Seneca
Seneca names 3 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Seneca LUCIUS ANNÆUS
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
LUCIUS ANNÆUS, a Roman philosopher, son of M. Annæus Seneca, an eminent rhetorician; was born in Cordoba, Spain, about the beginning of the Christian era. Taken early to Rome, he became an advocate, gained some distinction, and was made quæstor. But under Claudius, an accusation brought against him by the infamous Messalina, led to his being banished to Corsica. Returning after an exile of eight years, he was intrusted by Agrippina with the education of her son Nero. He acquired over the youth an influence as strong as it was salutary, and, having already at Agrippina's instance become prætor, he was, at that of Nero (now emperor), made consul, A. D. 57. His high moral aims and intellectual gifts incurred the jealousy and hatred of the emperor, while his wealth excited Nero's rapacity. An attempt on Nero's part to poison him having failed, he was drawn into the Pisonian conspiracy, accused, convicted, and condemned. Left free to choose his mode of death, he opened his veins, and gradually su succumbed to syncope, A. D. 65. His writings were very numerous, and many are still extant; among them are treatises on "Anger"; on "Consolation"; on "Providence"; on "Tranquillity of Mind"; "The Blessed Life"; 124 letters to Lucilius; 10 tragedies, and a remarkable work entitled "Speculations on Natural Phenomena." Seneca attached himself chiefly to the Stoic school but adopted also principles from other systems.
Seneca MARCUS ANNÆUS
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
MARCUS ANNÆUS, a Roman rhetorician; father of the preceding; a native of Cordoba, in Spain; born about 61 b. c. He went to Rome during the reign of Augustus, and there taught for several rhetoric with great success years. He died in Rome toward the close Tiberius (A. D. 37). He of the reign of was the author of a collection of extracts showing the treatment of school themes by contemporary rhetoricians.
Seneca a lake in the W
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a lake in the W. part of New York State; 25 miles S. of Lake Ontario, into which its waters flow. It is about 37 miles long, from 2 to 4 miles broad, and 630 feet deep. It communicates with the Erie canal, and steamers ply on it.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The outline Collier's gave in 1921 still stands: born at Corduba, exiled to Corsica by Claudius, tutor and then consul under Nero, forced to open his veins in A.D. 65 after the Pisonian conspiracy. The list of works is now usually enlarged by the Apocolocyntosis, the savage skit on the dead Claudius that Collier's passes over, and the once-live doubt over whether the philosopher wrote the ten tragedies has largely settled in favour of a single Seneca — plays such as Thyestes and Medea are now staged and studied as literature in their own right rather than as curiosities. For the Elder Seneca, modern scholars generally place his birth nearer 54 B.C. than the 61 B.C. given here, and his Controversiae and Suasoriae are prized as our best window on the Roman declamation schools. Seneca Lake is now measured at about 618 feet deep; the steamers are gone, replaced by pleasure boats, and the Cayuga–Seneca Canal that once tied it to the Erie system is a recreational waterway.
Written for this edition, 2026.