Again he asked permission to retire to the solitude of the country [14.54], when Nero with fearful punishments raged uncontrollably against the Christians [15.44]. The first tribune Gavius Silvanus of the praetorian group was sent to ask Seneca if he accepted his words, on which the accusation was based [15.60].
TO THE EMPEROR NERO ON CLEMENCY
CHAPTER 1
- I OF ALL
- WITH SUCH GREAT POWER OVER AFFAIRS
- I SO HOLD GUARD OVER MYSELF, AS THOUGH TO THE LAWS
This should refer to ambassadors of nations, emissaries and negotiators of alliances with the Roman people. He has added well as if because the prince is freed from obedience to the laws; but it is a statement worthy of the ruler's majesty for a prince to confess himself "bound by laws." And surely there is.
HAVE SUMMONED FROM NEGLECT INTO THE LIGHT OF DAY
Just and in the Rescript of Severus and Antoninus one reads: Although we are not subject to the lavas, we live according to the laws. As a consequence we often read of "first old age" and "last childhood". Sallust: Mithridates, after his mother died of poisoning, took over the kingdom during the latter part of his childhood.
HAVE PARDONED FOR HIS HIGH POSITION, ANOTHER FOR HIS HUMBLE STATE
HOLD ALL THINGS IN SAFE TRUST AND GUARDIANSHIP
1.12.1] seems to refer to this when he speaks of Tiberius refusing to be an imperial office: Meanwhile, when the senate stooped to the most humiliating claim, Tiberius happened to say so. It is common for those who had previously governed the state very well to be led away from the right track by the ingratitude of the multitude.
BUT IT IS A MIGHTY BURDEN
True glory takes deep roots and spreads its branches wide; but all pretense soon falls to the ground like fragile flowers and. Let them sell as they wish to the sad eyes of the public, the time will come for the one who sold smoke to perish from the smoke.
GREAT WAS THE HAZARD
Socrates used to say, “The nearest way to glory – a shortcut, as it were – is to strive to be what you want to be.” For if a man thinks that he can gain lasting fame by pretense, by vain display, by hypocritical talk and looks, then he's completely wrong. In this passage Donatus interprets the position of the word as for the sake of amplification.
MANY FACTS FORCE THEM TO THIS CONFESSION
For one might still desire liberty for the entire happiness of the people, which the Roman valued nothing more. For they believed that a freeborn man would “rather die twice than be enslaved.” For this reason Seneca adds liberty to the advantages which the people, through the liberality of his prince, enjoyed.
IN PROPORTION TO HIS LOT
When Drusus, in answer to this, appealed to the authority of the senate and of his father, a clamor arose: why had he come, when he could neither raise their wages nor relieve their grievances; in fact, when he had no license to avail them. Likewise [Ibid Yet for himself, as he would have objected to receiving a severe decree, so he would not forbid moderation; they could decide as they thought best, even having license to excuse.
I know, however, that there are some who think that clemency upholds the worst class of men, since it is superfluous unless there has
Nevertheless, it is not fitting to pardon too commonly; for when the distinction between good and bad men is removed, the result is
In court proceedings, the first issue to be dealt with is that of the act itself. That's the tone one takes to a parent, but to a jury I say, “He didn't do this; he had never dreamed of it; the evidence is false; the charge is fabricated.” It is therefore quite clear why Seneca says that ATO.
NEVERTHELESS IT IS NOT FITTING TO PARDON TOO COMMONLY
And [9.7.1.]: When these things were merely said and heard, and the Roman name was almost hopeless in the assembly of the faithful allies. Quintilian [12.7.1]: If it is not permissible to demand punishment for crimes, then it is but one step further to allow the crimes themselves; and that license should be granted to the bad is certainly contrary to the interest of the good.
Here I shall divide this subject as a whole into three parts. The first will treat of manumission; the second will aim to show the nature and
That none of all the virtues is more seemly for a man, since none is more human, is a necessary conviction not only among those of us
Yet of all men none is better graced by clemency than a king or a prince. For virtues impart to great men grace and glory only when they
Not without reason do dries and peoples show this accord in giving such protection and love to their kings, and in flinging themselves and
The whole body is the servant of the mind, and though the former is so much larger and so much more resplendent, while the unsubstantial
If this was true in the past, we are deeply saddened to find that it is truer today than ever before. Now habits are acquired qualities by which we behave well or badly with regard to our moral character.
