Text as both trap and redemption: Regarding the chronology of Seneca’s treatise De breuitate uitae

Abstract

This paper argues that the traditional hypothesis used to establish the chronology of the treatise De breuitate uitae, consisting in deducing from 13, 8 Seneca’s ignorance of the urban reformation carried out by Claudius in 49 AD may be, at the very least, deceitful should the ultimate conclusions be reached from the fact that Seneca omitted this detail in this paragraph while alluding to Rome’s pomerium. Instead, this paper lends weight to the hypothesis of dating De breuitate uitae forward from common belief.