EPISTLE LXXI.
by destructions of various kinds; some shall be ruined by wars, others shall be wasted away by inactivity and by the kind of peace which ends in sloth, or by that vice which is fraught with destruction even for mighty dynasties,—luxury. All these fertile plains shall be buried out of sight by a sudden overflowing of the sea, or a slipping of the soil, as it settles to lower levels, shall draw them suddenly into a yawning chasm. Why then should I be angry or feel sorrow, if I precede the general destruction by a tiny interval of time?” 16. Let great souls comply with God’s wishes, and suffer unhesitatingly whatever fate the law of the universe ordains; for the soul at death is either sent forth into a better life, destined to dwell with deity amid greater radiance and calm, or else, at least, without suffering any harm to itself, it will be mingled with nature again, and will return to the universe.[1]
Therefore Cato’s honourable death was no less a good than his honourable life, since virtue admits of no stretching.[2] Socrates used to say that verity[3] and virtue were the same. Just as truth does not grow, so neither does virtue grow; for it has its due proportions and is complete. 17. You need not, therefore, wonder that goods are equal,[4] both those which are to be deliberately chosen, and those which circumstances have imposed. For if you once adopt the view that they are unequal, deeming, for instance, a brave endurance of torture as among the lesser goods, you will be including it among the evils also; you will pronounce Socrates unhappy in his prison, Cato unhappy when he reopens his wounds with more courage than he showed in
- ↑ For a clear and full discussion regarding Stoic views of the immortality of the soul, and Seneca’s own opinion thereon, see E. V. Arnold, Roman Stoicism, pp. 262 ff.
- ↑ Cf. § 20 of this letter: rigida re quid amplius intendi potest?
- ↑ i.e., knowledge of facts, as Seneca so often says. Cf. Plato, Meno, 87 C ἐπιστήμη τις ἡ ἀρετή, and Aristotle, Eth. vi. 13 Σωκράτης . . . λόγους τὰς ἀρετὰς ᾤετο εἶναι, ἐπιστήμας γὰρ εἶναι πάσας.
- ↑ This is the accepted Stoic doctrine; see Ep. lxvi. 5. Goods are equal, absolute, and independent of circumstances; although, as Seneca here maintains, circumstances may bring one or another of them into fuller play.
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