Seneca (to Paulinus) · Complete work
XIII
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1. Persequi singulos longum est quorum aut latrunculi aut pila aut excoquendi in sole corporis cura consumpsere uitam. Non sunt otiosi quorum uoluptates multum negotii habent. Nam de illis nemo dubitabit quin operose nihil agant, qui litterarum inutilium studiis detinentur, quae iam apud Romanos quoque magna manus est.
2. Graecorum iste morbus fuit quaerere quem numerum Ulixes remigum habuisset, prior scripta esset Ilias an Odyssia, praeterea an eiusdem esset auctoris, alia deinceps huius notae, quae siue contineas nihil tacitam conscientiam iuuant, siue proferas non doctior uidearis sed molestior.
3. Ecce Romanos quoque inuasit inane studium superuacua discendi; his diebus audiui quendam referentem quae primus quisque ex Romanis ducibus fecisset: primus nauali proelio Duilius uicit, primus Curius Dentatus in triumpho duxit elephantos. Etiamnunc ista, etsi ad ueram gloriam non tendunt, circa ciuilium tamen operum exempla uersantur; non est profutura talis scientia, est tamen quae nos speciosa rerum uanitate detineat.
4. Hoc quoque quaerentibus remittamus quis Romanis primus persuaserit nauem conscendere (Claudius is fuit, Caudex ob hoc ipsum appellatus quia plurium tabularum contextus caudex apud antiquos uocatur, unde publicae tabulae codices dicuntur et naues nunc quoque ex antiqua consuetudine quae commeatus per Tiberim subuehunt codicariae uocantur);
5. sane et hoc ad rem pertineat, quod Valerius Coruinus primus Messanam uicit et primus ex familia Valeriorum, urbis captae in se translato nomine, Messana appellatus est paulatimque uulgo permutante litteras Messala dictus:
6. num et hoc cuiquam curare permittes quod primus L. Sulla in circo leones solutos dedit, cum alioquin alligati darentur, ad conficiendos eos missis a rege Boccho iaculatoribus? Et hoc sane remittatur: num et Pompeium primum in circo elephantorum duodeuiginti pugnam edidisse commissis more proelii noxiis hominibus, ad ullam rem bonam pertinet? Princeps ciuitatis et inter antiquos principes (ut fama tradidit) bonitatis eximiae memorabile putauit spectaculi genus nouo more perdere homines. Depugnant? Parum est. Lancinantur? Parum est: ingenti mole animalium exterantur!
7. Satius erat ista in obliuionem ire, ne quis postea potens disceret inuideretque rei minime humanae. O quantum caliginis mentibus nostris obicit magna felicitas! Ille se supra rerum naturam esse tunc credidit, cum tot miserorum hominum cateruas sub alio caelo natis beluis obiceret, cum bellum inter tam disparia animalia committeret, cum in conspectum populi Romani multum sanguinis funderet mox plus ipsum fundere coacturus; at idem postea Alexandrina perfidia deceptus ultimo mancipio transfodiendum se praebuit, tum demum intellecta inani iactatione cognominis sui.
8. Sed, ut illo reuertar unde decessi et in eadem materia ostendam superuacuam quorundam diligentiam, idem narrabat Metellum, uictis in Sicilia Poenis triumphantem, unum omnium Romanorum ante currum centum et uiginti captiuos elephantos duxisse; Sullam ultimum Romanorum protulisse pomerium, quod numquam prouinciali sed Italico agro adquisito proferre moris apud antiquos fuit. Hoc scire magis prodest quam Auentinum montem extra pomerium esse, ut ille affirmabat, propter alteram ex duabus causis, aut quod plebs eo secessisset aut quod Remo auspicante illo loco aues non addixissent, alia deinceps innumerabilia quae aut farta sunt mendaciis aut similia?
9. Nam ut concedas omnia eos fide bona dicere, ut ad praestationem scribant, tamen cuius ista errores minuent? cuius cupiditates prement? quem fortiorem, quem iustiorem, quem liberaliorem facient? Dubitare se interim Fabianus noster aiebat an satius esset nullis studiis admoueri quam his implicari.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from all 20 chapters and 106 sections of the Latin for fidelity, Senecan compression, modern clarity, and cadence.
1. It is long to pursue one by one those who have spent their lives over dice, or ball, or baking themselves in the sun. Not idle are those whose pleasures hold much business: of those no one will doubt that they busily do nothing, who are held by the study of useless letters — of which a great flock exists among the Romans too.
