The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca
by Emily Wilson
Wilson's biography of the Stoic who tutored Nero and died by his order: hypocrisy, wealth, philosophy, the contradictions laid bare. Fair and literate.
Read it if…
you want Seneca the man, flaws included.
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Skip it if…
you want his writings only.
Try instead: On Anger →
Three things you will actually use
- Philosophers compromise too.
- Judge the writing and the life separately.
- Power corrupts even the wise.
Do this first
Read the chapters on Nero's court.
Our verdict
Wilson's Seneca.
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