Lucius Seneca. De Beneficiis [and other writings]. 1594.
Seneca (4 B.C. - 65 A.D.) was born at Cordoba and brought to Rome as a child where he was educated in rhetoric and philosophy. Embarking on a political career he became an advocate and senator and achieved such reputation as an orator that he provoked the jealousy of the emperor Caligula and narrowly escaped execution in 39 A.D. In 41 he was banished to Corsica for alleged adultry with Julia, the youngest daughter of Caligula's sister Agrippina (the Elder). Julia's sister, also named Agrippina (the Younger), had Seneca recalled to Rome in 49 and made him tutor to her young son, Nero. On the accession of Nero in 54, Seneca became the emperor's political advisor, and for nearly a decade Rome enjoyed generally good government. But Nero's increasingly wilful behavior lead to Seneca's retirement and he left Rome to pursue philosophical writings. In 65 he was implicated in the unsuccessful conspiracy of Piso and forced to commit suicide. The inconsistancies between Seneca's moral writings and the behavior of his pupil emperor have provoked much controversy and speculation. Seneca appears to have condoned the murders of Claudius, Britannicus, and Agrippina, and he acquired great wealth at a court where his professed moral principles were ignored. However, he also seems to have been himself a humane and tolerant man and was a writer of considerable merit.[OCL]
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