, neither of which can possibly be better, are equal. For if things which are extrinsic to virtue can either diminish or increase virtue, then that Avhich is honour- able * ceases to be the onlj* good. If you grant this, honour has wholly perished. And why } Let me tell you : it is because no act is honourable that is done by an unwilling agent, that is compulsory. Every honourable act is voluntary. Alloy it with reluctance, complaints, cowardice, or fear, and it loses its best characteristic — self- approval. That which is not free cannot be honourable ; for fear means slavery. The honourable is wholly free from anxiety and is calm ; if it ever objects, laments, or regards anything as an evil, it becomes subject to disturbance and begins to flounder about amid great confusion. For on one side the semblance of right calls to it, on the other the suspicion of evil drags it back. Therefore, when a man is about to do something honourable, he should not regard any obstacles as evils, even though he regard them as inconvenient, but he should will to do the deed, and do it willingly. For everj^ honourable act is done without commands or compulsion ; it is unalloyed and contains no admixture of evil.
I know what you may reply to me at this point :
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nobis persuadere conaris, nihil interesse, utrum aliquis in gaudio sit an in eciileo iaceat ac tortorem suuni lasset ? " Poteram respondere : Epicurus quoque ait sapientem, si in Phalaridis tauro peruratur, exclama- turum : "dulce est et ad me nihil pertinet." Quid miraris, si ego paria bona dico alterius in convivio iacentiSj^ alterius inter toi'menta fortissime stantis, cum quod ^ ineredibilius est dicat Epicurus, dulce
19 esse torreri ? Set ^ hoc I'espondeo, plurimum interesse inter gaudium et dolorem ; si quaeratur electio, alterum petam, alterum vitabo. Illud secundum naturam est, hoc contra. Quamdiu sic aestimantur, niagno inter se dissident spatio ; cum ad virtutem ventum est, utraque par est et quae per laeta procedit
20 et quae per tristia. Nullum habet momentum vexatio et dolor et quicquid aliud incommodi est ; virtute enim obruitur. Quemadmodum minuta lumina claritas solis obscurat, sic dolores, molestias, iniurias virtus magnitudine sua elidit atque opprimit et quocumque adfulsit, ibi quicquid sine ilia appai-et, extinguitur ; nee magis ullam portionem habent incommoda, cum in virtutem inciderunt, quam in mari nimbus.
21 Hoc ut scias ita esse, ad omne pulchrum vir bonus sine uUa cunctatione procurret ; stet illic licet carnifex, stet tortor atque ignis, perseverabit nee quid passurus, sed quid factui'us sit, aspiciet, et se
1 alterius in convivio iacentis Arg. B, according to Oberlin. Not in the other MSS.
2 cum quod later MSS. ; quod cum or quocum MSS. * torreri sed Ludwig von Jan ; terroris et MSS.
" One of the stock bits of heroism attributed to the ideal wise man. Cf. Epicurus (Frag. 601 Usener), Cicero, Tusc. ii. 7. 17, etc. 14
EPISTLE LXVI.
" Are you trying to make us believe that it does not matter whether a man feels joy, or whether he lies upon the rack and tires out his torturer?" I might say in answer : " Epicurus also maintains that the wise man, though he is being burned in the bull of Phalaris," will cry out : ' 'Tis pleasant, and con- cerns me not at all.' " Why need you wonder, if I maintain that he who reclines at a banquet and the victim who stoutly withstands torture possess equal goods, when Epicurus maintains a thing that is harder to believe, namely, that it is jileasant to be roasted in this way ? But the reply which I do make, is that there is great difference between joy and pain ; if I am asked to choose, I shall seek the former and avoid the latter. The former is according to nature, the latter contrary to it. So long as they are rated by this standard, there is a great gulf between ; but when it comes to a ques- tion of the virtue involved, the virtue in each case is the same, whether it comes tln-ough joy or through sorrow. Vexation and pain and other inconveniences are of no consequence, for they are overcome by virtue. Just as the brightness of the sun dims all lesser lights, so virtue, by its own greatness, shatters and overwhelms all pains, annoy- ances, and wrongs; and wherever its radiance reaches, all lights which shine without the help of virtue are extinguished ; and inconveniences, when they come in contact with virtue, play no more important a part than does a storm-cloud at sea.
This can be proved to you by the fact that the good man will hasten unhesitatingly to any noble deed ; even though he be confronted by the hangman, the torturer, and the stake, he will persist, regarding not what he must suffer, but what he must do ; and
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honestae rei tamquam bono viro credet ; utilem illam sibi iudicabit, tutam, prosperam. Eundem locum habebit apud ilium honesta res, sed tristis atque aspera, quem vir bonus pauper aut exul ac pallidus.
22 Agedum pone ex alia parte virum bonum divitiis abundanternj ex altera nihil habentem, sed in se omnia ; uterque aeque vir bonus ei*it, etiam si fortuna dispari utetur. Idem, ut dixi, in rebus indicium est, quod in hominibus ; aeque laudabilis virtus est in corpora valido ac libero posita quam in morbido ac
23 vincto. Ergo tuam quoque virtutem non magis lauda- bis, si corpus illi tuum ^ integrum fortuna praestiterit quam si ex aliqua pai-te mutilatum ; alioqui hoc erit ex servorum habitu doniinum aestimare. Omnia enim ista, in quae dominium casus exercet, serva sunt, pecunia et corpus et honores, inbecilla, fluida, mortalia, possessionis incertae. Ilia rursus libera et invicta opera Adrtutis, quae non ideo magis adpetenda sunt, si benignius a fortuna tractantur, nee minus, si aliqua iniquitate rerum premuntur.
24 Quod amicitia in hominibus est, hoc in rebus adpetitio. Non, puto, magis amares virum bonum locupletem quam pauperem, nee robustum et lacerto- sum quam gracilem et languidi corporis ; ergo ne rem quidem magis adpetes aut amabis hilarem ac pacatam
^ illituum VP ; illibatum a MS. of Opsopoeus, perhaps correctly, as Hense thinks.
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EPISTLE LXVI.
he will entrust himself as readily to an honourable deed as he would to a good man ; he will consider it advantageous to himself, safe, propitious. And he will hold the same view concerning an honourable deed, even though it be fraught with sorrow and hardship, as concerning a good man who is poor or wasting away in exile. Come now, contrast a good man who is rolling in wealth with a man who has nothing, except that in himself he has all things ; they will be equally good, though they experience unequal fortune. This same standard, as I have remarked, is to be applied to things as well as to men ; virtue is just as praiseworthy if it dwells in a sound and free body, as in one which is sickly or in bondage. Therefore, as regards your own virtue also, you will not jjraise it any more, if fortune has favoured it by granting you a sound body, than if fortune has endowed you with a body that is cripjiled in some member, since that would mean rating a master low because he is dressed like a slave. For all those things over which Chance holds sway are chattels, — money, person, position ; they are weak, shifting, prone to perish, and of uncertain tenure. On the other hand, the works of virtue are free and unsubdued, neither more worthy to be sought when fortune treats them kindly, nor less worthy when any adversity weighs u{)on them.
Now friendship in the case of men corresponds to desirability in the case of things. You would not, I fancy, love a good man if he were rich any more than if he were poor, nor would you love a strong and muscular person more than one who was slender and of delicate constitution. Accordingly, neither will you seek or love a good thing that is mirthful and tranquil more than one that is full of perplexity
VOL. II c 17
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
25 quam disti-actam et operosam. Aut si hoc ^ est, magis diliges ex duobus aeque bonis viris nitidum et unctiim quam pulverulentum et horrentem. Deinde hoc usque pervenies, ut niagis diligas integrum omnibus membris et inlaesum quam debilem aut luscum. Paulatim fastidium tuum illo usque procedet, ut ex duobus aeque iustis ac prudentibus comatum et crispulum ^ maUs. Ubi par in utroque virtus est, non conparet ahai'um rerum inaequaHtas. Omnia enim
26 alia non partes, sed accessiones sunt. Num quis tam iniquam censuram inter suos agit, ut sanum filium quam aegrum magis diligat, procerumve et excelsum quam brevem aut modicum ? Fetus suos non dis- tinguunt ferae et se in ahmentum pariter omnium sternunt ; aves ex aequo partiuntur cibos. Vlixes ad Ithacae suae saxa sic properat, quemadmodum Aga- memnon ad Mycenarum nobiles muros. Nemo enim pati'iam quia magna est amat, sed quia sua.
27 Quorsus haec pertinent .'' Ut scias virtutem omnia opera velut fetus suos isdem ocuHs intueri, aeque indulgere omnibus et quidem inpensius laborantibus, quoniam quidem etiam jiarentium amor magis in ea, quorum miseretur, incUnat. -Virtus quoque opera sua, quae videt adfici et premi, non magis amat, sed pai'entium bonorum more magis conplectitur ac fovet.
28 Quare non est uUum bonum altero maius ? Quia
' ai(t si hoc Haase ; et si hoc MSS. ; at si hoc Schweig- hauser.
'" Buecheler suggests the addition, after crispulum, of quam calmtm et horridulum.
" A slight variation of the idea in Cicero, Be Orat. i. 196 si nos . . . nostra pafria delectat, cuius rei tanta est vis ac tanta natura, ut Ithacam illam in asperrimis saxuUs tamqtiam nidtdum adfixam sapientissimus vir immortalitati anteponeret.
18
EPISTLE LXVI.
and toil. Or^ if you do this, you will, in the case of two equally good men, care more for him who is neat and well-groomed than for him who is dirty and unkempt. You would next go so far as to care more for a good man who is sound in all his limbs and without blemish, than for one who is weak or maimed ; and gradually your fastidiousness would reach such a point that, of two equally just and prudent men, you would choose him who has long curling hair ! Whenever the virtue in each one is equal, the in- equality in their other attributes is not apjiarent. For all other things are not parts, but merely accessories. Would any man judge his children so unfairly as to care more for a healthy son than for one who was sickly, or for a tall child of unusual stature more than for one who was short or of middling height ? Wild beasts show no favouritism among their offspring ; they lie down in order to suckle all alike ; birds make fair distribution of their food. Ulysses hastens back to the rocks of his Ithaca as eagerly as Agamemnon speeds to the kingly walls of Mycenae. For no man loves his native land because it is great ; he loves it because it is his own.**
And what is the purpose of all this ? That you may know that virtue regards all her works in the same light, as if they were her children, showing equal kindness to all, and still deeper kindness to those which encounter hardships ; for even parents lean with more affection towards those of their off- spring for whom they feel pity. Virtue, too, does not necessarily love more deeply those of her works which she beholds in trouble and under heavy burdens, but, like good parents, she gives them more of her fostering care.
Why is ho good greater than any other good .''
19
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
non est quicquam apto aptius, quia piano nihil est planius. Non potes dicere hoc magis par esse alicui quam illud ; ergo nee honesto honestius quicquam
29 est. Quod si par omnium virtutum natura est, tria genera bonorum in aequo sunt. Ita dico : in aequo est moderate gaudere et moderate dolere. Laetitia ilia non vincit hanc animi firmitatem sub tortore gemitus devorantem ; ilia bona optabilia, haec mirabilia sunt, utraque nihilominus paria, quia quid- quid incommodi est, vi tanto maioris boni tegitur.
30 Quisquis haec inparia iudicat, ab ipsis virtutibus avertit oculos et exteriora circumspicit ; bona vera idem pendent, idem patent. Ilia falsa multum habent vani. Itaque speciosa et magna contra viseutibus, cum ad pondus revocata sunt, fallunt.
31 Ita est, mi Lucili ; quicquid vera ratio commendat, solidum et aeternum est, firmat animum attollitque semper futurum in excelso ; ilia quae temere laudantur et vulgi sententia bona sunt, inflant inanibus laetos. Rursus ea, quae timentur tamquam mala, iniciunt formidinem mentibus et illas non aliter
32 quam animalia species periculi agitant. Utraque
° i.e., of the soul, of the body, and of external goods. * Buecheler thinks that this alliterative phrase of Seneca's is an echo of some popular proverb or hne taken from a play.
20
EPISTLE LXVl.
It is because nothing can be more fitting than that which is fitting, and nothing more level than that which is level. You cannot say that one thing is more equal to a given object than another thing ; hence also nothing is more honourable than that which is honourable. Accordingly, if all the virtues are by nature equal, the three varieties " of goods are equal. This is what I mean : there is an equality between feeling joy with self-control and suffering pain with self-control. The joy in the one case does not sur- pass in the other the steadfastness of soul that gulps down the groan when the victim is in the clutches of the torturer ; goods of the first kind are desirable, while those of the second are worthy of admiration ; and in each case they are none the less equal, because whatever inconvenience attaches to the latter is covered up by the good, which is so much greater than the inconvenience. Any man who believes them to be unequal is turning his gaze away from the virtues themselves and is surveying mere ex- ternals ; true goods have the same weight and the same width. ^ The spurious sort contain much empti- ness ; hence, when they are weighed in the balance, they are found wanting, although they look imposing and grand to the gaze.
Yes, my dear Lucilius, the good which true reason approves is solid and everlasting ; it strengthens the spirit and exalts it, so that it will always be on the heights ; but those things which are thought- lessly praised, and are goods in the opinion of the mob, merely puff us up with empty joy. And again, those things which are feared as if they were evils merely inspire trepidation in men's minds, for the mind is disturbed by the semblance of danger, just as animals are disturbed. Hence it is without
21
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
ergo res sine causa animum et difFundit et mordet ; nee ilia gaudio nee haec metu digna est. Sola ratio inmutabilis et iudicii tenax est. Non enim servit, sed imperat sensibus. Ratio rationi par est, sicut rectum recto ; ergo et virtus virtuti. Virtus ^ non aliud quam recta ratio est.- Omnes virtutes rationes sunt. Rationes sunt, si rectae sunt. Si rectae sunt,
33 et pares sunt. Qualis ratio est, tales et actiones sunt ; ergo omnes pares sunt. Nam cum similes rationi sint, similes et inter se sunt. Pares autem actiones inter se esse dico, qua ^ honestae rectaeque sunt. Ceterum m.agna iiabebunt discrimina variante materia, quae modo latior est, modo angustior, modo inlustris, modo ignobilis, modo ad multos pertinens, modo ad paucos. In omnibus tamen istis id, quod
34 optimum est, par est ; honestae sunt. Tamquam viri boni omnes pares sunt, qua^ boni sunt. Sed habent differentias aetatis : alius senior est, alius iuvenior ; habent corporis : alius fonnosus, alius deformis est ; habent foi'tunae : ille dives, hie pauper est, ille gratio- sus, potens, urbibus notus et populis, hie ignotus plerisque et obscurus. Sed per illud, quo boni sunt,
35 pares sunt. De bonis ac malis sensus non iudicat ; quid utile sit, quid inutile, ignorat. Non potest ferre sententiam, nisi in rem praesentem perductus est. Nee futuri pro\ddus est nee praeteriti memor ; quid sit consequens, nescit. Ex hoc autem rerum
^ virtuti. Virtus added by Schweighauser. Hilgenfeld would remove the two sentences ratio rationi . . . recta ratio est.
' ratio est INI ; ratio VPb.
^ qua Muretus ; qiiia MSS.
â– * qua Erasmus- ; quia MSS.
« Here Seneca is reminding Lucilius, as he so often does in the earher letters, that the evidence of the senses is only a stepping-stone to higher ideas — an Epicurean tenet.
22
EPISTLE LXVI.
reason that both these things distract and sting the spirit ; the one is not worthy of joy, nor the other of fear. It is reason alone that is unchangeable, that holds fast to its decisions. For reason is not a slave to the senses, but a ruler over them. Reason is equal to reason, as one straight line to another ; therefore virtue also is equal to virtue. Virtue is nothing else than right reason. All virtues are reasons. Reasons are reasons, if they are right reasons. If they are right, they are also equal. As reason is, so also are actions ; therefore all actions are equal. For since they resemble reason, they also resemble each other. Moreover, I hold tliat actions are equal to each other in so far as they are honourable and right actions. There will be, of course, great differences according as the material varies, as it becomes now broader and now naiTOwer, now glorious and now base, now manifold in scope and now limited. However, that which is best in all these cases is equal ; they are all honourable. In the same wav, all good men, in so far as thev are good, are equal. There are, indeed, differences of age, — one is older, another younger ; of body, — one is comely, another is ugly ; of fortune, — this man is rich, that man poor, this one is influential, powerful, and well-known to cities and peoples, that man is unknown to most, and is obscure. But all, in respect of that wherein they are good, are equal. The senses <* do not decide upon things good and evil ; they do not know what is useful and what is not useful. They cannot record their opinion unless they are brought face to face with a fact ; thev can neither see into the future nor recollect the past ; and they do not know what results from what. But it is from such knowledge that a sequence and
23
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
ordo seriesque contexitur et unitas vitae per rectum itura. Ratio ergo arbitra est bonoruni ac inalorum ; aliena et externa pro vilibus habet et ea, quae neque bona sunt neque mala, accessiones minimas ac levissi- mas iudicat. Omne enim illi bonum in animo est.
36 Ceterum bona quaedam prima existimat, ad quae ^ ex proposito venit, tamquam victoriam, bones liberos, salutem patriae. Quaedam secunda, quae non apparent nisi in rebus adversis, tamquam aequo animo pati morbum magnum, exilium. Quaedam media, quae nihilo magis secundum naturam sunt quam contra naturam, tamquam prudenter ambulare, conposite sedere. Non enim minus secundum
37 naturam est sedere quam stare aut ambulare. Duo ilia bona superiora diversa sunt. Prima enim secundum naturam sunt : gaudere liberorum pietate, patriae incolumitate. Secunda contra naturam sunt : fortiter opstare tormentis et sitim perpeti morbo urente
38 praecordia. " Quid ergo ? Aliquid contra naturam bonum est ? " minime ; sed id aliquando contra naturam est, in quo bonum illud existit. Vulnerari enim et subiecto igne tabescere et adversa valetudine adfligi contra naturam est, sed inter ista servare
39 animum infatigabilem secundum naturam est. Et ut quod volo exprimam breviter, materia boni aliquando contra naturam est, bonum numquam,
^ ad quae Hense ; atque MSS. 24
EPISTLE LXVI.
succession of actions is woven, and a unity of life is created, — a unity which will proceed in a straight course. Reason, therefore, is the judge of good and evil ; that which is foreign and external she regards as dross, and that which is neither good nor evil she judges as merely accessory, insignificant and trivial. For all her good resides in the soul.
But there ai-e certain goods which reason regards as primary, to which she addresses herself purposely ; these are, for example, victory, good children, and the welfare of one's country. Certain others she i-egards as secondary ; these become manifest only in adversity, — for example, equanimity in enduring severe illness or exile. Certain goods are indifferent ; these are no more according to nature than contrary to nature, as, for example, a discreet gait and a sedate posture in a chair. For sitting is an act that is not less according to nature than standing or walking. The two kinds of goods which are of a higher order are different ; the primary are accord- ing to nature, — such as deriving joy fi-om the dutiful behaviour of one's children and from the well-being of one's country. The secondary are contrary to nature, — such as fortitude in resisting torture or in enduring thirst when illness makes the vitals feverish. "What then," you say; "can any- thing that is contrary to nature be a good ? " Of course not ; but that in which this good takes its rise is sometimes contrary to nature. For being wounded, wasting away over a fire, bein^ afflicted with bad health, — such things are contrary to nature; but it is in accordance with nature for a man to pre- serve an indomitable soul amid such distresses. To explain my thought briefly, the material with which a good is concerned is sometimes conti-ary to nature,
25
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
quoniam bonum sine ratione nuUimi est, sequitur autem ratio natui'ara.
