Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero
From acclaimed classical historian, author of Ghost on the ThroneGripping the narrative verve of a born writer and the erudition of a scholar Daniel Mendelsohn and editor of The Landmark Arrian The Campaign of Alexander Thrilling The New York Times Book Review , a high stakes drama full of murder, madness, tyranny, perversion, with the sweep of history on the grand scale At the center, the tumultuous life of Seneca, ancient Rome s preeminent writer and philosopher, beginning with banishment in his fifties and subsequent appointment as tutor to twelve year old Nero, future emperor of Rome Controlling them both, Nero s mother, Julia Agrippina the Younger, Roman empress, great granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus, sister of the Emperor Caligula, niece and fourth wife of Emperor Claudius James Romm seamlessly weaves together the life and written words, the moral struggles, political intrigue, and bloody vengeance that enmeshed Seneca the Younger in the twisted imperial family and the perverse, paranoid regime of Emperor Nero, despot and madman Romm writes that Seneca watched over Nero as teacher, moral guide, and surrogate father, and, at seventeen, when Nero abruptly ascended to become emperor of Rome, Seneca, a man never avid for political power became, with Nero, the ruler of the Roman Empire We see how Seneca was able to control his young student, how, under Seneca s influence, Nero ruled with intelligence and moderation, banned capital punishment, reduced taxes, gave slaves the right to file complaints against their owners, pardoned prisoners arrested for sedition But with time, as Nero grew vain and disillusioned, Seneca was unable to hold sway over the emperor, and between Nero s mother, Agrippina thought to have poisoned her second husband, and her third, who was her uncle Claudius , and rud to have entered into an incestuous relationship with her son and Nero s father, described by Suetonius as a murderer and cheat charged with treason, adultery, and incest, how long could the young Nero have been contained Dying Every Day is a portrait of Seneca s moral struggle in the midst of madness and excess In his treatises, Seneca preached a rigorous ethical creed, exalting heroes who defied danger to do what was right or embrace a noble death As Nero s adviser, Seneca was presented with a complex set of choices, as the only man capable of summoning the better aspect of Nero s nature, yet, remaining at Nero s side and colluding in the evil regime he created Dying Every Day is the first book to tell the compelling and nightmarish story of the philosopher poet who was almost a king, tied to a tyrant as Seneca, the paragon of reason, watched his student spiral into madness and whose descent saw five family murders, the Fire of Rome, and a savage purge that destroyed the supreme minds of the Senate s golden age. Free Download [ Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero ] By [ James Romm ] – kino-fada.fr A caustic reader of this darkly entertaining biography might call it Lying Every Day To call Seneca a man of contradictions is kind He is the preeminent example in antiquity of someone who wanted to have his philosophical cake and eat it too preaching the ascetic virtues of Stoicism and abnegation while living a luxurious life as a Roman multimillionaire His essays harp on the dignity of death and the heroic freedom of suicide, while his day job as Nero s court philosopher required him to A caustic reader of this darkly entertaining biography might call it Lying Every Day To call Seneca a man of contradictions is kind He is the preeminent example in antiquity of someone who wanted to have his philosophical cake and eat it too preaching the ascetic virtues of Stoicism and abnegation while living a luxurious life as a Roman multimillionaire His essays harp on the dignity of death and the heroic freedom of suicide, while his day job as Nero s court philosopher required him to connive at political murder, including Nero s assassination of his own murderous mother One ancient historian blames Seneca s usurious greed for triggering the rebellion of Boudicca, warrior queen of ancient Britain, resulting in the deaths of 80,000 Roman soldiers and just as many British Buckets of blood Yet at the end he couldn t bleed himself He trie...The basic thesis is this Seneca s philosophical convictions were sincere but he believed them to be ideals to be aimed at over an entire life rather than achieved His relationship with Nero was, similar to Aristotle s with Alexander the Great, designed to moderate the young prince and teach him virtues Or so Seneca justified it to himself Once in power he found his position a trap Since Nero made much political capital out of Seneca s moral stature, it meant that Seneca could never resign The basic thesis is this Seneca s philosophical convictions were sincere but he believed them to be ideals to be aimed at over an entire life rather than achieved His relationship with Nero was, similar to Aristotle s with Alexander the Great, designed to moderate the young prince and teach him virtues Or so Seneca justified it to himself Once in power he found his position a trap Since Nero made much political capital out of Seneca s moral stature, it meant that Seneca could never resi...This was good but I was surprised that I did not like it as much as Romm s earlier book, Ghost on the Throne The topic here is fascinating and Romm writes with great vividness It s very easy to become immersed in the Neronian milieu through his writing and the human motives of most of the major players shine through However, and surprisingly, I found that the personality of Se...This kind of history usually isn t my thing as a reader, but I d met the author and as a courtesy he sent it to me I was absolutely astonished If you think we have