On Anger, Book 1, Section 16 — In Plain English

Seneca — The Senator

So if my job as a magistrate requires me to put on black robes and call an assembly with a trumpet, I'll walk to my judgment seat calmly. I won't be angry or hostile — I'll have the face of a judge. I'll speak the formal sentence in a serious but gentle voice, not a furious one. I'll tell them to proceed firmly, but not angrily. Even when I order a criminal beheaded, when I sew a parricide in a sack, when I send someone for military punishment, when I throw a traitor or enemy down the Tarpeian Rock — I'll be free from anger. I'll look and feel exactly like I'm crushing snakes and other poisonous creatures.

Seneca — The Senator Original

If, therefore, it becomes my duty as a magistrate to put on black robes, and summon an assembly by the sound of a trumpet, I shall walk to the seat of judgment not in a rage or in a hostile spirit, but with the countenance of a judge; I shall pronounce the formal sentence in a grave and gentle rather than a furious voice, and shall bid them proceed sternly, yet not angrily. Even when I command a criminal to be beheaded, when I sew a parricide up in a sack, when I send a man to be punished by military law, when I fling a traitor or public enemy down the Tarpeian Rock, I shall be free from anger, and shall look and feel just as though I were crushing snakes and other venomous creatures.