Seneca - College of Stoic Philosophers

' *124 SENECAhe must disdain all those superfluities that tormentwhile they seem to adorn our lives, and understand thatdeath is the source of no evil but the end of many ;consecrating his soul to virtue he must think her waythe plainest whithersoever it may lead him ;he musthold himself a social being born for the service of all,and regard the world as a hostel where all men arefellow-sojourners he must open his conscience to the;gods and live as if all his actions were public.-^Among the many great sayings of my friendDemetrius [Seneca writes elsewhere], here is one thatI have just heard and that still rings in my ears, * Theman who has never known adversity seems to be unhappiestof all, for he has never been able to test himself.' ^Demetrius concealed neither his thoughtsnor his dwelling-place, yet he contrived to livewithout serious molestation under tyrant aftertyrant, and died at last in extreme old age in theprincipate of Domitian. Caligula endeavoured topropitiate him by an enormous present of money,but the philosopher laughingly rejected it, observingafterwards that if the emperor wishedto corrupt him he should at least have offeredhim his whole empire. Later he lived for a timeat Corinth, where he made the acquaintance ofthe thaumaturgist Apollonius of Tyana. Comingto Rome, he became the honoured companionand spiritual adviser of Seneca, Thrasea, andother distinguished men. He was present withHelvidius at Thrasea's death, and it was to himthat that high-minded senator addressed his lastwords. ^ When Nero's gymnasium was completedhe made his way into the new building and there^De Benef. vii. i.De Providentia, 3.^Tac, Ann. xvi. 35J