A dramatist dramatised
Lucius Annaeus Seneca’s story reads like a soap opera. This fact hasn’t gone unnoticed by poets, composers, and playwrights throughout the 2000 years since he walked the earth. Chaucer, Dante, Monteverdi, and more found special places for the man known as Seneca the Younger in their works.
Amassing massive wealth, keeping vast lands, (allegedly) partaking of other men’s ladies, enjoying lavish feasts, and who knows what else, Seneca managed to make a name for himself as something of a hypocrite given his supposed adherence to Stoicism. Ironically though, it’s his exposure to these aspects of life that perhaps gives his work, on related topics, that much more flare and impact.
The boy from Cordoba
Seneca the Younger was born some time between 8 and 1 BC in Cordoba, Spain. Most teachings put it at 4 BC.
He was born to a family of great wealth and considerable talent in the field of rhetoric and literature. One of the factors that may well have upheld his influence through the ages is his family’s ties to Christianity. His brother ran into Paul the Apostle in Achaea in 52 AD and Seneca’s writings were favorably looked upon by the church since they kept something of a Christian undertone — or at least they never contradicted it.
Seneca was brought to Rome as a child, where he received an elite education in rhetoric, philosophy, and literature. He studied under Stoic philosophers such as Attalus and Sotion, which shaped his later writings and beliefs.
Adviser to Nero
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Seneca’s story is the fact that he became adviser to Nero, one of history’s greatest tyrants, after tutoring him as a young boy. Indeed, it’s these dealings with Nero and the wealth of intrigue that resulted from them, which made Seneca the focus of so much criticism over the centuries. That criticism began whilst he still held the advisory post, and ultimately, it’s what forced him to retire. His wealth, in the face of his Stoic teachings, was in fact a great source of scorn.
However, on wealth he said the following:
For many men, the acquisition of wealth does not end their troubles, it only changes them.
Letters 17.11
Seneca only took his post as tutor to Nero late in life. After he arrived in Rome as a boy, under the guardianship of his aunt, he studied not only Stoicism, but also Pythagoreanism and trained as an orator. When he suffered an episode of ill health (c. 20 AD), it was decided that he should regain his strength in Egypt, where he stayed with his aunt and her husband, the Prefect Gaius Galerius.
Seneca only returned to Rome in 31 AD. At this point, he entered into a career in law and politics.
When Claudius became emperor in 41 AD, Seneca fell out of favor. He was accused of adultery with Julia Livilla, the sister of Caligula, and was subsequently exiled to the island of Corsica. The charge was likely politically motivated, as Seneca had been close to political circles opposed to Claudius.
During his eight-year exile, Seneca devoted himself to writing and philosophy, particularly Stoicism. He wrote several works, including Consolations (consolatory essays), in which he reflected on suffering and resilience. In 49 CE, he was recalled to Rome at the request of Agrippina the Younger, who arranged for him to become the tutor of her son, the future emperor Nero.
Recall to Rome
Early in Nero’s reign, Seneca’s efforts to advise him against his evil inclinations were such that he wrote an essay addressed to the emperor on the topic of mercy. In the essay, Seneca seems to praise the emperor for his virtuous mercifulness despite the fact of his violent and unhinged tendencies.
But there’s a strong argument to suggest that the Stoic was making a clever attempt to show Nero not what virtues he currently possessed, but the ones he needed to acquire.
Despite Seneca’s efforts, Nero would end up as perhaps the most infamous of Rome’s rulers thanks to his debauchery, extravagance, and willingness to murder.
It was only after many years in retirement, in 61 AD, that Seneca’s critics implicated him in a plot to assassinate Nero. Nero ordered him to take his own life. He did so in typically Stoic style. In a warm bath, he took poison and cut his veins, dying slowly and quietly.
Seneca the Younger, the writer
Seneca the Younger was a prolific writer. He wrote treatises on the natural sciences, tragedies, and philosophical essays. His Consolations, which were written to console friends (and his mother) who’d suffered loss. His De Brevitate Vitae (On the Shortness of Life) is uniquely inspiring and tackles the subject of time management. Seneca concludes that we actually have more than enough time in our lives to achieve all that we desire. It’s just that our time management skills are dismal. Also among his works are pieces on both providence and happiness, De Providentia and De Vita Beata.
Perhaps it is the company he kept that caused him to tackle anger in another of his essays, On Anger. No doubt he saw much of it in the political and advisory positions he held. In the work, he detailed that most destructive emotion, how to recognise it, how to overcome it, and how to avoid it.
Hesitation is the best cure for anger. The first blows of anger are heavy but if it waits, it will think again.
On Anger 2.29
Despite this extensive work, Seneca is probably best known today for his 124 Moral Letters to Lucilius. These were likely written between 62 and 65 AD. Addressed to his friend Lucilius, a Roman procurator in Sicily, these letters still serve as a guide to Stoic philosophy and practical ethics.
Seneca the Younger quotes
It’s difficult to pick just a few quotes from Seneca’s extensive work, but here are a few that are particularly impactful.
We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.
Letters 13
The whole future lies in uncertainty, live immediately.
On the Shortness of Life 9
Excellence withers without an adversary: the time for us to see how great it is, how much its force, is when it displays its power through endurance. I assure you, good men should do the same: they should not be afraid to face hardships and difficulties, or complain of fate; whatever happens, good men should take it in good part, and turn it to a good end; it is not what you endure that matters, but how you endure it.
On Providence 2
The happy life is the one that is in harmony with its own nature, and the only way it can be achieved is if, first, the mind is sound and constantly in possession of its sanity, and secondly, if it is brave and vigorous, and, in addition, capable of the noblest endurance, adapting to every new situation, attentive to the body and to all that affects it, but not in an anxious way, and, finally, if it concerns itself with all the things that enhance life, without showing undue respect for any one of them, taking advantage of Fortune’s gifts, but not becoming their slave.
On the Happy Life 3
Nature’s intention was that we should need no great equipment for living in happiness: every one of us is capable of making himself happy. Little importance is to be attached to external things, and they cannot possess great influence in either direction: the wise man is neither raised up by prosperity nor cast down by adversity;
Consolation to Helvia 5
