Selection 5 (4b.13.1-11)

Selection 5 (4b.13.1–11): Critique of the trade of snow and the luxurious habits of the rich

This selection from the conclusion of Book 4b treats celestial waters such as hail and snow. These were typical topics for works of meteorology, and one can find a discussion in Aristotle’s Meteorologica 347b16–349a3. Because the opening of this book is lost, we are unsure about all of the subjects covered, but what remains covers frozen precipitation. After differentiating between hail and snow, providing the scientific theories of the two (see Williams 2012: 149–70), and offering some rather humorous examples of ancient beliefs in warding off hail, Seneca finishes the book with a peroration against the trade in ice and snow and what this has done to pervert the natural order of eating, drinking, and other social interactions. There is a similar digression about eating red mullet in Book 3, and one about the way humans have manipulated the winds for their own imperialist desires at the conclusion of Book 5. For the connections of ethics and physics in these sections, see Scott 1999 and Williams 2012: 54–92.

[4b.13.1] The social and ethical effects of the trade in ice and snow.

inquis: Lucilius is the interlocutor here. Seneca enlivens his account by adding other voices and questioning the purpose of own investigations. Here Lucilius wonders if such knowledge is making Seneca more learned (litteratior), but not better (melior).

quibus: its antecedent is ineptias; ablative of means (AG 409).

quomodo fiant: fiant is subjunctive in an indirect question (AG 574).

cum … pertineat: concessive cum clause with the subjunctive (AG 549).

dici a te: te is ablative of personal agent with the passive infinitive dici (AG 405).

quare emendae non sint: “why it should not be purchased,” subjunctive in indirect question. The subject is nives, “snow.” The plural nives is interchangeable with the singular nix.

litem cum luxuria litigare: legal language, which is common in the NQ (Lehoux 2012: 77–105). Luxuria is often attacked by Seneca in his philosophical treatises (e.g. Ep. 100.10: “I want luxury to be castigated, debauchery to be lessened, and violence to be crushed”). In the NQ luxuria leads to unnatural behavior, such as the behavior of those who take pleasure in watching a fish die before they eat it, to ensure maximum freshness (NQ 3.17.2-3.18.7).

superior futura est: “it will win.” luxuria is the subject.

pugnantes ac reluctantes: supply nos.

[4b.13.2] Snow merchants have figured out how to pack and preserve it against heat. The rich in effect purchase water, which is free.

quid porro?: “what else?” “what further?” introducing a rhetorical question, as at 3.30.2.

nihil … conferre: “that it contributes nothing,” indirect statement after iudicas

vis: > volo, velle, 2 sing.

pruinae: dative with similem (AG 384)

plus illi spiritus quam aquae inesse: supply dicimus; illi and aquae are datives with inesse, as normal with compounds of esse. spiritus = “air.” Un-compacted snow is typically 90–95% trapped air.

exprobrari illis: "that a reproach is being leveled at them," impersonal passive infinitive + dat. (AG 372)

ne … quidem: surrounds and emphasizes the word it negates (AG 322.f). Because there is more air than water in snow, those who buy snow in essence spend their money on what is mostly air.

 [4b.13.3] The rich want to put a price on the free gifts of nature and are distressed that certain of nature’s gifts remain free.

diffundere: “decant” into vessels, such as amphoras, for storage and preservation.

disponere: “arrange” on racks according to (per) their flavor and age. Seneca represents such connoisseurship as a blameworthy product of luxuria.

stiparemus: “we compact”

nempe: “doubtless.” The tone is ironic and satirical.

nobis dolet: take dolet impersonally with nobis = “we grieve that….” The ironic tone continues though the end of the section.

hic aer: “this air,” around us, as opposed to the spiritus trapped in snow

ex facili nec emptus: “readily and unbought”

in medio: “for the public, open to all” (LS medius II.B.1).

[4b.13.4] Nature made water available to all, but the rich have turned even this into a means of conspicuous consumption, a way to separate themselves from the mob.

hoc quod: “this (i.e., water), a thing which”

illa: natura.

cuius haustum vitae publicum fecit: “the drinking of which she has made common to life,” i.e., communal property (LS publicus I.B.2.a).

in usum: “to use”

contra se ingeniosa: “clever against itself.” Luxuria’s (i.e. the luxurious person’s) actions are self-defeating. Seneca mentions luxuria’s cleverness at Ep. 90.19.

redegit ad pretium: “has put a price on,” “has reduced to the status of a commodity” (LS redigo II.B, OLD pretium 6.a)

illi: luxuria, dative because placere takes the dative (AG 367).

quod divites in aequum turbae deduceret: “which reduced the wealthy to the status of the mob.” deduceret is subjunctive in a relative clause of characteristic (AG 535); the same syntax governs quo possent.

antecedere: “take precedence over” + acc.

illi cui divitiae molestae sunt: “someone burdened by riches.” illi is dative with the impersonal passive excogitatum est.

excogitatum est: The verb highlights the mental effort needed by the rich to make even water a luxury item. Seneca utilizes it in a similar manner at NQ 3.18.3, and 5.18.4.

quemadmodum etiam caperet aqua luxuriam: “how even water might acquire the status of a luxury.” caperet is subjunctive in an indirect question (AG 574).

