Seneca: Selected Dialogues and Consolations

The selections in this volume date from nearly the full span of Seneca's life: from the reign of Gaius Caligula (Consolation to Marcia, possibly On Providence); his exile under Claudius (Consolation to Polybius, Consolation to His Mother Helvia); either the last years of Claudius's reign or under Nero (On the Shortness of Life, On the Resolute Nature of the Wise Man, On Serenity of the Spirit, On Retirement); and from the early years of Nero (On the Happy Life). Most of Seneca's other writings, with the exception of On Anger (De Ira), date from the very last years of his life. Each of the selected dialogues addresses a central question of interest, although all participate in the common ideas and problems of Stoicism. The order of presentation chosen in this volume is that in which the dialogues survive in the manuscript tradition: they are not always in chronological order.