The furious spirit of kings. Seneca, Epistles 5.47.18-21
Seneca
finishes his epistle on how masters should relate to servants,
showcasing the abiding contempt that Romans had for kings, even in
the age of the emperors. Note his warning about the power of luxury:
having our every whim catered to makes us naturally furious, inclined
to rage whenever the least little thing is denied us (whether by
accident or on purpose, by human intervention or by nature).
Dicet
aliquis nunc me vocare ad pilleum servos et dominos de fastigio suo
deicere, quod dixi, colant potius dominum quam timeant. Ita
inquit prorsus? colant tamquam clientes, tamquam salutatores?
Hoc qui dixerit obliviscetur id dominis parum non esse quod deo
sat est. Qui colitur, et amatur: non potest amor cum timore misceri.
Rectissime ergo facere te iudico quod timeri a servis tuis non vis,
quod verborum castigatione uteris: verberibus muta admonentur. Non
quidquid nos offendit et laedit; sed ad rabiem cogunt pervenire
deliciae, ut quidquid non ex voluntate respondit iram evocet.
Regum nobis induimus animos; nam illi quoque obliti et suarum
virium et imbecillitatis alienae sic excandescunt, sic saeviunt,
quasi iniuriam acceperint, a cuius rei periculo illos fortunae suae
magnitudo tutissimos praestat. Nec hoc ignorant, sed occasionem
nocendi captant querendo; acceperunt iniuriam ut facerent.
Diutius
te morari nolo; non est enim tibi exhortatione opus. Hoc habent inter
cetera boni mores: placent sibi, permanent. Levis est malitia, saepe
mutatur, non in melius sed in aliud. Vale.
Some
genius will declare that I am now summoning slaves to revolt (†)
and hurl their masters from the roof, merely because I have said that
they should love their lord more than they fear him. “What comes
next?” our genius wonders. “Should servants behave like clients,
like the needy visitors who go from house to house?” (‡) The
fellow who blathers in this fashion will always forget that what is
sufficient for a god can hardly be too little for a lord. The man who
is loved is also beloved: love cannot be mingled with fear. So
you are acting most correctly, I
judge, when you do not wish
to be feared by your servants, when you punish them
only with words. Blows
are for warning beasts. Not everything that offends us is harmful.
But life in the lap of luxury can drive us mad, so that whatever
fails to accord with our arbitrary will becomes
a summons to rage. We
then
put on the spirit of kings,
for they too are wont to blaze white-hot with savage anger, heedless
of their own strength & the weakness of others, as though they
might really receive injury from circumstances from whose danger the
greatness of their fortune keeps them as safe as it is possible to
be. Nor are they unaware of this, really, as they seize occasion for
harming others in the midst of making their furious complaints. They
accept damage so that they may deal it.
I
do not wish to delay you longer. You don't need exhortation. Among
its other benefits, good character has this one: it enjoys itself and
abides steadfast. Evil character, in contrast, is slippery: always
changing, becoming different but not better. Farewell.
---
(†)
The Latin phrase vocare
ad pilleum servos literally
means to summon slaves to the pilleus.
The pilleus was a close-fitting woolen cap, worn by everyone at
festivals (especially the Saturnalia) and given to slaves as part of
their manumission. It thus becomes a symbol of freedom.
(‡)
Roman nobles would regularly
entertain clients and visitors (salutatores are
literally greeters)
whom they served with food, drink, and attention (patronage in
business, legal help in court, etc.) in exchange for worship (public
praise, votes, sweet business deals, etc.). Clients enjoyed more
legal freedom than slaves, naturally, but often found themselves
strongly tied to their patron's interest.