2. That disease of the Greeks was to inquire what number of rowers Ulysses had, whether the Iliad or the Odyssey was written first, and whether they were by the same author, and other questions of this kind — which, if you keep to yourself, they do nothing for your secret conscience; if you produce them, you seem not more learned but more tiresome.
3. Behold, a vain study of over-learning has invaded the Romans too. These days I heard a certain man reporting what each of the Roman commanders had done first: Duilius first won a naval battle, Curius Dentatus first led elephants in a triumph. Even now, though such things do not tend to true glory, they still turn about examples of civil offices: such knowledge would bring no profit — still, it is a thing that would hold us in a specious vanity of facts.
4. Now hear what these men are after: they tell of the same with the Greeks. One is collecting which king first armed elephants: first in the sacred books? or where the custom first appears? Another is eager to know what Juno never told: whether it was at her prayer that the Roman commander first led horses and mules in triumph. Another inquires how often the people ordered the little heralds to begin the game.
5. Anything you like is worked over — the linen breastplates of Abraham and the jars of Egypt: one asks who first persuaded the Romans to take a wife; another what was the first dowry; another why the new name was given and the old set aside. Among all these you have in hand matter for keeping the mind employed: and yet, though you keep it, they do not live; for they study history of nothing but names.
6. And so we ought not to waste our whole life in such studies — much less, surely, than those things I censured. But it is long to search out the rest, whose learning is not and never will be.
7. I forbear — and would you not rather think those men the most wretched, who spend their whole lives over the things which, unless you loved them, you must needs despise? They give out nothing useful from themselves; they lay up nothing in themselves — but they polish for others' ears what they have gathered, and they exercise their tongues on every silly word, and they call back to mind things once heard; they weigh — they search — they compare.
8. And what is more wretched than to be someone for whom the worth of another's idle time is the study? They turn the stones of all books — they cut out worthlessly. I should not refrain from praising them if only they used their work elsewhere.
9. But even if you grant that they tell all things in good faith and write to be believed — whose wanderings would all this lessen? Whose greed would it press? Whom would it make braver, more just, more generous? Our own Fabianus used to say he doubted at times whether it were better to touch no studies at all than to be entangled in these.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from all 20 chapters and 106 sections of the Latin.
1. It would take too long to go through them one by one — the men who spent their lives on dice, or ball games, or sunbathing. People whose pleasures take real work are not idle. Of the men absorbed in useless scholarship nobody doubts that they are busily doing nothing — and there's a whole crowd of them in Rome too.
2. That disease used to be Greek: arguing how many rowers Ulysses had, whether the Iliad or the Odyssey was written first, whether they had the same author — and more trivia of that kind. If you keep it to yourself, it does nothing for your conscience; if you bring it up, you seem not more learned, just more annoying.
3. Now look: a pointless thirst for over-learning has infected the Romans too. Just these days I heard a man reciting which Roman general was the first to do what: Duilius won the first naval battle; Curius Dentatus was the first to lead elephants in a triumph. Even now, though none of it leads to real glory, at least it stays near real public achievements. That kind of knowledge wouldn't help — but it would at least keep us busy with something good-looking.
4. Now hear what they actually chase. They match the Greeks. One is collecting which king first used war elephants: earliest source? Or where the practice first appears? Another wants to know what even Juno never said: was it her prayer that made a Roman general lead horses and mules in triumph? Another asks how often the people ordered the little heralds to start the games.
5. Every topic you can imagine gets dug through — linen breastplates of Abraham, jars of Egypt: who first talked a Roman into marrying, what the first bride-price was, why the new name was given and the old one dropped. Plenty here to keep a mind busy — but busy is not alive. All this study is nothing but names.
6. We shouldn't waste our whole life on such things — though honestly, it's less wasteful than the pursuits I criticized. But it would take too long to list everyone whose "learning" isn't learning and never will be.
7. I'll hold back. And wouldn't you rather call most wretched the men who spend their whole lives on things they'd despise if they didn't love them? They produce nothing useful from themselves; they store nothing in themselves — but they polish what they've gathered for other people's ears, exercise their tongues on every silly detail, and call back things they once heard: they weigh, they dig, they compare.
8. What could be sadder than a man whose life's work is cataloguing other people's free time? They turn the stones of every book — and carve nothing worth keeping. I'd almost praise them if only they'd put the effort somewhere real.
9. But even if you let them have it that they report everything honestly and write to be believed — whose confusion would all this fix? Whose greed would it crush? Who would come out braver, more just, more generous? Our own Fabianus used to say he sometimes wondered whether it was better to touch no studies at all than to get tangled up in these.