Séneca el romano

El niño de Hispania

The Boy from Spain

Lucio Anneo Séneca nació en Corduba, una ciudad del sur de Hispania, unos años antes del nacimiento de Cristo. Su padre era un profesor famoso de oratoria y la familia era rica y respetada. El niño era delgado y enfermizo, pero su mente era rápida.

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.

Tuvo los mejores maestros de la ciudad y le gustaba tanto aprender que casi arruinó su salud con ello. Apenas comía, dormía mal y leía toda la noche. Su padre se preocupó y lo envió a Egipto con su tío, donde descansó junto al mar. Durante toda su vida fue delgado y le faltaba el aire, y durante toda su vida hizo que su debilidad trabajara para él: aprendió a ser paciente y a seguir adelante cuando los demás se detenían.

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.

Cuando era pequeño, su tía lo llevó a Roma. Allí creció entre libros, abogados y ambición. Estudió dos cosas: cómo hablar bien y cómo vivir bien. La primera lo hizo famoso. La segunda le llevó toda la vida.

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.

De joven enfermó tanto que pensó en quitarse la vida. Su padre le rogó que no lo hiciera. Séneca escribió más tarde: «El amor de mi familia me mantuvo con vida y desde aquel momento confié en mi mente y no en mi salud».

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.”