[4b.13.5] Seneca explains how snow came to be the only form of water that could alleviate this heat.

General humoral theory (especially the mention of bilis “bile”) and common sense about body temperature underlie this section. Chronic heartburn anyone?

unde ... dicam: dicam is future; unde introduces an indirect question.

ut nobis ... videretur: a substantive clause of result (AG 568). The first person singular (nobis) is again ironic.

quae flueret: no flowing water is cold enough, i.e., it must be frozen.

salubris cibi: genitive after capax, “receptive to”

premitur: “is oppressed” by overeating

cruditatibus: “indigestion”

temporis aestus: “heat of the season.”

in quam vertitur: “into which it changes” (LS verto I.B.2.a)

quo aestus ille frangatur: relative clause of purpose (AG 531)

qui ... incalescit: the heat is so great it warms up water that once could have quenched it, thus the warm(ed) water becomes part of the problem.

non tantum ... sed et: “not only ... but also”

causa pari: “for the same reason” (abl.)

[4b.13.6] By continually eating such food, no respite is given to rejuvenate the digestive system.

Nero apparently enjoyed drinking hot water that he cooled by putting his glass in snow (Pliny N.H. 31.40, see Woods 2009).

nullum ... umquam: the tone is vehement and hyperbolic

quo interquiescerent: relative clause of purpose (AG 531); the antecedent of quo is intervallo.

datum est ... ingesta sunt ... mersit: perfect tense stating a general truth (AG 475), implying that such conduct is very widespread.

prandia ... ingesta sunt: the life of this individual consists of only eating.

usque in lucem: “all the way until dawn.” In Petronius’ contemporary novel Satyrica the rich freedman Trimalchio declares, usque in lucem cenemus, “let’s dine all the way until dawn” (Sat. 73.6).

numquam intermissa intemperantia: “uninterrupted excess”

quicquid alimenti decoxerat: "whatever of the food had been digested". alimenti is Oltramare's (1961) emendation of animi in the manuscripts.

efferavit: “irritates,” a hyperbolic use of the verb effero -are, which normally means “to make savage.”

in desiderium semper novi rigoris accendit: Seneca plays with the language of heat and cold in order to point out how unnatural this is.

[4b.13.7] In winter dining rooms are kept warm, yet even then the stomach craves something cold to spur it to life.

quamvis ... doment: concessive clause introduced by quamvis with the subjunctive (AG 527).

vēlīs … specularibus: “with draperies and windowpanes,” ablatives of means. It was relatively common for windows to be made of a semi-translucent stone instead of glass (they featured in insulae at Ostia).

muniant: “they fortify” against the cold. The subject is an indefinite “they,” referring to the snow-fanciers Seneca is criticizing. A verb in a clause introduced by the conjunction quamvis (“as much as you will,” however much”) is regularly subjunctive, as here, though indicative is also used with no substantial difference in meaning (LS quamvis II).

solutus et aestu suo languidus: “numbed [LS solvo I.B.3.b.α, literally ‘loose’] and languid from its own burning.” The “loosening” of the stomach caused by heat mimics a reaction that Seneca elsewhere describes in the natural world, where heat melts or “loosens” certain stones and evaporates water.

animo relictos stupentesque: “people who have lost consciousness or are dazed” (Corcoran). For animus = “consciousness,” see LS animus II.A.3. When describing fainting, Latin says “consciousness left him,” rather that “he lost consciousness” (Caes. De Bello Gallico 6.36, Ov. Metamorphoses 10.459).

frigidā: supply aquā

ut ... redeant: purpose clause (AG 531)

illa: viscera

perusseris: “you scorch (with intense cold),” future perfect, 2nd person singular, with nisi. The second person is generalizing, though is could also be aimed at Lucilius, the addressee of the work. Once again Seneca plays with a verb that originally means “to burn up” but applies it to cold “to nip, pinch.”

