1.
Our friend Liberalis is now downcast; for he has just heard of the fire which has wiped out the colony of Lyons.
Such a calamity might upset anyone at all, not to speak of a man who dearly loves his country.
But this incident has served to make him inquire about the strength of his own character, which he has trained, I suppose, just to meet situations that he thought might cause him fear.
I do not wonder, however, that he was free from apprehension touching an evil so unexpected and practically unheard of as this, since it is without precedent.
For fire has damaged many a city, but has annihilated none.
Even when fire has been hurled against the walls by the hand of a foe, the flame dies out in many places, and although continually renewed, rarely devours so wholly as to leave nothing for the sword.
Even an earthquake has scarcely ever been so violent and destructive as to overthrow whole cities.
Finally, no conflagration has ever before blazed forth so savagely in any town that nothing was left for a second.
Book: Moral Letters Vol II
Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.
Author: Seneca
Chapter: On the lesson to be drawn from the burning of Lyons
Location: Chapter 91, Section 1
Content:
1.
Our friend Liberalis is now downcast; for he has just heard of the fire which has wiped out the colony of Lyons.
Such a calamity might upset anyone at all, not to speak of a man who dearly loves his country.
But this incident has served to make him inquire about the strength of his own character, which he has trained, I suppose, just to meet situations that he thought might cause him fear.
I do not wonder, however, that he was free from apprehension touching an evil so unexpected and practically unheard of as this, since it is without precedent.
For fire has damaged many a city, but has annihilated none.
Even when fire has been hurled against the walls by the hand of a foe, the flame dies out in many places, and although continually renewed, rarely devours so wholly as to leave nothing for the sword.
Even an earthquake has scarcely ever been so violent and destructive as to overthrow whole cities.
Finally, no conflagration has ever before blazed forth so savagely in any town that nothing was left for a second.