" Quid est ergo ratio ? " Naturae imitatio. "Quod est summum hominis bonuin ? " Ex naturae voluntate
40 se gerere. " Non est " inquit " dubium, quin felicior pax sit numquam lacessita quam multo reparata sanguine. Non est dubium " inquit "quin felicior res sit inconcussa valetudo quam ex gravibus morbis et extrema minitantibus in tutum vi quadam et patientia educta. Eodem modo non erit dubiumj, quin raaius bonum sit gaudium quam obnixus animus ad perpetiendos cruciatus vulnerum aut ignium."
41 Minime. Ilia enim, quae fortuita sunt, plurimum discriminis recipiunt ; aestimantur enim utilitate sumentium. Bonorum unum pi'opositum est con- sentire naturae ; hoc in omnibus ^ par est. Cum alicuius in senatu sententiam sequimur, non potest dici : ille magis adsentitur quam ille ; ab omnibus in eandem sententiam itur. Idem de virtutibus dice : omnes naturae adsentiuntur. Idem de bonis dico :
42 omnia naturae adsentiuntur. Alter adulescens decessit, alter senex, aliquis praeter hos infans, cui nihil amplius contigit quam prospicere vitam. Omnes hi aeque/uere mortales, etiam si mors aliorum longius
1 hoc in omnibus Muretus ; hoc contire (continffere VPb) in omnifnis p ; consentire omnibus Haase.
" Another definition, developing further the thought expressed in § 12. 26
EPISTLE LXVI.
but a good itself never is conti-ary, since no good is without reason, and reason is in accordance with nature.
"What, then," you ask, "is reason?" It is copying nature.** "And what," you say, "is the greatest good that man can possess ? " It is to conduct oneself according to what nature wills. "There is no doubt," says the objector, "that peace affords more happiness when it has not been assailed than when it has been recovered at the cost of great slaughter." "There is no doubt also," he continues, " that health which has not been impaired affords more happiness than health which has been restored to soundness by means of force, as it were, and by endurance of suffering, after serious illnesses that threaten life itself. And similarly there will be no doubt that joy is a greater good than a soul's struggle to endure to the bitter end the torments of wounds or bui'ning at the stake." By no means. For things that result from hazard admit of wide distinctions, since they are rated according to their usefulness in the eyes of those who expei-ience them ; but with regard to goods, the only point to be considered is tliat they are in agreement witli nature ; and this is equal in the case of all goods. When at a meeting of the Senate we vote in favour of someone's motion, it cannot be said, " A. is more in accord with the motion than B." All alike vote for the same motion. I make the same statement with regard to virtues, — they are all in accord with nature ; and I make it with regai-d to goods also, — they are all in accord with natui'e. One man dies young, another in old age, and still another in infancy, having enjoyed nothing more than a mere glimpse out into life. They have all been equally subject to death,
27
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
vitam passa est procedere, aliorum in medio flora
43 praecidit, aliorum interrupit ipsa principia. Alius inter cenandum solutus est. Alterius continuata mors somno est. Aliquem concubitus extinxit. His oppone ferro transfossos aut exanimatos serpentium morsu aut fractos ^ ruina aut per longam nervorum contractionem extortos minutatim. Aliquorum melior dici, aliquorum peior potest exitus ; mors quidem omnium par est. Per quae desinunt,^ diversa sunt ; in quod ^ desinunt, unum est. Mors nulla maior aut minor est ; habet enim eundem in omnibus modum^ finisse \itam.
44 Idem tibi de bonis dico : hoc bonum inter meras voluptates est^ hoc inter tristia et acerba. lUud fortunae indulgentiam rexit, hoc violentiam domuit. Utrumque aeque bonum est, quamvis illud plana et molli via ierit/ hoc aspera. Idem finis omnium est ; bona sunt, laudanda sunt, virtutem rationemque comitantur ; virtus aequat inter se, quicquid agnoscit.
.^ Nee est, quare hoc inter nostra placita mireris ; apud Epicurum duo bona sunt, ex quibus summum illud beatumque conponitur, ut corpus sine dolore sit, animus sine perturbatione. Haec bona non crescunt, si plena sunt. Quo enim crescet, quod plenum est ? Dolore corpus caret ; quid ad banc accedere in-
^ fractos later MSS. ; fructus {fluctus) pVPb. ^ desinunt Hense ; ven'mnt or venit MSS. * in quod Haase ; in id quod MSS. * et molli via ierit Gertz ; emolliverit VPb ; et molli velerit p ; et molli venerit Wolters.
" Frag. 434 Usener. 28
EPISTLE LXVI.
even though death has permitted the one to proceed farther along the pathway of life, has cut off the life of the second in his flower, and has broken off the life of the third at its very beginning. Some get their release at the dinner -table. Others extend their sleep into the sleep of death. Some are blotted out during dissipation. Now contrast with these persons individuals who have been pierced by the sword, or bitten to death by snakes, or crushed in ruins, or tortured piecemeal out of existence by the prolonged twisting of their sinews. Some of these departures may be regarded as better, some as worse : but the act of dying is equal in all. The methods of ending life are different ; but the end is one and the same. Death has no degrees of greater or less ; for it has the same limit in all instances, — the finishing of life.
The same thing holds true, I assure you, concern- ing goods ; you will find one amid circumstances of pure pleasure, another amid sorrow and bitterness. The one controls the favours of fortune ; the other overcomes her onslaughts. Each is equally a good, although the one travels a level and easy road, and the other a rough road. And the end of them all is the same ; they are goods, they are worthy of praise, they accompany virtue and reason. V^irtue equalizes among themselves all the things that it acknowledges. You need not wonder that this is one of our principles; we find mentioned in the works of Epicurus" two goods, of which his Supreme Good, or blessedness, is composed, namely, a body free from pain and a soul free from disturbance. These goods, if they are complete, do not increase ; for how can that which is complete increase ? The body is, let us suppose, free from pain ; what increase can there be to this
29
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
dolentiani potest ? Animus constat sibi et placidus )- est ; quid accedere ad hanc tranquillitatem potest ?
46 Quemadmodum serenitas caeli non recipit maiorem adhuc elaritatem in sincerissimum nitorem repurgata, sic hominis corpus animunique curantis et bonuni suum ex utroque nectentis perfectus est status et summani voti sui invenit^, si nee aestus animo est nee dolor corpori. Si qua extra blandimenta contingunt, non augent summum bonum, sed ut ita dicam^ con- diunt et oblectant. Absolutum enim illud humanae naturae bonuni corporis et animi pace contentum
47 est. Dabo apud Epicurum tibi etiamnunc simillimam huic nostrae divisionem bonorum. Alia enim sunt apud ilium, quae malit contingere sibi, ut corporis quietem ab omni incommodo liberam et animi remis- sionem bonorum suorum conteraplatione gaudentis. Alia sunt, quae quamvis nolit accidere, nihilominus laudat et conprobat, tamquam illam, quam paulo ante dicebam, malae valetudinis et dolorum gravissi- morum perpessionem, in qua Epicurus fuit illo summo ac fortunatissimo die suo. Ait enim se vesicae et exulcerati ventris tonnenta tolerare ulteriorem doloris accessionem non recipientia, esse nihilominus sibi ilium beatum diem. Beatum autem agere, nisi qui est in summo bono, non potest.
48 Ergo et apud Epicurum sunt haec bona, quae malles non experiri, sed quia ita res tulit, et ample-
" Frag. 449 Usener. * Frag. 138 Usener.
'^ See above, § 47. 30
EPISTLE LXVI.
absence of pain ? The soul is composed and calm ; what increase can there be to this tranquillity ? Just as fair weather, purified into the purest brilliancy, does not admit of a still greater degree of clearness ; so, when a man takes care of his body and of his soul, wea^^ng the texture of his good from both, his con- dition is perfect, and he has found the consummation of his prayers, if thei'e is no commotion in his soul or pain in his body. Whatever delights fall to his lot over and above these two things do not increase his Supreme Good ; they merely season it, so to speak, and add spice to it. For the absolute good of man's nature is satisfied with peace in the body and peace in the soul. I can show you at this moment in the writings of Epicurus " a graded list of goods just like that of our own school. For there are some things, he declai'es, which he prefers should fall to his lot, such as bodily rest free from all inconvenience, and relaxation of the soul as it takes delight in the con- templation of its own goods. And there are other things which, though he would prefer that they did not happen, he nevertheless praises and approves, — for example, the kind of resignation, in times of ill- health and serious suffering, to which I alluded a moment ago, and which Epicurus displayed on that last and most blessed day of his life. For he tells us ^ that he had to endure excruciating agony from a diseased bladder and from an ulcerated stomach, — so acute that it 2:)ermitted no increase of pain ; " and yet," he says, " that day was none the less happy." And no man can spend such a day in happiness unless he possesses the Supreme Good.
We therefore find mentioned, even by Epicurus," those goods which one would prefer not to experience ; which, however, because circumstances have decided
31
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
xanda et laudanda et exaequanda summis sunt. Non potest dici, hoc non esse par maximis bonum, quod beatae vitae clausulam inposuit, cui Epicurus extreraa
49 voce gratias egit. Permitte mihi, Lucili virorum optime, aliquid audacius dicere : si ulla bona maiora esse aliis possent, haec ego, quae tristia videntur, mollibus illis et delicatis praetulissem, haec maiora dixissem. Maius est enim difficilia perfringere quam
50 laeta modei*ari. Eadem ratione fit, scio, ut aliquis felicitatem bene et ut calamitatem fortiter ferat. Aeque esse fortis potest, qui pro vallo securus excubuit nullis hostibus castra temptantibus et qui succisis pophtibus in genua se excepit nee arnia dimisit ; " macte virtute esto " sanguinolentis ^ ex acie redeun- tibus dicitur. Itaque haec magis laudaverim bona
51 exercita et fortia et cum fortuna rixata. Ego dubitem, quin magis laudem truncam illam et retorridam manum Mucii quam cuiusHbet foi'tissimi salvam ? Stetit hostium flammarumque contem{)tor et manum suam in hostili foculo destillantem perspectavit, donee Poi'senna, cuius poeuae favebat, gloriae in\idit et ignem invito eripi iussit.
52 Hoc bonum quidni inter '^ prima numerem tan toque
1 et after sanguinolentis deleted by Schweighauser. '^ quidni inter later MSS. ; quid inter pVPb.
" Clausula has, among other meanings, that of " a period" (Quintil. viii. 5), and "the rhythmic close of a period" (Cic. Be Oral. iii. 192).
* For a full discussion of this phrase see Conington, Excursus to Vergil's Aeneid, ix. 641.
â– = For the story see Livy, ii. 12 IF.
32
EPISTLE LXVI.
thus, must be welcomed and approved and placed on a level with the highest goods. We cannot say that the good which has rounded out" a happy life, the good to which Epicurus i-endered thanks in the last words he uttered, is not equal to the greatest. Allow me, excellent Lucilius, to utter a still bolder word : if any goods could be greater than others, I should prefer those which seem harsh to those which are mild and alluring, and should pronounce them greater. For it is a greater accomplishment to break one's way through difKculties than to keep joy within bounds. It requires the same use of reason, I am fully aware, for a man to endure prosperity well and also to endure misfortune bravely. That man may be just as brave who sleeps in front of the ramparts without fear of danger when no enemy attacks the camj), as the man who, when the tendons of his legs have been severed, holds himself up on his knees and does not let fall his weapons ; but it is to the blood-stained soldier returning from the front that men cry: "Well done, thou hero!"'' And therefore I should bestow greater praise upon those goods that have stood trial, and show courage, and have fought it out with fortune. Should I hesitate whether to give greater praise to the maimed and shrivelled hand of Mucins'" than to the uninjured hand of the bravest man in the world .' There stood Mucius, despising the enemy and despising the fire, and watched his hand as it dripped blood over the fire on his enemy's altar, until Porsenna, envying the fame of the hero whose punishment he was advocat- ing, ordered the fire to be removed against the will of the victim.
Why should I not reckon this good among the primary goods, and deem it in so far greater than
VOL. II D 33
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
maius putem quam ilia secura et intemptata fortunae, quanto rarius est hostem amissa manu vicisse quam armata ? "Quid ergo?" inquis, "hoe bonum tibi optabis ? " Quidni ? Hoc enim nisi qui potest et 53 optare, iion potest facere. An potius optem, ut malaxandos articulos exoletis meis porrigam ? Ut muliercula aut aliquis in mulierculam ex viro versus digitulos meos ducat ? Quidni ego feliciorem putem Mucium, quod sic tractavit ignem, quasi illam manum tractatori praestitisset ? In integrum restituit quid- quid erraverat ; confecit bellum inermis ac mancus et ilia manu trunca reges duos vicit. Vale.
LXVII.
Seneca Lvcilio svo salvtem
1 Vt a communibus initium faciam^ ver aperire se coepit, sed iam inclinatum in aestatem, quo tempore calere debebat, intepuit nee adhuc illi fides est. Saepe enim in hiemem revolvitur. Vis scire, quam dubium adhuc sit ? Nondum me committo frigidae verae, adhuc rigorem eius infringo. " Hoc est/' inquis, "nee calidum nee frigidum pati." Ita est, mi Lucili ; iam aetas mea contenta est sue frigore. Vix
" A rare word — sometimes spelled malacisso, — used by Plautus (Bacch. 73) and Laberius, but not in a technical sense.
* Porsenna and Tarquin.
â– = See Introduction (Vol. I. p. x), and the opening sentences of Epp. Ixxvii. , Ixxxvii., and others.
34
EPISTLES LXVI., LXVII.
those other goods which are unattended by danger and have made no trial of fortune, as it is a rarer thing to have overcome a foe with a hand lost than with a hand armed ? "What then?" you say ; "shall you desire this good for yourself? " Of course I shall. For this is a thing that a man cannot achieve unless he can also desire it. Should I desire, instead, to be allowed to stretch out my limbs for my slaves to massage,'* or to have a woman, or a man changed into the likeness of a woman, pull my finger-joints? I cannot help believing that Mucius was all the more lucky because he manipulated the flames as calmly as if he were holding out his hand to the manipulator. He had wiped out all his previous mistakes ; he finished the war unarmed and maimed ; and with that stump of a hand he conquered two kings.* Farewell.
LXVII. ON ILL-HEALTH AND ENDURANCE OF SUFFERING
If I may begin with a commonplace remark,'' spring is gradually disclosing itself; but though it is i-ound- ing into summer, when you would expect hot weather, it has kept rather cool, and one cannot yet be sure of it. For it often slides back into winter weather. Do you wish to know how uncertain it still is ? I do not yet trust myself to a bath which is absolutely cold ; even at this time I break its chill. You may say that this is no way to show the endurance either of heat or of cold ; very time, dear Lucilius, but at my time of life one is at length contented with the natural chill of the body. I can scarcely thaw out in
35
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
2 media regelatur aestate. Itaque maior pars in vesti- mentis degitur. Ago gratias senectuti, quod me lectulo adfixit. Quidni gratias illi hoc nomine agam ? Quicquid debebam nolle, non possum. Cum libellis mihi plurimus sermo est. Si quando intervenerunt epistulae tuae, tecum esse mihi videor et sic adficior animo, tamquam tibi non rescribam, sed respondeam. Itaque et de hoc, quod quaeris, quasi conloquar tecum, quale sit, una scrutabimur.
3 Quaeris, an omne bonum optabile sit. " Si bonum est," inquis, " fortiter torqueri et magno animo url et patienter aegrotare, sequitur, ut ista optabilia sint. Nihil autem video ex istis voto dignum. Neminem certe adhuc scio eo nomine votum solvisse, quod flagellis caesus esset aut podagra distortus aut eculeo
i longior factus." Distingue, mi Lucili, ista, et intelleges esse in iis aliquid optandum. Tormenta abesse a me velim ; sed si sustinenda fuerint, ut me in illis fortiter, honeste, animose geram, optabo. Quidni ego malim non incidere bellum ? Sed si inciderit, ut vulnera, ut famem et omnia, quae bellorum necessitas adfert, generose feram, optabo. Non sum tam demens, ut aegrotare cupiam; sed si aegrotandum fuerit, ut nihil intemperanter, nihil effeminate faciam, optabo. Ita non incommoda optabilia sunt, sed virtus, qua perferuntur incommoda.
" Seneca had a delicate constitution (see Introduction). In the Letters he speaks of suffering from asthma (liv.), catarrh (Ixxviii.), and fever (civ.).
* Cf. Ixxv. 1 qualis sermo mens esset, si una sederemtts aut amhularemus.
S6
EPISTLE LXVII.
the middle of summer. Accordingly, I spend most of the time bundled up ; and I thank old age for keeping me fastened to my bed." Why should I not thank old age on this account ? That which I ought not to wish to do, I lack the ability to do. Most of my converse is with books. Whenever your letters arrive, I imagine that I am with you, and I have the feeling that I am about to speak my answer, instead of writing it. Therefore let us together investigate the nature of this problem of yours, just as if we were conversing with one another.''
You ask me whether every good is desirable. You say : " If it is a good to be brave under torture, to go to the stake with a stout heart, to endure illness with resignation, it follows that these things are desirable. But I do not see that any of them is worth praying for. At any rate 1 have as yet known of no man who has paid a vow by reason of having been cut to pieces by the rod, or twisted out of shape bv the gout, or made taller by the rack." My dear Lucilius, you must distinguish between these cases ; you will then comprehend that there is something in them that is to be desired. 1 should prefer to be free from torture ; but if the time comes when it must be endured, I shall desire that I may conduct myself therein with braver}', honour, and courage. Of course I prefer that war should not occur ; but if war does occur, I shall desire that I may nobly endure the wounds, the starvation, and all that the exigency of war brings. Nor am I so mad as to crave illness ; but if I must suffer illness, I shall desire that I may do nothing which shows lack of restraint, and nothing that is unmanly. The conclusion is, not that hardships are desirable, but that virtue is desir- able, which enables us patiently to endure hardships.
37
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA "
5 Quidam ex nosti'is existimant omnium istorum fortem tolerantiam non esse optabilem, sed ne abominandam quidem, quia voto purum bonum peti debet et tranquillum et extra molestiam positum. Ego dissentio. Quare ? Primum quia fieri non potest, ut aliqua res bona quidem sit, sed optabilis non sit. Deinde si virtus optabilis est, nullum auteni sine virtute bonum est, omne bonum optabile est. Deinde etiam ^ tormentorum fortis patientia optabilis est.
6 Etiamnunc inteiTogo : nempe - fortitudo optabilis est ? Atqui pericula contemnit et provocat. Pulcherrima pars eius maximeque mirabilis ilia est, non cedere ignibus, obviam ire vulneribus, interdum tela ne vitare quidem, sed pectore excipere. Si fortitudo optabilis est, et tormenta patienter ferre optabile est ; hoc enim fortitudinis pars est. Sed ^ separa ista, ut dixi ; nihil ei'it quod tibi faciat errorem. Non enim pati tormenta optabile est, sed pati fortiter, Illud opto "fortiter," quod est virtus.
7 " Quis tamen umquam hoc sibi optavit ? " Quaedam
vota aperta et professa sunt, cum particulatim fiunt,
quaedam latent, cum uno voto multa conprensa sunt.
Tamquam opto mihi vitam honestam. Vita autem
honesta actionibus variis constat ; in hac est Reguli
area, Catonis scissum manu sua vulnus,^Rutili exilium,
calix venenatus, qui Socraten transtulit e carcere in
caelum. Ita cum optavi mihi vitam honestam, et
^ etiam si MSS. ; Madvig deleted si. ^ nempe Haase ; neme MSS. 3 Buecheler would delete sed.
" i.e., the Stoics. * Banished from Rome in 9-2 b.c. Cf. Ep. xxiv. 4.
38
EPISTLE LXVIl.
