Agrippina
relied on the
matter.
matter.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - c
777 (#793) ############################################
SEMPRONIA.
777
SENECA.
as well as many other towns on the Euphrates (Ascon. in Milon. p. 41, ed. Orelli). Orelli sup-
and the Tigris, and she constructed the hanging poses that she may be the same as the wife of
gardens in Media, of which later writers give us Brutus mentioned above.
such strange accounts. Besides conquering many
SEMPRONIA GENS, patrician and plebeian.
nations of Asia, she subdued Egypt and a great This gens was of great antiquity, and one of its
part of Ethiopia, but was unsuccessful in an attack members, A. Sempronius Atratinus, obtained the
which she made upon India. After a reign of consulship as early as B. c. 497, twelve years after
forty-two years she resigned the sovereignty to her the foundation of the republic. The Sempronii
Bon Ninyas, and disappeared from the earth, were divided into many families, of which the
taking her flight to heaven in the form of a dove. ATRATINI were undoubtedly patrician, but all the
Such is a brief abstract of the account in Dio others appear to have been plebeian: their names
dorus, the fabulous nature of which is still more are ASELLIO, BLAESUS, DENSUS, GRACCHUS,
apparent in the details of his narrative. We have Longus, Musca, Pitiu, Rufus, RUTILUS, So-
already pointed out, in the article SARDANAPALUS, PRUE, TUDITANUS. Of these, Atratinus, Gracchus,
the mythical character of the whole of the Assyrian and Pitio alone occur on coins. The glory of the
history of Ctesias, and it is therefore unnecessary Sempronia gens is confined to the republicun
to dwell further upon the subject in the present period. Very few persons of this name, and none
place. A recent writer has brought forward many of them of any importance, are mentioned under
reasons for believing that Seniiramis was originally the empire.
a Syrian goddess, probably the same who was SEMUS (Zņuos), a Greek grammarian of un
worshipped at Ascalon under the name of Astarte, certain date, wrote, according to Suidas (s. v. ), eight
or the Heavenly Aphrodite, to whom the dove was books on Delos, two books of trepiodoi, one on
sacred (Lucian, de Syria Dea, 14, 33, 39). Hence Paros, one on Pergamus, and a work on Paenirs.
the stories of her voluptuousness (Diod. ii. 13), Suidas calls him an Elean, but it appears from
which were current even in the time of Augustus Athenaeus (iii. p. 123, d. ) that this is a mistake,
(Ov. Am. i. 5. 11) (Coinp. Movers, Die Phönizier, and that he was a native of Delos. His work on
p. 631).
Delos (Δηλιακά or Δηλιάς) was the most im-
SEMO SANCUS. [SANCUS. ]
portant, and is frequently referred to by Athenaeus,
SEMON, an engraver of precious stones, be- and once or twice by other writers (Athen. iii.
longing to an early period, as is clear from the only p. 109, f. , iv. p. 173, e. , viii. pp. 331, f. , 335, a. ,
work of his which is extant, namely, a stone in xi. p. 469, C. , xiv. pp. 614, a. , 637, b. , 645, b. , xv.
the form of a scarabaeus, engraved with the name p. 676, f. ; Steph. Byz. s. v. Téyupa ; Etym. Magn.
XHMONOE, but in the reverse order, and in archaic s. v. BlbAivos). Athenaeus also quotes (xiv. pp.
characters. It is very rare to find an old Greek 618, d. , 622, a-d. ) his work on Paeans (nepl
gem inscribed with the name of the engraver, parávwv). We likewise find in Athenaeus (iii. p.
although this was the usual practice in the Roman 123, d. ), a reference to a work of Semus on Islands
period. (R. Rochette, Lettre à M. Schorn, p. 153, (Nnoiás), but it has been suggested with much
2d ed. )
[P. S. ) probability that this is a false reading for Anniás.
SEMPROʻNIA. 1. The daughter of Tib. Grac-(Vossius, De Histor. Graecis, p. 497, ed. Wester-
chus, censor B. C. 169, and the sister of the two mann. )
celebrated tribunes, married Scipio Africanus ninor. SE'NECA, M. ANNAEUS, was a native of
We know nothing of her private life or character. Corduba (Cordova) in Spain. The time of his
On the sudden death of her husband, she and her birth is uncertain ; but it may be approximated to.
mother Cornelia were suspected by some persons of He says (Contr. Praef. i. p. 67) that he considered
having murdered him, since Scipio did not like that he had heard all the great orators, except
her on account of her want of beauty and her Cicero ; and that he might have heard Cicero, if
sterility, and she likewise had no affection for him. the Civil Wars, by which he means the wars be-
But there is no evidence against her ; and if Scipio tween Pompeius and Caesar, had not kept him at
was really murdered, Papirius Carbo was most pro- home (intra coloniam meam). Seneca appears to
bably the guilty party. [Scipio, No. 21, p. 750. ] allude in this passage to some of Cicero's letters (ad
(Appian, B. C. i. 20; Liv. Epit. 59; Schol. Bob. Fam. vii. 33, ix. 16), in which Cicero speaks of
pro Mil. p. 283. )
Hirtius and Dolabella being his “ dicendi discipuli”
2. The wife of D. Junius Brutus, consul B. c. (B. C. 46). It is conjectured that as Seneca might
77, was a woman of great personal attractions and be fifteen in B. C. 46, he may have been born on or
literary accomplishments, but of a profligate cha- about B. C. 61 (Clinton, Fasti), the year before C.
racter, She took part in Catiline's conspiracy, Julius Caesar was praetor in Spain. Seneca was
though her husband was not privy to it (Sall
. Cat. I at Rome in the early period of the power of Au-
25,40). Asconius speaks of a Sempronia, the daugh- | gustus, for he says that he had seen Ovid declaiming
ter of Tuditanus, and the mother of P. Clodius, who before Arellius Fuscus (Contr. x. p. 172). Ovid
gave her testimony at the trial of Milo, in B. c. 52 was born B. C. 43. Seneca was an intimate friend
of the rhetorician M. Porcius Latro, who was one
and dammed up the Euphrates. As Nitocris pro- of Ovid's masters. He also mentions the rhetori-
bably lived about B. C. 600, it has been maintained cian Marillius, as the master of himself and of
that this Semiramis must be a different person Latro. He afterwards returned to Spain, and
from the Semiranis of Ctesias. But there is no married Helvia, by whom he had three sons, L.
occasion to suppose two different queens of the Annaeus Seneca, L. Annaeus Mela or Mella, the
name; the Semiramis of Herodotus is probably as father of the poet Lucan, and Marcus Novatus.
fabulous as that of Ctesias, and merely arose from Novatus was the eldest son, and took the name of
the practice we have noticed above, of assigning Junius Gallio, upon being adopted by Junius Gallio.
the great works in the East of unknown authorship Seneca was rich, and he belonged to the equestrian
to a queen of this name,
class. The time of his death is uncertain ; but he
## p. 778 (#794) ############################################
778
SENECA.