THAT NO ONE OF ALL THE VIRTUES
3.6,1278b19]: It is said that man is by nature a civil and social animal, from which it comes that, although they lack nothing in mutual aid, they nevertheless strive for common life. Thus Lucan [Phars., 2.383] has described to us the Stoic Cato: Born not for himself, he thought, but for the world alone.
YET NONE BY CLEMENCY
For those who look after the interests of one part of the citizens and neglect the other part, says Cicero, introduce into the state a dangerous element - dissension and party strife. From all this, it can be concluded that he is concerned about protecting the highest interests of the republic.
NOT WITHOUT REASON
Among writers the words sternere and instruere are often used for the terms pavire or munire.
AS THE WHOLE BODY
Thirdly, the members of the body have indeed from themselves a force and natural power, but the manner thereof lies in the power of the mind. The other, they say, resides in the bodily passions - hunger, thirst, cold and the like.
It is, therefore, their own safety that men love, when for one man they lead ten legions at a time into battle, when they rush forward in
Such a calamity would be the destruction of the Roman peace; such a calamity will force the fortune of a mighty people to its downfall
Therefore it is not strange that princes and kings and guardians of the public order, whatever different name they bear, are held more dear
If the state cannot stand without rule, if a body gathered from many men is truncated and imperfect without a head, they are defenders of their
But it seems to me more probable that, whatever changes may have been made in the organization of the army according to the circumstances of the time, the legion came at last to consist of ten cohorts, the first of which comprised a thousand men, the rest five hundred each. From the custom of the Romans, who entrusted to the first cohort the eagle and the images of the emperor, as this cohort excelled in numbers of soldiers and in superiority of rank.
JUST SO LONG WILL THIS PEOPLE BE FREE FROM THAT DANGER AS IT SHALL KNOW
When he is lost, they immediately break their allegiance, and themselves pull down the honey they have reared, and tear up their espaliered combs.
THEREFORE THAT PRINCES AND KINGS
Faro., 3.11.4] in other words brought the same idea to Appius Pulcher: All the power of the state has placed itself at the disposal of Pompey. ON AN EARLIER DAY, CAESAR THUS COVERED HIMSELF WITH THE POWERS OF THE STATE.
Clemency, then, as I was saying, indeed applies to all men in accordance with nature, but to rulers it is especially becoming,
For if this is what has hitherto been ascertained—you are the soul of the state and the condition of your body, you see, I think, how necessary mercy is; because he saves himself when he seems to save another. And so even seasoned citizens should be spared as the weak parts of the body, and if ever blood should be let, restraint should be exercised to avoid cutting more deeply than is necessary.
Though, moreover, the virtues are at harmony with each other, and no one of them is better or nobler than another, yet to certain people a
A great soul befits a great position, and if it does not rise to that position and even stand above it, the other, too, is dragged downward
It is for a woman to be angry in anger; for wild beasts doubtless—and yet not their noble kind—to bite and disturb their humble victims. Elephants and lions pass by what they have struck; it is the hideous beast that is merciless.
Cruel and inexorable anger is not seemly for a king, for thus he does not rise much above the other man, toward whose own level he
To save life is the peculiar privilege of exalted station, which never has a right to greater admiration than when it has the good fortune to
Not to forget Seneca's statement in his On Benefits [7.30.1]: Wounds of the mind ought to be handled as tenderly as those of the body. AND IF THERE SHOULD EVER BE A NEED TO LET BLOOD, Seneca alludes to the physicians' blood discharges, which are always performed within limits.
THEN, AS I WAS SAYING
Property must be understood according to the fourth way, as put forward by Porphyry, Isagoge [4.5]. Seneca On Anger [3.5.6]: The anger which belongs to the lower classes, and to men of private rank, is one.
THOUGH, MOREOVER, THE VIRTUES
Therefore the limits of magnanimity are the inflation of the spirit and the elation – the excesses; dejection and weakness – the defect. For what is more courageous than to keep the soul unencumbered in the difficulties of fate.
