It seems that Seneca has this reputation and how he, he’s viewed by historians really falls into two camps who was Seneca, and what are these two views on his life? So maybe we can start with this idea of two Senecas. My hope is that we can get a chance to explore Seneca’s views on dying and the stoic philosophy in general, while also exploring the man, Seneca, and the events and decisions he faced in his own life. So the subject that Seneca devote a considerable amount of time to thinking about. And Seneca had a very interesting view on dying that sort of impacted how even we view dying today.

And you also had a second book, which we, I hope to touch on as well called, How to Die: An Ancient Guide to the End of Life in which you translate Seneca’s writings and pull together selecting text and other various essays and letters related to Seneca’s view on dying. And it was also during this time that he amassed an incredible fortune. And you wrote a wonderful book, Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero, and it chronicles the life of Seneca during the rule of the Emperor Nero, when Seneca was at the height of his powers, both politically and as a writer. The topic of our discussion today is Seneca, the Roman statesman, writer, playwright, and stoic philosopher. Join your host, Sean Murray, on a journey for the life well lived. You’re listening to The Good Life by The Investor’s Podcast Network, where we explore the ideas, principles, and values that help you with a meaningful, purposeful life. I hope you enjoy my conversation with James as much as I did. It can be helpful to start from the end and work backwards to cultivating a life that gets the most out of every day and doesn’t leave us with regrets. But as you’ll learn from James in this episode, many philosophers through the years, Seneca included, believe that if you want to get the most out of life, it’s important to confront the ultimate endpoint we all face, and that is death. We’re talking a lot about dying here, and it’s true.

You might be asking yourself for a show about the good life. And interestingly, he also wrote a lot about how to die. Seneca is a very influential stoic philosopher, who left us with a number of masterful works on how to live. My guest today is James Romm, professor of Classics at Bard College and the author of the book, Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero, and also another book, How to Die: An Ancient Guide to the End of Life. We strive to be as accurate as possible, but minor errors may occur. Disclaimer: The transcript that follows has been generated using artificial intelligence.

James romm dying every day