Moral Letters to Lucilius

cogitamus.

LXXXIV 11. Q adds nihil vitaverimus nisi ratione suadente, with a twelfth-century MS.

LXXXVII 26. After sustuleris Q adds non ideo sustuleris.

LXXXVIII 41. non vis cogitare Q, with some later MSS.; non cogitare rell.

Appendix II

Letter XCIV deals, on the whole, with the question whether doctrines without precepts are enough for the student and the philosopher; Letter XCV whether precepts without doctrines will suffice. Seneca concludes that they are both necessary and are complementary to one another, especially in view of the complicated life which one is called upon to live, with its many duties and choices. The terms discussed, with some of the Greek original definitions, may be summed up as follows:⁠—

1. The outward expressions of ἐπιστήμη (scientia, knowledge) and of the κοιναὶ ἔννοιαι (notiones communes, προλήψεις, innate ideas) are found in the form of ἀξιώματα (pronuntiata, incontrovertible statements), δόγματα (placita, decreta, scita, doctrines, tenets, dogmas, principles). Determined by ὅροι (definitiones, definitions), they are tested by their ἀξία (honestum, moral value), by the κριτήριον (norma iudicii, standard of judgement) or κανών (lex, regula, etc.), and by the ὀρθὸς λόγος (recta ratio, universal law, etc.). By such means the doctrines of philosophy are contrasted with δόξα (opinio) and with a κατάληψις (cognitio or comprehensio) which falls short of completeness and perfection. Conduct which results from a thorough understanding and performance of such doctrines is κατόρθωμα (τέλειον καθῆκον, perfectum officium, “absolute duty”).

2. The pars praeceptiva (παραινετική) of philosophy, which deals with “average duty” (καθῆκον, commune or medium officium), is approved, among others, by Posidonius, Cicero (see the De Officiis), and Seneca. It is related to active living and to the ἀδιάφορα (media or indifferentia) which play so large a role in the individual’s daily existence. This department of “counsel,” “admonition,” or “advice” has many forms. For παραίνεσις (monitio) are needed: the λόγος προτρεπτικός (exhortatio), τόπος ὑποθετικός (suasio), ἀποτροπή (dissuasio), ἐπιτίμησις (obiurgatio), λόγος παραμυθητικός (consolatio), αἰτιολογία (causarum inquisitio), ἠθολογία (descriptio), and all the gamut of precepts which run from blame to praise. These are reinforced by ἀπόδειξις (probatio, argumentum, proof) and by such helps as χρεῖαι, ἀπομνημονεύματα (sententiae, proverbs, maxims).

By such stages of advancement, προκοπή (progressio), and relying upon παραδείγματα (exempla), one rises, through practical precepts and the observance of duties, to an appreciation of the virtues, the contemplative mastery of the Universe, and to the Supreme Good, conformity with Nature (ὁμολογουμένως τῇ φύσει ζῆν, vivere convenienter naturae).

Endnotes

1. How Seneca came by this “pointed” style will be evident to one who reads the sample speeches given in the handbook of the Elder Seneca. ↩

2. Where the testimony of these later MSS. seems sound, the translator has omitted Hense’s brackets; the headings of the books into which the Letters were originally divided are also omitted. ↩

3. Hesiod, Works and Days, 369. ↩

4. Frag. 475 Usener. ↩

5. I.e., a word which has a special significance to the Stoics; see Letter XLVIII, endnote 214. ↩

6. Frag. 74 Wimmer. ↩

7. A reference to the murder of Caligula, on the Palatine, AD 41. ↩

8. I.e., to death. ↩

9. The Garden of Epicurus. Frag. 477 and 200 Usener. ↩

10. I.e., of the Stoic school. ↩

11. Frag. 25 Fowler. ↩

12. Cf. Herodotus, I 8 ὦτα τυγχάνει ἀνθρώποισι ἐόντα ἀπιστότερα ὀφθαλμῶν. ↩

13. Frag. 26 Fowler. ↩

14. During the luncheon interval condemned criminals were often driven into the arena and compelled to fight, for the amusement of those spectators who remained throughout the day. ↩

15. The remark is addressed to the brutalized spectators. ↩

16. Frag. 302^a Diels². ↩

17. Frag. 208 Usener. ↩

18. As contrasted with the general Stoic doctrine of taking part in the world’s work. ↩

19. See Letter LXXXV, paragraph 13 for the famous saying of the Rhodian pilot. ↩

20. Cernulat, equivalent to Greek ἀναχαιτίζω, of a horse which throws a rider over its head. ↩

21. Cf. the Stoic precept nil admirandum. ↩

22. Frag. 199 Usener. ↩

23. Literally “spun around” by the master and dismissed to freedom. Cf. Persius, V 75 f. ↩

24. Fabulae togatae were plays which dealt with Roman subject matter, as contrasted with adaptations from the Greek, called palliatae. The term, in the widest sense includes both comedy and tragedy. ↩

25. I.e., comedians or mimes. ↩

26. Syri Sententiae, p. 309 Ribbeck². ↩

27. Com. Rom. Frag. p. 394 Ribbeck². ↩

28. Com. Rom. Frag. p. 394 Ribbeck². ↩

29. Frag. 174 Usener. ↩

30. I.e., the Cynics. ↩

31. I.e., the Cynics. ↩

32. I.e., the diurna mercedula; see Letter VI, paragraph 5. ↩

33. Frag. 27 Fowler. ↩

34. Frag. 175 Usener.