Mechanical Arts and Inventions as Products of Luxury — Seneca the Younger, Moral Letters to Lucilius 90.8–90.16, Latin & English

§90.8

Quid ais? Philosophia homines docuit habere clavem et seram? Quid aliud erat avaritiae signum dare? Philosophia haec cum tanto habitantium periculo¹ inminentia tecta suspendit? Parum enim erat fortuitis tegi et sine arte et sine difficultate naturale invenire sibi aliquod receptaculum. Mihi crede, felix illud saeculum ante architectus fuit, ante tectores.

”What do you say? Did philosophy teach men to have key and lock? What else was that than to give a signal to avarice? Was it philosophy that suspended these impending roofs with so great danger to those who dwell under them? For it was not enough to be covered by fortuitous things, and without art and without difficulty to find for oneself some natural shelter. Believe me, that happy age existed before the architect, before the plasterers.

§90.9

Ista nata sunt iam nascente luxuria, in quadratum tigna decidere et serra per designata currente certa manu trabem scindere,² "Nam primi cuneis scindebant fissile lignum." Non enim tecta cenationi epulum recepturae parabantur, nec in hunc usum pinus aut abies deferebatur longo vehiculorum ordine vicis intrementibus, ut ex illa lacunaria auro gravia penderent. Furcae utrimque suspensae fulciebant casam.

These things were born when luxury was already being born: to cut timbers into square shape, and to split a beam with a certain hand while the saw runs through the marked lines, ‘ For the first men split fissile wood with wedges. ‘ For roofs were not prepared for a dining-room to receive a banquet, nor for this use was pine or fir brought down in a long train of vehicles, while the streets shook, so that from them coffered ceilings heavy with gold might hang. Forks set up on both sides supported the cottage.

§90.10

Spissatis ramalibus ac fronde congesta et in proclive disposita decursus imbribus quamvis magnis erat. Sub his tectis habitavere, sed securi. Culmus liberos texit, sub marmore atque auro servitus habitat. In illo quoque dissentio a Posidonio, quod ferramenta fabrilia excogitata a sapientibus viris iudicat.

With thick twigs and foliage piled up and arranged in a slope, there was a run-off for rains, however great. Under these roofs they lived, but secure. Straw covered free men; under marble and gold dwells servitude. In this also I dissent from Posidonius, that he judges that the iron tools of craftsmen were devised by wise men.

§90.11

Isto enim modo dicat licet³ sapientes fuisse, per quos "Tunc laqueis captare feras et fallere visco Inventum et magnos canibus circumdare saltus." Omnia enim ista sagacitas hominum, non sapientia invenit.

For in that way one may as well say that those were wise men through whom: ‘ Then it was found out how to catch wild beasts in snares, to cheat them with bird-lime, and to surround great glades with dogs. ‘ For all those things the sagacity of men, not wisdom, invented.

§90.12

In hoc quoque dissentio, sapientes fuisse qui ferri metalla et aeris invenerint, cum incendio silvarum adusta tellus in summo venas iacentis liquefactas fudisset; ista tales inveniunt, quales colunt.

In this also I dissent, that they were wise men who discovered the ores of iron and copper, when the earth, burnt by a forest fire, melted and poured out the veins lying on the surface; such things are found by those who cultivate them.

§90.13

Ne illa quidem tam suptilis mihi quaestio videtur quam Posidonio, utrum malleus in usu esse prius an forcipes coeperint. Utraque invenit aliquis excitati ingenii, acuti, non magni nec elati, et quicquid aliud corpore incurvato et animo humum spectante quaerendum est. Sapiens facilis victu⁴ fuit, quidni?. Cum hoc quoque saeculo esse quam expeditissimus cupiat.

Nor indeed does that question seem to me as subtle as it does to Posidonius, whether the hammer or the tongs first began to be in use. Both were invented by someone of an excited, sharp mind, not great nor elevated; and whatever else must be sought with bent body and mind looking towards the ground. The wise man was easy of sustenance; why not? Since even in this age he desires to be as unencumbered as possible.

§90.14

Quomodo, oro te, convenit, ut et Diogenen mireris et Daedalum? Uter ex his sapiens tibi videtur? Qui serram commentus est, an ille qui cum vidisset puerum cava manu bibentem aquam, fregit protinus exemptum e perula calicem cum hac obiurgatione sui: "quamdiu homo stultus supervacuas sarcinas habui! "qui se conplicuit in dolio et in eo cubitavit?

