[3.16.1] ‘Sed quare quidam fontes senis horis pleni senisque sicci sunt?’: Seneca’s interlocutor asks about waters that are periodic in nature and Seneca will rely, again, on the analogy between the earth and the human body first before broadening the scope and looking at the various “intervals” in the days and seasons. Such analogies continue to foster the idea of the world as a living entity and Seneca’s plan to highlight this correspondence: “Again, the appeal to everyday experience to elucidate the obscure is hardly exceptional in ancient scientific practice; but the cumulative artistic effect of the kinds of linkage that Seneca draws in the examples above is to create the illusion of an integrated whole” (Williams 2005a: 159). Pliny the Elder (Nat. 2.228-29) gives examples of some of these springs at Dodona, the source of the Po (which takes a “nap” (interquiescens) at midday in the summer), and on the island of Tenedos. Ovid’s Pythagoras mentions the river Amenanus in Sicily (which runs through Catania) that varies in volume, probably because of volcanic activity in Aetna (Met. 15.279-80, cf. Strabo 5.3.13). The best description of such a rhythmic or periodic spring is Pliny Ep. 4.30 to Licinius Sura in which he describes such a spring near Lake Como (it is still there today, cf. the Elder’s shorter account at 2.232). Pliny styles his investigation a quaestio (4.30.1), although refuses to fully scrutinize the phenomena in a sort of recusatio. Cf. Vottero 1989: ad loc. for more on the reasons for such fluctuations.
supervacuum est: Seneca closes this section with a repetition of this phrase to create a sense of unity between the two disparate topics of this chapter (the second half will deal with subterranean fish).
singula flumina quae certis mensibus magna, certis angusta sunt: This is especially notable in Greece where many rivers dry up in the summer (cf. Strabo 9.4.4 for a particularly notable occurrence), and one may think of the Nile’s inundation in a similar way (4a.2.19-20). Such seasonal change inspired certain writers (cf. Campbell 2012: 122-23), although Seneca seems to be thinking less of seasonal variations and more of dramatic marvels like Old Faithful, the Gihon Spring near Jerusalem (video), and those mentioned by Pliny supra. Williams 2016: 180-82 contrasts forms of magnus and angustus to telling effect for indicating the sublimity of Seneca’s larger philosophical project.
occasionem fabulis quaerere: Thence denying many of the topics of Ovid’s Metamorphoses as well as the mythological tradition around such waters. fabulis appears in Z and I am convinced by Hine 1993: 312-13 that it is correct here. Seneca will go on to tell fabulas in the following chapter and later in the NQ (4a.2.24, 4b.7.2, 5.15.1, 6.25.3), cf. Berno 2003: 68-70 for the importance of this term in NQ 3, Campbell 2012: 143-50 for riverine legends in general, and Aricò 2001 for fabula in Senecan prose and poetry. Smith 2020 stresses the absurdities of mythic fabulae for Seneca philosophus.
cum possim eandem causam omnibus reddere: See Hine 1996: 50-51 for the use of the dative (omnibus) instead of the genitive with causam+reddere. This “same cause” is rather broad considering the miraculous nature of such intermittent springs (and, indeed, some continue to be mysterious, cf. Mather 2013).
[3.16.2] quemadmodum quartana ad horam venit: A series of comparisons with the human body begin with the quartan fever, caused by mosquitoes who transmit the parasite plasmodium malariae (cf. Sallares 2002: 218-20). Cicero first writes about it, N.D. 3.24, Att. 7.2.2; it causes a fever that occurs at three-day intervals, hence the name, and it was responsible for widespread deaths in ancient Rome. Although Seneca says he will give the “same cause” for waters having some sort of interval, the examples he gives are all caused in different ways. ad horam (OLD 3b) = “at the appointed time, punctually”. For the weaponization of malarial swamps in antiquity, cf. Mayor 2009: 112-18.
quemadmodum ad tempus podagra respondet: Gout is a form of inflammatory arthritis (especially of the feet, note the etymology ποδάγρα) that tends to recur, especially at night when the body temperature drops. Hippocrates mentions in his aphorisms that it lasts for 40 days (6.40) and reappears in spring and autumn (11.55), and Celsus identifies (correctly) that it is linked with alcohol consumption (4.31.1-3). Seneca writes of the intervals of pain associated with gout at Ep. 78.9 and about its symptoms at Ep. 53.6. For a similar use of respondere + time expression, cf. Ben. 4.6.6. ad tempus (OLD 7e) = “on time”.
quemadmodum purgatio, si nihil obstitit, statum diem servat: Here purgatio refers to menstruation (OLD 2c), but it can be used of removing anything from the body. For more on menstruation in Seneca, cf. Lowe 2013 and for Roman attitudes in general, cf. Lennon 2010. For a similar use of nihil obstitit, cf. NQ 5.13.2 and for additional moments of status dies/stata dies “appointed day” in Seneca, cf. Tr. 777 and NQ 2.48.1.
