humorous, vulgarity of the _Apocolocyntosis_.[146] He was tutor to the
young Nero, but had not the strength to check his vices. He sought to
control him by flattery and platitudes rather than by the high example
of the philosophy which he professed.[147] The composition of the
treatise _ad Neronem de Clementia_ was a poor reply to Nero's murder of
Britannicus.[148] He could write eloquently of Stoic virtue, but when he
himself was confronted with the hard facts of life over which Stoicism
claimed to triumph, he proved no more than a 'lath painted to look like
iron'. Such is the case against Seneca. That it can be rebutted entirely
it is impossible to claim. But we must remember the age in which he
lived. Its love of debauchery was only equalled by its prurient love of
scandal. Seneca's banishment on the charge of an intrigue with Livilla
is not seriously damaging. The accusation _may_ have been true: it is at
least as likely to have been false, for it was instigated by Messalina.
That he lived in wealth and luxury is undoubted: his only defence was
that he was really indifferent to it; he could face any future; he had,
therefore, a right to enjoy the present.[149] That he ground down the
provincials by his usury is possible; the standard in such matters was
low, and the real nature of his extortions may never have come home to
him; he must have depended largely on his agents. With regard to his
management of the young princeps the case is different. Seneca was given
an almost impossible task. Neither his nature nor his surroundings made
Nero a suitable subject for moral instruction. Seneca must have been
hampered at every turn. He must either bend or break. At least he won
the respect of his pupil, and the good governance of the empire during
the first five years of Nero's reign was due largely to the fact that
the power was really in the hands of Seneca and Burrus.[150] Many of the
weaknesses of his character may be accounted for by physical debility,
and we must further remember that a Stoic of the age of Nero found
himself in a most difficult position. He could not put his principles