Seneca - College of Stoic Philosophers

SENECA IN POWER 83against the emptiness of the teaching in suchplaces.The themes of declamation, the writerdeclares, are ridiculous and impossible the ;goodliterature of the pastis entirely neglected the;great object is to achieve smartness of phrase andan appearance of brilliancy however unrelated thesemay be to the realities of life ;the whole is neglectedfor the parts: in fact, he concludes, so soon aseloquence began to be studied as an art and taughtby rule of thumb, men ceased to be eloquent—just as a man who spends much time in the kitchenwill not be savoury. Whatever takes the fancyof boys is unlikely to be really fine, yet it isexactly that which is most admired and studiedin the schools. Quintilian said the same thingof Seneca when he expressed his regret that onewho could do all that he pleased should so oftenthrough lack of judgment be pleased to do whatwas not worth doing, for that ifjudgment hadbeen added to his other gifts, instead of being thedelight of boys he might have won the approvalof men of taste.^The year 58 was illustrated by the victoriesof Corbulo over the Parthians in Armenia. Thesuccesses of this able commander, who had restoredthe almost ruined discipline of the forces underhis command, were recognised by the Senate aftertheir usual manner in decrees for statues andtriumphal arches to the emperor under whoseauspices they were achieved. In the same yearSeneca incurred a certain degree of unpopularityin connection with the trial and condemnationof Publius Suilius.This man had been a notable^Quintilian, x. i.