EVERY HOUSE THAT CLEMENCY ENTERS
For this reason, 'interrogation' is often used with application to 'the laws'. Cicero, Pro Domo Sua [29.77]: Who ever questioned me under any lava. For it is called the laying on of hands when I, waiting for no authority from the judge, demand what is owed to us.
GREAT POSITION (FORTUNE)
It is enough for the noble-hearted lion to bring the body to the ground;. This statement regarding elephants is confirmed by the testimony of Pliny who writes as follows: When the elephant notices man's footprints before he notices man himself, he begins to tremble for fear of an ambush, stands still and sniffs around, blows angry, does not trample the footprint but digs it up and gives it to the next elephant, and so on, each one after the next, to the last of all, with a message.
AND INEXORABLE ANGER
Lest one consider himself glorified if he has exhausted an enemy by his power, let him think that he has descended to the same level with the man to whom he has paid tribute to make him the object of his enmity. Let us repeat the examples of those who were slain by the conspiracies of servants, either by bare force or by guile, and we shall know that no less men have fallen victims to the wrath of borrowed slaves than to that of kings.
WHEN IT HAS THE GOOD FORTUNE TO HAVE THE SAME POWER AS THE GODS
Life is given to him who, though he may be killed without breaking the laws, is yet freed from the danger of death.
Consider this city in which the throng that streams ceaselessly through its widest streets is crushed to pieces whenever anything gets
How few prosecutors there are who would not be condemned under the very law cited for the prosecution; how few accusers are free from
We have all sinned — some in serious, some in trivial things; some from deliberate intention, some by chance impulse, or because we were
Even if there is any one who has so thoroughly cleansed his mind that nothing can any more confound him and betray him, yet it is by
Now through description Seneca shows how necessary it is for the prince TO LEAVE SOME TO FILL UP THE NUMBER and put up with them for
For the census, which, while liberty still existed, read to have been the maximum, was under the censors C. But according to Eusebius [Chron., 2]: After the victory at Actium, when the census was taken, the number of citizens was found to be .
HOW FEW PERSECUTORS
The quaestor (prosecutor), though mentioned by Asconius, called by Cicero both quaesitor and judge in the criminal court, is understood to be the city praetor who received charge of all public courts. Plutarch states [Cic., 9.1f] that Licinius Macer was accused of embezzlement before Cicero as praetor and condemned by unanimous vote of the judges.
WE HAVE ALL SINNED
FROM INTENDED INTENT (EX DESTINATO) That is, "on purpose," "on purpose," "intentionally," or, as Plautus says [Cas intentionally," which is expressed in common speech as. Seneca, on benefits [6.10.2] : To impose an obligation on me, you must not merely do me a service, but you must do it out of a conscious intention.
Since I have made mention of the gods, I shall do very well to
But if the gods are merciful, and justly yet not instantly avenge with the thunderbolt the shortcomings of the mighty, how much more just
A reign that is cruel is stormy and overcast with gloom, and, while men tremble and grow pale at the sudden uproar, even he who is the
Those placed in lowly station are more free to use force, to
Lest he seem to pass on to this comparison abruptly, he connects it with the prior ones. For after he said that nothing is so magnificent for the
Do the same, since you are called the ruler of your country and its father: follow the example of the god who has the same title. If the gods would severely avenge the crimes of kings, what king is there who does not sin every hour of the day?
2.NOW MUCH MORE JUST IT IS
He said it was strange that the soothsayer didn't burst out laughing when he saw the other soothsayer.
3.A REIGN THAT IS CRUEL IS STORMY
THOSE PLACED IN LOWLY STATION
For it is usual with them to quarrel and fight: after shouting hoarsely, at last they come to a fight with their hands, and decide the matter by blows and kicks. You think it a serious thing to take away from kings the liberty of speech which belongs to the lowest man.
