LAT200-01/Fall 2012

Yong Wei Chong Gabrielle (ychong@wellesley.edu)

Somnium Scipionis
M. Tullis Ciceronis
SS 10 Post autem apparatu regio accepti, sermonem in multam noctem produximus, cum senex nihil nisi de Africano loqueretur, omniaque eius non facta solum sed etiam dicta meminisset. However after being accepted with royal pomp, we continued with the conversation until late at night, as the old man was speaking nothing without Africanus, not only everything he did but also remembering everything he said. Deinde ut cubitum discessimus, me et de via fessum, et qui ad multam noctem vigilassem, artior quam solebat somnus complexus est. Then when we had left to go to bed, and since I was both tired about the journey and had been up until late at night, a tighter sleep than usual embraced me. Hic mihi credo equidem ex hoc quod eramus locuti; fit enim fere ut cogitationes sermonesque nostri pariant aliquid in somno tale, quale de Homero scribit Ennis, de quo videlicet saepissime vigilans solebat cogitare et loqui At this point, to me I believe indeed that the cause was due to this that had we had spoken; for it happens that we meditations and conversations produce something during sleep, of the kind that Ennis writes about Homer, about whom clearly frequently thinks and speaks when he was often awake as usual Africanus se ostendit ea forma quae mihi ex imagine eius quam ex ipso erat notior; quem ubi agnovi, equidem cohorrui; sed ille, Ades, inquit, animo et omitte timorem, Scipio, et quae dicam trade memoriae. Africanus himself showed himself to me in the form of an image that was more well-known from his picture than the man himself; which, when I had recognized indeed, I shivered; but that man, Be brave, he said, and let go of fear, Scipio, commit what I will say to memory.

SS 11 Videsne illam urbem, quae parere populo Romano coacta per me renovat pristine bella nec potest quiescere?

Do you not see that city which, having been compelled to be subjected to the Roman citizenry through me, restores its original war and is unable to be at rest? (Ostendebat autem Katharginem de excelso et pleno stellarum, illustri et claro quodam loco.) (He kept pointing out that Catharge from a high place that is full of stars, bright and famous.) Ad quam tu oppugnandam nunc venis paene miles, hanc hoc biennio consul evertes, eritque cognomen id tibi per te partum quod habes adhuc hereditarium a nobis. This citywhich you have now come to besiege as an (almost soldier) adjutant, you will overthrow as a consul in the next two years, it will be won, and a name given to you which you have until now an inheritance down from us. Cum autem Katharginem deleveris, triumphum egeris censorque fueris, et obieris legatus Aegyptum, Syriam, Asiam, Graeciam, deligere iterum consul absens bellumque maximum conficies, Numantiam exscindes. But when you will have destroyed Catharge, done triumph and became censor, and go to Eqypt, Syria, Asia, Greece as an ambassador, you will be chosen as consul while absent and finish the great war, and you will destroy Numantia. Sed etiam cum eris curru in Capitolium invectus, offendes rem publicam consiliis pertubatam nepotis mei. But also when you have been carried in the triumphal chariot into Capitol, you will find the state in turmoil due to the plans of my nephew.

Sep 25 (Tue) SS 12 Hic tu, Africane, ostendas oportebit patriae lumen animi, ingenii consiliique tui. At this point, you, Africanus, it will be right for you to show to the fatherland the light of your soul, talent, and counsel. Sed eius temporis ancipitem video quasi fatorum viam. But I in that period see a fork in the road ahead as destined. Nam cum aetas tua septenos octiens solis anfractus reditusque converterit duoque hi numeri, quorum uterque penus alter altera de causa habetur, circuitu naturali summam tibi fatalem confecerint, in te unum atque in tuum nomen se tota convertet civitas:

