From my grandfather Verus I learned good
morals and the government of my temper.
From the reputation and remembrance of my
father, modesty and a manly character.
From my mother, piety and beneficence, and
abstinence, not only from evil deeds, but
even from evil thoughts; and further, simplicity
in my way of living, far removed from the
habits of the rich.
From my great-grandfather, not to have frequented
public schools, and to have had good teachers
at home, and to know that on such things
a man should spend liberally.
From my governor, to be neither of the green
nor of the blue party at the games in the
Circus, nor a partizan either of the Parmularius
or the Scutarius at the gladiators' fights;
from him too I learned endurance of labour,
and to want little, and to work with my own
hands, and not to meddle with other people's
affairs, and not to be ready to listen to
slander.
From Diognetus, not to busy myself about
trifling things, and not to give credit to
what was said by miracle-workers and jugglers
about incantations and the driving away of
daemons and such things; and not to breed
quails for fighting, nor to give myself up
passionately to such things; and to endure
freedom of speech; and to have become intimate
with philosophy; and to have been a hearer,
first of Bacchius, then of Tandasis and Marcianus;
and to have written dialogues in my youth;
and to have desired a plank bed and skin,
and whatever else of the kind belongs to
the Grecian discipline.
From Rusticus I received the impression that
my character required improvement and discipline;
and from him I learned not to be led astray
to sophistic emulation, nor to writing on
speculative matters, nor to delivering little
hortatory orations, nor to showing myself
off as a man who practises much discipline,
or does benevolent acts in order to make
a display; and to abstain from rhetoric,
and poetry, and fine writing; and not to
walk about in the house in my outdoor dress,
nor to do other things of the kind; and to
write my letters with simplicity, like the
letter which Rusticus wrote from Sinuessa
to my mother; and with respect to those who
have offended me by words, or done me wrong,
to be easily disposed to be pacified and
reconciled, as soon as they have shown a
readiness to be reconciled; and to read carefully,
and not to be satisfied with a superficial
understanding of a book; nor hastily to give
my assent to those who talk overmuch; and
I am indebted to him for being acquainted
with the discourses of Epictetus, which he
communicated to me out of his own collection.
From Apollonius I learned freedom of will
and undeviating steadiness of purpose; and
to look to nothing else, not even for a moment,
except to reason; and to be always the same,
in sharp pains, on the occasion of the loss
of a child, and in long illness; and to see
clearly in a living example that the same
man can be both most resolute and yielding,
and not peevish in giving his instruction;
and to have had before my eyes a man who
clearly considered his experience and his
skill in expounding philosophical principles
as the smallest of his merits; and from him
I learned how to receive from friends what
are esteemed favours, without being either
humbled by them or letting them pass unnoticed.
From Sextus, a benevolent disposition, and
the example of a family governed in a fatherly
manner, and the idea of living conformably
to nature; and gravity without affectation,
and to look carefully after the interests
of friends, and to tolerate ignorant persons,
and those who form opinions without consideration:
he had the power of readily accommodating
himself to all, so that intercourse with
him was more agreeable than any flattery;
and at the same time he was most highly venerated
by those who associated with him: and he
had the faculty both of discovering and ordering,
in an intelligent and methodical way, the
principles necessary for life; and he never
showed anger or any other passion, but was
entirely free from passion, and also most
affectionate; and he could express approbation
without noisy display, and he possessed much
knowledge without ostentation.
From Alexander the grammarian, to refrain
from fault-finding, and not in a reproachful
way to chide those who uttered any barbarous
or solecistic or strange-sounding expression;
but dexterously to introduce the very expression
which ought to have been used, and in the
way of answer or giving confirmation, or
joining in an inquiry about the thing itself,
not about the word, or by some other fit
suggestion.
From Fronto I learned to observe what envy,
and duplicity, and hypocrisy are in a tyrant,
and that generally those among us who are
called Patricians are rather deficient in
paternal affection.
From Alexander the Platonic, not frequently
nor without necessity to say to any one,
or to write in a letter, that I have no leisure;
nor continually to excuse the neglect of
duties required by our relation to those
with whom we live, by alleging urgent occupations.
