Seneca IV. xxxviii
Commentary by Rachel Thomas
Revised by Jacques Bailly
Introduction
This letter is about letter writing, conversation, and
philosophy. In it, Seneca claims that philosophy is best done
quietly with frequent exchanges, like a conversation, not lectured
to a crowd (Cf. Plato’s Socrates, who insists on a one-on-one
conversation rather than a lecture).
Text
SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM
[1] Merito exigis ut hoc inter nos epistularum commercium
frequentemus. Plurimum proficit sermo, quia minutatim irrepit animo:
disputationes praeparatae et effusae audiente populo plus habent
strepitus, minus familiaritatis. Philosophia bonum consilium est:
consilium nemo clare dat. Aliquando utendum est et illis, ut ita
dicam, contionibus, ubi qui dubitat impellendus est; ubi vero non
hoc agendum est, ut velit discere, sed ut discat, ad haec
submissiora verba veniendum est. Facilius intrant et haerent; nec
enim multis opus est sed efficacibus. [2] Seminis modo spargenda
sunt, quod quamvis sit exiguum, cum occupavit idoneum locum, vires
suas explicat et ex minimo in maximos auctus diffunditur. Idem facit
ratio: non late patet, si aspicias; in opere crescit. Pauca sunt
quae dicuntur, sed si illa animus bene excepit, convalescunt et
exsurgunt. Eadem est, inquam, praeceptorum condicio quae seminum:
multum efficiunt, et angusta sunt. Tantum, ut dixi, idonea mens
rapiat illa et in se trahat; multa invicem et ipsa generabit et plus
reddet quam acceperit. Vale.
Texts of Seneca's letters on this site are from
www.thelatinlibrary.com as submitted by Hansulrich Guhl (Frauenfeld,
Switzerland) from an unidentified edition and (the later books) by
Sally Winchester from the Reynolds edition. Typographical errors may
have been corrected by J Bailly.
Commentary
[1] Frequent exchange is conducive to philosophy. The place for a
long speech is perhaps to inspire someone to engage in philosophy.
Once a person is engaged, a more quiet manner is appropriate. Cf. Letter
20§2 for a similar thought.
[1] Merito exigis ut hoc inter nos epistularum commercium
frequentemus. Plurimum proficit sermo, quia minutatim irrepit animo:
disputationes praeparatae et effusae audiente populo plus habent
strepitus, minus familiaritatis. Philosophia bonum consilium est:
consilium nemo clare dat. Aliquando utendum est et illis, ut ita
dicam, contionibus, ubi qui dubitat impellendus est; ubi vero non
hoc agendum est, ut velit discere, sed ut discat, ad haec
submissiora verba veniendum est. Facilius intrant et haerent; nec
enim multis opus est sed efficacibus.
frequentemus present
subjunctive in primary sequence; indirect command.
hoc...commercium direct
object.
irrepit takes dative, as do
many verbs that are compounds of in- meaning "in."
audiente populo why ablative?
strepitus...familiaritatis minus
and plus both take the genitive.
clare refers to the volume
of someone’s voice.
utendum est passive
periphrastic; impersonal; utor takes the ablative.
et adverbial: "also,"
"too."
ut ita dicam present
subjunctive in primary sequence: this is a common parenthetical
clause, like "so to speak" in English.
ubi qui dubitat impellendus est
ubi "in which." qui, "whoever," has no expressed
antecedent.
hoc nominative referring to
the act of philosophizing.
velit present subjunctive
in primary sequence; purpose clause. The subject is the person with
whom one philosophizes.
discat present subjunctive
in primary sequence; purpose clause. Again, the subject is one's
philosophizing partner.
submissiora comparative;
like clare, this word refers to volume of voice.
intrant et haerent What
enters and sticks where? Supply a subject from the previous
sentence. As to where, Seneca is probably referring to irrepit
animo above.
multis (verbis).
opus est “there is a need;”
takes the nom., abl. (as here), or gen., of what is needed, dat. of
person.
