Customer Reviews

Seneca's Moral Epistles

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Seneca is a terrific read. Everything about his moral epistles--their style, their topics--evokes the chaotic, whirling, world-out-of-balance picture associated with the Roman Empire in the 1st century A.D. One hears in his voice the tension of a man earnestly trying to be a "healer of souls" while acknowledging that in maddening times, it's hard enough work maintaining the health of one's own. In short, his epistles are good reading for the modern student staring out on a world that seems to be spinning out of any one man or nation's control. Seneca probably would enjoy a greater readership in schools if it weren't for that taint of "Silver Age" attached to the literature of his generation.

He is not, after all, difficult to read. One quickly gets the hang of his style--his fondness for the pithy remark, unexpected reversal, or direct address to the reader; one learns to take the platitudes along with the more penetrating and insightful passages. For the Latin teacher (or independent yet highly-motivated student) who'd like to give Seneca a try in the classroom, Motto's edition is a congenial one. The selection of letters is numerous (40 or so) and wide-ranging. Chapter vocabularies, which include what I would call some elementary words, save the beginning or intermediate student time not having to flip to the glossary in the back. I find fault only with the commentary, which seems unusually sparse. In some places, it hardly numbers four or five lines. Teachers must therefore be prepared to explain a lot of grammar and syntax, not to mention content, to their students. But even with that shortcoming, I hope teachers and students alike will enjoy and treasure this edition.

This is a great edition of Seneca. Each epistle has commentary and vocabulary on the left, latin on the right, which makes it easy for translation. Also has a glossary in the back, which is somewhat helpful.