To Bullatius
_Endeavoring to recall him back to Rome from Asia, whither he had
retreated through his weariness of the civil wars, he advises him to
ease the disquietude of his mind not by the length of his journey, but
by forming his mind into a right disposition_.
What, Bullatius, do you think of Chios, and of celebrated Lesbos? What
of neat Samos? What of Sardis, the royal residence of Croesus? What of
Smyrna, and Colophon? Are they greater or less than their fame? Are they
all contemptible in comparison of the Campus Martius and the river
Tiber? Does one of Attalus' cities enter into your wish? Or do you
admire Lebedus, through a surfeit of the sea and of traveling? You know
what Lebedus is; it is a more unfrequented town than Gabii and Fidenae;
yet there would I be willing to live; and, forgetful of my friends and
forgotten by them, view from land Neptune raging at a distance. But
neither he who comes to Rome from Capua, bespattered with rain and mire,
would wish to live in an inn; nor does he, who has contracted a cold,
cry up stoves and bagnios as completely furnishing a happy life: nor, if
the violent south wind has tossed you in the deep, will you therefore
sell your ship on the other side of the Aegean Sea. On a man sound in
mind Rhodes and beautiful Mitylene have such an effect, as a thick cloak
at the summer solstice, thin drawers in snowy weather, [bathing in] the
Tiber in winter, a fire in the month of August. While it is permitted,
and fortune preserves a benign aspect, let absent Samos, and Chios, and
Rhodes, be commended by you here at Rome. Whatever prosperous; hour
Providence bestows upon you, receive it with a thankful hand: and defer
not [the enjoyment of] the comforts of life, till a year be at an end;
that in whatever place you are, you may say you have lived with
satisfaction. For if reason and discretion, not a place that commands a
prospect of the wide-extended sea, remove our cares; they change their
climate, not their disposition, who run beyond the sea: a busy idleness
harrasses us: by ships and by chariots we seek to live happily. What you
seek is here [at home], is at Ulubrae, if a just temper of mind is not
wanting to you.
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