Examining Seneca Physical and Physiological Strength

1 “What are you doing, Seneca? Are you abandoning your party?” : Examining Seneca’s Physical and Physiological Strength and his Strides and Shortcomings towards Roman Virtus Allison Brown HIST 2130-40: Ancient Rome Professor Nickerson Kestner 2 October, 2020 1 Wilson, Emily R. “The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca”, Oxford University Press, 2014, pg. 163 1 “In 65 CE … he was forced to kill himself, having been accused of involvement in a conspiracy to kill the emperor Nero … cutting his wrists failed … hemlock also failed. He died only once he stepped into a hot bath and managed to suffocate in the2.steam” In The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca author Emily Wilson begins a biography on Lucius Annaeus Seneca’s life and philosophy with its end. Seemingly counterintuitive, Wilson begins the text by raising 3 what she describes as the many puzzles and paradoxes of Seneca’s life and ultimately his end 4 she deemed “... a mark of his distance from [the] Socratic model” . Perhaps, throughout his life, Seneca tried to achieve different components of Roman virtus, through his life as a Stoic, his psychological strength would have been an attribute virtus of he would have paid particular attention to as a follower and contributor of Stoicism . By defining what Roman virtus and then focusing on Seneca’s strength— both psychological and physical––this essay aims to exhibit how Seneca strived to achieve Roman virtus through the many challenges of his life and how he displayedvirtus strength in some situations, but fell short with other challenges. To start, it is essential to define Roman virtus as it was in Seneca’s time. A statement made by a fellow Roman philosopher Cicero takes a bold stance virtus onin his work of Philippics in 4.5.13, “... but valor [virtue] is accustomed to war off any cruelty or disgrace in death. And that is an inalienable possession of the Roman race and name … virtue alone is 5 planted firm with very deep roots…” . Cicero acknowledges virtus, for the Roman race is a quality inherent to a Roman man. Schrader can offer an additional definition, “virtus [is] a word 2 Wilson, “The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca”, pg. 1 3 Wilson, “The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca”, pg. 1 4 Wilson, “The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca”, pg. 1 5 “Latin Texts & Translations.”Perseus Under Philologic , Philippics 4.5.13 2 defining a multitude of complex physical and moral ideas and practices … the context gives 6 virtus its meaning … [virtus is] frequently found in poetry, theatre, and philosophical writings” . A simple definition of Roman virtus does not exist, however, a gist of what virtus means exists through its use in the Latin lexicon and in the works of Roman Philosophers. Boatwright’s The Romans similarly definesvirtus as a “manly courage, more broadly ‘excellence’ or ‘distinction’ 7 as demonstrated in service to the Roman state” . To conclude initial, categorizing, thoughts of Romanvirtus, Balmaceda inVirtus Romana: Politics and Morality in the Roman Historians through the works of other scholars and written evidence that “... virtuous remained fairly stable 8 throughout Roman history” and that “... virtus must be placed at the very center of the Roman set of values”9. With an understanding of the definitionvirtus of and its role in Roman society, now Seneca’s physical and physiological strength is up for examination. Throughout his life, it is apparent that Seneca strived for physical strength. To begin, Seneca struggle with his health began in his childhood, Wilson explains, “... he would have grown up accustomed to the regimens associated with chronic sickness, the constant vigilance and close attention “… and builds on this stating that Seneca’s attempts to achieve perfect physical strength, “[was an] unattainable idea of perfect health, [and it] is one that Seneca continued is whole life long”10. As Seneca ages his health only worsens, peaking in his sixties when his frailty leads him to take frequent rests throughout his days and his cold baths he used to relish now left him severely weak. An example of this lack of physical strength is evident in a 6 Wilson, “The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca”, pgs. 83-84 7 Boatwright, Mary T., Daniel J. Gargola, and Richard J. A. Talbert. “The Romans: From Village to Empire”, Second ed., Oxford University Press, 2004, pg. 542 8 Schrader, Kyle W. “Virtues in the Roman World: Generality, Specificity, and Fluidity”, The Gettysburg College Historical Journal , 2016, pg. 1 9 Schrader, Kyle W. “Virtues in the Roman World: Generality, Specificity, and Fluidity”, pg. 2 10 Wilson, “The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca”, pg. 32 3 comparison with Seneca’s young (aged five or six) slave Pharius, “... Pharius, at an age, like his master, was starting to lose his teeth … His [Seneca’s] slave functions as a mirror for his master, who ruefully discovers his own physical vulnerability matched by that of