Classics 158 (Greco-Roman Politics)

Notes on Seneca, in particular the de Clementia

Seneca was born in Spain to a family that had settled there from Italy. Like Cicero, he was a novus homo, and like Cicero, he was learned in philosophy. He was a Stoic, while Cicero was an academic sceptic, but both were eager to take whatever they found in whatever school and put it to good use. Rather than write philosophical treatises with an attempt at covering broad ground, he wrote on more specific subjects. What is more, his style was more epigrammatic than periodic.

He was exiled for an affair with a member of the imperial family (Caligula's sister) and then recalled in 49 AD thru the intercession of another member of the imperial family (Emperor Claudius' wife, another of Caligula's sisters) and became the tutor of her son, the emperor Nero.

As for political thought, there is nothing like a systematic treatise from Seneca. We do not find him discussing the theoretical merits of constitutions, nor examining the power of law.

And yet, in the de Clementia, we find a treatise on the virtue most suited to a king, mercy.

The government of the Romen Empire was in name still the Republic, with senators, plebeian assemblies, tribunes, etc. But in actual fact, it was an autocracy with a royal family and a royal court which ruled. Thus there was a disjunction between form and actuality of power and government.

Cicero's ideal of a mixed constitution was defunct.

Seneca clearly advocates seeing the principate as rule by one person. He is not concerned with what to call it, although he avoids calling the emperor a king.

What is more, the functionaries of the imperial family held huge power. Being tutor to the future emperor was a position of more influence than being senator.

Seneca was aware of the difficulties of speaking truth to power, as well as the difficulties a king has in hearing truth. He was also keenly aware of the special need for a monarch to treat the various people in the kingdom.

The de Clementia is addressed to the emperor Nero and appeared in 55 or 56AD near Nero's eighteenth year of life (I.9).
It starts from the stoic assumption that there is a society of humans that is the practically inevitable result of some altruistic principle within us. That principle is the result of divine providence: we are the favored creatures in this world.
Seneca seems not at all concerned with forms of constitution or legitimacy of power.
In all, Seneca is less concerned with how the ruler comes to power and more with the exercise of that power.

The principate was designed to avert civil war. Seneca says it provides security, and laws that govern every transgression, and deprives the people only of the liberty to destroy themselves and the commonwealth (I.1.8).

The power of a ruler is compared to that of a god in de Clementia, but the ruler is not a god, and he does not rule by divine right. The ruler should not be a tyrant (tyrant is defined not as in Plato by whether or not the ruler is subject to the law, but rather by whether or not the ruler is virtuous).

The ruler has power comparable to gods', but that brings with it obligations: the ruler should rule as the ruler would want the gods to rule the ruler. The ruler's conduct is subject to restraints: noble servitude. For the public good, the ruler should be self-restrained.

Stoic paradox: only the wise is king. The ruler's virtue is what makes the ruler deserve the title and makes the ruler the subject of veneration. The ruler is responsible to no one, and so only the wise can endure being ruler. The ruler should live as an example to all.

Nature does not decree that there should be a king, but where there is a king, nature dictates what the conduct of the king should be: virtue.

Of all the virtues, the ruler is particularly in a position to exhibit the virtue of clemency, which is love of humanity, mildness, and forbearance rolled up into a Latin word.

In all, the most important thing for the ruler is the ruler's education: legal institutions, constitutional forms, etc. do not ensure good character. Only education does.

Among the worst vices in a ruler is anger, wich destroys clemency. Cruelty too is a vice.

Clemency is not pity (an emotion), nor is it forgiveness (it does punish), nor is it pardon (again, it does punish). It is an ideal that within the range of penalties that are appropriate for some transgression, the person in power should choose the lowest one that fits the transgression and its circumstances.