Letters from a Stoic

Lucilius Junior was the addressee of Seneca’s Letters from a Stoic. Though Campbell’s edition has removed this, each original letter begins, “Seneca Lucilio suo salutem” (Seneca greets his Lucilius). While historians are certain that Seneca intended the letters for wider readership, there is little reason to doubt that they were also real letters to a friend, often written in response to questions from Lucilius or offering commentary on events in Lucilius’s life.

Lucilius is an enigmatic figure in historical records, appearing only in Seneca’s work (though it has been theorized he wrote a poem, Aetna, that partially survives). Seneca’s writing suggests that Lucilius was a resident of Campania who became a procurator (and potentially governor) of Sicily; he was also apparently a student of philosophy and a writer, both of poetry and books. However, the personal details of Lucilius’s life are largely irrelevant to understanding Seneca’s philosophy. The letters exhibit a general tendency to begin with an anecdote or response before exploring a wider principle that Seneca wants to advise on. Lucilius’s main textual role is interlocutor for Seneca’s topic of choice.

Epicurus (341-270 BCE) was a Greek philosopher who founded the philosophical school of Epicureanism. His philosophy centered around achieving a life of happiness and tranquility through the pursuit of pleasure. The philosophy differed from Hedonism through its definition of pleasure: Pleasure to an Epicurean was not the fulfilment of bodily desires but the absence of pain and mental disturbance. Epicurus argued that fear of death and fear of divine wrath were the main causes of mental disturbance and could be overcome through rational inquiry. To obtain tranquility, Epicurus emphasized the importance of virtues such as prudence, temperance, and friendship.

Epicurus is referenced frequently in Letters from a Stoic, especially as a source of ethical maxims before Letter 33. Despite their philosophical disagreements, Seneca viewed excerpts of Epicurus’s writings as containing thoughts worth meditating on, although (as Letter 9 shows) he did not feel indebted to Epicurus for this. Seneca later describes the prevalence of good quotes in Epicurus’s writings as window-dressing for a philosophy that does not have the depth of Stoicism.