He was the director of the Emperor's studies,--a worthy Alcuin to such a Charlemagne.

All that we know about him is that he was once the favourite of Messalina, and afterwards her victim, and that in the day of his eminence the favour of the Emperor placed him so high that he was often seen walking between the two consuls.

Such was the man to whom, on the occasion of his brother's death, Seneca addressed this treatise of consolation.

It has come down to us as a fragment, and it would have been well for Seneca's fame if it had not come down to us at all.

Those who are enthusiastic for his reputation would gladly prove it spurious, but we believe that no candid reader can study it without perceiving its genuineness.