Seneca

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Lucius Annaeus Seneca, commonly known as Seneca the Younger or simply Seneca, was a Roman philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and humorist of the Silver Age of Latin literature. Born in Cordoba, Hispania, in 4 BC, he was raised in Rome where he received training in rhetoric and philosophy. Miriam Griffin notes that evidence for Seneca's life before his exile in 41 AD is scarce, leading many writers to supplement knowledge with imagination. Griffin infers from ancient sources that Seneca was born between 8 and 1 BC, with some accounts placing his birth as early as 4 BC. He became a resident of Rome by AD 5, carried there as an infant in the arms of his mother's stepsister. Griffin suggests that allowing for rhetorical exaggeration, it is reasonable to conclude that Seneca was in Rome at a very young age. From AD 54 to 62, Seneca served as Nero's advisor, alongside praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus. As a result of his influence, he was appointed suffect consul in 56 AD. Seneca's impact on Nero's early rule was significant, with Tacitus and Dio suggesting that the emperor's initial period in power was marked by competence. However, over time, Seneca and Burrus lost their influence over Nero. In 59 AD, they reluctantly agreed to Agrippina's murder, and afterward, Seneca wrote a dishonest exculpation of Nero to the Senate. Dio reports rumors circulating about Seneca's hypocrisy and venality, stating that he was diametrically opposed to his own teachings. Seneca was accused of making himself a teacher of a tyrant while denouncing tyranny, and of fawning upon Messalina and Claudius' freedmen to such an extent that he sent them a book praising their virtues. He also acquired a vast fortune of 300 million sesterces despite criticizing the wealthy. Seneca owned five hundred tables made of citrus wood with legs of ivory, all identical in design. Dio also reports that Seneca was involved in forcing large loans on British aristocracy after Claudius' conquest of Britain and then aggressively collecting them, contributing to Boudica's rebellion. This may have contributed to his own downfall. Following Burrus' death in 62 AD, Seneca became the subject of criticism by Nero's disreputable advisors. Charges included excessive wealth, grand property, and calculated bids for popularity. Seneca requested an audience with Nero, pleading age and infirmity, and subsequently adopted a quiet lifestyle on his country estates. In AD 65, Seneca was caught up in the aftermath of the Pisonian conspiracy, a plot to kill Nero. Although unlikely that he conspired, Nero ordered him to take his own life. Seneca followed tradition by severing several veins, but his wife Pompeia Paulina attempted to share his fate. A generation after the Julio-Claudian emperors, Tacitus wrote an account of Seneca's suicide, which may be somewhat romanticized due to his Republican sympathies. According to this account, Nero ordered Seneca's wife to be saved and allowed her wounds to be bound up. Seneca himself took poison but it was not fatal. He then immersed himself in a warm bath, where he was suffocated by the steam. Seneca directed that he should be burnt without any funeral rites in accordance with his will, even when in the height of his wealth and power he was thinking of life's close.