AD LVCILIVM EPISTVLAE MORALES

LIBER PRIMVS, Epistula I

SENECA LVCILIO SVO SALVTEM

Commentary by Jacques Bailly

In this letter, Seneca sets the tone for his letters: he strives for aphoristic prose that sticks with the reader.

[1] As our only possession that is truly ours, time should not be wasted.
[1] Ita fac, mi Lucili: vindica te tibi, et tempus quod adhuc aut auferebatur aut subripiebatur aut excidebat collige et serva. Persuade tibi hoc sic esse ut scribo: quaedam tempora eripiuntur nobis, quaedam subducuntur, quaedam effluunt. Turpissima tamen est iactura quae per neglegentiam fit. Et si volueris adtendere, magna pars vitae elabitur male agentibus, maxima nihil agentibus, tota vita aliud agentibus.

Sentence structure:
fac: remember the irregular imperatives dic, duc, fer, fac. | magna pars vitae elabitur male agentibus, maxima nihil agentibus, tota vita aliud agentibus: another tripartite construction, with rhetorical repetition.

[2] More clever memorable formulation: death is time past, not something in front of us.

[2] Quem mihi dabis qui aliquod pretium tempori ponat, qui diem aestimet, qui intellegat se cotidie mori? In hoc enim fallimur, quod mortem prospicimus: magna pars eius iam praeterit; quidquid aetatis retro est mors tenet. Fac ergo, mi Lucili, quod facere te scribis, omnes horas conplectere; sic fiet ut minus ex crastino pendeas, si hodierno manum inieceris. Dum differtur vita transcurrit.

ponat... aestimet ... intelligat ... : subjunctive in relative clauses of characteristic. | fiet ... si ... inieceris: future more vivid. | ut minus ex crastina pendeas: nominal ut clause functioning as subject of fiet. | differtur: vita is subject of both differtur and transcurrit, perhaps with slightly different meanings.

[3] People jealously guard other things, but give away or take time without regard for its value.
[3] Omnia, Lucili, aliena sunt, tempus tantum nostrum est; in huius rei unius fugacis ac lubricae possessionem natura nos misit, ex qua expellit quicumque vult. Et tanta stultitia mortalium est ut quae minima et vilissima sunt, certe reparabilia, imputari sibi cum impetravere patiantur, nemo se iudicet quicquam debere qui tempus accepit, cum interim hoc unum est quod ne gratus quidem potest reddere.

Lucili: 2nd declension vocative. | aliena: alienus "belonging to another," " another's." | tantum: adverbial, not an adjective. | in ... possessionem: possessionem is the object of in: all the genitives between the two depend on possessionem as "objective genitives," because they are the direct object of the verbal notion in possessio. | quicumque: a relative pronoun whose antecedent is unexpressed but would have been the object of expellit, as in English "I drove out whomever I disliked." | tanta ... ut ... patiantur ... iudicet ...: tanta modifies stultitia and prepares for the result clauses (hence subjunctive patiantur and iudicet). Note that nemo se iudicet is in asyndeton: English would have an adversative 'but.' | quae minima et vilissima sunt: a relative clause again without an expressed antecedent: the antecedent would have been the direct object of patiantur (as well as subject of imputari). | cum interim hoc unum est: this clause apparently stands in contrast with the previous thought and cum seems to mean "while, whereas": if it does, the verb would regularly be subjunctive. With indicative est, cum would normally mean "while," "at the same time as," which is less intuitive here. Perhaps the indicative underscores that Seneca thinks of this claim as factual.

[4] Seneca explains his own situation currently. Seneca's 'poverty' strikes an ironic note: he was incredibly rich in money.
[4] Interrogabis fortasse quid ego faciam qui tibi ista praecipio. Fatebor ingenue: quod apud luxuriosum sed diligentem evenit, ratio mihi constat inpensae. Non possum dicere nihil perdere, sed quid perdam et quare et quemadmodum dicam; causas paupertatis meae reddam. Sed evenit mihi quod plerisque non suo vitio ad inopiam redactis: omnes ignoscunt, nemo succurrit.

faciam (and perdam and dicam): subjunctive in indirect question. | ratio mihi constat inpensae: ratio constat is idiomatic for "the account adds up/balances." mihi is dative of ownership with ratio, and impensae is a genitive of definition and also depends on ratio. | perdere: subject would be me: an easily understood acc. subject of ind. discourse is sometimes omitted (AG 581n.1). | quod plerisque...: understand a verb from the previous clause to complete this one, and just as a dative occurred with that verb in the previous clause, so plerisque redactis depends on it here.

[5] Be frugal with your most important possession throughout life, not just at the end.
[5] Quid ergo est? non puto pauperem cui  quantulumcumque superest sat est; tu tamen malo serves tua, et bono tempore incipies. Nam ut visum est maioribus nostris, 'sera parsimonia in fundo est'; non enim tantum minimum in imo sed pessimum remanet. Vale.

