Seneca sang Tokoh Romawi

Anak Laki-Laki dari Spanyol

The Boy from Spain

Lucius Annaeus Seneca lahir di Corduba, sebuah kota di selatan Spanyol, beberapa tahun sebelum kelahiran Kristus. Ayahnya adalah seorang guru pidato yang terkenal, dan keluarganya kaya serta dihormati. Anak laki-laki itu kurus dan sering sakit-sakitan, tetapi pikirannya cerdas.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca was born in Corduba, a city in the south of Spain, a few years before the birth of Christ. His father was a famous teacher of public speaking, and the family was rich and respected. The boy was thin and sickly, but his mind was quick.

Ia memiliki guru-guru terbaik di kota itu, dan ia sangat suka belajar hingga hampir merusak kesehatannya karenanya. Ia jarang makan, tidur tidak nyenyak, dan membaca sepanjang malam. Ayahnya khawatir lalu mengirimnya ke Mesir bersama pamannya, tempat ia beristirahat di tepi laut. Sepanjang hidupnya ia kurus dan sering sesak napas, dan sepanjang hidupnya ia membuat kelemahannya berguna baginya: ia belajar bersabar, dan terus melangkah saat orang lain berhenti.

He had the best teachers in the city, and he loved learning so much that he almost ruined his health with it. He barely ate, slept badly and read all night. His father worried and sent him to Egypt with his uncle, where he rested by the sea. All his life he was thin and short of breath, and all his life he made his weakness work for him: he learned to be patient, and to keep going when others stopped.

Ketika ia masih kecil, bibinya membawanya ke Roma. Di sana ia tumbuh besar di antara buku-buku, para pengacara, dan ambisi. Ia mempelajari dua hal: bagaimana berbicara dengan baik, dan bagaimana hidup dengan baik. Yang pertama membuatnya terkenal. Yang kedua menyita seluruh hidupnya.

When he was small, his aunt took him to Rome. There he grew up among books, lawyers and ambition. He studied two things: how to speak well, and how to live well. The first made him famous. The second took him his whole life.

Sebagai seorang pemuda ia jatuh sakit begitu parah hingga sempat berpikir untuk mengakhiri hidupnya sendiri. Ayahnya memohon kepadanya agar tidak melakukannya. Seneca menulis kemudian: “Kasih sayang keluargaku membuatku tetap hidup, dan sejak saat itu aku memercayai pikiranku, bukan kesehatanku.”

As a young man he became so ill that he thought about ending his own life. His father begged him not to. Seneca wrote later: “The love of my family kept me alive, and from that time I trusted my mind, and not my health.”