xii.; Aubertin, _Seneque et St.Paul_.)] What a vivid glimpse do we here obtain, from the graphic picture of an eye-witness, of the daily life in an ancient provincial forum; how completely do we seem to catch sight for a moment of that habitual expression of contempt which curled the thin lips of a Roman aristocrat in the presence of subject nations, and especially of Jews! If Seneca had come across any of the Alexandrian Jews in his Egyptian travels, the only impression left on his mind was that expressed by Tacitus, Juvenal, and Suetonius, who never mention the Jews without execration.

In a passage, quoted by St.Augustine (_De Civit.

Dei_, iv.

11) from his lost book on Superstitions, Seneca speaks of the multitude of their proselytes, and calls them "_gens sceleratissima_," a "_most criminal race_." It has been often conjectured--it has even been seriously believed--that Seneca had personal intercourse with St.Paul and learnt from him some lessons of Christianity.

The scene on which we have just been gazing will show us the utter unlikelihood of such a supposition.
Probably the nearest opportunity which ever occurred to bring the Christian Apostle into intellectual contact with the Roman philosopher was this occasion, when St.Paul was dragged as a prisoner into the presence of Seneca's elder brother.