Abstract: Ascesis in Roman philosophy was defined as work on the self with a view to a gradual achievement of wisdom, and a whole lexical network was developed to refer to it. Exercere – exercitatio referred specifically to the effort to parry threats to inner balance ; meditatio and commentatio focussed on the work of the mind, and could be used as military or sporting metaphors for the dynamics of effort. The same lexicology served for Christian ascesis, with its specificities, including the capacity to perceive the depth of a quality. The Latin term ascetis was applied to monks ; the French derivative, ascète, on the other hand first appeared as late as the 1860s-1890s, in the writings of Amiel and of de Renan, concerning the quest for spiritual enrichment.
