Despite being himself wealthy, Seneca (4 BC-65 AD) wrote extensively about the advantages of living simply. He came up with dozens of examples that support his advice, but is Seneca someone we can trust? And is it workable to put his advice into practice in our century?
In his dialogue “On the Shortness of Life,” Seneca recounts the story of a wealthy man who had devoted his life to working and investing. The man had devoted decades to accumulating his fortune, working every day, with little spare time for sports, hobbies or anything else.
According to Seneca, that wealthy man had wasted his life. He had been working too much, leaving no time for enjoyment or happiness. The wealthy man, says Seneca, was complaining that “he had never lived truly.”
Seneca reminds that “life is short” and that we should adopt a simple lifestyle that enables us to live happily. He condemns the pursuit of wealth very determinedly, and repeats his litany that we should use our time wisely.
I regard Seneca’s advice as contradictory and unrealistic. In the case of the wealthy man, what was Seneca recommending exactly? Should the man be happier if he had lived in poverty all his life? Of course not, I hasten to answer.
Seneca’s conception of a simple lifestyle
Seneca’s admonishment against “time-wasting activities” is a rhetorical device. He does not explain why we should regard work as a waste of time.
In fact, Seneca himself did not heed his own advice because he devoted decades to multiplying the assets he had inherited from his parents.
He worked assiduously and went from millionaire to multi-millionaire, and eventually became one of the wealthiest men in the Roman Empire. If such a person advises us to embrace a simple, modest lifestyle, should we believe his words?
Seneca had been holding a high position at Emperor Nero’s court, and during those years, he had been living in luxury. He then was accused of having an affair with Emperor Claudius’ niece, Julia Livilla, and exiled to Corsica, a large island on the Mediterranean Sea.
In the writings of Seneca, the call for “leading a simple life” coincides with his exile to Corsica in the year 41 AD; however, his exile remained comfortable for Roman standards. Seneca did not lack anything when he was living in Corsica other than direct, daily access to the friends he had left behind in Rome.
I view Seneca’s “simple life” more as a literary construction than a harsh reality. After going into exile to Corsica, he lived almost for a quarter of a century, going far beyond the average life expectancy in the Roman Empire.
Seneca’s argument in favour a simple lifestyle
What is Seneca’s key argument for recommending a simple lifestyle? Tranquillity. In Rome, he had deployed extraordinary ambition and worked with intensity. In Corsica, he embraced a low-pace lifestyle that he now recommended to everybody.
Let me underline that, during his exile in Corsica, Seneca was still a wealthy man. He was eating simple food, but he was not himself labouring in the fields, nor milking the sheep, nor making cheese, nor cooking, nor cleaning the house.
I find it easy for Seneca to praise the tranquillity and ease of a bucolic lifestyle, when he had servants catering to his wishes. His lifestyle choices may have been modest, but they were still effortless.
Compared to the lifestyle in Nero’s imperial court in Rome, Seneca was eating a monotonous diet and inhabiting a modest, small home, but so what?
Despite living in exile in Corsica, the quality of Seneca’s food and lodging, his access to books and writing materials, do not give me the impression that he lacked anything.
The details that he reveals depict a lifestyle that few people in the Roman Empire could afford. When emphasises peace of mind and tranquillity, he makes me think of someone enjoying a long vacation on a Caribbean island, or on a Greek island.
Putting Seneca’s advice into practice today
In his 2nd Letter to Lucilius, Seneca makes statements that in no way can be correlated to his own actions. When he says that “we should have a plan for our life and pursue that goal,” how is that related to his being forced to relocate to Corsica?
Seneca advices us to “focus on our inner self because that is the secret of happiness,” but he wasn’t doing that himself prior to his exile in Corsica. Even then, he did everything possible to enjoy himself.
When Seneca took long walks on the island to enjoy nature, he wasn’t particularly “focusing on his inner self” nor focusing on his own moral development.
Thus I am afraid that we should take Seneca’s advice with a grain of salt. I hope that none of us is forced into exile on some island, but even then, Corsica would not be a bad choice. Good weather, a blue sea, and wonderful nature.
Nonetheless, for those who aren’t millionaires, Seneca’s idea of a simple life might prove unaffordable. I do not think that it makes sense for a career-oriented person to quit his ambitions, leave everything behind, and go to live in a rural area because food and lodging are less expensive there.
Seneca always came back to his recommendation of “living in accordance with nature,” which I would rather formulate as “living in accordance with reason.” That should be the criterion for our decisions, especially the crucial ones.
If you are interested in putting rational ideas into practice, I recommend you my books “The philosophy of builders” and “The 10 principles of rational living.”