How, I pray you, is it fitting that you admire both Diogenes and Daedalus? Which of these seems to you to be the wise man? The one who devised the saw, or he who, when he had seen a boy drinking water with his hollowed hand, immediately broke the cup taken out of his wallet with this self-reproach: ‘How long, foolish man, have I carried superfluous baggage!’ and who curled himself up in a tub and slept in it?

§90.15

Hodie utrum tandem sapientiorem putas, qui invenit quemadmodum in inmensam altitudinem crocum latentibus fistulis exprimat, qui euripos subito aquarum impetu implet aut siccat et versatilia cenationum laquearia ita coagmentat, ut subinde alia facies atque alia succedat et totiens tecta quotiens fericula mutentur, an eum,⁵ qui et aliis et sibi hoc monstrat, quam nihil nobis natura durum ac difficile imperaverit, posse nos habitare sine marmorario ac fabro, posse nos vestitos esse sine commercio sericorum, posse nos habere usibus nostris necessaria, si contenti fuerimus iis quae terra posuit in summo? Quem si audire humanum genus voluerit, tam supervacuum sciet sibi cocum esse quam militem.

Today, which indeed do you think wiser: the one who invented how to spray saffron to an immense height through hidden pipes, who fills or dries channels with a sudden rush of water, and joins together the rotating coffered ceilings of dining-rooms so that one face after another succeeds, and the roof changes as often as the courses; or him who shows to others and to himself this: how nature has commanded nothing hard and difficult for us, that we can dwell without the marble-mason and the carpenter, that we can be clothed without the trade in silks, that we can have what is necessary for our uses, if we are content with those things which the earth has placed on the surface? If the human race should wish to listen to him, they will know that a cook is as superfluous to them as a soldier.

§90.16

Illi sapientes fuerunt aut certe sapientibus similes, quibus expedita erat tutela corporis. Simplici cura constant necessaria; in delicias laboratum Non desiderabis artifices; sequere naturam. Illa noluit esse districtos. Ad quaecumque nos cogebat, instruxit. "Frigus intolerabilest corpori nudo." Quid ergo? Non pelles ferarum et aliorum animalium a frigore satis abundeque defendere queunt? Non corticibus arborum pleraeque gentes tegunt corpora? Non avium plumae in usum vestis conseruntur? Non hodieque magna Scytharum pars tergis vulpium induitur ac murum, quae tactu mollia et inpenetrabilia ventis sunt?"

Those were wise men, or certainly like the wise, for whom the protection of the body was unencumbered. Necessary things are maintained by simple care; it is for luxuries that we toil. You will not lack craftsmen; follow nature. She did not wish us to be distracted. For whatever she compelled us to do, she equipped us. ‘Cold is intolerable to a naked body.’ What then? Cannot the skins of wild beasts and of other animals defend us from the cold sufficiently and abundantly? Do not most nations cover their bodies with the bark of trees? Are not the feathers of birds stitched together for the use of clothing? Do not even today a great part of the Scythians clothe themselves in the backs of foxes and mice, which are soft to the touch and impenetrable to the winds?”

Syntax notes5 items

90.8cum tanto habitantium periculo
Ablative of attendant circumstance, indicating the state of grave danger to the inhabitants under which high roofs are erected.
90.9in quadratum tigna decidere... trabem scindere
These infinitive clauses function as an apposition explaining the neuter plural pronoun 'Ista', which serves as the subject of 'nata sunt'.
90.11dicat licet
An impersonal expression where 'licet' is followed by the subjunctive 'dicat', meaning 'one may say' or 'it is allowed to say' by way of concession.
90.13facilis victu
'Victu' is the ablative of the supine, functioning as an ablative of specification to limit the adjective 'facilis', meaning 'easy in respect to sustenance' (easy to support).
90.15Hodie utrum tandem sapientiorem putas, qui... an eum...
The backbone of a lengthy comparative structure. It takes the form: 'utrum [eum] sapientiorem putas, qui [A]... an eum [sapientiorem putas], qui [B]...', contrasting [A] (inventors of technological luxuries) with [B] (one who demonstrates simple living in accordance with nature).

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25)urn:cts:latinLit:phi1017.phi015.humanitext-lat2:90.8-90.16