his human property. Seneca writes that he is now getting so frail … the boy gets stronger every day while the master 11 gets weaker; soon he will have to find an even younger slave” . By drawing this comparison between Seneca and Pharius, Wilson draws a parallel of Seneca’s life and physical strength fading while Pharius’ is only the beginning, showing how Seneca is slipping away from the potential of perfect physical strength. Even with his attempts at exercise with Pharius –– lifting 12 weights, running, etc. –– could not stop Seneca’s inevitable decline and ultimately his “... death, despite … his own best efforts, can represent a vivid image of his life. It was a slow, painful highly theoretical and rhetorical confrontation between philosophical idealism and 13 human weakness in the face of political power” . Seneca’s death was unlike what he probably imagined, a Stoic end to life –– not unlike Socrates’ death –– displaying physical strength by dying in a less troublesome manner while surrounded by family. The reality could not have been further from that, Seneca finally met his end by suffocating from the steam of a hot bath, troubled by his chronic illnesses for the last time, in a final display of imperfect physical strength, potentially with his physiological perseverance in shatters. “In the writing of [Seneca’s] adulthood, the primary focus has shifted from literally, 14 physical health to the spiritual heath that is the aspiration of the … philosopher” . Seneca was born into a family of more than average means, and did not apparently struggle with any chronic 11 Wilson, “The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca”, pg. 187 12 Wilson, “The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca”, pg. 186 13 Wilson, “The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca”, pg. 212 14 Wilson, “The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca”, pg. 32 4 setbacks as he did in physical strength, however, his first substantial challenges to his physiological strength occurred during his exile in Corsica, when he escaped a death sentence and lived a distance from Roman Society for nearly eight years. Statements and attitudes interpreted from Seneca’s letters to family, particularly his mother, can roughly piece together his outwardly projected physiological state during his exile, “... [he began] with a rather courageous and hopeful attitude with which he at first bore his lot … an over- eagerness to comfort his mother and teeming as it is with stoic generalities, it reflects the bright side of his life in Corsia … He says that he has not been deprived of such pursuits because exile is only a 15 change of place of residence” . However, other accounts and works during his exile show a different perspective to Seneca’s thoughts and resilience, Wilson states, “Seneca’s writings during his time of exile allowed him to work through the feelings of grief, boredom, powerlessness, and perhaps rage that must have felt overwhelming in his forced exclusion from the world of the capital”16. With this anger experienced through exile, Seneca at the insistence of his brother Novatus wrote On Anger, a work that touches on the anger of those who hold a position of power and how this anger is the leading cause of bloodshed, poison, and slavery. Seneca’s perseverance through his time on Corsica and his philosophical works produced were a testament to his physiological strength, and at the end of his exile started a new opportunity, tutoring Nero Claudius filius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. Seneca faced many trials and challenges to his physiological strength while tutoring the man who would later be the begetter of his death. Wilson touches on the challenges one who tutors an individual who later becomes corrupted psychologically battles with, “ ... the tutor of 15 Kamp, H. W. "Concerning Seneca's Exile." The Classical Journal 30, pg. 9 16 Wilson, “The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca”, pg. 92 5 Nero was still preoccupied of whether he did any good in the position … and whether, if he 17 failed, it was his fault or that of the pupil” . This psychological weight surely must have lived in Seneca, and surely thoughts of Nero’s corruption and cruelty being a cause of his teaching must have crossed his mind. Seneca tutored Nero for some time and then became an advisor in his court, during his time as an Advisor, Seneca could create relative stability in the Empire. However, his relationship with Emperor Nero would worsen as time went on, starting with minor situations such as Seneca’s stoic discomfort with extensive monetary benefits. As a Stoic whose philosophical tenets aimed for one to live a minimalist style, Seneca’s possession of substantial wealth would continually make him feel as though he was undeserving and unfitting of the luxurious which led him, “... to struggle … with the psychological pressures 18 created by an excess of material wealth” . A passage from a notable work of Seneca, Annals 14.53, expresses his discomfort: “Where is the soul that is easily happy with moderation? Has