c. 4 BC – AD 65 · Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman & dramatist
Lucius Annaeus Seneca (“Seneca the Younger”) was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman and tutor to the emperor Nero. His moral essays and Letters to Lucilius are among the most quoted works of Stoicism. On the Shortness of Life, addressed to Pompeius Paulinus around AD 49, argues that life is not too short — we simply squander it. Ordered to take his own life by Nero in AD 65, he did so with Stoic composure.