Feb 12, 2019
https://press.princeton.edu/titles/13323.html
Timeless wisdom on controlling anger in personal life
and politics from the Roman Stoic philosopher and statesman
Seneca
In his essay “On Anger” (De Ira), the Roman Stoic thinker
Seneca (c. 4 BC–65 AD) argues that anger is the most destructive
passion: “No plague has cost the human race more dear.” This was
proved by his own life, which he barely preserved under one
wrathful emperor, Caligula, and lost under a second, Nero. This
splendid new translation of essential selections from “On Anger,”
presented with an enlightening introduction and the original Latin
on facing pages, offers readers a timeless guide to avoiding and
managing anger. It vividly illustrates why the emotion is so
dangerous and why controlling it would bring vast benefits to
individuals and society.
Drawing on his great arsenal of rhetoric, including historical
examples (especially from Caligula’s horrific reign), anecdotes,
quips, and soaring flights of eloquence, Seneca builds his case
against anger with mounting intensity. Like a fire-and-brimstone
preacher, he paints a grim picture of the moral perils to which
anger exposes us, tracing nearly all the world’s evils to this one
toxic source. But he then uplifts us with a beatific vision of the
alternate path, a path of forgiveness and compassion that resonates
with Christian and Buddhist ethics.
Seneca’s thoughts on anger have never been more relevant than
today, when uncivil discourse has increasingly infected public
debate. Whether seeking personal growth or political renewal,
readers will find, in Seneca’s wisdom, a valuable antidote to the
ills of an angry age.
James Romm is the editor and translator of Seneca’s How to Die: An Ancient Guide to the End of Life (Princeton) and the author of Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero (Knopf). He has written for the New York Review of Books and the Wall Street Journal, among other publications. He is the James H. Ottaway Jr. Professor of Classics at Bard College and lives in Barrytown, New York.