SENECA.
probably lived till near the end of the reign of Ti jealous of the influence of Julia with Claudius,
berius, and died at Rome or in Italy. It appears and hated her for her haughty behaviour. Julia
that he was at Rome early in life, from what has was again exiled, and Seneca's intimacy with her
been stated as to Ovid ; and he must have returned was a pretext for making him share her disgrace.
to Spain, because his son Lucius was brought to What the facts really were is unknown ; and the
Rome from Spain when he was an infant. (L. Se innocence of Seneca and Julia is at least as
neca, Consol. ad Ielvium. )
probable as their guilt, when Messalina was the
Seneca was gifted with a prodigious memory. accuser.
He was a man of letters, after the fashion of his In his exile in Corsica Seneca had the oppor-
time, when rhetoric or false eloquence was most in tunity of practising the philosophy of the Scoics,
vogue. His Controversiarum Libri decem, which to which he had attached himself. His Consolatio
he addressed to his three sons, were written when ad lleiviam, or consolatory letter to his mother,
he was an old man. The first, second, seventh, was written during his residence in the island.
eighth, and tenth books only, are extant, and these If the Consulatio ad Polybium, which was also
are somewhat mutilated : of the other books only | written during his exile, is the work of Seneca, it
fragments remain. These Controversiae are rhe- does him uo credit. Polybius was the powerful
torical exercises on imaginary cases, filled with freedman of Claudius, and the Consolutio is in-
common-places, such as a man of large verbal tended to comfort him on the occasion of the loss
memory and great reading carries about with him of his brother. But it also contains adulation of
as his ready money. Another work of the same the emperor, and many expressions unworthy of a
class, attributed to Seneca, and written after the true Stoic, or of an honest man. The object of
Controversiae, is the Suasoriarum Liber, which is the address to Polybius was to have his sentence
probably not complete. We may collect, from its of exile recalled, even at the cost of his character.
contents, what the subjects were on which the
After eight years' residence in Corsica Seneca
rhetoricians of that age exercised their wits: one of was recalled A. D. 49, by the influence of Agrip-
them is, “Shall Cicero apologise to Marcus Anto- pina (Tac. Ann. xii. 8), who had just married
nius ? Shall he agree to burn his Philippics, if her uncle the emperor Claudius. From this time
Antonius requires it? " Another is, “ Shall Alex. the life of Seneca is closely connected with that of
ander embark on the ocean ? " If there are some Nero, and Tacitus is the chief authority for both.
good ideas and apt expressions in these puerile de On his return he obtained a praetorship, and was
clamations, they have no value where they stand ; made the tutor of the young Domitius, afterwards
and probably most of them are borrowed. No the emperor Nero, who was the son of Agrippina
merit of form can compensate for worthlessness of by a former husband.
Agrippina relied on the
matter. The eloquence of the Roman orators, which reputation of Seneca and his advice as a means of
was derived from their political institutions, was securing the succession to her son; and she trusted
silenced after the Civil Wars ; and the puerilities to his gratitude to herself as a guarantee for his
of the rhetoricians were the signs of declining taste. fidelity to her interests, and to his hatred of
The Controversiae and Suasoriarum Liber have Claudius for the wrongs that he had suffered from
often been published with the works of Seneca the him.
The edition of A. Schottus appeared at Hei- It was unfortunate that the philosopher bad so
delberg, 1603 and 1604, Paris, 1607 and 1613. bad a pupil, but we cannot blame him for all that
The Elzivir print of 1672, 8vo. , contains the notes Nero learned and all that he did not learn. The
of N. Faber, A. Schottus, J. F. Gronovius, and youth had a taste for what was showy and super-
others.
ficial: he had no capacity for the studies which
The confusion between Seneca, the father, and befit a man who has to govem a state. If Seneca
Seneca, the philosopher, is fully cleared up by had made a rhetorician of him after his own taste,
Lipsius, Electorum Lib. I. cap. 1, Opera, vol. i. p. that would have been something, but Domitins
631, ed. 1675.
[G. L. ) had not even the low ability to distinguish himself
SENECA, L. ANNAEUS, the son of M. An- as a talker. There is no evidence to justify the
naeus Seneca, was born at Corduba, probably imputation that Seneca encouraged his vicious pro-
about a few years B, C. , and brought to Rome by pensities ; and if Nero had followed the advice
his parents when he was a child. Though he was contained in Seneca's treatise, De Clementia ad
naturally of a weak body, he was a hard student Neronem Caesarem, written in the second year
from his youth, and he devoted himself with great of Nero's reign, the young emperor might have
ardour to rhetoric and philosophy. He also soon been happy, and his administration beneficent.
gained distinction as a pleader of causes, and he That Seneca would look upon his connection with
excited the jealousy and hatred of Caligula by the Nero as a means of improring his fortunes and
ability with which he conducted a case in the enjoying power, is just what most other men
senate before the emperor. He was spared, it is would have done, and would do now in the same
said, because Caligula was assured by one of his circumstances ; and that a man with such views
mistresses that Seneca would soon die of disease. would not be very rigid towards an unruly pupil
The
emperor also affected to despise the eloquence is a reasonable inference. We know that he did
of Seneca : he said that it was sand without lime not make Nero a wise man or a good man ; we do
(Sueton. Calig. 53). Seneca obtained the quaes- not know that he helped to make him worse than
torship, but the time is uncertain. In the first year he would have been ; and in the absence of
of the reign of Claudius (A. D. 41), the successor positive evidence of his corrupting the youth, and
of Caligula, Seneca was banished to Corsica. Clau- with the positive evidence of his own writings in
dius had recalled to Rome his nieces Agrippina his favour, it is a fair and just conclusion that
and Julia, whom their brother Caligula had exiled he did as much with Nero as a man could who
to the island of Pontia (Ponza). It seems pro- had accepted, and chose to retain a post in which
bable that Messalina, the wife of Claudius, was his character could not possibly escape some impu-
son.
