On Clemency
2 books, 26 and 7 chapters in Stewart
On Clemency is addressed to Nero Caesar, at the start of his reign, by the man who had been his tutor; Seneca offers it as a mirror in which the young emperor may see himself. Book I argues that clemency is the virtue that most becomes a sovereign, tells how Augustus pardoned Cinna, and sets the king against the tyrant. Book II, of which only seven chapters survive, defines the word: clemency is not pity, which looks at a man’s misfortune, but a judgement that stops short of the penalty it could inflict.
The English text here is Aubrey Stewart’s, in his Minor Dialogues of 1889, where the work is printed after the dialogues under its own title. Stewart counts 26 chapters in Book I and 7 in Book II, and Baillard’s French edition counts the same, chapter for chapter; an extract is cited as On Clemency, I, XIX, with the line of the file. The extracts below come from Stewart’s text; the passages of this work in the app are counted, not listed.
Structure
| Book | Chapters | Concordance |
|---|---|---|
| I | 26 | chapter for chapter with Baillard, 1861 |
| II | 7 | chapter for chapter with Baillard, 1861 |
In the edition of Aubrey Stewart, 1889
Besides this, there is a large part of mankind which might return to virtue if the hope of pardon were not denied them.
Elephants and lions pass by those whom they have struck down; inveteracy is the quality of ignoble animals.
Nothing can be imagined which is more becoming to a sovereign than clemency, by whatever title and right he may be set over his fellow citizens.
Clemency in a sovereign even makes men ashamed to do wrong: for punishment seems far more grievous when inflicted by a merciful man.
Many executions are as disgraceful to a sovereign as many funerals are to a physician: one who governs less strictly is better obeyed.
Pity considers a man's misfortunes and does not consider to what they are due: mercy is combined with reason.
In Stoic+: 3 passages of this work, each with its reference.
Seneca and Epictetus are in Stoic+: 3 passages of this work in the app, each with its reference.