Otium
Otium is a Latin abstract term which has a variety of meanings, including leisure time for "self-realization activities" such as eating, playing, relaxing, contemplation, and academic endeavors. It sometimes relates to a time in a person's retirement after previous service to the public or private sector, as opposed to "active public life". Otium can be a temporary or sporadic time of leisure. It can have intellectual, virtuous, or immoral implications.
The concept originally expressed the idea of withdrawing from one's daily business or affairs to engage in activities that were considered to be artistically valuable or enlightening, and had particular meaning to businessmen, diplomats, philosophers, and poets.
Early usage
In ancient Roman culture otium was a military concept as its first Latin usage. This was in Ennius's Iphigenia.According to historian Carl Deroux in his work Studies in Latin literature and Roman history, the word otium appears for the first time in a chorus of Ennius's Iphigenia. Ennius' first use of the term otium around 190 BC showed the restlessness and boredom during a reprieve from war and was termed otium negotiosum and otium otiosum. Aulus Gellius, while discussing the word praeterpropter, quotes a fragment of Ennius's Iphigenia, which contrasts otium with negotium repeatedly. Ennius imagined the emotions of Agamemnon's soldiers at Aulus, that while in the field and not at war and not allowed to go home, as "more or less" living.
The earliest extant appearance of the word in Latin literature occurs in a fragment from the soldiers' chorus in the Iphigenia of Ennius, where it is contrasted to negotium. Researchers have determined the etymological and semantic use of otium was never a direct translation of the Greek word "schole", but derived from specifically Roman contexts. Otium is an example of the usage of the term "praeterpropter", meaning more or less of leisure. It was first used in military terms related to inactivity during war. In ancient Roman times soldiers were many times unoccupied, resting and bored to death when not at war. This was associated with otium otiosum. The opposite of this was otium negotiosum – leisure with a satisfying hobby or being able to take care of one's personal affairs or one's own estate. This was otium privatum, equal to negotium.
The oldest citation for otium is this chorus of soldiers, singing about idleness on campaign, in an otherwise lost Latin tragedy by Ennius. Andre shows in these lines that Ennius is showing the soldiers in the field would rather go home tending to their own affairs than to be idle doing nothing. Its military origin meant to stop fighting in battle and lay down weapons – a time for peace. Even though originally otium was a military concept in early Roman culture of laying down one's weapons, it later became an elite prestigious time for caring for oneself. The ancient Romans had a sense of obligatory work ethics in their culture and considered the idle-leisure definition of otium as a waste of time. Historians of ancient Roman considered otium a time of laborious leisure of much personal duties instead of public duties. Author Almasi shows that historians Jean-Marie Andre and Brian Vickers point out the only legitimate form of otium was transpired with intellectual activity. Otium was thought of by the wise elite as being free from work and other obligations and leisure time spent on productive activities, however a time that should not be wasted as was thought the non-elite did with their leisure time.
Greek philosophers
Otium refers to a state of contemplative freedom from practical or political obligations, allowing the pursuit of intellectual, philosophical, or creative activity. While the term itself is Latin, its conceptual roots reach back to Greek thought, particularly the idea of scholē, from which the English word “school” derives. For Greek philosophers, scholē denoted not idleness, but the highest form of human activity—time devoted to reflection, dialogue, and the cultivation of the mind and soul. It was the condition necessary for philosophy itself to emerge.In contrast to negotium, otium represented the space in which a person could engage with truth, ethics, and the good life without distraction from worldly concerns. For Aristotle, such contemplative leisure was the fulfillment of human purpose, as it enabled theōria—the contemplative life devoted to understanding the eternal. The Stoics and Epicureans also valued otium, though they redefined it according to their doctrines: for the Stoics, as inner tranquility amid worldly duty, and for the Epicureans, as withdrawal from public turmoil to achieve peace of mind. Thus, otium became not mere rest, but a philosophical condition—the freedom to live in accordance with thought.
Cicero and other Roman writers used the word otium in a positive sense—meaning otium is something good, not a laziness—these early philosophers were drawing on the earlier Greek concept of σχολή , which meant leisure devoted to learning or contemplation.The favorable sense of otium in Ciceronian Latin reflects the Greek term σχολή. "Leisure" having a complex history in Greek philosophy before being used in Latin. In Athens, leisure was one of the marks of the Athenian gentleman: the time to do things right, unhurried time, time to discuss. From this Athenian sense of otium as discuss, otium became "discussion"; and from there both philosophical and educational schools were both conducted by discussion. Four major Greek philosophical schools influenced the Roman gentlemen of Cicero's time. Plato brought schole into philosophy; as often, Plato can be quoted on both sides of the question whether leisure is better than the business of a citizen. In the Greater Hippias, it is one weakness of the title character that, although he has the education and manners of a gentleman, he has no leisure; but Socrates, in the Apology, has no leisure either; he is too busy as a gad-fly, keeping his fellow Athenians awake to virtue. However, by the time the Romans encountered Plato's school, the Academy, they had largely ceased to discuss anything so practical as the good life; the New Academy of Carneades practiced verbal agility and boundless skepticism.
Theophrastus and Dicaearchus, students of Aristotle, debated much on the contemplative life and the active life.