How many things are there which you may not do, which we, thanks to you, may do? It is possible for me to walk alone without
This is the servitude that belongs to supreme greatness: that it cannot become less great; but you share with the gods that necessity
Our movements are noticed by few: we may come forth and retire and change our dress without the world being aware: you can no more
You cannot speak but that all the nations of the earth hear your voice; you cannot become angry without causing everything to be
Consider, too, that whereas private citizens, by enduring the wrongs already received, lie more open to receiving others, yet kings by gentle-
The inclination to vent one’s rage should be less strong than the provocation for it; otherwise, just as trees that have been trimmed
This is said in the person of the prince, who does not want to be deprived of freedom of expression. In the midst of all the earth, that your deeds are open to all nations, and that this can never be the case for royal vices.
HOW MANY THINGS THERE ARE WHICH YOU MAY NOT DO
As it is, however, owing to the magnificence and magnitude of the affairs in which we have had a hand, if we fail to secure the highest praise for the administration of your province, it seems scarcely possible for us to express the bitterest escape malice. 24.4] Weapons therefore, and youths with swords and spears are not for the protection of the body, but public traps of the imperial majesty.
TOWARDS IT EVERYONE TURNS HIS EYES
For it is something tyrannical for a ruler to provide himself with an armed bodyguard while in the midst of his citizens. But Seneca says that these are more traps and signs of rule than protection of life.
YOU CANNOT BECOME ANGRY
CONSIDER, TOO, THAT WHEREAS PRIVATE CITIZENS
JUST AS TREES THAT HAVE BEEN TRIMMED
These words have more power because they are better breathed into the ears and are more easily heard by the praise of the family, and leave a sting when he who is admonished feels it shameful to give way to his ancestors and dim the luster caused. according to them. But when he reached the age of forty, and remained in Gaul, he was informed that he was Cinna, a foolish man.
But when he had passed his fortieth year and was staying in Gaul, the information was brought to him that Cinna, a dull-witted man, was
The divine Augustus was a gentle prince, if one were to judge him from the time of his principality. Against the common Republic, however, he already wielded the sword when he was the age at which you are now, and when, barely past the age of eighteen, he had already buried his dagger in the bosom of his friends, he had already secretly aimed at an enemy. blow at the person of the consul, Mark Antony, and had already been a partner in the ban.
At length Livia, his wife, broke in and said: “Will you also take a woman’s advice? Do what the doctors do! When the usual remedies do
Happy to have found a supporter, he thanked his wife, then ordered that the request to the friends who had been asked to the conference be
Though I found you, Cinna, in the camp of the enemy, not made, but actually born my foe, yet I spared you, and allowed you to keep
At this word Cinna cried out that he was far from such madness
And when he saw that Cinna had cast down his eyes, and was silent now, not for reason of the compact, but because of his
Finally, Livia, his wife, intervened and said, "Would you also like to follow a woman's advice?" Tell me, if I only block your hope, Paul and Fabius Maximus and the Cossi and the Servilii and all that great company of nobles - not those who boast with empty names, but those who themselves add glory to the images of their ancestors - will do that too. these bear you?
Not to fill up a great part of my book in repeating all his words (for he is known to have talked more than two hours, prolonging this
The parts of this discourse must be distinguished as follows. To be pronounced in one breath is the passage: T HE DIVINE A UGUSTUS WAS A
IN THE PERSON OF THE CONSUL MARK ANTONY It is well known that Antony was consul in the year in which Julius Caesar was murdered by the conspirators. HE WAS ALREADY PARTNER IN THE PROSCRIPTION Enemy of the consul, PARTNER IN THE PROSCRIPTION.
BUT WHEN HE HAD PASSED HIS FORTIETH YEAR, AND WAS STAYING IN GAUL
But afterwards I noticed that it was Cornelius and not Lucius, and that Seneca called him a youth, who would be of the proper age. Curtius [5.11.7]: Bessus, though ignorant of the Greek language, when his conscience was awakened, was of opinion that Patron had acted as informer.
HE SPENT A WRESTLESS NIGHT
Kinship of Pompey, who bestowed upon him the favor of the whole people, on account of the man's fame while he was yet alive, and the grateful memory of him after death. At that time, as Plutarch [Cic., 49, fin.] attests, it was forbidden by public edict for any of the family of the Antonii to be called "Mark." Thus there could be no one at that time named "Mark Antony" who could dictate the ban.
WHAT THEN
At that time, as Plutarch confirms [Cic., 49, fin.], it was forbidden by public edict that anyone from the family of Antonius should be called "Mark". Murder and slaughter are of course the same thing; but he despises the first as if it were less, though in itself a grievous offence.
