Seneca - College of Stoic Philosophers

DECLINE OF SENECA'S INFLUENCE 105activity had been found to increase, and that, infact, he would allow nothing of eloquence toappear in the republic that did not proceed fromhimself. Nero, they said, had passed his childhood;let him shake off his yoke, and show thathe needed no other guidance than that suppliedhim by the example of his ancestors.The appointment of Tigellinus to the post ofBurrhus convinced Seneca that he could be of nofurther service to the State, and he became anxiousto retire from publiclife. But it was no easymatter to withdraw from the service of thesuspiciousNero. Seneca himself in one of hisletters, with the worldly wisdom which hecommonly blends with his philosophy, observedthat it isdangerous to seem to seek a safe retreat,since a man implicitly condemns that which heshuns. ^However, he obtained an audience, and onthe plea of age and growing infirmities begged tobe allowed to retire from the Court and devotethe short remainder of his life to his studies.At the same time he entreated the prince tocome to his assistance by allowing him to restoreto his imperial benefactor the great possessionswhich he owed to his munificence. But Nerowould not accept his resignation or the profferedsacrifice of his gardens and villas. He professedthe highest value for the services of hisminister, loaded him with caresses, and dismissedhim with tender reproaches that he*Ep. xiv. : 'Sapiens nocituram potentiam vitat, hoc primumcavens, ne vitare videatur. Pars enim securitatis et in hoc est,non ex professo earn petere ; quia quae quis fugit damnat.'