Seneca - College of Stoic Philosophers

SENECA IN POWER 85the inexperience of youth and was envious of those who;had kept burning the torch of Hving and uncorruptedeloquence in the defence of their fellow-citizens. He(Suilius) had been quaestor to Germanicus ;but Senecahad stained the honour of that prince's house. Was itworse to accept a fee for honourable work from a clientwho was ready to give it, or to corrupt the virtue of royalwomen ? Was it virtue and the maxims of philosophythat taught him to accumulate so vast a fortune infour years of Court favour ? At Rome he had drawnin legacies as with a net ;the provinces were exhaustedbyhis usuries.The language of the old accuser was reportedto Seneca v^ith exaggerations, and did not inclinehim to indulgence. The trial was pressed on, andconducted before the emperor himself. Suiliuspleaded that all he did was by order of Claudius,but Nero interrupted him to say that he hadascertained from his father's notes that no accusationhad been commanded by him. Then Suiliusalleged the commands of Messalina, but wasasked why he alone was chosen to give his voiceand services to the tyrant? In the end a partof his goods was confiscated, and he himselfbanished to the Balearic islands, where he isto have passed the remainder of his lifesaidin greatcomfort. His son Nerulinus, who was shortlyafterwards prosecuted, was acquitted at the instanceof the emperor. Seneca has been chargedwith vindictiveness on this occasion, yetif timesand circumstances are taken into account, we mayrather wonder at the mildness of the vengeancewhich a powerful minister thoughtit sufficient toexact from such an adversary.