From Catulus, not to be indifferent when
a friend finds fault, even if he should find
fault without reason, but to try to restore
him to his usual disposition; and to be ready
to speak well of teachers, as it is reported
of Domitius and Athenodotus; and to love
my children truly.
From my brother Severus, to love my kin,
and to love truth, and to love justice; and
through him I learned to know Thrasea, Helvidius,
Cato, Dion, Brutus; and from him I received
the idea of a polity in which there is the
same law for all, a polity administered with
regard to equal rights and equal freedom
of speech, and the idea of a kingly government
which respects most of all the freedom of
the governed; I learned from him also consistency
and undeviating steadiness in my regard for
philosophy; and a disposition to do good,
and to give to others readily, and to cherish
good hopes, and to believe that I am loved
by my friends; and in him I observed no concealment
of his opinions with respect to those whom
he condemned, and that his friends had no
need to conjecture what he wished or did
not wish, but it was quite plain.
From Maximus I learned self-government, and
not to be led aside by anything; and cheerfulness
in all circumstances, as well as in illness;
and a just admixture in the moral character
of sweetness and dignity, and to do what
was set before me without complaining. I
observed that everybody believed that he
thought as he spoke, and that in all that
he did he never had any bad intention; and
he never showed amazement and surprise, and
was never in a hurry, and never put off doing
a thing, nor was perplexed nor dejected,
nor did he ever laugh to disguise his vexation,
nor, on the other hand, was he ever passionate
or suspicious. He was accustomed to do acts
of beneficence, and was ready to forgive,
and was free from all falsehood; and he presented
the appearance of a man who could not be
diverted from right rather than of a man
who had been improved. I observed, too, that
no man could ever think that he was despised
by Maximus, or ever venture to think himself
a better man. He had also the art of being
humorous in an agreeable way.
In my father I observed mildness of temper,
and unchangeable resolution in the things
which he had determined after due deliberation;
and no vainglory in those things which men
call honours; and a love of labour and perseverance;
and a readiness to listen to those who had
anything to propose for the common weal;
and undeviating firmness in giving to every
man according to his deserts; and a knowledge
derived from experience of the occasions
for vigorous action and for remission. And
I observed that he had overcome all passion
for boys; and he considered himself no more
than any other citizen; and he released his
friends from all obligation to sup with him
or to attend him of necessity when he went
abroad, and those who had failed to accompany
him, by reason of any urgent circumstances,
always found him the same. I observed too
his habit of careful inquiry in all matters
of deliberation, and his persistency, and
that he never stopped his investigation through
being satisfied with appearances which first
present themselves; and that his disposition
was to keep his friends, and not to be soon
tired of them, nor yet to be extravagant
in his affection; and to be satisfied on
all occasions, and cheerful; and to foresee
things a long way off, and to provide for
the smallest without display; and to check
immediately popular applause and all flattery;
and to be ever watchful over the things which
were necessary for the administration of
the empire, and to be a good manager of the
expenditure, and patiently to endure the
blame which he got for such conduct; and
he was neither superstitious with respect
to the gods, nor did he court men by gifts
or by trying to please them, or by flattering
the populace; but he showed sobriety in all
things and firmness, and never any mean thoughts
or action, nor love of novelty. And the things
which conduce in any way to the commodity
of life, and of which fortune gives an abundant
supply, he used without arrogance and without
excusing himself; so that when he had them,
he enjoyed them without affectation, and
when he had them not, he did not want them.
No one could ever say of him that he was
either a sophist or a home-bred flippant
slave or a pedant; but every one acknowledged
him to be a man ripe, perfect, above flattery,
able to manage his own and other men's affairs.
Besides this, he honoured those who were
true philosophers, and he did not reproach
those who pretended to be philosophers, nor
yet was he easily led by them. He was also
easy in conversation, and he made himself
agreeable without any offensive affectation.