## p. 779 (#795) ############################################
SENECA.
779
SENECA.
tation. He who consents to be the tutor of a move him on the ground of his supposed adherence
vicious youth of high station, whom he cannot to the cause of Agrippina (Tacit. Ann. xiii. 20).
control, must be content to take the advantages of But Plinius and Cluvius Rufus said that Nero
his post, with the risk of being blamed for his never doubted the fidelity of Burrus, and that in his
pupil's vices.
aların and his impatience to get rid of his mother,
Claudius was poisoned by his niece and wife he could not be pacified till Burrus promised that
Agrippina A. D. 54, and Nero succeeded to the she should be put to death, if she should be con-
Imperial power. Tacitus (Ann. xiii. 2, &c. ) states victed of the designs which were imputed to her.
that both Burrus and Seneca attempted to check Burrus and Seneca paid Agrippina a visit, with
the young emperor's vicious propensities ; and some freedmen, to be witnesses of what took place.
both combined to resist his mother's arrogant pre- Burrus charged her with treasonable designs, to
tensions. A woman assuming the direct exercise which Agrippina replied with indignant eloquence.
of political power was a thing that the Romans A reconciliation with Nero followed, her accusers
had not yet seen, and it was inconsistent with were punished, and her friends rewarded ; neither
all their notions. The opposition of Burrus and Burrus nor Seneca was under any imputation of
Seneca to the emperor's mother was the duty of having prejudiced Nero against her.
good citizens.
The affair of P. Suilius (A. D. 58) brought some
Nero pronounced the funeral oration in memory discredit on Seneca. Suilius had been a formidablo
of Claudius. The panegyric on the deceased instrument of tyranny under Claudius, and was
emperor was listened to with decency and patience justly hated. He was charged under a Senatus-
till Nero came to that part of his discourse in consultum, which had amended the Lex Cincia,
which he spoke of the foresight and wisdom of with receiving money for pleading causes ; a feeble
Claudius, when there was a general laugh. The pretext for crushing an odious man. The defence
speech, which Nero delivered, was written by of Suilius was an attack on Seneca: he charged
Seneca in a florid style, suited to the taste of the him with debauching Julia, the daughter of Ger-
age, with little regard to truth, and none for his manicus, and hinted at his commerce with women of
own character, for he afterwards wrote a satire the imperial family, probably meaning Agrippina ;
(Apocolocyntosis) to ridicule the Apotheosis of the and he asked by what wisdom, by what precepts
man whom he bad despised and praised.
of philosophy he had, during a four-years' intimacy
In the first year of his reign Nero affected with an emperor, amassed a fortune of three hun-
mildness and clemency, and such was the tone of dred million sestertii : at Rome he was a hunter
his orationes to the senate ; but these professions after testamentary gifts, an ensnarer of those who
were the words of Seneca, uttered by the mouth were childless ; Italy and the provinces were
of Nero ; the object of Seneca was, as Tacitus drained by his exorbitant usury. His own profits,
says, either to give public evidence of the integrity Suilius said, were moderate, and earned with toil ;
of his counsels to the emperor, or to display his and he would endure any thing rather than humble
abilities. There might be something of both in himself before an upstart favourite. We must
his motives ; but it is consistent with a fair judg- assume that Suilius supposed that Seneca had
ment and the character of Seneca's writings to moved against him in this matter: his words were
believe that he did attempt to keep Nero within reported to Seneca, and perhaps aggravated. A
the limits of decency and humanity. A somewhat charge was got up against him, it is not said by
ambiguous passage of Tacitus (Ann. xiii. 13), whom, as to his infamous delations under Claudius,
seems to affirm that he endeavoured to veil Nero's and he was banished to the Balearic Islands. The
amour with Acte under a decent covering ; and words of such a man are no proof of Seneca's
Clurius (Tacit. Ann. xiv. 2) states that the amour guilt ; but the enormous wealth of Seneca gave a
with Acte was encouraged to prevent a detestable colour of truth to any thing that was said against
crime. “What a part for a Stoic to play," says him. (Tacit. Ann. xiii. 42. )
one of Seneca's biographers, “ whose duty it was Nero's passion for Poppaea brought the contest
to recall his disciple to the arms of his wife, the between him and his mother to a crisis (Tacit.
virtuous Octavia. ” The Stoic probably did the Ann. xiv. 1. A. D. 59). Poppaea burned to become
best that he could under the circumstances. the wife of Nero, but she saw that it was im-
The murder of Britannicus A. D. 55 was followed possible while Agrippina lived. She plied Nero
by large gifts from Nero to his friends; and “there with her blandishments, her tears, and even her
were not wanting persons to affirm, that men who sarcasms ; and at last he resolved to kill his mother,
claimed a character for sober seriousness, divided and the only question was as to the way of doing
among themselves houses and villae at that time, it. After an unsuccessful attempt to drown her,
as if it were 80 much booty. " (Tacit. Ann. Nero, terrified at the failure of his plan, sent for
xiii. 18. ) The allusion is supposed to be to Burrus and Seneca. Whether they were pre-
Seneca and Burrus ; but the passage of Tacitus viously acquainted with the design against Agrip.
contains no distinct charge against either of them. pina's life is uncertain (Tacit. Ann. vv. 1). Dion
It was unlucky for Seneca's reputation that he Cassius (lxi. 12), with his usual malignity, accuses
was rich ; for a man in power cannot grow rich, Seneca of instigating Nero to the crime. Burrus
even by honest means, without having dishonesty and Seneca were long silent in the presence of
imputed to him.
Nero ; either they thought that it would be useless
The struggle for dominion between Nero and to dissuade the emperor from his purpose, or, what
his mother could only be decided by the ruin of is more probable, they saw that either the mother
one of them; and if Seneca wished to enjoy credit or the son must perish. Seneca broke the silence
with Nero, it was necessary that he should get by asking Burrus if orders should be given to the
rid of this imperious woman. Fabius Rusticus soldiers to put Agrippina to death. Burrus replied
bays that Seneca maintained Burrus in his post of that the soldiers were devoted to the family of
Praefectus Praetorio, when Nero intended to re-Germanicus, and would not shed the blood of his
## p. 780 (#796) ############################################
780
SENECA.