it laid out such gardens, walked through such suburban mansions, grown fat on such vast acres of land and such far-flung investments? I have just one defence to make: I had a duty not to stand in the way of your gifts. I ask for help: I can no longer bear my riches. Give orders for my estate to be organized by your own procurators, to be taken back into your own wealth. I will not beat myself down to poverty, but I will give back the things whose splendor 19 dazzles me, and the time I used to devote to gardens and villas, I’ll turn back to the soul” In this passage in Annals, Seneca’s excess wealth and luxurious lifestyle were presumably causing him to feel as though he was not as engrossed in the minimalistic-Stoic-style he was once, and that in order for him to return to his state –– pre-excess wealth –– he must surrender his luxuries. This is again a testament to his physiological strength, that Seneca will give up 17 Wilson, “The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca”, pg. 196 18 Wilson, “The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca”, pg. 228 19 Wilson, “The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca”, pg. 169 6 extravagant ways of living to “...turn back to [his] soul”, the same was probably not true for most men in Rome during Seneca’s time. As previously discussed, Wilson observes that Seneca’s death was highly theoretical and rhetorical, with a confrontation between philosophical idealism and human weakness in the wake of political power20. Additionally, it is evident that Seneca's death was not what he foresaw. Wilson remarks the following regarding the physiological expectations and reality of the end of his life, “The death Seneca had anticipated for so long had finally arrived … composed of a series of compromises … Seneca’s wish to control his final moments was was highly visible here, but so too was the impossibility for him of achieving the Stoic idea of perfect constancy and calm within the pressures and violence Neronian Rome, and given Seneca’s own facilities” 21 . In his last moments, perhaps Seneca boiled with anxiety and anger that his death, a one that he had designed and awaited for so long, was terrible and more agonizing compared to what he had planned. But, alas, no one can truly understand his final thoughts before death and if Seneca was at peace with the way his life would end. All things considered, it is evident that Seneca strived to be both physically and physiologically strong throughout his life. Both Roman virtus and his beliefs with Stoicism led him to try to master both his mind and body. However, no matter how much he pushed for control over his physical strength, his health was stacked against him from the beginning and was ultimately something he never conquered. Seneca failed to achieve virtus’ strength physically in his lifetime. A different and more complex argument exists for Seneca’s physiological strength. Perhaps Seneca did not achieve virtus due to his: anxieties regarding a 20 Wilson, “The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca”, pg. 212 21 Wilson, “The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca”, pg. 212 7 changing Roman society around him, detrimental experiences in Corsica, the stress his discontent as a Stoic caused because of his excess wealth and luxuries, and the mental anguish that would have subsited upon his death. Conversely though, the case for Seneca achieving physiologicalvirtus is also defendable: Seneca adapted to a changing society around him, in Corsica he grew as a philosopher and Roman man, Seneca exercised strength and personal control by wanting to surrender his wealth, and that—as Wilson puts it— an interpretation of Seneca’s death could be, “[one that can be admired] the ways in which he kept trying, despite his failures—just as he had done in life, in his constant attempts to continue along the path of philosophical virtue”22. As argued in this essay, Seneca did not achieve perfect physical strength, but, there is no simple answer to if Seneca achieved perfect psychological strength. However, through primary documents and historical documents, with reasonable certainty, Seneca went to great lengths to try to achieve them, and that is his lasting legacy. 22 Wilson, “The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca”, pg. 212 8 Bibliography Wilson, Emily R. “The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca”, Oxford University Press, 2014. Boatwright, Mary T., Daniel J. Gargola, and Richard J. A. Talbert. “The Romans: From Village to Empire”, Second ed., Oxford University Press, 2004. Schrader, Kyle W. “Virtues in the Roman World: Generality, Specificity, and Fluidity”, The Gettysburg College Historical Journal , 2016. Available at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/ghj/vol15/iss1/6 Kamp, H. W. "Concerning Seneca's Exile." The Classical Journal 30, no. 2 (1934): 101-08. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3289947. 9 “Latin Texts & Translations.”Perseus Under Philologic http://perseus.uchicago.edu/perseus-cgi/citequery3.pl?dbname=LatinAugust2012