Certain of our school * think that, of all such qualities, a stout endurance is not desirable, — though not to be deprecated either, — because we ought to seek by prayer only the good which is unalloyed, peaceful, and beyond the reach of trouble. Person- ally, I do not agree with them. And why .'' First, because it is impossible for anything to be good without being also desirable. Because, again, if virtue is desirable, and if nothing that is good lacks virtue, then everything good is desirable. And, lastly, because a brave endurance even under torture is desirable. At this point I ask you : Is not bravery desirable .'' And yet bravery despises and challenges danger. The most beautiful and most admirable part of bravery is that it does not shrink from the stake, advances to meet wounds, and sometimes does not even avoid the spear, but meets it with opposing breast. If bravery is desirable, so is patient endur- ance of torture ; for this is a part of bravery. Only sift these things, as I have suggested ; then there will be nothing which can lead you astray. For it is not mere endurance of torture, but brave endur- ance, that is desirable. I therefore desire that " brave " endurance ; and this is virtue.
"But," you say, "who ever desired such a thing for himself? " Some prayers are open and outspoken, when the requests are offered specifically ; other prayers are indirectly expressed, when they include many requests under one title. For example, I desire a life of honoui". Now a life of honour includes various kinds of conduct ; it may include the chest in which Regulus was confined, or the wound of Cato which was torn open by Cato's own hand, or the exile of Rutilius,^ or the cup of poison which removed Socrates from gaol to heaven. Accordingly, in praying for a life of
39
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
haec optavi, sine quibus interdum honesta non potest
esse.
8 O terque quaterque beati, Quis ante ora patrum Troiae sub raoenibus altis Contigit oppetere !
Quid interest, optes hoc alicui an optabile fuisse
9 fatearis ? Decius se pro re publica devovit ; in medios hostes concitato equo mortem petens inruit. Alter post hunc, paternae virtutis aemulus, conceptis sollemnibus ac iam familiaribus verbis in aciem confertissiman incucurrit, de hoc solhcitus tantura, ut Utaret, optabilem rem putans ^ bonam mortem. Dubitas ergo, an optimum sit memorabilem mori et
10 in aliquo opere virtutis? Cum aUquis tormenta fortiter patitur, omnibus virtutibus utitur. Fortasse una in promptu sit et maxime appareat patientia. Ceterum illic est fortitudo, cuius patientia et perpessio et tolerantia rami sunt. Illic est prudentia, sine qua nullum initur consilium, quae suadet, quod efFugere non possis, quam fortissime ferre. Illic est constantia, quae deici loco non potest et propositum nulla vi extorquente dimittit. Illic est individuus ille comitatus virtutum ; quicquid honeste fit, una virtus facit, sed ex consilii sententia. Quod autem ab omnibus virtutibus conprobatur, etiam si ab una fieri videtur, optabile est.
1 1 Quid .'' Tu existimas ea tantum optabilia esse,
^ piitans later MSS. ; putas pVPb.
" Vergil, Aeneid, i. 94 ff.
* Cf. Livy, \iii. 9. 6 ff. . . . legiones aiixiliaque hostium mecum dels manibus Telhirique devoveo.
" Ut Vitaret : i.e., that by his sacrifice he might secure an oraen of success. Cf. PHny, N.H. viii. 45, and Suetonius, Augustus, 96 : " At the siege of Perusia, when he found the sacrifices were not favourable {sacrificio non litanti), Augustus called for more victims." 40
EPISTLE LXVII.
honour, I have prayed also for those things without which, on some occasions, hfe cannot be honourable.
O thrice and four times blest were they Who underneath the lofty walls of Troy Met happy death before their parents' eyes ! "
What does it matter M'hether you offer this prayer for some individual, or admit that it was desirable in the past ? Decius sacrificed himself for the State ; he set spurs to his horse and rushed into the midst of the foe, seeking death. The second Decius, rivalling his father's valour, reproducing the words which had become sacred'' and already household words, dashed into the thickest of the fight, anxious only that his sacrifice might bring omen of success,"^ and regarding a noble death as a thing to be desired. Do you doubt, then, whether it is best to die glorious and performing some deed of valour ? V\ hen one endures torture bravely, one is using all the virtues. Endurance may perhaps be the only virtue that is on view and most manifest ; but bravery is there too, and endurance and resignation and long-suffering are its branches. There, too, is foresight ; for without foresight no plan can be undertaken ; it is foresight that advises one to bear as bravely as possible the things one cannot avoid. There also is steadfastness, which cannot be dislodged from its position, which the wrench of no force can cause to abandon its purpose. There is the whole inseparable company of virtues ; every honourable act is the work of one single virtue, but it is in accordance with the judgment of the whole council. And that which is approved by all the virtues, even though it seems to be the work of one alone, is desirable.
What ? Do you think that those things only are
41
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
quae pei* voluptatem et otium veniunt, quae ex- cipiuntur foribus ornatis ? Sunt quaedam ti'istis voltus bona. Sunt quaedam vota, quae non gratu- lantium coetu, sed adorantium venerantiumque
12 celebrantur. Ita tu non putas Regulum optasse, ut ad Poenos pervenii'et ? Indue magni viri animum et ab opinionibus volgi secede paulisper. Cape, quantam debes, virtutis pulchemmae ac magnifi- centissimae speciem, quae nobis non ture nee sertis,
13 sed sudore et sanguine colenda est. Adspice M. Catonem sacro illi pectori purissimas manus ad- moventem et vulnera parum alte ^ demissa laxantem. Utrum tandem illi dictuvus es " vellem quae velles " et " moleste fei'o " an " feliciter quod agis " ?
14 Hoc loco mihi Demetrius noster occurrit, qui vitam secui'am et sine ullis fortunae incursionibus mare mortuum vocat. Nihil habere, ad quod exciteris, ad quod te concites, cuius denuntiatione et incui'su firmitatem animi tui temptes, sed in otio inconcusso
15 iacere non est tranquillitas ; malacia- est. Attalus Stoicus dicere solebat : " malo me fortuna in castris suis quam in deliciis habeat. Torqueor, sed fortiter ; bene est. Occidor, sed fortiter ; bene est." Audi Epicurum, dicet et "dulce est." Ego tam honestae
16 rei ac severae numquam molle nomen inponam. Lror,
^ aZ^eHenseand Buecheler;'oH/eGertz; aufeinp; omitted by VPb.
^ malacia {malatia) p ; malitia VPb.
" Donaria at the doors of temples signified public re- joicing ; cf. Tibullus, i. 15 f.
Flava Ceres, tibi sit uostro de rure corona Spicea, quae templi pendeat ante fores.
Myrtle decorated the bridegroom's house-door ; garlands heralded the birth of a child (Juvenal, ix. 85).
* Cf. Phny, jV.H. iv. 13. Besides the Dead Sea of Pales- tine, the term was applied to any sluggish body of water. 42
EPISTLE LXVII.
desirable which come to us amid pleasure and ease, and which we bedeck our doors to welcome " ? There are certain goods whose features are forbidding. There are certain prayers which are offered by a throng, not of men who rejoice, but of men who bow down reverently and worship. Was it not in this fashion, think you, that Regulus prayed that he might reach Carthage } Clothe yourself with a hero's courage, and withdraw for a little space from the opinions of the common man. Form a proper conception of the image of virtue, a thing of exceed- ing beauty and grandeur ; this image is not to be worshipped by us with incense or garlands, but with sweat and blood. Behold Marcus Cato, laying upon that hallowed breast his unspotted hands, and tearing apart the wounds which had not gone deep enough to kill him I Which, pray, shall you say to him : " I hope all will be as you wish," and " I am grieved," or shall it be "Good fortune in your undertaking ! " .''
In this connexion I think of our friend Demetrius, who calls an easy existence, untroubled by the attacks of Fortune, a " Dead Sea." ^ If you have nothing to stir you up and rouse you to action, nothing which will test your resolution by its threats and hostilities ; if you recline in unshaken comfort, it is not tranquillity ; it is merely a flat calm. The Stoic Attalus was wont to say : " I should prefer that Fortune keep me in her camp rather than in the lap of luxury. If I am tortured, but bear it bravely, all is well ; if I die, but die bravely, it is also well." Listen to Epicurus ; he will tell you that it is actually pleasant.'^ I myself shall never apply an effeminate word to an act so honourable and austere. If I go
•^ Cf. Ep. Ixvi. 18.
43
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
sed invictus. Quidni hoc optabile putem ^ — non quod urit me ignis, sed quod non vincit ? , Nihil est virtute praestantius, nihil pulchrius. Et bonum est et optabile, quicquid ex huius geritur imperio. Vale.
LXVIII.
Seneca Lvcilio svo salvtem
1 Consilio tuo accedo ; absconde te in otio. Sed et ipsum otium absconde. Hoc te facturum Stoicorum etiam si non praecepto, at exemplo licet scias. Sed ex praecepto quoque facies - ; et tibi et cui ^ voles
2 adprobabis. Nee ad omnem rem publicam mittimus nee semper nee sine ullo fine. Praeterea, cum sapienti rem publicam ipso dignam dedimus, id est mundum, non est extra rem publicam, etiam si reces- serit, immo fortasse relicto uno angulo in maiora atque ampliora transit et caelo inpositus intellegit, cum sellam aut tribunal ascenderet, quam humili loco sederit. Depone hoc apud te, numquam plus agere sapientem, quam quom ^ in conspectum ^ eius divina atque humana venerunt.
3 Nunc ad illud revertor, quod suadere tibi coeperam,
^ optnhile putem Hense ; ohtahile autem p ; optabile sit VPb.
^ facies Muretus ; facias MSS.
^ cui Buecheler ; ctim MSS.
â– * quam quam Hense ; quam or quam cum MSS.
^ conspectum later MSS. ; conspectu pVPb.
" Stoicism preached " world-citizenship," and this was interpreted in various ways at different periods. The Greek teachers saw in it an opportunity for wider culture ; the Romans, a more practical mission. For further discussion 44
EPISTLES LXVII., LXVITl.
to the stake, I shall go unbeaten. Why should I not regard this as desirable — not because the fire burns me, but because it does not overcome me ? Nothing is more excellent or more beautiful than virtue ; any command given by her is both good and desirable. Farewell.
LXVIIl. ON WISDOM AND RETIREMENT
I fall in with your plan ; retire and conceal your- self in repose. But at the same time conceal your retirement also. In doing this, you may be sure that you will be following the example of the Stoics, if not their precept. But you will be acting according to their precept also ; you will thus satisfy both yourself and any Stoic you please. We Stoics * do not urge men to take up public life in every case, or at all times, or without any qualification. Besides, when we have assigned to our wise man that field of public life which is worthy of him, — in other words, the universe, — he is then not apart from public life, even if he withdraws ; nay, perhaps he has abandoned only one little corner thereof and has passed over into greater and wider regions ; and when he has been set in the heavens, he understands how lowly was the place in which he sat when he mounted the curule chair or the judgment-seat. Lay this to heart, — that the wise man is never more active in affairs than when things divine as well as things human have come within his ken.
I now return to the advice which I set out to give
of this topic in Seneca see Ep. Ixxiii. 1 if. Seneca's argu- ments are coloured by the facts of his life at this time.
45
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
ut otium tuum ignotum sit. Non est quod inscribas tibi philosophiam aut quietem.^ Aliud proposito tuo nomen inpone ; valet udinem et inbecillitatem voca et desidiam. Gloriari otio iners ambitio est.
4 Animalia quaedam ne inveniri possint, vestigia sua circa ipsum cubile confundunt ; idem tibi faciendum est. Alioqui non deerunt^ qui semper sequantur. Multi aperta transeunt, condita et abstrusa rimantur ; furem signata soUicitant. Vile videtur, quicquid patet, aperta efFractarius praeterit. Hos mores habet populuSj hos imperitissimus quisque : in secreta in- rumpere cupit. Optimum itaque est non iactare
5 otium suum. lactandi autem genus est nimis latere et a eonspectu hominum secedere. Ille Tarentum se abdidit, ille Neapoli inclusus est, ille multis annis non transit domus suae limen. Convocat turbam,
6 quisquis otio suo aliquam fabulam inposuit. Cum secesseris, non est hoc agendum, ut de te homines loquantur, sed ut ipse tecum loquaris. Quid autem loqueris? Quod homines de aliis libentissime faciunt, de te apud te male existima ; adsuesces et dicere verum et audire. Id autem maxime tracta, quod in
7 te esse infirmissimum senties. Nota habet sui
quisque corporis vitia. Itaque alius vomitu levat
stomachum, alius frequenti - cibo fulcit, alius inter-
^ aut quietem O. Rossbach ; aut qui etiam p ; atqui etiam VPb.
2 frequenti later MSS. ; a frequenti pVPb.
" Cf. Ep. Iv. §§ 3 ff. for the retirement of Vatia : ille latere sciebat, non vivere.
4>6
EPISTLE LXVIII.
jou, — that you keep your retirement in the back- ground. There is no need to fasten a placard upon yourself with the words : " Philosopher and Quietist." Give your purpose some other name ; call it ill-health and bodily weakness, or mere laziness. To boast of our retirement is but idle self-seeking. Certain animals hide themselves from discovery by confusing the marks of their foot-prints in the neighbourhood of their lairs. You should do the same. Othenvise, there will always be someone dogging your footsteps. Many men pass by that which is visible, and peer after things hidden and concealed ; a locked room in- vites the thief. Things which lie in the open appear cheap ; the house-breaker passes by that which is exposed to view. This is the way of the world, and the way of all ignorant men : they crave to burst in upon hidden things. It is therefore best not to vaunt one's retirement. It is, however, a sort of vaunt- ing to make too much of one's concealment and of one's withdrawal from the sight of men. So-and-so "' has gone into his retreat at Tarentum ; that other man has shut himself up at Naples ; this third person for many 3'ears has not crossed the threshold of his own house. To advertise one's retirement is to collect a crowd. When you withdraw from the world, your business is to talk with yourself, not to have men talk about you. But what shall you talk about ? Do just what people are fond of doing when they talk about their neighbours, — speak ill of yourself when by yourself; then you will become accustomed both to speak and to hear the truth. Above all, however, ponder that which you come to feel is your greatest weakness. Each man knows best the defects of his own body. And so one relieves his stomach by vomiting, another props it up by frequent eating,
47
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
posito ieiunio corpus exhaurit et purgat. li, quorum pedes dolor repetit, aut \ano aut balineo abstinent. In cetera neglegentes huic, a quo saepe infestantur, occurrunt ; sic in animo nostro sunt quaedam quasi eausariae partes, quibus adhibenda curatio est.
8 Quid in otio facio ? Ulcus meum euro. Si ostenderem tibi pedem turgidum, lividam manum aut contracti cruris aridos nervos, permitteres mihi uno loco iacere et fovere morbuni meum. Maius malum est hoc, quod non possum tibi ostendere ; in pectore ipso collectio et vomica est. Nolo nolo laudes, nolo dicas : " o magnum \drum ! contempsit omnia et damnatis humanae vitae furoribus fugit."
9 Nihil damnavi nisi me. Non est quod proficiendi causa venire ad me velis. Erras, qui hinc aliquid auxilii speras ; non medicus, sed aeger hie habitat. Malo, cum discesseris, dicas : " ego istum beatum hominem putabam et eruditum. Erexeram aures ; destitutus sum. Nihil vidi, nihil audii,^ quod con- cupiscerem, ad quod reverterer." Si hoc sentis, si hoc loqueris, aliquid profectum est. Malo ignoscas otio meo quam invideas.
10 " Otium," inquis, "Seneca, commendas mihi.''
1 audii Rossbach ; audivi VPb ; laudi p.
" Causarii (Livy, vi. 6) were soldiers on sick leave. * For an argument of the same sort see Horace, Epist. i, 1. 93-104:
Si curatus inaequali tonsore capillos
Occurri, rides . . .
. . . quid, mea cum pugnat sententia secum?
48
EPISTLE LXVIII.
another drains and purges his body by periodic fast- ing. Those whose feet are visited by pain abstain either from wine or from the bath. In general, men who are careless in other respects go out of their way to relieve the disease which frequently afflicts them. So it is with our souls ; there are in them certain parts which are, so to speak, on the sick-list,** and to these parts the cure must be applied.
What, then, am I myself doing with my leisure .'' I am trying to cure my own sores. If I were to show you a swollen foot, or an inflamed hand, or some shrivelled sinews in a withered leg, you would permit me to lie quiet in one jilace and to apply lotions to the diseased member.'' But my trouble is greater than any of these, and I cannot show it to you. The abscess, or ulcer, is deep within my breast. Pray, pray, do not commend me, do not say : " What a great man ! He has learned to despise all things ; condemning the madnesses of man's life, he has made his escape ! " I have con- demned nothing except myself There is no reason why you should desire to come to me for the sake of making j)rogress. You are mistaken if you think that you will get any assistance from this quarter ; it is not a jihvsician that dwells here, but a sick man. I would rather have you sav, on leaving my presence : " I used to think him a happy man and a learned one, and I had pricked up my ears to hear him ; but I have been defrauded. I have seen nothing, heard nothing which I craved and which I came back to hear." If you feel thus, and speak thus, some progress has been made. I prefer you to pardon rather than envy my retirement.
Then you say : " Is it retirement, Seneca, that you are recommending to me ? You will soon be
VOL. II E 49
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
Ad Epicureas voces delaberis." Otium tibi com- mendo, in quo maiora agas et pulchriora quam quae reliquisti ; pulsare superbas potentiorum fores, digerei'e in litterani senes orbos, plurimum in foro posse invidiosa potentia ac brevis est et, si verum
11 aestimes, sordida. Ille me gratia forensi longe anteeedet, ille stipendiis militaribus et quaesita per hoc dignitate, ille clientium tui'ba ; est tanti ab omnibus vinci, dum a me fortuna vincatur, cui in tui'ba par esse non possum ; ^ plus habet gratiae.
1 2 Utinam quidem hoc propositum sequi olim fuisset animus tibi ! Utinam de vita beata non in conspectu mortis ageremus ! Sed nunc quoque non moremur."^ Multa enim, quae supervacua esse et inimica creditui'i
13 fuimus rationi, nunc experientiae credimus. Quod facere solent, qui serius exierunt ^ et volunt tempus celeritate reparare, calcar addamus ; haec aetas optime facit ad haec studia ; iam despumavit.^ Jam vitia primo fervore adulescentiae indomita lassavit, non multum superest ut extinguat.
14 " Et quando," inquis, "tibi proderit istud, quod in exitu discis,^ aut in quam rem ? " In banc, ut exeam melior. Non est tamen quod existiines ullam aetatem
^ Haase's punctuation. Hense regards cui in turha . . . gratiae as an interpolation.
- moremur Erasmus ; moramur MSS. ^ exierunt later MSS. ; exerunt pVPb.
* clespumai^it cod. Vat. reg. ; disputavit pVPb.
* cliscis later MSS. ; dicis pVPb.
" This is a reference to the saying of Epicurus, \a6k j8tc6<ras, " live in retirement."
* Cf. Horace, Sat. ii. 5. 23 ff. : captes astutus uhique testa- menta senum and i^ivet uter locuples sine gnatis . . . ilUus esto defensor. The captator was a well-known figure at Rome ; cf. also Pliny's notorious enemy Regulus, and Juvenal's many words of scorn for those who practised the art.
" i.e.. Fortune's support comes from crowds. 50
EPISTLE LXVIII.
falling back upon the maxims of Epicurus ! " <* I do recommend retirement to you, but only that you may use it for greater and more beautiful activities than those which you have resigned ; to knock at the haughty doors of the influential, to make alphabetical lists of childless old men,* to wield the highest author- ity in public life, — this kind of power exposes you to hatred, is short-lived, and, if you rate it at its true value, is tawdr)\ One man shall be far ahead of me as regards his influence in public life, another in salary as an army officer and in the position which results from this, another in the thi'ong of his clients ; but it is worth while to be outdone bv all these men, provided that I myself can outdo Fortune. And I am no match for her in the thi-ong ; she has the greater backing.*^
Would that in earlier days you liad been minded to follow this purpose ! Would that we were not discussing the happv life in plain view of death ! But even now let us have no delay. For now we can take the word of experience, which tells us that there are many superfluous and hostile things ; for this we should long since have taken the word of reason. Let us do what men are wont to do when they are late in setting forth, and wish to make up for lost time by increasing their speed — let us ply the spur. Our time of life is the best possible for these pursuits ; for the period of boiling and foaming is now past.f' The faults that were uncontrolled in the first fierce heat of youth are now weakened, and but little further effort is needed to extinguish them.
