Letter from Seneca to Nero & Response letter from Nero to Seneca

  As you know, the Stoic philosopher Seneca served, first, as a tutor and, later, as advisor to the infamous Roman Emperor Nero. In fact, Seneca is credited with suppressing Nero’s worst behaviors, at least until Nero’s corrupt nature became uncontainable. These frightening behaviors are outlined in lurid detail in Suetonius’ Life of Nero. For your second ‘essay’, you are going to compose two letters. Letter #1 will be from Seneca to Nero, and Letter #2 will be a response from Nero to Seneca. In Letter #1, Seneca (i.e. you) will critique Nero’s bad behavior based on the information provided in Suetonius and the philosophical doctrines contained in the volume of Seneca’s philosophical writings. In Letter #2, your Nero will defend or at least try to justify his behavior based on the character analysis found in Suetonius. So, for example, you might have Nero use his lineage or upbringing to defend his bad actions.