For when you have completed eight times seven orbits (56 years old) and these numbers, each of which is considered perfect for a different reason, have completed the product of providence that the circuit of nature has for you, the whole citizenry will turn itself upon you alone and your name: te senatus, te omnes boni, te socii, te Latini intuebuntur; but the senate, good men, allies, men of Latin will look at you; tu eris unus, in quo nitatur civitatis salus, ac ne multa, dictator rem publicam constituas oportet, si impias propinquorum manus effugeris. you will be a man, on whom the state depends on for prosperity, and to make a long story short, it is your duty as a dictator to set the state on a firm foundation, if you will have escaped wicked hands of relatives. Hic cum exclamavisset Laelius ingemuissentque vehementius ceteri, leniter arridens Scipio, At this point Laelius had exclaimed and the other men had groaned violently, Scipio smiling slightly, St! Quaeso, inquit, ne me e somno excitetis, et parumper audite cetera. Please, he said, do not wake me from my dream, and hear the rest a while longer.

SS 13 Sed quo sis, Africane, alacrior ad tutandam rem publicam, sic habeto: But that you, Africanus, may be more eager to watch over and protect the republic, consider thus (future imperative): Omnibus qui patriam conservaverint, adiuverint, auxerint, certum esse in caelo definitum locum, ubi beati aevo sempiterno fruantur. It is certain that in heaven (there is) a marked out place for All men who conserved, aided, and augmented the fatherland, where the blessed men delight in everlasting life. Nihil est enim illi principi deo qui omnem mundum regit, quod quidem in terris fiat, acceptius quam concilia coetusque hominum iure sociati, quae civitates appelantur; For certainly nothing that happens on earth is more acceptable by the chief god who rules all of earth, than meetings and encounters of men united in justice, which are called states; Harum rectores et conservatores hinc profecti huc revertuntur. Their governors and defenders (having set out) hence and hither returned.

SS 14 Hic ego, etsi eram perterritus non tam mortis metu quam insidiarum a meis, quaesivi tamen viveretne ipse et Paulus pater et alii quos nos extinctos esse arbitraremur. At this point I, though I had been terrified, not so much scared of death as of treacheries by my own men, I sought whether Aemilius Paulus (my father) was still alive or was sentenced to be killed. Immo vero, inquit, hi vivunt qui e corporum vinculis tamquam e carcere evolaverunt, vestra vero quae dicitur vita mors est. Not only that, they said, but these men live who flew from the chains of the body as if from a prison, your so-called life is death in reality. Quin tu aspicis ad te venientem Paulum patrem? Why dont you look at your coming father Paulus? Quem ut vidi, equidem vim lacrimarum profudi, ille autem me complexus atque osculans flere prohibebat. Thus I saw him, I truly poured a flood of tears, but he, having embraced and kissed me, prohibited me from crying.

SS 15 Atque ego ut primum fletu represso loqui posse coepi, Quaeso,inquam, pater sanctissime atque optume, quoniam haec est vita, ut Africanum audio dicere, quid moror in terries? Quin huc ad vos venire propero? And first I had to be repressed from weeping so that I began to be able to speak, I beseech, said I most sacred and good father, since this is life (living in the Milky Way), as I hear Africanus says, why do I remain on earth? Why do I not hasten to walk to this place to you? Non est ita, inquit ille. Nisi enim cum deus is, cuius hoc templum est omne quod conspicis, istis te corporis custodiis liberaverit, huc tibi auditus patere non potest. It is not so, he said. For except when that god, whose sanctuary is everything that you see, will have freed that of yours from the protection of the body, this place is not able to be approached by you. Homines enim sunt hac lege generate, qui tuerentur illum globum quem in hoc templo medium vides, quae terra dicitur, iisque animus datus est ex illis sempiternis ignibus quae sidera et stellas vocatis,

quae globosae et rotunda, divinis animatae mentibus, circus suos orbeque conficiunt celeritate mirabilis. For men are to descend on this condition, who watch over that world in the middle of which you see this sanctuary, which is called earth, to which the same spirit given by those eternal fires which you call stars and constellations, which are round and globular, endowed with divine reason, and which complete their own orbit speedily and miraculously. Quare et tibi, Publi, et piis omnibus retinendus animus est in custodia corporis, nec iniussu eius, a quo ille est vobis datus, ex hominum vita migrandum est, ne munus humanum adsignatum a deo defugisse videamini. Therefore, the soul must be preserved in the safekeeping of bodies by you, Publius, and all pious me, nor must it depart from the lives of men without his orders, by whom that (soul) is given to you, lest you all be seen to have spurned the duty of man assigned by God.