" And when," you ask, " will that j^rofit you which you do not learn until your departure, and how will it profit you .'' " Precisely in this way, that I shall depart a better man. You need not think,
"* Cf. De Ira, ii. 20 ut nimhis tile fervor despumet.
51
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
aptiorem esse ad bonam mentem quam quae se multis experimentis, longa ac frequent! reruin paenitentia edomuit, quae ad salutaria mitigatis adfectibus venit. Hoc est huius boni tempus ; quisquis senex ad sapientiam pervenitj aimis pervenit. Vale.
LXIX.
Seneca Lvcilio svo salvtem
1 Mutare te loea et aliunde alio ^ transilire nolo ; primum, quia tarn frequens migratio instabilis aninii est. Coalesceve otic non potest, nisi desit circum- spicere et errare. Ut animum possis continere,
2 primum corporis tui fugam siste. Deinde plurimum remedia continuata proficiunt. Interrumpenda non est quies et vitae prioris oblivio. Sine dediscere oculos tuos, sine aures adsuescere sanioribus verbis. Quotiens processeris, in ipso transitu aliqua, quae
3 renovent cupiditates tuas, tibi occurrent. Quemad- modum ei/ qui amorem exuere conatur, evitanda est omnis adnionitio dilecti corporis, nihil enim facilius quani amor recrudescit, ita qui deponere vult desideria rerum omnium, quarum eupiditate flagravit,
^ aliunde alio Haase ; alium de alio pPb ; in alium de alio V.
2 ei later MSS. ; et pVPb.
" Cf. Ep. ii. § 3 nil aequesanitatem impedit quam revfiediorum crebra mutatio. 52
EPISTLES LXVIIL, LXIX.
however, that any time of life is more fitted to the attainment of a sound mind than that which has gained the victory over itself by many trials and by long and oft- repeated regret for past mistakes, and, its passions assuaged, has reached a state of health. This is indeed the time to have acquired this good ; he who has attained wisdom in his old age, has attained it by his years. Farewell.
LXIX. ON REST AND RESTLESSNESS
I DO not like you to change your headquarters and scurry about from one place to another. My reasons are, — first, that such frequent flitting means an unsteady spirit. And the spirit cannot through retirement grow into unity unless it has ceased from its inquisitiveness and its wanderings. To be able to hold your spirit in check, you must first stop the run- away flight of the body. My second reason is, that the remedies which are most helpful are those which are not interrupted.* You should not allow your quiet, or the oblivion to which you have consigned your former life, to be broken into. Give your eyes time to unlearn what they have seen, and your ears to grow accustomed to more wholesome words. When- ever you stir abroad you will meet, even as you pass from one place to another, things that will bring back your old cravings. Just as he who tries to be rid of an old love must avoid every reminder of the person once held dear (for nothing grows again so easily as love), similarly, he who would lay aside his desire for all the things which he
53
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
et oculos et aures ab iis, quae reliquit, avertat. Cito
4 rebellat adfectus. Quocumque se verterit, pretium aliquod praesens occupationis suae aspiciet. Nullum sine auctoramento malum est. Avaritia pecuniam promittit, luxuria multas ac varias voluptates, ambitio purpuram et plausum et ex hoc potentiam et quic-
5 quid potest potentia.^ Mercede te vitia soUicitant ; hie tibi gratis vivendum est. Vix effici toto saeculo potest, ut vitia tarn longa licentia tumida subigantur et iugum accipiant, nedum, si tam breve tempus intervallis caedimus.- Unam quamlibet rem vix ad
Q perfectum perducit adsidua vigilia et intentio. Si me quidem velis audire, hoc meditare et exerce, ut mortem et excipias et, si ita res suadebit, accersas. Interest nihil, ilia ad nos veniat an ad illam nos. Illud imperitissimi cuiusque verbum falsum esse tibi ipse persuade: "Bella res est mori sua morte." Nemo moritur nisi sua morte. Illud praeterea tecum licet cogites: nemo nisi suo die moritur. Nihil perdis ex tuo tempore ; nam quod relinquis, alienum est. Vale.
1 potest potentia Hense ; potentia VPb ; potia p ; potentia potest later MSS.
^ tempus intervallis caedimns Mad^^g• ; intervaUum dis- cedimus (discidimus) pVPb.
« Perhaps the converse idea of "living one's own life." It means " dying when the proper time comes," and Is the common man's argument against suicide. The thought perhaps suggests the subject matter of the next letter.
54
EPISTLE LXIX.
used to crave so passionately, must turn away both eyes and ears from the objects which he has aban- doned. The emotions soon return to the attack ; at every turn they will notice before their eyes an object worth their attention. There is no evil that does not offer inducements. Avarice promises money ; luxury, a varied assortment of pleasures ; ambition, a purple robe and applause, and the influence which results from applause, and all that influence can do. Vices tempt you by the rewards which they offer ; but in the life of which I speak, you must live without being paid. Scarcely will a whole life-time suffice to bring our vices into subjec- tion and to make them accept the yoke, swollen as they are by long- continued indulgence ; and still less, if we cut into our brief span by any interrup- tions. Even constant care and attention can scarcely bring any one undertaking to full completion. If you will give ear to my advice, ponder and practise this, — how to welcome death, or even, if circum- stances commend that course, to invite it. There is no difference whether death comes to us, or whether we go to death. Make yourself believe that all ignorant men are wrong when they say : " It is a beautiful thing to die one's own death." "- But there is no man who does not die his own death. What is more, you may reflect on this thought : No one dies except on his own day. You are throwing away none of your own time ; for what you leave behind does not belong to you. Farewell.
55
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
LXX.
Seneca Lvcilio svo salvtem
1 Post longuin intervallum Pompeios tuos vidi. In conspectum adulescentiae meae reductus sum. Quic- quid illic iuvenis feceram, videbar mihi facere adhuc
2 posse et paulo ante feeisse. Praenavigavimus, Lucili, vitam et quemadmodum in mari^ ut ait Vergilius noster,
Terraeque urbesque recedunt,
sic in hoc cursu rapidissimi temporis primum pueritiam abscondimus, deinde adulescentiam, deinde quidquid est illud inter iuvenem et senem medium, in utriusque confinio positum, deinde ipsius senectutis optimos annos. Novissime incipit ostendi publicus finis
3 generis humani. Scopulura esse ilium putamus dementissimi ; portus est, aliquando petendus, num- quam recusandus, in quem si quis intra primos annos delatus est, non magis queri debet quam qui cito navigavit. Alium enim, ut scis, venti segnes ludunt ac detinent et tranquil litatis lentissimae taedio lassant, alium pertinax flatus celerrime perfert.
4 Idem evenire nobis puta ; alios vita velocissime adduxit, quo veniendum erat etiam cunctantibus, alios macera\dt et coxit. Quae, ut scis, non semper
" Probably the birthplace of Lucilius. ' * Aeneid, iii. 7-3.
56
EPISTLE LXX.
LXX. ON THE PROPER TLME TO SLIP THE CABLE
After a long space of time I have seen your beloved Pompeii." I was thus brought again face to face with the days of my youth. And it seemed to me that I could still do, nay, had only done a short time ago, all the things which I did there when a young man. We have sailed past life, Lucilius, as if we were on a voyage, and just as when at sea, to quote from our poet Vergil,
Lands and towns are left astern,*
even so, on this journey whei-e time flies with the greatest speed, we put below the horizon first our boyhood and then our youth, and then the space which lies between young manhood and middle age and borders on both, and next, the best years of old age itself. Last of all, we begin to sight the general bourne of the race of man. Fools that we are, we believe this bourne to be a dangerous reef; but it is the harbour, where we must some day put in, which we may never refuse to enter ; and if a man has reached this harbour in his early years, he has no more right to complain than a sailor who has made a quick voyage. For some sailors, as you know, are tricked and held back by sluggish winds, and grow weary and sick of the slow -moving calm; while others are carried quickly home by steady gales.
You may consider that the same thing happens to us ; life has carried some men with the greatest rapidity to the harbuur, the harbour they were bound to reach even if they tarried on the way, while others it has fretted and harassed. To such a life, as you
57
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
retinenda est. Non enim vivere bonum est, sed bene vivei'e. Itaque sapiens vivit, quantum debet, non
5 quantum potest. Videbit ubi victurus sit, cum quibus, quomodo, quid acturus. Cogitat semper, qualis vita, non quanta sit. Si multa ^ occurrunt molesta et tranquillitatem turbantia, emittit se. Nee hoc tantum in necessitate ultima facit, sed cum primum illi coepit suspecta esse fortuna, diligenter circumspicit, numquid idee - desinendum sit. Nihil existimat sua referre, faciat finem an accipiat, tardius fiat an citius. Non tamquam de magno detrimento timet ; nemo multum ex stilicidio potest perdere.
6 Citius mori aut tardius ad rem non pertinet, bene mori aut male ad rem pertinet. Bene autem mori est effugere male vivendi periculum.
Itaque eifeminatissimam vocem illius Rhodii existimo, qui cum in caveam coniectus esset a tyranno et tamquam ferum aliquod animal aleretur, suadenti cuidam, ut abstineret cibo : " omnia," inquit,
7 " homini, dum vivit, speranda sunt." Ut sit hoc verum, non omni pretio vita emenda est. Quaedam licet magna, licet certa sint, taraen ad ilia turpi infirmitatis confessione non veniam. Ego cogitem in eo, qui vivit, omnia posse fortunam, potius quam cogitem in eo, qui scit mori, nil posse fortunam ?
^ si multa later MSS. ; si (sit p) simidata pVPb. - ideo C. Brakman ; illo MSS. ; illo die Muretus.
« Although Socrates says (Phaedo, 61 f.) that the philo- sopher must, according to Philolaus, not take his own hfe against the will of God, the Stoics interpreted the problem in different ways. Some held that a noble purpose justified suicide ; others, that any reason was good enough. Cf. Ep. Ixxvii. 3 ff.
* Telesphorus of Rhodes, threatened by the tyrant Lysiraachus. On the proverb see Cicero, Ad Att. ix. 10. 3, and Terence, Heauton. 981 modo liceat vivere, est'spes.
58
EPISTLE LXX.
are aware, one should not always cling. For mere living is not a good, but living well. Accordingly, the wise man will live as long as he ought, not as long as he can." He will mark in what place, with whom, and how he is to conduct his existence, and what he is about to do. He always reflects concern- ing the quality, and not the quantity, of his life. As soon as there are many events in his life that give him trouble and disturb his peace of mind, he sets himself free. And this privilege is his, not only when the crisis is upon him, but as soon as Fortune seems to be playing him false ; then he looks about carefully and sees whether he ought, or ought not, to end his life on that account. He holds that it makes no difference to him whether his taking -off be natural or self-inflicted, whether it comes later or earlier. He does not regard it with fear, as if it were a great loss ; for no man can lose very much when but a driblet remains. It is not a question of dying earlier or later, but of dying well or ill. And dying well means escape from the danger of living ill.
That is why I regard the words of the well-known Rhodian ^ as most unmanly. This person was thrown into a cage by his tyrant, and fed there like some wild animal. And when a certain man advised him to end his life by fasting, he replied : " A man may hope for anything while he has life." This may be true ; but life is not to be purchased at any price. No matter how great or how well-assured certain rewards may be, I shall not strive to attain them at the price of a shameful confession of weakness. Shall I reflect that Fortune has all power over one who lives, rather than reflect that she has no power over one who knows how to die ? There
59
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
8 Aliquando tamen, etiam si certa mors instabit et destinatum sibi supplicium sciet, non commodabit ^ poenae suae manum ; sibi commodaret. Stultitia est timore mortis mori. Venit qui oecidat. Expecta. Quid occupas ? Quare suscipis alienae crudelitatis procurationem ? Utrum invides carnifici tuo an
9 parcis ? Socrates potuit abstinentia finire vitam et inedia potius quam veneno mori. Triginta tamen dies in carcere et in expectatione mortis exegit, non hoc animo tamquam omnia fieri possent, tamquam multas spes tam longum tempus reciperet, sed ut praeberet se legibus, ut fruendum amicis extremum Socraten daret. Quid erat stultius quam mortem contemnere, venenum timere ?
10 Scribonia, gravis femina, araita Drusi Libonis fuit, adulescentis tam stolidi^ quam nobilis^ maiora spe- rantis quam illo saeculo quisquam sperare poterat aut ipse ullo. Cum aeger a senatu in lectica relatus esset non sane frequentibus exequiis, omnes enim necessarii deseruerant impie iam non reum, sed funus ; habere coepit consihum, utrum conscisceret mortem an expectaret. Cui Scribonia : " Quid te,"
1 commodabit later MSS. ; commendabit VPb ; commen- davit p.
^ stolidi Torrentius ; solidi MSS.
" i.e., if he must choose between helping along his punish- ment by suicide, or helping himself by staying ahve under torture and practising the virtues thus brought into play, he will choose the latter, — sibi commodare.
* See the imaginary dialogue in Plato's Crito (50 fF.) between Socrates and the Laws — a passage which develops this thought.
"â– And to commit suicide in order to escape poisoning.
'' For a â– more complete account of this tragedy see
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EPISTLE LXX.
are times, nevertheless, when a man, even though certain death impends and he knows that torture is in store for him, will refrain from lending a hand to his own punishment ; to himself, however, he would lend a hand.** It is folly to die through fear of dying. The executioner is upon you ; wait for him. Wliy anticipate him ? Why assume the management of a cruel task that belongs to another ? Do you grudge your executioner his privilege, or do you merely relieve him of his task ? Socrates might have ended his life by fasting ; he might have died by starvation rather than by jioison. But instead of this he spent thirty days in prison awaiting death, not with the idea 'â– ' everything may happen," or "so long an interval has room for many a hope " but in order that he might show himself submissive to the laws '^ and make the last moments of Socrates an edification to his friends. What would have been more foolish than, scorning death, at the same time to be afraid of poison .'' <â– '
Scribonia, a woman of the stern old type, was an aunt of Drusus Libo.'* This young man was as stupid as he was well born, with higher ambitions than anyone could have been expected to entertain in that epoch, or a man like himself in any epoch at all. When Libo had been carried away ill from the senate-house in his litter, though certainly with a very scanty train of followers, — for all his kins- folk undutifully deserted him, when he was no longer a criminal but a corpse, — he began to con- sider whether he should commit suicide, or await death. Scribonia said to him : " What pleasure do
Tacitus, Annals, ii. 27 ff. Libo was duped by Firmius Catus (16 A.D.) into seeking imperial power, was detected, and finally forced by Tiberius to comntiit suicide.
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THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
inquit^ " delectat alienum negotium agere?" Non persuasit illi ; manus sibi attulit nee sine causa. Nam post diem tertium aut quartum inimici mori- turus arbitrio si vivit, alienum negotium agit.
1 1 Non possis itaque de re in universum pronuntiare, cum mortem vis externa denuntiat, occu panda sit an expectanda. Multa enim sunt, quae in utramque partem trahere possunt. Si altera mors cum tor- mento, altera simplex et facilis est, quidni huic ini- cienda sit manus ? Quemadmodum navem eligam navigaturus et domum habitaturus, sic mortem exi-
12 turus e vita. Praeterea quemadmodum non utique melior est longior vita, sic peior est utique mors longior. In nulla re magis quam in morte morem animo gerere debemus. Exeat, qua impetum cepit ; sive ferrum appetit sive laqueum sive aliquam potio- nem venas occupantem, pergat et vincula servitutis abrumpat. Vitam et aliis adprobare quisque debet,
13 mortem sibi. Optima est, quae placet. Stulte
haec cogitantur : " aliquis dicet me parum fortiter
fecisse, aliquis nimis temere, aliquis fuisse aliquod
genus mortis animosius." Vis tu cogitare id in
manibus esse consilium, ad quod fama non pertinet !
Hoc unum intuere, ut te fortunae quam celerrime
" When the "natural advantages" {to. Kara (pvaiv) of living are outweighed by the corresponding disadvantages, the honourable man may, according to the general Stoic view, take his departure. Socrates and Cato were right in so doing, according to Seneca ; but he condemns {Ep. xxiv. 25) those contemporaries who had recourse to suicide as a mere whim of fashion.
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EPISTLE LXX.
you find in doing another man's work ? " But he did not follow her advice ; he laid violent hands upon himself. And he was right, after all ; for when a man is doomed to die in two or three days at his enemy's pleasure, he is really " doing another man's work " if he continues to live.
No general statement can be made, therefore, with regard to the question whether, when a power beyond our control threatens us with death, we should anticipate death, or await it. For there are many arguments to pull us in either direction. If one death is accompanied by torture, and the other is simple and easy, why not snatch the latter ? Just as I shall select my ship when I am about to go on a voyage, or my house when I propose to take a residence, so I shall choose my death when I am about to depart from life. Moreover, just as a long-drawn- out life does not necessarily mean a better one, so a long-drawn-out death necessarily means a worse one. There is no occasion when the soul should be humoured more than at the moment of death. Let the soul depart as it feels itself impelled to go;* whether it seeks the sword, or the halter, or some draught that attacks the veins, let it proceed and burst the bonds of its slavery. Every man ought to make his life acceptable to others besides himself, but his death to himself alone. The best form of death is the one we like. Men are foolish who reflect thus : ^' One person will sav that my conduct was not brave enough ; another, that I was too headstrong ; a third, that a particular kind of death would have betokened more spirit." What you should really reflect is : "I have under consideration a purpose with which the talk of men has no concern ! " Your sole aim should be to escape from Fortune as
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THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
eripias ; alioquin aderunt, qui de facto tuo male existiment.
14 Invenies etiam professes sapientiam, qui vim adferendam vitae suae negent et nefas iudicent ipsum interemptorem sui fieri ; expectandum esse exitum/ quem natura decrevit. Hoc qui dicit, non videt se libertatis viam cludere. Nil melius aeterna lex fecit, quam quod unum introitum nobis ad vitam
15 dedit, exitus multos. Ego expectem vel morbi crudelitatem vel hominis, cum possim per media exire tormenta et adversa discutere ? Hoc est unum, cur de vita non possimus " queri : neminem tenet. Bono loco res humanae sunt, quod nemo nisi vitio suo miser est. Placet ; \ive. Non placet ; licet eo
16 reverti, unde venisti. Ut dolorem capitis levares, sanguinem saepe misisti. Ad extenuandum corpus vena percutitur. Non opus est vasto vulnere dividere praecordia ; scalpello aperitur ad illam magnam liber- tatem via et puncto securitas constat.
Quid ergo est, quod nos facit pigros inertesque ? Nemo nostrum cogitat quandoque sibi ex hoc domi- cilio exeundum ; sic veteres inquilinos indulgentia
17 loci et consuetudo etiam inter iniurias detinet. Vis adversus hoc corpus liber esse ? Tamquam migra- turus habita. Propone tibi quandoque hoc contu- bernio carendum ; fortior eris ad necessitatem exeundi. Sed quemadmodum suus finis veniet in
1 exspectandum esse exitum later MSS. ; expectanomim esse ex'itum VPb.
2 possimtis Erasmus ; possenuts p ; possumus VPb.
"â– By means of the cunurbita, or cupping-glass. Cf. Juvenal, xiv. 58 caput ventosa cuciirbita (juaerat. It was often used as a remedy for insanity or delirium.
