{"slug":"tmp1212.tmp1212.opp-lat1","id":"latin:ogl-pl:tmp1212.tmp1212.opp-lat1","title":"Opuscolum Libellus De Moribus","title_source":"Opuscolum Libellus De Moribus","author":"Martinus Dumiensis Episcopus Bracarensis","genre":"treatise","date":"","tradition":"latin","coverage":"not-located","coverage_claim":{"status":"not-located","text":"No English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed."},"publication":{"status":"machine-draft","reviewed_by":null,"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor","provider":"Relace","generated":"2026-11-15T06:16:15Z","cost_usd":0.004323},"source":{"registry_id":"latin:ogl-pl:tmp1212.tmp1212.opp-lat1","work_id":"tmp1212.tmp1212.opp-lat1","edition":"ogl-pl","language":"","license":"Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License","url":"https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/patrologia_latina-dev/blob/master/data/tmp1212/tmp1212/tmp1212.tmp1212.opp-lat1.xml"},"stats":{"passages":7,"english_words":2030,"coptic_letters":0,"source_letters":7612,"commentary_units":42,"commentary_kinds":8,"derived_notes":0,"ambiguities":12,"work_notes":5,"external_links":0,"timeline":5},"summary":{"work":"tmp1212.tmp1212.opp-lat1","abstract":"The 'Opuscolum Libellus De Moribus' is a short moral treatise attributed to Martin of Braga (c. 520–580), a bishop and monastic founder in Suevic Galicia. Likely intended for monastic or clerical readers, it focuses on practical virtues and vices, presenting moral precepts in an aphoristic style reminiscent of the 'Sententiae' tradition. The work survives in a single manuscript tradition, with the earliest witness a 10th-century codex from northern Spain. It was used in medieval monastic florilegia and cited by later moralists, though it never achieved wide liturgical use. The treatise's central axiom—that every sin is voluntary—asserts moral responsibility, echoing Stoic and patristic sources. Its attribution to Martin is traditional but not securely dated; it may have been composed during his episcopate (after 572).","historical_context":"The 'Libellus de Moribus' was composed in the second half of the 6th century, likely in the Suevic kingdom of Galicia (northwestern Iberia). Martin of Braga, a prominent bishop and monastic founder, wrote during a period of religious and political transition: the Suevi had recently converted from Arianism to Nicene Christianity (c. 560), and Martin worked to consolidate orthodoxy and monastic discipline. The treatise reflects the early medieval penitential tradition, emphasizing voluntary sin and moral responsibility, themes common in patristic and Stoic ethics. Its aphoristic style aligns with the 'libellus' genre and the 'Sententiae' tradition, popular in monastic circles for moral instruction. The work survives in a single manuscript tradition, with the earliest witness a 10th-century codex from northern Spain, suggesting limited but enduring circulation in Iberian monastic libraries. It was later incorporated into medieval florilegia, sometimes attributed to classical authors like Seneca, indicating its perceived moral authority.","significance":"The 'Libellus de Moribus' is significant as a rare example of 6th-century moral theology from the Suevic kingdom, shedding light on early medieval penitential thought and monastic education. Its emphasis on voluntary sin anticipates later scholastic discussions of moral responsibility. The work's transmission in florilegia and misattribution to classical authors highlight its enduring appeal as a source of practical ethics, bridging patristic and medieval moral traditions.","timeline":[{"date":"c. 520–580","event":"Life of Martin of Braga, bishop and monastic founder in Suevic Galicia."},{"date":"After 572","event":"Martin becomes bishop of Braga; possible period of composition for the 'Libellus de Moribus'."},{"date":"6th c.","event":"Composition of the 'Libellus de Moribus', likely in Galicia, for monastic or clerical readers."},{"date":"10th c.","event":"Earliest surviving manuscript witness, a codex from northern Spain."},{"date":"Medieval period","event":"The treatise is used in monastic florilegia and cited by moralists, sometimes attributed to classical authors."}],"relations":[{"work":"Sententiae","relation":"The aphoristic style and moral precepts are reminiscent of the 'Sententiae' tradition.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Penitential literature","relation":"The emphasis on voluntary sin aligns with early medieval penitential themes.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Stoic ethics","relation":"The central axiom echoes Stoic ideas of moral responsibility and voluntary action.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Patristic sources","relation":"The treatise draws on patristic moral theology, e.g., Augustine and John Cassian.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Florilegia","relation":"The work was incorporated into medieval florilegia, sometimes misattributed to Seneca.","key":"","label":null,"url":null}],"external_links":[],"cautions":["The attribution to Martin of Braga is traditional but not securely dated; the work may have been composed after 572 during his episcopate.","The earliest manuscript witness is from the 10th century, leaving a gap of several centuries from the supposed date of composition.","The work survives in a single manuscript tradition; variant readings from later copies may affect interpretation of key terms.","The orthographic oddity 'TriStitiam' (for 'tristitiam') may reflect scribal error or manuscript transmission issues."],"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor","provider":"Relace","cost_usd":0.000524,"generated":"2026-11-15T06:16:15Z"},"links":[{"kind":"source","label":"Open Greek and Latin Patrologia Latina","url":"https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/patrologia_latina-dev/blob/master/data/tmp1212/tmp1212/tmp1212.tmp1212.opp-lat1.xml"}],"checks":{"work":"tmp1212.tmp1212.opp-lat1","status":"pass","blocking":[],"warnings":[],"stats":{"passages":7,"translated":7,"commentary_passages":7,"commentary_units":42,"english_words":2030,"source_letters":7594,"commentary_kinds":8},"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor"},"work_notes":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The work is a short moral treatise, likely intended for monastic or clerical readers, focusing on practical virtues and vices.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"transmission","kind":"transmission","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"Survives in a single manuscript tradition; the earliest witness is a 10th-century codex from northern Spain.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"dating","kind":"chronology","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"Attributed to Martin of Braga (c. 520–580), but the work is not securely dated; it may have been composed during his episcopate (after 572).","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The treatise was used in medieval monastic florilegia and cited by later moralists, though it never achieved wide liturgical use.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"This edition does not collate all known manuscripts; variant readings from later copies may affect interpretation of key terms.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"derived_work_notes":[{"kind":"coverage","severity":"info","text":"No English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed."},{"kind":"limit","severity":"caution","text":"The English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve."},{"kind":"register","severity":"info","text":"Register: treatise in Latin; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them."},{"kind":"structure","severity":"info","text":"Passages: 7 narrative."},{"kind":"source","severity":"info","text":"Source edition: ogl-pl — Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License"}],"derived_structure":{"narrative":7},"term_index":[],"citations":{},"segments":[{"i":1,"ref":"p1","source":"OPUSCULUM II.\n\nLIBELLUS DE MORIBUS.\n\nI. Omne peccatum actio est. Actio autem omnis voluntaria est tam honesta quam lurpis; ergo voluntarium est omne peccatum. Tolle excusationem; nemo peccat invitus. Educatio et disciplina mores faciunt; et id unusquisque sapit, quod didicit. Itaque bona consuetudo excutere debet quod mala instruxit. Nihil interest quo animo facias quod fecisse vitiosum est, quia facta cernuntur, animus vero non videtur. Nulla autem laus est non facere quod facere non possis. Quid homini est inimicissimum? Homo. Libenter feras quod necesse est; dolor patientia vincitur. Exspecta quo nunquam pœniteas. Non quam multis placeas, sed qualibus stude. In hoc tantum ineumbe, ut libentius audias quam loquaris. Multos vitam differentes mors juncta praevenit. Itaque omnis dies velut ultimus judlcetur. TriStitiam, si potes, ne admiseris; sin minus; ne ostenderis. Amicos secreto admone, palam autem lauda. Verba rehus, non perionis aestimanda sunt. Oratorem te puta, si tibi ante omnes quod oportet perSuaseris. Ut licentiosa mancipia animi, imperio coerce linguam, ventrem et libidinem. Quod tacitum esse velis, nemini dixeris. Si tibi non imperasti, quomodo ab alio silentium speras? Ridiculum est aliquem odio nocentis innocentiam perdere.","english":"SMALL WORK II.\n\nA SMALL BOOK ON MORALS.\n\nI. Every sin is an action. Moreover, every action is voluntary, whether honorable or base; therefore every sin is voluntary. Remove the excuse; no one sins unwillingly. Upbringing and discipline form character; and each person knows what he has learned. Therefore good habit ought to shake off what bad habit has instilled. It makes no difference with what intention you do what is vicious to have done, because deeds are seen, but the mind is not visible. Moreover, there is no praise in not doing what you cannot do. What is most hostile to man? Man. Bear willingly what must be borne; pain is conquered by patience. Wait for what you will never regret. Strive not to please many, but to please the worthy. Apply yourself only to this: that you listen more willingly than you speak. Death, ever at hand, forestalls many who put off living. Therefore let every day be judged as if it were the last. If you can, do not admit sadness; if you cannot, do not show it. Admonish friends in secret, but praise them openly. Words are to be judged by the matter, not by the person. Consider yourself an orator if you have first persuaded yourself of what is fitting before all others. Like unruly slaves of the mind, restrain the tongue, the belly, and lust by command. Tell no one what you wish to remain secret. If you have not commanded yourself, how do you expect silence from another? It is ridiculous to lose one's innocence through hatred of the guilty.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"Omne peccatum actio est","severity":"info","text":"The opening syllogism (every sin is an action; every action is voluntary; therefore every sin is voluntary) is a concise moral axiom, likely derived from Stoic or patristic sources, asserting moral responsibility.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"voluntaria","severity":"info","text":"The term 'voluntaria' (voluntary) is central to the argument; the author insists that sin is always willful, rejecting any excuse of involuntariness, a common theme in early medieval penitential literature.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"Amicos secreto admone, palam autem lauda","severity":"info","text":"This maxim echoes a well-known classical precept, often attributed to Plutarch or Cicero, advocating private correction and public praise of friends, a staple of ancient and medieval moral advice.","cites":[],"named_sources":["Plutarch Moralia","Cicero De Amicitia"],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"I.","severity":"info","text":"The passage is structured as a series of aphoristic sentences, each a self-contained moral precept, typical of the 'libellus' genre (small book) and reminiscent of the 'Sententiae' tradition.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Martin of Braga","severity":"info","text":"Martin of Braga (c. 520–580) was a bishop and monastic founder in Suevic Galicia; his 'Libellus de Moribus' circulated widely in medieval florilegia and was often attributed to Seneca or other classical authors.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"TriStitiam","severity":"caution","text":"The Latin 'TriStitiam' (with capital S) is a scribal variant or error for 'tristitiam' (sadness); the text is otherwise sound, but this orthographic oddity may reflect manuscript transmission.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'Verba rehus, non perionis aestimanda sunt' is likely a scribal corruption; 'rehus' may stand for 'rebus' (things) and 'perionis' for 'personis' (persons), yielding 'Words are to be judged by the matter, not by the person.'"],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":2,"ref":"p2","source":"II. Monstro similis cst avaritia senilis. Quid enim stultius est; quod dici solet, quam via deiiciente vialicum augere? Omnes infanies terra nudos eXcipit. Non pudet te fortius nasci quati vivere? Quid dulcius quam habere amicum cum quo audeas ut tecum omnia loqui? Magnarum virium est negligere lædentem. Quid sis interest, non quid habeas. Nondum es felix si te turba non deriserit. Si vis beatus esse, cogita hoc priinum, contemnere et contemni. Prius quam promittas deliberes; et cum promiseris, facias. Id agas, ne quis merito te oderit; et si nullos inimicos tibi faciet injuria, multos facit invidia. Solitudinem quaeret, qui vult cum innocentibus vivere; optimus ergo animus et pulcherrimus cultor Dei est. Abstinebis ab alieno matrimonio. Præstabis parentibus pittatem, cognatis indulgentiam, omnibus aequitatem. Devitabis cruudelitatem, et ministram crudelitatis iram. Non aliter vivas in solitudine, aliter in foro. Nihil petas, quod negaturus fuisti: nihil negabis, quod petiturus fuisti. Pacem cum hominibus habebis, cum vitiis bellum. Hoc habet omnis affectus, Ut in quod ipse insanit, in id putet etiam cæteros furere. Maximum in eo vitium est, qui non melioribus vult placere, sed pluribus. Vis omnibus esse notus? prius effice ut nominem noveris. Bonum est non laudari, et esse laudabilem. Stultum est timere quod vitare non potes.","english":"II. Avarice in old age is like a monster. For what is more foolish than, as the saying goes, to increase one's provisions for the journey when the road is failing? The earth receives all infants naked. Are you not ashamed to be born more strongly than to live? What is sweeter than having a friend with whom you dare to speak everything as with yourself? It takes great strength to disregard one who harms you. What you are matters, not what you have. You are not yet happy if the crowd has not mocked you. If you wish to be blessed, first consider this: to despise and to be despised. Before you promise, deliberate; and when you have promised, do it. Act so that no one may justly hate you; and if injury does not make enemies for you, envy makes many. He who wishes to live with the innocent will seek solitude; therefore the best and most beautiful mind is a cultivator of God. You will abstain from another's marriage. You will show piety to parents, indulgence to relatives, fairness to all. You will avoid cruelty, and the handmaiden of cruelty, anger. Do not live one way in solitude, another way in the forum. Ask for nothing that you would have refused; refuse nothing that you would have asked for. You will have peace with men, war with vices. Every passion has this: that into whatever it rages, it thinks others also are mad. The greatest vice is in one who wishes to please not the better, but the many. Do you wish to be known to all? First make it so that you know no one. It is good not to be praised, and to be praiseworthy. It is foolish to fear what you cannot avoid.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"Monstro similis est avaritia senilis","severity":"info","text":"The opening simile compares senile avarice to a monster, a vivid image that recurs in moralizing literature. The following rhetorical question about increasing provisions when the road is failing reinforces the absurdity of hoarding in old age.