Sentence Analysis:

ut visum est: ut + indicative, a simple adverbial "as ..." clause. | sera parsimonia in fundo est: although sera is a positive degree adjective, it is often best translated as if it were a superlative used absolutely, namely "too late," which is called a "pregnant sense," because more meaning is built into it than the basic meaning of the word. | tantum: adverbial.

Vocabulary
ac/atque, and
accipio, accipere, accepi, acceptus, receive, get
adhuc, until now, heretofore
adtendo, adtendere, attendi, attentum, direct attention to, pay attention to, consider
aestimo (1), value, estimate the worth of
aetas, aetatis, f., age, life
ago, agere, egi, actus, do, act
alienus, -a, -um, another's, of another
apud, at the home of (+ acc.); in ___'s case (+acc.)
aufero, auferre, abstuli, ablatus, take away, remove, carry off
certe, certainly
colligo, colligere, collegi, collectum, gather
conplector, complecti, complexus, embrace
constat, in ratio constat, the accounts agree, it all adds up
cotidie, daily, every day
crastinus, -a, -um, tomorrow's, of tomorrow
debeo, debere, debui, debitus, owe
dies, diei, m/f, day
differo, differre, distuli, dilatus, put off, delay
diligens, -entis, careful, industrious, scrupulous, fastidious
effluo, effluere, effluxi, flow out, flow away
elabor, elabi, elapsus, slip away
ergo, therefore
evenio, evenire, eveni, eventum, happen, occur
excido, excidere, excidi, fall out, fall from, slip away
expello, expellere, expuli, expulsum, drive out, expel, eject
fallo, fallere, fefelli, falsum, err, make a mistake
fateor, fateri, fassus sum, confess
fio, fieri, factus sum, happen, occur
fortasse, perhaps
fugax, fugacis, fleeting
fundus, -i, m., bottom
gratus, -a, -um, grateful
hodiernus, -a, -um, today's, of today
hora, horae, f., hour
iactura, -ae, f., loss, waste, a throwing away
ignosco, ignoscere, ignovi, ignotus, forgive
imus, -a, -um, lowest; deepest; last
in(j)icio, injicere, injeci, injectus, put on, cast on, set on
incipio, incipere, incepi, inceptus, begin
ingenue, frankly, candidly
inopia, -ae, f., poverty, lack
inpensa, -ae, f., expense, cost
inpetro (1), acquire
inputo (1), attribute, ascribe
intellego, intellegere, intellexi, intellectum, understand, comprehend
interim, meanwhile
interrogo (1), ask
ita, thus, so, in this way
iudico (1), judge
lubricus, -a, -um, slippery
luxuriosus, -a, -um, immoderate, excessive; luxurious, extravagant
maiores, maiorum, ancestors
male, badly
malo, malle, malui, prefer
manus, manus, f., hand
mihi
minimus, -a, -um, least
minus, less
morior, mori, mortuus sum, die
mors, mortis, f., death
mortalis, mortale, mortal
nam, for (conjunction)
pars, partis, f., part
parsimonia, -ae, f., frugality
patior, pati, passus sum, endure, suffer
pauper, pauperis, poor, of little means
paupertas, -atis, f., poverty
pendeo, pendere, pependi, pensum, hand, depend
perdo, perdere, perdidi, perditus, lose
persuadeo, persuadere, persuasi, persuasum, persuade (+dat.)
pessimus, -a, -um, worst
plerique, pleraeque, pleraque, very many, most
pono, ponere, posui, positum, put, place
possessio, -onis, f., ownership
praecipio, praecipere, praecepi, praeceptus, advise, teach, instruct
praetereo, praeterire, praeteri(v)i, praeteritum, go past
pretium, -i, n., price
prospicio, prospicere, prospexi, prospectus, look ahead to
puto (1), think, deem, reckon
quantuluscumque, quantulacumque, quantulumcumque, however little
quare, why, the reason why
quemadmodum, how, in what manner
quicumque, whoever
ratio, -onis, f., account, calculation, reckoning
reddo, reddere, reddidi, redditum
redigo, redigere, redegi, redactus, drive
remaneo, remanere, remansi, remansum, stay behind, be left, remain
reparabilis, -e, recoverable
retro, behind
sat, enough
sed
serus, -a, -um, late, too late
servo (1), preserve, save, keep
sic, thus, so
stultitia, -ae, f., stupidity, foolishness
subduco, subducere, subduxi, subductum, draw away, pull away, remove
subripio, subripere, subripui, subruptus, snatch, take secretly
succurro, succurrere, succurri, succursum, help, go to aid of, assist
supersum, superesse, superfui, remain, be left
tamen, however
tantum, only
tantus, -a, -um, so great
tempus, -oris, n., time
teneo, tenere, tenui, tentus, hold
transcurro, transcurrere, transcucurri, transcursum, go by, pass by
turpis, turpe, vile, baneful, bad
vilis, -e, cheap
vindico (1), lay claim to, claim, appropriate
vitium, -i, n., fault, flaw, vice
volo, velle, volui, want, desire