Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 6

Decantatae, inquis, in omnibus scholis fabulae istae sunt; iam mihi, cum ad contemnendam mortem ventum fuerit, Catonem narrabis. Quidni ego narrem ultima illa nocte Platonis librum legentem posito ad caput gladio? Duo haec in rebus extremis instrumenta prospexerat, alterum ut vellet mori, alterum, ut posset. Compositis ergo rebus, utcumque componi fractae atque ultimae poterant, id agendum existimavit, ne cui Catonem aut occidere liceret aut servare contingeret.

« On est rebattu, vas-tu dire, dans toutes les écoles de ces histoires-là. Puis quand viendra l’article du mépris de la mort, tu nous raconteras Caton. » Et pourquoi ne raconterais-je pas la dernière veillée du grand homme lisant le livre de Platon, son épée sous son chevet, double ressource dont il s’était muni pour les cas extrêmes ? l’une lui donnait la volonté, l’autre le moyen de mourir.

“Oh,” say you, “those stories have been droned to death in all the schools; pretty soon, when you reach the topic ‘On Despising Death,’ you will be telling me about Cato.” But why should I not tell you about Cato, how he read Plato’s book on that last glorious night, with a sword laid at his pillow? He had provided these two requisites for his last moments, - the first, that he might have the will to die, and the second, that he might have the means. So he put his affairs in order, - as well as one could put in order that which was ruined and near its end, - and thought that he ought to see to it that no one should have the power to slay or the good fortune to save Cato.