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General LettersPart X
Part X
LXXXI
To Geminius
Numidia Quadratilla is dead, having almost reached her eightieth year.
She enjoyed, up to her last illness, uninterrupted good health, and was
unusually stout and robust for one of her sex. She has left a very prudent
will, having disposed of two-thirds of her estate to her grandson, and the
rest to her granddaughter. The young lady I know very slightly, but the
grandson is one of my most intimate friends. He is a remarkable young man, and
his merit entitles him to the affection of a relation, even where his blood
does not. Notwithstanding his remarkable personal beauty, he escaped every
malicious imputation both whilst a boy and when a youth: he was a husband at
four-and-twenty, and would have been a father if Providence had not
disappointed his hopes. He lived in the family with his grandmother, who was
exceedingly devoted to the pleasures of the town, yet observed great severity
of conduct himself, while always perfectly deferential and submissive to her.
She retained a set of pantomimes, and was an encourager of this class of
people to a degree inconsistent with one of her sex and rank. But Quadratus
never appeared at these entertainments, whether she exhibited them in the
theatre or in her own house; not indeed did she require him to be present. I
once heard her say, when she was recommending to me the supervision of her
grandson`s studies, that it was her custom, in order to pass away some of
those unemployed hours with which female life abounds, to amuse herself with
playing at chess, or seeing the mimicry of her pantomimes; but that, whenever
she engaged in either of those amusements, she constantly sent away her
grandson to his studies: she appeared to me to act thus as much out of
reverence for the youth as from affection. I was a good deal surprised, as I
am sure you will be too, at what he told me the last time the Pontifical
games^1 were exhibited. As we were coming out of the theatre together, where
we had been entertained with a show of these pantomimes, "Do you know," said
he, "to-day is the first time I ever saw my grandmother`s freedman dance?"
Such was the grandson`s speech! while a set of men of a far different stamp,
in order to do honour to Quadratilla (I am ashamed to call it honour), were
running up and down the theatre, pretending to be struck with the utmost
admiration and rapture at the performances of those pantomimes, and then
imitating in musical chant the mien and manner of their lady patroness. But
now all the reward they have got, in return for their theatrical performances,
is just a few trivial legacies, which they have the mortification to receive
from an heir who was never so much as present at these shows. - I send you
this account, knowing you do not dislike hearing town news, and because, too,
when any occurrence has given me pleasure, I love to renew it again by
relating it. And indeed this instance of affection in Quadratilla, and the
honour done therein to that excellent youth, her grandson, has afforded me a
very sensible satisfaction; as I extremely rejoice that the house which once
belonged to Cassius,^2 the founder and chief of the Cassian school, is come
into the possession of one no less considerable than its former master. For my
friend will fill it and become it as he ought, and its ancient dignity,
lustre, and glory will again revive under Quadratus, who, I am persuaded, will
prove as eminent an orator as Cassius was a lawyer. Farewell.
[Footnote 1: The priests, as well as other magistrates, exhibited public games
to the people when they entered upon their office. M.]
[Footnote 2: A famous lawyer who flourished in the reign of the emperor
Claudius: those who followed his opinions were said to be Cassians, or of the
school of Cassius. M.]
LXXXII
To Maximus
The lingering disorder of a friend of mine gave me occasion lately to
reflect that we are never so good as when oppressed with illness. Where is the
sick man who is either solicited by avarice or inflamed with lust? At such a
season he is neither a slave of love nor the fool of ambition; wealth he
utterly disregards, and is content with ever so small a portion of it, as
being upon the point of leaving even that little. It is then he recollects
there are gods, and that he himself is but a man: no mortal is then the object
of his envy, his admiration, or his contempt; and the tales of slander neither
raise his attention nor feed his curiosity: his dreams are only of baths and
fountains. These are the supreme objects of his cares and wishes, while he
resolves, if he should recover, to pass the remainder of his days in ease and
tranquillity, that is, to live innocently and happily. I may therefore lay
down to you and myself a short rule, which the philosophers have endeavoured
to inculcate at the expense of many words, and even many volumes; that "we
should try and realize in health those resolutions we form in sickness."
Farewell.
