Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero

by James Romm

Tacitus, who knew far more about this relationship than we do, attests that it included bonds of affection. Imagining how Nero might have looked back on these years, the historian has the princeps say to Seneca: “You nurtured my boyhood, then my youth, with your wisdom, advice, and teachings. As long as my life lasts, the gifts you have given me will be eternal.” He goes on to call Seneca praecipuus caritate, foremost in the ranks of those he holds dear. The phrase is ironic, given that the two men had by this time come to hate each other. But Tacitus regarded them as words Nero might plausibly have used. Seneca never described what went on in these palace tutorials or discussed his in loco parentis role. He once wrote disdainfully, in general terms, about students who sought out teachers “for the sake of improving their talents but not their souls.” Perhaps he had the young Nero in mind. Seneca’s own education had been very different. At Nero’s age, he had “laid siege” to Attalus’ classroom, arriving early and staying late by the side of his great Stoic model. Now he was limited to practical instruction. But he had a chance, if only by way of his presence, to change the future princeps for the better. And by changing a princeps, he might change the world.