The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca

272 Pages·2014·7.61 MB·English

by  Emily Wilson

THE
GREAT EST
E M PI R E

t h e
g r e at e s t
E M P I R E
A Life of Seneca
EMILY WILSON
1
1
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© Emily Wilson
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wilson, Emily R., 1971—author.
The greatest empire : a life of Seneca / Emily Wilson.
pages cm
ISBN 978-0-19-992664-0 (hardback)
1. Seneca, Lucius Annaeus, approximately 4 B.C.–65 A.D. 2. Seneca, Lucius Annaeus,
approximately 4 B.C.–65 A.D.—Criticism and interpretation. I. Title.
PA6675.W55 2014
878.0109—dc23
[B] 2014008888
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
The greatest empire is to be emperor of oneself.
(Imperare sibi maximum imperium est)
Seneca, Epistle 113.30

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Timeline xi
Maps xiv
Introduction: “A Rough Road to Greatness” 1
Chapter I: “Parental Love Is Wise” 23
Chapter II: Nowhere and Everywhere 61
Chapter III: “Vices Tempt You by the Rewards
They Offer” 103
Chapter IV: “There’s No Easy Path from Earth
to the Stars” 163
Epilogue 215
Notes 231
Further Reading 239
Bibliography 241
Art Credits 247
Index 249

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like first to thank Stefan Vranka at Oxford University Press,
for suggesting that I write about Seneca. Thank you also to the Penn
Humanities Forum, where the interdisciplinary discussions of violence
in 2013–2014 provided a useful background for thinking about life in
imperial Rome. I’d also like to thank my colleagues, graduate students,
and undergraduates at the University of Pennsylvania, who have all
helped provide a stimulating but safe environment in which to write—
quite the opposite of barren Corsica or Nero’s court.