“Well then, when a man turns his slave round before the praetor, does he do nothing?”
He does something.
“What?”
He turns his slave round before the praetor.
“Nothing else?”
Yes, he is bound to pay the twentieth for him.
“What follows? Has not the man to whom this is done gained freedom?”
No more than he has gained peace of mind. For do you who can confer this freedom own no master? Have you not a master in money, a girl lover or a boy lover, the tyrant, or a friend of the tyrant? If not, why do you tremble when you go away to face a crisis of this sort?
Therefore, I say many times over: What you must practice and have at command is to know what you ought to approach with confidence, and what with caution; all that is beyond the control of the will with confidence, and what is dependent on the will with caution.
He does something.
“What?”
He turns his slave round before the praetor.
“Nothing else?”
Yes, he is bound to pay the twentieth for him.
“What follows? Has not the man to whom this is done gained freedom?”
No more than he has gained peace of mind. For do you who can confer this freedom own no master? Have you not a master in money, a girl lover or a boy lover, the tyrant, or a friend of the tyrant? If not, why do you tremble when you go away to face a crisis of this sort?
Therefore, I say many times over: What you must practice and have at command is to know what you ought to approach with confidence, and what with caution; all that is beyond the control of the will with confidence, and what is dependent on the will with caution.
—from Epictetus, Discourses 2.1
The context of this section is the legal process whereby a Roman master could choose to free his slave. There was a specific ritual, which included a magistrate laying a rod on the slave’s head, which was shaved for the occasion, but covered with a felt cap.
After the proper words were spoken, the owner would turn the slave around and release him, while the official was more than happy to receive a payment of tax for his services.
The man was now technically a free citizen, and though certain legal restrictions remained, a former slave could do quite well for himself in Roman society. At the very least, he was no longer at the constant beck and call of another.
Surely the ceremony of manumission had bestowed liberty where once there was bondage?
Epictetus, who was himself a former slave, didn’t seem to think so. No one grants a man his freedom, and no one can take it away. The outside circumstances are not to be confused with the inner character.
If you put a lock on the door or a chain on my leg, you may hinder where I can walk, but you do not hinder how I choose to think or what I choose to love. Likewise, if you issue me all the right documents or award me a key to the executive washroom, it does not emancipate my soul.
I may happen to acquire wealth and influence, and so find myself with access to the corridors of power, and that still says nothing about whether I have gained any power over myself.
The priest might be enslaved to his whiskey, and the politician to his corporate donors, and the businessman to his mistress. I will know that I too remain in bondage if I am constantly anxious about the schemes of covetous men.
With a Stoic perspective on life, freedom and slavery take on very different meanings. Though I have wasted many years fretting over the situations that surround me, I must now learn to concentrate on the merits of my judgments.
The context of this section is the legal process whereby a Roman master could choose to free his slave. There was a specific ritual, which included a magistrate laying a rod on the slave’s head, which was shaved for the occasion, but covered with a felt cap.
After the proper words were spoken, the owner would turn the slave around and release him, while the official was more than happy to receive a payment of tax for his services.
The man was now technically a free citizen, and though certain legal restrictions remained, a former slave could do quite well for himself in Roman society. At the very least, he was no longer at the constant beck and call of another.
Surely the ceremony of manumission had bestowed liberty where once there was bondage?
Epictetus, who was himself a former slave, didn’t seem to think so. No one grants a man his freedom, and no one can take it away. The outside circumstances are not to be confused with the inner character.
If you put a lock on the door or a chain on my leg, you may hinder where I can walk, but you do not hinder how I choose to think or what I choose to love. Likewise, if you issue me all the right documents or award me a key to the executive washroom, it does not emancipate my soul.
I may happen to acquire wealth and influence, and so find myself with access to the corridors of power, and that still says nothing about whether I have gained any power over myself.
The priest might be enslaved to his whiskey, and the politician to his corporate donors, and the businessman to his mistress. I will know that I too remain in bondage if I am constantly anxious about the schemes of covetous men.
With a Stoic perspective on life, freedom and slavery take on very different meanings. Though I have wasted many years fretting over the situations that surround me, I must now learn to concentrate on the merits of my judgments.
—Reflection written in 5/2001
IMAGE: A Roman relief depicting the manumission of slaves (1st century BC)
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