The Complete Moral Epistles

Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a first century Roman philosopher, essayist, statesman, and playwright who lived during the tumultuous early years of the Roman empire (4 B.C.-65 A.D.). Coming to prominence during the reigns of the Emperors Caligula and Claudius, he eventually rose to become a tutor and political advisor to the Emperor Nero. Seneca used his life experiences to develop a humanistic form of Stoic ethics that offers a pragmatic program of moral improvement for those seeking tranquility of spirit during difficult times. Nowhere is this philosophy better developed than in his Moral Epistles—a collection of 124 letters he wrote to a young friend that have provided inspiration to readers for almost two thousand years.