Seneca

Agora

Seneca

c. 4 BCE – 65 CE

A first way ina deliberate simplification – the portrait says more

Life is long enough if you use it well; what matters is to keep calm and act rightly whatever fortune brings.

Placement

Hellenistic, Roman & Late Antique · Southern Europe · Ethics, Existence & Self

Stoic, statesman and letter writer on time, death and equanimity.

Key ideas

On the Shortness of Life
Equanimity

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Influence

Influenced by 3

Epicurus

influenced by
Seneca ended many early Letters to Lucilius with a saying of Epicurus, crossing into the enemy camp ‘not as a deserter but as a scout’ (Letter 2.5). Seneca, Epistulae morales 1–29, esp. 2.5; SEP “Seneca”
Evidence: AI draft
Epicurus › 341–270 BCE
Zeno of Citium

influenced by
Seneca took up the Stoic ethics founded by Zeno – virtue the only good, life in agreement with nature – but found Zeno’s compressed syllogisms unpersuasive (Letters 82–83). Seneca, Epistulae morales 82–83; SEP “Seneca”
Evidence: also in InPhO · InPhO
Zeno of Citium › c. 334–262 BCE
Chrysippus

influenced by
Seneca followed Chrysippus in treating anger as assent to a judgement and distinguished involuntary ‘first movements’ that precede assent (De ira II.1–4). Seneca, De ira II.1–4; De beneficiis I.3–4 (on Chrysippus’ Graces); R. Sorabji, Emotion and Peace of Mind (2000); SEP “Seneca”
Evidence: AI draft
Chrysippus › c. 279–206 BCE

Influenced 6

Héloïse

influenced
Arguing against marriage, Héloïse quoted Seneca’s letter that philosophy demands one’s whole time, as Abelard reports in the Historia calamitatum (c. 1132). Abelard, Historia calamitatum (c. 1132); Seneca, Epistulae morales 72.3; The Letter Collection of Peter Abelard and Heloise, ed. D. Luscombe (2013)
Evidence: AI draft
Héloïse › c. 1100–1164
Michel de Montaigne

influenced
Montaigne quoted Seneca constantly and paired him with Plutarch as his main reading, taking up his practice of self-examination and preparation for death (Essays I.20, II.10). M. de Montaigne, Essais I.20, II.10, II.32 (1580–95); SEP “Michel de Montaigne”
Evidence: AI draft
Michel de Montaigne › 1533–1592
Justus Lipsius

influenced
Lipsius revived Seneca’s Stoicism for Christian readers in De constantia (1584) and the Manuductio ad Stoicam philosophiam (1604), and edited Seneca’s works (1605). J. Lipsius, De constantia (1584); Manuductio ad Stoicam philosophiam (1604); L. Annaei Senecae opera (1605); SEP “Justus Lipsius”
Evidence: AI draft
Justus Lipsius › 1547–1606
María Zambrano

influenced
In The Living Thought of Seneca (1944) Zambrano read Seneca’s Stoicism not as a system but as a reason that consoles and accompanies life. M. Zambrano, El pensamiento vivo de Séneca (1944)
Evidence: AI draft
María Zambrano › 1904–1991
Michel Foucault

influenced
Foucault drew on Seneca’s letters and his evening examination of conscience for the ‘culture of the self’ (L’herméneutique du sujet, 1981–82; publ. 2001; Le souci de soi, 1984). M. Foucault, L’herméneutique du sujet (lectures 1981–82; ed. F. Gros, 2001); Le souci de soi (1984); Seneca, De ira; Epistulae morales; SEP “Seneca”
Evidence: AI draft
Michel Foucault › 1926–1984
Martha Nussbaum

influenced
Nussbaum read Seneca’s De ira as Stoic therapy of the passions, treating emotions as judgements open to rational criticism (The Therapy of Desire, 1994). M. C. Nussbaum, The Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics (1994); Seneca, De ira
Evidence: AI draft
Martha Nussbaum › b. 1947

Works

c. 65Letters to Lucilius
124 letters on time, death and friendship – often with a quotation from Epicurus as a gift.

Position

Seneca’s letters and essays are the largest surviving body of Roman Stoic writing. In letters and essays he applies Stoic doctrine to everyday life: how to deal with anger, grief, the shortness of time and the fear of death. Only virtue is good; external goods like wealth and reputation can be lost at any moment, so true freedom lies in our attitude towards what happens. Philosophy is a practice of daily self-examination, a therapy of the soul. His vivid, personal style made him a favourite of Christian writers, of Montaigne and of the early modern moralists – although his wealth and his service to Nero drew charges of hypocrisy even in his lifetime.

Life & context

Lucius Annaeus Seneca was born in Córdoba in Spain and made a career in Rome as an orator, writer and politician. Exiled to Corsica under Claudius, he was recalled to become tutor and later adviser to the young Nero. After withdrawing from court he was accused of involvement in the Pisonian conspiracy and forced to take his own life in 65 CE.