As Lucilius, in his letter, has come from far away. ↩
This subject is discussed more fully in Letter CXIII. For a clear account of the whole question of “body” see Arnold, Roman Stoicism, pp. 157 ff. ↩
De Rerum Natura I 304. ↩
The Romans had a ludus latrunculorum, with features resembling both draughts and chess. The pieces (calculi) were perhaps of different values: the latrunculus may have been a sort of “rover,” cf. Martial, Epigrams VII 72. ↩
Virgil, Aeneid VI 274 f. ↩
Cleanthes, Frag. 527 von Arnim. In Epictetus (Enchiridion 53) these verses are assigned to Cleanthes (omitting the last line); while St. Augustine (De Civitate Dei V 8) quotes them as Seneca’s: Annaei Senecae sunt, nisi fallor, hi versus. Wilamowitz and others follow the latter view. ↩
Cf. Letter CVI, paragraph 1 scis enim me moralem philosophiam velle conplecti, etc. ↩
Seneca’s first and most convincing teacher of Stoicism, to whom this letter is a tribute. The ablest of contemporary philosophers, he was banished during the reign of Tiberius. ↩
Literally “tenants,” “lodgers,” of a temporary sort. ↩
Cf. the dangers of such lusoria (Letter XLVIII, paragraph 4) and a rebus studium transferendum est ad verba (Letter XL, paragraph 8). ↩
I.e., mendicant Galli, worshippers of Cybele, the Magna Mater. ↩
Syri Sententiae, Frag. 236 Ribbeck. ↩
Syri Sententiae, Frag. 234 R. ↩
Frag. 487 von Arnim. ↩
Pall. Incert. Fab. 65 and 66 Ribbeck. ↩
A characteristic Stoic paradox. ↩
An almost proverbial saying; cf. the recte olet ubi nil olet of Plautus (Mostellaria 273), Cicero, and Martial. ↩
Pythagorean philosopher of the Augustine age, and one of Seneca’s early teachers. ↩
AD 19. Cf. Tacitus, Annals II 85 actum de sacris Aegyptiis Iudaicisque pellendis. ↩
In this passage Seneca differs (as also in Letter LXXXVIII, paragraph 2) from the earlier Roman idea of grammaticus as poetarum interpres: he is thinking of one who deals with verbal expressions and the meaning of words. Cf. Sandys, History of Classical Scholarship I 8 ff. ↩
Georgics III 284. ↩
Georgics III 66 ff. ↩
Aeneid VI 275. ↩
Cicero, De re publica, II 18 Numae Pompili nepos ex filia rex a populo est Ancus Marcius constitutus … siquidem istius regis matrem habemus, ignoramus patrem. ↩
Fl. in the Augustan Age. Provocatio is defined by Greenidge (Roman Public Life, p. 64) as “a challenge by an accused to a magistrate to appear before another tribunal.” ↩
A suffix, probably related to the intensive -pte. ↩
Literally, the chalk-marked, or lime-marked, goal-line. ↩
Vahlen’s Ennius, p. 215. ↩
Georgics III 260 f. ↩
Vahlen’s Ennius, p. 216. ↩
I.e., in possession of a perfect, an encyclopaedic, wisdom. ↩
In other words, Wisdom, Justice, Courage, and Self-Restraint, together with the other qualities of simplicity, kindness, etc., being “avatars” of Virtue herself, are interrelated. ↩
E.g., certain of the Peripatetic school. ↩
Sallust, Catilinae XX 4 idem velle atque idem nolle, ea demum firma amicitia est. Cf. the Greek “ἴσῳ ζυγῷ,” “yoked equally together.” ↩
Cf. Letter CVIII, paragraph 1 and endnote 919. ↩
Cf. Letter CIV, paragraph 1. ↩
Metamorphoses I 595—a Roman interpretation, along the lines of the Di Indigetes. ↩
Every man had his Genius, and every woman her Juno. In the case of the Stoics, God dwelt in every soul. ↩
I.e., death, in Stoic language. ↩
De Rerum Natura II 55 f. ↩
I.e., to the starting-point. ↩
I.e., acorns, etc. ↩
Seneca was an extensive and prosperous vine-grower. Compare Letter CIV, paragraph 3 f. for his description of his hobby at the country-place near Nomentum. There are many figures which deal with the vine scattered through the Letters. ↩
The fulfilment of the promise made in Letter CVI, paragraph 1 (see endnote 914). ↩
The allusion is sarcastic. The phaecasium was a white shoe worn by Greek priests and Athenian gymnasiarchs—sometimes aped by Romans. ↩
I.e., animal from animus, anima (“breath of life”). ↩
I.e., from those who hold that the man, the soul, and the functions of the soul, can be classed as separate entities; or even from those who believe that it is worth while to discuss the matter at all. See paragraph 1 of this Letter. ↩
Homer, Iliad VI 181 πρόσθε λέων, ὄπιθεν δὲ δράκων, μέσση δὲ χίμαιρα. This is a frequent illustration of the “whole and the parts” among ancient philosophers. ↩
I.e., the form in which it is contained. ↩
The soul is “body,” “world-stuff” (not “matter” in the modern sense). It is therefore, according to the Stoics, a living
