Seneca Letter XXV

Commentary revised by Jacques Bailly from an assignment by Benjamin Suib


SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM

 

[1] Quod ad duos amicos nostros pertinet, diversa via eundum est; alterius enim vitia emendanda, alterius frangenda sunt. Utar libertate tota: non amo illum nisi offendo. 'Quid ergo?' inquis 'quadragenarium pupillum cogitas sub tutela tua continere? Respice aetatem eius iam duram et intractabilem: non potest reformari; tenera finguntur.' [2] An profecturus sim nescio: malo successum mihi quam fidem deesse. Nec desperaveris etiam diutinos aegros posse sanari, si contra intemperantiam steteris, si multa invitos et facere coegeris et pati. Ne de altero quidem satis fiduciae habeo, excepto eo quod adhuc peccare erubescit; nutriendus est hic pudor, qui quamdiu in animo eius duraverit, aliquis erit bonae spei locus. Cum hoc veterano parcius agendum puto, ne in desperationem sui veniat; [3] nec ullum tempus aggrediendi fuit melius quam hoc, dum interquiescit, dum emendato similis est. Aliis haec intermissio eius imposuit, mihi verba non dat: exspecto cum magno fenore vitia reditura, quae nunc scio cessare, non deesse. Impendam huic rei dies et utrum possit aliquid agi an non possit experiar.

 

[4] Tu nobis te, ut facis, fortem praesta et sarcinas contrahe; nihil ex his quae habemus necessarium est. Ad legem naturae revertamur; divitiae paratae sunt. Aut gratuitum est quo egemus, aut vile: panem et aquam natura desiderat. Nemo ad haec pauper est, intra quae quisquis desiderium suum clusit cum ipso Iove de felicitate contendat, ut ait Epicurus, cuius aliquam vocem huic epistulae involvam. [5] 'Sic fac' inquit 'omnia tamquam spectet Epicurus.' Prodest sine dubio custodem sibi imposuisse et habere quem respicias, quem interesse cogitationibus tuis iudices. Hoc quidem longe magnificentius est, sic vivere tamquam sub alicuius boni viri ac semper praesentis oculis, sed ego etiam hoc contentus sum, ut sic facias quaecumque facies tamquam spectet aliquis: omnia nobis mala solitudo persuadet. [6] Cum iam profeceris tantum ut sit tibi etiam tui reverentia, licebit dimittas paedagogum: interim aliquorum te auctoritate custodi - aut Cato ille sit aut Scipio aut Laelius aut alius cuius interventu perditi quoque homines vitia supprimerent, dum te efficis eum cum quo peccare non audeas. Cum hoc effeceris et aliqua coeperit apud te tui esse dignatio, incipiam tibi permittere quod idem suadet Epicurus: 'tunc praecipue in te ipse secede cum esse cogeris in turba'. [7] Dissimilem te fieri multis oportet, dum tibi tutum [non] sit ad te recedere. Circumspice singulos: nemo est cui non satius sit cum quolibet esse quam secum. 'Tunc praecipue in te ipse secede cum esse cogeris in turba' - si bonus vir <es>, si quietus, si temperans. Alioquin in turbam tibi a te recedendum est: istic malo viro propius es. Vale.

 

 

Introduction

This letter first explores an effort to help two of Seneca and Lucilius' mutual friends (unnamed) to improve themselves, one of whom is older (can you teach an old dog new tricks?), the other younger.  Seneca says he doesn't know if it will work, but he will try "tough love."

Next Seneca turns to Lucilius' own character. The chief points he makes about character improvement here are: everything external to one's self is unnecessary and unimportant, what is needed to stay alive is easily obtained, and imagining someone watching your every move will help you to improve (especially if the imagined observer is a good person) until you become good and fit to be your own company. He suggests that Lucilius follow good Roman exampla (Scipio, Cato, and Laelius). He also uses the Hellenistic philosopher Epicurus twice as an exemplum for good living. Presumably Seneca uses Epicurus, whose philosophy was a rival to the stoics, to emphasize points of agreement, perhaps with the implication that if two so different schools agree on a point, it is more reliable, or perhaps maneuvering to suggest to any Epicurean readers that stoicism offers all the good things of Epicureanism and more besides. 


