Seneca - College of Stoic Philosophers

DECLINE OF SENECA'S INFLUENCE 103was given to the evidence of other witnesses, andJunius MaruUus, consul designate, moved thatAntistius should be deprived of his praetorshipand put to death in the ancient fashion. ButThrasea Paetus rose to oppose this motion, and,after much praise of Caesar and reproachesaddressed to Antistius, declared that savagepunishments such as that demanded belongedto another age, and that the laws allowed theadoption of milder alternatives. He thereforemoved that Antistius should be punished by theconfiscation of his property and banishment toan island. This motion was carried on a division ;but, before venturing to give effect to it, the consulsthought it prudent to ask counsel of the emperor.Nero, offended and embarrassed, replied that hehad been attacked without a cause by Antistius,who certainly deserved to be punished. Forthe rest, had the Senate decided on the severerpenalty,he should have interfered toprevent itsinfliction, but he could make no objection to theirmoderation. Indeed, they might acquit theprisoner altogether if they so pleased. In spiteof the manifest annoyance of the emperor, theSenate did not recede from their vote ;some ofthem, says Tacitus, in order not to expose theprince to unpopularity, others perceiving safetyin numbers, and Thrasea out of his natural greatnessof soul. This was perhaps the last occasionduring Nero's reign on which the Senate showedindependence.The death of Burrhus, which soon followed,dealt a shattering blow to Seneca's power and