released 4/4/2025

This Feature presents an extended segment of a conversation with Dana Gioia, who collected a book of aphorisms by Stoic philosopher Seneca. Gioia contextualizes Seneca’s life, explaining how his talented and well-connected family was interwoven with the governing class. He describes Seneca’s relationship with Nero, which began with him tutoring the future emperor and ended with Nero ordering the philosopher’s death. Seneca and a few other Roman poets and philosophers sought to witness to the corruption and debauchery they saw in Rome, though it put their lives at stake. For more on Seneca, listen to Gioia’s interview on Volume 164 of the Journal, in which he discusses what made the 1st-century philosopher popular in his own day, with the early Church Fathers, and with modern self-help gurus.

27 minutes

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