Seneca Lucius Annaeus, Rome, Italy. Philosophiae servias oportet, vt tibi contingat vera libertas. Seneca the Elder was a rhetorician from an equestrian family in Cordoba, Spain, where his son, our thinker, Lucius Annaeus Seneca, was born in about 4 B.C. His aunt or someone took the young boy to be educated in Rome where he studied a philosophy that.

In accordance with the philosophy of the Stoics, Virtue ( virtus) and Reason are the basis of a good life, and a good life should be lived simply and in accordance with Nature, which, incidentally, didn't mean you should eschew wealth. But whereas the philosophical treatises of an Epictetus might inspire you to lofty goals you know you'll never meet, Seneca's philosophy is more practical. See. Seneca's philosophy is not strictly Stoic, but contains ideas thrown in from other philosophies.

He even coaxes and cajoles, as in the case of his advice to his mother to cease her grieving. 'You are beautiful,' he says (paraphrased) 'with an age-defying appeal that needs no make-up, so stop acting like the worst kind of vain woman.' The Apocolocyntosis ( The Pumpkinification of Claudius), a, is a parody of the fashion of deifying emperors and a burlesque of the buffoonish emperor Claudius. Classical scholar Michael Coffey says the term 'apocolocyntosis' is meant to suggest the conventional term 'apotheosis' whereby a man, usually someone at the head of government, like a Roman emperor, was turned into a god (by order of the Roman Senate). Apocolocyntosis contains a word for some type of gourd - probably not a pumpkin, but 'Pumpkinification' caught on. The much ridiculed Emperor Claudius was not going to be made into a normal god, who would be expected to be better and brighter than mere mortals.

'The appeal of Seneca's plays for the Elizabethan age and for the modern age is not far to seek: Seneca studies evil with great diligence and, in particular, evil in the prince, and both those ages are very well versed in evil. In Seneca and in Shakespeare, we encounter first a Cloud of Evil, then the defeat of Reason by Evil, and, finally, the triumph of Evil. All this is caviar to the age of Dachau and Auschwitz, of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, of Kampuchea, Northern Ireland, Bosnia. Horror does not turn us off, as it turned off the Victorians, who could not handle Seneca. Nor did horror turn off the Elizabethans.'

Lucius Annaeus Seneca was born in Corduba, Spain, about 4 b.c.e. He came from a learned and wealthy family: His father, Seneca the Elder, was a well-known rhetorician, and his mother, Helvia, was an attractive, erudite woman with a deep interest in philosophy and the liberal arts. They had three sons: Annaeus Novatus, the oldest, an accomplished orator, writer, and politician; Anneaus Mela, the youngest, remembered as the father of the Roman poet Lucan; and Lucius Annaeus, renowned philosopher, statesman, orator, and playwright.

During infancy, Seneca left Spain for Rome, where his family established permanent residence. When he came of age, he received instruction in grammar, rhetoric, and philosophy. He was bored by the teachings of dull grammarians, spurred on by the training of outstanding rhetors, and fascinated by the discussion of leading philosophers. By combining philosophy with rhetoric, the young Seneca aimed to pursue a philosophical, contemplative life along with an oratorical, political career.

Seneca’s active political career was interrupted by the poor health that he had endured since childhood. Because of his illness and in order to have a change of scene, he went to Egypt, where his maternal aunt, the wife of the governor, aided him, through her devotion and care, in regaining his strength. On his return to Rome, through the influence of this devoted aunt, he obtained the quaestorship about 33 c.e., perhaps becoming aedile or tribune of the plebeians about 36 or 37.

While advancing politically, Seneca also distinguished himself as a lawyer, a philosopher, and an author, winning not only glory and riches but also the jealousy of the mad Emperor Caligula, who threatened to put the philosopher to death. Only Seneca’s chronic ill-health and rumors that he would soon die of natural causes dissuaded the emperor from ordering his execution. Pocket politics secrets unlocked.

Having almost lost his life, Seneca decided to relinquish his dangerous oratorical career to devote himself more and more to philosophy and literature. After Caligula’s assassination (41 c.e.) and the ascension of his uncle Claudius, Seneca was accused by Messalina, Claudius’s third wife, of an illicit intrigue with Julia, sister of Caligula and niece of Claudius. On this unfounded charge, Seneca was banished to Corsica for eight years from 41 to 49 c.e. He was recalled by Agrippina, Claudius’s fourth wife, with the stipulation that he become the tutor of her twelve-year-old son, Nero. To assist the philosopher in educating Nero, she appointed Burrus, later elevated by her to the post of prefect of the Praetorian Guard. Both men attempted to restrain Nero’s excesses and Agrippina’s lust for power. When Claudius was murdered by Agrippina in 54, Nero became emperor at the age of seventeen. Under the tutelage and guidance of Seneca and Burrus, the early principate of Nero, known as the Quinquennium Neronis, was marked by clemency and equity in government.

This era of good government, however, was soon to end. Agrippina, coveting for herself supreme control of the state and becoming annoyed by the humane administration of Seneca and Burrus, threatened to give the throne to Britannicus, son of Claudius by Messalina. Nero, filled with dread, ordered Britannicus’s murder. Hostility between mother and son continued to mount until Nero finally succeeded in having his mother bludgeoned to death. The emperor’s increasing waywardness, Burrus’s sudden and unexplained death in 62 c.e., and the debauched Tigellinus’s elevation as court favorite led Seneca to request permission to retire. When Nero refused to grant this request, the philosopher bravely withdrew of his own accord from the court and the city and commenced a life of self-exile, seclusion and study, composing during these three years of retirement some of his most famous literary works.

Retirement, however, could not rescue Seneca from Nero’s malevolence. Accused of complicity in the Pisonian Conspiracy—a conspiracy that..