SS16 Sed sic, Scipio, ut avus hic tuus, ut ego qui te genui, iustitiam cole et pietatem, quae cum magna in parentibus et propinquis, tum in patria maxima est: But for this reason, Scipio, just as your grandfather, just as I who begot you, cultivate justice and piety, both greatly towards parents and relatives, but most greatly for the fatherland: ea vita via est in caelum et in hunc coetum eorum qui iam vixerunt et corpora laxati illum incolunt locum quem vides life in heaven and in meeting of theirs which they lived even now and bodies (erat autem is splendidissimo candore inter flammas circus elucens) (it was still a most glorious brightness among the flames of orbits shining forth) quem vos, ut a Grais accepistis, orbem lacteum nuncupatis. by which you all, as taken (borrowed) by the Greeks, named as the Milky Way Ex quo omnia mihi contemplanti praeclara cetera et mirabilia videbantur. And from this vantage point I contemplate everything else that used to be seen by me as splendid and marvelous. Erant autem eae stellae quas numquam ex hoc loco vidimus, et eae magnitudines omnium quas esse numquam suspicati sumus, ex quibus erat ea minima quae ultima a caelo, citima <a> terries, luce lucebat aliena.

There were however those stars which we have never seen from this place, and all of which their magnitudes are never to be suspected by us, the smallest of which was the farthest from heaven (and) nearest from earth, shone with foreign light. Stellarum autem globi terrae magnitudinem facile vincebant. The stars nonetheless surpassed the earthly sphere easily in magnitude. Iam vero ipsa terra ita mihi parva est, ut me imperii nostri, quo quasi punctum eius attingimus, paeniteret. Even now the earth itself truly seemed to be small by me, I was ashamed of our empire, through which we come into contact with only a tiny portion of it (the earth).

SS 17 Quam cum magis intuerer, Quaeso, inquit Africanus, quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis quae in templa veneris? As I was looking at the earth, the wise man interrupted, I beseech,, said Africanus, how long will your mind be fixed upon the ground (earth?) Do you not see into what sacred spaces you come? Novem tibi orbibus vel potius globis connexa sunt omnia, quorum unus est caelestis, extumus, qui reliquos omnes complectitur, summus ipse deus arcens et continens ceteros, in quo sunt infixi illi qui volvuntur stellarum cursus sempiterni; The nine worlds, or rather, spheres are to you connected with everything, one of which the furthest is divine, in which all of everything else is encircled, (and) is itself god, protecting and maintaining the rest, in which are fasten the stars which revolve an eternal course; huic subiecti sunt septem qui versantur retro contrario motu atque caelum. here (demonstrative) dwell seven which turn backwards, opposite the movement of the sky. Ex quibus summum globum possidet illa quam in terris Saturniam nominant. Of these that which those on earth call Saturn inherit the largest sphere. Deinde est hominem generi prosperus et salutaris ille fulgor qui dicitur Iovis; Then next is that shining object which is called Jupiter (which gives) prosperity and safety to men; tum rutilus horribilisque terris quem Martium dicitis; next is that shining object you call Mars, which is red and loathsome to earth;

deinde subter mediam fere regionem Sol obtinet, dux et princeps et moderator luminum reliquorum, mens mundi et temperato, next, lower down, the Sun prevails almost/nearly in the middle of the area, leader and chief and regulator of all other lights (stars), reason and regulating principle of the world, tanta mangnitudine ut cuncta qua luce lustret et compleat. so great is the magnitude that it illuminates and fills all space by its light. Hunc ut comites consequuntur Veneris alter, alter Mercurii cursus, in infimoque orbe Luna radiis Solis accensa convertitur. These, as companions, Venus follows one course, and Mercury another, further down the moon illuminated and turned by the light of the Sun. Infra autem eam nihil est nisi mortale et caducum praeter animos munere deorum hominum generi datos, supra Lunam sunt aeterna omnia. Further below (on earth) however there is nothing that is not mortal and destined to die besides the soul given as a gift of god to men, beyond the moon everything is eternal. Nam ea quae est media et nona, Tellus, neque movetur et infima est, et in eam feruntur omnia nutu suo pondera. For that which is the middle (sphere) and the ninth, Tellus, is not moved and is fixed, and everything falls by their own gravity/weight into it.

