De Clementia 17

Healing men like a good physician

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Clem. 1.17.1Nūllum animal mōrōsius est, nūllum maiōre arte trāctandum quam homō, nūllī magis parcendum.No animal is harder to please, none needs to be handled with greater skill than man, none should be spared more. Clem. 1.17.1Quid enim est stultius quam in iūmentīs quidem et canibus ērubēscere īrās exercēre, pessimā autem condiciōne sub homine hominem esse ?For what is more foolish than to be ashamed to vent one's anger on beasts of burden and dogs, and yet for a man to be under a man on the worst of terms? Clem. 1.17.1Morbīs medēmur nec īrāscimur ;We treat diseases, and are not angry with them; Clem. 1.17.1atquī et hic morbus est animī;and yet this too is a disease, a disease of the mind; Clem. 1.17.1mollem medicīnam dēsīderat ipsumque medentem minimē īnfestum aegrō.it needs gentle treatment, and a physician who is not at all hostile to the patient. Clem. 1.17.2Malī medicī est dēspērāre, nē cūret : idem in iīs, quōrum animus adfectus est, facere dēbēbit is, cui trādita salūs omnium est, nōn citō spem prōicere nec mortifera signa prōnūntiāre ;It is the mark of a bad doctor to despair so as not to treat: the one to whom the safety of all has been entrusted ought to act in the same way in the case of those whose minds are affected, not throwing away hope quickly nor pronouncing the signs fatal; Clem. 1.17.2luctētur cum vitiīs, resistat, aliīs morbum suum exprobret, quōsdam mollī cūrātiōne dēcipiat citius meliusque sānātūrus remediīs- fallentibus fallentibus ;let him wrestle with the vices, resist them, reproach some with their disease, deceive others with gentle treatment, as one who will cure them more quickly and better with remedies that beguile; Clem. 1.17.2agat prīnceps cūram nōn tantum salūtis, sed etiam honestae cicātrīcis.let the prince take care not only for health but also for an honourable scar.

Clem. 1.17.3Nūlla rēgī glōria est ex saevā animadversiōne (quis enim dubitat posse ?), at contrā maxima, sī vim suam continet, sī multōs īrae aliēnae ēripuit, nēminem suae impendit.A king gains no glory from savage punishment (for who doubts that he can inflict it?), but on the contrary the greatest glory if he restrains his power, if he has rescued many from the anger of others and sacrificed none to his own.

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Grammar in this passage: gerunds and gerundives ×2, indirect statement ×1, ablative absolute ×1

Latin vocabulary for this passage (100 words)

