Lucius Annaeus Seneca, De Constantia Sapientis [On the Firmness of the Wise Man]

Myrto Garani (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)

Ed. by Sophia Papaioannou, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.2: Ancient Roman Writing and Culture (Republic and Empire), -750-476.
Vol. editors: Anca Dan (École Practique de Hautes Études PSL), Martine Diepenbroek (University of Johannesburg), William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Victoria Fendel (University of Oxford), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Guendalina Daniela Maria Taietti (University of Liverpool), Jula Wildberger (American University of Paris)

Domains

Philosophy (any)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 47 - c. 62

Places

Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Essays/ Lectures (any)

Resources

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This treatise is one of Seneca’s ten moral

Dialogues

which are preserved on Codex Ambrosianus C 90 inf. (= A), an eleventh century manuscript which was copied at the abbey of Monte Casino. Along with this main source, there is also a considerable number of later manuscripts, from the fourteenth century on, which are of lesser and debatable value (Reynolds 1968). The treatise is addressed to Annaeus Serenus, who held the office of

praefectus vigilum

under Nero (Pliny

22.96) and was still an Epicurean when this particular treatise was written. The treatise is believed to have been written after 47 and plausibly before 62 CE, since, whereas within the framework of this treatise Serenus appears to be an Epicurean, in the treatise

De tranquillitate animi

, Serenus figures as a Stoic.

The

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162 words

Citation: Garani, Myrto. "De Constantia Sapientis". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 August 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35051, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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