Tac. Ann. xiii. 14, ‘Audiretur hinc Germanici filia, inde debilis rursus Burrus et exsul Seneca, trunca scilicet manu et professoria lingua generis humani regimen expostulantes.’
It is unlikely that Seneca opposed the murder of Britannicus (Feb. A.D. 55). Cf. Tac. Ann. xiii. 17, ‘Facinus cui plerique iam hominum ignoscebant, antiquas fratrum discordias et insociabile regnum aestimantes.’[75]
Seneca took part shortly afterwards in the trial in which Agrippina was found not guilty (Tac. Ann. xiii. 20-21). There are many references to Seneca’s great power and wealth at this time.[76]
Cf. Dio, lxi. 4, 1, αὐτοὶ (Seneca and Burrus) τὴν ἀρχὴν ἅπασαν παρέλαβον καὶ διῴκησαν ἐφ’ ὅσον ἠδυνήθησαν ἄριστα καὶ δικαιότατα.
Tac. Ann. xiv. 53 (Seneca addressing Nero in A.D. 62), ‘Quartus decimus annus est, Caesar, ex quo spei tuae admotus sum, octavus, ut imperium obtines: medio temporis tantum honorum atque opum in me cumulasti, ut nihil felicitati meae desit nisi moderatio eius... At tu gratiam immensam, innumeram pecuniam circumdedisti, adeo ut plerumque intra me ipse volvam, “Egone, equestri et provinciali loco ortus, proceribus civitatis adnumeror? ... Talis hortos extruit, et per haec suburbana incedit, et tantis agrorum spatiis, tam lato faenore exuberat?”’
Tac. Ann. xiii. 42 (speech of Suillius, A.D. 58), ‘Qua sapientia, quibus philosophorum praeceptis, intra quadriennium regiae amicitiae ter miliens sestertium paravisset?’ (Dio, lxi. 10, 2, gives his wealth as 75,000,000 denarii).
Seneca had many estates both in Italy (Ep. 123, 1, etc.) and abroad, and lent money abroad, even in Britain. His attraction to finance is seen in the number of metaphors he draws from that subject.
Sen. vit. beat. 17, 2, ‘Cur trans mare possides? cur plura quam nosti?’
Dio, lxii. 2, 1 (of the rising of the Britons under Boudicca), ὁ Σενέκας χιλίας σφίσι μυριάδας ἄκουσιν ἐπὶ χρησταῖς ἐλπίσι τόκων δανείσας, ἔπειτ’ ἀθρόας τε ἅμα αὐτὰς καὶ βιαίως εἰσέπρασσεν.
His attack on usury (de ben. vii. 10, 3) is a piece of theoretic philosophy.