Seneca (to Paulinus) · Complete work
VI
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1. Liuius Drusus, uir acer et uehemens, cum leges nouas et mala Gracchana mouisset stipatus ingenti totius Italiae coetu, exitum rerum non peruidens, quas nec agere licebat nec iam liberum erat semel incohatas relinquere, exsecratus inquietam a primordiis uitam dicitur dixisse: uni sibi ne puero quidem umquam ferias contigisse. Ausus est enim et pupillus adhuc et praetextatus iudicibus reos commendare et gratiam suam foro interponere tam efficaciter quidem, ut quaedam iudicia constet ab illo rapta.
2. Quo non erumperet tam immatura ambitio? Scires in malum ingens et priuatum et publicum euasuram tam praecoquem audaciam. Sero itaque querebatur nullas sibi ferias contigisse a puero seditiosus et foro grauis. Disputatur an ipse sibi manus attulerit; subito enim uulnere per inguen accepto collapsus est, aliquo dubitante an mors eius uoluntaria esset, nullo an tempestiua.
3. Superuacuum est commemorare plures qui, cum aliis felicissimi uiderentur, ipsi in se uerum testimonium dixerunt perosi omnem actum annorum suorum; sed his querellis nec alios mutauerunt nec se ipsos: nam cum uerba eruperunt, affectus ad consuetudinem relabuntur.
4. Vestra me hercules uita, licet supra mille annos exeat, in artissimum contrahetur: ista uitia nullum non saeculum deuorabunt; hoc uero spatium, quod quamuis natura currit ratio dilatat, cito uos effugiat necesse est; non enim apprenditis nec retinetis uel ocissimae omnium rei moram facitis, sed abire ut rem superuacuam ac reparabilem sinitis.
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. Livius Drusus, a man fierce and violent, when he had stirred up the new and wicked laws of Gracchus, hemmed in by an immense gathering from all Italy, and seeing no way out of things he was neither allowed to abandon nor free, once begun, to leave — is said to have cursed the unquiet life from its very beginnings, and to have cried that no holidays had ever come to him alone, no, not even when a boy. For he dared, while still a ward and still wearing the stripe, to commend defendants to judges and to interpose his influence in the courts so effectually that certain verdicts are said to have been wrested from them by him.
2. Into what would not ambition so immature break out? You might know that so precocious a boldness would break forth into great mischief, private and public. Late, therefore, he lamented that no holidays had been his from boyhood — seditious as a child, a burden to the courts. It is debated whether he laid hands on himself; for he collapsed from a sudden wound taken in the groin, some doubting whether his death was self-willed, none whether it was timely.
3. It is superfluous to recall more of those who, while they seemed to others the most blessed, gave true witness against themselves, hating every act of their years; but by such laments they changed neither others nor themselves: for when the words have burst out, the feeling slips back into habit.
4. Your life, by Hercules, though it passed a thousand years, will be drawn into the narrowest compass: those vices will swallow up every age. But this space, which reason stretches while nature runs, must soon slip from you; for you do not grasp it, nor hold it, nor so much as delay the flight of the swiftest of all things — you let it go as a superfluous and recoverable thing.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from all 20 chapters and 106 sections of the Latin.
1. Livius Drusus, a fierce and violent man, had stirred up Gracchus' new and dangerous laws. Surrounded by an enormous gathering from all of Italy, seeing no way out of business he couldn't drop and couldn't safely leave half-done, he is said to have cursed his restless life from the very beginning, complaining that he'd never had a holiday — not even as a boy. While still a child he dared to speak for defendants before judges, and threw his weight around the courts so hard that some verdicts were said to have been pulled out by him.
2. Where wouldn't ambition that young break out? You could tell such early recklessness would end in disaster, public and private. Late in life he complained that he'd had no holidays since childhood — a rebel as a kid, a burden on the courts even then. People argue about whether he killed himself: he collapsed from a sudden wound in the groin, some doubting whether his death was by his own hand, nobody doubting it came at the right time.
3. There's no point listing more men who looked happiest to everyone else but testified honestly against themselves, hating everything they'd done with their years. Their complaints changed no one, not even themselves: once the words were out, the old habits took over again.
4. Your life, I swear, even if it lasted a thousand years, would shrink into the tiniest space: those vices would swallow every year of it. And this stretch of time, which reason stretches further while nature races through it, will slip away from you soon, because you don't grab it, don't hold it, don't slow the fastest thing there is even for a moment — you treat it as something spare, something you'll get back.