Seneca. Credits: http://vinogruin.blogspot.com
By Mithu Das May 13, 2018
Seneca, one of the greatest Stoic philosophers, Roman statesman and author of several books, committed suicide when he was 61 years old. But his choice to commit suicide was not made by himself, it was made by Nero, the infamous Roman Emperor, who killed his own mother and his stepbrother. (It was said that while Rome was burning, Nero was playing the fiddle.)
Seneca was Nero’s teacher and mentor. Now a question may arise here: Why then Nero did order his teacher to commit suicide? Well, it is thought that Seneca took part in a plot to overthrow Nero and replace him with nobleman Gaius Calpurnius Piso. (“By some accounts,” wrote Elizabeth Kolbert in her article for The New Yorker, “there was within this conspiracy a sub-conspiracy to kill Piso, too, and make Seneca emperor.”) Unfortunately, the plot was uncovered and all the conspirators (there were thirty-two of them) were arrested. It was said that 19 of them, including Seneca, were given order to commit suicide. Seneca tried to kill himself by cutting his wrist but when it didn’t work he cut the veins behind his knees. “Supposedly, as he died,” wrote Kolbert. “He called in his secretary, so he could dictate one last speech.”
Seneca was born in c. 4 BCE in Corduba, Spain and died in 65 CE in Rome. He was born in a wealthy family. When he was five years old he was took to Rome by an aunt. He completed his education in Rome where he studied philosophy in the school of the Sextii. Seneca is considered to be one of the greatest exponents of late Stoicism. He wrote many essays and letters on philosophy as well as on moral issue. He also wrote nine tragedies. Some of his famous philosophical works included “De Ira” (“On Anger”), “De Providentia” (“On Providence”), and “De Brevitate Vitae” (“On the Shortness of Life”).
According to Seneca, everyone should learn how to die without fear and regret and how to prevent the thought of mortality from poisoning his days, ‘and he is aware that this art is not easily mastered’. Here what he says: “It is something great and one has to learn it for a long time to be able to depart with equanimity, when the inevitable hour strikes. Who does not have the will to die, does not have the will to live; for, life has been given to us only under the condition of death. It moves toward death. Therefore it is folly to be afraid of it.”
Sources: Such A Stoic by Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker; Death and Western Thought by Jacques Choron; Encyclopedia Britannica; Wikipedia.
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