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EPISTLE LXX.
speedily as possible ; otherwise, there will be no lack of persons who will think ill of what you have done. You can find men who have gone so far as to profess wisdom and yet maintain that one should not offer violence to one's own life, and hold it accursed for a man to be the means of his own destruction ; we should wait, say they, for the end decreed by nature. But one who says this does not see that he is shutting off the path to freedom. The best thing which eternal law ever ordained was that it allowed to us one entrance into life, but many exits. Must I await the cruelty either of disease or of man, when I can depart through the midst of torture, and shake off my troubles ? This is the one reason why we cannot complain of life : it keeps no one against his will. Humanity is well situated, because no man is unhapj)y except by his own fault. Live, if you so desire ; if not, you may return to the place whence you came. You have often been cupped in order to relieve headaches.'* You have had veins cut for the purpose of reducing your weight. If you would pierce your heart, a gaping wound is not necessary ; a lancet will open the way to that great freedom, and tranquillity can be purchased at the cost of a pin-prick.
What, then, is it which makes us lazy and sluggish ? None of us reflects that some day he must depart from this house of life ; just so old tenants are kept from moving by fondness for a particular place and by custom, even in spite of ill-treatment. Would you be free from the restraint of your body ? Live in it as if you were about to leave it. Keep thinking of the fact that some day you will be deprived of this tenure ; then you will be more brave against the necessity of departing. But how will a man
VOL. n F 65
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
18 men tern omnia sine fine concupiscentibus ? Nullius rei meditatio tam necessaria est. Alia enim fortasse exercentur in supervacuum. Adversus paupertatem praeparatus est animus ; permansere divitiae. Ad contemptum nos doloris armavimus ; nunquam a nobis exegit huius virtutis experimentum integri ac sani felicitas corporis. Ut fortiter amissorum desideria pateremur praecepimus nobis ; omnes, quos amabamus, superstites fortuna servavit. Huius unius rei usum qui exigat ^ dies veniet.
19 Non est quod existimes magnis tantum viris hoc robur fuisse, quo servitutis humanae claustra perrum- perent ; non est quod indices hoc fieri nisi a Catone non posse, qui quam ferro non emiserat animam manu extraxit. Vilissiraae sortis homines ^ ingenti impetu in tutum evaserunt,^ cumque e commodo ^ mori non licuisset nee ad arbitrium suum instrumenta mortis eligere, obvia quaeque rapuerunt et quae
20 natura non erant noxia, vi sua tela fecerunt. Nuper in ludo bestiariorum unus e Germanis, cum ad matutina spectacula pararetur, secessit ad exoneran- dum corpus ; nullum aliud illi dabatur sine custode secretum. Ibi lignum id, quod ad emundanda obscena adhaerente spongia positum est, totum in gulam farsit et interclusis = faucibus spiritum elisit.
1 exigat later MSS. ; excitat pVPb.
2 extraxit: vilissimae sortis homines several editors, in- cluding Hense and Haase ; extraxit hutilissimae sortis hominis p ; extraxit cum vilissimae sortis homines VPb.
^ evaserunt Haase ; evaserit or evaserint MSS. * cumque e{x) commodo C.F.G. Mueller; cumque commodo {qtiomodo) Pb ; cumqus incommodo p.
^ interclusis Hense ; inperclusis VPb ; in perclusi p.
EPISTLE LXX.
take thought of his own end, if he craves all things without end ? And yet there is nothing so essential for us to consider. For our training in other things is perhaps superfluous. Our souls have been made ready to meet poverty ; but our riches have held out. We have armed ourselves to scorn pain ; but we have had the good fortune to possess sound and healthy bodies, and so have never been forced to put this virtue to the test. We have taught ourselves to endure bravely the loss of those we love ; but Fortune has preserved to us all whom we loved. It is in this one matter only that the day will come which will require us to test our training.
You need not think that none but great men have had the strength to burst the bonds of human servitude ; you need not believe that this cannot be done except by a Cato, — Cato, who with his hand dragged forth the spirit which he had not succeeded in freeing by the sword. Nay, men of the meanest lot in life have by a mighty impulse escaped to safety, and when they were not allowed to die at their own convenience, or to suit themselves in their choice of the instruments of death, they have snatched up whatever was lying ready to hand, and by sheer strength have turned objects which were by nature harmless into weapons of their own. For example, there was lately in a training-school for wild-beast gladiators a German, who was making ready for the morning exhibition ; he withdrew in order to relieve himself, — the only thing which he was allowed to do in secret and without the presence of a guard. While so engaged, he seized the stick of wood, tipped with a sponge, which was devoted to the vilest uses, and stuffed it, just as it was, down his throat ; thus he blocked up his windpipe, and choked
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Hoc fuit movti contumeliam facere. Ita prorsus ; parum munde et paruni decenter ; quid est stultius
21 quam fastidiose mori ? O virum fortem^ o dignum, cui fati daretur electio ! Quam fortiter ille gladio usus esset^ quam animose in profundam se altitudinem maris aut abscisae rupis inmisisset ! Undique desti- tutus invenit, quemadmodum et mortem sibi deferret ^ et telum, ut scias ad moriendum nihil aliud in mora esse quam velle. Existimetur de facto hominis acerrimi, ut cuique visum erit, dum hoc constet, praeferendam esse spurcissimiam mortem servituti mundissimae.
22 Quoniam coepi sordidis exemplis uti, perseverabo. Plus enim a se quisque exiget, si viderit hanc rem etiam a contemptissimis posse contemni. Catones Scipionesque et alios, quos audire cum admiratione consuevimus, supra imitationem positos putamus ; iam ego istam virtutem habere tarn multa exempla in ludo bestiario quam in ducibus belli ci^'ilis
23 ostendam. Cum adveheretur nuper inter custodias quidam ad matutinum spectaculum missus, tamquam somno premente nutaret, caput usque eo demisit, donee radiis insereret, et tamdiu se in sedili suo tenuit, donee cervicem circumactu rotae frangeret. Eodem vehiculo, quo ad poenam ferebatur, efFugit.
24 Nihil obstat erumpere et exire cupienti. In
1 deferret Hense ; deheret MSS.
« Cusfodla in the sense of "prisoner" (abstract for concrete) is a post-Augustan usage. See Ep. v. 7, and Summers' note. 68
EPISTLE LXX.
the breath from his body. That was truly to insult death ! Yes, indeed ; it was not a very elegant or becoming way to die ; but what is more foolish than to be over-nice about dying ? What a brave fellow ! He surely deserved to be allowed to choose his fate ! How bravely he would have wielded a sword ! With what courage he would have hurled himself into the depths of the sea, or down a precipice ! Cut off from resources on every hand, he yet found a way to furnish himself with death, and with a weajwn for death. Hence you can understand that nothing but the will need postpone death. Let each man judge the deed of this most zealous fellow as he likes, provided we agree on this point, — that the foulest death is preferable to the cleanest slavery.
Inasmuch as I began with an illustration taken from humble life, I shall keep on with that sort. For men will make greater demands upon themselves, if they see that death can be despised even by the most despised class of men. The Catos, the Scipios, and the others whose names we are wont to hear with admiration, we regard as beyond the sphere of imitation ; but I shall now prove to you that the virtue of which I speak is found as frequently in the gladiators' training-school as among the leaders in a civil war. Lately a gladiator, who had been sent forth to the morning exhibition, was being conveyed in a cart along with the other prisoners " ; nodding as if he were heavy with sleep, he let his head fall over so far that it was caught in the spokes ; then he kept his body in position long enough to break his neck by the revolution of the wheel. So he made his escape by means of the very wagon which was carrying him to his punishment.
When a man desires to burst forth and take his
69
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA aperto nos natura custodit. Cui permittit necessitas sua, circumspiciat exitum mollem ; cui ad manum plura sunt, per quae sese adserat, is dilectum agat et qua potissimum liberetur, consideret ; cui difficilis occasio est, is proximam quamque pro optima arripiat, sit licet inaudita, sit nova. Non deerit ad mortem
25 ingenium, cui non defuerit animus. Vides, quemad- modum extrema quoque mancipia, ubi illis stimulos adegit dolor, excitentur et intentissimas custodias fallant ? Ille vir magnus est, qui mortem sibi non tantum imperavit, sad invenit.
Ex eodem tibi munere plura exempla promisi.
26 Secundo naumachiae spectaculo unus e barbaris lanceam, quam in adversarios accepex'at, totam iugulo suo mersit. " Quare, quare," inquit, "non omne tormentum, omne ludibrium iamdudum efFugio ? Quare ego mortem armatus expecto.''" Tanto hoc
27 speciosius spectaculum fuit, quanto honestius niori discunt homines quam occidere.
Quid ergo ? Quod animi perditi quodque noxiosi habent, non habebunt illi, quos adversus hos casus instruxit longa meditatio et magistra rerum omnium ratio ? Ilia nos docet fati varios esse accessus, finem eundem, nihil autem interesse, unde incipiat quod 70
EPISTLE LXX.
departure, nothing stands in his way. It is an open space in which Nature guards us. When our phght is such as to permit it, we may look about us for an easy exit. If you have many opportunities ready to hand, by means of which you may liberate yourself, you may make a selection and think over the best way of gaining freedom ; but if a chance is hard to find, instead of the best, snatch the next best, even though it be something unheard of, something new. If you do not lack the courage, you will not lack the cleverness, to die. See how even the lowest class of slave, when suffering goads him on, is aroused and discovers a way to deceive even the most watch- ful guards ! He is truly great who not only has given himself the order to die, but has also found the means.
I have promised you, however, some more illustra- tions drawn from the same games. During the second event in a sham sea-fight one of the bar- barians sank deep into his own throat a spear which had been given him for use against his foe. " Why, oh why," he said, " have I not long ago escaped from all this torture and all this mockery .'' Why should I be armed and yet wait for death to come .'' " This exhibition was all the more striking because of the lesson men learn from it that dying is more honour- able than killing.
What, then ? If such a spirit is possessed by abandoned and dangerous men, shall it not be possessed also by those who have trained themselves to meet such contingencies by long meditation, and by reason, the mistress of all things } It is reason which teaches us that fate has various ways of approach, but the same end, and that it makes no difference at what point the inevitable event begins.
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THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
28 venit. Eadem ilia ratio monet, ut, si licet, moriaris quemadmodum placet ; si minus^i quemadmodum potes, et quicquid obvenerit ad vim adferendam tibi invadas. Iniuriosum est rapto vivere, at contra pulcherrimum mori rapto. Vale.
LXXI.
Seneca Lvcilio svo salvtem
1 Subinde me de i-ebus singulis consulis oblitus vasto nos mari dividi. Cum magna pars consilii sit in tempore, necesse est evenire, ut de quibusdam rebus tunc ad te perferatur sententia mea, cum iam conti-aria potior est. Consilia enim rebus aptantur. Res nostrae feruntur, immo vohiintur. Ergo con- silium nasci sub diem debet ; et hoc quoque nimis tardum est ; sub manu, quod aiunt, nascatur. Quem- admodum autem inveniatur, ostendam.
2 Quotiens, quid fugiendum sit aut quid petendum,
voles scire, ad summum bonum, propositum totius
vitae tuae, respice. Illi enim consentire debet,
quicquid agimus ; non disponet singula, nisi cui iam
vitae suae summa proposita est. Nemo, quamvis
paratos habeat colores, similitudinem reddet, nisi
iam constat, quid velit pingere. Ideo peccamus,
quia de partibus vitae omnes deliberamus, de tota
^ Hense, following Schweighauser, inserts quemadrnodiim placet ; si minus.
"â– i.e., by robbing oneself of life ; but the antithesis to Vergil's phrase {Aen. ix. 613) is artificial.
* A similar argument is found in Ep. Ixv. §§ 5 flf., con- taining the same figure of thought.
72
EPISTLES LXX., LXXI.
Reason, too, advises us to die, if we may, according to our taste ; if this cannot be, she ad\ises us to die according to our ability, and to seize upon whatever means shall offer itself for doing violence to our- selves. It is criminal to " Hve by robbery""; but, on the other hand, it is most "noble to "die by robbery." Farewell.
LXXI. ON THE SUPREME GOOD
You are continually referring special questions to me, forgetting that a vast stretch of sea sunders us. Since, however, the value of advice depends mostly on the time when it is given, it must necessarily result that by the time my opinion on certain matters reaches you, the opposite opinion is the better. For advice conforms to circumstances ; and our circum- stances are carried along, or rather whirled along. Accordingly, advice should be produced at short notice ; and even this is too late ; it should " grow while we work," as the saying is. And I propose to show you how you may discover the method.
As often as you wish to know what is to be avoided or what is to be sought, consider its relation to the Supreme Good, to the purpose of your whole life. For whatever we do ought to be in harmony with this ; no man can set in order the details unless he has already set before himself the chief purpose of his life. The artist may have his colours all prepared, but he cannot produce a likeness unless he has already made up his mind what he wishes to paint.'' The reason we make mistakes is because we all consider the parts of life, but never life as a whole.
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THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
3 nemo deliberat. Scire debet quid petat ille, qui sagittam \i.ilt mittere, et tunc derigere ac moderari manu telum. Errant consilia nostra, quia non habent, quo derigantur. Ignoranti, quern portum petat, nullus suus ventus est. Necesse est multum in vita
4 nostra casus possit, quia viAdmus casu. Quibusdam autem evenit, ut quaedam scire se nesciant. Quemad- modum quaerimus saepe eos, cum quibus stamus, ita plerumque finem summi boni ignoramus adpositum.
Nee multis verbis nee circumitu longo, quod sit summum bonum, colliges ^ ; digito, ut ita dicam, demonstrandum est nee in multa spargendum. Quid enim ad rem pertinet in particulas illud diducere, cum possis dicere : summum bonum est, quod honestum est ? Et quod magis admireris : unum bonum est, quod honestum est, cetera falsa et
5 adulterina bona sunt. Hoc si persuaseris tibi et virtutem adamaveris, amare enim parum est, quic- quid ilia contigerit, id tibi, qualecumque aliis vide- bitur, faustum felixque erit. Et torqueri, si modo iacueris ipso torquente securior, et aegrotare, si non male dixeris fortunae, si non cesseris morbo, omnia denique, quae ceteris videntur mala, et mansuescent et in bonum abibunt, si super ilia eminueris.
Hoc liqueat, nihil esse bonum nisi honestum, et omnia incommoda suo iure bona vocabuntur, quae
1 colliges Muretus ; colligis MSS.
" For a definition of honestum see Cicero, De Fin. ii. 45 ff., and Rackham's note, explaining it as " to KaXov, the morally beautiful or good. "
74
EPISTLE LXXI.
The archer must know what he is seeking to hit ; then he must aim and control the weapon by his skill. Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbour he is making for, no wind is the right wind. Chance must necessarily have great influence over our lives, because we live by chance. It is the case with certain men, however, that they do not know that they know certain things. Just as we often go searching for those who stand beside us, so we are apt to forget that the goal of the Supreme Good lies near us.
To infer the nature of this Supreme Good, one does not need many words or any round-about dis- cussion ; it should be pointed out with the forefinger, so to speak, and not be dissipated into many parts. For what good is there in breaking it up into tiny bits, when you can say : the Supreme Good is that which is honourable " ? Besides (and you may be still more surprised at this), that which is honourable is the only good ; all other goods are alloved and debased. If you once convince yourself of this, and if you come to love virtue devotedl}' (for mere loving is not enough), anything that has been touched by virtue will be fraught with blessing and prosperity for you, no matter how it shall be regarded by others. Torture, if only, as you lie suffering, you are more calm in mind than your very torturer ; illness, if only you curse not Fortune and yield not to the disease — in short, all those things which others regard as ills will become manageable and will end in good, if you succeed in rising above them.
Let this once be clear, that there is nothing good except that which is honourable, and all hardships will have a just title to the name of "goods," when
75
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
6 modo virtus honestaverit. Multis videmur maiora promittere quam recipit humana condicio ; non inmerito. Ad corpus enim respiciunt. Revertantur ad animum ; iam hominem deo metientur. Erige te, Lucili virorum optime, et relinque istum ludum literariuro philosophorum, qui rem magnificentissimam ad syllabas vocant, qui animum minuta docendo demittunt et conterunt ; fies similis illis, qui in- venerunt ista, non qui docent et id agunt, ut philo- sophia potius difficilis quam magna videatur.
7 Socrates qui totam philosophiam revocavit ad mores et banc summam dixit esse sapientiam, bona malaque distinguere^ " sequere/' inquit, " illos, si quid apud te habeo auctoritatis, ut sis beatus, et te alicui stultum videri sine. Quisquis volet, tibi contumeliam faciat et iniuriam, tu tamen nihil patieris, si modo tecum erit virtus. Si vis," inquit, " beatus esse, si fide bona vir bonus, sine contemnat te aliquis." Hoc nemo praestabit, nisi qui omnia bona exaequaverit, quia nee bonum sine honesto est
8 et honestum in omnibus par est. " Quid ^ ergo .'' Nihil interest inter praeturam Catonis et repulsam ? Nihil interest, utrum Pharsalica acie Cato vincatur an vincat ? Hoc eius bonum, quo \ictis partibus
^ Hense gives quid ergo . . . componeret parem ? to the supposed objector.
" See, for example, the syllogistic display which is ridiculed in Ep. xlviii. 6.
* i.e., from being mere word-play.
•^ Hense suggests that Seneca may be rendering the phrase of Siraonides — a.vr\f> dXrjdQs dyados.
76
EPISTLE LXXI.
once virtue has made them honourable. Many think that we Stoics are holding out expectations greater than our human lot admits of; and they have a right to think so. For they have regard to the body only. But let them turn back to the soul, and they will soon measure man by the standard of God. Rouse yourself, most excellent Lucilius, and leave off all this word-play of the philosophers, who reduce a most glorious subject to a matter of sj'llables, and lower and wear out the soul by teach- ing fragments ; then you will become like the men who discovered these precepts, instead of those who by their teaching do their best to make philosophy seem difficult rather than great. "^
Socrates, who recalled ^ the whole of philosophy to rules of conduct, and asserted that the highest wisdom consisted in distinguishing between good and evil, said : " Follow these rules, if my words carry weight with you, in order that you may be happy ; and let some men think you even a fool. Allow any man who so desires to insult you and work you wrong ; but if only virtue dwells with you, you will suffer nothing. If you wish to be happy, if you would be in good faith a good man,*^ let one person or another despise you." No man can accomplish this unless he has come to regard all goods as equal, for the reason that no good exists without that which is honourable, and that which is honourable is in every case equal. You may say : " What then ? Is there no difference between Cato's being elected praetor and his failure at the polls ? Or whether Cato is conquered or conqueror in the battle-line of Phar- salia? And when Cato could not be defeated, though his party met defeat, was not this goodness of his equal to that which would have been his if
77
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
non potest vinci, par erat illi bono, quo victor rediret in patriam et conponeret pacem ? " Quidni par sit ? Eadem enim virtute et mala fortuna vincitur et ordinatur bona. Virtus autem non potest maior aut 9 minor fieri ; unius staturae est. " Sed Cn. Pompeius amittet exercitum, sed illud pulcherrimum rei publicae praetextum, optimates, et prima aeies Pompeianarum partium, senatus ferens arma, uno proelio profligabuntur et tam magni ruina imperii in totum dissiliet orbem ; aliqua pars eius in Aegypto, aliqua in Africa, aliqua in Hispania cadet. Ne hoc quidem miserae rei publicae continget, semel ruere."
10 Omnia licet fiant ; lubam in regno suo non locorum notitia adiuvet, non popularium pro rege suo virtus obstinatissima, Vticensium quoque fides malis fracta deficiat et Scipionem in Afiica nominis sui fortuna destituat. Olim provisum est, ne quid Cato detri- menti caperet.
