Lucius Annaeus Seneca, De Clementia [On Clemency]

Ermanno Malaspina (Università Degli Studi di Torino)

Ed. by Sophia Papaioannou, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.2: Ancient Roman Writing and Culture (Republic and Empire), -750-476.
Vol. editors: Eleni Bozia (University of Florida), Anca Dan (École Practique de Hautes Études PSL), Martine Diepenbroek (University of Johannesburg), William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Victoria Fendel (University of Oxford), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Guendalina Daniela Maria Taietti (University of Liverpool), Jula Wildberger (American University of Paris)

Dates

First circulation or publication 56

Places

Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Treatise

Resources

Carl Joachim Classen (1928-2013) in memoriam

Introduction

De clementia is the only Latin text with Plinius’ Panegyric reserved to the imperial ideology and, more generally, one of the very rare systematic discussions of Roman political thought, with Cicero’s De re publica, De legibus, and De officiis. Yet, this work was unfairly underestimated in the 20^th century, in spite of its fascinating historical, philosophical and linguistic implications, in addition to the political-ideological ones.

The two books comprising the treatise, which was dedicated to the emperor Nero, are unequal in size, the first one consisting of 26 chapters and the second one of merely 7; this disproportionate division is macroscopic and is further exacerbated by the statement, at 1.3.1., of a tripartition, which cannot be found in the text that has survived to our days. Therefore, it...

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2398 words

Citation: Malaspina, Ermanno. "De Clementia". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 October 2014 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=32162, accessed 09 June 2026.]