Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero

by James Romm

Oderint dum metuant—“Let them hate, as long as they fear.”

“To fight against an equal is risky; against a higher-up, insane; against someone beneath you, degrading,”

The wealthy and powerful indulge their children and give them no training in overcoming indignities. “The one to whom nothing was refused,” Seneca writes, “whose tears were always wiped away by an anxious mother, will not abide being offended.” The ability to laugh, he suggests, is an antidote to the petulance that comes with privilege.