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"Quid dulcius quam habere amicum cum quo audeas ut tecum omnia loqui","severity":"info","text":"This ideal of friendship echoes classical and patristic commonplaces, notably Cicero’s *De Amicitia* and Jerome’s letters, where a true friend is another self. The phrase underscores the treatise’s ethical focus on trust and candor.","cites":[],"named_sources":["Cicero De Amicitia","Jerome Epistulae"],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"cultor Dei","severity":"info","text":"‘Cultor Dei’ (cultivator of God) is a rare but significant phrase, likely drawn from monastic vocabulary. It implies active spiritual cultivation, not mere belief, aligning with the treatise’s emphasis on disciplined habit.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"II.","severity":"info","text":"This passage is the second section of the *Libellus*, following a general definition of sin. It shifts to specific vices (avarice, envy, anger) and virtues (friendship, piety, equity), forming a catalogue of moral precepts typical of wisdom literature.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Stultum est timere quod vitare non potes","severity":"info","text":"This maxim, a Stoic commonplace, was widely transmitted in medieval florilegia and later proverbial collections. Its presence here reflects the work’s role in transmitting classical ethical thought to a Christian audience.","cites":[],"named_sources":["Seneca Epistulae Morales"],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"via deiiciente vialicum augere","severity":"caution","text":"The phrase ‘via deiiciente’ is textually uncertain; the edition reads ‘deiiciente’ (failing), but some manuscripts may have ‘deficiente’. The sense is clear—increasing travel provisions as the road gives way—but the exact reading is contested.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'via deiiciente' may be a scribal error for 'via deficiente' (the road failing), though the meaning is unaffected.","The identity of the 'monster' in the opening simile is not specified; it may be a generic emblem of irrationality or a specific beast from bestiary tradition."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":3,"ref":"p3","source":"III. Male opinentur de te homines, sed mall. Malis displicere, est laudari. Male de te loquuntur homines, bene autem loqui nesciont; non quod merearis, sed quod solent ipsi. Homines de te mala loquuntur? Si merito, non quod loquuntur molestum est, sed quod non mentiuntur. Si immerito? Innocentia mea nunc maiine gaudeo; apparet enim illos vera objecturos, si possent. Non es in patria tua? Patria tua cst, ubicunque bene es; illud enim per quod bene cst, non est in loco, sed in homine. Nihil magnum, nisi magno animo despicias. Quæ sunt maiimæ divitiæ? Non desiderare divitias. Quis plurimum habet? Is qui minimum cupit. Quid est dare beueftcium? Deum imitari. Honestius est cum judioaveris amare, quam cum amaveris judicare. Dissensio ab alio incipiat, a le autem reconciliatio. Succurre pauperlati amicorum, imo occurre. Amicos secundae res parant, adversae certissime probant. Pejora sunt tecta odia quam aperta. Itaque te minus loquax inimicus offendit quam tacitus. Mira ratio est, quæ non vult praedicari quod gaudet intellegi. Ignosci amat, qui quod odit ostendit. Eleemosyna non tam accipientibus quam dantibus prodest. Et spes praemii solatium sit laboris. Quae est maxima egestas? Avaritia. Pecuniæ imperare oportet, non servire. Nullum conscium peccatorum tuorum magis timueris quam temetipsum. Alium potes effugere, te antem nunquam. Quis est pauper? Qui sibi videtur.","english":"III. Let men think ill of you, but let them be evil. To displease the wicked is to be praised. Men speak ill of you, but they do not know how to speak well; not because you deserve it, but because it is their habit. Do men speak ill of you? If deservedly, what is troublesome is not what they say, but that they do not lie. If undeservedly? I now rejoice all the more in my innocence; for it is evident that they would charge you with true things if they could. Are you not in your own country? Your country is wherever you are well; for that by which you are well is not in a place, but in a person. Nothing is great unless you despise it with a great spirit. What are the greatest riches? Not to desire riches. Who has the most? He who desires the least. What is it to give a benefit? To imitate God. It is more honorable to love after you have judged than to judge after you have loved. Let dissension begin from another, but reconciliation from you. Succor the poverty of your friends, indeed anticipate it. Friends are provided by prosperity, but most certainly proven by adversity. Hidden hatreds are worse than open ones. Therefore, an enemy who speaks less offends you more than one who is silent. It is a strange reason that does not wish to be proclaimed what it rejoices to be understood. He loves to be forgiven who shows what he hates. Almsgiving benefits not so much those who receive as those who give. And the hope of reward is the solace of labor. What is the greatest poverty? Avarice. One must command money, not serve it. Fear no confidant of your sins more than yourself. You can flee another, but never yourself. Who is poor? He who seems so to himself.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"Male opinentur de te homines, sed mall.","severity":"info","text":"The Latin text has 'sed mall' which is likely a corruption or abbreviation for 'sed mali' (but let them be evil). The English draft reads 'but let them be evil'.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"mall","severity":"caution","text":"The word 'mall' is not standard Latin; it may be a scribal error for 'mali' (evil men) or an abbreviation. The sense requires a noun or adjective agreeing with 'homines'.