Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers

De Providentia
down his arms forthwith; there is no need of all my
strength against him; he is beaten by a feeble onset;
he cannot bear even a look.
4. Let another be selected for the struggle. It is
a shame to fight with a man who wants to be beaten.
A gladiator regards
it as a disgrace to be pitted
against an inferior antagonist for he knows there is
no glory in overcoming one who is
vanquished with
out danger. Adversity does likewise; it seeks out
foemen worthy of their antagonist and passes by
some with disdain. It always attacks the doughtiest
and boldest for a trial of its
strength.
5. It tries Mucius with fire, Fabricius with pover
ty, Regulus with torture, Socrates with poison, Cato
with death. It is misfortune alone that finds noble
examples. Is Mucius to be commiserated because he
put his hand into an enemy s fire and punished him
self for his mistake? because he vanquished with a
burned hand a king whom he could not vanquish
with it armed? Would he have been happier if he
had warmed it in the bosom of a mistress?
6. Is Fabricius to be pitied because he tilled his
own field when not engaged in public duties? be
cause he waged war against riches as well as against
Pyrrhus? because he ate, by his own fireside, the
same roots and herbs that his triumphant old age
pulled up on his farm? Can we say that he would
have been happier if he had filled his stomach with
fish from a far off strand and with exotic birds? or
he had stimulated his jaded and nauseated stomach
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if