SS18 Quae cum intuerer stupens,ut me recepi, Quid hic? inquam. Quis est qui complet aures meas tantus et tam dulcis sonus? When I recovered from being astounded at this What in the world? I said. What is this that fills my ears with such great and such sweet music? Hic est, inquit, ille, qui intervallis disiunctus imparibus, sed tamen pro rata parte ratione distinctis, impulse et motu ipsorum orbium efficitur, et acuta cum gravibus temperans varios aequabiliter concentus efficit; This is, he said, that music, which is separated by unequal intervals, but nevertheless separated by reason according to a fixed proportion, and treble with bass (acuta cum gravibus)combining creates various harmonious chords;

nec enim silentio tanti motus incitari possunt, et natura fert ut extrema ex altera parte graviter, ex altera autem acute sonent. for such great movements are not able to be incited in silence, and nature is such that it emits an extremely sharp at one end but a deep one on the other. Quam ob causam summus ille caeli stellifer cursus, cuius conversio est concitatior, acuto et excitato movetur sono, gravissimo autem hic lunaris atque infimus; On account of that reason that highest one of the starry course of heaven, whose revolution is very swift, is agitated by a high and stirred sound, while the this one of the lowest place and of the moon (is agitated) by very deep sound; nam terra nona immobilis manens una sede semper haeret, complexa medium mundi locum. for the earth, the ninth sphere, always adheres to remaining immmovable in one seat seat, encircled by the middle region of the universe. Illi autem octo cursus, in quibus eadem vis est duorum, septem efficient distinctos intervallis sonos, qui numerus rerum omnium fere nodus est; However for the eight spheres, of which the tone of the two is the same, they bring about seven different sounds, which is a number that is the key to almost everything; Quod docti homines nervis imitate atque cantibus, aperuerunt sibi reditum in hunc locum, sicut alii qui praestantibus ingeniis in vita humana divina studia coluerunt. Which learned men imitated on string instruments and even song, and thereby have opened to themselves the way back to this place (heaven), just as others who are of oustanding talent tended to the study of the divine in human life.

SS 19 Hoc sonitu oppletae aures hominum obsurduerunt; The ears of men became deaf heaving been filled completely by this sound; nec est ullus hebetior sensus in vobis, sicut ubi Nilus ad illa quae catadupa nominantur praecipitat ex altissimis montibus, ea gens quae illum locum adcolit propter magnitudinem sonitus sensu audiendi caret. none of your senses is duller, just as where the Nile at Catadupa Falls casts down from the highest mountain, those belonging to that place lack a sense of hearing on account of the magnitude (of the noise).

Hic vero tantus est totius mundi incitatissima conversion sonitus, ut eum aures hominum capere non possint, sicut intueri solem adversum nequitis, eiusque radiis acies vestra sensusque vincitur. This music of the cosmos is truly so very quickly produced by the revolution of the whole universe, that the ears of men are not able to hear it, just you cannot face the sun directly to look at it, (for) your sense of sight will be destroyed by its rays of light.

