Seneca · c. 4 BCE – 65 CE
On Benefits 2.8 — Seneca
Translation by Aubrey Stewart (1887)
Seneca, On Benefits 2.8
Moreover, if incidentally I should say what I think of this part of the subject, I do not consider that it is becoming even to an emperor to give merely in order to cover a man with shame. “And yet,” we are told, “Tiberius did not even by this means attain his object; for after this a good many persons were found to make the same request. He ordered all of them to explain the reasons of their indebtedness before the senate, and when they did so, granted them certain definite sums of money.” This is not an act of generosity, but a reprimand. You may call it a subsidy, or an imperial contribution; it is not a benefit, for the receiver cannot think of it without shame. I was summoned before a judge, and had to be tried at bar before I obtained what I asked for.
Cite this passage
Seneca, On Benefits 2.8, tr. Aubrey Stewart (1887)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-benefits/2.8
Seneca, Dialogues, tr. Aubrey Stewart (1887–1889). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesGiving merely to cover someone with shame, as an emperor did by making debtors explain themselves in public before paying, is a reprimand dressed up as generosity. A payout that the receiver cannot think of without shame is not a favour at all. The author adds a bitter aside that he had to be put on trial before getting what he asked for.
Older wording
- “subsidy”
- — a grant of money
- “reprimand”
- — a formal scolding
- “tried at bar”
- — put on formal trial before a judge
Themes and situations
- Kindness and forgiveness
- Pride and humility
- Leadership and power
- Insult and criticism
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