Enchiridion of Seneca: A New Translation

I wish you will be your own master – Seneca

A practical adaptation of Seneca's teachings, translated for modern readers.

Seneca will teach you the art of living like a Stoic. His work has taught people for almost two thousand years. In the Enchiridion of Seneca, you will find his most valuable teaching and reflection about all aspects of life. Just like the Enchiridion of Epictetus, this Enchiridion brings concise and practical aphorisms about how to live life and how to deal with anything. Seneca focuses on practical solutions and how to be happy even when things are chaotic, and he will teach how to achieve these. The Enchiridion of Seneca is a concise and essential guide to Stoicism and the good life.

From the introduction:

The emperor of Rome, Nero, ordered a man to commit suicide. Seneca was his name. He was born around 4 BC in Cordoba, which was part of the Roman Empire. He went to Rome when he was young, but he became very sick and had to leave Rome for a long period. He studied philosophy a lot and wrote a lot, and gained some fame for it. He returned to Rome in 31 AD during great a political upheaval and was banished from Rome by the Emperor in 41 AD. In 49 AD, he was recalled to Rome to become an adviser and tutor to a young man named Nero. Nero became emperor and slowly went mad. He came to believe that Seneca was part of a conspiracy against him and ordered him to commit suicide. When he received the order, he complied and died.

Seneca wrote many works of philosophy. One of his works is the Letters from a Stoic. In this work, he tries to teach Stoicism. It is wonderfully educative and stylistic, but also very long. Taking inspiration from the Enchiridion of Epictetus, I have selected and translated Letters from a Stoic to create this book. The aim of the book is the same as all the other Enchiridions: to teach about Stoic ideas and to help apply those ideas. I hope Seneca's thoughts and my selection and translation serve you well.