In AD 49, the philosopher Seneca was recalled from an eight-year exile. Empress Agrippina wanted him to tutor her twelve-year-old son, the future emperor Nero. Seneca, who had been banished on likely false charges, was now given the high office of praetor and significant financial resources to secure his loyalty. He was to teach the young prince rhetoric and ethics. But Seneca was troubled. He reportedly told friends of a dream he’d had, in which he was teaching the former tyrant Caligula. He took it as a dark omen for his new student. Working with the soldier Sextus Afranius Burrus, who would later lead the Praetorian Guard, Seneca began the task of managing the young prince as he was groomed for the throne.
Seneca
The Stoic tutor to Emperor Nero, Seneca preached simplicity while amassing a fortune, before his forced suicide in AD 65.
Chapter 1
The Tutor's Omen
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Seneca teach that life isn't inherently short?
In his essay 'On the Shortness of Life', Seneca argued that life feels short because people squander their time on trivial activities and constant 'busy-ness'. He believed that life is actually long enough if you know how to use it, and that only those who devote time to philosophy are truly living.
Was Seneca a hypocrite for being a wealthy Stoic?
Critics certainly thought so, pointing to his fortune of 300 million sestertii. Seneca defended himself by stating that a philosopher prefers wealth but is not enslaved by it. To prove this to himself, he described in Letter 18 a monthly ritual of 'practicing poverty' to ensure he remained detached from his comforts.
Why did Emperor Nero order Seneca to commit suicide?
In AD 65, Nero accused Seneca of being involved in a plot to assassinate him, known as the Pisonian conspiracy. Despite a lack of evidence, Nero sent a messenger to Seneca's villa with an order for his immediate suicide, which was a common way for emperors to dispatch political enemies without a trial.
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