Seneca, a close companion to the Roman emperor Nero, was convicted of being the person to plot Nero’s death. Many people questioned him and his emotions towards what he was being convicted of, but Seneca remained stoical even when he was found guilty of this and was to be killed. Stoicism is the ability to endure pain and hardship while retaining the ability to control one's emotions; Seneca, at his death, was a perfect example of a stoic.
Seneca was for the most part of his life a stoic; being able to take emotions, pain, and hardship and control them in which his emotions really aren’t seen at all. This trait makes someone seem powerful, in control, not scared or nervous even when the worst is happening to someone, like Seneca’s case of being put to death because he was said to be, by Nero, the one to try to plot against Nero and kill him. “He had no reason,’ he said, for ‘preferring the interest of any private citizen to his own safety, and he had no natural aptitude for flattery. No one knew this better than Nero, who had oftener experienced Seneca's free spokenness than his servility,’” (Tacitus). This quote really explains how Seneca was a stoic. He control his emotions and made it seem like he didn’t want flattery and it didn’t matter to him. He didn’t want people to feel bad for him or treat him differently because he was convicted of a murder plot that wasn’t true. Seneca was fully able to control how he was feeling and how he was embracing his emotions on the outside.
As a friend of Nero, people would think that Seneca would be very upset about being sentenced with such an awful crime that wasn’t even true. But being the stoic that many believe he was, he was able to go through this sentencing and encounter without even remotely acting like he was upset. According to The Death of Seneca, “He saw no signs of fear, and perceived no sadness in his words or in his looks,” (Tacitus).This shows that he was truly able to stay very strong even during the worst experiences. If many people were to be sentenced this at any time and wasn’t a stoic like Seneca, they would be begging to not be killed, sobbing, doing anything possible to get their way out of it. Seneca, on the other hand, acted extremely mature and made it seem like being killed was not that big of a deal. He was able to cover up his pain and emotions on the outside and maybe even on the inside as well. Seneca seemed to not be afraid of death and discomfort, instead he just showed no emotions.
Even as Seneca was about to die, he showed no pain towards what was happening. "Seneca, quite unmoved, asked for tablets on which to inscribe his will, and, on the centurion's refusal, turned to his friends, protesting that as he was forbidden to requite them, he bequeathed to them the only, but still the noblest possession yet remaining to him, the pattern of his life, which, if they remembered, they would win a name for moral worth and steadfast friendship." (Tacitus). This quote, also from The Death of Seneca, really tells you just how stoical Seneca actually was. He was on his death bed, about to be murdered and all he did was ask to write his will. He was not crying, he wasn’t begging to live. He simply asked to have a tablet where he could write his will, and he gave his friends his finest possessions that he had. That is a very inspirational trait to have, being able to hide your pain and fear.
Seneca was an extremely stoical person who was able to truly control his emotions and deal with pain and hardships. Even during the hardest times, Seneca
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