Seneca (to Paulinus) · Complete work
XVII
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2. Cum per magna camporum spatia porrigeret exercitum nec numerum eius sed mensuram comprenderet Persarum rex insolentissimus, lacrimas profudit, quod intra centum annos nemo ex tanta iuuentute superfuturus esset; at illis admoturus erat fatum ipse qui flebat perditurusque alios in mari alios in terra, alios proelio alios fuga, et intra exiguum tempus consumpturus illos quibus centesimum annum timebat.
3. Quid quod gaudia quoque eorum trepida sunt? Non enim solidis causis innituntur, sed eadem qua oriuntur uanitate turbantur. Qualia autem putas esse tempora etiam ipsorum confessione misera, cum haec quoque quibus se attollunt et super hominem efferunt parum sincera sint?
4. Maxima quaeque bona sollicita sunt nec ulli fortunae minus bene quam optimae creditur; alia felicitate ad tuendam felicitatem opus est et pro ipsis quae successere uotis uota facienda sunt. Omne enim quod fortuito obuenit instabile est: quod altius surrexerit, opportunius est in occasum. Neminem porro casura delectant; miserrimam ergo necesse est, non tantum breuissimam uitam esse eorum qui magno parant labore quod maiore possideant.
5. Operose assequuntur quae uolunt, anxii tenent quae assecuti sunt; nulla interim numquam amplius redituri temporis ratio est: nouae occupationes ueteribus substituuntur, spes spem excitat, ambitionem ambitio. Miseriarum non finis quaeritur, sed materia mutatur. Nostri nos honores torserunt? plus temporis alieni auferunt; candidati laborare desiimus? suffragatores incipimus; accusandi deposuimus molestiam? iudicandi nanciscimur; iudex desiit esse? quaesitor est; alienorum bonorum mercennaria procuratione consenuit? suis opibus distinetur.
6. Marium caliga dimisit? consulatus exercet; Quintius dictaturam properat peruadere? ab aratro reuocabitur. Ibit in Poenos nondum tantae maturus rei Scipio; uictor Hannibalis uictor Antiochi, sui consulatus decus fraterni sponsor, ni per ipsum mora esset, cum Ioue reponeretur: ciuiles seruatorem agitabunt seditiones et post fastiditos a iuuene diis aequos honores iam senem contumacis exilii delectabit ambitio. Numquam derunt uel felices uel miserae sollicitudinis causae; per occupationes uita trudetur; otium numquam agetur, semper optabitur.
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. Their very pleasures are anxious, and troubled with varied fears, and the thought of the exulting spirit at its height is suddenly solicitous: "How long will this last?" From this feeling kings have wept over their power; nor did the greatness of their fortune delight them, but the end that would come some day terrified them.
2. When through the great spaces of his plains the most insolent king of Persia was stretching out his army, he did not number it but measured it; he shed tears, because within a hundred years no one of so great a youth would survive. Yet the man who wept was himself to bring fate upon them, wasting others now by sea, now by land, now in battle, now in flight, and within a brief time consuming those whose hundredth year he feared.
3. What of the fact that some men's very gains are burdensome: their riches, by which they seem to be counted blest, they do not enjoy but grind out; their crops and their herds and their glittering gold and silver they gaze on with suspicion; they preserve by care what they have heaped together; they fear the hour when they must leave it; the gains they call their own they do not use, they only guard.
4. What of those who sit from the first morning in the middle of a crowd of clients, pass to the hall, and from there to the civic roar; they please themselves with a greatness that is another's; they think the house splendid, the gate lofty, the reception court wide, the rings in greater number — while beneath these displays lies a mind on the rack.
5. Even their softness is mixed with much unrest: the silky tunic, the softest couches, the banquets planned through long night, the games devised beyond the custom of kings — this luxurious daintiness, if you look closely, is not rest but a kind of fevered toil.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from all 20 chapters and 106 sections of the Latin.
1. Even their pleasures are anxious, tossed around by changing fears. The exulting spirit at its very height is suddenly gripped by a worried thought: "How long can this go on?" Kings have wept over their power because of this feeling. Their fortune's greatness never delighted them — only the ending, coming someday, terrified them.
2. When the proudest king of Persia stretched his army across those vast plains, he didn't count it — he measured it. And he wept, because within a hundred years not one man of that whole youth would still be alive. Yet the man weeping was the very one who would bring their fate: wasting some by sea, some by land, some in battle, some in flight — consuming, in a brief span, the people whose hundredth year he feared.
3. And what about the fact that some men's gains are their burdens? The riches they're counted blessed for — they don't enjoy them, they grind them out. Their crops, their herds, their shining gold and silver — they stare at them with suspicion; they guard, with care, what they've piled up; they dread the hour of leaving it. What they call their own they don't use — they just warehouse it.
4. And those who sit from the first morning hour in a crowd of clients, then move on to the hall, then out into the public roar — pleased with someone else's greatness — they think the house is grand because the gate is tall, the reception hall wide, the rings on fingers many. Under all that display, a mind in torment.
5. Even their softness is shot through with restlessness: the silken tunic, the softest couches, banquets planned through the whole night, entertainments beyond what kings ever did. That luxurious daintiness — if you look closely — isn't rest. It's a kind of feverish work.