Lucio Anneo Seneca(4-65)
- Writer
Born 4 A.D. in Spain as the second son of rhetorician Seneca the Elder
and his wife Helvia. A sickly child, he was taken to Rome by an aunt
and trained in rhetoric and Stoic philosophy. Seneca the Younger became
a successful advocate, though a conflict in 37 A.D. with the Emperor
Caligula almost cost him his life. In 41 A.D. he became embroiled in a
Julio-Claudian family squabble when he began a raging affair with
comely Julia Livilla, a sister of Caligula. The ambitious Empress
Messalina had him exiled on charges of adultery to Corsica, where he
passed the time writing "Consolations". The unfortunate princess Julia
Livilla was beheaded. Seneca was recalled to Rome in 49 A.D. by the new
Empress Agrippina, who employed him as a tutor to her young son, the
future Emperor Nero. When Nero succeeded to the throne in 54 A.D.
Seneca acted as one of his chief conselors but by 62 A.D. he had lost
his influence with the tyrannical Emperor and retired. He spent his
time studying and writing until 65 A.D. when he was accused of plotting
to assassinate Nero. Convicted without a trial, Seneca and his wife
Pompeia Paulina were forced to commit suicide, victims of Nero's
tyranny.
