Becoming More Stoic With Seneca

Seneca is one of the wisest and most complicated Stoic philosophers.

He saw emperors come and go. At one point, he was rumored to be the richest man in all Rome. Despite a life of political intrigue, risk, and bustle, he wrote plays and philosophical works fated to outlive him.

It’s not too much of an exaggeration to say that he was a combination of Shakespeare, Socrates, and Thomas Jefferson. This is a combination so rare, that for most of history, scholars believed that Seneca the playwright and Seneca the philosopher were two different people!

His writings and life contain deep lessons about how to live well. Seneca is worth emulating and yet he also made decisions that are, at best, lessons in how to avoid ruin.

The fact that he is both a role model and an anti-model renders him relatable. He advises us from the hospital bed — he is sick and so are we, but he has wisdom for improving our condition.

His Life

Seneca was born around 4 BC in modern-day Spain. Like many ambitious Romans, he shortly moved to Rome where he eventually served as a senator. He was renowned for his oratory skill. Too renowned perhaps — he was exiled from Rome on grounds of being involved in an affair with an emperor’s sister. This charge was likely fabricated by his political…