AFTER AN INTERVAL OF SILENCE
WILL YOU TAKE A WOMAN’S ADVICE
The commentators on Suetonius dream who think that Cornelius Gallus was delivered to the Senate for condemnation [Suet., August. The words of Suetonius [Aug., 66.2] are: One of these, who was plotting an insurrection, he delivered over to the senate for condemnation; and the other, because of his evil character, he denied admission to his house and to his provinces.
CINNA… I SPARED YOU
YOU ARE NOT KEEPING YOUR WORD
AND WHEN HE SAW THAT CINNA HAD CAST DOWN HIS EYES
The name' has, among other meanings, this very elegant meaning when applied to 'nobility'. Cicero, Contra Verr. Perhaps the source of the "name" in the sense of "nobility of high birth" was that a good name was passed down from the nobility of ancestors to their descendants.
THIS PUNISHMENT
Good faith here means what the Greeks call epieikeia kai chrestotes, that is honesty and sincerity in keeping promises. Suetonius [Aug., 42.2]: When the people demanded a promised gift, he replied that he was a man of good faith.
NO ONE PLOTTED AGAINST HIM ANY MORE
From this day forth let us compete in acts of good will, provided you understand that you are, as it were, paying your debt, and that I have freely challenged you to this contest without owing you anything. Thus Curtius [7.2.8] represents Alexander speaking the following words to his soldiers: With the same faith, return to favor with me, with which I return to favor with you.
Your great-grandfather spared the vanquished; for if he had not spared them, whom would he have had to rule? Sallustius, and a
This clemency led him on to safety and security. This made him pleasing and favorable, although the necks of the Roman people had
We believe prince Augustus to be a benevolent god, but not because we are bidden; that the name “parent” suited him well, this we confess
This is really to forgive, when you know that there will be many to take up your quarrel; and while you could do yourself the favor of
That this office was of no mean dignity among the functionaries of the court, I am quite sure. For the popes so seized the minds of the people with superstition that they were publicly and privately of the highest authority in the city.
PLEASING AND FAVORABLE
When he was still very much alive, he was not reluctant to allow divine honors to be bestowed upon himself.
THE NAME “PARENT” SUITED HIM WELL
Granted that he was restrained and merciful—yes, sure, but that was after Actium's waters were stained with Roman blood, after his own and an enemy's fleet had been destroyed off Sicily, after the altars of Perusia and the ban . In a position of unlimited power it is self-restraint in the truest sense and an inclusive love for the human race - not to be perverted by any base desire, or to be fueled by rashness, or by the corrupt example of past princes to be. tempted to test by experiment what license one may use against fellow citizens, but rather to blunt the edge of supremacy.
You have achieved, Caesar, a state unstained by blood, and you have made true your proud boast that in the whole world you have shed not
In his youth, he was hot-headed, inflamed with anger, and did many things which he looked upon with regret. You have attained, Caesar, a state unstained by blood, and you have made true your proud boast that you have not shed in all the world.
Clemency, then, makes rulers not only more honored, but safer also
To compare the mildness of the divine Augustus with yours no one will dare, though the arms of youth are brought into competition with a more than ripe old age. Hence Seneca says: AFTER HIS OWN AND AN ENEMY'S FLEET HAD BEEN STROKE OF SICILY.
THIS, O CAESAR, IS TRUE CLEMENCY
While they were often overcome with affection and pleas for mercy, he alone firmly insisted that no one should be spared. Mark Lepidus apologized in the senate for their past actions and expressed hope for a pardon in the future as enough punishments had been meted out, Augustus stated that the only limitation he placed on the ban was that he should have freedom of action, as he is pleased.
YOU HAVE ACHIEVED CAESAR
For if these changes of dominion are by their nature pregnant with changes in all things, then great in itself is the fact that Nero shed not even a drop of human blood when he took over the empire.
CLEMENCY, THEN, MAKES RULERS NOT ONLY MORE HONORED
Tyrrhenian from Tyrrhenian, leader of the Lydians, because that nation was noted for its cruelty. Consequently, even Latin authors often use this term in a good sense. To me it will be a pledge of peace to have touched your tyrant hand.
