Breakfast with Seneca: A Stoic Guide to the Art of Living

FOR FURTHER READING: SENECA’S PHILOSOPHICAL WRITINGS

IF YOU WANT TO READ SENECA’S PHILOSOPHICAL writings, it’s important to know that there are many collections, selections, and anthologies in the English language, most of which are incomplete. While most of these anthologies tend to be quite good, there are only two complete editions of his writings. The editions published by the Loeb Classical Library (Harvard University Press) contain Seneca’s Latin texts with facing English translations, but they are decades old and lack a contemporary tone. Alternatively, The Complete Works of Lucius Annaeus Seneca published by the University of Chicago Press is much more recent and, without question, the most delightful, readable translation of Seneca’s writings available as a complete edition.

Many people who start reading Seneca begin with the mass-market Penguin edition of Seneca’s Letters from a Stoic, translated by Robin Campbell, which is now in its seventieth printing. (Over the last twelve years alone, it has gone through thirty-seven printings.) There is nothing wrong with that very popular and easy-to-find edition if you want a taste of Seneca’s letters. But you should be aware that Letters from a Stoic is a very small selection of his letters, and some of the letters it contains are incomplete. Therefore, if you decide that you are serious about reading Seneca and want the entire collection of his letters, your choice is simple. Get the wonderful Letters on Ethics to Lucilius, translated by Margaret Graver and A. A. Long (University of Chicago Press). That is a complete edition and the best translation available. Both the print edition and the e-book edition are excellent productions.

In the bibliography of works cited, I’ve included all the Seneca translations that I own and have read. From my website StoicInsights.com, you can also download a free copy of Seneca: A Reader’s Guide, which contains some helpful resources, including some suggestions on the order in which you might want to read Seneca’s writings. Listed below are all of Seneca’s major philosophical writings, in alphabetical order, and in what volumes you will find these works in the Chicago translations. This is a complete listing of Seneca’s philosophical writings, many of which can be found in other sources as well. Happy reading!