[4b.13.8] If snow was bad, ice is even worse, and the trade it has engendered in Rome is absurd.

inde est ... quod: “that is why,” with inde expressing cause (OLD inde 10.a)

ne nive quiden: ne … quidem surround and emphasize the word they negate (AG 322.f).

velut certior illi ex solido rigor sit: “as if it had a more reliable coldness because of its solidity,” conditional clause of comparison with the subjunctive (AG 524); illī is dative of possession (AG 373).

saepe repetitis aquis diluunt: “they dissolve (the ice) with often repeated waters,” i.e., by bathing it repeatedly in water.

e summo: “from the top” of a frozen lake or river

ut ... habeat: purpose clause (AG 531).

ex abdito: understand loco, “from a hidden place”; abditus -a -um > abdo

institores: “small-time retailers,” “peddlers”

annonam ... variam: “a varying price,” like wheat, depending on the market. Seneca finds this kind of small-time trade particularly shameful (pro pudor!), perhaps because it shows the habit of buying ice is widespread.

[4b.13.9] If Spartans expelled perfume manufacturers from their city, what would they have done to ice traders?

unguentarios: perfume-makers and sellers were supposedly expelled from Sparta because of their “tainting” of oil with scent, and because the use of perfume was thought to be effeminate. This story is told in Athenaeus Deipnosophistae 686F. Unadulterated olive oil for bathing was considered prefereable by the more austere (see Call. Hymn 5.16). Seneca elsewhere criticizes contemporary perfumed dandies (Ep. 86.13).

quia ... disperderent: quia takes the subjunctive in a causal clause (AG 540); the use of the subjunctive indicates the belief is that of the Spartans.

quid ... fecissent, si vidissent: past contrary-to-fact condition (AG 517).

reponendae nivis officinas: “shops for storing snow,” i.e., an icehouse. reponendae and nivis are both genitive. When a gerund would have an object in the accusative, the gerundive is generally used instead. The gerundive agrees with its noun, which takes the case that the gerund would have had (AG 503). Shafts found near the Roman colony of Augusta Raurica in Northern Switzerland may have been used for snow storage, according to Swiss archaeologists.

portandae aquae deservientia: deservire takes the dative, hence the dative cases of the gerundive + noun, portandae aquae.

[4b.13.10] The desire for cold drinks is a sign of sickness and stems either from scorching the throat with excessively hot food, or from a kind of fever.

quam facile: “how easy,” introducing an exclamatory sentence (AG 269).

emortuae fauces: we have killed our throats by such eating habits.

quemadmodum ... sic: “just as ... so”

ardentes boletos: mushrooms were a delicacy, but they could be dangerous. Court gossip suggested that Claudius had died from eating poisoned mushrooms (Pliny N.H. 22.46).

raptim indumento suo mersatos: “hurriedly plunged in their sauce” presumably just off the grill, tableside.

demittunt: "they thrust down" into their throats (OLD demitto 3.b). 

quosdam graciles: these gourmands resemble delicate invalids

focali: > focale -is n., a scarf worn round the neck by maddened lovers according to Horace, Sermones 2.4.255. There is a comparison between the physically ill and the mentally ill that Seneca is exploiting by using this word.

non ... solum, sed etiam: “not only ... but also.”

esse: “to eat”  > edō esse ēdī ēsum, (not sum esse fuī, “to be”)

ne tepescant: negative purpose clause (AG 531) referring to the cups of the drinkers and, by insinuation, the drinkers themselves.

[4b.13.11] Overindulgence in hot food has cooked their innards and given them an internal fever undetectable by normal methods. Dulled to the cooling effects of snow, they will have to search for something even colder.

eo acrior quod: “all the more severe because.” eo is ablative of comparison with acrior (AG 406).

tactu venarum: the act of “taking the pulse” to see if someone has a fever. Hippocrates and Praxagoras were interested in the pulse. This “fever” (febris) is worse not only because it cannot be detected, but also because it cooks the very heart.

luxuria, invictum malum: invictum malum stands in apposition with luxuria.

ex molli … patiens: ex indicates change from one quality to another: “out of,” “from being.” Luxury almost acts like water turning to ice, as it becomes hard (i.e. becomes ingrained in the user) from a softer and more fluid origin. For traditional associations of softness and luxury, see Cicero De Officiis 1.106, "we shall understand how foul it is to overflow with luxury and to live in voluptuous softness" (intellegemus quam sit turpe diffluere luxuria et delicate ac molliter vivere). patiens = “firm, unyielding, hard” is a poetic usage (LS patior B.2).

omnia ... perdere: indirect speech with omnia as the subject of perdere and vim suam as the direct object.

in qua ... natatis: again, the use of the 2nd person plural here would open up the audience to multiple readers, possibly including Nero himself, whom Suetonius reports swam in a snow-cooled pool (Nero 27.2).

ut ... obtineat: result clause (AG 537) introduced by eo pervenit, “it has reached such a point that….”

pro nihilo: pro indicates functional equivalence: “like nothing,” “worthless.”