LXXXIII
To Sura
The present recess from business we are now enjoying affords you leisure
to give, and me to receive, instruction. I am extremely desirous therefore to
know whether you believe in the existence of ghosts, and that they have a real
form, and are a sort of divinities, or only the visionary impressions of a
terrified imagination. What particularly inclines me to believe in their
existence is a story which I heard of Curtius Rufus. When he was in low
circumstances and unknown in the world, he attended the governor of Africa
into that province. One evening, as he was walking in the public portico,
there appeared to him the figure of a woman, of unusual size and of beauty
more than human. And as he stood there, terrified and astonished, she told him
she was the tutelary power that presided over Africa, and was come to inform
him of the future events of his life: that he should go back to Rome, to enjoy
high honours there, and return to that province invested with the proconsular
dignity, and there should die. Every circumstance of this prediction actually
came to pass. It is said farther that upon his arrival at Carthage, as he was
coming out of the ship, the same figure met him upon the shore. It is certain,
at least, that being seized with a fit of illness, though there were no
symptoms in his case that led those about him to despair, he instantly gave up
all hope of recovery; judging, apparently, of the truth of the future part of
the prediction by what had already been fulfilled, and of the approaching
misfortune from his former prosperity. Now the following story, which I am
going to tell you just as I heard it, is it not more terrible than the former,
while quite as wonderful? There was at Athens a large and roomy house, which
had a bad name, so that no one could live there. In the dead of the night a
noise, resembling the clashing of iron, was frequently heard, which, if you
listened more attentively, sounded like the rattling of chains, distant at
first, but approaching nearer by degrees: immediately afterwards a spectre
appeared in the form of an old man, of extremely emaciated and squalid
appearance, with a long beard and dishevelled, hair, rattling the chains on
his feet and hands. The distressed occupants meanwhile passed their wakeful
nights under the most dreadful terrors imaginable. This, as it broke their
rest, ruined their health, and brought on distempers, their terror grew upon
them, and death ensued. Even in the daytime, though the spirit did not appear,
yet the impression remained so strong upon their imaginations that it still
seemed before their eyes, and kept them in perpetual alarm. Consequently the
house was at length deserted, as being deemed absolutely uninhabitable; so
that it was now entirely abandoned to the ghost. However, in hopes that some
tenant might be found who was ignorant of this very alarming circumstance, a
bill was put up, giving notice that it was either to be let or sold. It
happened that Athenodorus,^1 the philosopher, came to Athens at this time,
and, reading the bill, enquired the price. The extraordinary cheapness raised
his suspicion; nevertheless, when he heard the whole story, he was so far from
being discouraged that he was more strongly inclined to hire it, and, in
short, actually did so. When it grew towards evening, he ordered a couch to be
prepared for him in the front part of the house, and, after calling for a
light, together with his pencil and tablets, directed all his people to
retire. But that his mind might not, for want of employment, be open to the
vain terrors of imaginary noises and spirits, he applied himself to writing
with the utmost attention. The first part of the night passed in entire
silence, as usual; at length a clanking of iron and rattling of chains was
heard: however, he neither lifted up his eyes nor laid down his pen, but, in
order to keep calm and collected, tried to pass the sounds off to himself as
something else. The noise increased and advanced nearer, till it seemed at the
door, and at last in the chamber. He looked up, saw, and recognized the ghost
exactly as it had been described to him: it stood before him, beckoning with
the finger, like a person who calls another. Athenodorus in reply made a sign
with his hand that it should wait a little, and threw his eyes again upon his
papers; the ghost then rattled its chains over the head of the philosopher,
who looked up upon this, and seeing it beckoning as before, immediately arose,
and, light in hand, followed it. The ghost slowly stalked along, as if
encumbered with its chains, and, turning into the area of the house, suddenly
vanished. Athenodorus, being thus deserted, made a mark with some grass and
leaves on the spot where the spirit left him. The next day he gave information
to the magistrates, and advised them to order that spot to be dug up. This was
accordingly done, and the skeleton of a man in chains was found there; for the
body, having lain a considerable time in the ground, was putrefied and
mouldered away from the fetters. The bones, being collected together, were
publicly buried, and thus after the ghost was appeased by the proper
ceremonies, the house was haunted no more. This story I believe upon the
credit of others; what I am going to mention, I give you upon my own. I have a
freedman named Marcus, who is by no means illiterate. One night, as he and his
younger brother were lying together, he fancied he saw somebody upon his bed,
who took out a pair of scissors, and cut off the hair from the top part of his
own head, and in the morning, it appeared his hair was actually cut, and the
clippings lay scattered about the floor. A short time after this, an event of
a similar nature contributed to give credit to the former story. A young lad
of my family was sleeping in his apartment with the rest of his companions,
when two persons clad in white came in, as he says, through the windows, cut
off his hair as he lay, and then returned the same way they entered. The next
morning it was found that this boy had been served just as the other, and
there was the hair again, spread about the room. Nothing remarkable indeed
followed these events, unless perhaps that I escaped a prosecution, in which,
if Domitian (during whose reign this happened) had lived some time longer, I
should certainly have been involved. For after the death of that emperor,
articles of impeachment against me were found in his scrutore, which had been
exhibited by Carus. It may therefore be conjectured, since it is customary for
persons under any public accusation to let their hair grow, this cutting off
the hair of my servants was a sign I should escape the imminent danger that
threatened me. Let me desire you then to give this question your mature
consideration. The subject deserves your examination; as, I trust, I am not
myself altogether unworthy a participation in the abundance of your superior
knowledge. And though you should, as usual, balance between two opinions, yet
I hope you will lean more on one side than on the other, lest, whilst I
consult you in order to have my doubt settled, you should dismiss me in the
same suspense and indecision that occasioned you the present application.