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"Patria tua est, ubicunque bene es","severity":"info","text":"This sentiment echoes Stoic and Christian cosmopolitan ideas, e.g., Seneca's 'patria mea totus hic mundus est' and Paul's 'omnia in omnibus'.","cites":[],"named_sources":["Seneca Epistulae Morales","Paul of Tarsus"],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Eleemosyna non tam accipientibus quam dantibus prodest","severity":"info","text":"This reflects the teaching of almsgiving as spiritually beneficial to the giver, found in Tobit 4:7-11 and patristic commentaries.","cites":[],"named_sources":["Tobit"],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Quid est dare beneficium? Deum imitari.","severity":"info","text":"The passage uses a series of rhetorical questions and answers, a common catechetical device in moral treatises, to drive home ethical maxims.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Nullum conscium peccatorum tuorum magis timueris quam temetipsum","severity":"info","text":"This maxim on self-knowledge and conscience was widely cited in medieval and early modern moral theology, e.g., in Thomas à Kempis' 'Imitatio Christi'.","cites":[],"named_sources":["Thomas à Kempis"],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'sed mall' is ambiguous: likely a scribal error for 'sed mali' (but let them be evil), but could be a contraction or abbreviation.","The sentence 'Malis displicere, est laudari' could be read as 'To displease the wicked is to be praised' or 'It is praise to displease the wicked'; the English draft takes the former."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":4,"ref":"p4","source":"Qui a multis timetur, multos timet. Infelicem erige, submitte felicitatem. Vera felicitas innocentia est. Nequitia ipsa sui poena est. Mala conscientia saepe tuta est, secura qui exitum cogitabit. Beneficii accepti nunquam oportet oblivisci; dati, protinus.\n\nIV. Inhonesta victoria est, suoS vincere. Salis est poenarum, potuisse punire. Inimicitias tarde suscipe, amicitias exerce moderate. Simultates depone. Imago animi, sermo est. Qualis vir, talis oratio. Magna res est vocis et silentii temperamentum. Qui æquo animo malis immiscetur, malus est. Neminem laudaveris, neminem cito accusaris: semper puta te cun diis testimonium dicere. Vitium est omnia cre dere, vitiumnihil credere. Utendum est divitiis, non abutendum. Nullum putaveris locum sine teste. Ex cusationem quaerere, vitium. Fortior est qui cupidi tatem vincit quam qui hostem subjicit. Est difficillimum, se ipsum vincere. Inique irascitur, qui suis irascitur. Amare sic incipe, tanquam non liceat desinere. Magnarum rerum etiam si successus non fuerit, honestus est ipse conatus. Nobilitas animi est generositas sensus; nobilitas corporis, generosus animus. Honestior est quem senectus ad otium retulit, quam quem in otio invenit, et tunc incipit laborare. Turpe spectaculum præbet animus æger. Nun quam sit tristis facies tibi in commodo alterius. Homo sum: quomodo devitabo secundarum rerum invidiam?","english":"He who is feared by many fears many. Raise up the unfortunate; humble good fortune. True happiness is innocence. Wickedness is its own punishment. A bad conscience is often safe; he who will think of the outcome is secure. One must never forget a benefit received; one given, immediately.\n\nIV. A dishonorable victory is to conquer one’s own. It is enough punishment to have been able to punish. Take up enmities slowly; practice friendships with moderation. Lay aside quarrels. Speech is the image of the mind. As the man is, so is his speech. A great thing is the tempering of voice and silence. He who mingles with evil men with a calm mind is evil. Praise no one; accuse no one quickly: always think that you are giving testimony before the gods. It is a vice to believe everything; it is a vice to believe nothing. One should use wealth, not abuse it. Think no place is without a witness. To seek an excuse is a vice. He is stronger who conquers desire than he who subdues an enemy. It is most difficult to conquer oneself. He is unjustly angry who is angry with his own. Begin to love as if it were not permitted to cease. Even if there is no success in great undertakings, the attempt itself is honorable. Nobility of mind is generosity of feeling; nobility of body is a generous mind. More honorable is he whom old age has brought to leisure than he whom it finds in leisure and who then begins to work. A sick mind offers a shameful spectacle. Never let your face be sad at another’s inconvenience. I am a man: how shall I avoid the envy of secondary things?","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"Qui a multis timetur, multos timet","severity":"info","text":"A proverbial paradox: the powerful are themselves fearful. The thought echoes Seneca, Epistulae morales 105.9.","cites":[],"named_sources":["Seneca"],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"suoS vincere","severity":"info","text":"The reading 'suoS' (suos) is a conjectural emendation; the manuscript may read 'suos' or 'suo'. The sense is 'to conquer one's own (people or passions)'.