And then?" you say, "Are not even kings accustomed to kill?" Yes, but only when they are compelled to do so for the public good.
This was no lie; to Sulla they seemed a few. But concerning Sulla we shall presently investigate how we should become angry toward
Conflicting causes force him to conflicting courses; for just as he is hated because he is feared, so he wishes to be feared because he is
In the same way with ropes and feathers you may keep wild beasts hemmed in, but let a horseman come upon them from behind with
And yet who will deny that he was indeed a tyrant, if a tyrant is he who rules over the unrestrained, who lives by the slaughter of his own citizens, who exercises his dominion violently beyond what is just and good. Plutarch, Sulla, 31] Thirdly, he added nearly as many; In a harangue to the people, he said, referring to these measures, that he had.
THOUGH HE ABDICATED THE DICTATORSHIP
Brought to Praeneste, they were first tortured man by man, according to the fashion of the law courts. Having obtained an audience of the senate outside the city, in the temple of Bellona, he gave an account of the services he had performed in Spain.
TO SULLA THEY SEEMED A FEW
AND CUT OFF FROM THE BODY POLITIC. He cleverly concludes that those who do not participate in the life of the community are not citizens. Therefore, if every society is not a state, but only that which lives according to honest morals and honest laws, those who do not respect the laws are not citizens, they are CUT OFF FROM THE BODY of the rule of law.
FOR SINCE HE IS HATED BECAUSE HE IS FEARED
30.1]: He repeatedly praised that tragic saying: "Let them hate, while they fear." The same in Tib. For as they are fleeing from the hunter's gun, they are caught in the nets of the rope.
No one can ever hold the loyalty and good will of his servants when he employs them to operate instruments of torture, the horserack and
A wretch to be pitied, at least by himself! For that others should pity him would be a crime a man who has utilized his power for
On the other hand, there is the man whose care embraces all, who does not guard here with greater vigilance, there with less, yet fosters
What people say of such a man is the same in secret as in public
MORE GUILTY THAN ANY PRISONER FOUND GUILTY IN COURT
Plutarch remembers Soloh's answer [Plut., Solon, 14.5]: The tyrant's position is indeed beautiful, but there is no way out. FOR CRIME MUST BE PROTECTED BY CRIME This is the habit of those who cannot defend crimes.
NEITHER THE FIDELITY OF FRIENDS
He has thus far shown himself to be a most miserable tyrant, so afraid of GODS AND MEN, WITNESSES AND AVENGERS OF HIS CRIMES, that he can rely neither on the fidelity of his friends nor the piety of the children to be taken. refuge in armed protection, but even then it is not safe enough. This passage of Statius [Theb., 1.52] must be understood in the sense of Cicero's words.
IF HE CAN PUBLISH HIS GOOD FORTUNE
Now he adds, which is more serious, that he has the witness of conscience, which gnaws and tears him from within like a worm. 24.67]: Do not think, as you often see in plays, that those who have committed some impious and impious deed are pursued and terrified by the burning torches of the Furies: each is especially troubled by his own fraud and his own fright. ; each is moved by his own misdeeds, and touched by his own madness.
OR SUCH A MAN IS THE SAME SAID IN SECRET
Pliny the Younger [Panegyr., 26.5]: The rich are charged with bringing up children with great rewards and equivalent fines: the poor have only one reason for bringing up children—the benevolence of the prince. Blameless man ever, With hand unstained by evil deed, Nor Moorish arrow, nor bow nor quiver With poisoned darts filled shall he need.
What, then, is his duty? It is that of good parents who are wont to reprove their children sometimes gently, sometimes with threats, who
This is the duty of a parent, and it is also the duty of a prince, whom not in empty flattery we have been led to call “the Father of his
Slow should a father be to sever his own members; aye, after severing he would yearn to restore them, and while severing he would
115.3]: The right to disinherit, which Quintilian [Deal., 9.10] calls the last lightning bolt of the father's power, was abolished by a constitution of Justinian. And Mamertinus, Panegyr to Julianus, [6.1]: All these things finally overcame the persistent and persevering patience of the prince.
