§77.1Subito nobis hodie Alexandrinae naves apparuerunt, quae praemitti solent et nuntiare secuturae classis adventum; tabellarias vocant.
Suddenly today the Alexandrian ships appeared to us, which are usually sent ahead to announce the arrival of the fleet that is to follow; they call them mail-boats.
Gratus illarum Campaniae aspectus est; omnis in pilis Puteolorum turba consistit et ex ipso genere velorum Alexandrinas quamvis in magna turba navium intellegit.
Their appearance is welcome to Campania; the whole crowd stands on the piers of Puteoli, and from the very style of their sails, they recognize the Alexandrian ships even in a great crowd of vessels.
Solis enim licet siparum intendere, quod in alto omnes habent naves.
For they alone are permitted to keep their topsails spread, which all ships have up on the high seas.
§77.2Nulla enim res aeque adiuvat cursum quam summa pars veli; illinc maxime navis urgetur.
For nothing helps the course as much as the uppermost part of the sail; from there the ship is driven most of all.
Itaque quotiens ventus increbruit maiorque est quam expedit, antemna summittitur; minus habet virium flatus ex humili.
Therefore, as often as the wind has grown stronger and is greater than is expedient, the yard-arm is lowered; the breeze has less power from a low position.
Cum intravere Capreas et promunturium, ex quo
"
Alta procelloso speculatur vertice Pallas,
"
ceterae velo iubentur esse contentae; siparum Alexandrinarum insigne est.
When they have entered Capreas and the promontory from which "High Pallas watches from her stormy peak, "the other ships are ordered to be content with a single sail; the topsail is the special distinction of the Alexandrian ships.
§77.3In hoc omnium discursu properandum ad litus magnam ex pigritia mea sensi voluptatem, quod epistulas meorum accepturus non properavi scire, quis illic esset rerum mearum status, quid adferrent; olim iam nec perit quicquam mihi nec adquiritur.
In this general rush of everyone to the shore, I felt a great pleasure from my own laziness, because, though about to receive letters from my people, I did not hurry to know what the state of my affairs was there, or what they were bringing; for a long time now nothing has been lost to me, nor is anything acquired.
Hoc, etiam si senex non essem, fuerat sentiendum; nunc vero multo magis.
This, even if I were not an old man, should have been felt; but now, indeed, much more.
Quantulumcumque haberem, tamen plus iam mihi superesset viatici quam viae, praesertim cum eam viam simus ingressi, quam peragere non est necesse.
However little I might have, yet there would remain more of travel-money for me than of the journey, especially since we have entered upon that road which it is not necessary to travel to the end.
§77.4Iter inperfectum erit, si in media parte aut citra petitum locum steteris; vita non est inperfecta, si honesta est.
A journey will be incomplete if you stop in the middle or short of the place you aimed for; life is not incomplete if it is honorable.
Ubicumque desines, si bene desines, tota est.
Wherever you leave off, if you leave off well, it is whole.
Saepe autem et fortiter desinendum est et non ex maximis causis; nam nec eae maximae sunt, quae nos tenent.
Moreover, we must often leave off both bravely and not for the greatest reasons; for indeed, those reasons which hold us back are not the greatest.
§77.5Tullius Marcellinus, quem optime noveras, adulescens quietus et cito senex, morbo et non insanabili correptus sed longo et molesto et multa imperante, coepit deliberare de morte.
Tullius Marcellinus, whom you knew very well, a quiet young man who quickly became old, when seized by a disease—not indeed incurable, but long and troublesome and demanding much—began to deliberate about death.
Convocavit complures amicos.
He called together several friends.
Unusquisque aut quia timidus erat, id illi suadebat, quod sibi suasisset, aut quia adulator et blandus, id consilium dabat, quod deliberanti gratius fore suspicabatur; amicus noster Stoicus, homo egregius et, ut verbis illum, quibus laudari dignus est, laudem, vir fortis ac strenuus, videtur mihi optime illum cohortatus.
