Beware of cruelty. Seneca, Epistles 1.7.3-5
Ancient
Romans had a harsh system for administering criminal justice. Those
found guilty of capital crimes were regularly executed in the arena,
where they were fed to beasts (like the lions and bears mentioned
below) or forced to fight with one another or trained gladiators.
Seneca does not approve the enthusiasm this provoked in many
spectators; to his way of thinking, the emotions we feel when we
rejoice in the suffering of others, even criminals justly condemned
(as not all are), are dangerous. Marinating in a sea of strong
emotions, your own and others, puts the soul at peril. You can listen
to the Latin <here>.
Nihil
habent quo tegantur; ad ictum totis corporibus ex positi numquam
frustra manum mittunt.
Hoc
plerique ordinariis paribus et postulaticiis praeferunt. Quidni
praeferant? non galea, non scuto repellitur ferrum. Quo munimenta?
quo artes? omnia ista mortis morae sunt. Mane leonibus et ursis
homines, meridie spectatoribus suis obiciuntur. Interfectores
interfecturis iubent obici et victorem in aliam detinent caedem;
exitus pugnantium mors est. Ferro et igne res geritur. Haec fiunt dum
vacat harena. Sed latrocinium fecit aliquis, occidit
hominem. Quid ergo? quia occidit, ille meruit ut hoc
pateretur: tu quid meruisti miser ut hoc spectes? Occide,
verbera, ure! Quare tam timide incurrit in ferrum? quare parum
audacter occidit? quare parum libenter moritur? Plagis agatur in
vulnera, mutuos ictus nudis et obviis pectoribus
excipiant. Intermissum est spectaculum: interim
iugulentur homines, ne nihil agatur. Age, ne hoc quidem
intellegitis, mala exempla in eos redundare qui faciunt? Agite dis
immortalibus gratias quod eum docetis esse crudelem qui non potest
discere.
The fighters wore no protection at all, exposing their entire bodies so
that every blow drew blood.
People
prefer this bloody spectacle to an ordinary card, one with pairs of
gladiators and some superfights. And what is it they like, exactly?
The sword here finds no helmet or shield to turn it back. Armor?
Skill? All these things are but a tedious delay of death. In the
morning, folk are cast to lions and bears; by midday, they are being
offered to the spectators. These stop the battle at the last minute
to order that winners be cast to the losers, then send the victor
straight to another slaughter. Death offers the fighters a welcome
departure from this scene of sword and fire. The mayhem continues
until the arena is empty, with running commentary from the crowd.
“That
fellow committed a robbery, killed a man.” What of it? He has
earned his place in this hell, because he committed murder, but what
have you done, wretch, that makes you a worthy witness of it?
“Kill!
Beat! Burn! Why does this one run so timidly to the sword? Why strike
the death-blow cowering, rather than triumphant? Why die with so
little panache? Those two should hit each other in the wounds, take
each other out with two clean strokes through naked flesh.”
An
intermission arrives, finally. “They should bring out some folk to
be strangled. We don't want an empty stage!” Can you not even
conceive the idea that overflowing malice eventually harms those who
dish it out? Give the gods thanks that you are teaching cruelty to
those who cannot learn, being not long for this world (†).
---
(†)
Here we have a real moral problem. What is the right way to
administer criminal justice? How do we strike the right balance
between doing too little and doing too much (or going about it the
wrong way, with the wrong attitude, as Seneca sees the Romans doing)?