Farewell.
[Footnote 1: A Stoic philosopher and native of Tarsus. He was tutor for some
time to Octavius, afterwards Augustus, Caesar.]
LXXXIV
To Septitius
You tell me certain persons have blamed me in your company, as being upon
all occasions too lavish in the praise I give my friends. I not only
acknowledge the charge, but glory in it; for can there be a nobler error than
an overflowing benevolence? But still, who are these, let me ask, that are
better acquainted with my friends than I am myself? Yet grant there are any
such, why will they deny me the satisfaction of so pleasing a mistake? For
supposing my friends not to deserve the highest encomiums I give them, yet I
am happy in believing they do. Let them recommend then this malignant zeal to
those (and their number is not inconsiderable) who imagine they shew their
judgment when they indulge their censure upon their friends. As for myself,
they will never be able to persuade me I can be guilty of an excess^1 in
friendship. Farewell.
[Footnote 1: Balzac very prettily observes: "Il y a des rivieres qui ne font
jamais tant de bien que quand elles se debordent; de meme, l`amitie n`a rien
meilleur que l`exces." M.]
LXXXV
To Tacitus
I predict (and I am persuaded I shall not be deceived) that your
histories will be immortal. I frankly own therefore I so much the more
earnestly wish to find a place in them. If we are generally careful to have
our faces taken by the best artists, ought we not to desire that our actions
may be celebrated by an author of your distinguished abilities? I therefore
call your attention to the following matter, which, though it cannot have
escaped your notice, as it is mentioned in the public journals, still I call
your attention to, that you may the more readily believe how agreeable it will
be to me that this action, greatly heightened by the risk which attended it,
should receive additional lustre from the testimony of a man of your powers.
The senate appointed Herennius Senecio, and myself, counsel for the province
of Baetica, in their impeachment of Baebius Massa. He was condemned, and the
house ordered his effects to be seized into the hands of the public officer.
Shortly after, Senecio, having learnt that the consuls intended to sit to hear
petitions, came and said to me, "Let us go together, and petition them with
the same unanimity in which we executed the office which had been enjoined us,
not to suffer Massa`s effects to be dissipated by those who were appointed to
preserve them." I answered, "As we were counsel in this affair by order of the
senate, I recommend it to your consideration whether it would be proper for
us, after sentence passed, to interpose any farther." "You are at liberty,"
said he, "to prescribe what bounds you please to yourself, who have no
particular connections with the province, except what arise from your late
services to them; but then I was born there, and enjoyed the post of quaestor
among them." "If such," I replied, "is your determined resolution, I am ready
to accompany you, that whatever resentment may be the consequence of this
affair, it may not fall singly upon yourself." We accordingly proceeded to the
consuls, where Senecio said what was pertinent to the affair, and I added a
few words to the same effect. Scarcely had we ended when Massa, complaining
that Senecio had not acted against him with the fidelity of an advocate, but
the bitterness of an enemy, desired he might be at liberty to prosecute him
for treason. This occasioned general consternation. Whereupon I rose up; "Most
noble consuls," said I, "I am afraid it should seem that Massa has tacitly
charged me with having favoured him in this cause, since he did not think
proper to join me with Senecio in the desired prosecution." This short speech
was immediately received with applause, and afterwards got much talked about
everywhere. The late emperor Nerva (who, though at that time in a private
station, yet interested himself in every meritorious action performed in
public) wrote a most impressive letter to me upon the occasion, in which he
not only congratulated me, but the age which had produced an example so much
in the spirit (as he was pleased to call it) of the good old days. But,
whatever be the actual fact, it lies in your power to raise it into a grander
and more conspicuously illustrious position, though I am far from desiring you
in the least to exceed the bounds of reality. History ought to be guided by
strict truth, and worthy actions require nothing more. Farewell.