SENECA.
children ; but Anicetus, he added, would finish | Seneca explained the words that he had used to
what he had begun. Anicetus performed his pro. Natalis, and the tribune carried them to the em-
mise, and Agrippina died by the hand of assas peror. Nero was in close council with the two great
sins, A. D. 60.
ministers of his cruelty, his wife Poppaea and Ti-
The imperial murderer fled as if he could leave gellinus. Nero asked if Seneca was preparing to
his conscience behind him, to the city of Naples, die voluntarily; and on the tribune replying ihat
whence he addressed a letter to the senate upon he saw no signs of fear, no gloomy indication in
the death of his mother: he charged her with a his words or countenance, he was ordered to go
conspiracy against himself, on the failure of which back and give him notice to die. The tribune,
she had committed suicide. The author of the himself a party to the conspiracy of Piso, did not
letter was Seneca (Tacit. Ann. xiv. 11): it is not show himself again to Seneca, but he sent in a
extant, but a few words from it are quoted by centurion with the order of death. Without show.
Quintilian (Inst. Orat. viii. 5). This letter is Se- ing any sign of alarm, Seneca asked for his testa-
neca's great condemnation: he had consented to ment, apparently with the intention of adding some
Agrippina being assassinated, and he added to this legacies, but the centurion refused to allow this, on
crime the despicable subterfuge of a lie which which Seneca told his friends that since he was
nobody could believe. From this time Nero felt forbidden to reward their services, his last testa-
more free, and Seneca in due time had his reward. mentary bequest must be the portraiture of his
In A. D. 63 Burrus died, and he may have been life, which, if they kept in their memory, they
poisoned. Nero appointed two commanders of the would have the reputation of an honest life and of
Praetorians in place of Burrus, Fennius Rufus and a constant friendship. He cheered his weeping
Sofonius Tigellinus, whose infamy has been per- friends by reminding them of the lessons of phi-
petuated with that of his master. The death of losophy, and that he who had murdered a brother
Burrus broke the power of Seneca : it diminished and a mother could not be expected to spare his
his influence towards good, and Nero was now in teacher. Einbracing his wife, he prayed her to
the hands of persons who were exactly suited to his moderate her grief, and to console herself for the
taste. Tigellinus and Rufus began an attack on Se- loss of her husband by the reflection that he had
neca. His enormous wealth, a never-failing matter lived an honourable life. But as Paullina protested
of charge against Seneca, his gardens and villae, more that she would die with him, Seneca consented, and
magnificent than those of the emperor, his exclusive the same blow opened the veins in the arms of both.
claims to eloquence, and his disparagement of Seneca's body was attenuated by age and meagre
Nero's skill in driving and singing, were all | diet; the blood would not flow easily, and he
urged against him ; and it was time, they said, opened the veins in his legs. His torture was ex-
for Nero to get rid of a teacher. Seneca heard of cessive ; and to save himself and his wiſe the pain
the charges against him : he was rich, and he of seeing one another suffer, he bade her retire to
knew that Nero wanted money. He obtained an her chamber. His last words were taken down in
interview in which he addressed the emperor in a writing by persons who were called in for the
studied speech (Tacit. Ann, xiv. 53). He asked purpose, and were afterwards published. Tacitus
for permission to retire, and offered to surrender all for some reason has not given the words, and he
that he had. Nero affected to be grateful for his past did not think proper to give the substance of them.
services, refused the proffered gift, and sent him The soldiers, at the entreaty of the slaves and
away with perfidious assurances of his respect and freedmen of Seneca, stopped the wounds of Paul-
affection. Seneca now altered his mode of life, saw lina, and she lived a few years longer ; but her
little company, and seldom visited the city, on the pallid face showed that the stream of life was
ground of feeble health, or being occupied with his largely drawn from her. Scandal, as usual, said
philosophical studies.
that when she found that Nero did not wish her
When Nero, after plundering Italy and the death, she was easily prevailed upon to submit to live.
provinces, began, like the Eighth Henry of England, Seneca's torments being still prolonged, he took
the pillage of the temples and of things dedicated hemlock from his friend and physician, Statius
to religion, in order to meet his extravagant ex- Annaeus, but it had no effect. Ai last he entered
penditure, Seneca, who feared that he might be a warm bath, and as he sprinkled some of the
involved in the odium of the sacrilege, though it is water on the slaves nearest to him, he said, that
not said why he feared (Tacit. Ann. xv. 45), he made a libation to Jupiter the Liberator. He
prayed for leave to retire into the country ; and was then taken into a vapour stove, where he was
when it was refused, he kept his chamber on the quickly suffocated, A. D. 65. The body was burnt
pretence of sickness. A story was current that without ceremony, according to the instructions in
Nero tried to poison him, but the attempt failed. a codicil to his will, which was made when he was
The conspiracy of Piso gave the emperor a pretext in the full enjoyment of power and wealth. Seneca
for a more direct attack on his teacher's life, died, as was the fashion among the Romans, with
though there was not complete evidence of Seneca the courage of a stoic ; but with somewhat of a
being a party to the conspiracy (Tacit. Ann. xv. theatrical affectation which detracts from the dig.
60). Certain words of Seneca to Antonius Na- nity of the scene. Tacitus has not strongly cen-
talis, which were of a suspicious character, were sured Seneca in any passage ; but Dion Cassius
repeated to Nero ; and Granius Sylvanus, a tribune collected from among the contradictory memoirs of
of a Praetorian cohort, was sent by the emperor to the time every thing that was most unfavourable
Seneca to demand the meaning of them. It hap to his character. Seneca's great misfortune was to
pened that Seneca was returning from Campania, have known Nero; and though we cannot say
and had rested at a villa four miles from the city. that he was a truly great or a truly good man, his
In the evening the tribune with a band of soldiers character will not lose by comparison with that of
surrounded the house where Seneca was supping many others who have been placed in equally diffi-
with his wife Pumpcia Paullina and two friends. cult circumstances. Whether he was privy to
## p. 781 (#797) ############################################
SENECA.
781
SENECA.
bure.
-
Piso's conspiracy or not, is a matter which has 1“ betokeneth a great mind, as great a wit, and
been warmly discussed, but cannot be determined ; much eloquence ; in one word, it is one of his
nor if we suppose that he was in the conspiracy, best. ”
would that circunstance be an additional blot on 8. De Clementia ad Neronem Cacsarem Libri duo,
the life of a man who had aided the tyrant in which has been already mentioned. There is too
killing his mother. Seneca's fame rests on his much of the flatterer in this; but the advice is
numerous writings, which, with many faults, have good. The second book is incomplete. It is in
also great merits.
