I.e., that the sigh be physical—an asthmatic gasp—and not caused by anguish of the soul. ↩
The argument is: I am ready to die, but do not praise me on that account; reserve your praise for him who is not loth to die, though (unlike me) he finds it a pleasure to live (because he is in good health). Yes, for there is no more virtue in accepting death when one hates life, than there is in leaving a place when one is ejected. ↩
Cumae was on the coast about six miles north of Cape Misenum. Lake Acheron (see paragraph 4) was a saltwater pool between those two points, separated from the sea by a sandbar; it lay near Lake Avernus and probably derived its name from that fact. The Vatia mentioned here is unknown; he must not be confused with Isauricus. ↩
Son of Asinius Pollio; his frankness got him into trouble and he died of starvation in a dungeon in AD 33. Tacitus, Annals I 32. 2, quotes Augustus, discussing his own successor, as saying of Gallus avidus et minor. Sejanus was overthrown and executed in AD 31. ↩
I.e., after his fall. ↩
I.e., imposes on us. ↩
Literally, “like a Euripus,” referring to the narrow strait which divides Euboea from Boeotia at Chalcis. Its current is swift. ↩
Pilicrepus probably means “ball-counter,”—one who keeps a record of the strokes. Compare our “billiard-marker.” ↩
This was especially true of poets, cf. Horace, Satires I 4. 76 suave locus voci resonat conclusus, and Martial, III 44. ↩
It is nowhere else related of the famous Stoic philosopher Chrysippus that he objected to the salutations of his friends; and, besides, the morning salutation was a Roman, not a Greek, custom. Lipsius, therefore, was probably right when he proposed to read here, for Chrysippus, Crispus, one of Seneca’s friends; cf. Epigrams 6. ↩
The same story is told in Naturales Quaestiones, IV 2. 5. ↩
A cone-shaped fountain, resembling a turning-post (meta) in the circus, from which the water spouted through many jets; hence the “sweating” (sudans). Its remains may still be seen now not far from the Colosseum on the Velia. ↩
A fragment from the Argonautica of Varro Atacinus. ↩
See Introduction. ↩
Paragraph 2 of this letter. ↩
An allusion to the Sirens and Ulysses, cf. paragraph 10 below. ↩
Aeneas is escaping from Troy, Aeneid, II 726 ff. ↩
Aeneas carries Anchises; the rich man carries his burden of wealth. ↩
Not merely by stopping their ears with wax, but also by bidding them row past the Sirens as quickly as possible. Odyssey, XII 182. ↩
I.e., an “anointing” with mud. ↩
A characteristic figure. After anointing, the wrestler was sprinkled with sand, so that the opponent’s hand might not slip. The Naples tunnel furnished a shortcut to those who, like Seneca in this letter, did not wish to take the time to travel by the shore route along the promontory of Pausilipum. ↩
Cf. Hicks, Stoic and Epicurean, p. 61, on the doctrine of interpenetration, explaining the diffusion of the soul throughout the body; and Rohde, Psyche, II 319, on the popular superstition that one who dies in a whirlwind has his soul snatched away by the wind-spirits. The doctrine referred to by Seneca is not, however, a purely Stoic doctrine. ↩
For this belief compare Xenophon, Memorabilia IV 3. 14, “No one sees the bolt either on its way down or on its way back.” Seneca himself was much interested in lightning, cf. Natural Questions II 40. 2. ↩
This theme was emphasized by Lucretius, I 136 and 832, and III 260. Munro thinks, however, that “Lucretius had too much instead of too little technical language for a poet.” Seneca knew Lucretius; cf. Letters LVIII, paragraph 10, XC, paragraph 12, etc. ↩
The gadfly. ↩
Georgics, III 146 ff. ↩
Aeneid, XII 708 f. ↩
Aeneid, XI 467. ↩
Cicero usually says natura. The word, according to Quintilian, was first used by a certain Sergius Flavus. It is also found in Apulcius, Macrobius, and Sidonius. ↩
See Letter C. Papirius Fabianus, who lived in the times of Tiberius and Caligula, was a pupil of the Sextius of Letter LIX, and was (Pliny, Natural History XXXVI 15. 24) naturae rerum peritissimus. He is praised by the elder Seneca (Controversiae 2. Praef.) who, however, says of him deerat robur—splendor aderat. ↩
I.e., I must not use other imported words to explain essentia, which is not a native Latin word, but invented as a literal translation of οὐσία. ↩
Cf. paragraph 12. ↩
Categories 2 b 11 and often. ↩
I.e., the genus beyond “that which exists.” ↩
Cf. paragraph 8. Plato’s usual division was threefold—αἰσθητά, μαθηματικά, εἴδη (sensibilia, mathematica, ideae)—a division which is often quoted by Aristotle. ↩
Εἶναι κατ΄ ἐξοχήν. After illustrating the