LXXXVI
To Septitius
I had a good journey here, excepting only that some of my servants, were
upset by the excessive heat. Poor Encolpius, my reader,^1 who is so
indispensable to me in my studies and amusements, was so affected with the
dust that it brought on a spitting of blood: an accident which will prove no
less unpleasant to me than unfortunate to himself, should he be thereby
rendered unfit for the literary work in which he so greatly excels. If that
should unhappily result, where shall I find one who will read my works so
well, or appreciate them so thoroughly, as he? Whose tones will my ears drink
in as they do his? But the gods seem to favour our better hopes, as the
bleeding is stopped, and the pain abated. Besides, he is extremely temperate;
while no concern is wanting on my part or care on his physician`s. This,
together with the wholesomeness of the air, and the quiet of retirement, gives
us reason to expect that the country will contribute as much to the
restoration of his health as to his rest. Farewell.
[Footnote 1: Persons of rank and literature among the Romans retained in their
families a domestic whose sole business was to read to them. M.]
LXXXVII
To Calvisius
Other people visit their estates in order to recruit their purses; whilst
I go to mine only to return so much the poorer. I had sold my vintage to the
merchants, who were extremely eager to purchase it, encouraged by the price it
then bore, and what it was probable it would rise to: however, they were
disappointed in their expectations. Upon this occasion to have made the same
general abatement to all would have been much the easiest, though not so
equitable a method. Now I hold it particularly worthy of a man of honour to be
governed by principles of strict equity in his domestic as well as public
conduct; in little matters as in great ones; in his own concerns as well as in
those of others. And if every deviation from rectitude is equally criminal,^1
every approach to it must be equally praiseworthy. So accordingly, I remitted
to all in general one-eighth part of the price they had agreed to give me,
that none might go away without some compensation: next, I particularly
considered those who had advanced the largest sums towards their purchase, and
done me so much the more service, and been greater sufferers themselves. To
those, therefore, whose purchase amounted to more than ten thousand
sesterces,^2 I returned (over and above that which I may call the general and
common eighth) a tenth part of what they had paid beyond that sum. I fear I do
not express myself sufficiently clearly; I will endeavour to explain my
meaning more fully: for instance, suppose a man had purchased of me to the
value of fifteen thousand sesterces,^3 I remitted to him one-eighth part of
that whole sum, and likewise one-tenth of five thousand.^4 Besides this, as
several had deposited, in different proportions, part of the price they had
agreed to pay, whilst others had advanced nothing, I thought it would not be
at all fair that all these should be favoured with the same undistinguished
remission. To those, therefore, who had made any payments, I returned a tenth
part upon the sums so paid. By this means I made a proper acknowledgment to
each, according to their respective deserts, and likewise encouraged them, not
only to deal with me for the future, but to be prompt in their payments. This
instance of my good nature or my judgment (call it which you please) was a
considerable expense to me. However, I found my account in it; for all the
country greatly approved both of the novelty of these abatements and the
manner in which I regulated them. Even those whom I did not "mete" (as they
say) "by the same measure," but distinguished according to their several
degrees, thought themselves obliged to me, in proportion to the probity of
their principles, and went away pleased with having experienced that not with
me "The brave and mean an equal honour find."^5 Farewell.
[Footnote 1: It was a doctrine maintained by the Stoics that all crimes are
equal. M.]
[Footnote 2: About $400.]
[Footnote 3: About $600.]
[Footnote 4: About $93.]
[Footnote 5: Hom. Il. lib. ix., v. 319.]
