It is a consolation to the wretched to have companions in misery.

Publilius Syrus was a first-century BCE writer of Latin mimes whose lines survive largely as aphorisms collected under the title Sententiae (or Sententiae Publilii Syri). These “sentences” were excerpted from stage pieces and later used as moral and rhetorical commonplaces in Roman education. The thought that shared suffering brings a kind of relief fits the collection’s pragmatic, worldly tone: Syrus often distills observations about human psychology into compact maxims meant to be memorable and broadly applicable rather than tied to a single narrative moment.

The saying captures a paradox of misery: pain is not lessened by another’s pain, yet it can feel more bearable when one is not alone. Companionship provides validation (“this is not just happening to me”), reduces shame, and offers practical solidarity. At the same time, the line can be read critically as an indictment of how humans sometimes seek comfort not in improvement but in comparison—finding relief in the fact that others also suffer. Its enduring appeal lies in its clear-eyed recognition that emotional consolation often comes from shared experience rather than from solutions.