§18.1December est mensis; cum maxime civitas sudat.
December is the month; when the city especially sweats.
Ius luxuriae publicae datum est.
Public permission for luxury has been given.
Ingenti apparatu sonant omnia, tamquam quicquam inter Saturnalia intersit et dies rerum agendarum.
Everything resounds with huge preparation, as if there were any difference between the Saturnalia and business days.
Adeo nihil interest, ut non videatur mihi errasse, qui dixit olim mensem Decembrem fuisse, nunc annum.
Indeed, there is so little difference that he who once said December was a month, but now a year, does not seem to me to have erred.
§18.2Si te hic haberem, libenter tecum conferrem, quid existimares esse faciendum: utrum nihil ex cotidiana consuetudine movendum an, ne dissidere videremur cum publicis moribus, et hilarius cenandum et exuendam togam.
If I had you here, I would gladly discuss with you what you thought should be done: whether nothing of our daily custom should be changed, or, lest we seem to disagree with public manners, we should both dine more cheerfully and lay aside the toga.
Nam quod fieri nisi in tumultu et tristi tempore civitatis non solebat, voluptatis causa ac festorum dierum vestem mutavimus.
For we have changed our clothing for the sake of pleasure and festive days, a thing which was not accustomed to be done except in a tumult and sad time of the city.
§18.3Si te bene novi, arbitri partibus functus nec per omnia nos similes esse pilleatae turbae voluisses nec per omnia dissimiles; nisi forte his maxime diebus animo imperandum est, ut tunc voluptatibus solus abstineat, cum in illas omnis turba procubuit; certissimum enim argumentum firmitatis suae capit, si ad blanda et in luxuriam trahentia nec it nec abducitur.
If I know you well, having played the part of an arbitrator, you would have wished us to be neither in all things like the capped crowd, nor in all things unlike; unless perhaps on these days especially, command must be given to the mind, that it alone should then abstain from pleasures when the whole crowd has collapsed into them; for it receives the most certain proof of its own firmness if it neither goes toward nor is led away by alluring things that drag us into luxury.
§18.4Hoc multo fortius est, ebrio ac vomitante populo siccum ac sobrium esse, illud temperatius, non excerpere se nec insigniri nec misceri omnibus et eadem, sed non eodem modo, facere.
This is much stronger, to be dry and sober while the people are drunk and vomiting; that is more temperate, not to withdraw oneself nor to be marked out, nor to mix with everyone and do the same things, but not in the same manner.
Licet enim sine luxuria agere festum diem.
For it is permitted to spend a festive day without luxury.
§18.5Ceterum adeo mihi placet temptare animi tui firmitatem, ut ex praecepto magnorum virorum tibi quoque praecipiam: interponas aliquot dies, quibus contentus minimo ac vilissimo cibo, dura atque horrida veste dicas tibi: "Hoc est quod timebatur?" §18.6In ipsa securitate animus ad difficilia se praeparet et contra iniurias fortunae inter beneficia firmetur.
Moreover, it so pleases me to try the firmness of your mind, that by the precept of great men, I also prescribe to you: interpose some days in which, content with the least and cheapest food, and with a hard and rough garment, you may say to yourself: "Is this what was feared?" In security itself let the mind prepare itself for difficult things, and against the injuries of fortune let it be strengthened in the midst of benefits.
Miles in media pace decurrit, sine ullo hoste vallum iacit et supervacuo labore lassatur, ut sufficere necessario possit.
A soldier performs maneuvers in the midst of peace, throws up a rampart without any enemy, and is fatigued with superfluous labor, so that he may be able to suffice for necessary labor.
Quem in ipsa re trepidare nolueris, ante rem exerceas.
Him whom you would not wish to tremble in the action itself, you should exercise before the action.
Hoc secuti sunt, qui omnibus mensibus paupertatem imitati prope ad inopiam accesserunt, ne umquam expavescerent quod saepe didicissent.
This was followed by those who, imitating poverty in every month, came close to penury, so that they might never dread what they had often learned.
§18.7Non est nunc quod existimes me dicere Timoneas cenas et pauperum cellas, et quicquid aliud est, per quod luxuria divitiarum taedio ludit; grabatus ille verus sit et sagum et panis durus ac sordidus.
There is no reason now why you should think that I speak of Timonean dinners and the cells of the poor, and whatever else by which the luxury of riches plays through weariness; let that bed be real, and the cloak, and the hard and dirty bread.
Hoc triduo et quatriduo fer, interdum pluribus diebus, ut non lusus sit, sed experimentum; tunc, mihi crede, Lucili, exultabis dipondio satur et intelleges ad securitatem non opus esse fortuna; hoc enim, quod necessitati sat est, dat et irata.
Bear this for three or four days, sometimes for more days, so that it may not be a game but an experiment; then, believe me, Lucilius, you will exult, satisfied with two asses, and you will understand that for security there is no need of fortune; for this, which is enough for necessity, even an angry fortune gives.