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Seneca the Elder
(55 BCE (?)-39 (?))

Active: 35 BCE (?)-39 (?) in Roman Empire

(Marcus Lucius Annaeus)

By Andreas Michalopoulos (University of Athens)

Indexing Data:

  • Active In: Roman Empire
  • Born In: Roman Empire
  • Activity: Rhetorician, Orator, Historian

Life, Works and Times

Reader Actions

Lucius Annaeus Seneca (Seneca “the Elder” or “the Rhetor”) is the father of Lucius Annaeus Seneca the dramatist and philosopher (Seneca “the Younger”). He is also the grandfather of the epic poet Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, author of the historical epic Pharsalia or Bellum civile.

Life

Unfortunately not much is known about Seneca’s life. His son, Seneca the younger, wrote a biography of his father, under the title De vita patris, which has not come down to us. Certain details of his life can be drawn from Seneca the younger’s Consolatio ad Helviam and Epist. The rest is drawn from Seneca the Elder’s own work.

Lucius A

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First published 29 October 2009

Citation: Michalopoulos, Andreas. "Seneca the Elder". The Literary Encyclopedia. 29 October 2009.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4013, accessed 21 November 2009.]

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