quemadmodum praesto est ad mensem suum partus: Did a human pregnancy last 10 months or 9 months? For more on this question, cf. Parker 1999, Corbeill 2004: 93-4 with references, who comes down ultimately in favor of 9 months, while finding evidence for both ideas (in Ovid’s Met. it is 10 months at 8.500, but 9 months at 10.296!). For more on Roman ideas of childbirth, cf. Flemming 2001, and McAuley 2016: 169-280 on motherhood in Seneca.
sic aquae intervalla habent quibus se retrahant et quibus reddant: For more on Seneca’s use of intervallum, cf. 3.pr.16 supra and see Williams 2012: 126-27 “like the body, water has its own cycles/intervals (intervalla)…By analogy, the Nile has a relatively brief and noticeable annual flood cycle, while the cataclysm is equally part of a fixed but much vaster cycle. Both cycles simultaneously operate within, and are complementary components of a unified world plan, and also a tightly coordinated literary plan in Books 3 and 4a”. Seneca also uses se retrahere of the soul’s retreat at Dial. 9.11.2. The return of the waters mirrors the cause that Seneca gives (reddere) for all such intermittent waters.
minora sunt et ideo notabilia: The spring that the Younger Pliny writes about “takes place every six hours, and there is a great noise of waters” (Sherwin-White 1966: ad Ep. 4.30). Seneca does not use notabilis often, in the NQ only 2 additional times (NQ 3.25.1, 6.26.3), and Ep. 33.1 stresses that what is notabilis is quite often relative to the constraints of human perspective.
quaedam maiora nec minus certa: This language will reappear when Seneca stresses that these gaps or interludes of comets are perfectly natural, cf. NQ 7.25.3 and directly below (3.16.4) to encourage the reader to see the natural patterns not only of time, but of space. Lucretius has similar language when speaking about the fixed time for flowers to bloom and children to lose their teeth (Lucr. 5.670-3: nec minus in certo dentes cadere imperat aetas / tempore).
[3.16.3] ecquid hic mirum est: “Is there anything surprising in this?” ecquid is Haase’s correction of the manuscript’s et quid and makes the question more “impassioned” (Lewis and Short: ad loc.). For more on Seneca’s statements about what is miraculous and how this creates a normalization of such events, see the note on 3.4.1 supra.
cum videas ordinem rerum et naturam per constituta procedere?: Seneca utilizes ordo rerum to discuss fate at Dial. 1.5.7: causa pendet ex causa, private ac publica longus ordo rerum trahit; Ep. 66.35, NQ 1.1.4, and 2.13.4. It is used of a general “order of things” at NQ 2.13.4. Seneca doesn’t often pair ordo and natura, but see Dial. 12.6.8: omnia volvuntur semper et in transit sunt; ut lex et naturae necessitas ordinavit, Ep. 122.5: omnia vitia contra naturam pugnant, omnia debitum ordinem deserunt, and Ep. 124.19: dicerem illa perturbate et indisposite moveri si natura illorum ordinem caperet: nunc moventur secundum naturam suam. per constituta here = “according to established laws”, cf. notes 3.10.3, 3.14.3, and 3.29.4 for other uses of constituere in this book and NQ 7.6.2 for the winds returning ad constitutum.
hiems numquam aberravit: Seneca turns to the seasons to show the natural order. For a similar use, cf. Ep. 24.26, Ep. 36.11, and NQ 2.11.2. Seneca will claim during the flood passage that the flood is preordained, just like winter and summer (3.29.3). This passage foreshadows that moment, even though that winter will take over the months of the summer (3.29.8), and, in a sense, it does “lose its place” at that time (as does the torrent itself, 3.27.7)!
aestas suo tempore incaluit: incalescere is a poetic word and appears elsewhere in NQ when Seneca writes of the feverish internal organs of wealthy overindulgers (4b.13.5). For the passing of seasons and other natural changes (e.g. day/night) as part of the larger rerum natura, cf. Ep. 107.8: contrariis rerum aeternitas constat.
autumni verisque, unde solet, facta mutatio est: mutatio is an important word for this book as a whole (cf. 3.9.1, 3.17.2, 3.20.1, 3.27.3) because of the transformation of elements and it will be used of the seasons again at NQ 3.29.1. The fierce weather of spring is noted by Seneca at NQ 4b.4.2 where he quotes Vergil’s cum ruit imbriferum aer (G. 1.313) and comments vehementior mutatio est aeris undique patefacti et solventis se ipso tepore adiuvante.
tam solstitium quam aequinoctium suus dies rettulit: For the etymologies of these terms, cf. Varro L. 6.8.4-6.8.5. Although the regular passing of time is miraculous, Seneca claims, we do not pay any attention to it unless it is disturbed (NQ 7.1.3-4 with these terms). suus is a conjecture of Michaelis 1845 (the manuscripts read suos) and is supported by NQ 2.46.1: in maiorem me quaestionem vocas, cui suus dies, suus locus dandus est.