SEMPRONIA.
777
SENECA.
as well as many other towns on the Euphrates (Ascon. in Milon. p. 41, ed. Orelli). Orelli sup-
and the Tigris, and she constructed the hanging poses that she may be the same as the wife of
gardens in Media, of which later writers give us Brutus mentioned above.
such strange accounts. Besides conquering many
SEMPRONIA GENS, patrician and plebeian.
nations of Asia, she subdued Egypt and a great This gens was of great antiquity, and one of its
part of Ethiopia, but was unsuccessful in an attack members, A. Sempronius Atratinus, obtained the
which she made upon India. After a reign of consulship as early as B. c. 497, twelve years after
forty-two years she resigned the sovereignty to her the foundation of the republic. The Sempronii
Bon Ninyas, and disappeared from the earth, were divided into many families, of which the
taking her flight to heaven in the form of a dove. ATRATINI were undoubtedly patrician, but all the
Such is a brief abstract of the account in Dio others appear to have been plebeian: their names
dorus, the fabulous nature of which is still more are ASELLIO, BLAESUS, DENSUS, GRACCHUS,
apparent in the details of his narrative. We have Longus, Musca, Pitiu, Rufus, RUTILUS, So-
already pointed out, in the article SARDANAPALUS, PRUE, TUDITANUS. Of these, Atratinus, Gracchus,
the mythical character of the whole of the Assyrian and Pitio alone occur on coins. The glory of the
history of Ctesias, and it is therefore unnecessary Sempronia gens is confined to the republicun
to dwell further upon the subject in the present period. Very few persons of this name, and none
place. A recent writer has brought forward many of them of any importance, are mentioned under
reasons for believing that Seniiramis was originally the empire.
a Syrian goddess, probably the same who was SEMUS (Zņuos), a Greek grammarian of un
worshipped at Ascalon under the name of Astarte, certain date, wrote, according to Suidas (s. v. ), eight
or the Heavenly Aphrodite, to whom the dove was books on Delos, two books of trepiodoi, one on
sacred (Lucian, de Syria Dea, 14, 33, 39). Hence Paros, one on Pergamus, and a work on Paenirs.
the stories of her voluptuousness (Diod. ii. 13), Suidas calls him an Elean, but it appears from
which were current even in the time of Augustus Athenaeus (iii. p. 123, d. ) that this is a mistake,
(Ov. Am. i. 5. 11) (Coinp. Movers, Die Phönizier, and that he was a native of Delos. His work on
p. 631).
Delos (Δηλιακά or Δηλιάς) was the most im-
SEMO SANCUS. [SANCUS. ]
portant, and is frequently referred to by Athenaeus,
SEMON, an engraver of precious stones, be- and once or twice by other writers (Athen. iii.
longing to an early period, as is clear from the only p. 109, f. , iv. p. 173, e. , viii. pp. 331, f. , 335, a. ,
work of his which is extant, namely, a stone in xi. p. 469, C. , xiv. pp. 614, a. , 637, b. , 645, b. , xv.
the form of a scarabaeus, engraved with the name p. 676, f. ; Steph. Byz. s. v. Téyupa ; Etym. Magn.
XHMONOE, but in the reverse order, and in archaic s. v. BlbAivos). Athenaeus also quotes (xiv. pp.
characters. It is very rare to find an old Greek 618, d. , 622, a-d. ) his work on Paeans (nepl
gem inscribed with the name of the engraver, parávwv). We likewise find in Athenaeus (iii. p.
although this was the usual practice in the Roman 123, d. ), a reference to a work of Semus on Islands
period. (R. Rochette, Lettre à M. Schorn, p. 153, (Nnoiás), but it has been suggested with much
2d ed. )
[P. S. ) probability that this is a false reading for Anniás.
SEMPROʻNIA. 1. The daughter of Tib. Grac-(Vossius, De Histor. Graecis, p. 497, ed. Wester-
chus, censor B. C. 169, and the sister of the two mann. )
celebrated tribunes, married Scipio Africanus ninor. SE'NECA, M. ANNAEUS, was a native of
We know nothing of her private life or character. Corduba (Cordova) in Spain. The time of his
On the sudden death of her husband, she and her birth is uncertain ; but it may be approximated to.
mother Cornelia were suspected by some persons of He says (Contr. Praef. i. p. 67) that he considered
having murdered him, since Scipio did not like that he had heard all the great orators, except
her on account of her want of beauty and her Cicero ; and that he might have heard Cicero, if
sterility, and she likewise had no affection for him. the Civil Wars, by which he means the wars be-
But there is no evidence against her ; and if Scipio tween Pompeius and Caesar, had not kept him at
was really murdered, Papirius Carbo was most pro- home (intra coloniam meam). Seneca appears to
bably the guilty party. [Scipio, No. 21, p. 750. ] allude in this passage to some of Cicero's letters (ad
(Appian, B. C. i. 20; Liv. Epit. 59; Schol. Bob. Fam. vii. 33, ix. 16), in which Cicero speaks of
pro Mil. p. 283. )
Hirtius and Dolabella being his “ dicendi discipuli”
2. The wife of D. Junius Brutus, consul B. c. (B. C. 46). It is conjectured that as Seneca might
77, was a woman of great personal attractions and be fifteen in B. C. 46, he may have been born on or
literary accomplishments, but of a profligate cha- about B. C. 61 (Clinton, Fasti), the year before C.
racter, She took part in Catiline's conspiracy, Julius Caesar was praetor in Spain. Seneca was
though her husband was not privy to it (Sall
. Cat. I at Rome in the early period of the power of Au-
25,40). Asconius speaks of a Sempronia, the daugh- | gustus, for he says that he had seen Ovid declaiming
ter of Tuditanus, and the mother of P. Clodius, who before Arellius Fuscus (Contr. x. p. 172). Ovid
gave her testimony at the trial of Milo, in B. c. 52 was born B. C. 43. Seneca was an intimate friend
of the rhetorician M. Porcius Latro, who was one
and dammed up the Euphrates. As Nitocris pro- of Ovid's masters. He also mentions the rhetori-
bably lived about B. C. 600, it has been maintained cian Marillius, as the master of himself and of
that this Semiramis must be a different person Latro. He afterwards returned to Spain, and
from the Semiranis of Ctesias. But there is no married Helvia, by whom he had three sons, L.
occasion to suppose two different queens of the Annaeus Seneca, L. Annaeus Mela or Mella, the
name; the Semiramis of Herodotus is probably as father of the poet Lucan, and Marcus Novatus.
fabulous as that of Ctesias, and merely arose from Novatus was the eldest son, and took the name of
the practice we have noticed above, of assigning Junius Gallio, upon being adopted by Junius Gallio.
the great works in the East of unknown authorship Seneca was rich, and he belonged to the equestrian
to a queen of this name,
class. The time of his death is uncertain ; but he
## p. 778 (#794) ############################################
778
SENECA.