11 " Victus est tamen." Et hoc numera inter repulsas Catonis ; tam magno animo feret aliquid sibi ad victoriam quam ad praeturam obstitisse. Quo die repulsus est, lusit, qua nocte periturus fuit, legit. Eodem loco habuit praetura et vita excidere ; omnia, quae acciderent, ferenda esse persuaserat sibi.
12 Quidni ille mutationem rei publicae forti et aequo
" Egypt — 47 B.C.; Africa (Thapsus) — 46 B.C.; Spain (Munda)— 45 b.c.
* A sort of serious parody of the senatus conndtum ulti- mum. For a discussion of the history and meaning of the phrase see W. Warde Fowler's Cicero, pp. 151—158.
<= Plato's Phaedo. Cato slew himself at Utica, 46 b.c, after Scipio's defeat at Thapsus.
78
EPISTLE LXXI.
he had returned victorious to his native land and arranged a peace ? ' Of course it was ; for it is by the same virtue that evil fortune is overcome and good fortune is controlled. Virtue, however, cannot be increased or decreased ; its stature is uniform. "But," you will object, " Gnaeus Pompey will lose his army ; the patricians, those noblest patterns of the Stye's creation, and the front-rank men of Pompey's party, a senate under arms, will be routed in a single engagement ; the ruins of that great oligai'chy will be scattered all over the world ; one division will fall in Egypt, another in Africa, and another in Spain ! ^* And the poor State will not be allowed even the privilege of being ruined once for all!" Yes, all this may happen; Juba's familiarity with every position in his own kingdom may be of no avail to him, of no avail the resolute bravery of his people when fighting for their king ; even the men of Utica, crushed by their troubles, may waver in their allegiance ; and the good fortune which ever attended men of the name of Scipio may desert Scipio in Africa. But long ago destiny "saw to it that Cato should come to no harm." *
"He was conquered in spite of it all!" Well, you may include this among Cato's " failures " ; Cato will bear with an equally stout heart anything that thwarts him of his victor}-, as he bore that which thwarted him of his praetorship. The day whereon he failed of election, he spent in play ; the night wherein he intended to die, he spent in reading.'^ He regarded in the same light both the loss of his praetorship and the loss of his life ; he had convinced himself that he ought to endure anything which might happen. Why should he not suffer, bravely and calmly, a change in the govern-
79
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
pateretur animo ? Quid enim mutationis periculo exceptum ? Non terra, non caelum, non totus hie reruni omnium contextus, quanivis deo agente ducatur. Non semper tenebit hunc ordinem, sed
13 ilium ex hoc cursu ahquis dies deiciet. Certis eunt cuncta temporibus ; nasci debent, crescere, extingui. Quaecumque supra nos vides currere, et haec, quibus inmixti atque inpositi sumus veluti soUdissimis, carpentur ac desinent. Nulli non senectus sua est ; inaequalibus ista spatiis eodem natura dimittit. Quicquid est, non erit, nee peribit, sed resolvetur.
14 Nobis solvi perire est, proxima enim intuemur; ad ulteriora non prospieit mens hebes et quae se corpori addixerit ; alioqui fortius finem sui suorumque pateretur, si speraret, ut ^ omnia ilia, sic vitam mor- temque per vices ire et composita dissoh-i, dissoluta eomponi, in hoc opere aeternam artem cuncta tem- perantis dei verti.
15 Itaque ut M. Cato, cum aevum animo percucurrerit, dicet : " omne humanum genus, quodque est quodque erit, morte damnatum est. Omnes, quae usquam rerum potiuntur urbes quaeque ahenorum imperiorum magna sunt decora, ubi fuerint, aliquando quaeretur
^ ut added by Haase. ^ Cf. Ep. ix. 16 f. resoluto mundo, etc. 80
EPISTLE LXXI.
ment ? For what is free from the risk of change ? Neither earth, nor sky, nor the whole fabric of our universe, though it be controlled by the hand of God. It will not always preserve its present order ; it will be thrown from its course in days to come.<* All things move in accord with their appointed times ; they are destined to be bom, to grow, and to be destroyed. The stars which you see moving above us, and this seemingly immovable earth to which we cling and on which we are set, will be consumed and will cease to exist. There is nothing that does not have its old age ; the intervals are merely unequal at which Nature sends forth all these things towards the same goal. Whatever is will cease to be, and yet it will not perish, but will be resolved into its elements. To our minds, this process means perishing, for we behold only that which is nearest ; our sluggish mind, under allegiance to the body, does not penetrate to bournes beyond. Were it not so, the mind would endure with greater courage its own ending and that of its possessions, if only it could hope that life and death, like the whole universe about us, go by turns, that whatever has been put together is broken up again, that whatever has been broken up is put together again, and that the eternal craftsmanship of God, who controls all things, is working at this task.
Therefore the wise man will say just what a Marcus Cato would say, after reviewing his past life : " The whole race of man, both that which is and that which is to be, is condemned to die. Of all the cities that at any time have held sway over the world, and of all that have been the splendid orna- ments of empires not their own, men shall some day ask where they were, and they shall be swept away
VOL. II G 81
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
et vario exitii ^ genere tollentur ; alias destruent bella, alias desidia paxque ad inertiam versa consumet et magnis opibus exitiosa res, luxus. Omnes hos fertiles campos repentina - maris inundatio abscondet aut in subitam cavernani considentis soli lapsus abducet. Quid est ergo quare indigner aut doleam,
16 si exiguo momento publica fata praecedo ? " Magnus animus deo pareat et quicquid lex universi iubet, siiie cunctatione patiatur : aut in meliorem emittitur \itam lucidius tranquilliusque inter divina mansurus aut certe sine ullo futurus incommodo sui ^ natui'ae remiscebitur et revertetur in totum.
Non est ergo M. Catonis maius bonum honesta ^dta quam mors honesta, quoniam non intenditur virtus. Idem esse dicebat Socrates veritatem et \-irtutem. Quomodo ilia non crescit, sic ne virtus
17 quidem ; habet numeros suos, plena est. Non est itaque quod mireris paria esse bona, et quae ex proposito sumenda sunt et quae si ita res tulit. Nam si hanc inaequalitatem receperis, ut fortiter torqueri in minoribus bonis numeres, numerabis etiam in malis, et infelicem Socraten dices in carcere, infelicem Catonem vulnera sua animosius quam
^ e.ritii later MSS. ; e.rhilii V ; exiUiFh.
' repentina later MSS. ; repentini VPb.
^ sui G. Gemoll ; si VPb.
" For a clear and full discussion regarding Stoic \iews of the immortality of the soul, and Seneca's own opinion thereon, see E. V. Arnold, Roman Stoicism, pp. 262 ff.
* C/". § 20 of this letter : rigida re quid amplius intendi potest ?
' i.e., knowledge of facts, as Seneca so often says. Cf. Plato, Meno, 87 c fTrto-r^/xT? tis rj aperr), and Aristotle, Eth. vi. 13 'ZojKpd.Tris . . . \cr/ovs rets operas (2eT0 elvai, iwiaTTj- nas yap elvai Trd<Tas.
<' This is the accepted Stoic doctrine ; see Ep. Ixvi. 5. Goods are equal, absolute, and independent of circumstances ;
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EPISTLE LXXI.
by destructions of various kinds ; some shall be ruined by wars, others shall be wasted away by inactivity and by the kind of peace which ends in sloth, or by that vice which is fraught with destruc- tion even for mighty dynasties, — luxury. All these fertile plains shall be buried out of sight by a sudden overflowing of the sea, or a slipping of the soil, as it settles to lower levels, shall draw them suddenly into a yawning chasm. Why then should I be angry or feel sorrow, if I precede the general destruction by a tiny interval of time ? " Let great souls comply with God's wishes, and suffer un- hesitatingly whatever fate the law of the universe ordains ; for the soul at death is either sent forth into a better life, destined to dwell with deity amid greater radiance and calm, or else, at least, without suffering any harm to itself, it will be mingled with nature again, and will return to the universe."
Therefore Cato's honourable death was no less a good than his honourable life, since virtue admits of no stretching.^ Socrates used to say that verity " and virtue were the same. Just as truth does not grow, so neither does virtue grow ; for it has its due proportions and is complete. You need not, there- foi*e, wonder that goods are equal,^' both those which are to be deliberately chosen, and those which circumstances have imposed. For if you once adopt the view that they are unequal, deeming, for in- stance, a brave endurance of torture as among the lesser goods, you will be including it among the evils also ; you will pronounce Socrates unhappy in his prison, Cato unhappy when he reopens his wounds with more courage than he showed in
although, as Seneca here maintains, circumstances may bring one or another of them into fuller play.
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THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
fecerat retractantem, calamitosissimum omnium Regulum fidei poenas etiam hostibus servatae pen- dentem. Atqui nemo hoc dicere, ne ex mollissimis quidem, ausus est. Negant enim ilium esse beatum,
18 sed tamen negant miser um. Academici veteres beatum quidem esse etiam inter hos cruciatus fatentur, sed non ad perfectum nee ad plenum. Quod nullo modo potest recipi ; nisi beatus est^ in summo bono non est. Quod summum bonum est, supra se gradum non habet, si modo illi virtus inest, si illam ad versa non minuunt, si ^ manet etiam com- minuto coi'pore incolumis ; manet autem. Virtutem enim intellego animosam et excelsam, quam incitat
19 quicquid infestat. Hunc animum, quem saepe induunt generosae indolis iuvenes, quos alicuius honestae rei pulchritudo percussit, ut omnia fortuita contemnant, profecto sapientia nobis ^ infundet et tradet. Persuadebit unum bonum esse, quod honestum ; hoc nee remitti nee intendi posse, non magis quam regulam, qua rectum probari solet, flectes. Quicquid ex ilia mutaveris, iniuria est recti.
20 Idem ergo de virtute dicemus : et haec recta est, flexuram non recipit. Rigida re ^ quid amplius intendi potest ? Haec de omnibus rebus iudicat, de hac nulla. Si rectior ipsa non potest fieri, ne quae *
1 si later MSS. ; sed VPb.
^ nobis Chatelain ; non VPb.
' rigida re Capps ; rigidari MSS.
* ne quae Haase ; neque P ; nee quae Vb.
" e.g., Xenocrates and Speusippus ; c/. Ep. botxv. 18. For another answer to the objection that the good depends upon outward circumstances cf. Ep. xcii. 14 f.
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EPISTLE LXXI.
inflicting them, and Regulus the most ill-starred of all when he pays the penalty for keeping his word even with his enemies. And yet no man, even the most effeminate person in the world, has ever dared to maintain such an opinion. For though such persons deny that a man like Regulus is happy, yet for all that they also deny that he is wretched. The earlier Academics " do indeed admit that a man is happy even amid such tortures, but do not admit that he is completely or fully happy. With this view we cannot in any wise agree ; for unless a man is happy, he has not attained the Supreme Good ; and the good which is supreme admits of no higher degree, if only virtue exists within this man, and if adversity does not impair his virtue, and if, though the body be injured, the virtue abides unharmed. And it does abide. For I understand virtue to be high-spirited and exalted, so that it is aroused by anything that molests it. This spirit, which young men of noble breeding often assume, when they are so deeply stirred by the beauty of some honourable object that they despise all the gifts of chance, is assuredly infused in us and communicated to us by wisdom. Wisdom will bring the conviction that there is but one good— that which is honourable ; that this can neither be shortened nor extended, any more than a carpenter's rule, with which straight lines are tested, can be bent. Any change in the rule means spoiling the straight line. Applying, therefore, this same figure to virtue, we shall say : Virtue also is straight, and admits of no bending. What can be made more tense than a thing which is already rigid ? Such is virtue, which passes judgment on everything, but nothing passes judgment on virtue. And if this rule, virtue, cannot
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ab ilia fiunt quidem alia aliis rectiora sunt. Huic enim necesse est respondeant ; ita paria sunt.
21 "^Quid ergo .^ " inquis/ "iacere in convivio et torqueri paria sunt .'' " Hoe mirum videtur tibi ? Illud licet magis admireris ; iacere in convivio malum, in eculeo bonum est,- si illud turpiter, hoc honeste fit.^ Bona ista aut mala non efficit materia, sed virtus. Haec ubicumque apparuit, omnia eiusdem
22 mensurae ac pretii sunt. In oculos nunc mihi manus intentat ille, qui omnium animum aestimat ex suo, quod dicam paria bona esse honeste iudicantis et honeste periclitantis,* quod dicam paria bona esse eius, qui triumphat, et eius, qui ante currum vehitur invictus animo. Non putant enim fieri, quicquid facere non possunt ; ex infirmitate sua de virtute
23 ferunt sententiam. Quid miraris, si uri, vulnei'ari, occidi, alligari iuvat, aliquando etiam libet .'' Luxurioso frugalitas poena est, pigi'o supplicii loco labor est, delicatus miseretur industrii, desidioso studere torqueri est. Eodem modo haec, ad quae omnes inbecilU sunius, dura atque intoleranda credimus, obliti, quam multis tormentum sit vino carere aut prima luce excitari. Non ista difficilia sunt natura,
^ inquis later MSS. ; inquit VPb.
" This reading is based on the authority of late MSS. VPb read iacere in eculeo honum est.
^ honeste Jit later MSS. ; honeste sit Vb ; honestum sit P. "* et honeste periclitantis added by Gertz.
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EPISTLE LXXI.
itself be made more straight, neither can the things created by virtue be in one case straighter and in another less sti-aight. For they must necessarily correspond to virtue ; hence they are equal.
" What," you say, " do you call reclining at a banquet and submitting to torture equally good ? " Does this seem surprising to you ? You may be still more surprised at the following, — that reclining at a banquet is an evil, while reclining on the rack is a good, if the former act is done in a shameful, and" the latter in an honourable mannei'. It is not the material that makes these actions good or bad ; it is the virtue. All acts in which virtue has disclosed itself are of the same measure and value. At this moment the man who measures the souls of all men by his own is shaking his fist in my face because I hold that there is a parity between the goods in- volved in the case of one who passes sentence honourably, and of one who suffers sentence honour- ably ; or because I hold that there is a parity between the goods of one who celebrates a triumph, and of one who, unconquered in spirit, is carried before the victor's chariot. For such critics think that whatever they themselves cannot do, is not done ; they pass judgment on virtue in the light of their own weak- nesses. Why do you marvel if it helps a man, and on occasion even pleases him, to be burned, wounded, slain, or bound in prison ? To a luxurious man, a simple life is a penalty ; to a lazy man, work is pun- ishment ; the dandy pities the diligent man ; to the slothful, studies are torture. Similarly, we regard those things with respect to which we are all infirm of disposi- tion, as hard and beyond endurance, forgetting what a torment it is to many men to abstain from wine or to be routed from their beds at break of day. These
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THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
24 sed nos fluvidi et enerves. Magno animo de rebus magnis iudicandum est; alioquividebiturillarum vitium essej quod nostrum est. Sic quaedara rectissima^ cuniinaquam demissa sunt,speciemcurvi praefractique visentibus reddunt. Non tantum quid videas, sed quemadmoduni, refert ; animus noster ad vera perspi-
25 cienda caligat. Da mihi adulescentem incorruptum et ingenio vegetum ; dicet fortunatiorem sibi videri, qui omnia rerum adversarum onera rigida cervice sustoUat, qui supra fortunam existat.^ Non mirum est in tran- quillitate non concuti ; illud mirare, ibi extolli aliquem ubi omnes deprimuntur, ibi stare ubi omnes iacent.
26 Quid est in tormentis, quid est in aliis, quae adversa appellamus, mali ? Hoc, ut opinor, succidere mentem et incurvari et succumbere. Quorum nihil sapienti viro potest evenire ; stat rectus sub quolibet pondere. Nulla ilium res minorem facit ; nihil illi eorum, quae ferenda sunt, displicet. Nam quicquid cadere in hominem potest, in se cecidisse non queritur. Vires suas novit. Scit se esse oneri
27 ferendo. Non educo sapientem ex hominum numero nee dolores ab illo sicut ab aliqua rupe nullum sensum admittente summoveo. Memini ex duabus ilium partibus esse compositum ; altera est inrationalis, haec mordetur, uritur, dolet ; altera rationalis, haec inconcussas opiniones habet, intrepida est et indomita.
^ exsistat cod. Bern. ; extat VPb^ ; exeat b^ ; exiliat Hermes ; Hense suggests extet.
" "An oar, though quite whole, presents the appearance of being broken when seen in clear shallow water." — Seneca, N.Q. 1. 3 (Clarke and Geikie).
^ This dualism of soul and bod)' goes back to earlier rehgions, and especially to the Persian. The rational part {rb XoyiartKov). though held by most Stoics to be corporeal, or part of the world-stuff, is closely related to the TjyefMoviKov, or *' principate."
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EPISTLE LXXI.
actions are not essentially difficult ; it is we ourselves that are soft and Habby. We must pass judgment concerning great matters with greatness of soul ; otherwise, that which is really our fault will seem to be their fault. So it is that certain objects which are perfectly straight, when sunk in water appear to the onlooker as bent or broken off.'^ It matters not only what you see, but with what eyes you see it; our souls are too dull of vision to perceive the truth. But give me an unspoiled and sturdy-minded young man ; he will pronounce more fortunate one who sustains on unbending shoulders the whole weight of adversity, who stands out superior to Fortune. It is not a cause for wonder that one is not tossed about when the weather is calm ; reserve your wonderment for cases where a man is lifted up when all others sink, and keeps his footing when all others are prostrate.
What element of evil is there in torture and in the other things which we call hardships ? It seems to me that there is this evil, — that the mind sags, and bends, and collapses. But none of these things can happen to the sage ; he stands erect under any load. Nothing can subdue him ; nothing that must be endured annoys him. For he does not complain that he has been struck by that which can strike any man. He knows his own strength ; he knows that he was born to carry burdens. I do not withdraw the wise man from the category of man, nor do I deny to him the sense of pain as though he were a rock that has no feelings at all. I remember that he is made up of two parts : the one part is irrational, — it is this that may be bitten, burned, or hurt ; the other part is I'ational, — it is this which holds resolutely to opinions, is courageous, and unconquerable.'' In the
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In hac positum est summum illud hominis bonum. Antequam impleatur, incerta mentis volutatio est ; cum vero perfectum est, inmota ilia ^ stabilitas est.
28 Itaque inehoatus et ad summa procedens cultorque virtutis, etiam si adpropinquat perfecto bono, sed ei nondum summam manum inposuit, ibit ^ interim cessim et remittet aliquid ex intentione mentis. Nondum enim incerta transgressus est, etiamnunc versatur in lubrico. Beatus vero et virtutis exactae tunc se maxime amat, cum fortissime expertus est, et metuenda ceteris, si alicuius honesti officii pretia sunt, non tantum fert, sed amplexatur multoque audire mavult " tanto melior " quam "tanto felicior."
29 Venio nunc illo, quo me vocat expectatio tua. Ne extra rerum naturam vagari virtus nostra videatur, et tremet^ sapiens et dolebit et expallescet. Hi enim omnes corporis sensus sunt. Ubi ergo calamitas, ubi illud malum verum est .'' Illic scilicet, si ista animum detrahunt, si ad confessionem servitutis
30 adducunt, si illi paenitentiam sui faciunt. Sapiens
quidem vincit virtute fortunam, at multi professi
sapientiam levissimis nonnumquam minis exterriti
sunt. Hoc loco nostrum vitium est, qui idem a
sapiente exigimus et a proficiente. Suadeo adhuc
^ Buecheler prefers illi. ^ ibit Gruter ; ibi VPb.
3 tremet the common reading ; tremebit VPb ; Hense suggests tremescet.
« i.e., because he has endured and conquered misfortune rather than escaped it.
* For a similar thought ef. Ep. xi. 6.
'â– Three stages of progress (irpo/coTrj?) were defined by Chrysippus. Cf. also Sen. Epp. Ixxii. 6 and Ixxv. 8 f.
