Epistles, Volume II

Seneca, Lucius Annaeus, born at Corduba (Cordova) around 4 BCE, came from a prominent and wealthy family. He spent his ailing childhood and youth in Rome under his aunt's care. Seneca became famous for his skills in rhetoric, philosophy, money-making, and imperial service. Despite some disgrace during Claudius' reign, he went on to become the tutor and, by 54 CE, the advising minister to Nero, some of whose worst misdeeds he did not prevent. Involved (innocently?) in a conspiracy, Seneca was ordered to take his own life in 65. Despite his wealth, he preached indifference to it; as an evader of pain and death, he preached scorn of both. There were other contrasts between his practice and principles.

We have Seneca's philosophical or moral essays—ten of them traditionally called Dialogues—on topics such as providence, steadfastness, the happy life, anger, leisure, tranquility, the brevity of life, gift-giving, and forgiveness, as well as treatises on natural phenomena. Also extant are 124 epistles, written in a relaxed style, where he discusses moral and ethical questions and relates them to personal experiences. Additionally, there is a skit on the official deification of Claudius, Apocolocyntosis (in Loeb number 15), and nine rhetorical tragedies on ancient Greek themes. Many epistles and all of his speeches are lost.

The 124 epistles are collected in Volumes IV–VI of the Loeb Classical Library's ten-volume edition of Seneca.