SENECA.
probably lived till near the end of the reign of Ti jealous of the influence of Julia with Claudius,
berius, and died at Rome or in Italy. It appears and hated her for her haughty behaviour. Julia
that he was at Rome early in life, from what has was again exiled, and Seneca's intimacy with her
been stated as to Ovid ; and he must have returned was a pretext for making him share her disgrace.
to Spain, because his son Lucius was brought to What the facts really were is unknown ; and the
Rome from Spain when he was an infant. (L. Se innocence of Seneca and Julia is at least as
neca, Consol. ad Ielvium. )
probable as their guilt, when Messalina was the
Seneca was gifted with a prodigious memory. accuser.
He was a man of letters, after the fashion of his In his exile in Corsica Seneca had the oppor-
time, when rhetoric or false eloquence was most in tunity of practising the philosophy of the Scoics,
vogue. His Controversiarum Libri decem, which to which he had attached himself. His Consolatio
he addressed to his three sons, were written when ad lleiviam, or consolatory letter to his mother,
he was an old man. The first, second, seventh, was written during his residence in the island.
eighth, and tenth books only, are extant, and these If the Consulatio ad Polybium, which was also
are somewhat mutilated : of the other books only | written during his exile, is the work of Seneca, it
fragments remain. These Controversiae are rhe- does him uo credit. Polybius was the powerful
torical exercises on imaginary cases, filled with freedman of Claudius, and the Consolutio is in-
common-places, such as a man of large verbal tended to comfort him on the occasion of the loss
memory and great reading carries about with him of his brother. But it also contains adulation of
as his ready money. Another work of the same the emperor, and many expressions unworthy of a
class, attributed to Seneca, and written after the true Stoic, or of an honest man. The object of
Controversiae, is the Suasoriarum Liber, which is the address to Polybius was to have his sentence
probably not complete. We may collect, from its of exile recalled, even at the cost of his character.
contents, what the subjects were on which the
After eight years' residence in Corsica Seneca
rhetoricians of that age exercised their wits: one of was recalled A. D. 49, by the influence of Agrip-
them is, “Shall Cicero apologise to Marcus Anto- pina (Tac. Ann. xii. 8), who had just married
nius ? Shall he agree to burn his Philippics, if her uncle the emperor Claudius. From this time
Antonius requires it? " Another is, “ Shall Alex. the life of Seneca is closely connected with that of
ander embark on the ocean ? " If there are some Nero, and Tacitus is the chief authority for both.
good ideas and apt expressions in these puerile de On his return he obtained a praetorship, and was
clamations, they have no value where they stand ; made the tutor of the young Domitius, afterwards
and probably most of them are borrowed. No the emperor Nero, who was the son of Agrippina
merit of form can compensate for worthlessness of by a former husband.
Agrippina relied on the
matter. The eloquence of the Roman orators, which reputation of Seneca and his advice as a means of
was derived from their political institutions, was securing the succession to her son; and she trusted
silenced after the Civil Wars ; and the puerilities to his gratitude to herself as a guarantee for his
of the rhetoricians were the signs of declining taste. fidelity to her interests, and to his hatred of
The Controversiae and Suasoriarum Liber have Claudius for the wrongs that he had suffered from
often been published with the works of Seneca the him.
The edition of A. Schottus appeared at Hei- It was unfortunate that the philosopher bad so
delberg, 1603 and 1604, Paris, 1607 and 1613. bad a pupil, but we cannot blame him for all that
The Elzivir print of 1672, 8vo. , contains the notes Nero learned and all that he did not learn. The
of N. Faber, A. Schottus, J. F. Gronovius, and youth had a taste for what was showy and super-
others.
ficial: he had no capacity for the studies which
The confusion between Seneca, the father, and befit a man who has to govem a state. If Seneca
Seneca, the philosopher, is fully cleared up by had made a rhetorician of him after his own taste,
Lipsius, Electorum Lib. I. cap. 1, Opera, vol. i. p. that would have been something, but Domitins
631, ed. 1675.
[G. L. ) had not even the low ability to distinguish himself
SENECA, L. ANNAEUS, the son of M. An- as a talker. There is no evidence to justify the
naeus Seneca, was born at Corduba, probably imputation that Seneca encouraged his vicious pro-
about a few years B, C. , and brought to Rome by pensities ; and if Nero had followed the advice
his parents when he was a child. Though he was contained in Seneca's treatise, De Clementia ad
naturally of a weak body, he was a hard student Neronem Caesarem, written in the second year
from his youth, and he devoted himself with great of Nero's reign, the young emperor might have
ardour to rhetoric and philosophy. He also soon been happy, and his administration beneficent.
gained distinction as a pleader of causes, and he That Seneca would look upon his connection with
excited the jealousy and hatred of Caligula by the Nero as a means of improring his fortunes and
ability with which he conducted a case in the enjoying power, is just what most other men
senate before the emperor. He was spared, it is would have done, and would do now in the same
said, because Caligula was assured by one of his circumstances ; and that a man with such views
mistresses that Seneca would soon die of disease. would not be very rigid towards an unruly pupil
The
emperor also affected to despise the eloquence is a reasonable inference. We know that he did
of Seneca : he said that it was sand without lime not make Nero a wise man or a good man ; we do
(Sueton. Calig. 53). Seneca obtained the quaes- not know that he helped to make him worse than
torship, but the time is uncertain. In the first year he would have been ; and in the absence of
of the reign of Claudius (A. D. 41), the successor positive evidence of his corrupting the youth, and
of Caligula, Seneca was banished to Corsica. Clau- with the positive evidence of his own writings in
dius had recalled to Rome his nieces Agrippina his favour, it is a fair and just conclusion that
and Julia, whom their brother Caligula had exiled he did as much with Nero as a man could who
to the island of Pontia (Ponza). It seems pro- had accepted, and chose to retain a post in which
bable that Messalina, the wife of Claudius, was his character could not possibly escape some impu-
son.