[3.16.4] Sunt et sub terra minus nota nobis iura naturae, sed non minus certa: A major claim that has been important for his views of underground water and will be important for Seneca’s later ideas about earthquakes. Fortenbaugh quotes this entire passage as Theophrastus frag. 217 although there is some question as to whether the whole passage or only the final assertion of fish living underground should be considered as Theophrastus’ work (cf. Sharples 1998: ad loc.). See notes on 3.pr.16 and 3.15.3 supra for more on the “law of nature” (pointedly, he never uses the Lucretian foedus/-era naturae). For more on the Roman idea of the “law of nature” cf. Lehoux 2012: 47-76. The similar language to 3.16.2 may help to encourage the veracity of this statement (nota~notabilia, nec minus certa~non minus certa).
crede infra quidquid vides supra: Seneca has been preparing us for this directive from NQ 3.9.1: quemadmodum supra nos muatio aeris imbrem facit, ita infra terras flumen aut rivum. Sight leads to the proper belief/hypothesis. To assert that the same natural processes happen above and below ground allows Seneca to make certain analogies about the nature of waters and leads to the miraculous fact that fish live underground. Lucretius (6.536-7) and Aetna 302-303 make similar claims to explain earthquakes and winds underground, respectively. By utilizing their language and perspective for Stoic ends Seneca shows his ability to manipulate the philosophical/poetic tradition. This statement can help the reader to understand the variatio of quotation and intertext in this book (quotations are supra and intertexts are infra), cf. Trinacty 2018b.
sunt et illic specus vasti [sunt] ingentesque recessus ac spatia suspensis hinc et inde montibus laxa: For more on the textual problems of this passage, cf. Hine 1996: 50.
For specus vastus used of the underworld, cf. Ennius trag. 152 (additional parallels given in Jocelyn 1969: ad loc. to which add Seneca Herc. F. 718). Livy uses the phrase of a chasm caused by an earthquake (7.6.1). ingens recessus is not particularly common, but a parallel can be found at NQ 1.14.1. Seneca’s Herc. F. 673 describes the topography of the underworld as hinc ampla vacuis spatia laxantur locis, / in quae omne mersum pergat humanum genus and Ep. 41.3 for a cave in a mountain: si quis specus saxis penitus exesis montem suspenderit, non manu factus, sed naturalibus causis in tantam laxitatem excavatus, animum tuum quadam religionis suspicione percutiet. The language Seneca is using has connections with particularly sublime or evocative topographies. Hinc et inde is rare, cf. TLL 6.3.2804.76-2805.26.
sunt abrupti in infinitum hiatus: Evoking earthquakes as at NQ 6.1.8, 6.2.4, 6.9.2, 6.22.2 and 6.24.5 (which also states that cities have been swallowed) and earlier in his career at Dial. 6.26.6 (alibi hiatibus vastis subducet urbes, cf. Dial. 12.7.4), although Seneca also likes to employ hiatus to describe the underworld (Herc. F. 665, Tr. 179). The only additional time Seneca uses in infinitum in the NQ is to describe magnifying mirrors before the fabula of Hostius Quadra (1.15.8).
qui saepe inlapsas urbes receperunt: Cf. Dial. 6.26.6 mentions licet ruitura regna prospicere et magnarum urbium lapsus.
ingentem ruinam in alto condiderunt: The effects of the flood (NQ 3.27.7) and earthquakes (NQ. 6.1.7, 6.24.5) are similar. in alto is used elsewhere in the NQ for the depths of the earth (6.27.2), but can also be used to translate the idea that the truth lies hidden (Ben. 7.1.6, cf. Hadot 2006: 48-49). It is possible Seneca wants these huge underground spaces to evoke Cacus, who in Ovid’s Fasti (1.555) inhabited longis spelunca recessibus ingens, and the “great ruin” (ingentem ruinam) of whose cave is described in the Aeneid (A. 8.192). Heracles is often associated with water, in the words of Salowey, he is “essentially a mythical hydrogeologist, a savant with water run amok” (2017: 171). Seneca even adds wordplay with the adjective caecus, e.g. in aëre caeco, pleraque ex his caeca [animalia], infra at NQ 3.16.5.
