PUBLIUS CORNELIUS SCIPIO,1 the first of that family to be called Africanus, used to remark that he was never less idle than when he had nothing to do, and never less lonely than when he was by himself. We have this on the authority of Marcus Porcius Cato the Censor,2 who was almost his contemporary. It is a fine sentiment – as you would expect from so great and wise a man. Scipio means that even when he was working his thoughts were occupied with public affairs; and that even when he was alone he did not stop taking counsel – with himself. That is to say, he was never unoccupied; and often the only company he needed was his own. Other men are enervated by leisure and seclusion, but he derived stimulation from them.
I wish I could truthfully say the same of myself. Of course, however hard I try to imitate Scipio I cannot give myself a remarkable character like his. Nevertheless, if aspiration counts for anything, I do come as near to him as I can. At present, seeing that criminal, armed violence excludes me both from politics and from my legal practice, I have no work to do. For that reason I have left Rome, and I am travelling from one place in the country to another – and I am often alone.
But I must not compare this leisure and solitude of mine with Scipio’s. He, when he felt the need to rest from his splendid services to his country, used occasionally to take a holiday: he would leave the massed gatherings of men, and withdraw into the haven of his own company. My leisure, on the other hand, is not prompted by any desire for retirement: it is forced upon me because I have nothing to do. For now that the Senate has been abolished and the courts annihilated, what work in keeping with my position is there for me to do, either in the Senate or in the Forum? Once I lived with great crowds around me, in the forefront of Roman publicity. But now I shun the sight of the scoundrels who swarm on every side. I withdraw as completely as I can; and I am often alone.
However, as the philosophers instruct, one must not only choose the least among evils, one must also extract from them any good that they may contain. That being so, I am making use of my rest – though it is scarcely the kind of rest deserved by the man whose services gave Rome itself rest from its troubles! Nevertheless, dictated though my solitude is by necessity rather than choice, I am refusing to let it make me idle.
Scipio deserves a higher compliment, I admit. For we have inherited no literary record of his talents, no products of his leisure hours, no fruits of his seclusion. From this one may infer that he was never idle or lonely, because he was incessantly engaged in contemplating the problems which he had selected for study. Whereas I have not enough strength of character to relieve my solitude by silent meditation. I have therefore concentrated my whole attention and willpower upon literary work; and this is one of its products. Indeed, my output during the brief period since the destruction of the government has exceeded the total of many years while the Republic was still intact.
My son: every part of philosophy is fruitful and rewarding, none barren or desolate. But the most luxuriantly fertile field of all is that of our moral obligations – since, if we clearly understand these, we have mastered the rules for leading a good and consistent life. No doubt you are conscientiously attending and absorbing the lectures on this subject by my friend Cratippus,1 and he is our leading contemporary philosopher. Nevertheless, I hope to make your ears ring with this kind of moralizing from every quarter! Indeed, if it were only possible, I should like them to hear nothing else.
To everyone who proposes to have a good career, moral philosophy is indispensable. And I am inclined to think that this applies particularly to yourself. For upon your shoulders rests a special responsibility. People have high expectations that you will work hard, as I have. They also trust that you will have a career like mine; and perhaps they look to you to win the same sort of reputation. Athens and Cratippus add to your responsibilities. You went to them in order to take on board, if one may put it in this way, a cargo of education. It would be discreditable, then, if you came back empty; for in that case you would not have lived up either to the city or to your professor. So make every effort you can. Work as hard as possible (if study comes under the heading of work and not of pleasure!) and do your very best. I have supplied you with all you need, so do not let people say that the failure is on your side.
But enough of this! I have sent you similar exhortations times without number. Let us now return to the subject we proposed for discussion, and deal with its outstanding subdivision.