Each one, either because he was timid, advised him what he would have advised himself, or because he was a flatterer and fawning, gave that counsel which he suspected would be more pleasing to him as he deliberated; but our Stoic friend, an excellent man, and, to praise him in words by which he is worthy to be praised, a brave and vigorous man, seems to me to have encouraged him best.
§77.6Sic enim coepit: "Noli, mi Marcelline, torqueri, tamquam de re magna deliberes.
For he began thus: "Do not, my Marcellinus, be tormented as if you were deliberating about a great matter.
Non est res magna vivere; omnes servi tui vivunt, omnia animalia; magnum est honeste mori, prudenter, fortiter.
To live is not a great thing; all your slaves live, all animals do; it is a great thing to die honorably, prudently, bravely.
Cogita, quamdiu iam idem facias: cibus, somnus, libido, per hunc circulum curritur.
Think how long now you have been doing the same thing: food, sleep, lust—this is the circle we run.
Mori velle non tantum prudens aut fortis aut miser, etiam fastidiosus potest. " §77.7Non opus erat suasore illi, sed adiutore; servi parere nolebant.
Not only a wise or brave or miserable man can wish to die, but even one who is bored." He did not need someone to persuade him, but someone to help him; his slaves were unwilling to obey.
Primum detraxit illis metum et indicavit tunc familiam periculum adire, cum incertum esset, an mors domini voluntaria fuisset; alioqui tam mali exempli esse occidere dominum quam prohibere.
First, he took away their fear, and pointed out that the household only runs into danger when it is uncertain whether the master's death was voluntary; otherwise, it is as bad an example to kill a master as to prevent him from dying.
§77.8Deinde ipsum Marcellinum admonuit non esse inhumanum, quemadmodum cena peracta reliquiae circumstantibus dividantur, sic peracta vita aliquid porrigi iis, qui totius vitae ministri fuissent.
Next, he advised Marcellinus himself that it was not unkind, just as when a dinner is finished, the remnants are distributed to the bystanders, so when life is finished, something should be handed out to those who had been the servants of his whole life.
Erat Marcellinus facilis animi et liberalis, etiam cum de suo fieret.
Marcellinus was of an easy and generous mind, even when it came from his own pocket.
Minutas itaque summulas distribuit Sentibus servis et illos ultro consolatus est.
Therefore, he distributed small sums of money to his weeping slaves and even consoled them.
§77.9Non fuit illi opus ferro, non sanguine; triduo abstinuit et in ipso cubiculo poni tabernaculum iussit.
He had no need of steel, nor of blood; for three days he abstained from food and ordered a tent to be pitched in his very bedchamber.
Solium deinde inlatum est, in quo diu iacuit et calda subinde suffusa paulatim defecit, ut aiebat, non sine quadam voluptate, quam adferre solet lenis dissolutio non inexperta nobis, quos aliquando liquit animus.
Then a bath-tub was brought in, in which he lay for a long time, and hot water being poured in from time to time, he gradually slipped away, not, as he said, without a certain pleasure, which a gentle dissolution is accustomed to bring, an experience not unfamiliar to us who have sometimes fainted.
§77.10In fabellam excessi non ingratam tibi.
I have drifted into a little story not unwelcome to you.
Exitum enim amici tui cognosces non difficilem nec miserum.
For you will learn that the end of your friend was neither difficult nor miserable.
Quamvis enim mortem sibi consciverit, tamen mollissime excessit et vita elapsus est.
For although he took his own life, yet he departed most gently and slipped out of life.
Sed ne inutilis quidem haec fabella fuerit.
But indeed, this little story will not be useless.
Saepe enim talia exempla necessitas exigit.
For necessity often demands such examples.
Saepe debemus mori nec volumus, morimur nec volumus.
Often we ought to die and do not wish to; we die and do not wish to.