Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 23

Cum adveheretur nuper inter custodias quidam ad matutinum spectaculum missus, tamquam somno premente nutaret, caput usque eo demisit, donec radiis insereret, et tamdiu se in sedili suo tenuit, donec cervicem circumactu rotae frangeret. Eodem vehiculo, quo ad poenam ferebatur, effugit.

Tout récemment un malheureux, conduit sur un chariot entouré de gardes pour servir au spectacle du matin, feignit d’être accablé de
sommeil, laissa glisser sa tête vacillante jusque entre les rayons de la roue, et attendit, ferme sur son siège, qu’en tournant elle lui rompît le cou ; le chariot même qui le menait au supplice servit à l’y soustraire.

Il n’est plus d’obstacles pour qui veut les rompre et sortir de la vie.

Lately a gladiator, who had been sent forth to the morning exhibition, was being conveyed in a cart along with the other prisoners; nodding as if he were heavy with sleep, he let his head fall over so far that it was caught in the spokes; then he kept his body in position long enough to break his neck by the revolution of the wheel. So he made his escape by means of the very wagon which was carrying him to his punishment.