Moral essays. With an English translation by J.W. Basore

ON ANGER, I. xviii. 2-6piled up before its ven' eyes, it loves error and clingsto it ; it refuses to be con\-inced, and ha\-ing enteredupon wTong it counts persistence to be more honourablethan penitence.There was Gnaeus Piso, whom I can remember ; aman free from many %'ices, but misguided, in thathe mistook inflexibihty " for firmness. Once when hewas angry he ordered the execution of a soldier whohad returned from leave of absence A\ithout hiscomrade, on the ground that if the man did not producehis companion, he had killed him ; and when thesoldier asked for a httle time to institute a search, therequest was refused. The condemned man was ledoutside the rampart, and as he was in the act of presentinghis neck, there suddenly appeared the verycomrade who was supposed to have been murdered.Hereupon the centurion in charge of the executionbade the guardsman sheathe his sword, and led thecondemned man back to Piso in order to free Pisofrom blame ; for Fortune had freed the soldier. Ahuge crowd amid great rejoicing in the camp escortedthe two comrades locked in each other's arms. Pisomounted the tribunal in a rage, and ordered bothsoldiers to be led to execution, the one who had doneno murder and the one who had escaped it ! Couldanything have been more unjust than this ? Twowere dpng because one had been proved innocent.But Piso added also a third ; for he ordered thecenturion who had brought back the condemned manto be executed as well. On account of the innocenceof one man three were appointed to die in the selfsameplace. O how clever is anger in de\'isingexcuses for its madness ! ^'^"You7*"it"say^,"r orderto be executed because you were condemned ; you,155i