In spite of the many problems which confront us, it may be safely said that the years 63–65 constitute the period of the Letters. We find possible allusions to the Campanian earthquake of 63, a reference to the conflagration at Lyons, which took place either in 64 or in 65, and various hints that the philosopher was travelling about Italy in order to forget politics.
The form of this work, as Bacon says, is a collection of essays rather than of letters. The recipient is often mentioned by name; but his identity is secondary to the main purpose. The language at the beginning of the seventy-fifth letter, for example, might lead one to suppose that they were dashed off in close succession: “You complain that you receive from me letters which are rather carelessly written”; but the ingenious juxtaposition of effective words, the balance in style and thought, and the continual striving after point, indicate that the language of the diatribe had affected the informality of the epistle.1
The structure of each letter is interesting. A concrete fact, such as the mention of an illness, a voyage by sea or land, an incident like the adventure in the Naples tunnel, a picnic party, or an assemblage of friends who discuss questions from Plato, or Aristotle, or Epicurus—these are the elements which serve to justify the reflections which follow. After such an introduction, the writer takes up his theme; he deals with abstract subjects, such as the contempt of death, the stoutheartedness of the sage, or the quality of the Supreme Good. We shall not mention the sources of all these topics in footnotes, but shall aim only to explain that which is obscure in meaning or unusual in its import. Plato’s Theory of Ideas, Aristotle’s Categories, Theophrastus on Friendship, Epicurus on Pleasure, and all the countless doctrinal shades of difference which we find in the Stoic leaders, are at least sketched in outline.
But we must give full credit to the philosopher’s own originality. In these letters, it is impossible to ignore the advance from a somewhat stiff and Ciceronian point of view into the attractive and debatable land of what one may fairly call modern ideas. The style of the Epistles is bold, and so is the thought.
Considered en masse, the letters form a fruitful and helpful handbook, of the very widest scope and interest. The value of intelligent reading and the studies which make for culture is presented to Lucilius with frequency, notably in Nos. II and LXXXVIII. Seneca agrees with the definition of higher studies as “those which have no reference to mere utility.” The dignity of the orator’s profession (XL and CXIV) is brought to the attention of a young self-made merchant who seems inclined towards platform display. The modern note is struck when the author protests against the swinish and debasing effects of slavery or gladiatorial combats (XLVII and LXX); preaches against the degeneracy of drunkenness (LXXXIII); portrays the charms of plain living and love of nature (LVII, LXVII, LXXIX, LXXXVI, LXXXVII, XC, XCIV); recommends retirement (XVIII, LI, LVI, LXXX, CXXII); or manifests a Baconian interest in scientific inventions (LVII, LXXIX). Most striking of all is the plea (XCIV) for the equality of the sexes and for conjugal fidelity in the husband, to be interpreted no less strictly than honour on the part of the wife. The craze for athletics is also analyzed and rebuked (XV).
The Epistles contain also, of course, the usual literary types which every Roman epistolographer would feel bound to introduce. There is the consolatio; there is the theme of friendship; there are secondhand lectures on philosophy taken from Plato and Aristotle and Theophrastus, as we have indicated above; and several characteristically Roman laudations of certain old men (including the author himself) who wrestle with physical infirmities. But the Stoic doctrine is interpreted better, from the Roman point of view, by no other Latin writer. The facts of Seneca’s life prove the sincerity of his utterances, and blunt the edge of many of the sneers which we find in Dio Cassius, regarding the fabulous sums which he had out at interest and the costly tables purchased for the palace of a millionaire.
Finally, in no pagan author, save perhaps Virgil, is the beauty of holiness (XLI) so sincerely presented from a Roman standpoint. Although his connection with the early Church has been disproved, Seneca shows the modern, the Christian, spirit. Three of the ideals mentioned above, the hatred of combats in the arena, the humane treatment of slaves, and the sanctity of marriage, draw us towards Seneca as towards a teacher like Jeremy Taylor.
There is no pretence of originality in the Latin text; the translator has adopted, with very few deviations, that of O. Hense’s second edition. This text he has found to be excellent, and he has also derived assistance from the notes accompanying the Selected Letters of W. C. Summers.
The Text
The manuscripts of the Letters fall into two clearly defined parts; from I to LXXXVIII inclusive, and from LXXXIX to CXXIV. They are divided into books; but in this translation we shall number them only by letters. For a more detailed description the reader is referred to Hense’s preface to the 1914 Teubner edition.
MSS. available for the first part of the Letters are—
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Two Paris MSS. of the 10th century, p and P.
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Another Paris MS. of the 11th century, b.
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The codex Laurentianus, of the 9th or 10th century, containing letters