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EPISTLE LXXI.
latter is situated man's Supreme Good. Before this is completely attained, the mind wavers in uncer- tainty ; only when it is fully achieved is the mind fixed and steady. And so when one has just begun, or is on one's way to the heights and is cultivating virtue, or even if one is drawing near the perfect good but has not yet put the finishing touch upon it, one will retrograde at times and there will be a cei'tain slackening of mental effort. For such a man has not yet traversed the doubtful ground ; he is still standing in slippery places. But the happy man, whose virtue is complete, loves himself most of all when his bravery has been submitted to the severest test, and when he not only endures but welcomes that which all other men regard with fear, if it is the price which he must pay for the performance of a duty which honour imposes, and he greatly prefei's to have men say of him : " how much more noble!" rather than "how much more lucky«!"
And now I have reached the jjoint to which your patient waiting summons me. You must not think that our human virtue transcends nature; the wise man will tremble, will feel pain, will turn pale.^ For all these are sensations of the body. Where, then, is the abode of utter distress, of that which is truly an evil ? In the other part of us, no doubt, if it is the mind that these trials drag down, force to a confession of its servitude, and cause to regret its existence. The wise man, indeed, overcomes Fortune by his virtue, but many who profess wisdom are sometimes frightened by the most unsubstantial threats. And at this stage it is a mistake on our part to make the same demands upon the wise man and u^ion the learner.^' I still exhort myself to do
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THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
mihi ista, quae laudo, nondum persuadeo. Etiam si persuasissem, nondum tarn parata haberem aut tarn
31 exercitata, ut ad omnes casus procurrerent. Quemad- modum lana quosdani colores semel ducit^ quosdam nisi saepius macerata et recocta non perbibit ; sic alias disciplinas ingenia, cum accepere, protinus praestant, haec, nisi alte descendit et diu sedit et animum non coloi-avit, sed infecit, nihil ex his,
32 quae promiserat, praestat. Cito hoc potest tradi et paucissimis verbis : unum bonum esse vivtutem, nullum certe sine virtute, et ipsam virtutem in pax'te nostri meliore, id est rationali, positam. Quid erit haec vii-tus ? Indicium verum et inmotum. Ab hoc enim impetus venient mentis, ab hoc omnis species,
33 quae impetum movet, redigetur ad liquidum. Huic iudicio consentaneum erit omnia, quae virtute con- tacta sunt, et bona iudicare et inter se paria.
Corpoi'um autem bona corporibus quidem bona sunt, sed in totum non sunt bona. His pretium quidem erit aliquod, ceterum dignitas non erit ; magnis inter se intervallis distabunt ; alia minora,
34 alia maiora erunt. Et in ipsis sapientiam sectantibus magna discrimina esse fateamur necesse est. Alius iam in tantum profecit, ut contra fortunam audeat adtollere oculos, sed non pertinaciter, cadunt ^ enim nimio splendore praestricti ; alius in tantum, ut
^ cadunt Haase ; cedunt or caedunt MSS.
" Ovid, Metam. vi. 9. speaks of hihida lana, and Horace, Ep, i. 10. 27, oi vellera potantia fitcum.
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EPISTLE LXXI.
that which I I'ecommend ; but my exhortations are not yet followed. And even if this were the case, I should not have these principles so ready for practice, or so well trained, that they would rush to my assistance in every crisis. Just as wool takes up certain colours at once," while there are others which it will not absorb unless it is soaked and steeped in them many times ; so other systems of doctrine can be immediately applied by men's minds after once being accepted, but this system of which I speak, unless it has gone deep and has sunk in for a long time, and has not merely coloured but thoroughly permeated the soul, does not fulfil any of its promises. The matter can be imparted quickly and in very few words : " Virtue is the only good ; at any rate there is no good without virtue ; and virtue itself is situated in our nobler part, that is, the rational part." And what will this virtue be ? A true and never-swerving judgment. For therefrom will spring all mental impulses, and by its agency every external appearance that stirs our imjiulses will be clarified. It will be in keeping with this judgment to judge all things that have been coloured by virtue as goods, and as equal goods.
Bodily goods are, to be sure, good for the body ; but they are not absolutely good. There will indeed be some value in them ; but they will possess no genuine mei'it, for they will differ greatly ; some will be less, others greater. And we are con- strained to acknowledge that there are great differ- ences among the very followers of wisdom. One man has already made so much progress that he dares to raise his eyes and look Fortune in the face, but not persistently, for his eyes soon di'op, dazzled by her overwhelming splendour ; another has made
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THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
possit cum ilia conferre vultura, nisi ^ iam pervenit
35 ad summum et fiduciae pleniis est. Inperfecta necesse est labent et modo prodeant, modo sublabantur aut succidant. Sublabentur autem, nisi ire et niti perseveraverint ; si quicquam ex studio et fideli intentione laxaverint, retro eundum est. Nemo pro- fectum ibi invenit, ubi reliquerat. Instemus itaque
36 et perseveremus. Plus, quam profligavimuSj restat, sed magna pars est profectus velle proficere.
Huius rei conscius mihi sum ; volo et mente tota volo. Te quoque instinctum esse et magno ad pul- cherrima properare impetu video. Properemus ; ita demum vita beneficium erit. Alioqui mora est, et quidem turpis inter foeda versantibus. Id agamus, ut nostrum omne tempus sit. Non erit autem, nisi
37 prius nos nostri esse coeperimus. Quando continget contemnere utramque fortunam, quando continget omnibus oppressis adfectibus et sub arbitrium suum adductis banc vocem emittere " vici" ? Quern vicerim quaeris ? Non Persas nee extrema Medorum nee si quid ultra Dahas bellicosum iacet, sed avaritiam, sed ambitionem, sed metura mortis, qui victores gentium vicit. Vale.
^ rulfum, nisi Hense ; vultum si MSS.
" In which case, he would be completely superior to her. * A nomad Scythian tribe east of the Caspian Sea.
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EPISTLE LXXI.
so much progress that he is able to match glances with her, — that is, unless he has already reached the summit and is full of confidence.'^ That which is short of perfection must necessarily be unsteady, at one time progressing, at another slipping or growing faint ; and it will surely slip back unless it keeps struggling ahead ; for if a man slackens at all in zeal and faithful application, he must retrograde. No one can resume his jn-ogress at the point where he left off. Therefore let us press on and persevere. There remains much more of the road than we ha\e put behind us ; but the greater part of progress is the desire to progress.
I fully understand what this task is. It is a thing which I desire, and I desire it with all my heart. I see that you also have been aroused and are hastening with great zeal towards infinite beauty. Let us, then, hasten ; only on these terms will life be a boon to us ; otherwise, there is delay, and indeed disgraceful delay, while we busy ourselves with revolting things. Let us see to it that all time belongs to us. This, however, cannot be unless first of all our own selves begin to belong to us. And when will it be our privilege to despise both kinds of fortune .^ When will it be our privilege, after all the passions have been subdued and brought under our own control, to utter the words "I have conquered I " I' Do you ask me Avhom I have conquered ? Neither the Persians, nor the far-off Medes, nor any warlike race that lies beyond the Dahae * ; not these, but greed, ambition, and the fear of death that has conquered the conquerors of the world. Farewell.
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LXXII.
Seneca Lvcilio svo salvtem
1 Quod quaeris a me, liquebat mihi, sic rem edidi- ceram, per se. Sed diu non retemptavi memoriam meam, itaque non facile me sequitur. Quod evenit libris situ cohaerentibus, hoc evenisse mihi sentio ; explicandus est animus et quaecumque apud ilium deposita sunt, subinde excuti debent, ut parata sint, quotiens usus exegerit. Ergo hoc in praesentia differamus ; multum enim operae, multum diligentiae poscit. Cum primum longiorem eodem loco spera-
2 vero moram, tunc istud in manus sumam. Quaedam enim sunt, quae possis et in cisio scribere. Quaedam lectum et otium et secretum desiderant. Nihilo- minus his quoque occupatis diebus agatur aliquid et quidem totis. Numquam enim non succedent occupationes novae ; serimus illas, itaque ex una exeunt plures. Deinde ipsi nobis dilationem damus : "cum hoc peregero, toto animo incumbam " et "si hanc rem molestam composuero, studio me dabo."
3 Non cum vacaveris, philosophandum est ; omnia alia neglegenda, ut huic adsideamus, cui nullum
" The context furnishes no clue as to what the subject was.
* Seneca is fond of legal figures ; cf. Ep. Ixv. 15. For the d'datlo see Pliny, Ep. i. 18. 1 rogas ut dilationem petatn.
"^ Cf. Ep. liii. 9 (philosophia) non est res suhsiciva (" a matter for spare time"), ordinaria est; domina est, adesse iubet.
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EPISTLE LXXII.
LXXII. ON BUSINESS AS THE ENEMY OF PHILOSOPHY
The subject " concerning which you question me was once clear to my mind, and required no thought, so thoi'oughly had I mastered it. But I have not tested my memory of it for some time, and therefore it does not readily come back to me. I feel that I have suffered the fate of a book whose rolls have stuck together by disuse ; my mind needs to be unrolled, and Avhatever has been stored away there ought to be examined from time to time, so that it may be ready for use when occasion demands. Let us therefore put this subject off for the present ; for it demands much labour and much care. As soon as 1 can hope to stay for any length of time in the same place, I shall then take your question in hand. For there are certain subjects about which you can write even while travelling in a gig, and there are also subjects which need a study-chair, and quiet, and seclusion. Nevertheless I ought to accomplish something even on days like these, — days which are fully employed, and indeed from morning till night. For there is never a moment when fresh employments will not come along ; we sow them, and for this reason several spring up from one. Then, too, we keep adjourning our own cases,* saying : " As soon as I am done with this, 1 shall settle down to hard Avork," or : " If I ever set this troublesome matter in order, I shall devote myself to study."
But the study of philosophy is not to be postponed until you have leisure ; "^ everything else is to be neglected in order that we may attend to philosophy,
VOL. II H 97
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
tempus satis magnum est, etiam si a pueritia usque ad longissimos humani aevi terminos vita producitur. Non multum refert, utrum omittas philosophiam an intermittas ; non enim ubi inten*upta est, manet, sed eorum more, quae intenta dissiliunt, usque ad initia sua recurrit, quod a continuatione discessit. Resis- tendum est occupationibus, nee explicandae, sed sub- movendae sunt. Tempus quidem nullum parum est idoneum studio salutari ; atqui multi inter ilia non
4 student, propter quae studendum est. " Incidet aliquid, quod inpediat." Non quidem eum, cuius animus in omni negotio laetus atque alacer est ; inperfectis adhuc interscinditur laetitia, sapientis vero contexitur gaudium, nulla causa rumpitur, nulla fortuna, semper et ubique tranquillus ^ est. Non enim ex alieno pendet nee favorem fortunae aut hominis expectat. Domestica illi felicitas est ; exiret
5 ex animo, si intraret ; ibi nascitur. Aliquando ex- trinsecus, quo admoneatur mortalitatis, intervenit, sed id leva et quod summam cutem stringat. Aliquo, inquam, incommodo adflatur : maximum autem illud bonum est fixum. Ita dico : extrinsecus aliqua sunt incommoda, velut in corpore interdum robusto solidoque eruptiones quaedam pusularum et ulcuscula,
6 nullum in alto malum est. Hoc, inquam, interest
^ tranquillus Haase ; tranqtdllum MSS.
" Cf. Ep. xlv. 9 intrepidus, quern aliqua vis movet, nulla perturbat, quern fortuna . . . pungit, non vidnerat, et hoc raro.
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EPISTLE LXXII.
for no amount of time is long enough for it. even though our lives be prolonged from boyhood to the uttermost bounds of time allotted to man. It makes little difference whether you leave philosophy out altogether or study it intermittently ; for it does not stay as it was when you dropped it, but, because its continuity has been broken, it goes back to the position in which it was at the beginning, like things which fly apart when they are stretched taut, ^^'e must resist the affairs which occupy our time ; they must not be developed, but rather put out of the way. Indeed, there is no time that is unsuitable for helpful studies ; and yet many a man fails to study amid the very circumstances which make study necessary. He says : " Something will happen to hinder me." No, not in the case of the man whose spirit, no matter what his business may be, is happy and alert. It is those who are still short of per- fection whose happiness can be broken off; the joy of a wise man, on the other hand, is a woven fabric, rent by no chance happening and by no change of fortune ; at all times and in all places he is at peace. For his joy depends on nothing external and looks for no boon from man or fortune. His happiness is something within himself; it would depart from his soul if it entered in from the outside ; it is born there. Sometimes an external happening reminds him of his mortality, but it is a light blow, and merely grazes the surface of his skin." Some trouble, I repeat, may touch him like a breath of wind, but that Supreme Good of his is unshaken. This is what I mean : there are external disadvantages, like pimples and boils that break out upon a body which is normally strong and sound ; but there is no deep-seated malady. The difference, I say, between
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THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
inter consummatae sapientiae virum et alium pro- cedentis, quod inter sanum et ex morbo gravi ac diutino emergentem, cui sanitatis loco est levior accessio : hie nisi adtendit, subinde gravatur et in eadem revolvitur, sapiens recidere non potest, ne incidere quid em amplius. Corpori enim ad tempus bona valetudo est, quam medicus, etiam si reddidit, non praestat, saepe ad eundem, qui ^ advocaverat, excitatur. Animus - semel in totum sanatur.
7 Dicam, quomodo intellegam ^ sanum : si se ipso contentus est, si confidit sibi, si scit omnia vota mortalium, omnia beneficia quae dantur petunturque, nullum in beata vita habere momentum. Nam cui aliquid accedere potest, id inperfectum est ; cui aliquid abscedere potest, id inperpetuum est ; cuius perpetua futura laetitia est, is suo gaudeat. Omnia autem, quibus vulgus inhiat, ultro citroque fluunt. Nihil dat fortuna mancipio. Sed haec quoque fortuita tunc delectant, cum ilia ratio temperavit ac miscuit ; haec est, quae etiam externa commendet, quorum
g avidis usus ingratus est. Solebat Attalus hac imagine uti : " vidisti aliquando canem missa a domino frusta panis aut carnis aperto ore captantem ? Quicquid excepit, protinus integrum devorat et semper ad
1 qui Lipsius ; quern MSS.
2 animus added by Muretus.
^ intellegam Koch ; intellegas MSS.
<^ Cf. Lucretius, iii. 971 vita mancipio nuUi datur, omnibus iisu. Our lives are merely loaned to us ; Nature retains the dominium. Cf. also Seneca's frequent figure of life as an inn, contrasted with a house over which one has ownership.
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EPISTLE LXXII.
a man of perfect wisdom and another who is pro- gressing in wisdom is the same as the difference between a healthy man and one who is convalesc- ing from a severe and lingering illness, for whom " health " means only a lighter attack of his disease. If the latter does not take heed, there is an im- mediate relapse and a return to the same old trouble ; but the wise man cannot slip back, or slip into any more illness at all. For health of body is a temporary matter which the physician cannot guarantee, even though he has restored it ; nay, he is often roused from his bed to visit the same patient who summoned him before. The mind, however, once healed, is healed for good and all.
I shall tell you what I mean by health : if the mind is content with its own self; if it has con- fidence in itself; if it understands that all those things for which men pray, all the benefits which are bestowed and sought for, are of no import;ince in relation to a life of happiness ; under such conditions it is sound. For anything that can be added to is imperfect ; anything that can suffer loss is not last- ing ; but let the man whose happiness is to be lasting, rejoice in what is truly his own. Now all that which the crowd gapes afler, ebbs and flows. Fortune gives us nothing which we can really own." But even these gifts of Fortune please us when reason has tempered and blended them to our taste ; for it is reason which makes acceptable to us even external goods that are disagreeable to use if we absorb them too greedily. Attains used to employ the following simile : " Did you ever see a dog snapping with wide-open jaws at bits of bread or meat which his master tosses to him ? Whatever he catches, he straightway swallows whole, and always
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THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
spem venturi hiat. Idem evenit nobis ; quicquid expectantibus fortuna proiecit, id sine ulla voluptate demittimus statim, ad rapinam alterius erecti et adtoniti." Hoc sapienti non evenit; plenus est. Etiam si quid obvenit, secure excipit ac reponit. 9 Laetitia fruitur maxima, continua, sua. Habet aliquis bonam voluntatem, habet profectum, sed cui multum desit a summo ; hie deprimitur altei'nis et extollitur ac modo in caelum adlevatur, modo defertur ad terram. Impei-itis ^ ac rudibus nuUus praecipitationis finis est ; in Epicureum illud chaos decidunt, inane,
10 sine termino. Est adhuc genus tertium eorum, qui sapientiae adludunt, quam non quidem contigerunt, in conspectu tamen et, ut ita dicam, sub ictu habent ; hi non concutiuntur, ne defluunt quidem. Nondum in sicco, iam in porta sunt.
11 Ergo cum tam magna sint inter summos imosque
discrimina, cum medios quoque sequatur fluctus ^
suus, sequatur ingens periculum ad deteriora redeundi,
non debemus occupationibus indulgere. Excludendae
sunt ; si semel intraverint, in locum suum alias sub-
stituent. Principiis illarum obstemus. Melius non
incipient, quam desinent. Vale.
^ imperitis later MSS. ; impeditis VPb. 2 fluctus later MSS. ; fructus VPb.
" The Void {inane), or infinite space, as contrasted with the atoms which form new worlds in continuous succession.
102
EPISTLE LXXII.
opens his jaws in the hope of something more. So it is with ourselves ; we stand expectant, and what- ever Fortune has thrown to us we forthwith bolt, without any real pleasure, and then stand alert and frantic for something else to snatch." But it is not so with the wise man ; he is satisfied. Even if something falls to him, he merely accepts it carelessly and lays it aside. The happiness that he enjoys is supremely great, is lasting, is his own. Assume that a man has good intentions, and has made progress, but is still far from the heights ; the result is a series of ups and downs ; he is now raised to heaven, now brought down to earth. For those wlio lack experience and training, there is no limit to the downhill course ; such a one falls into the Chaos " of Epicurus, — empty and boundless. There is still a third class of men, — those who toy with wisdom ; they have not indeed touched it, but yet are in sight of it, and have it, so to speak, within striking dis- tance. They are not dashed about, nor do they drift back either; they are not on dry land, but are already in port.
Therefore, considering the great difference be- tween those on the heights and those in the depths, and seeing that even those in the middle are pursued by an ebb and flow peculiar to their state, and pursued also by an enormous risk of returning to their degenerate ways, we should not give ourselves up to matters which occupy our time. Thev should be shut out ; if they once gain an entrance, they will bring in still others to take their places. Let us resist them in their early stages. It is better that they shall never begin than that they shall be made to cease. Farewell.
lOS
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA LXXIII.
Seneca Lvcilio svo salvtem
1 Errare mihi \identur, qui existimant philosophiae fideliter deditos contumaces esse ac refractarios, con- teniptores magistvatuum aut regum eorumve, per quos publica administrantur. Ex contrario enim nulli adversus illos gratiores sunt ; nee inmerito. Nullis enim plus praestant quam quibus frui tranquillo
2 otio licet. Itaque ii, quibus multuni ^ ad propositum bene vivendi confert securitas publica, necesse est auctorem huius boni ut parentem colant, niulto quidem magis quam illi inquieti et in medio positi, qui multa principibus debent, sed niulta et inputant, quibus numquam tam plene occuri'ere ulla liberalitas potest, ut cupiditates illorum, quae crescunt, dum implentur, exsatiet. Quisquis autem de accipiendo cogitat, oblitus accepti est ; nee ullum habet malum
3 cupiditas mains, quam quod ingrata est. Adice nunc, quod nemo eorum, qui in re publica versantur, quot vincat, sed a quibus vincatur, aspicit. Et illis non tam iucundum est multos post se videre quam grave aliquem ante se. Habet hoc vitium omnis ambitio ; non respicit. Nee ambitio tantum instabilis est, verum cupiditas omnis, quia incipit semper a fine.