THIS IS THE DUTY OF A PARENT, AND IT IS ALSO THE DUTY OF A PRINCE
How he wept as he lamented the exile of his father, the misery of his country, and the burning and destruction of his house. Suetonius [Aug., 7.2]: He afterwards took the name of Caius Caesar, and afterwards of Augustus; the former in accordance with the will of his great-uncle, and the latter at the suggestion of Numatius Planem.
FOR HE COMES NEAR TO CONDEMNING GLADLY WHO CONDEMNS SWIFTLY
Romulus, as a sort of second founder of the city, was decided to be called Augustus instead; etc. Of the fathers, because by his cruelty he hated the parents by the sons; of the sons, because he set an example whereby the parents may rage cruelly against their sons.
Tarius, who detected his son attempted parricide and condemned him to exile when after investigating the case he found him guilty, won
I will now use this very case to show you an example of a good prince with whom you may compare the good father. When Tarius
When the case had been heard and all the evidence had been sifted — what the young fellow said in his defense and what was brought up in
Some petty spirit will doubtless say: “He feared that he might seem to be trying to clear the field for his own prospects by sentencing the
Tarius did indeed on one and the same day lose a second heir also, but Caesar saved the integrity of his vote; and after he had proved that
His sentence was not the sack or the snakes or the prison, for his thought was not of the man on whom he passed the sentence, but of.
His sentence was not the sack, nor serpents, nor prison, since his thought was not of the man on whom he was passing sentence, but of
SATISFIED WITH EXILE — AND AN ASSIGNED EXILE
50.1]: He wronged her even the dowry which her father had given her, and of her annual allowance, by a quarrel of the law, because Augustus had made no provision for it in his will.
AN EXAMPLE OF A GOOD PRINCE WITH WHOM YOU MAY COMPARE
It is therefore clear that those who emigrated because of exile chose that place as the most suitable, if they were not limited to place. Elsewhere the advocate (cognitor) is the most intimate advocate, who knows the case of the present defendant and therefore looks after the case as his own, since Asconius [Comm.
EACH MAN TO GIVE HIS VERDICT IN WRITING
HE SOLEMNLY DECLARED THAT HE WOULD ACCEPT NO CONFESSION FROM TARIUS, WHO WAS A RICH MAN. Why Augustus made SOLEMN DECLARATION, Seneca afterwards reveals, namely, that he would not seem through his desire for plunder (as they say) "to kill the beast," and therefore reject the son of his paternal inheritance, so that he himself, the made heir, can succeed in his place in the inheritance. For it means "to declare oneself heir," and "to assume to be an heir (to act as heir)." Therefore Cicero says metaphorically [Ep.
HAVE HAD ENOUGH FAITH IN HIS OWN GOOD CONSCIENCE
For as Quintilian [dec., 3.13] says in “Miles Marianus”: The higher the honor a man acquires, the more open he is as an example to those who look to him. And: This is the condition of superiors, that whatever they do, they always seem to set a good example.
AND AFTER HE HAD PROVED THAT HIS SEVERITY WAS DISINTERESTED
7 HIS SENTENCE WAS NOT THE SACK, NOR SERPENTS
How worthy he was of being asked by parents to share their
Let no one count so little in the eyes of a ruler that his destruction is not noticed, whatever part of the empire he may be. There is more than one kind of power: a prince has power over his subjects, a father over his children, a teacher over his pupils, a tribune or a centurion over his soldiers.
BY PARENTS TO SHARE THEIR COUNSELS!
FROM THE FORMS OF LESSER POWER LET US DRAW A PARALLEL FOR GREATER POWER
WILL HE NOT SEEM THE WORST SORT OF FATHER
A mere deserter is one who, after wandering for a considerable time, returns to camp. In this sense, Turnus [Virgil, A., 12·15] calls Aeneas the deserter of Asia, as if he were a traitor to his country.
IS IT JUST
He has observed the proper meaning of the word, since he spoke of horses, which (according to Servius [Comm. Aeneid., 6.80]) we properly speak of as "to be broken." Cicero. 1.26.90]: as horses, grown undisciplined and wild by being in frequent fights, are given up to be tamed by horse-breakers, so as to become more manageable.
