Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BC - 65 AD) was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was trained in rhetoric and was introduced to Hellenistic Stoic philosophy by Attalus and Sotion.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BC - 65 AD) was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was trained in rhetoric and was introduced to Hellenistic Stoic philosophy by Attalus and Sotion. In 41 AD, Claudius succeeded Caligula, and then, at the behest of Claudius' third wife Messalina, the emperor banished Seneca to Corsica on a charge of adultery with Caligula's sister Julia Livilla. In 49 AD, Claudius' fourth wife Agrippina the Younger had Seneca recalled to Rome to tutor her son Nero. Nero became emperor in 54 AD and Seneca acted as Nero's advisor with the praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus. Over time, they lost their influence over the emperor. In 59 they reluctantly agreed to Agrippina's murder. In 65, Seneca was caught up in the aftermath of the Pisonian conspiracy, a plot to kill Nero. Although it is unlikely that Seneca conspired, Nero ordered him to kill himself. Seneca followed tradition by severing several veins in order to bleed to death. His age and diet were blamed for slow loss of blood and extended pain rather than a quick death; he also took poison, which was also not fatal. After dictating his last words to a scribe, and with a circle of friends attending him in his home, he immersed himself in a warm bath, which was expected to speed blood flow and ease his pain. Tacitus wrote: "He was then carried into a bath, with the steam of which he was suffocated, and he was burnt without any of the usual funeral rites. So he had directed in a codicil of his will, even when in the height of his wealth and power he was thinking of life's close."
Size: 2700px × 5400px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -, 1st, age, ancient, annaeus, antiquity, art, artwork, bc, bce, century, classical, colorized, dramatist, drawing, engraving, enhancement, famous, figure, forced, historic, historical, history, humorist, illustration, important, latin, literary, literature, lucius, male, man, men, notable, ordered, people, person, personalities, personality, philosopher, philosophy, roman, seneca, silver, statesman, stoic, suicicde, suicide, western, younger
