HOW TO GIVE

Bard College classicist Romm continues his ongoing project to reintroduce the Roman philosopher Seneca to modern readers.

Seneca’s reputation has long been tarnished by his association with the emperor Nero, who made him fabulously rich and then, jealous and mad, contrived to force him to commit suicide. Thinking it would stave off that unhappy end, Seneca offered to give up his wealth, to no avail. He had clearly been thinking about the whole business of giving and receiving, as Romm’s bilingual assemblage of documents, including the essay “De Beneficiis” (“On Benefits”), makes clear. Writes Seneca, “Here’s the mark of great and good hearts: To seek good deeds for their own sake, not for the profits that flow from them, and to look for good people even after meeting bad ones.” There’s a lot to unpack there, but the driving idea is that a gift given in expectation of some favor or return isn’t a gift at all. Continues Seneca, “No one writes down good deeds on a ledger or calls them in by day and hour like a greedy collection agent. A good person never thinks of them, unless reminded by the one making return; to do otherwise is to make them into a loan.” Then there’s another sort of demerit, namely the shame attendant in choosing the wrong person—an ingrate who doesn’t properly acknowledge and appreciate the effort—to receive one’s gift. Gifts must be chosen wisely; you don’t give “books to a simpleton, or nets to a scholar.” In a helpful running commentary that accompanies his vigorous translation, Romm glosses Seneca to mean that the best gifts are given anonymously and received gratefully. And as to the real return? Well, there’s definitely a payoff: “A good conscience.”

For the stoically inclined, a fine vade mecum come donation time.