A similar argument is found in Letter LXV, paragraph 3 ff., containing the same figure of thought. ↩
For a definition of honestum see Cicero, De Finibus II 45 ff., and Rackham’s note, explaining it as “τὸ καλόν, the morally beautiful or good.” ↩
See, for example, the syllogistic display which is ridiculed in Letter XLVIII, paragraph 3. ↩
I.e., from being mere wordplay. ↩
Hense suggests that Seneca may be rendering the phrase of Simonides—ἀνὴρ ἀληθῶς ἀγαθός. ↩
Egypt—47 BC; Africa (Thapsus)—46 BC; Spain (Munda)—45 BC. ↩
A sort of serious parody of the senatus consultum ultimum. 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 BC, after Scipio’s defeat at Thapsus. ↩
Cf. Letter IX, paragraph 8 f. resoluto mundo, etc. ↩
For a clear and full discussion regarding Stoic views of the immortality of the soul, and Seneca’s own opinion thereon, see E. V. Arnold, Roman Stoicism, pp. 262 ff. ↩
Cf. the end of paragraph 8 of this letter: rigida re quid amplius intendi potest? ↩
I.e., knowledge of facts, as Seneca so often says. Cf. Plato, Meno, 87 C ἐπιστήμη τις ἡ ἀρετή, and Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics VI 13 Σωκράτης … λόγους τὰς ἀρετὰς ᾤετο εἶναι, ἐπιστήμας γάρ εἶναι πάσας. ↩
This is the accepted Stoic doctrine; see Letter LXVI, paragraph 4. Goods are equal, absolute, and independent of circumstances; although, as Seneca here maintains, circumstances may bring one or another of them into fuller play. ↩
E.g., Xenocrates and Speusippus; cf. Letter LXXXV, paragraph 8. For another answer to the objection that the good depends upon outward circumstances cf. Letter XCII, paragraph 6 f. ↩
“An oar, though quite whole, presents the appearance of being broken when seen in clear shallow water.” —Seneca, Natural Questions 1. 3 (Clarke and Geikie) ↩
This dualism of soul and body goes back to earlier religions, and especially to the Persian. The rational part (τὸ λογιστικόν), though held by most Stoics to be corporeal, or part of the world-stuff, is closely related to the ἡγεμονικόν, or “principate.” ↩
I.e., because he has endured and conquered misfortune rather than escaped it. ↩
For a similar thought, cf. Letter XI, paragraph 2. ↩
Three stages of progress (προκοπή) were defined by Chrysippus. Cf. also Seneca, Letters LXXII, paragraph 2 and LXXV, paragraph 4 f. ↩
Ovid, Metamorphoses VI 9, speaks of bibula lana, and Horace, Epistles I 10. 27, of vellera potantia fucum. ↩
In which case, he would be completely superior to her. ↩
A nomad Scythian tribe east of the Caspian Sea. ↩
The context furnishes no clue as to what the subject was. ↩
Seneca is fond of legal figures; cf. Letter LXV, paragraph 6. For the dilatio see Pliny, Epistulae I 18. 1 rogas ut dilationem petam. ↩
Cf. Letter LIII, paragraph 8 (philosophia) non est res subsiciva (“a matter for spare time”), ordinaria est; domina est, adesse iubet. ↩
Cf. Letter XLV, paragraph 5 intrepidus, quem aliqua vis movet, nulla perturbat, quem fortuna … pungit, non vulnerat, et hoc raro. ↩
Cf. Lucretius, III 971 vita mancipio nulli datur, omnibus usu. 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. ↩
The void (inane), or infinite space, as contrasted with the atoms which form new worlds in continuous succession. ↩
This letter is especially interesting because of its autobiographical 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, paragraph 3 f. ↩
Cf. Horace, Satires I 1. 115 f.—
Instat equis auriga snos vincentibus, illum
Praeteritum temnens extremos inter euntem.
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 Officiis I 71 f., and by Seneca, Letter XC. ↩
For this figure cf. Letter LXXII, paragraph 3 and endnote 420; see also the similar language of LXXXVIII, paragraph 5 hoc, quod tenes, quod tuum dicis, publicum est et quidem generis humani. ↩
During certain festivals, either cooked or raw meat was distributed among the people. ↩
Virgil, Eclogue, I 6 f. Virgil 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! ↩
Virgil, Eclogue, I 9 f. ↩
In the Christian religion, God is everything; among the Stoics, the wise man is equal to the gods.