haec spiritu plena sunt: Cf. NQ 6.16.3-4 about underground areas: non est ergo dubium quin multum intus spiritus lateat et caeca sub terra spatia aër latus obtineat. See note on 3.pr.15 supra for more on spiritus in this work and its identification as the Stoic pneuma at times, but see Graver 2000: 54-56 for moments in which Seneca does not seem to use the orthodox Stoic idea of pneuma in an expected context.
nihil enim usquam inane est: Seneca takes exception with Epicurean ideas of the “void” by using the language Lucretius most often used to describe it (e.g. Lucr. 1.330: namque est in rebus inane, 1.369, passim). Even Lucretius’ most famous image to describe atoms moving in void (dust motes in sunbeams, Lucr. 2.114-28) is utilized by Seneca in NQ 5 to prove that the space is full of elemental and moving air (5.1.2). Cf. SVF 1.95, 96; 2.424, 433, 477, 502, and 528 for Stoic views. While he does not mention Epicurus or Lucretius at all in Book 3, this is a clear moment in which he works to disparage a fundamental Epicurean view. For more on the interaction between Seneca and Epicureanism in this work, see DeVivo 1992: 82-88, 96-97 (on book 6), Schiesaro 2015, and Tutrone 2017.
et stagna obsessa tenebris et lacus ampli: Waters exist under the ground that resemble the lakes and swamps of the earth’s surface. For a similar descriptio loci, cf. Ov. Met. 11.363-64 (of the area where a wolf attacks Peleus’ herd): iuncta palus huic est densis obsessa salictis, / quam restagnantis fecit maris unda paludem. Madvig 1871-74: ad loc. supplies sunt to parallel the previous cola.
animalia quoque illis innascuntur: For more reports on the idea that fish can be found underground, cf. Sharples 1992: 377, who cites Mela 2.83, Strabo 4.1.6 and [Aristotle] Mirabilia 89 (to which add Mirabilia 72-74) to support Theophrastus’ claims. Cf. Sharples 1988 for more on the idea that fish could migrate underground. Seneca will argue that the presence of aër in water gives it a vital property that allows plants to grow in it (NQ 5.5.1).
tarda et informia: Not paired elsewhere in Latin literature. tardus is used by Seneca of the blind Tiresias (Oed. 289), sheep struck by the plague (Oed. 133), and as an example to avoid at the start of book 7: Nemo usque eo tardus et hebes et demissus in terram est ut ad divina non erigatur ac tota mente consurgat, utique ubi novum aliquod e caelo miraculum fulsit (7.1.1). informis is used of the original chaos of the earth at 3.30.1, cf. Dial. 8.5.6.
ut in aëre caeco pinguique concepta et aquis torpentibus situ: Creatures born in darkness and stagnant water will exhibit those characteristics, such environmental determinism was common from Hippocrates’ Airs, Waters, Places. This language seems to have an almost moral tone to it which will come out in the story of the mullet eaters and certainly the poisonous fish of NQ 3.19.1. Cf. Aristotle’s History of Animals 569a10-570a25 for more on the generation of fish and eels from ground water (see Lehoux 2017: 40-42 for how this fits in with other ideas of spontaneous generation).
pleraque ex his caeca ut talpae ac subterranei mures: Moles are mentioned in Aristotle’s History of Animals 533a3-8 and Pliny discusses their “blindness” at Nat. 11.139: talpis visus non est, oculorum effigies inest, si quis praetentam detrahat membranam. Verg. G. 1.183 and Varro (R.R. 1.51.1) mention moles as pests, while Cicero Luc. 81.9 has the rhetorical question: quid talpam num desiderare lumen putas? Columella also pairs moles and subterranean mice at R.R. 4.33.3 (subterraneis animalibus, sicuti muribus et talpis…).
quibus deest lumen quia supervacuum est: s.v. OLD 9c for lumen as the sense of sight. There are many examples of blind animals and fish found in cave environments such as the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky and this was important for Darwin’s theory of evolution, cf. Culver and Hobbes 2017.
inde, ut Theophrastus adfirmat, pisces quibusdam locis eruuntur: This is a theme in the second part of Theophrastus’ De piscibus in sicco degentibus. For more on this issue and whether this is the only work that Seneca is referencing, see Sharples 1992 and 1998: ad loc., and Setaioli 1988: 436-37. Seneca seems to equivocate between the idea of fish burrowing into dry land and surviving there (which Theophrastus describes) and fish that dwell in cave lakes and rivers underground (NQ 3.19.1-3). For more on eruere in the NQ, cf. the note on 3.pr.1 supra. It often seems to act as a signpost for the reader to look deeper into certain sections of the book and one wonders what else Theophrastus may have avowed in his work. Cf. Renna and Ghiretti 1995 for analysis of the ancient accounts of underground fish.
