A personal catastrophe strikes, and the cry goes up ‘Why me?’ and ‘Not fair’. The ancients knew all about this, and the 5th-century bc Greek historian Herodotus supplies an answer — of sorts. But first, back to Fronto.
Marcus Cornelius Fronto (c. ad 95–166), orator and public servant, was a close friend of emperors, being appointed by Antoninus Pius (emperor ad 138–61) as tutor to the next emperor, the Stoic Marcus Aurelius (ad 161–80). Much of Fronto’s correspondence survives. In one of his many affecting exchanges with Marcus Aurelius, he bewails in ad 165 the loss of a beloved grandson. This, Fronto exclaims, is neither aequum (‘fair’) nor iustum (‘just’). The child’s father, he says, is a blameless man, loving, gentle and honest, highly cultured, producing just the sort of son the state needs; what can possibly explain such a good man being struck by such grief, while the wicked enjoy such a carefree life at home? At least, he goes on, I can comfort myself by the thought that I will soon be dead — and so on.
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