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Neminem laudaveris, neminem cito accusaris: semper puta te cun diis testimonium dicere","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'cun diis' (cum diis) suggests a pagan context, but the idea of giving testimony before gods may echo the biblical injunction to live as before God (e.g., 1 John 3:19-21).","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Nullum putaveris locum sine teste","severity":"info","text":"A Stoic and Cynic commonplace: one should act as if always observed. Compare Epictetus, Enchiridion 33, and Seneca, Epistulae 25.5.","cites":[],"named_sources":["Epictetus","Seneca"],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"Fortior est qui cupiditatem vincit quam qui hostem subjicit","severity":"info","text":"A maxim found in Publilius Syrus (Sententiae, F 19) and later in Christian moralists. The thought is that self-conquest is harder than military victory.","cites":[],"named_sources":["Publilius Syrus"],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Amare sic incipe, tanquam non liceat desinere","severity":"info","text":"This sentence was widely excerpted in medieval florilegia and attributed to Seneca. It appears in the 'Moralium Dogma' and the 'Liber de moribus' tradition.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin 'suoS' is ambiguous: it may be a scribal error for 'suos' (one's own people) or 'suo' (by one's own means). The translation 'one's own' is adopted.","The phrase 'cun diis' (cum diis) is unusual in a Christian context; it may reflect a pre-Christian source or a deliberate archaism."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":5,"ref":"p5","source":"Si felicitatem jactaveris, cum multis dives eris. Quomodo optime potentiam tuebor? Impotentia occasionis. Locum tenet innocentiæ proximum confessio. Ubi confessio, ibi remissio. Iræ severitas in vitio est. Boni juJicis est dispensare, non tantum quid damnandum sit, sed quatenus. Proximus justitiæ modus, severitas.\n\nV. Quietissimam vitam agerent homines in terris, si haec duo verba a natura omnium rerum tollerent, meum et tuum. Qui paupertatem timet, timendus est. Vires tuas amici magis sentiant beneficiis quam injuriis. Pecunia non satiat avaritiam, sed irritat. Homo semper indigens pecunia, scit cum ejus moribus convenire. Mihi crede, non potes dives esse et felix. Auribus frequentius quam lingua utere. Quidquid dicturus es, ante quam aliis, dixeris libi. Nibil interest inter iratum et insanum, nisi unus. dies: alter non semper irascitur, alter semper insanit. Facillime bonus fueris, si ea vitaveris quae vituperaveris. Cum alienos timueris, te ipsum verere: nam saepe sine aliis esse potes, sine le nunquam. Si bene te instruxeris, pudeat deteriora facere. Quod persuaseris erit diuturnum, quod coegeris erit in occasione. Alteri semper ignoscito, tibi ipsi nunquam. Tantum ad virtutem adjicies, quantum ex voluptate abstraxeris. Stultum est somno dejectari, et quasi mortem moliri. Bonis nocet, qui maiis parcit. Multi cum aliis maledicunt, sibi ipsis convicium faciunt.","english":"If you boast of happiness, you will be rich with many. How shall I best protect my power? By the powerlessness of opportunity. Confession holds the place nearest to innocence. Where there is confession, there is remission. Severity in anger is a vice. It is the duty of a good judge to determine not only what is to be condemned, but to what extent. The nearest measure to justice is severity.\n\nV. Men would lead a very quiet life on earth if these two words were removed from the nature of all things: mine and yours. He who fears poverty is to be feared. Let your friends feel your strength more through benefits than through injuries. Money does not satisfy avarice, but irritates it. A man always in need of money knows how to conform to its ways. Believe me, you cannot be both rich and happy. Use your ears more often than your tongue. Whatever you are about to say, say it to yourself before you say it to others. There is no difference between an angry man and a madman, except that one day the former is not always angry, the latter is always mad. You will very easily be good if you avoid those things which you have censured. When you fear others, fear yourself; for you can often be without others, but never without yourself. If you have instructed yourself well, be ashamed to do worse things. What you persuade will be lasting; what you compel will be temporary. Always forgive another, never yourself. You will add as much to virtue as you subtract from pleasure. It is foolish to be delighted by sleep and to plot death as if it were near. He harms the good who spares the wicked. Many, when they speak ill of others, do injury to themselves.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"Quomodo optime potentiam tuebor? Impotentia occasionis.","severity":"info","text":"The rhetorical question and answer form a sententia: the best protection of power is the powerlessness of opportunity, i.e., not giving occasion for misuse.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"confessio","severity":"info","text":"Confessio here likely refers to acknowledgment of fault, not sacramental confession, though the pairing with remissio echoes ecclesiastical language.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ubi confessio, ibi remissio.","severity":"info","text":"This aphorism echoes a principle found in early penitential literature, e.g., the idea that confession leads to remission of sin, though no single biblical verse is cited.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"meum et tuum","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'mine and yours' as sources of conflict is a classical topos, found in Seneca and later monastic writers; Martinus adapts it for moral instruction.","cites":[],"named_sources":["Seneca"],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"Nibil interest inter iratum et insanum, nisi unus dies","severity":"info","text":"This maxim parallels Seneca, De Ira 1.1.2: 'Ira est insania brevis' (anger is brief madness). Martinus expands the comparison with a temporal distinction.","cites":[],"named_sources":["Seneca"],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"Stultum est somno dejectari, et quasi mortem moliri.","severity":"caution","text":"The phrase 'quasi mortem moliri' is ambiguous: it may mean 'to plot death as if it were near' (as in the draft) or 'to contrive death as if it were a good thing'; the latter fits the critique of sleep as a rehearsal for death.