Integrity. Marcus Aurelius 1.16.8-10
If
you have integrity, you can move safely through environments that
others will not be able to navigate without getting stuck. You can
hear this passage <here>.
οὐκ
ἦν ἀωρὶ λούστης, οὐχὶ φιλοικοδόμος,
οὐ περὶ τὰς ἐδωδὰς ἐπινοητής, οὐ
περὶ ἐσθήτων ὑφὰς καὶ χρόας, οὐ περὶ
σωμάτων ὥρας. ἡ ἀπὸ Λωρίου στολὴ
ἀνάγουσα ἀπὸ τῆς κάτω ἐπαύλεως· χιτὼν
ἐν Λανουβίῳ τὰ πολλά· τῷ τελώνῃ ἐν
Τούσκλοις παραιτουμένῳ ὡς ἐχρήσατο
καὶ πᾶς ὁ τοιοῦτος τρόπος. οὐδὲν
ἀπηνὲς οὐδὲ μὴν ἀδυσώπητον οὐδὲ
λάβρον οὐδὲ ὥστ̓ ἄν τινα εἰπεῖν ποτε·
ἕως ἱδρῶτος· ἀλλὰ πάντα διειλημμένα
λελογίσθαι ὡς ἐπὶ σχολῆς, ἀταράχως,
τεταγμένως, ἐρρωμένως, συμφώνως ἑαυτοῖς.
ἐφαρμόσειε δ̓ ἂν αὐτῷ τὸ περὶ τοῦ
Σωκράτους μνημονευόμενον, ὅτι καὶ
ἀπέχεσθαι καὶ ἀπολαύειν ἐδύνατο
τούτων, ὧν οἱ πολλοὶ πρός τε τὰς ἀποχὰς
ἀσθενῶς καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἀπολαύσεις
ἐνδοτικῶς ἔχουσι. τὸ δὲ ἰσχύειν καὶ
ἐγκαρτερεῖν καὶ ἐννήφειν ἑκατέρῳ
ἀνδρός ἐστιν ἄρτιον καὶ ἀήττητον
ψυχὴν ἔχοντος, οἷον ἐν τῇ νόσῳ τῇ
Μαξίμου.
He
was not always in the baths, nor was he fond of building. He did not
devote much thought to food, to the weave and color of garments, or
to beautiful bodies. He wore a Lorian robe, from his estate down
there (*), to which he usually added a tunic in Lanuvium, adopting the
style of one whose taxman comes from Tusculum (†).
There was nothing rough in his demeanor, nothing furious or
unapproachable, such as would cause another to say, "Wait for
the sweat!" (‡)
Everything about him was chosen as though at leisure, without
confusion, part of an orderly, steady ensemble that agreed with
itself in all its parts. You might easily suppose that he adapted to
himself the character of Socrates, of whom tradition says that he was
able to avoid and enjoy things that most could barely escape and
scarcely enjoy. To remain capable, patient, and cool-headed in every
circumstance, as he did during the illness of Maximus, is the mark of
a man whose soul is whole and unconquered.
---
(*) Lorium or Larium was an old Etruscan village, located on the western outskirts of Rome. It is identified by the Peutinger Table as the first way-station on the Via Aurelia (constructed about 241 BCE by Gaius Aurelius Cotta), twelve miles from Rome.
(†) Reading τῷ τελώνῃ (publicanus in Latin) with Farquharson rather than τῷ φελώνῃ (?) with Leopold. The latter reading would offer either another way to indicate (1) φελόνη (= φαινόλη, Latin paenula, a woolen cloak), or (2) φέλων (= ἀλαζών, a wanderer or vagrant, with undertones of double-dealing chicanery). In either case, the translation would change: (1) 'All his character could be summed up in the observation that he made use of a cloak acquired in Tusculum'; (2) 'All his style was that of someone relying on a vagrant in Tusculum'. The second reading (2) seems unlikely. The first would agree well with the point being made, that Antoninus dressed and behaved as a normal Roman aristocrat, avoiding the more flamboyant style of Eastern monarchs and other emperors.
(†) Reading τῷ τελώνῃ (publicanus in Latin) with Farquharson rather than τῷ φελώνῃ (?) with Leopold. The latter reading would offer either another way to indicate (1) φελόνη (= φαινόλη, Latin paenula, a woolen cloak), or (2) φέλων (= ἀλαζών, a wanderer or vagrant, with undertones of double-dealing chicanery). In either case, the translation would change: (1) 'All his character could be summed up in the observation that he made use of a cloak acquired in Tusculum'; (2) 'All his style was that of someone relying on a vagrant in Tusculum'. The second reading (2) seems unlikely. The first would agree well with the point being made, that Antoninus dressed and behaved as a normal Roman aristocrat, avoiding the more flamboyant style of Eastern monarchs and other emperors.
(‡)
An animal insufficiently tamed must be broken down with work before
it can be safely approached. Apparently, Romans had similar ideas
about men.