Fortune and favorable gods. Marcus Aurelius 1.17.8-9
The
first book of Marcus' meditations ends on a note that strikes several
common themes: (i) the leader's desire to help others without
requiring anything in return from them; (ii) family; (iii)
philosophy; and (iv) the significant role of chance in human affairs.
Fortune and favorable gods determine much of our fate in ancient
Rome, setting the stage for human decisions in ways we cannot
contest. This might remind us of current events, too, as we notice
that nobody today can make viruses or markets behave. You can hear this passage in Greek <here>.
τὸ
ὁσάκις ἐβουλήθην ἐπικουρῆσαί τινι
πενομένῳ ἢ εἰς ἄλλο τι χρῄζοντι,
μηδέποτε ἀκοῦσαί με, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι μοι
χρήματα, ὅθεν γένηται, καὶ τὸ αὐτῷ
ἐμοὶ χρείαν ὁμοίαν, ὡς παῤ ἑτέρου
μεταλαβεῖν, μὴ συμπεσεῖν· τὸ τὴν
γυναῖκα τοιαύτην εἶναι, οὑτωσὶ μὲν
πειθήνιον, οὕτω δὲ φιλόστοργον, οὕτω
δὲ ἀφελῆ· τὸ ἐπιτηδείων τροφέων εἰς
τὰ παιδία εὐπορῆσαι. τὸ δἰ ὀνειράτων
βοηθήματα δοθῆναι ἄλλα τε καὶ ὡς μὴ
πτύειν αἷμα καὶ μὴ ἰλιγγιᾶν, καὶ
τούτου ἐν Καιήτῃ ὥσπερ χρήσῃ· τὸ ὅπως
ἐπεθύμησα φιλοσοφίας, μὴ ἐμπεσεῖν
εἴς τινα σοφιστὴν μηδὲ ἀποκαθίσαι
ἐπὶ τὸ συγγράφειν ἢ συλλογισμοὺς
ἀναλύειν ἢ περὶ τὰ μετεωρολογικὰ
καταγίνεσθαι. πάντα γὰρ ταῦτα θεῶν
βοηθῶν καὶ τύχης δεῖται.
Whenever
I wished to help another in difficulties, I was fortunate never to
hear that I had no resources available to assist. Also not to meet
with any disaster that would require me to take aid from someone
else. To have a wife at once mild, affectionate, and without guile
(†), and everything necessary for our children. To receive support
from dreams on several occasions, including once when I was warned
not to spit blood or lose balance, and this happened as foretold, in
Caeta (‡). To avoid falling in with sophists, writing treatises,
solving syllogisms, and taking undue interest in the weather, despite
my enthusiasm for philosophy. All these things require fortune and
favorable gods.
---
(†)
Anna Galeria Faustina Minor
(c. 130-176 CE),
the biological daughter of Antoninus Pius, Marcus' adopted father.
Other historical sources are not so kind to her, insinuating that she
was sexually promiscuous,
not
necessarily a fault Marcus would mind
(Historia
Augusta 19),
and a dangerous political schemer (Historia
Augusta, Lucius Verus 10).
The latter accusation is more
serious, and the failed revolt of Avidius Cassius suggests there
might be some truth to it:
Marcus forgave her and
most of
the rebels,
after the fortuitous death of Cassius
(Dio Cassius 72; Historia
Augusta
25-26).
She and Marcus produced thirteen children together: quite a family!
Not all of them survived childhood, but one son went on to become the
infamous emperor Commodus
(reigned 177-192 CE).
A good father does not always have good children.
(‡) Caeta, modern Gaeta, is an ancient port in Latium, on the Via Appia between Rome and Naples.
Like others, ancient Mediterranean cultures often assigned importance
to dreams, believing that they conveyed information important to the
dreamer from realms beyond the concious mind. It is interesting to
note that Marcus takes dream-omens more seriously than weather ones.
Farquharsson reads this sentence differently: καὶ
τὸ τοῦ ἐν Καιήτῃ "ὥσπερ χρήσῃ".
I decided to follow Leopold.