SS 20 Haec ego admirans referebam tamen oculos ad terram identidem. Although admiring I kept returning my eyes towards the earth repeatedly. Tum africanus, Sentio, inquit, te sedem etiam nunc hominum ac domum contemplari; quae si tibi parva ut est ita videtur, haec caelestia semper spectato, illa humana contemnito. Then Africus said, I think, you now settle in the contemplation of men and earth; if it seems to be small to you as it is, always watch the heavens, and disregard men. Tu enim quam celebritatem sermonis hominum aut quam expetendam consequi gloriam potes? For how can you able to pursue fame or what glory that is worthy of being sought after from the conversation of men? Vides habitari in terra raris et angustis in locis et in ipsis quasi maculis ubi habitatur vastas solitudines interiectas, eosque qui incolunt terram non modo interruptos ita esse, ut nihil inter ipsos ab aliis ad alios manare posit, sed partim obliquos, partim transversos, partim etiam adversos stare vobis; You see people living in scattered and narrow lands in places and the vast, isolated open spaces themselves lie between like specks, where they, those people who dwell on earth are therefore to be broken up, so that not only can no fame flow from one place to another, but also some live at the opposite latitude; some, the opposite longitude; and others, are your antipodes; a quibus expectare gloriam certe nullam potestis. from whom you are certainly not able to expect glory.

SS 21 Cernis autem eandem terram quasi quibusdam redimitam et circumdatam cingulis, e quibus duos maxime inter se diversos et caeli verticibus ipsis ex utraque parte subnixos obriguisse pruina vides, medium autem illum et maximum solis ardore torreri.

You notice, however, that the earth is encircled and enclosed by something like belts, of which you see that two are different from each other and are lying upon the poles of heaven, frozen by frost, the middle, however, is that which is the largest and is to be scorched by the heat of the sun. Duo sunt habitabiles, quorum australis ille, in quo qui insistunt adverse vobis urgent vestigua, nihil ad vestrum genus; Two are habitable, of which the southern temperate zone, in which those who stand press their soles opposite to yours, have nothing to do with your nation; Hic autem alter subiectus aquiloni quem incolitis, cerne quam tenui vos parte contingat. Of those on other end lying to the north here, you see how thin a strip forms your portion. Omnis enim terra quae colitur a vobis, angustata verticibus, lateribus latior, parva quaedam insula est circumfuse illo mari quod Atlanticum, quod magnum, quem Oceanam appellatis in terris, qui tamen tanto nomine quam sit parvum vides. For the whole area that you inhabit, very narrow from North to South, wider along the latitudes from east to west, is a small island surrounded by that Atlantic, which is great and which you call an Ocean on earth which, despite so great a name, you see nevertheless how small it is.

SS 22
Ex his ipsis cultis notisque terries num aut tuum aut cuiusquam nostrum nomen vel Caucasum hunc quem cernis transcendere potuit vel illum Gangen tranatare? From these known and tilled lands has your name or that of any of us been able to transcend the Caucasus which you see or swim across that Ganges? Quis in relinquish orientis aut obeuntis solis ultimis aut quilonis austrive partibus tuum nomen audiet? Who, in the rising or setting of the sun, you relinquish in the furthest parts of the North or South, will hear your name? Quibus amputates cernis profecto quantis in angustiis vestra se Gloria dilatari velit. And since these regions are cut off from you, you know how much your narrow Glory is wanting to be broadened. Ipsi autem, qui de nobis loquuntur, quam loquentur diu? However, those who talk about us, how long will they talk?

SS 23 Quin etiam si cupiat proles illa futurorum hominum deinceps laudes unius cuiusque nostrum a patribus acceptas posteris prodere, tamen propter eluviones exustionesque terrarium, quas accidere tempore certo necesse est, non modo non aeternam, sed ne diuturnam quidem gloriam adsequi possumus. And furthermore, even if you wish successive descendants of men about to come into being to pass on praises of each one of us as inherited from their fathers to their descendants, still, on account of floods and conflagrations of the land which must certainly happen in time, not only are we not able to be eternal, but we are not even able to pursue lasting glory. Quid autem interest ab iis, qui postea nascentur, sermonem fore de te, cum ab iis nullus fuerit, qui ante nati sunt? What difference does it make that there should be talk by those who will be born after us, the conversation about you, when no speech will come into being before him ?