nūllus, -a, -um	not any, none, no
animal, -ālis n.	living creature, animal
mōrōsus, -a, -um	peevish, fretful, hard to please
sum, esse, fuī, futūrus	be
magnus, -a, -um	large, big, great, mighty; loud
ars, artis, f.	art
trāctō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	handle, touch, feel
quam, adv.	how? as; than; with superl., as ... as possible
homō, hominis, m.	man
magis, comp. adv.	more, rather
parcō, -ere, pepercī, parsūrus	spare, show mercy to (+ dat.)
quis, quid, interrog. pron.	who? which? what?
enim, conj.	for
stultus, -a, -um	foolish, stupid
in, prep. with acc. and abl.	with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
iūmentum, -ī n.	pack animal, beast of burden
quidem, adv.	in fact, indeed, certainly; nē ... quidem, not ... even
et, conj.	and; et ... et, both ... and
canis, -is, m. and f.	dog
ērubēscō, -ere, -rubuī	blush, feel ashamed
īra, -ae, f.	anger, wrath
exerceō, -ercēre, -ercuī, -ercitus	exercise
malus, -a, -um	bad
autem, conj.	moreover; but, however; now
condiciō, -ōnis f.	terms; condition, status
sub, prep. with acc. and abl.	under; sub vesperum, towards evening
morbus, -ī m.	sickness, disease
medeor, -ērī	heal, remedy (+ dat.)
neque or nec, conj.	and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not
īrāscor, īrāscī, īrātus	be angry
atquī (conj.)	and yet, but, well then
hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.	this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
animus, -ī, m.	mind; heart; spirit, courage
mollis, -e	soft, weak
medicīna, -ae, f.	art of healing, medicine
dēsīderō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	long for, miss; require
ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron.	self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very
que, enclitic conj.	and
minimē, adv.	least, very little; by no means, not at all
īnfestus, -a, -um	unsafe, dangerous
aeger, -gra, -grum	sick, ill; as noun, a sick man
medicus, -ī m.	doctor
dēspērō, -spērāre, -spērāvī, -spērātus	despair
nē, adv.	not; nē ... quidem, not ... even; conj., that not, lest
cūrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum	take care of; (+ gerundive) have something done
īdem, eadem, idem, dem. pron.	the same; sometimes to be translated likewise, also
is, ea, id, dem. pron.	this, that; he, she, it, they
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.	who, which
adficiō, -ficere, -fēcī, -fectus	do to, move, affect; visit, afflict
faciō, facere, fēcī, factus	make, do; iter facere, see iter
dēbeō, -ēre, -uī, -itus	owe; with infin., ought
trādō, -dere, -didī, -ditus	give across, over, or up, deliver; hand down, relate, report
salūs, salūtis, f.	safety, deliverance, escape
omnis, -e	all, every
nōn, adv.	not
citō (adv.; comp. citius)	quickly, soon; citius: more quickly, without delay
spēs, speī, f.	hope
prōiciō, -icere, -iēcī, -iectus	throw forth or down, cast away, throw
mortifer, -fera, -ferum	death-bringing, deadly
signum, -ī, n.	sign, signal
prōnūntiō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	proclaim, announce
luctor, -ārī, -ātus	wrestle, struggle
cum, prep, with abl.	with
vitium, -ī n.	fault, vice
resistō, -sistere, -stitī	stand back, resist
alius, -a, -ud	another, other; aliī ... aliī, some ... others
suus, -a, -um	his, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their
exprobrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	reproach, rebuke, blame (someone) for
quīdam, quaedam, quoddam, indef. pron.	a certain, certain
cūrātiō, -ōnis f.	medical treatment, cure; care, management, charge
dēcipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus	catch, deceive
bene, adv.	well; successfully
sānō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	heal, make good, repair
remedium, -ī, n.	remedy
fallō, fallere, fefellī, falsus	deceive
agō, agere, ēgī, āctus	drive; do; pass, lead; grātiās agere, see grātia
prīnceps, -ipis	first, chief; as noun: leader
cūra, -ae f.	care, concern (cūrae esse: to be a concern)
tantum, adv.	so much or far, only
sed, conj.	but
etiam, adv.	and now, also, too, even
honestus, -a, -um	respected, honourable
cicātrīx, -īcis f.	scar; mark left on a plant by a wound
rēx, rēgis, m.	king
glōria, -ae, f.	glory
ex, ē (prep. + abl.)	out of, from; of (ē only before consonants)
saevus, -a, -um	fierce, savage
animadversiō, -ōnis f.	notice; censure, punishment
dubitō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	doubt, hesitate
possum, posse, potuī	be able, have power, can
at, conj.	but
contrā, prep, with acc.	against, contrary to
sī, conj.	if
vīs, vīs, f.	violence, force; virtue, potency, efficacy; plur. vīrēs, -ium, strength; omnibus vīribus, with all one's strength, with might and main
contineō, -tinēre, -tinuī, -tentus	hold together, keep within, shut up in; bound
multus, -a, -um	much, great; plur., many
aliēnus, -a, -um	belonging to another, out of place
ēripiō, -ripere, -ripuī, -reptus	snatch out or away, rescue
nēmō, nēminis, m. and f.	no one, nobody
impendō, -ere, -pendī, -pēnsus	spend, devote (time, money, effort)

Seneca, De Clementia. Latin text: J. W. Basore, Seneca: Moral Essays I (Loeb, 1928), public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: drafted by our own tagger (trained on the hand-checked texts on this site), with every doubtful word checked by hand. English translation and section titles: written for this app, each checked against the Latin by a second reader.