4 At ille vir sincerus ac purus, qui reliquit et curiam et forum et omnem administrationem rei publicae,
' mtiltum Haase ; altum VPb.
" This letter is especially interesting because of its auto- biographical hints, and its relation to Seneca's own efforts to be rid of court life and seek the leisure of the sage. See the Introduction to Vol. I. pp. \iii f. '' Cf. Horace, Sat. i. 1. 115 f.—
Instat equis aiuiga suos vincentibus, ilium Praeteritum temnens extremos inter euntem.
104
EPISTLE LXXIII.
LXXIII. ON PHILOSOPHERS AND KINGS «
It seems to me erroneous to believe that those who have loyally dedicated themselves to philosophy are stubborn and rebellious, scorners of magistrates or kings or of those who control the administration of public affairs. For, on the contrary, no class of man is so popular with the philosoj)her as the ruler is ; and rightly so, because rulers bestow upon no men a greater privilege than upon those who are allowed to enjoy peace and leisure. Hence, those who are greatly profited, as regards their purpose of right living, by the security of the State, must needs cherish as a father the author of this good ; much more so, at any rate, than those restless persons who are always in the public eye, who owe much to the ruler, but also expect much from him, and are never so generously loaded with favours that their cravings, which grow by being supplied, are thoroughly satis- fied. And yet he whose thoughts are of benefits to come has forgotten the benefits received ; and there is no greater evil in covetousness than its ingratitude. Besides, no man in public life thinks of the many whom he has outstripped ; he thinks rather of those by whom he is outstripped. And these men find it less pleasing to see many behind them than annoying to see anyone ahead of them.'' That is the trouble with every sort of ambition ; it does not look back. Nor is it ambition alone that is fickle, but also every sort of craving, because it always begins where it ought to end.
But that other man, upright and pure, who has left the senate and the bar and all affairs of state, that
105
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
ut ad ampliora secederet, diligit eos, per quos hoc ei facere tuto licet solusque ^ illis gratuitum testimonium reddit et magnam rem nescientibus debet. Quemad- modum praeceptores suos veneratur ae suspicit, quo- rum beneficio illis inviis exit, sic et hos,- sub quorum
5 tutela positus exercet artes bonas. " Verum alios quoque^ rex viribus suis protegit." Quis negat ? Sed quemadmodum Neptuno plus debere se iudicat ex is, qui eadem tranquillitate usi sunt, qui plura et pretiosiora illo mari vexit, animosius a mercatore quam a vectore solvitur votum, et ex ipsis mercatori- bus efFusius gratus est, qui odores ac purpuras et auro pensanda portabat quam qui \'ilissima quaeque et saburrae loco futura congesserat ; sic huius pacis beneficium ad omnes pertinentis altius ad eos per- venit, qui ilia bene utuntur.
6 Multi enim sunt ex his togatis, quibus pax operosior bello est. An idem existimas pro pace debere eos, qui illam ebrietati aut libidini inpendunt aut aliis vitiis, quae vel bello rumpenda sunt .'' Nisi forte tam iniquum putas esse sapientem, ut nihil viritim se debere pro communibus bonis iudicet. Soli lunaeque plurimum debeo, et non uni mihi oriuntur. Anno temperantique annum deo privatim obligatus
^ solusque Miiretus ; solumque VPb. 2 hos later MSS. ; his VPb. ^ alios quoque later MSS. ; quoque alios VPb.
" For an interesting account of philosophy and its relation to Roman history see E. V. Arnold, Roman Stoicism, chap. xvi. This subject is discussed fully by Cicero, De Off. i. 71 f., and by Seneca, Ep. xc. 106
EPISTLE LXXIII.
he may retire to nobler affairs,'' cherishes those who have made it possible for him to do this in security ; he is the only person who returns spontaneous thanks to them, the only person who owes them a great debt without their knowledge. Just as a man honours and reveres his teachers, by whose aid he has found release from his early wanderings, so the sage honours these men. also, under whose guardianship he can put his good theories into practice. But you answer : " Other men too are protected by a king's personal power." Perfectly true. But just as, out of a number of persons who have profited by the same stretch of calm weather, a man deems that his debt to Neptune is greater if his cargo during that voyage has been more extensive and valuable, and just as the vow is paid with more of a will by the merchant than by the passenger, and just as. from among the merchants themselves, heartier thanks are uttered by the dealer in spices, purple fabrics, and objects worth their weight in gold, than by him who has gathered cheap merchandise that will be nothing but ballast for his ship ; similarly, the benefits of this peace, which extends to all. are more deeply appreciated bv those who make good use of it.
For there are manv of our toga-clad citizens to whom peace brings more trouble than war. Or do those, think vou, owe as much as we do for the peace thev enjov, who spend it in drunkenness, or in lust, or in other Wees which it were worth even a war to interrupt .- No, not unless you think that the wise man is so unfair as to believe that as an individual he owes nothing in return for the advantages which he enjoys with all the rest. I owe a great debt to the sun and to the moon ; and yet they do not rise for me alone. I am personally beholden to the seasons
107
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
sum, quamvis nihil in meum honorem ^ discripta
7 sint. Stulta avaritia mortalium possessionem pro- prietatemque discernit nee quicquam suum credit esse, quod publicum est. At ille sapiens nihil iudicat suum magis quam cuius illi cum humano genera con- sortium est. Nee enim essent ita communia, nisi pars illorum pertineret ad singulos ; socium efficit
8 etiam quod ex minima portione commune est. Adice nunc, quod magna et vera bona non sic diAiduntur, ut exiguum in singulos cadat ; ad unumquemque tota perveniunt. Ex congiario tantum ferunt homines, quantum in capita promissum est. Epulum et visceratio et quicquid - aliud manu capitur, discedit in partes. At haec individua bona, pax et libertas, et ^ tarn omnium tota quam singulorum sunt.
9 Cogitat itaque, per quem sibi horum usus fruc- tusque contingat, per quem non ad arma ilium nee ad servandas vigilias nee ad tuenda moenia et multi- plex belli tributum publica necessitas vocet, agitque gubernatori suo gratias. Hoc docet philosophia praecipue, bene debere * beneficia, bene solvere ;
10 interdum autem solutio est ipsa confessio. Confite- bitur ei'go multum se debere ei, cuius administratione ac proAadentia contingit illi pingue otium et arbitrium
1 Hense suggests the possibility of tempora after honorem. ^ et quicquid later JNISS. ; quid or quicquid VPb. 3 et later MSS. ; ea VP. ^ debere later MSS. ; dedere VPb.
« For this figure cf. Ep. Ixxii. 7 and note ; see also the similar language of Ixxxviii. 12 hoc, quod tenes, quod tuum diris, publiru)7i est et quidem (jeneris httmaui.
'> During certain festivals, either cooked or raw meat was distributed among the people.
108
EPISTLE LXXIII.
and to the god who controls them, although in no respect have they been apportioned for mv benefit. The foolish greed of mortals makes a distinction between possession and ownership,'» and believes that it has ownership in nothing in which the general public has a share. But our philosopher considers nothing more truly his own than that which he shares in partnership with all mankind. For these things would not be common property, as indeed they are, unless every individual had his quota ; even a joint interest based upon the slightest share makes one a partner. Again, the great and true goods are not divided in such a manner that each has but a slight interest ; they belong in their entirety to each individual. At a distribution of grain men receive only the amount that has been promised to each person ; the banquet and the meat- dole,^ or all else that a man can carry away with him, are divided into parts. These goods, however, are indivisible, — I mean peace and liberty, — and they belong in their entirety to all men just as much as they belong to each individual.
Thei'efore the philosopher thinks of the person who makes it possible for him to use and enjoy these things, of the person who exempts him when the state's dire need summons to arms, to sentry duty, to the defence of the walls, and to the manifold exactions of war ; and he gives thanks to the helms- man of his state. This is what philosophy teaches most of all,— honourably to avow the debt of benefits received, and honourably to pay them ; sometimes, however, the acknowledgment itself constitutes payment. Our philosopher will therefore acknow- ledge that he owes a larger debt to the ruler who makes it possible, by his management and foresight,
109
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
sui temporis et inperturbata publicis occupationibus quies.
O Meliboee, deus nobis haec otia fecit : Namque erit ille mihi semper deus,
11 Si ilia quoque otia multum auctori suo debent, quorum munus hoc maximum est :
Ille meas errare boves, ut cernis, et ipsura Ludere quae vellem calarao permisit agresti ;
quanti aestimamus hoc otium^ quod inter deos agitur,
12 quod deos facit ? Ita dico, Lucili, et te in caelum compendiario voco.
Solebat Sextius dicere lovem plus non posse quam bonum virum. Plura luppiter habet, quae praestet hominibus, sed inter duos bonos non est melior, qui locupletior, non magis quam inter duos, quibus par scientia regendi gubernaculum est, meliorem dixeris,
13 cui maius speciosiusque navigium est. luppiter quo antecedit virum bonum ? Diutius bonus est ; sapiens nihilo se minoris existimat, quod virtutes eius spatio breviore cluduntur. Quemadmodum ex duobus sapientibus qui senior decessit, non est beatior eo, cuius intra pauciores annos terminata virtus est, sic deus non vincit sapientem felicitate, etiam si vincit
14 aetate. Non est virtus maior, quae longior. luppiter omnia habet, sed nempe aliis tradidit habenda ; ad
« Vergil, Eclogue, i. 6 f. Vergil owes a debt to the Emperor, and regards him as a "god" because of the bestowal of earthly happiness ; how much greater is the debt of the philosopher, who has the opportunity to study heavenly things !
* Vergil, Eclogue, i. 9 f.
<= In the Christian religion, God is everything ; among the Stoics, the wise man is equal to the gods. (7/., for example, Ep. xli. 4.
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EPISTLE LXXIII.
for him to enjoy rich leisure, control of his own time, and a tranquillity uninterrupted by public employ- ments.
Shepherd ! a god this leisure gave to me. For he shall be m}^ god eternally."
And if even such leisure as that of our poet owes a great debt to its author, though its greatest boon is this :
As thou canst see. He let me turn my cattle out to feed, And play what fancy pleased on rustic reed ; *
how highly are we to value this leisure of the philo- sopher, which is spent among the gods, and makes us gods.^ Yes, that is what I mean, Lucilius ; and I invite you to heaven by a short cut.
Sextius used to say that Jupiter had no more power than the good man. Of course, Jupiter has more gifts which he can offer to mankind ; but when you ax-e choosing between two good men, the richer is not necessarily the better, any more than, in the case of two pilots of equal skill in managing the tiller, you would call him the better whose ship is larger and more imposing. In what respect is Jupiter superior to our good man ? His goodness lasts longer ; but the wise man does not set a lower value upon himself, just because his virtues are limited by a briefer span. Or take two wise men ; he who has died at a greater age is not happier than he whose virtue has been limited to fewer years : similarly, a god has no advantage over a wise man in point of happiness,<^ even though he has such an advantage in point of years. That virtue is not greater which lasts longer. Jupiter possesses all things, but he has surely given over the possession of
111
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
ipsum hie unus usus pertinet, quod utendi omnibus causa est. Sapiens tarn aequo animo omnia apud alios videt contemnitque quam luppiter et hoc se raagis suspicit, quod luppiter uti ilHs non potest,
15 sapiens non vult. Credamus itaque Sextio monstranti pulcherrimum iter et clamanti : " hac ' itur ad astra/ hac secundum frugaHtatem, hac secundum temperan- tiam, hac secundum fortitudinem."
Non sunt di fastidiosi, non invidi ; admittunt et
16 ascendentibus manum porrigunt. Miraris hominem ad deos ire ? Deus ad homines venit, immo quod est propius, in homines venit ; nulla sine deo mens bona est. Semina in corporibus humanis divina dispersa sunt, quae si bonus cultor excipit, similia origini prodeunt et paria lis, ex quibus orta sunt, surgunt ; si malus, non aliter quam humus sterilis ac palustris necat ac deinde creat purgamenta pro frugibus. Vale.
LXXIV.
Seneca Lvcilio svo salvtem
1 Epistula tua delectavit me et marcentem excitavit, memoriam quoque meam, quae iam mihi segnis ac lenta est, evocavit.
Quidni tu, mi Lucili, maximum putes instrumentum
" Vergil, Aeneid, ix. 641.
* Cf. Ep. xli. §§ 1 f. prope est a te deus, tecum est, intus est. 112
EPISTLES LXXIIL, LXXIV.
them to others ; the only use of them which belongs to him is this : he is the cause of their use to all men. The wise man surv^eys and scorns all the possessions of others as calmly as does Jupiter, and regards himself with the greater esteem because, while Jupiter cannot make use of them, he, the wise man, does not wish to do so. Let us therefore believe Sextius when he shows us the path of perfect beauty, and cries : " This is ' the way to the stars ' " ; this is the way, by observing thrift, self-restraint, and courage ! "
The gods are not disdainful or envious ; they open the door to you ; they lend a hand as you climb. Do you marvel that man goes to the gods .'' God comes to men ; nay, he comes nearer, — he comes into men.** No mind that has not God, is good. Divine seeds are scattered throughout our mortal bodies ; if a good husbandman receives them, they spring up in the likeness of their source and of a parity with those from which they came. If, however, the husbandman be bad, like a barren or marshy soil, he kills the seeds, and causes tares to grow up instead of wheat. Farewell.
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
VOL. II I 113
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
beatae vitae hanc persuasionem, unum bonum esse, quod honestuni est ? Nam qui alia bona iudicat, in fortunae venit potestatem, alieni arbitrii fit ; qui omne bonum honesto cireumscripsit, intra se est felix.^
2 Hie amissis liberis maestus, hie sollicitus aegris, hie turpibus et aliquam passis infamiam tristis. Ilium videbis alienae uxoris amove eruciari, ilium suae. Non deerit quem repulsa distorqueat ; erunt quos ipse
3 honor vexet. Ilia 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 illuc circumspiciendum est et ad omnem strepitum circumagenda cervix ; nisi hie 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 ii*a aut invidia, perniciosum optimis telum, inopinantes securosque disiecit procellae more, quae in ipsa sereni fiducia solet emergere, aut fulminis
^ intra se est feliv Hense ; intra se felrx VPb ; intra se feliv est later MSS.
" A doctrine often expressed in the Letters ; rf. , for example, bcxi. 4.
* Cf. Horace, Carm. ill. 16. 28 magnas inter opes inops.
"^ For the same thought cf. Ep. iv. 7 Neminem eo fortuna provexit, tit non tantum illi minaretur, qvantum permiserat. Noli huic tranqvillitati confidere : momento mare evertitur. Eodem die ubi Itiserunt navigia, sorhentnr. 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 ^^•ith an inward happiness.
One man is saddened when his childi-en 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 oflices 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.^ 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
115
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA subiti^ ad cuius ictum etiam vicina trerauerunt. 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 foi*tuitis 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. Hanc enim imaginem animo tuo propone, ludos facere fortunam et in hunc moi'talium 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
« i.e., engaged upon something else. C/. Ep. i. 1. 116
EPISTLE LXXIV.
the region round about it to tremble. 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 desj)ise 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 amis to gather in that which Fortune tosses abroad, and are anxiously aw-aiting 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 their seekers because they were snatching too eagerly for
117
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
captabantur, amissa et, dum avide x'apiuntur, expu sa sunt. Nulli vero etiam cui rapina feliciter cessit, gaudium rapti duravit in posterum.
Itaque prudentissimus quisque cum primum induci videt munuscula, a theatre fugit et scit magno parva constai'e. Nemo manum consent cum recedente,
8 nemo exeuntem ferit ; circa praemium rixa est. Idem in his evenitj quae fortuna desuper iactat : aestuamus miseri, distringimur, multas habere cupiraus manus, modo in hanc partem,^ modo in illam respicimus. Nimis tarde nobis mitti videntur, quae cupiditates nostras inritant, ad paucos perventura, expectata
9 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.^ 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 ulluni aliud esse existimat, primum male de pi'ovidentia
1 modo in hanc partem VPb omit. The words are found in certain inferior MSS.
"^ invadendique later MSS. ; invidendiqne V ; invidentique P.
3 aut destituti fallimur Buecheler ; aut de^--*'^»"""- falU- mur V ; aut de . aut f alii mus 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 greedily 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, — Avhose 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 fi-om 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 ; thej' 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 withdi*aw 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 i'n that which is honourable. For if he regards anything else as good, he is, in the fii'st place, passing an unfavourable judgment upon Providence because of the fact that
119
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
iudicat, quia multa incommoda iustis viris acciduiit et quia, quicquid nobis dedit, breve est et exiguum, si compares mundi totius aevo.
11 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 nee vivere nee mori volumus ; vitae nos odium tenet, timor mortis. Natat omne consilium nee inplere nos ulla felicitas potest. Causa autem est, quod non pervenimus ad illud bonum inmensum et insuperabile, ubi necesse est resistat voluntas
1 2 nostra, quia ultra summum ^ non est locus. Quaeris, quare virtus nullo egeat } Praesentibus gaudet, non concupiscit absentia. Nihil non illi magnum est, quod satis,
Ab hoc 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 gi'atia et relatio gratiae, si timemus laborem,^ si quicquam pretiosius fide novimus, si non optima spectamus.
11 Sed ut ilia praeteream, aut ista bona non sunt,
1 summum later MSS. ; summam VPb.
* pro maximis later MSS. ; proximis VPb.
» laborem later MSS. ; labor VPb.
" This phrase recalls the title of one of Seneca's philo- sophical essays : De Providentia, or Quare Bonis Viris Mala Accidant cum sit Providentia.
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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 unsiu-e and Heeting. 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 endui-e 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
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quae vocantur^ aut homo felicior deo est, quoniam quidem quae parata nobis sunt, non habet in usu deus. Nee enim libido ad ilium nee epularum lautitiae nee opes nee quicquam ex his hominem inescantibus et vili voluptate ducentibus pei-tinet. Ergo aut non ^ incredibile est bona deo deesse aut hoc ipsum argumentum est bona non esse, quod deo
1 5 desunt. Adice, quod multa, quae bona videri volunt, animalibus quam liomini pleniora eontingunt. Ilia 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 vincitui*. 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 ilia sunt vera, quae ratio dat, solida ac sempiterna, quae cadere
1 7 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 ant later MSS. ; ac VPb.
« Cf. Ep. buciii. § It luppiter uti illis 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 ti*ue goods are those Avhich 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,
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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 liaereant, ut si abducentur, sine ulla nostri laceratione discedant. Utamur illis, non gloriemur, et utamur parce tamquam depositis apud nos et abituris. Quisquis ilia 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. Nee umquam inmodica durarunt, nisi ilia moderatrix ratio conpescuit. Hoe 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 irpoTtyiiiva. For a clear exposition of this topic see Cicero, De Fin. iii. 52 ff.
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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 Avill be withdrawn. Anvone 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 jjut 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 pennitted 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 ; empires have fallen at their very prime because they were given to luxury, and excess has ruined all that had been won by virtue. We
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THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
corruit. Adversus hos casus muniendi siimus. Nullus autem contra fortunam inexpugnabilis murus est ; intus instruamur. Si ilia pars tuta est, pulsari homo potest, capi non potest.
20 Quod sit hoc instrumentum, scire desideras ? Nihil indignetur sibi accidere sciatque ilia ipsa, quibus laedi videtur, ad conservationem ^ uuiversi pertinere et ex iis esse, quae cursum mundi officium- que consummant. Placeat homini, quicquid deo placuit ; ob hoc ipsum se - suaque mivetur, quod non potest vinci, quod mala ipsa sub se tenet, quod ratione, qua valentius nihil est, casum doloremque
21 et iniuriam subigit. Ama rationem ! Huius 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.
22 "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 VPh. 2 se added by Ed. Rom. ^ ullum