SS 24 Qui nec pauciores et certe meliores fuerunt viri, praesertim cum apud eos ipsos a quibus audiri nomen nostrum potest, nemo unius anni memoriam consequi possit? Those men who have come into being (men of the past) were not fewer and certainly better (men), especially when no one would be able to pursue fame within one year by those among whom our name is able to be heard? Homines enim populariter annum tantum modo solis, id est unius astri, reditu metiuntur; re ipsa autem cum ad idem unde semel profecta sunt cuncta astra redierint eandemque totius caeli descriptionem longis intervallis rettulerint, tum ille vere vertens annus appellari potest; For men in everyday language measure a year by the cycle of just the sun, (when) it is just one star; in fact on the same point once all the stars have returned to where they came from and the whole sky has restored the same arrangement after long intervals, then that is able to be called the actual period of a year; in quo vix dicere audio quam multa hominum saecla teneantur. In which it is difficult to say I hear how many generations of men are held. Namque ut olim deficere sol hominibus exstinguique visus est, cum Romuli animus haec ipsa in templa penetravit, quandoque ab eadem parte sol eodemque tempore iterum defecerit, tum signis omnibus ad idem principium stellisque revocatis expletim annum habeto;

For just as once the sun was seen by men to be eclipsed and extinguished, when the soul of Romulus entered this sanctuary, whenever the sun is eclipsed again in the same part of the sky at the same point in the cosmic cycle, then believe it to be a year as all the stars returned to the same beginning; cuius quidem anni nondum vicesimam partem scito esse conversam. of which, indeed, the twentieth part of the year is known to be changed yet.

SS 25 Quocirca si reditum in hunc locum desperaveris, in quo omnia sunt magnis et praestantibus viris, quanti tandem est ista hominum gloria, quae pertinere vix ad unius anni partem exiguam potest? Wherefore, if you give up the souls return to the heavens, in which all are great and excellent men, how little is that glory of men, which is hardly able to reach a small part of the great year? Igitur alte spectare si voles atque hanc sedem et aeternam domum contueri, neque te sermonibus vulgi dederis nec in praemiis humanis spem posueris rerum tuarum; Therefore if you want a lofty view and even to behold a seat and eternal home, do not dedicate yourself to conversation of the commons nor station hope of your deeds to humanly rewards; suis te oportet illecebris ipsa virtus trahat ad verum decus; quid de te alii loquantur, ipsi videant, sed loquentur tamen. Virtue ought to draw you to true distinction by its own allurement; as regards what others say about you, let them watch, but nonetheless they will talk. Sermo autem omnis ille et angustiis cingitur his regionum quas vides nec umquam de ullo perennis fuit et obruitur honimum interitu et oblivione posteritatis extinguitur." Still there will be all that talk in these narrowly enclosed regions which you see and any talk about anyone is not eternal and is buried as men die and is extinguished by the oblivion of posterity.

SS 26 Quae cum dixisset, "Ego vero," inquam, "Africane, siquidem bene meritis de patria quasi limes ad caeli aditum patet, quamquam a pueritia vestigiis ingressus patris et tuis decori vestro non defui, nunc tamen tanto praemio exposito enitar multo vigilantus." When he had spoken, "Truly", I said, "Africanus, if indeed a virtual pathway extends towards heaven for those who have served their country well, nevertheless since boyhood I have pursued footsteps of both fathers and that of yours and have never been abandoned your honour, now I will truly strive much more vigilantly even as such a great reward is put forth now. "

Et ille, "Tu vero enitere et sic habeto non esse te mortalem, sed corpus hoc; And he said, "Strive and manage truly for such endeavours, you are not to be mortal, but this body; nec enim tu is es, quem forma ista declarat, sed mens cuiusque is est quisque, non ea figura, quae digito demonstrari potest. You see, your person is not that, whom that form indicates, rather the mind of each individual is his true self, not those form, which are able to be pointed out by a finger, . Deum te igitur scito esse, siquidem est deus, qui viget, qui sentit, qui meminit, qui providet, qui tam regit et moderatur et movet id corpus cui praepositus est, quam hunc mundum ille pinceps deus; Therefore know that you are a god, if indeed a god is that, who fluorishes, who feels, who remembers, who so rules and is regulated and moves the body of which he has been placed in charge, even as that chief god rules this world; et ut mundum ex quadam parte mortalem ipse deus aeternus, sic fragile corpus animus sempiternus movet. and just as an eternal god moves a partly mortal world, an eternal spirit moves this fragile body.