Commentary

 
1.
Quickly setting out the situation, namely that of two mutual friends both of whom have faults that need correcting, Seneca immediately begins with terse, pointed formulation (eundem est, non amo nisi offendo, tenera finguntur). He uses Lucilius as an imaginary interlocutor, a frequent tactic. The gist of the thought here is "tough love" and consideration of whether age makes a person incorrigible.

[1] Quod ad duos amicos nostros pertinet, diversa via eundum est; alterius enim vitia emendanda, alterius frangenda sunt. Utar libertate tota: non amo illum nisi offendo. 'Quid ergo?' inquis 'quadragenarium pupillum cogitas sub tutela tua continere? Respice aetatem eius iam duram et intractabilem: non potest reformari; tenera finguntur.'

quod: quod ad Caesarem pertinet means "as regards Caesar." Here, quod is an accusative of specification (A&G 572a). | eundum est: the passive periphrastic; impersonal, with an ablative of means diversa via. | alterius… alterius: supply sunt with emendanda. | libertate tota: utor takes abl. In post-Augustan Latin, libertas can mean "candor" or "frankness," which is in keeping with and prepares for the next clause, which might seem brusque and counterintuitive if not prepared for. | non amo illum nisi offendo: Seneca's typically terse style, which strives for paradoxical and counterintuitive expressions, presumably to make the reader think: a more verbose translator might render non amo as "I am not really loving" here. illum should be understood both in its clause and in the si clause with offendo. | tenera finguntur: presented aphoristically as a gnomic truth, which works logically if it means that the only characters amenable to shaping are those of young and tender people. Again, an example of Senecan terseness, and yet, it occurs as the third clause in a string of three roughly synonymous clauses: terseness combined with pleonasm.

 
2.

Although unsure of the outcome, Seneca is trying anyway: it may be relevant that the stoics believed that what matters is correct intention and effort, not outcome (outcome is subject to fortune, which one cannot control, whereas one controls one's own intentions and efforts). The older friend must be made to do things even unwilling, and yet Seneca says that one must proceed parcius with him: the younger friend's shame is a positive force, which must be nurtured to keep him on a better path. Seneca employs medical language throughout this section.

[2] An profecturus sim nescio: malo successum mihi quam fidem deesse. Nec desperaveris etiam diutinos aegros posse sanari, si contra intemperantiam steteris, si multa invitos et facere coegeris et pati. Ne de altero quidem satis fiduciae habeo, excepto eo quod adhuc peccare erubescit; nutriendus est hic pudor, qui quamdiu in animo eius duraverit, aliquis erit bonae spei locus. Cum hoc veterano parcius agendum puto, ne in desperationem sui veniat;

 

An profecturus sim nescio: nescio an triggers an indirect question in the subjunctive. | malo… deesse: malo takes a complementary infinitive deesse, which takes a dative. The full thought would be malo successum mihi deesse quam fidem mihi deesse. The comparative element in malo "prefer" can take a comparative quam "than." | Nec desperaveris ... si ...steteris, … coegeris: steteris and coegeris are 2nd sing. fut. perf. active indicatives in future-more-vivid protases: the apodosis has a prohibition (nec desperaveris), a common substitute for the more common future indicative. The perfect subjunctive (desperaveris) is frequently used in prohibitions following ne (and sometimes other negatives, such as nec: A&G §450). desperaveris, as a verb of emotion, takes acc. + inf. | invitos: refers to the people called diutinos aegros in the apodosis. It is technically in apposition to the subject of facere and pati, but is perhaps most easily translated as  the adverb "unwillingly." Consider: the sentence invitus hoc fecit can mean "he, unwilling, did this" or, in better English, "he did this unwillingly." | Ne de altero quidem: ne ___ quidem "not even _____" usually has a single word between ne  and quidem: here the prepositional clause de altero is treated as a single word. altero refers to the younger person whom Seneca is trying to improve. | satis fiduciae: satis is undeclinable: what case is it? Also, words like satis (parum, nihil, aliquid,  etc. ) often take partitive genitive. | excepto eo quod ...: in post-Augustan prose, quod "that, in that, because" occurs especially after eo. | aliquis ... locus: note how the adjective and its noun occur at each end of the clause. | parcius agendum: sc. esse, an impersonal periphrastic infinitive modified by the comparative adverb parcius in indirect speech dependent on puto. | ne … veniat: negative purpose clause. | sui: the genitive of personal pronouns mei, tui, sui, nostri, vestri are only used for objective or subjective genitives (here it functions like an object of desperationem). Look-alike adjectives mei, tui, sui, nostri, vestri exist.

