- Source
- Seneca, Lucius Annaeus. Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales, Vol 1-3. Gummere, Richard Mott, editor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd., 1917-1925.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi1017.phi015.humanitext-lat2:43.1-43.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-03
The author explains how the friend's current state reached Rome via rumor, urging him, as a prominent figure in his province, to live with greater care. He further argues that people's tendency to close off their homes stems from a guilty conscience, concluding that living rightly before one's own conscience, the ultimate witness, is the key to true happiness.
Quomodo hoc ad me pervenerit quaeris, quis mihi id te cogitare narraverit, quod tu nulli narraveras? Is qui scit plurumum, rumor. "Quid ergo?" inquis, "Tantus sum, ut possim excitare rumorem?" Non est quod te ad hunc locum respiciens metiaris;1 ad istum respice, in quo moraris.
You ask how this reached me, who told me that you were thinking of that which you had told to no one. Rumor, which knows the most. “What then?” you say, “Am I so great that I can excite rumor?” There is no reason for you to measure yourself looking back at this place; look at that one in which you are staying.
Quicquid inter vicina eminet, magnum est illic, ubi eminet. Nam magnitudo non habet modum certum; comparatio illam aut tollit aut deprimit. Navis, quae in flumine magna est, in mari parvula est. Gubernaculum, quod alteri navi magnum, alteri exiguum est.
Whatever stands out among neighboring things is great there where it stands out. For greatness has no fixed limit; comparison either elevates it or depresses it. A ship which is large in a river is tiny in the sea. A rudder which is large for one ship is small for another.
Tu nunc in provincia, licet contemnas2 ipse te, magnus es. Quid agas, quemadmodum cenes, quemadmodum dormias, quaeritur, scitur; eo tibi diligentius vivendum est.3 Tunc autem felicem esse te iudica, cum poteris in publico vivere, cum te parietes tui tegent, non abscondent, quos plerumque circumdatos nobis iudicamus non ut tutius vivamus, sed ut peccemus occultius.
You are now great in your province, although you may despise yourself. What you do, how you dine, how you sleep, is inquired into and known; therefore you must live all the more carefully. But judge yourself happy then, when you can live in public, when your walls protect you, not hide you, which we usually judge to be surrounded around us, not that we may live more safely, but that we may sin more secretly.
Rem dicam, ex qua mores aestimes nostros: vix quemquam invenies, qui possit aperto ostio vivere. Ianitores conscientia nostra, non superbia opposuit; sic vivimus, ut deprendi sit subito adspici.4 Quid autem prodest recondere se et oculos hominum auresque vitare?
I will tell you something by which you may judge our manners: you will scarcely find anyone who can live with an open door. Our conscience, not our pride, has set doorkeepers against us; we live in such a way that to be seen suddenly is to be caught. But what does it profit to hide oneself and to avoid the eyes and ears of men?
Bona conscientia turbam advocat, mala etiam in solitudine anxia atque sollicita est. Si honesta sunt quae facis, omnes sciant, si turpia, quid refert neminem scire, cum tu scias?5 O te miserum, si contemnis hunc testem! VALE.
A good conscience summons the crowd, a bad one is anxious and worried even in solitude. If what you do is honorable, let everyone know; if shameful, what does it matter that no one knows, since you yourself know? O wretched you, if you despise this witness! FAREWELL.
- 43.1Non est quod te ... metiaris
The phrase 'non est quod' followed by the subjunctive (metiaris, second-person singular present) means 'there is no reason for you to...' or 'you need not...'.
- 43.3licet contemnas
Here 'licet' functions as a concessive conjunction taking the subjunctive 'contemnas', meaning 'although you may despise' or 'even if you despise'.
- 43.3eo tibi diligentius vivendum est
The word 'eo' is an ablative of degree of difference modifying the comparative 'diligentius', meaning 'all the more' or 'by so much more'. 'tibi' is a dative of agent used with the passive periphrastic 'vivendum est' to express obligation.
- 43.4deprendi sit subito adspici
Both 'deprendi' (to be caught) and 'subito adspici' (to be suddenly seen) are infinitives acting as subject and predicate. The verb 'sit' inside the 'ut' clause links them to mean 'that to be suddenly seen is equivalent to being caught'.
- 43.5quid refert neminem scire, cum tu scias ?
The subject of the impersonal verb 'refert' (what does it matter) is the accusative and infinitive clause 'neminem scire' (that no one knows). 'cum' introduces a circumstantial/concessive clause with the subjunctive 'scias' ('since you yourself know').