LXXXVIII
To Romanus
Have you ever seen the source of the river Clitumnus? If you have not
(and I hardly think you can have seen it yet, or you would have told me), go
there as soon as possible. I saw it yesterday, and I blame myself for not
having seen it sooner. At the foot of a little hill, well wooded with old
cypress-trees, a spring gushes out, which, breaking up into different and
unequal streams, forms itself, after several windings, into a large, broad
basin of water, so transparently clear that you may count the shining pebbles,
and the little pieces of money thrown into it, as they lie at the bottom. From
thence it is carried off not so much by the declivity of the ground as by its
own weight and exuberance. A mere stream at its source, immediately, on
quitting this, you find it expanded into a broad river, fit for large vessels
even, allowing a free passage by each other, according as they sail with or
against the stream. The current runs so strong, though the ground is level,
that the large barges going down the river have no occasion to make use of
their oars; while those going up find it difficult to make headway even with
the assistance of oars and poles: and this alternate interchange of ease and
toil, according as you turn, is exceedingly amusing when one sails up and down
merely for pleasure. The banks are well covered with ash and poplar, the shape
and colour of the trees being as clearly and distinctly reflected in the
stream as if they were actually sunk in it. The water is cold as snow, and as
white too. Near it stands an ancient and venerable temple, in which is placed
the river-god Clitumnus clothed in the usual robe of state; and indeed the
prophetic oracles here delivered sufficiently testify the immediate presence
of that divinity. Several little chapels are scattered round, dedicated to
particular gods, distinguished each by his own peculiar name and form of
worship, and some of them, too, presiding over different fountains. For,
besides the principal spring, which is, as it were, the parent of all the
rest, there are several other lesser streams, which, taking their rise from
various sources, lose themselves in the river; over which a bridge is built
that separates the sacred part from that which lies open to common use.
Vessels are allowed to come above this bridge, but no person is permitted to
swim except below it. The Hispellates, to whom Augustus gave this place,
furnish a public bath, and likewise entertain all strangers, at their own
expense. Several villas, attracted by the beauty of this river, stand about on
its borders. In short, every surrounding object will afford you entertainment.
You may also amuse yourself with numberless inscriptions upon the pillars and
walls, by different persons, celebrating the virtues of the fountain, and the
divinity that presides over it. Many of them you will admire, while some will
make you laugh; but I must correct myself when I say so; you are too humane, I
know, to laugh upon such an occasion. Farewell.
LXXXIX
To Aristo
As you are no less acquainted with the political laws of your country
(which include the customs and usages of the senate) than with the civil, I am
particularly desirous to have your opinion whether I was mistaken in an affair
which lately came before the house, or not. This I request, not with a view of
being directed in my judgment as to what is passed (for that is now too late),
but in order to know how to act in any possible future case of the kind. You
will ask, perhaps, "Why do you apply for information concerning a point on
which you ought to be well instructed?" Because the tyranny of former
reigns,^1 as it introduced a neglect and ignorance of all other parts of
useful knowledge, so particularly of what relates to the customs of the
senate; for who is there so tamely industrious as to desire to learn what he
can never have an opportunity of putting in practice? Besides, it is not very
easy to retain even the knowledge one has acquired where no opportunity of
employing it occurs. Hence it was that Liberty, on her return,^2 found us
totally ignorant and inexperienced; and thus in the warmth of our eagerness to
taste her sweets, we are sometimes hurried on to action, ere we are well
instructed how we ought to act. But by the institution of our ancestors, it
was wisely provided that the young should learn from the old, not only by
precept, but by their own observation, how to behave in that sphere in which
they were one day themselves to move; while these, again, in their turn,
transmitted the same mode of instruction to their children. Upon this
principle it was that the youth were sent early into the army, that by being
taught to obey they might learn to command, and, whilst they followed others,
might be trained by degrees to become leaders themselves. On the same
principle, when they were candidates for any office, they were obliged to
stand at the door of the senate-house, and were spectators of the public
council before they became members of it. The father of each youth was his
instructor upon these occasions, or if he had none, some person of years and
dignity supplied the place of a father. Thus they were taught by that surest
method of discipline, Example, how far the right of proposing any law to the
senate extended; what privileges a senator had in delivering his opinion in
the house; the power of the magistrates in that assembly, and the rights of
the rest of the members; where it is proper to yield, and where to insist;
when and how long to speak, and when to be silent; how to make necessary
distinctions between contrary opinions, and how to improve upon a former
motion: in a word, they learnt by this means every senatorial usage. As for
myself, it is true, indeed, I served in the army when I was a youth; but it
was at a time when courage was suspected, and want of spirit rewarded; when
generals were without authority, and soldiers without modesty; when there was
neither discipline nor obedience, but all was riot, disorder, and confusion:
