My previous post prompted a facebook friend to comment that I would
have a troubled mind too, it Nero would be my star pupil. It reminded me of the
death of Seneca.
There are various accounts of the death of Seneca, but the one told
by Tacitus is the most effective and most sympathetic, reminiscent of how Plato
describes the death of Socrates. Nero accuses his former teacher Seneca of
being involved in a plot to kill him. There is little reason to believe that
Seneca was actually involved, but Nero, being mad and suspicious, ordered
Seneca to commit suicide. The Romans had
a different look towards suicide than we: when the burden of life was greater
than the benefits, then suicide was a rational decision. Now in this case it
was different: Seneca was politely asked to end his life, but he already had
long prepared for this moment. Stoic philosophy – as every other form of
philosophy in Hellenism, I think – can be described as a therapeutic training
to cope with life and so by training himself in equanimity, Seneca had a
detached stand towards life. In some ways this detachment is reminiscent of
Buddhism, but the idea of rebirth and karma was unknown in Stoic though. Stoic
though was very much focussed on ethics and on the here and now and there was
no concept of an individual afterlife. Many Stoic sources are lost and so the
picture they had of the soul is fragmented, but the soul did not contain the
personhood of an individual and some Stoics even denied the possibility of the
survival of the soul after death.
Seneca was well prepared for his final hour: he had - as Tacitus
tells us in c.65 – acquired a bottle of poison from a friend skilled in
medicine. Actually it was the same kind of poison as had killed Socrates:
hemlock.
This dramatic end of Seneca has been the inspiration for paintings
and Monteverdi used this episode in his opera L’Incoronazione di Poppea (for which see the link below).
Soldiers have now arrived to tell Seneca to commit suicide. Some of
his friends and his wife Paulina are with him.
Tacitus Annales XV 62-64
[62] Ille interritus poscit testamenti tabulas; ac denegante
centurione conversus ad amicos, quando meritis eorum referre gratiam
prohiberetur, quod unum iam et tamen pulcherrimum habeat, imaginem vitae suae
relinquere testatur, cuius si memores essent, bonarum artium famam fructum
constantis amicitiae laturos. simul lacrimas eorum modo sermone, modo intentior
in modum coercentis ad firmitudinem revocat, rogitans ubi praecepta sapientiae,
ubi tot per annos meditata ratio adversum imminentia? cui enim ignaram fuisse
saevitiam Neronis? neque aliud superesse post matrem fratremque interfectos,
quam ut educatoris praeceptorisque necem adiceret.
As this is not a beginner’s text, I have refrained from giving the
meaning of common words.
Ille: Seneca
testamenti tabulas: Seneca wanted to change something in his will to thanks his
friends for their services (meritis eorum
referre gratiam)
relinquere testatur: `he left behind as testament’
bonarum artium famam `the fame of good skills’ (namely being students in philosophy)
fructum: predicate by famam (but
the text is corrupt and famam is an
emendation for the impossible tam of
the manuscript)
sermone: `by friendly talk’
intentior in modum
coercentis: more severe by way of forcing
adversum imminentia: `against the imminent evil’
ignarus: unknown
matrem fratremque
interfectos: Nero was responsible for the death of
his mother and brother
educatoris praeceptorisque: almost synonyms
ut…necem adiceret: to add the death of. There is a touch of irony….
[63] Ubi haec atque talia velut in commune disseruit, complectitur
uxorem, et paululum adversus praesentem fortitudinem mollitus rogat oratque
temperaret dolori [neu] aeternum susciperet, sed in contemplatione vitae per
virtutem actae desiderium mariti solaciis honestis toleraret. illa contra sibi
quoque destinatam mortem adseverat manumque percussoris exposcit. tum Seneca
gloriae eius non adversus, simul amore, ne sibi unice dilectam ad iniurias
relinqueret, "vitae" inquit "delenimenta monstraveram tibi, tu
mortis decus mavis: non invidebo exemplo. sit huius tam fortis exitus
constantia penes utrosque par, claritudinis plus in tuo fine." post quae
eodem ictu brachia ferro exsolvunt. Seneca, quoniam senile corpus et parco
victu tenuatum lenta effugia sanguini praebebat, crurum quoque et poplitum
venas abrumpit; saevisque cruciatibus defessus, ne dolore suo animum uxoris
infringeret atque ipse visendo eius tormenta ad impatientiam delaberetur,
suadet in aliud cubiculum abscedere. et novissimo quoque momento suppeditante
eloquentia advocatis scriptoribus pleraque tradidit, quae in vulgus edita eius
verbis invertere supersedeo.