leaders who are out of control spoiled brats floated by a compliant senate, it is nothing nothing compared with Rome with Nero at the helm Murder, matricide, siblicide, infanticide, andinduced suicides than you can count it s a wonder Rome could both have been great and then could have allowed this havoc spree that lasted This kind of history usually isn t my thing as a reader, but I d met the author and as a courtesy he sent it to me I was absolutely astonished If you think we have leaders who are out of control spoiled brats floated by a compliant senate, it is nothing nothing compared with Rome with Nero at the helm Murder, matricide, siblicide, infanticide, andinduced suicides than you can count it s a wonder Rome could both have been great and then could have allowed this havoc spree that lasted as long as it did The hubris, cruelty, delusion, and collusion combine to a truly incredible page turner Even though it s history actually, because it is history , I found it oddly potent as escapist reading And it put today s politics and violent horrors in some perspective our species has always been scheming and violent, and politics has always been, well, scheming and violent Actually, we ve made some progress My only reservation about the book is that I would have likednarrativ...I m a big fan of James Romm, professor of classical studies at Bard College I loved his book The Ghost on the Throne, which tells the story of the minutes, hours, days and years following Alexander the Great s death I also really loved his small book on Herodotus But this one was a struggle Romm says as much himself in interviews about the book What does one make of the fact that the philosopher, playwright, ethicist, scholar and stoic Seneca served the emperor Nero Romm would like there I m a big fan of James Romm, professor of classical studies at Bard College I loved his book The Ghost on the Throne, which tells the story of the minutes, hours, days and years following Alexander the Great s death I also really loved his small b...A terrific dual biography of Seneca and Nero Seneca, the Stoic and the statesman Nero the child minded monster Romm s book is well researched and well written It s a popular history, but a smart one Seneca is the main attraction here and the complexities of his personality and his position are skillfully explored How is philosophy reconciled with political power, or can it be How do we judge ourselves when we fail our best ideals in stupendous fashion When must we set hope aside and A terrific dual biography of Seneca and Nero Seneca, the Stoic and the statesman Nero the child minded monster Romm s book is well researched and well written It s a popular history, but a smart one Seneca is the main attraction here and the complexities of his personality and his position are skillfully explored How is philosophy reconciled with political power, or can it be How do we judge ourselves when we fail our best ideals in stupendous fashion When must we set hope aside and accept a terr...Absolutely excellent book on Seneca and his writings compared to his actions in the court of Nero I loved Ghost on the Throne and loved this book James Romm has become one of my favorite authors His work is quality.I will start by agreeing with other reviews that found that they were surprised that they enjoyed this slightly less than Romm s last book Ghost on the Throne It s certainly just as well written, and the topic is just as well visualized, but the author s own struggle to come to a conclusion on the nature of Seneca infects the impact of the book as a whole.Which, really, is ultimately everything I can say about it in microcosm.Romm does such an excellent job of introducing the players in this I will start by agreeing with other reviews that found that they were surprised that they enjoyed this slightly less than Romm s last book Ghost on the Throne It s certainly just as well written, and the topic is just as well visualized, but the author s own struggle to come to a conclusion on the nature of Seneca infects the impact of the book as a whole.Which, really, is ultimately everything I can say about it in microcosm.Romm does such an excellent job of introducing the players in this grand and epic farce, that the lack of closure and conclusion really robs the reader of a clear emotional resolution.Deftly describing Seneca s rise to power along with his student Nero and deftly describing the challenges and hypocrisies of guiding and managing Nero during his rise and early rule and then deftly painting a portrait of the pos...Very readable, reasonably sized biography of Seneca.Dying Every Day a wonderful title by James Romm is a compact, well researched and well written study of the Emperor Nero and his relationship to the philosopher Seneca, who served as Nero s tutor and counselor The book focuseson Nero than on Seneca for various reasons, chief among them thatis known about Nero, despite the fact that Seneca wrote a half million words of literary philosophy that reflected his personal Stoic values.The crises of this history, then, move from Nero s Dying Every Day a wonderful title by James Romm is a compact, well researched and well written study of the Emperor Nero and his relationship to the philosopher Seneca, who served as Nero s tutor and counselor The book focuseson Nero than on Seneca for various reasons, chief among them thatis known about Nero, despite the fact that Seneca wrote a half million words of literary philosophy that reflected his personal Stoic values.The crises of this history, then, move from Nero s accession to his decision to kill his step brother, his mother, and others in the Julio Claudian clan who might try to take his throne from him Nero s use of his thr...
- English
- 05 December 2018 James Romm
- Hardcover
- 290 pages
- 0307596877
- James Romm
- Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero