Roman philosopher, statesman, and playwright. Born in Spain, he was trained as an orator and began a career in politics and law in Rome c.AD 31. While banished to Corsica for adultery (A.D. 41-49), he wrote the philosophical treatises Consolationes.

He later became tutor to the future emperor Nero, and from A.D. 54 to 62 AD was a leading intellectual figure in Rome. An adherent of Stoicism, he wrote other philosophical works incl. the Epistilae morales, a collection of essays on moral problems. He also left a series of verse tragedies marked by violence and bloodshed, incl. Thyestes, Hercules, and Medea.

Eventually, however, Nero turned to other advisors, and Seneca fell under suspicion. In Roman fashion, Seneca took the honorable way out -- suicide, in A.D. 65.

Source : The History Net