Roman Stoicism being lectures on the history of the Stoic...

[41] A. Gellius, N. A. xiv 4, 4.

[42] Cic. Off. i 7, 21 and 22.

[43]ib. 13, 41.

[44] ‘principes sint patria ac parentes; proximi liberi, totaque domus, quae spectat in nos solos; deinde bene convenientes propinqui’ Cic. Off. i 17, 58.

[45] ‘I ought not to be free from affections (ἀπαθής) like a statue, but I ought to maintain the relations (σχέσεις) natural and acquired, as a pious man, as a son, as a father, as a citizen’ Epict. Disc. iii 2, 4; ‘Duties are usually measured by relations (ταῖς σχέσεσι). Is a man a father? The precept is to take care of him, to yield to him in all things. Does a brother wrong you? Maintain then your own position towards him’ Manual 30. All the duties of relationship on the one side imply corresponding duties on the other side; ‘invicem ista, quantum exigunt, praestant, et parem desiderant regulam, quae (ut ait Hecaton) difficilis est’ Sen. Ben. ii 18, 2.

[46] ‘[fortitudo] scientia est distinguendi, quid sit malum et quid non sit’ Ep. 85, 28; ‘quomodo igitur Chrysippus? fortitudo est, inquit, scientia rerum perferendarum, vel affectio animi in patiendo ac perferendo, summae legi parens sine timore’ Cic. Tusc. disp. iv 24, 53.

[47] ‘quicquid est hoc, Marcia, quod circa nos ex adventicio fulget, liberi honores opes, ampla atria et exclusorum clientium turba referta vestibula, clara nobilis aut formosa coniunx ceteraque ex incerta et mobili sorte pendentia, alieni commodatique adparatus sunt; nihil horum dono datur; collaticiis et ad dominos redituris instrumentis scena adornatur’ Sen. Dial. vi 10, 1; ‘victrix fortunae sapientia’ Juv. Sat. xiii 20.

[48] ‘cum potentes et imperio editi nocere intendent, citra sapientiam omnes eorum impetus deficient’ Sen. Dial. ii 4, 1.

[49] ‘levis est, si ferre possum; brevis est, si ferre non possum’ Ep. 24, 14.

[50] ‘inter haec tamen aliquis non gemuit. parum est, non rogavit. parum est, non respondit. parum est: risit, et quidem ex animo’ ib. 78, 19.

[51] ‘mors optimum inventum naturae’ Dial. vi 20, 1; ‘fortem posce animum, mortis terrore carentem, | qui spatium vitae extremum inter munera ponat | naturae’ Juv. Sat. x 357-9.

[52] ‘caram te, vita, beneficio mortis habeo’ Sen. Dial. vi 20, 3; ‘nullo nos invida tanto | armavit natura bono, quam ianua mortis | quod patet’ Silius Pun. xi 186-8; ‘adeo mors timenda non est, ut beneficio eius nihil timendum sit’ Sen. Ep. 24, 11.

[53] ‘[mors] quin habeat aliquid in se terribile, ut et animos nostros, quos in amorem sui natura formavit, offendat, nemo dubitat’ ib. 36, 8.

[54] So Heraclitus had said ‘unus dies par omni est’ ib. 12, 7; ‘ut prorogetur tibi dies mortis, nihil proficitur ad felicitatem: quoniam mora non fit beatior vita, sed longior’ Ben. v 17, 6.

[55] ‘si [senectus] coeperit concutere mentem, si partes eius convellere, si mihi non vitam reliquerit sed animam, prosiliam ex aedificio putri ac ruenti’ Ep. 58, 35.

[56] ‘melius nos | Zenonis praecepta docent; nec enim omnia, quaedam | pro vita facienda putant’ Juv. Sat. xv 106 to 108.

[57] Diog. L. vii 130. Ingenious members of the school found five good reasons for voluntarily quitting life, resembling the causes for breaking up a banquet. As the guests part, because of (i) a sudden need, such as the arrival of a friend, (ii) revellers breaking in and using violent language, (iii) the food turning bad, (iv) the food being eaten up, or (v) the company being drunk; so the wise man will depart, because of (i) a call to sacrifice himself for his country, (ii) tyrants doing him violence, (iii) disease hindering the use of the body, (iv) poverty, (v) madness, which is the drunkenness of the soul. See Arnim iii 768.

[58] Notably in the case of Cato.

[59] ‘in quo plura sunt, quae secundum naturam sunt, huius officium est in vita manere; in quo autem aut sunt plura contraria, aut fore videntur, huius officium est e vita excedere’ Cic. Fin. iii 18, 60.

[60] ‘perspicuum est etiam stultorum, qui iidem miseri sint, officium esse manere in vita, si sint in maiore parte earum rerum, quas secundum naturam esse dicimus’ ib. iii 18, 61.

[61] He might easily have obtained acquittal by a judicious defence: Xen. Mem. iv 4, 4.

[62] ‘Catoni gladium adsertorem libertatis extorque: magnam partem detraxeris gloriae’ Sen. Ep. 13, 14.

[63] ‘ille adfectus multos occupavit, libido moriendi’ ib. 24, 25; ‘quid ergo? non multos spectavi abrumpentes vitam? ego vero vidi, sed plus momenti apud me habent qui ad mortem veniunt sine odio vitae, et admittunt illam, non adtrahunt’ ib. 30, 15.

[64]ib. 24, 25.

[65]ib. 117, 22.

[66] Epict. Disc. i 9, 16.

[67] ‘probe definitur a Stoicis fortitudo, cum eam virtutem esse dicunt propugnantem pro aequitate’ Cic. Off. i 19, 62.

[68]ib. 21, 71.

[69]ib. 26, 92.

[70]ib. 23, 80.

[71] ‘Zenon ait; accedet ad rempublicam [sapiens], nisi si quid impedierit’ Sen. Dial. viii 3, 2.

[72] See above, §§ 89, 90.

[73] See above, § 91.

[74] ‘efficiendum autem est, ut appetitus rationi obediant, eamque neque praecurrant, nec propter pigritiam aut ignaviam deserant, sintque tranquilli atque omni perturbatione animi careant’ Cic. Off. i 29, 102.

[75] ‘hoc loco continetur id, quod dici Latine decorum potest; Graece enim πρέπον dicitur; huius vis ea est, ut ab honesto non queat separari’ ib. i 27, 93.

[76] Stob. ii 7, 5 b 4; ‘ut corporis est quaedam apta figura membrorum cum coloris quadam suavitate, ea quae dicitur pulchritudo; sic in animo opinionum iudiciorumque aequabilitas et constantia, cum firmitate quadam et stabilitate, pulchritudo vocatur’ Tusc. disp. iv 13, 31.

[77] ‘id decorum [volunt] esse, quod ita naturae consentaneum sit, ut in eo moderatio et temperantia appareat cum specie quadam liberali’ Off. i 27, 96.

[78] ‘adhibenda est igitur quaedam reverentia adversus homines, et optimi cuiusque et reliquorum’ ib. 28, 99; ‘to order myself lowly and reverently to all my betters’ English Church Catechism.

[79] Cic. Off. i 29, 104.

[80] ‘id enim maxime quemque decet, quod est cuiusque maxime suum. suum quisque igitur noscat ingenium’ ib. 31, 113-4. Retail trading, and all the arts that subserve luxury, are illiberal; agriculture is the most truly liberal: ib. 42, 150 and 151.