“On the Shortness of Life” was written in the middle part of first-century Rome, during the reign of Roman Emperor Claudius. The first century in Rome is characterized by historians as a time of great sophistication but also of political machination and moral corruption in the ruling class. The emperors of this period—Caligula (ruled 37-41 CE), Claudius (41-54 CE), and Nero (54-68 CE)—are now renowned for their brutality, corruption, and immorality. When the Emperor Augustus seized power in 27 BCE, Rome had become an autocratic state, and the structures of power and politics were in flux throughout the following decades. Those in Rome’s elite class vied between—and within—families to secure power through any means: corruption, assassination, and incestuous alliances were common. A time of contradictions, the period 27 BCE to 180 CE is also known as the “Pax Romana,” a time of expansion and increased wealth for the Roman Empire and of relative peace and civic order. During the life of Seneca, Rome grew in its wealth and sophistication, both in material culture and in ideas.

This was Seneca’s milieu: he was an extremely wealthy man and a prominent member of the highest Roman political and social class for much of his life.