[2] Words and reason are like a seed; they need the perfect place to
grow.
[2] Seminis modo spargenda sunt, quod quamvis sit exiguum, cum
occupavit idoneum locum, vires suas explicat et ex minimo in maximos
auctus diffunditur. Idem facit ratio: non late patet, si aspicias;
in opere crescit. Pauca sunt quae dicuntur, sed si illa animus bene
excepit, convalescunt et exsurgunt. Eadem est, inquam, praeceptorum
condicio quae seminum: multum efficiunt, et angusta sunt. Tantum, ut
dixi, idonea mens rapiat illa et in se trahat; multa invicem et ipsa
generabit et plus reddet quam acceperit. Vale.
Seminis modo is abl. of modus.
Seminis is genitive dependent on modo.
spargenda what neuter
plural things does this modify?
sit present subjunctive in
primary sequence; quamvis takes subjunctive.
auctus accusative plural
with maximos.
aspicias present subjunctive in primary sequence; a
FLV protasis. There is no explicit apodosis, but it would be
something like "If you should look into it, you would notice
reason does not lie out in the open all over the place, but
rather it is grown by being used."
pauca (verba).
condicio goes with both
praeceptorum and seminum.
quae “as”.
et “though”.
Tantum adverb: "just,"
"only," "merely."
rapiat present subjunctive
in primary sequence; jussive.
trahat present subjunctive
in primary sequence; jussive.
multa direct object.
invicem adverb.
ipsa (mens).
plus in the singular, plus
is a neuter noun.
Vocabulary
accipio, accipere, accepi, acceptum, acquire, get
aliquando, sometimes
angustus, a, um, narrow, small
aspicio, aspicere, aspexi, aspectum, catch sight of, glimpse;
consider, think about
auctus, auctus, m., growth
bene, well
clare, clearly, brightly
commercium, commerci(i), n., trade
condicio, condicionis, f., agreement
consilium, consili(i), n., advice
contio, contionis, f., speech
convalesco, convalescere, convalui, to grow strong, to thrive
cresco, crescere, crevi, cretum, to thrive
diffundo, diffundere, diffudi, diffusum, to be spread out
disco, discere, didici, to learn
disputatio, disputationis, f., discussion, lecture
efficax, efficacis, effective
efficio, efficere, effeci, effectum, to produce, to effect
effundo, effundere, effudi, effusum, to send forth
excipio, excipere, excepi, exceptum, to receive
exigo, exigere, exegi, exactum, to examine, to conclude, to finish
exiguus, exigua, exiguum, small
explico (1), to unfold
exsurgo, exsurgere, exsurrexi, to rise
familiaritas, familiaritatis, f., intimacy
frequento (1), increase the frequency of
genero (1), create, produce
haereo, haerere, haesi, haesum, stick, cling, be closely attached
idoneus, idonea, idoneum, suitable
impello, impellere, impuli, impulsum, to urge on
inquam, I say
intro (1), to enter
invicem, in turns
irrepo, irrepere, irrepsi, to creep into
late, over a wide area
merito, rightly
minutatim, bit by bit
modus, modi, m., manner, way
opus, operis, n., work, deed
opus est (impersonal) there is (a) need
pateo, patere, patui, spread
praeceptum, praecepti, n., teaching, piece of advice, instruction
praeparo (1), to prepare
proficio, proficere, profeci, profectum, accomplish
quamvis, although
rapio, rapere, rapui, raptum, seize, receive
ratio, rationis, f., reason
semen, seminis, n., seed
sermo, sermonis, m., conversation
spargo, spargere, sparsi, sparsum, scatter
strepitus, strepitus, m., noise
submissus, -a, -um, (of the voice) low, quiet, gentle
tantum, only
traho, trahere, traxi, tractum, draw, drag
utor, uti, usus sum, use (+abl.)
vires, virium, f. pl., strength