Roman Epicureans used otium for the quiet bliss promised by Epicurus. An Epicurean proverb
The phrase "to be at ease" can have the meaning "to be of good cheer" or "to be without fear" these being interdependent. The Epicurean idea of otium favors contemplation, compassion, gratitude and friendship. The Epicurean view is that wisdom has as much to contribute to the benefit of the public as does that of contributions of politicians and laborers. The rustic otium concept incorporates country living into Epicureanism. The active city public life of negotium and an otium of reserved country life of reflection have been much written about by Cicero and Seneca the Younger.
Epicurus's philosophy was contrary to Hellenistic Stoicism. Epicurus promised enjoyment in retirement as a concept of otium. The concept of the Epicurean otium and the contemplative life were represented in Epicurus' school of philosophy and his garden. The portraits of the Garden of Epicurus near Athens represented political and cultural heroes of the time. Twenty-first–century historians Gregory Warden and David Romano have argued that the layout of the sculptures in "The Garden" were designed to give the viewer contrasting viewpoints of the Epicurean otium and the Hellenistic Stoic viewpoint of otium.
Roman Republic
In early and colloquial Latin, despite the etymological contrast, otium is often used pejoratively, in contrast rather to officium, "office, duty" than to negotium. There was a difference established in ancient Roman times developing the idea elite social status was when one fulfilled one's duties in business and then otium meant "leisure" while negotium meant "non-leisure". This new time of otium was filled by Greek scholarly pursuits and Greek pleasures. The time environment within which a person existed had sides to it that were filled with Greek customs such as pastimes, hobbies, interchanges of thoughts and ideas, and private bathing. Otium and negotium was then a new social concept which has perpetuated to our own time.Historian J. M. Andre concludes that the original sense of otium was related to military service and the idleness that happened in the winter, as opposed to the business of the rest of the year. The most ancient Roman calendar divided the year into ten months devoted to war and farming, leaving the winter months of January and February vacant for individual otium. Andre shows that the beauty of the individual otium poses rest. Titus Maccius Plautus in his play Mercator says that while you are young is the time to save up for your retirement otium so you can enjoy it later, in his claim tum in otium te conloces, dum potes, ames.
Cicero speaks of himself, with the expression otium cum dignitate, that time spent in activities one prefers is suitable for a Roman citizen who has retired from public life. When he was ousted from each office, this forced an inactive period, which he used for "worthy leisure". During this time he composed Tusculanae Disputationes, a series of books on Stoic philosophy. Cicero saw free time as a time to devote to writing. Cicero defines otium as leisure, avoiding active participation in politics. He further defines it as a state of security and peace – a type of "public health". It is often associated with tranquillity. Cicero advises in his third book On Duties that when the city life becomes too much, one should retreat to the country for leisure. The term otium cum dignitate in Cicero's Pro Sestio was to mean peace for all and distinction for some. Cicero says in Pro Sestio, XLV., 98
Cicero explains that, while not necessarily his cup of tea, he recognized many different ways to spend leisure time and otium. In one passage of De Oratore he explains that Philistus spent his retirement writing history as his otium. He goes on to say in De Oratore Book iii that other men passed their otium of leisure due to bad weather that prevented them from doing their daily chores to playing ball, knucklebones, dice games or just games they made up. Others that were "retired" from public life for whatever reason devoted their otium cum seritio to poetry, mathematics, music and teaching children.
German historian Klaus Bringmann shows in Cicero's works that one can not characterize him as a hypocrite while in otium because of his sense of duty to serve the state. Cicero's concept of otium does not mean selfish pursuit of pleasure. It means the well-earned leisure which is a culmination of a long career of action and achievement. It's a reward. Idleness had derogatory implications and unqualified otium was a problem for Cicero's elite group of followers. Its break away from civic affairs contrasted with negotia publica, participation in civic affairs of the republican aristocracy. To distinguish between plain "idleness" and aristocratic otium homestum, otium liberale or otium cum dignitate, writers of the day said that literary and philosophical pursuits were worthwhile activities and that they had benefit to res publica. These pursuits were a type of 'employment' and therefore not mere laziness.
Cicero praises Cato the Elder for his respectful use of otium in his expression non-minus otii quam negotii. Cicero was associating otium with writing and thinking when he admires Cato for pointing out that Scipio Africanus claimed he was "never less idle than when he was at leisure, and never less lonely than when he was alone." Cicero in his De Officiis further says of Scipio Africanus "Leisure and solitude, which serve to make others idle, in Scipio's case acted as a goad." Cicero's idea of otium cum dignitate is considerably different from today's version of the concept. In his time, this kind of "free time" was only for the few privileged elite and was mostly made possible by the toil of slaves. It was associated with an egotistic and arrogant lifestyle, compared to those who had to earn their own living with no slaves. Today technology and educational systems enter into the equation on making leisure time available to almost everyone, not just the privileged elite, which enables the pursuit of hobbies. Cicero has a number of different concept versions for otium. In one concept he feels that a lifetime of loyalty attending one's duty should be rewarded with some form of retirement. This then promotes great sacrifices which promotes civic peace with honor within the state. He points out that the tranquillity one enjoys is due to the efforts of the majority. This concept of retirement through a lifetime of work was enjoyed only by the ruling class and the elite. The common people could only hope to enjoy a leisurely retirement with dignity as an inheritance.
Catullus, a late Roman Republic poet, in his poems shows that the significance of otium of the middle Republican time of autonomy into the concept of how, why, and when a member of the patronal class might exchange political activity for literary leisure. He tended to mark otium with erotic influence.