sure, are so trifling and effeminate,
we are so enervated and relaxed by luxuries, that we cannot bear the sting
of a bee without crying out. But Caius Marius, a plain country-man, but of
a manly soul, when he had an operation performed on him, as I mentioned
above, at first refused to be tied down; and he is the first instance of
any one's having had an operation performed on him without being tied
down. Why, then, did others bear it afterwards? Why, from the force of
example. You see, then, that pain exists more in opinion than in nature,
and yet the same Marius gave a proof that there is something very sharp in
pain, for he would not submit to have the other thigh cut. So that he bore
his pain with resolution as a man; but, like a reasonable person, he was
not willing to undergo any greater pain without some necessary reason. The
whole, then, consists in this, that you should have command over yourself.
I have already told you what kind of command this is; and by considering
what is most consistent with patience, fortitude, and greatness of soul, a
man not only restrains himself, but somehow or other mitigates even pain
itself.

XXIII. Even as in a battle, the dastardly and timorous soldier throws away
his shield on the first appearance of an enemy, and runs as fast as he
can, and on that account loses his life sometimes, though he has never
received even one wound, when he who stands his ground has nothing of the
sort happen to him; so, they who cannot bear the appearances of pain,
throw themselves away, and give themselves up to affliction and dismay;
but they that oppose it, often come off more than a match for it. For the
body has a certain resemblance to the soul: as burdens are more easily
borne the more the body is exerted, while they crush us if we give way; so
the soul by exerting itself resists the whole weight that would oppress
it; but if it yields, it is so pressed, that it cannot support itself. And
if we consider things truly, the soul should exert itself in every
pursuit, for that is the only security for its doing its duty. But this
should be principally regarded in pain, that we must not do anything
timidly, or dastardly, or basely, or slavishly, or effeminately, and above
all things we must dismiss and avoid that Philoctetean sort of outcry. A
man is allowed sometimes to groan, but yet seldom; but it is not
permissible even in a woman to howl; for such a noise as this is
forbidden, by the twelve tab