As chief advisor to the emperor Nero Lucius Annaeus Seneca was most influential in ancient Rome as a power behind the throne. His lasting fame derives from his writings on Stoic ideology in which philosophy is a practical form of self-improvement rather than a matter of argument or wordplay. Seneca's letters to a young friend advise action rather than reflection addressing the issues that confront every generation: how to achieve a good life; how to avoid corruption and self-indulgence; and how