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'quasi mortem moliri' could be read as 'to plot death as if it were near' or 'to contrive death as if it were a good thing'; the draft takes the former, but the latter aligns with the critique of sleep as a rehearsal for death."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":6,"ref":"p6","source":"Nihil turpius quam qui objicit alteri; sibi objiciendum. Ut licentiosa mancipia animi, imperio rege linguam, libidinem, ventrem; cupiditatemque comprime: si non potes, paululum remitte. Sæpe ea quae sanari ratione non poterant, sanata sunt tempore. Qui propter pecuniæ amorem et libidinum moritur, ostendit se nunquam sui causa vixisse. Turpia ne dixeris, paulatim enim pudor per verba discutitur. Sic habita, ut potius laudetur dominus quam domus: consuetudinaria res est innocentia. Non damnatio, sed causa hominem turpem facit. Merito damnari, poena est: damnatio immerita, damnantis est calamitas.\n\nVI. Si aliquid cogitaveris, cito apparebit conversantibus. Videri vis ab omnibus? nunquam bonae honestatis simulatio longa est. Quod de alienis tractas, ex tuis jjudices. Multi sunt obligandi, pauci offendendi; nam memoria beneficiorum facilis est, injuriarum tenax. Objurgationi semper aliquid blande admisce; facilius enim penetrant verba quae molli vadunt via, quam aspera; nemo enim se mutat, quia mutari se desperet. Quoties scribens aliquid dicturus es, scito morum tuorum te hominibus chirographum dare. Qui in servos irascitur el crudeJis est, satis ostendit potestatem adversus alienos sibi defuisse. Qui nescit tacere, nescit loqui. Facilius est pauperi contemptum effugere quam diviti invidiam. Bonus fruitur bona conscientia. Malis hominibus tu. tissimum est cito fugere.","english":"Nothing is more shameful than to reproach another with what could be reproached to oneself. Like licentious slaves of the mind, rule your tongue, your lust, your belly with authority; and suppress desire: if you cannot, relax a little. Often those things which reason could not heal have been healed by time. He who dies for love of money and lust shows that he never lived for his own sake. Do not speak shameful things, for modesty is gradually shattered by words. Live so that the master is praised rather than the house: innocence is a matter of habit. It is not condemnation, but the cause, that makes a man shameful. To be deservedly condemned is a punishment; undeserved condemnation is the calamity of the condemner.\n\nVI. If you have thought something, it will quickly appear to those who associate with you. Do you wish to be seen by all? The pretense of good honesty is never long. What you deal with concerning others, you judge from your own affairs. Many are to be obliged, few offended; for the memory of benefits is easy, that of injuries tenacious. Always mix something gentle with reproof; for words that go by a soft path penetrate more easily than harsh ones; for no one changes himself because he despairs of changing himself. Whenever you are about to say something in writing, know that you are giving men a handwriting of your character. He who is angry and cruel to slaves shows sufficiently that power against others has failed him. He who does not know how to be silent does not know how to speak. It is easier for a poor man to escape contempt than for a rich man to escape envy. The good man enjoys a good conscience. For evil men, the safest thing is to flee quickly.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"Nihil turpius quam qui objicit alteri; sibi objiciendum","severity":"info","text":"The maxim condemns hypocrisy: reproaching another with a fault one shares oneself. It echoes a common moral theme in late antique and medieval penitential literature.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"mancipia animi","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'licentious slaves of the mind' personifies passions (tongue, lust, belly, desire) as unruly slaves, a Stoic and patristic trope for self-mastery.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Non damnatio, sed causa hominem turpem facit","severity":"info","text":"This maxim on just condemnation echoes a principle found in Roman law and patristic commentary, not a direct biblical verse, but aligns with the moral distinction between guilt and punishment.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"VI. Si aliquid cogitaveris...","severity":"info","text":"The passage is divided into two sections: the first (V) ends with a series of moral aphorisms; the second (VI) begins with a new set, introduced by the Roman numeral, marking a structural break in the treatise.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"chirographum","severity":"info","text":"The term 'chirographum' (handwriting) refers to a written document or autograph, metaphorically indicating that one's writing reveals one's character—a common theme in classical and Christian moral instruction.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Qui in servos irascitur et crudelis est","severity":"info","text":"This aphorism on cruelty to slaves reflects the social context of late antique Iberia, where slavery was common; Martinus adapts classical Stoic critiques of cruelty to a Christian moral framework.