Who was Seneca the younger, and what is his contribution to Stoic philosophy

Lucius Annaeus Seneca, or Seneca the Younger, was born around circa 4 BCE in Córdoba, Spain. He died in Italy in 65 CE, in Rome, Italy, ordered by Emperor Nero to commit suicide.

Seneca the Younger was a Roman philosopher and statesman. In addition, he was a powerful orator and was among the leading intellectuals of the time in Rome.

Relationship with emperors

Seneca had a troubled relationship with emperors. He had a run-in with the emperor Caligula, who didn't have him killed only because of the argument that his life was likely to be short.

In 41 CE, the emperor Claudius banished Seneca to Corsica on a charge of adultery with the emperor's niece. 

In Corsica, Seneca studied natural science and philosophy and wrote the three treatises. Agrippina, the mother of emperor Nero, liked Seneca, and she had him brought back and installed as Nero's tutor. 

Philosophy

Seneca's reputation is due to the philosophical works and plays that he authored. The plays were all tragedies. Seneca's work constitutes some of the critically essential compendia of primary material for ancient Stoicism. 

Seneca's influence on philosophers and intellectuals during the European Renaissance was immense. He was admired as an oracle of moral values.

Later life 

When Nero became emperor in 54 CE, Seneca became his tutor and advisor. Seneca's influence over Nero, however, declined with time. Finally, in 65 CE, Nero forced Seneca to take his own life for alleged complicity in the Pisonian conspiracy to assassinate Nero. 

Seneca's calm fortitude in the face of death and his very stoic and calm suicide have been the subject of numerous paintings.