## p. 779 (#795) ############################################
SENECA.
779
SENECA.
tation. He who consents to be the tutor of a move him on the ground of his supposed adherence
vicious youth of high station, whom he cannot to the cause of Agrippina (Tacit. Ann. xiii. 20).
control, must be content to take the advantages of But Plinius and Cluvius Rufus said that Nero
his post, with the risk of being blamed for his never doubted the fidelity of Burrus, and that in his
pupil's vices.
aların and his impatience to get rid of his mother,
Claudius was poisoned by his niece and wife he could not be pacified till Burrus promised that
Agrippina A. D. 54, and Nero succeeded to the she should be put to death, if she should be con-
Imperial power. Tacitus (Ann. xiii. 2, &c. ) states victed of the designs which were imputed to her.
that both Burrus and Seneca attempted to check Burrus and Seneca paid Agrippina a visit, with
the young emperor's vicious propensities ; and some freedmen, to be witnesses of what took place.
both combined to resist his mother's arrogant pre- Burrus charged her with treasonable designs, to
tensions. A woman assuming the direct exercise which Agrippina replied with indignant eloquence.
of political power was a thing that the Romans A reconciliation with Nero followed, her accusers
had not yet seen, and it was inconsistent with were punished, and her friends rewarded ; neither
all their notions. The opposition of Burrus and Burrus nor Seneca was under any imputation of
Seneca to the emperor's mother was the duty of having prejudiced Nero against her.
good citizens.
The affair of P. Suilius (A. D. 58) brought some
Nero pronounced the funeral oration in memory discredit on Seneca. Suilius had been a formidablo
of Claudius. The panegyric on the deceased instrument of tyranny under Claudius, and was
emperor was listened to with decency and patience justly hated. He was charged under a Senatus-
till Nero came to that part of his discourse in consultum, which had amended the Lex Cincia,
which he spoke of the foresight and wisdom of with receiving money for pleading causes ; a feeble
Claudius, when there was a general laugh. The pretext for crushing an odious man. The defence
speech, which Nero delivered, was written by of Suilius was an attack on Seneca: he charged
Seneca in a florid style, suited to the taste of the him with debauching Julia, the daughter of Ger-
age, with little regard to truth, and none for his manicus, and hinted at his commerce with women of
own character, for he afterwards wrote a satire the imperial family, probably meaning Agrippina ;
(Apocolocyntosis) to ridicule the Apotheosis of the and he asked by what wisdom, by what precepts
man whom he bad despised and praised.
of philosophy he had, during a four-years' intimacy
In the first year of his reign Nero affected with an emperor, amassed a fortune of three hun-
mildness and clemency, and such was the tone of dred million sestertii : at Rome he was a hunter
his orationes to the senate ; but these professions after testamentary gifts, an ensnarer of those who
were the words of Seneca, uttered by the mouth were childless ; Italy and the provinces were
of Nero ; the object of Seneca was, as Tacitus drained by his exorbitant usury. His own profits,
says, either to give public evidence of the integrity Suilius said, were moderate, and earned with toil ;
of his counsels to the emperor, or to display his and he would endure any thing rather than humble
abilities. There might be something of both in himself before an upstart favourite. We must
his motives ; but it is consistent with a fair judg- assume that Suilius supposed that Seneca had
ment and the character of Seneca's writings to moved against him in this matter: his words were
believe that he did attempt to keep Nero within reported to Seneca, and perhaps aggravated. A
the limits of decency and humanity. A somewhat charge was got up against him, it is not said by
ambiguous passage of Tacitus (Ann. xiii. 13), whom, as to his infamous delations under Claudius,
seems to affirm that he endeavoured to veil Nero's and he was banished to the Balearic Islands. The
amour with Acte under a decent covering ; and words of such a man are no proof of Seneca's
Clurius (Tacit. Ann. xiv. 2) states that the amour guilt ; but the enormous wealth of Seneca gave a
with Acte was encouraged to prevent a detestable colour of truth to any thing that was said against
crime. “What a part for a Stoic to play," says him. (Tacit. Ann. xiii. 42. )
one of Seneca's biographers, “ whose duty it was Nero's passion for Poppaea brought the contest
to recall his disciple to the arms of his wife, the between him and his mother to a crisis (Tacit.
virtuous Octavia. ” The Stoic probably did the Ann. xiv. 1. A. D. 59). Poppaea burned to become
best that he could under the circumstances. the wife of Nero, but she saw that it was im-
The murder of Britannicus A. D. 55 was followed possible while Agrippina lived. She plied Nero
by large gifts from Nero to his friends; and “there with her blandishments, her tears, and even her
were not wanting persons to affirm, that men who sarcasms ; and at last he resolved to kill his mother,
claimed a character for sober seriousness, divided and the only question was as to the way of doing
among themselves houses and villae at that time, it. After an unsuccessful attempt to drown her,
as if it were 80 much booty. " (Tacit. Ann. Nero, terrified at the failure of his plan, sent for
xiii. 18. ) The allusion is supposed to be to Burrus and Seneca. Whether they were pre-
Seneca and Burrus ; but the passage of Tacitus viously acquainted with the design against Agrip.
contains no distinct charge against either of them. pina's life is uncertain (Tacit. Ann. vv. 1). Dion
It was unlucky for Seneca's reputation that he Cassius (lxi. 12), with his usual malignity, accuses
was rich ; for a man in power cannot grow rich, Seneca of instigating Nero to the crime. Burrus
even by honest means, without having dishonesty and Seneca were long silent in the presence of
imputed to him.
Nero ; either they thought that it would be useless
The struggle for dominion between Nero and to dissuade the emperor from his purpose, or, what
his mother could only be decided by the ruin of is more probable, they saw that either the mother
one of them; and if Seneca wished to enjoy credit or the son must perish. Seneca broke the silence
with Nero, it was necessary that he should get by asking Burrus if orders should be given to the
rid of this imperious woman. Fabius Rusticus soldiers to put Agrippina to death. Burrus replied
bays that Seneca maintained Burrus in his post of that the soldiers were devoted to the family of
Praefectus Praetorio, when Nero intended to re-Germanicus, and would not shed the blood of his
## p. 780 (#796) ############################################
780
SENECA.