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin text has minor textual variants (e.g., 'el crudelis' may be a scribal error for 'et crudelis').","The division between sections V and VI is marked by a Roman numeral, but the exact original chapter breaks are uncertain."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":7,"ref":"p7","source":"Nulla pusilla domus, quae multos amicos capit. Scire uti paupertale, maxima felicitas. Acuit intentio, frangit animum remissio. Nunquam scelus scelere vincendum est. Bonus vir est qui eo perduxit affectu animum, ut non tantum peccare non velit, sed etiam non possit. Regnantibus pejus multo periculum quam his qui judicantur; hi enitn singulos timent, illi universos. Nunquid fortis fortem se gloriabitur, quem corporis aegritudo eflieit infirmum? NunquiJ dives in opibus suis gloriabitur, cujus spem fur vel tyrannus abrupit? Nunquid nobi. lilas gloriabitur affecta, nonnunquam iodignis et miserabilibus serviens? Diabolus aliquando se glonabatur interfectorem tuae misericordiae, nunc intergemiscit socios tuae beatitudinis. Fugienda sunt omnibus modis et abscindenda igni ac ferro, totoque artificio separanda, languor a corpore, imperitia ab animo, luxuria a mente, a civitate seditio, a domo discordia, a cunctis rebus intemperantia. Dixit quidam, amicorum omnia esse communia, et amicum se ipsum esse alterum. Duorum temporum maxime habendam curam, et eorum quae acturi sumus, et eornm quae gessimus. Post Deum veritatem colendam, quæ sola homines diis proximos facit.","english":"No house is so small that it cannot hold many friends. To know how to use poverty is the greatest happiness. Application sharpens the mind; relaxation breaks it. A crime must never be overcome by a crime. A good man is one who has brought his mind to such a state that he not only does not wish to sin, but is also unable to. Those who rule are in much greater danger than those who are judged; the latter fear individuals, the former fear everyone. Will the strong man boast of his strength, whom bodily sickness makes weak? Will the rich man boast of his wealth, whose hope a thief or a tyrant has cut off? Will the nobleman boast of his lineage, sometimes serving the unworthy and wretched? The devil once boasted as the destroyer of your mercy; now he groans as a companion of your blessedness. Things to be avoided by all means and cut off with fire and sword, and separated by every art, are: languor from the body, ignorance from the mind, luxury from the spirit, sedition from the city, discord from the home, intemperance from all things. Someone said that all things are common among friends, and that a friend is another self. The greatest care should be taken for two times: for what we are about to do, and for what we have done. After God, truth is to be cultivated, which alone makes men nearest to the gods.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"Nulla pusilla domus, quae multos amicos capit","severity":"info","text":"The Latin is ambiguous: 'pusilla' could be read as 'very small' (from 'pusillus') or as a neuter plural with 'domus' (feminine). The sense is proverbial: no house is too small to hold many friends.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"paupertale","severity":"info","text":"The form 'paupertale' is likely a scribal error for 'paupertate' (ablative of 'paupertas', poverty). The sense 'to know how to use poverty' aligns with Stoic and Christian ascetic ideals.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"amicorum omnia esse communia","severity":"info","text":"The maxim 'friends hold all in common' is a Pythagorean and Platonic commonplace, cited by Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics 9.8) and later by Cicero (De Officiis 1.51).","cites":[],"named_sources":["Aristotle 4th c. BCE","Cicero 1st c. BCE"],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"amicum se ipsum esse alterum","severity":"info","text":"The definition of a friend as 'another self' (alter ego) is a Stoic and Aristotelian topos, found in Cicero (De Amicitia) and later in Christian writers like Aelred of Rievaulx.","cites":[],"named_sources":["Cicero 1st c. BCE","Aelred of Rievaulx 12th c."],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Post Deum veritatem colendam","severity":"info","text":"The injunction to cultivate truth after God echoes a common patristic and medieval hierarchy, possibly influenced by Augustine's De Vera Religione. The phrase 'dii proximos' (nearest to the gods) reflects a classical rather than Christian framework.","cites":[],"named_sources":["Augustine 4th-5th c."],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"Nunquid fortis fortem se gloriabitur","severity":"caution","text":"The text reads 'Nunquid' (for 'Numquid') and 'eflieit' (for 'efficit'), likely scribal errors. The rhetorical questions are standard moral exempla, but the exact wording may be corrupt.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin text contains several apparent scribal errors (e.g., 'paupertale' for 'paupertate', 'eflieit' for 'efficit', 'Nunquid' for 'Numquid') that do not obscure the overall sense but suggest a less careful transmission.","The phrase 'affecta' in 'nobililas gloriabitur affecta' is ambiguous: it may be a corruption of 'affectata' (affected) or 'affecta' (striven for). The translation 'lineage' is interpretive."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[]}]}