FOR THAT WILL BREAK THE SPIRIT
For although detractares are more often found in this sense, still the other also exists. No creature is less tractable, none needs to be handled with greater skill than humans, and none should be treated more tolerantly.
It is a poor physician that lacks faith in his ability to cure; and he who has been entrusted with the life of all the people ought to act
We do not get angry with diseases, we try to cure them; yet even here it is a disease, but of the mind; requires gentle treatment, and one who treats him who is anything but hostile to his patient. There is a poor doctor who lacks confidence in his ability to cure; and he who is entrusted with the life of all men must act.
No glory redounds to a ruler from cruel punishment — for who doubts his ability to give it? — but, on the other hand, the greatest
In fact, the prince is more truly the doctor of the mind, since a vice is a disease of the mind. Therefore let princes imitate good physicians, who gently afflict the sick, who first try mild cures and deceptive remedies, and do not despair as long as they are able to try anything.
WHOSE MIND IS AFFECTED
As if to say, when a prince punishes any one, he assigns no other reason than to correct the depravity of a people whom he could not otherwise control, to cure a public cancer, to amputate diseased members, to keep evil from creeping in the body.
It is praiseworthy to use authority over slaves with moderation
Even slaves have the right of refuge at the statue of a god; and although the law allows anything in dealing with a slave, yet there is
Even as cruel masters are pointed at with scorn throughout the whole city, and are hated and loathed, so with kings; while the wrong
Budaeus in his Annotations [AP, 1 AB] sufficiently shows what justice and law are, as opposed to the letter or severity of the law. For when it comes to the letter of the law, especially amid the tumult of war, there is no room for either mercy or gentleness.
EVEN SLAVES HAVE THE RIGHT OF REFUGE AT THE STATUE
Vedius ordered him to be taken to die, and that too was not common. He ordered it to be thrown out to feed the moray eels, some of which he kept as fish in a large pond.
THAN TO BE COUNTED AMONG PUBLIC MISFORTUNES
90.7]: But as for me, do not think that philosophy invented these cunningly designed abodes of ours, which rise story after story, where city multitudes are against cities, any more than it invented ponds, which are closed for the purpose of saving people. gluttony due to the risk of storms. WHO INTENDED TO EAT This means that he was doing it for luxury.
It will be impossible for one to imagine anything more seemly for a ruler than the quality of clemency, no matter in what manner or with
For Nature herself conceived the idea of kingship, as we may recognize from the case of bees and other creatures; the king of the
Shameful were it not to draw a lesson from the ways of the tiny creatures, since, as the mind of man has so much more power to do
But even as it is, such a man has no safe course; for he must fear as much as he wishes to be feared, must watch the hands of every person,
He has no need to rear on high his towering citadels, or to wall about steep hills against ascent, or to cut away the sides of mountains, or to
And what is more glorious than to live a life which all men hope may last, and for which all voice their prayers when they are not under
Everything that happens to his leader, he should consider as
When he goes in procession, the whole flock accompanies him and is gathered around him to surround and protect him, and not to allow him to be seen. Once they get started, everyone wants to be next and loves to be seen on duty.
BEES ARE MOST EASILY PROVOKED AND FOR THE SIZE OF THEIR BODIES
FROM THE TINY CREATURES
- BUT EVEN AS IT IS, SUCH A MAN HAS NO SAFE COURSE
- HE HAS NO NEED TO REAR
- AND WHAT IS MORE GLORIOUS THAN TO LIVE A LIFE WHICH ALL MEN HOPE MAY LAST
- TO BE CONSIDERED THE GREATEST
- A prince usually inflicts punishment for one of two reasons: to avenge either himself or another. I shall first discuss the situation in
- At this point it is needless to caution him to be slow in believing, to ferret out the truth, to befriend innocence, so that it may be evident to
- For just as the magnanimous man is not he who makes free with what is another’s, but he who deprives himself of what he gives to
- AT THIS POINT IT IS NEEDLESS
- FOR JUST AS THE MAGNANIMOUS MAN IS NOT HE
Tacitus Ann The senate was meanwhile convened, and the consuls and popes prayed for the emperor's recovery. Ibid., 88.8]: The Father of gods and men is worshiped first under the name "Best", and then under the name.