. Rome : its rise and fall ; a text-book for high schools and colleges. ippina. Nero requited but poorly the infamous serv-ice. Seneca possessed an enormous fortune, estimated at300,000,000 sesterces, which the ever-needy emperor cov-eted ; he accordingly accused him of taking part in a con-spiracy against hislife, ordered him tocommit suicide,and confiscated hisestates. The phi-losopher met hisfate calmly. Uponreceiving the de-cree of his master,he opened the veinsof his body, anddied in the warmbath, whither hehad retired inorder that the flowof the blood mightbe accelerated, forit had becom
. Rome : its rise and fall ; a text-book for high schools and colleges. ippina. Nero requited but poorly the infamous serv-ice. Seneca possessed an enormous fortune, estimated at300,000,000 sesterces, which the ever-needy emperor cov-eted ; he accordingly accused him of taking part in a con-spiracy against hislife, ordered him tocommit suicide,and confiscated hisestates. The phi-losopher met hisfate calmly. Uponreceiving the de-cree of his master,he opened the veinsof his body, anddied in the warmbath, whither hehad retired inorder that the flowof the blood mightbe accelerated, forit had becomesluggish from age. As a philosopher Seneca belonged to the school of theStoics. He wrote many essays and letters, the latter in-tended for publication, containing lofty maxims of wisdomand virtue, which he certainly did not always follow in theconduct of his own life. He was a disbeliever in the pop-ular religion of his countrymen, and entertained concep-tions of God and his moral government not very differentfrom the doctrines of Socrates. His ethical teachings are. Seneca. (From the double bust of Seneca and Socratesin the Berlin Museum.) 502 ARCHITECTURE, LITERATURE, LAW. so lofty and admirable that it has been maintained hecame under the influences of Christianity; and several let-ters addressed apparently by the philosopher to the apostlePaul, which are still extant, were formerly referred to asproof of this fact; but these have been shown to be spuri-ous. Besides his ethical and philosophical writings, Senecacomposed ten tragedies, designed rather for reading thanfor the stage. Senecas name will ever be remembered asthat of a great teacher of virtue and morality to a corruptage, whose influence upon himself all his philosophy couldnot wholly resist. Pliny the Elder ( 23-79) is almost the only Romanwho won renown as an investigator of the phenomena ofnature. His life was a marvellously busy one, every momentbeing filled with public services, with observations, study,a
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