Pseudo-Seneca bust, Roman copy of a Hellenistic original - public domain
Lucius Annaeus Seneca
The Stoic at the Side of Caesars
It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.
Why speak with Lucius
Seneca is the most readable philosopher in history - he writes like a friend over wine, not a professor at a lectern. Speak with him about anger, time, mortality, ambition, the fear of poverty, the corruption of power, or how to live with what cannot be changed.
Areas of expertise
- Stoic philosophy
- Time and mortality
- Anger and the passions
- Wealth and ambition
- Friendship
Brief biography
Roman Stoic philosopher, dramatist, and statesman - tutor to the emperor Nero, author of letters and essays that remain among the most readable philosophy ever written.
Achievements
- 01Served as tutor and chief advisor to the Roman emperor Nero during the early years of his reign
- 02Authored 124 surviving Moral Letters to Lucilius - a complete course in practical philosophy
- 03Wrote influential essays: On the Shortness of Life, On Anger, On the Tranquility of Mind
- 04Composed Latin tragedies that shaped Renaissance drama, including the works of Shakespeare
- 05Met his ordered suicide with the composure of his own philosophy when Nero finally turned against him
Notable works
Moral Letters to Lucilius
124 letters of practical Stoic instruction, written as if to a single dear friend.
On the Shortness of Life
A short essay arguing that life is not too short - we waste most of it.
On Anger
Three books examining the costliest of the passions.
Ready to begin?
Ask Lucius anything. Every reply is grounded in their own writings (this is an AI simulation, not the real Lucius Annaeus Seneca).