SENECA.
children ; but Anicetus, he added, would finish | Seneca explained the words that he had used to
what he had begun. Anicetus performed his pro. Natalis, and the tribune carried them to the em-
mise, and Agrippina died by the hand of assas peror. Nero was in close council with the two great
sins, A. D. 60.
ministers of his cruelty, his wife Poppaea and Ti-
The imperial murderer fled as if he could leave gellinus. Nero asked if Seneca was preparing to
his conscience behind him, to the city of Naples, die voluntarily; and on the tribune replying ihat
whence he addressed a letter to the senate upon he saw no signs of fear, no gloomy indication in
the death of his mother: he charged her with a his words or countenance, he was ordered to go
conspiracy against himself, on the failure of which back and give him notice to die. The tribune,
she had committed suicide. The author of the himself a party to the conspiracy of Piso, did not
letter was Seneca (Tacit. Ann. xiv. 11): it is not show himself again to Seneca, but he sent in a
extant, but a few words from it are quoted by centurion with the order of death. Without show.
Quintilian (Inst. Orat. viii. 5). This letter is Se- ing any sign of alarm, Seneca asked for his testa-
neca's great condemnation: he had consented to ment, apparently with the intention of adding some
Agrippina being assassinated, and he added to this legacies, but the centurion refused to allow this, on
crime the despicable subterfuge of a lie which which Seneca told his friends that since he was
nobody could believe. From this time Nero felt forbidden to reward their services, his last testa-
more free, and Seneca in due time had his reward. mentary bequest must be the portraiture of his
In A. D. 63 Burrus died, and he may have been life, which, if they kept in their memory, they
poisoned. Nero appointed two commanders of the would have the reputation of an honest life and of
Praetorians in place of Burrus, Fennius Rufus and a constant friendship. He cheered his weeping
Sofonius Tigellinus, whose infamy has been per- friends by reminding them of the lessons of phi-
petuated with that of his master. The death of losophy, and that he who had murdered a brother
Burrus broke the power of Seneca : it diminished and a mother could not be expected to spare his
his influence towards good, and Nero was now in teacher. Einbracing his wife, he prayed her to
the hands of persons who were exactly suited to his moderate her grief, and to console herself for the
taste. Tigellinus and Rufus began an attack on Se- loss of her husband by the reflection that he had
neca. His enormous wealth, a never-failing matter lived an honourable life. But as Paullina protested
of charge against Seneca, his gardens and villae, more that she would die with him, Seneca consented, and
magnificent than those of the emperor, his exclusive the same blow opened the veins in the arms of both.
claims to eloquence, and his disparagement of Seneca's body was attenuated by age and meagre
Nero's skill in driving and singing, were all | diet; the blood would not flow easily, and he
urged against him ; and it was time, they said, opened the veins in his legs. His torture was ex-
for Nero to get rid of a teacher. Seneca heard of cessive ; and to save himself and his wiſe the pain
the charges against him : he was rich, and he of seeing one another suffer, he bade her retire to
knew that Nero wanted money. He obtained an her chamber. His last words were taken down in
interview in which he addressed the emperor in a writing by persons who were called in for the
studied speech (Tacit. Ann, xiv. 53). He asked purpose, and were afterwards published. Tacitus
for permission to retire, and offered to surrender all for some reason has not given the words, and he
that he had. Nero affected to be grateful for his past did not think proper to give the substance of them.
services, refused the proffered gift, and sent him The soldiers, at the entreaty of the slaves and
away with perfidious assurances of his respect and freedmen of Seneca, stopped the wounds of Paul-
affection. Seneca now altered his mode of life, saw lina, and she lived a few years longer ; but her
little company, and seldom visited the city, on the pallid face showed that the stream of life was
ground of feeble health, or being occupied with his largely drawn from her. Scandal, as usual, said
philosophical studies.
that when she found that Nero did not wish her
When Nero, after plundering Italy and the death, she was easily prevailed upon to submit to live.
provinces, began, like the Eighth Henry of England, Seneca's torments being still prolonged, he took
the pillage of the temples and of things dedicated hemlock from his friend and physician, Statius
to religion, in order to meet his extravagant ex- Annaeus, but it had no effect. Ai last he entered
penditure, Seneca, who feared that he might be a warm bath, and as he sprinkled some of the
involved in the odium of the sacrilege, though it is water on the slaves nearest to him, he said, that
not said why he feared (Tacit. Ann. xv. 45), he made a libation to Jupiter the Liberator. He
prayed for leave to retire into the country ; and was then taken into a vapour stove, where he was
when it was refused, he kept his chamber on the quickly suffocated, A. D. 65. The body was burnt
pretence of sickness. A story was current that without ceremony, according to the instructions in
Nero tried to poison him, but the attempt failed. a codicil to his will, which was made when he was
The conspiracy of Piso gave the emperor a pretext in the full enjoyment of power and wealth. Seneca
for a more direct attack on his teacher's life, died, as was the fashion among the Romans, with
though there was not complete evidence of Seneca the courage of a stoic ; but with somewhat of a
being a party to the conspiracy (Tacit. Ann. xv. theatrical affectation which detracts from the dig.
60). Certain words of Seneca to Antonius Na- nity of the scene. Tacitus has not strongly cen-
talis, which were of a suspicious character, were sured Seneca in any passage ; but Dion Cassius
repeated to Nero ; and Granius Sylvanus, a tribune collected from among the contradictory memoirs of
of a Praetorian cohort, was sent by the emperor to the time every thing that was most unfavourable
Seneca to demand the meaning of them. It hap to his character. Seneca's great misfortune was to
pened that Seneca was returning from Campania, have known Nero; and though we cannot say
and had rested at a villa four miles from the city. that he was a truly great or a truly good man, his
In the evening the tribune with a band of soldiers character will not lose by comparison with that of
surrounded the house where Seneca was supping many others who have been placed in equally diffi-
with his wife Pumpcia Paullina and two friends. cult circumstances. Whether he was privy to
## p. 781 (#797) ############################################
SENECA.
781
SENECA.
bure.
-
Piso's conspiracy or not, is a matter which has 1“ betokeneth a great mind, as great a wit, and
been warmly discussed, but cannot be determined ; much eloquence ; in one word, it is one of his
nor if we suppose that he was in the conspiracy, best. ”
would that circunstance be an additional blot on 8. De Clementia ad Neronem Cacsarem Libri duo,
the life of a man who had aided the tyrant in which has been already mentioned. There is too
killing his mother. Seneca's fame rests on his much of the flatterer in this; but the advice is
numerous writings, which, with many faults, have good. The second book is incomplete. It is in
also great merits.
