Seneca’s Flattery of Nero

Abstract

Abstract Chapter 6 focuses on De clementia and explores the multiple strategies adopted by Seneca to address the young emperor Nero. Finally, returning to Rome in 49, Seneca had to tutor Nero, who took over as princeps after Claudius died in 54. Being the only Senecan work directly addressed to the Roman emperor, De clementia is considered another text in which flattery is put into practice, despite Seneca’s explicit denial of flattery. This chapter looks into the discrepancy between Seneca’s assertions in De clementia, and the records of Tacitus and Suetonius which argue that, following the Augustan paradigm, Nero wanted to pursue a politics of mutual collaboration between the Senate and princeps. Instead, in Seneca’s political treatise, Senate is pauperized and becomes destitute of any role or function. By shedding light on this aspect, this chapter investigates how Seneca fawns over Nero and elucidates that in De clementia praise and admonition always go together, inextricably connected.