 
3.
The vices of the older friend are currently quiet, and so Seneca thinks it is time to go to work, before they erupt again. Of success he has doubts, but he will try. Interestingly, in Epistula 69§14, Seneca claims that no age is better suited to having a sound mind than old age.

[3] nec ullum tempus aggrediendi fuit melius quam hoc, dum interquiescit, dum emendato similis est. Aliis haec intermissio eius imposuit, mihi verba non dat: exspecto cum magno fenore vitia reditura, quae nunc scio cessare, non deesse. Impendam huic rei dies et utrum possit aliquid agi an non possit experiar.

 

tempus aggrediendi: the genitive gerund depends on tempus. | fuit: an epistolary tense: it will be past when the addressee reads it. | hoc (sc. tempus), dum… dum: dum "while" takes the historic present indicative to express a time within which the action of the main clause happens (see BA §438: dum hoc facis, illud fecit means "while you were doing this, he did that"). | imposuit: impono in the meaning “trick, deceive" takes a dative (aliis). | verba non dat: the idiom verba dare means "deceive, cheat": that is the case because verbum can have a "pregnant meaning" (one in which it carries an extra piece of information) and mean "empty talk, mere words." | vitia reditura: sc. esse. An acc. + inf. dependent on exspecto. | cessare and deesse: infinitives in indirect speech governed by scio. Their subject is accusative quae. Seneca strives for clever distinctions such as cessare non deesse. | impendam huic rei dies: verbs that are compounded frequently take a dative plus a direct object. | utrum: introduces indirect speech dependent on experiar (which is the same tense and mood as impendam). | agi: passive infinitive, depends on possit. facio and ago frequently have very general meaning and should be translated as "do," the all-purpose English verb that has no specific meaning of its own.

 
4.
Seneca switches gears to giving direct advice to Lucilius about his own life: Seneca suggests that Lucilius reduce his possessions, which is part of the larger stoic claim that everything except rationality and virtue is indifferent. Seneca also advocates the Stoic claim that being rich in the only things that truly matter (rationality and virtue) is up to us, and we are provided with all else we think we truly need to remain alive either with no or with little effort. What is more, says Seneca, no one is so poor that they can't get bread and water: to be sure, Seneca clearly lives in a bubble, given that starvation (i.e. not having any food for weeks) was a much more real and utterly unavoidable and important factor in his world than ours, but within his bubble (which most readers of this commentary surely live in as well), he is absolutely right, and it is an important point. Don't make the mistake of saying that he is wrong because he is rich and doesn't at all know whereof he speaks.

By "nature," stoics mean human nature, if they are talking about humans, but also more generally the nature of any thing in the world: what it is, essentially. "Nature" for stoics is not some deity or personality or force in the world. It is merely a name for the idea that things are what they are, they have a nature, and things can depart from or stay more true to their nature. A debated concept today, to be sure, but still championed by many.

[4] Tu nobis te, ut facis, fortem praesta et sarcinas contrahe; nihil ex his quae habemus necessarium est. Ad legem naturae revertamur; divitiae paratae sunt. Aut gratuitum est quo egemus, aut vile: panem et aquam natura desiderat. Nemo ad haec pauper est, intra quae quisquis desiderium suum clusit cum ipso Iove de felicitate contendat, ut ait Epicurus, cuius aliquam vocem huic epistulae involvam.

 

ut facis: Latin has no single word like English "do" that can stand in for any verb, but  facio and ago (see §3) often mean "do." | praesta: imperative taking te as its object: fortem is predicative in agreement with te. For example praestat se bonum means something like "he proves himself a good man" or "he behaves himself as a good man." | revertamur: hortatory subjunctive. | quo egemus: egeo takes ablative. | ad haec ... intra quae ...: the antecedent of quae is haec, which refers back to items from the previous sentence. Note that ad can have a wide variety of meanings: one cannot be "poor to X" or "poor at food" in English, but one can be "poor in X" or "poor in terms of X." And yet, "in" or "in terms of" are no more logical or otherwise better than "at" or "to" to express "being poor in terms of X": the same thing applies in Latin. Think carefully, but boldly, about prepositional usage and translation. | quisquis ... clusit ... contendat: the person to whom quisquis refers is the subject of both verbs, just as in English "Whoever knows Latin can read this letter" where the person to whom "whoever" refers is subject of both "knows" and "can read." contendat is potential subjunctive. | aliquam vocem: although vox does mean "voice," it also is used for something said: here it refers to the quotation to follow. | involvam: another compound verb taking both a dative (dependent on in-) and an accusative direct object.


5.
Next, Seneca introduces the stoic virtue of constancy, but indirectly: one should live life as if one is being held to a standard, as if someone is watching. Seneca suggests that it is better if one imagines a good person as the watcher, but a watcher who is not fully good will still help, because even such a watcher prevents the feeling of solitude, and solitude gives us the opportunity to develop our vices (perhaps because with no one to catch us, we can get away with things, but no explanation is given here).
Compare the sentiment of Epistula 41 §2 sacer intra nos spiritus sedet, malorum bonorumque nostrorum observator et custos ("a holy spirit resides within us, an observer and guardian of our good and bad (traits, actions, thoughts, choices, etc.)").
Note that "Epicurus" here stands for the stoic sage, a good person, somewhat paradoxically, because Epicurus was head of a rival school.
 

[5] 'Sic fac' inquit 'omnia tamquam spectet Epicurus.' Prodest sine dubio custodem sibi imposuisse et habere quem respicias, quem interesse cogitationibus tuis iudices. Hoc quidem longe magnificentius est, sic vivere tamquam sub alicuius boni viri ac semper praesentis oculis, sed ego etiam hoc contentus sum, ut sic facias quaecumque facies tamquam spectet aliquis: omnia nobis mala solitudo persuadet.

 

tamquam spectet: introducing a comparative clause, tamquam, "as if": unreal contrary-to-fact and so takes subjunctive. | Prodest: triggers indirect speech with two subordinate infinitives, imposuisse and habere. | imposuisse: takes custodem as its direct object and sibi as the reflexive indirect object. Note that the meaning of impono is different here from its use in §3. | quem respicias, quem ... iudices: relative clauses of purpose, primary sequence. | magnificentius: comparative because sic vivere...oculis is being compared to ut sic facias ... aliquis. | hoc contentus: hoc is abl. | ut sic facias: indirect command. | tamquam ... spectet: comparative clauses either present their contents as a fact (indicative) or as unreal, imaginary, or otherwise not real (subjunctive): note that the truth of the matter is irrelevant, because one can present a fact as unreal or something false as a fact. What matters is how the author intends to present the matter. | sub alicuius boni viri ac semper praesentis oculis: sub and its object oculis surround the long possessive genitive phrase that depends on oculis.| omnia nobis mala solitudo persuadet: solitudo nominative, omnia mala accusative, nobis dative. Note the aphoristic formulation: Seneca strives to be memorable.

6.
Cato… Scipio… Laelius: Three Roman exempla revered for virtuous character. Use them as watchers over your self and its actions until you have reformed your self so that it is good and can watch itself. When that happens, you will be self-sufficient and can find peace anywhere, even in a crowd.

 

[6] Cum iam profeceris tantum ut sit tibi etiam tui reverentia, licebit dimittas paedagogum: interim aliquorum te auctoritate custodi - aut Cato ille sit aut Scipio aut Laelius aut alius cuius interventu perditi quoque homines vitia supprimerent, dum te efficis eum cum quo peccare non audeas. Cum hoc effeceris et aliqua coeperit apud te tui esse dignatio, incipiam tibi permittere quod idem suadet Epicurus: 'tunc praecipue in te ipse secede cum esse cogeris in turba'.


cum profeceris ... ut sit ... licebit dimittas: similar to a future-more-vivid conditional (profeceris ... licebit) with a cum clause instead of a si clause. ut sit result clause. dimittas semi-independent subjunctive dependent on licebit. | tantum: adverbial "so much," preparatory for the ut  result clause. | tui reverentia: tui is objective genitive. | dimittas: a semi-independent subjunctive. Called "semi-independent" because there is no subordinating conjunction such as ut. | custodi: a verb form. | sit: jussive subjunctive. | cuius ... supprimerent: while ordinarily a subjunctive in a relative clause is a "relative clause of characteristic" (which can be equivalent to a purpose or result clause among other things),  supprimerent is imperfect, which violates the normal sequence of tenses, perhaps because Seneca is thinking of Cato and Scipio and Laelius as figures of the past (see AG 481i), or perhaps Seneca is thinking of cuius interventu as a hidden protasis and has made supprimerent a present unreal (aka contrary-to-fact): "by whose intervention, if it were to happen, even bad people could suppress their vices." | vitia: object of supprimerent. | te efficis eum: double accusative, as in "Grammar makes Latin a joy." | audeas: audeas subjunctive in a relative clause of characteristic. | Cum ... effeceris et ... coeperit ...., incipiam: structurally similar to the first sentence of this section. | tui dignatio: tui is objective genitive: cf. tui reverentia above. | quod: the antecedent is the whole quotation which follows. | idem: "the same" modifying Epicurus, because he has been mentioned before. | ipse: ipse means "yourself," but in an exclusive sense here, "on your own," "alone" (Lewis and Short II.C).


7.
While most people prefer not to be alone, the Stoic sage can be quite contentedly alone even in a crowd, as is proper, for her character is its own best company. Others, however, who are not yet virtuous, are better off with others, so that they don't fall prey to their own vices. Seneca overstates his case by claiming that one is better off with just anyone (cum quolibet), unless he is somehow thinking of the stoic tenet that all vicious people are equally vicious, and just about everyone is vicious (explaining which is a long task: it is one of those notoriously paradoxical stoic positions that provokes one to think hard). Another facet of Seneca's logic here is not absolutely clear: why would he think solitude makes most people more susceptible to vice? We can think of possible answers to that question, but he does not provide them.

[7] Dissimilem te fieri multis oportet, dum tibi tutum [non] sit ad te recedere. Circumspice singulos: nemo est cui non satius sit cum quolibet esse quam secum. 'Tunc praecipue in te ipse secede cum esse cogeris in turba' - si bonus vir <es>, si quietus, si temperans. Alioquin in turbam tibi a te recedendum est: istic malo viro propius es. Vale.


Dissimilem… oportet: fieri complementary inf. of oportet. te accusative object of oportet: dissimilem predicate accusative agreeing with te. dissimilis takes dative. | dum ... [non] sit: square brackets indicate that the editor thinks 1) this word should be omitted and 2) yet it is a manuscript reading and 3) the editor is not sufficiently confident to simply omit it. If we accept non, then the thought is that provided that (dum) one cannot become good and hence one cannot safely retreat into oneself, one should at least not be like the many. If we reject non, the thought is that one should be different from the many until (dum) one can safely retreat into oneself. When dum means "provided that, if only, as long as" it takes the subjunctive. When dum means "until," it takes indicative if the relation is purely temporal, and subjunctive if the notion of a desired end predominates. | nemo est cui ... sit: with expressions of existence or non-existence such as nemo est qui, sunt qui, etc., subjunctive is the norm in the relative clause of characteristic (A&G §535). | cum quolibet esse quam secum: the infinitive is modified by the prepositional cum quolibet and is the subject of sit. quam (sc. esse) secum is comparative dependent on satius. | si bonus vir <es>, si quietus, si temperans: highly unusual and emphatic repetition of si, especially if there is no verb <es>. It adds a condition to Epicurus' thought. The three adjectives appear meant to be either synonymous or co-occurring phenomena. The verb <es> is in pointy brackets to indicate that the editor thinks the verb is necessary although not attested in any manuscripts (the Loeb editor does not have <es> or anything else in its place). | propius: comparative of prope, takes dative.
 
