Letters on Ethics: To Lucilius (The Complete Works of Lucius Annaeus Seneca)

The Roman statesman and philosopher Seneca (4 BCE–65 CE) recorded his moral philosophy & reflections on life as a highly original kind of correspondence. Letters on Ethics includes vivid descriptions of town & country life in Nero’s Italy, discussions of poetry & oratory, & philosophical training for Seneca’s friend Lucilius. This volume, the first complete English transl in nearly a century, makes the Letters more accessible than ever before.
Written as much for a general audience as for Lucilius, these engaging letters offer advice on how to deal with everything from nosy neighbors to sickness, pain, & death. Seneca uses the informal format of the letter to present the central ideas of Stoicism, for centuries the most influential philosophical system in the Mediterranean world. His lively & at times humorous expositions have made the Letters his most popular work & an enduring classic. Including an introduction & explanatory notes by Margaret Graver & A. A. Long, this authoritative edition will captivate a new generation of readers.This project will publish the complete works of the Stoic philosopher and playwright Lucius Annaeus Seneca (“Seneca the Younger”) in authoritative, modern English translations. The translations are intended to be used by Latinless college students and by instructors in comparative literature, classics, philosophy, and drama courses as well as by more advanced students and professionals reading in Latin who wish to cite an authoritative translation. The translated texts, which will be vetted by the series editors as well as by outside scholars and translators, will be supplemented by introductions and notes appropriate to the intended audiences. The Latin original will not be included. While one purpose of the project is to make available high-quality translations to Latinless readers, the other, more tacit purpose is to restore Seneca’s oeuvre to the stature it enjoyed prior to the 19th