in short, when it was happier to forget than to remember what one learnt. I
attended likewise in my youth the senate, but a senate shrinking and
speechless; where it was dangerous to utter one`s opinion, and mean and
pitiable to be silent. What pleasure was there in learning, or indeed what
could be learnt, when the senate was convened either to do nothing whatever or
to give their sanction to some consummate infamy! when they were assembled
either for cruel or ridiculous purposes, and when their deliberations were
never serious, though often sad! But I was not only a witness to this scene of
wretchedness, as a spectator; I bore my share of it too as a senator, and both
saw and suffered under it for many years; which so broke and damped my spirits
that they have not even yet been able fully to recover themselves. It is
within quite recently (for all time seems short in proportion to its
happiness) that we could take any pleasure in knowing what relates to or in
setting about the duties of our station. Upon these considerations, therefore,
I may the more reasonably entreat you, in the first place, to pardon my error
(if I have been guilty of one), and, in the next, to lead me out of it by your
superior knowledge: for you have always been diligent to examine into the
constitution of your country, both with respect to its public and private, its
ancient and modern, its general and special laws. I am persuaded, indeed, the
point upon which I am going to consult you is such an unusual one that even
those whose great experience in public business must have made them, one would
have naturally supposed, acquainted with everything were either doubtful or
absolutely ignorant upon it. I shall be more excusable, therefore, if I happen
to have been mistaken; as you will earn the higher praise if you can set me
right in an affair which it is not clear has ever yet fallen within your
observation. The enquiry then before the house was concerning the freedmen of
Afranius Dexter, who being found murdered, it was uncertain whether he fell by
his own hands, or by those of his household; and if the latter, whether they
committed the fact in obedience to the commands of Afranius, or were prompted
to it by their own villainy. After they had been put to the question, a
certain senator (it is of no importance to mention his name, but if you are
desirous to know, it was myself) was for acquitting them; another proposed
that they should be banished for a limited time; and a third that they should
suffer death. These several opinions were so extremely different that it was
impossible either of them could stand with the other. For what have death and
banishment in common with one another? Why, no more than banishment and
acquittal have together. Though an acquittal approaches rather nearer a
sentence of exile than a sentence of death does: for both the former agree at
least in this, that they spare life, whereas the latter takes it away. In the
meanwhile, those senators who were for punishing with death, and those who
proposed banishment, sate together on the same side of the house: and thus by
a present appearance of unanimity suspended their real disagreement. I moved,
therefore, that the votes for each of the three opinions should be separately
taken, and that two of them should not, under favour of a short truce between
themselves, join against the third. I insisted that such of the members who
were for capital punishment should divide from the others who voted for
banishment; and that these two distinct parties should not be permitted to
form themselves into a body, in opposition to those who declared for
acquittal, when they would immediately after disunite again: for it was not
material that they agreed in disliking one proposal, since they differed with
respect to the other two. It seemed very extraordinary that he who moved the
freedmen should be banished, and the slaves suffer death, should not be
allowed to join these two in one motion, but that each question should be
ordered to be put to the house separately; and yet that the vote of one who
was for inflicting capital punishment upon the freedmen should be taken
together with that of one who was for banishing them. For if, in the former
instance, it was reasonable that the motion should be divided, because it
comprehended two distinct propositions, I could not see why, in the latter
case, suffrages so extremely different should be thrown into the same scale.
Permit me, then, notwithstanding the point is already settled, to go over it
again as if it were still undecided, and to lay before you those reasons at my
ease, which I offered to the house in the midst of much interruption and
clamour. Let us suppose there had been only three judges appointed to hear
this cause, one of whom was of opinion that the parties in question deserved
death; the other that they should only be banished; and the third that they
ought to be acquitted: should the two former unite their weight to overpower
the latter, or should each be separately balanced? For the first and second
are no more compatible than the second and third. They ought therefore in the
same manner to be counted in the senate as contrary opinions, since they were
delivered as different ones. Suppose the same person had moved that they
should both have been banished and put to death, could they possibly, in
pursuance of this opinion, have suffered both punishments? Or could it have
been looked upon as one consistent motion when it united two such different
decisions? Why, then should the same opinion, when delivered by distinct
persons, be considered as one and entire, which would not be deemed so if it
were proposed by a single man? Does not the law manifestly imply that a
distinction is to be made between those who are for a capital conviction, and
those who are for banishment, in the very form of words made use of when the
house is ordered to divide? You who are of such an opinion, come to this side;
you who are of any other, go over to the side of him whose opinion you follow.