References
A&G = Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar
BA = Bradley's Arnold Latin Prose Composition

Text taken from www.thelatinlibrary.com

  

Vocabulary

adgredior, see aggredior

adhuc, still, up to now, up to this point

aeger, -gra, -grum, sick, ill

aetas, aetatis f, lifetime, generation

aggredio, -ere, -ii, -itus, go to, approach

ago, agere, egi, actum, proceed, act; do

aio, aiere, say

alioquin, otherwise

alter, -a, -um, other, different

amicus, -i, m, friend

amo (1), love

an, introduces indirect questions

apud, in X's eyes (X is acc.); at X's house (X is acc.)

aqua, -ae, f, water

auctoritas, -atis authority, power

audeo, audere, ausus sum, dare

Cato, Catonis, m., Cato the Elder (234-149BC)

cesso (1), cease, stop

circumspicio, -ere, -spexi, -spectus, look around for (+ acc.)
claudo, claudere, clausi, clausus, another form of cludo

cludo, -ere, clusi, clusus (also claudo ...), close, enclose; confine, limit

coepi, -isse, -tum,  (have) begun

cogitatio, -onis, f, thinking, meditation

cogito (1), think, pursue something in the mind

cogo, -agere, -egi, -actus, force, make

contendo, -ere, -di, -tus, rival, contest

contentus, -a, -um, content, happy, satisfied

contineo, -ere, -tinui, -tentus, hold, keep

contra (+acc.), against

contraho, -trahere, -traxi, -tractus, collect, amass; reduce, lessen

custodio, custodire, custodi(v)i, custoditus, guard, protect

custos, custodis, m., a guard, protector

desidero (1), want, wish for

desperatio, -onis, f., desperation

despero (1), be hopeless

desum, deesse, defui, be absent, be lacking

dies, -ei, m., day

dignatio, -onis, f., respect, esteem

dimitto, -ere, dimisi, dimissus, send away, dismiss

dissimilis, -e, unlike, different

diutinus, -a, -um, lasting, long

diversus, -a, -um, different

divitiae, -arum, f.pl., riches, wealth

do, dare, dedi, datus, give

dubium, -i, n., doubt

dum, while (takes historic present)

duro (1), harden

durus, -a, -um, tough, hard

efficio, -ere, effeci, effectus, render X (acc.) Y (acc.), make X Y; bring about, effect

egeo, egere, egui, need (takes abl.)

emendo (1), emend, correct

eo, ire, ii, itus, go, advance

Epicurus, -i. m., Epicurus (341-270 BC), founder of the philosophical school of Epicureanism

epistula, -ae f., letter

erubesco, -ere, erubui, redden, blush

excipio, excipere, excepi, exceptum, take out, except

experior, -eriri, expertus sum, test

exspecto (1), await, look out for

facio, facere, feci, factus, make, do

faenus, see fenus

felicitas, felicitatis, f., happiness

fenus, -oris, n., gain, profit

fides, -ei, f., faith

fiducia, -ae, f., trust, confidence

fingo, -ere, finxi, fictum, form, shape; touch, handle

fio, fieri, factus sum, become, be made; happen

fortis, forte, strong

frango, frangere, frangi, fractum, break, shatter

gratuitus, -a, -um, free

habeo, habere, habui, habitus, have

homo, hominis, m., man

idem, likewise, also

impendo, -ere, -i, -sum, weigh out, expend, spend

impono, -ponere, -posui, -positus, impose upon; cheat, deceive (+ dat.)

incipio, -ere, incepi, inceptus, begin

inp-, see imp-

inquis, you say

intemperantia, -ae, f., extravagance, excess

interim, adv., meanwhile

intermissio, -onis, f., a breaking off, interruption

interquiesco, -quievi, -quietus, rest a while, pause

intersum, -esse, -fui, -futurus, participate in, have a care for (+dat.)

interventus, -us, m., a coming between, intervention

intra, inside of, within, (+acc.)

intractabilis, -e, not to be handled or meddled with

invitus, -a, -um, unwilling, reluctant

involvo, -ere, -i, -volutus, wrap x into y, include x in y (+ acc. + dat.)

