Seneca in his Moral Epistles to Lucilius (Epistulae morales ad Lucilium) frequently refers to Epicurus with approval. Lucilius must have been favourably disposed to this view; for instance, we find Seneca complimenting Lucilius on a book he has written and saying that the style reminds him of Livy or Epicurus – evidently a comparison which Lucilius would have appreciated (Epistle 46).

Seneca rejected popular appraisals of Epicurus as pleasure-seeking and effeminate (33). Epicurus is worth listening to, and his wise sayings should be regarded not as Epicurus’ alone but as common and public property (8, 12, 21). Epicurus correctly held that we do not need to live under the constraint of baseless beliefs, and it is wrong to do so (12). Seneca adopts from Epicurus ‘a saying that a knowledge of sin is the beginning of salvation’; that is, we can learn (if we are willing) from our faults and mistakes (28).

Well-known followers of Epicurus became great not simply by being taught by Epicurus but by living under the one roof with him (6). According to a saying of Epicurus, we should choose a person of high character and live as if they were watching us (11, tamquam illo spectante…); and in Seneca’s view we would do well to look up to Epicurus, a good man and worthy of being imagined as a witness and guardian of our thoughts: sic fac omnia tamquam spectet Epicurus, ‘Do everything as if Epicurus were watching’ (25).

The theme that Seneca most frequently picks up on from Epicurus is the view that if we adjust our lives to nature we will find that poverty is not poverty at all but sufficiency; the effort to gain wealth is troublesome and superfluous, and if we want more and more we will never get what we want (e.g. 4, 14, 16, 17, 18, 27); if we limit our desires we can be as happy as Jove (25); if we train ourselves to be content with little, we will be not be upset when poverty comes (18). The fool is always getting ready to live (13), being fearful, ungrateful and set on future gain (15). Seneca accepted Epicurus’ principle that to strive for fame is useless; what made the politician Idomeneus famous was that he received letters from Epicurus (21).

Seneca agrees with Epicurus’ view that one should not cater to the crowd, given the differences between what one knows to be true and what the crowd approves (29). According to Epicurus, a person can be happy with an audience of one (7). Withdrawing from the crowd and cultivating friendship with good people is essential; as Epicurus advised, it is more important to consider with whom we eat and drink than what we eat and drink (19). However, whereas for Epicurus friendship was an important bond and source of assistance, Seneca thought that a Stoic should be more self-sufficient (9). Epicurus is right to say that anger if unchecked leads to madness; anger like fire is destructive and we must avoid it for the sake of a healthy mind (18).

Seneca agrees with Epicurus that death is not a problem, because in life death is not present and in death one does not exist to be troubled by it (36). Great pain does not last long, and death relieves us of it (30). Seneca commends Epicurus for bidding us think on death, because the realisation of the true nature of death relieves us from slavery to false notions, including fear of higher powers (26). But one should not seek death; it would be absurd if fears produced by a misunderstanding of the nature of death led us to want to die (24). Seneca is not a total Epicurean in his understanding of death: he allows for the possibility that death may not annihilate us; the better part of us may continue with the burdens of life stripped away (24). Seneca interprets Epicurus’ saying that we go out of life as if we had just entered it as meaning that we should go without superstition, treachery or other curses, which are faults that we did not have when we were born (22).

Epicurus would not have been inclined to agree often with Seneca; but Seneca often agreed with Epicurus.

The letters referred to above may be read online in the translation of Richard M. Gummere, Seneca: Ad Lucilium Epistulae morales (Loeb Classical Library), vol. I, London, Heinemann/ New York, Putnam’s Sons, 1925.