He took a reasonable care of his body's health,
not as one who was greatly attached to life,
nor out of regard to personal appearance,
nor yet in a careless way, but so that, through
his own attention, he very seldom stood in
need of the physician's art or of medicine
or external applications. He was most ready
to give way without envy to those who possessed
any particular faculty, such as that of eloquence
or knowledge of the law or of morals, or
of anything else; and he gave them his help,
that each might enjoy reputation according
to his deserts; and he always acted conformably
to the institutions of his country, without
showing any affectation of doing so. Further,
he was not fond of change nor unsteady, but
he loved to stay in the same places, and
to employ himself about the same things;
and after his paroxysms of headache he came
immediately fresh and vigorous to his usual
occupations. His secrets were not but very
few and very rare, and these only about public
matters; and he showed prudence and economy
in the exhibition of the public spectacles
and the construction of public buildings,
his donations to the people, and in such
things, for he was a man who looked to what
ought to be done, not to the reputation which
is got by a man's acts. He did not take the
bath at unseasonable hours; he was not fond
of building houses, nor curious about what
he ate, nor about the texture and colour
of his clothes, nor about the beauty of his
slaves. His dress came from Lorium, his villa
on the coast, and from Lanuvium generally.
We know how he behaved to the toll-collector
at Tusculum who asked his pardon; and such
was all his behaviour. There was in him nothing
harsh, nor implacable, nor violent, nor,
as one may say, anything carried to the sweating
point; but he examined all things severally,
as if he had abundance of time, and without
confusion, in an orderly way, vigorously
and consistently. And that might be applied
to him which is recorded of Socrates, that
he was able both to abstain from, and to
enjoy, those things which many are too weak
to abstain from, and cannot enjoy without
excess. But to be strong enough both to bear
the one and to be sober in the other is the
mark of a man who has a perfect and invincible
soul, such as he showed in the illness of
Maximus.
To the gods I am indebted for having good
grandfathers, good parents, a good sister,
good teachers, good associates, good kinsmen
and friends, nearly everything good. Further,
I owe it to the gods that I was not hurried
into any offence against any of them, though
I had a disposition which, if opportunity
had offered, might have led me to do something
of this kind; but, through their favour,
there never was such a concurrence of circumstances
as put me to the trial. Further, I am thankful
to the gods that I was not longer brought
up with my grandfather's concubine, and that
I preserved the flower of my youth, and that
I did not make proof of my virility before
the proper season, but even deferred the
time; that I was subjected to a ruler and
a father who was able to take away all pride
from me, and to bring me to the knowledge
that it is possible for a man to live in
a palace without wanting either guards or
embroidered dresses, or torches and statues,
and such-like show; but that it is in such
a man's power to bring himself very near
to the fashion of a private person, without
being for this reason either meaner in thought,
or more remiss in action, with respect to
the things which must be done for the public
interest in a manner that befits a ruler.
I thank the gods for giving me such a brother,
who was able by his moral character to rouse
me to vigilance over myself, and who, at
the same time, pleased me by his respect
and affection; that my children have not
been stupid nor deformed in body; that I
did not make more proficiency in rhetoric,
poetry, and the other studies, in which I
should perhaps have been completely engaged,
if I had seen that I was making progress
in them; that I made haste to place those
who brought me up in the station of honour,
which they seemed to desire, without putting
them off with hope of my doing it some time
after, because they were then still young;
that I knew Apollonius, Rusticus, Maximus;
that I received clear and frequent impressions
about living according to nature, and what
kind of a life that is, so that, so far as
depended on the gods, and their gifts, and
help, and inspirations, nothing hindered
me from forthwith living according to nature,
though I still fall short of it through my
own fault, and through not observing the
admonitions of the gods, and, I may almost
say, their direct instructions; that my body
has held out so long in such a kind of life;
that I never touched either Benedicta or
Theodotus, and that, after having fallen
into amatory passions, I was cured; and,
though I was often out of humour with Rusticus,
I never did anything of which I had occasion
to repent; that, though it was my mother's
fate to die young, she spent the last years
of her life with me; that, whenever I wished
to help any man in his need, or on any other
occasion, I was never told that I had not
the means of doing it; and that to myself
the same necessity never happened, to receive
anything from another; that I have such a
wife, so obedient, and so affectionate, and
so simple; that I had abundance of good masters
for my children; and that remedies have been
shown to me by dreams, both others, and against
bloodspitting and giddiness...; and that,
when I had an inclination to philosophy,
I did not fall into the hands of any sophist,
and that I did not waste my time on writers
of histories, or in the resolution of syllogisms,
or occupy myself about the investigation
of appearances in the heavens; for all these
things require the help of the gods and fortune.
Among the Quadi at the Granua.
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