Lucio Anneo Seneca

Born 4 A.D. in Spain as the second son of rhetorician Seneca the Elder and his wife Helvia. A sickly child, he was taken to Rome by an aunt and trained in rhetoric and Stoic philosophy. Seneca the Younger became a successful advocate, though a conflict in 37 A.D. with the Emperor Caligula almost cost him his life. In 41 A.D. he became embroiled in a Julio-Claudian family squabble when he began a raging affair with comely Julia Livilla, a sister of Caligula. The ambitious Empress Messalina had him exiled on charges of adultery to Corsica, where he passed the time writing "Consolations". The unfortunate princess Julia Livilla was beheaded. Seneca was recalled to Rome in 49 A.D. by the new Empress Agrippina, who employed him as a tutor to her young son, the future Emperor Nero. When Nero succeeded to the throne in 54 A.D. Seneca acted as one of his chief conselors but by 62 A.D. he had lost his influence with the tyrannical Emperor and retired. He spent his time studying and writing until 65 A.D. when he was accused of plotting to assassinate Nero. Convicted without a trial, Seneca and his wife Pompeia Paulina were forced to commit suicide, victims of Nero's tyranny.