Lucius Annæus Seneca

Lucius Annæus Seneca (Seneca the Younger) was born in Corduba (Córdoba) around 4BCE. He had a successful career in Rome, becoming a quaestor (i.e. overseer of public finances). Success was a risky business in ancient Rome — Seneca was condemned to death under Caligula and again under Claudius, but survived and was exiled to Corsica, where he wrote essays, poems and tragedies.

After eight years of exile, Seneca was recalled to Rome and given the task of tutoring the son of Claudius’s new wife Agrippina. This boy was to become the emperor Nero. When Nero succeeded the murdered Claudius, Seneca became one of the most powerful and wealthy figures in Rome, a power behind the throne, once more arousing envy on the part of others, which grew to the point that Seneca retired from public life, with Nero’s consent. He spent the next few years studying philosophy and writing, including the Epistulæ Morales ad Lucilium (a selection of which was published under the title Letters from a Stoic). In 65CE a conspiracy against Nero was uncovered, in which Seneca was implicated, and he was ordered to commit suicide.