Seneca - College of Stoic Philosophers

CHAPTER XSENECA IN RETIREMENT—HISAND OCCUPATIONSFRIENDSDuring the last three yearsof his Hfe Senecaoccupied himself as little as he could with publicaffairs. The emperor would not consent to hisformal retreat, and stilloccasionally consultedhim, but he lived at Rome as little as possible,making his health an excuse for spending mostof his time in one or other of his villas. In hiswhich he shared with his young wiferetirement,Paullina, to whom he was tenderly attached,Seneca occupied himself with reading, writing,self-examination, meditation on the nature ofthings, and researches into natural history. Hisbook of Naturales Quaestiones, written in thelast year of his life, was the result of these researchesin which, says Quintilian,he was sometimesmisled by those whom he employed tomake investigations. This book, though withoutscientific value, assumes the existence of naturalcauses for all phenomena however unusual,and rejects the notion that they were special