Iove, -is, m., Jove

istic, in that place of yours

iudico (1), judge, consider

Laelius, -i, m., Gaius Laelius, a contemporary of Scipio Africanus

lex, legis, f., law

libertas, libertatis, f., liberty

licet (impers.), be permitted

longe, far, by far

malo, malle, malui, prefer

melior, melius, better

natura, -ae, f., nature

necessarius, -a, -um, necessary

nemo, neminis, m. or f., no one

nescio, not know

nutrio, -ire, -ivi, -itus, suckle

oculus, -i, m., an eye

offendo, -fendere, -fendi, -fensum, strike

oportet, oportere, oportuit, (impers.), it is necessary, proper

paedagogus, -i, m., a pedagogue (teacher/guardian who accompanies youths)

panis, -is, m., bread

parcus, -a, -um, frugal, thrifty; parcius (comparative adv.) more sparingly

paro (1), prepare, be ready

patior, pati, passus sum, suffer, endure

pauper, pauperis, poor

pecco (1), transgress, sin; offend

perditus, -a, -um, hopeless, desperate, lost

permitto, permittere, permisi, permissum, allow, permit

persuadeo, -ere, -si, -sum, convince, persuade; urge, encourage

pertineo, -tinere, -tinui, extend to, pertain

possum. posse, potui, be able

praecipue, especially, particularly

praesens, -ntis, present

praesto (1), keep, maintain (+ acc. of a person + acc. adjective of a quality)

proficio, proficere, profeci, profectus, make progress

propior, propius, nearer

prosum, -esse, -fui, -futurus, be useful to, benefit

pudor, -oris, m., shame

pupillus, -i, m., orphan

puto (1), think, esteem

quadragenarius, -a, -um, forty-year-old

quamdiu, adv., as long as

quietus, -a, -um, quiet, meditative

quilibet, quaelibet, quodlibet, whoever, whatever, anyone, anything

recedo, recedere, recessi, recessum, retreat, withdraw

redeo, redire, redi(v)i, rediturus, return

reformo (1), reform

res, -ei, f., matter, affair

respicio, -ere, -spexi, -spectum, look back

respicio, respicere, respexi, respecus, look again at, look back at; respect, have regard for

reverentia, -ae, f., respect, honor

revertor, reverti, reversus, revert (to (ad + acc.))

sano (1), make sound, heal

sarcina, -ae, f., a package

satis, enough, sufficient

scio (4), know

Scipio, Scipionis, m., Scipio Africanus (236-183BC)

secedo, secedere, secessi, secessum, retreat, withdraw

similis, -e, similar

sine, without (+ abl.)

singulus, -a, -um, single, individual

solitudo, -udinis f., solitude

specto (1), watch

spes, -ei, f., hope

sto, stare, steti, status, stand

suadeo, -ere, suasi, suasus, recommend, urge, advocate

successus, -us, m., good result, success

supprimo, -ere, -pressi, -pressus, press down or under; suppress

tamquam, as if (+ subjunctive)

tantum, so far, so much (adverbial accusative)

tempero (1), forbear, be moderate, be temperate

tempus, temporis, n., time

tener, -era, -erum, soft, delicate

totus, -a, -um, whole, total

turba, -ae, f., disturbance; crowd

tutela, -ae, f., a watching, safeguard

tutus, -a, -um, safe

ullus, -a, -um, any, anyone

utor, uti, usus sum, use, employ

utrum, whether (introduces indirect question)

venio, -ire, veni, ventus, go, come

verbum, -i, n., word

veteranus, -a, -um, old veteran

via, -ae, f., road

vilis, -e, cheap, inexpensive

vir, -i, m., man

vitium, -i, n., vice, fault, defect

vivo, vivere, vivi, vitus, live

vox, vocis, f., voice; saying, proverb, maxim