PHILOSOPHY It’s a problem that, frankly, terrifies us: our own mortality. Youth is fleeting; we’re middle-aged before we know it; old age is looming. The modern response is to try to prolong life: if we get everything right we might add a decade or two. But close up we’re still in a panic: the weeks and months still slip away. Lucius Annaeus Seneca, known as Seneca the Younger (since his father also gained fame as a writer) takes a radically different approach: it’s not how long we live that matters but what we do now, with the time we happen to have. He’s a deeply poignant guide because his own adult life was incredibly insecure. Born into a prominent family in Spain in 4BC, he built a highly successful career as a playwright, a financier and a politician. His success led him into the orbit of the ruthless Imperial Family: he became tutor and then adviser to the horrifically unstable Nero. He knew that at any point his life could be cut short by a rumour spread by a rival o...
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