SENECA - College of Stoic Philosophers

EPISTLE JLXVII.
honour, I have prayed also for those things without
which, on some occasions, life cannot be honourable.
O thrice and four times blest were they
Who underneath the lofty walls of Troy
Met happy death before their parents' eyes
! *
What does it matter whether you offer this prayer
for some individual, or admit that it was desirable in
the past? Decius sacrificed himself for the State;
he set spurs to his horse and rushed into the midst
of the foe, seeking death. The second Decius,
rivalling his father's valour, reproducing the words
which had become sacred 6 and already household
words, dashed into the thickest of the fight, anxious
only that his sacrifice might bring omen of success/
and regarding a noble death as a thing to be desired.
Do you doubt, then, whether it is best to die glorious
and performing some deed of valour ? When one
endures torture bravely, one is all
using the virtues.
Endurance may perhaps be the only virtue that is on
view and most manifest ;
but bravery
is there too,
and endurance and resignation and long-suffering
are its branches. There, too, is foresight for without
;
foresight no plan can be undertaken it is ; foresight
that advises one to bear as bravely as possible the
things one cannot avoid. There also is steadfastness,
which cannot be dislodged from its position, which
the wrench of no force can cause to abandon its
purpose. There is the whole inseparable company
of virtues ;
every honourable act is the work of one
single virtue, but it is in accordance with the
judgment of the whole council. And that which is
approved by all the virtues, even though
it seems to
be the work of one alone, is desirable.
What ? Do you think that those things only are
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