velut in commune disseruit as if he spoke in public
paululum adversus
praesentem fortitudinem mellitus: `a bit emotional
contrary to his (thus far) shown calmness’
rogat oratque (uxori ut) temperaret dolori
tempero + dat.: to refrain from
neu = neve
aeternum: predicate with an understood dolorem
vitae: of Seneca
desiderium mariti solaciis
honestis toleraret: that she should endure the longing
for her husband with honourable consolations.
contra: adv.
destinatam (esse)
manumque percussoris: and the hand (help) of an
executioner (probably a physician to open her veins)
gloriae eius: namely to die together with him
sibi unice dilectam;: `uniquely loved by him’ Seneca had a great affection for his
wife.
ad iniurias: as it was uncertain what would happen to her after his death
vitae delenimenta: the things that soothes life
penes utrosque par and the same for both of us
claritudo, onis (f): fame
brachia ferro exsolvunt: `they opened (the veins) of the arms’
senile: predicate
lenta effugia: a slow escape
poples poplitis (m): ham, hollow of the knee
cruciatus –us (m): torture
infringo: to break
impatentia: inability to bear any thing
novissimo momento: in the final moment
suppeditante eloquentia
advocatis scriptoribus: a good example of Tacitus’
compressed style `eloquence being available, secretaries being summoned’
eius verbis invertere supersedeo: I think it needless to adapt his words’. Speeches ware retold by historians in their
own words, but as Tacitus presumed the knowledge of Seneca’s final words by his
readers, he abstains from reformulating them.
[64] At Nero nullo in Paulinam proprio odio, ac ne glisceret invidia
crudelitatis, [iubet] inhiberi mortem. hortantibus militibus servi libertique
obligant brachia, premunt sanguinem, incertum an ignarae. nam, ut est vulgus ad
deteriora promptum, non defuere qui crederent, donec implacabilem Neronem
timuerit, famam sociatae cum marito mortis petivisse, deinde oblata mitiore spe
blandimentis vitae evictam; cui addidit paucos postea annos, laudabili in
maritum memoria et ore ac membris in eum pallorem albentibus, ut ostentui esset
multum vitalis spiritus egestum.
Seneca interim, durante
tractu et lentitudine mortis, Statium Annaeum, diu sibi amicitiae fide et arte
medicinae probatum, orat provisum pridem venenum, quo damnati publico
Atheniensium iudicio exstinguerentur, promeret; adlatumque hausit frustra, frigidus
iam artus et cluso corpore adversum vim veneni. postremo stagnum calidae aquae
introiit, respergens proximos servorum addita voce libare se liquorem illum
Iovi liberatori. exim balneo inlatus et vapore eius exanimatus, sine ullo
funeris sollemni crematur. ita codicillis praescripserat, cum etiam tum
praedives et praepotens supremis suis consuleret.
propius: special
glisco (3): to grow
invidia crudelitatis: as the cruelty of Nero was well-known by now, there seems little
reason why a victim more would be that bad for his reputation. But Nero still
thought of himself as the emperor loved by his people.
iubet: Nero must have ordered this in advance .(Mediaeval sources thought
that Nero himself was present , as was St.Paul who converted Seneca in his
final hour to Christianity.)
obligo: to bind up
incertum an ignarae: it is doubtfull of it was (the blood) of an unconscious (woman)
ad deteriora promptum: `ready to believe the worst’. Tacitus says that once Paulina was
told that she needed not to fear the death penalty, she was happy to stay
alive.
defuere = defuerunt
deinde oblata mitiore spe
blandimentis vitae evictam (they believed) that
she was overcome by the pleasures of
life (to live further), when a more soothing hope was presented (namely not
being executed)
cui (vitae)
ore ac membris…. albentibus:` with face and figure growing bleak‘
ut ostentui esset multum
vitalis spiritus egestum: litt. `to be till
testimony (predicative dative) a great loss (egestus -us = egesia) of
a vital spirit’ = `as a testimony of her great loss of vital energy’.
durante tractu et
lentitudine mortis: tractus and lentitudo are
almost synonyms `the slowness and sluggishness of death prolonging’.
Seneca… Statium Annaeum…orat provisum pridem venenum…(ut) promeret:
haurio hausi haustum: to draw out (note the change of tense: obligant,
premunt, orat
- hausit)
frigidus artus chilled regarding his limbs (acc. Graecus)
stagnum: pool, bath
respergo -spersi –spersum:
to besprinkle
libo: to dedicate
Iovi liberatori: Jupiter as liberator is rare amongst the Romans, but – o irony – he is depicted on some coins of Nero. Still, as
in Stoic thought suicide is the ultimate deed for a man to liberate himself, it
was a proper gesture.
exim = exinde
sine ullo funeris sollemni: so without a procession, musicians and a funeral laudation.
codicilii –orum: last will
supremis suis consuleret: he thought about his final moment
translation:
The death of Seneca from Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea:
The death of Seneca by Luca Giordano (1634-1705)
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