Let us examine this form, and weigh every sentence: You who are of this
opinion: that is, for instance, you who are for banishment, come on this side;
namely, on the side of him who moved for banishment. From whence it is clear
he cannot remain on the side of those who are for death. You who are for any
other: observe, the law is not content with barely saying another, but it adds
any. Now can there be a doubt as to whether they who declare for a capital
conviction are of any other opinion than those who propose exile! Go over to
the side of him whose opinion you follow: does not the law seem, as it were,
to call, compel, drive over, those who are of different opinions, to contrary
sides? Does not the consul himself point out, not only by this solemn form of
words, but by his hand and gesture, the place in which every man is to remain,
or to which he is to go over? "But," it is objected, "if this separation is
made between those who vote for inflicting death, and those who are on the
side of exile, the opinion for acquitting the prisoners must necessarily
prevail." But how does that affect the parties who vote? Certainly it does not
become them to contend by every art, and urge every expedient, that the milder
sentence may not take place. "Still," say they, "those who are for condemning
the accused either capitally or to banishment should be first set in
opposition to those who are for acquitting them, and afterwards weighed
against each other." Thus, as, in certain public games, some particular
combatant is set apart by lot and kept to engage with the conqueror; so, it
seems, in the senate, there is a first and second combat, and of two different
opinions, the prevailing one has still a third to contend with. What? when any
particular opinion is received, do not all the rest fall of course? Is it
reasonable, then, that one should be thrown into the scale merely to weigh
down another? To express my meaning more plainly: unless the two parties who
are respectively for capital punishment and exile immediately separate upon
the first division of the house, it would be to no purpose afterwards to
dissent from those with whom they joined before. But I am dictating instead of
receiving instruction. Tell me, then, whether you think these votes should
have been taken separately? My motion, it is true, prevailed; nevertheless I
am desirous to know whether you think I ought to have insisted upon this
point, or have yielded as that member did who declared for capital punishment?
For convinced, I will not say of the legality, but at least of the equity of
my proposal, he receded from his opinion, and went over to the party for
exile: fearing perhaps, if the votes were taken separately (which he saw would
be the case), the freedmen would be acquitted: for the numbers were far
greater on that side than on either of the other two, separately counted. The
consequence was that those who had been influenced by his authority, when they
saw themselves forsaken by his going over to the other party, gave up a motion
which they found abandoned by the first proposer, and deserted, as it were,
with their leader. Thus the three opinions were resolved at length into two;
and of those two, one prevailed, and the other was rejected; while the third,
as it was not powerful enough to conquer both the others, had only to choose
to which of the two it would yield. Farewell.
[Footnote 1: Those of Nero and Domitian. M.]
[Footnote 2: When Nerva and Trajan received the empire. M.]
XC
To Paternus
The sickness lately in my family, which has carried off several of my
servants, some of them, too, in the prime of their years, has been a great
affliction to me. I have two consolations, however, which, though by no means
equivalent to such a grief, still are consolations. One is, that as I have
always readily manumitted my slaves, their death does not seem altogether
immature, if they lived long enough to receive their freedom: the other, that
I have allowed them to make a kind of will,^1 which I observe as religiously
as if they were legally entitled to that privilege. I receive and obey their
last requests and injunctions as so many authoritative commands, suffering
them to dispose of their effects to whom they please; with this single
restriction, that they leave them to someone in my household, for to slaves
the house they are in is a kind of state and commonwealth, so to speak. But
though I endeavour to acquiesce under these reflections, yet the same
tenderness which led me to shew them these indulgences weakens and gets the
better of me. However, I would not wish on that account to become harder:
though the generality of the world, I know, look upon losses of this kind in
no other view than as a diminution of their property, and fancy, by cherishing
such an unfeeling temper, they shew a superior fortitude and philosophy. Their
fortitude and philosophy I will not dispute. But humane, I am sure, they are
not; for it is the very criterion of true manhood to feel those impressions of
sorrow which it endeavours to resist, and to admit not to be above the want of
consolation. But perhaps I have detained you too long upon this subject,
though not so long as I would. There is a certain pleasure even in giving vent
to one`s grief; especially when we weep on the bosom of a friend who will
approve, or, at least, pardon, our tears. Farewell.
[Footnote 1: A slave could acquire no property, and consequently was incapable
by law of making a will. M.]
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