SS 27 Nam quod semper movetur, aeternum est; quod autem motum adfert alicui quodque ipsum agitatur aliunde, quando finem habet motus, vivendi finem habeat necesse est. For what is always moved, is eternal; however anything that brings motion and itself is moved about by something outside itself, it is necessary that it reaches the end of living when it reaches the end of motion. Solum igitur quod sese movet quia numquam deseritur a se, numquam ne moveri quidem desinit; Therefore only that which moves by itself because it is never deserted by itself; it never even stops; quin etiam ceteris quae moventur hic fons, hoc principium est movendi. indeed it is by this source of motion that everything else is moved, this is the source of motion. Principii autem nulla est origo; nam ex principio oriuntur omnia, ipsum autem nulla ex re alia nasci potest; However the origin of a principle is nil; for everything emerged from principle, but it itself is not able to come to be from something else;

nec enim esset id principium, quod gigneretur aliunde; quodsi numquam oritur, ne occidit quidem umquam. for it would never be a principle, which is arisen from something else; but if it is never given birth to, it certainly never dies. Nam principium exstinctum nec ipsum ab alio renascetur nec ex se aliud creabit, siquidem necesse est a principio oriri omnia. For if the principle was to perish it (itself) will neither be revived by something else nor will it create something else from itself, since that it is necessary that everything is to originate from principle. Ita fit, ut motus principium ex eo sit quod ipsum a se movetur; id autem nec nasci potest nec mori; Therefore, the result is that the principle of motion is from that which is moved by itself; it is however neither able to spring forth into existence nor expire. vel concidat omne caelum omnisque natura et consistat necesse est nec vim ullam nanciscatur, qua a primo impulsa moveatur. or it is necessary that all heaven and nature fall to earth and come to a stop and is unable to obtain any strength, by which it may be impelled anew into motion.

SS 28 Cum pateat igitur aeternum id esse quod se ipsum moveat, quis est qui hanc naturam animis esse tributam neget ? Therefore it is plain evident when what is eternal is that which moves all by itself, who is that who denies this (human) spirit is to be endowed with the power of self-movement? Inanimum est enim omne quid pulsu agitatur externo; For what is inanimate is all that which is set in motion by an external force; Quod autem est animal, id motu cietur interiore et suo: nam haec est propria natura animi atque vis; However that which is animate, is set in motion by a movement interior and is its own; for that is the unique nature and force of the soul ; quae si est una ex omnibus, quae se ipsa moveat, neque nata certe est et aeterna est. which is (out of everything) the only thing, that moves itself, (and) is certainly not born and is eternal.

SS 29 Hanc tu exerce optimis in rebus! Cultivate your soul in the noblest pursuits! Sunt autem optimae curae de salute patriae, quibus agitatus et exercitatus animus velocius in hanc sedem et domum suam pervolabit; The best works are concerned with the health of the fatherland, for which if the soul is drilled and trained faster will fly through faster to this (which is its) residence and its own home; Idque ocius faciet, si iam tum cum erit inclusus in corpore, eminebit foras et ea quae extra erunt contemplans quam maxime se a corpore abstrahet. And it will accomplish faster, if already during the time when it is imprisoned in the body, it will venture outside (and) by contemplating those things which are beyond the body as much as possible it detaches itself from the body. Namque eorum animi qui se corporis voluptatibus dediderunt earumque se quasi ministros praebuerunt impulsuque libidinum voluptatibus oboedientium deorum et hominum iura violaverunt, corporibus elapsi circum terram ipsam volutantur nec hunc in locum nisi multis exagitati saeculis revertuntur. For the spirits of those who gave themselves to the pleasure of their bodies like servants of these who submit themselves to obedience to pleasure because of incitement and desire dishonour the laws of god and men, their bodies after leaving flit around the world not returned to this in place without many ages of exile. Ille discessit; ego somno solutus sum. Then he left, and I was released from the shackles of sleep.