Annaeus Serenus (died perhaps 62/63) was a close, younger friend and probably also a distant relative of the Roman politician and philosopher

Lucius Annaeus Seneca Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger ( ; AD 65), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, a dramatist, and in one work, a satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature. Seneca ...

(d. 65). He belonged to the

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

Life

Under the Roman Emperor

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

, Serenus was entrusted with the office of ''

praefectus vigilum The ''praefectus vigilum'' (, pl.: ''praefecti vigilum'') was, starting with the reign of the Emperor Augustus, the commander of the city guards in Rome (''cohortes vigilum'' or ''vigiles''), whom were responsible for maintaining peace and order ...

'', i.e. he was the chief of the Roman fire brigade, which kept watch at night all over the city and ensured that fires that frequently broke out in Rome were quickly extinguished. Under Emperor

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

– as mentioned by the historian

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

–

Decrius Calpurnianus Decrius Calpurnianus (died Autumn 48 AD) was a Roman '' Eques'' of the early Roman imperial period. Decrius Calpurnianus was ''praefectus vigilum''. He was executed, according to the Roman historian Tacitus, as well as several other distinguished R ...

was still chief of the fire guard. He was executed for involvement in an attempted coup in 48 A.D. Laelianus held the office until 54, when he was transferred to Armenia. The British historian

Miriam Griffin Miriam Tamara Griffin (née Dressler; 6 June 1935 – 16 May 2018) was an American classical scholar and tutor of ancient history at Somerville College at the University of Oxford from 1967 to 2002. She was a scholar of Roman history and ancien ...

suspects that Serenus received the office of ''praefectus vigilum'' after 54 and died before 62, before

Tigellinus Ofonius Tigellinus'' Oxford Classical Dictionary'',Ofonius Tigellinus ( – 69) was a prefect of the Roman imperial bodyguard, known as the Praetorian Guard, from 62 until 68, during the reign of emperor Nero. Tigellinus gained ...

held the office. He may have benefited from intercession on the part of his friend Seneca. As can be seen from Seneca's treatises and letters, Serenus suffered from doubts about life and thought of withdrawing from public life. He therefore also sought the philosophical advice of his friend. In Seneca's treatise "On the Tranquillity of the Soul" (''

De Tranquillitate Animi ''De Tranquillitate Animi'' (''On the tranquility of the mind / on peace of mind'') is a Latin work by the Stoic philosopher Seneca (4 BC–65 AD). The dialogue concerns the state of mind of Seneca's friend Annaeus Serenus, and how to cure Seren ...

''), a letter from Annaeus Serenus to Seneca is reproduced at the beginning, from which it becomes apparent how much Serenus was attracted to a simple life of moderation, and at the same time how much he was irritated by the hectic pursuit of state positions of honour and a life of luxury that he observed all around him. While Serenus was initially close to Epicurean thought, under Seneca's influence he moved closer to the philosophy of the Stoa and decided to remain at the imperial court. Seneca dedicated to his friend the writings '' De Constantia Sapientis'' and ''

'' and perhaps (for the name is again erased in the Index of the Ambrosianus) '' De Otio''. As Tacitus reports, Serenus played a helpful role in the young Emperor Nero's love affair with the freedwoman

Claudia Acte Claudia Acte was a freedwoman of ancient Rome who became a mistress of the emperor Nero. She came from Asia Minor and might have become a slave of the Emperor Claudius, following his expansion of the Roman Empire into Lycia and Pamphylia; or she m ...

by providing the Emperor's favourite, who suffered under the surveillance of his mother Agrippina, with the latter's secret gifts. According to the writer

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

, Serenus was murdered with a meal of poisoned mushrooms (probably around 62/63 AD). Seneca, by his own account, "mourned the death of his friend immoderately."Seneca, ''Ad Lucilium'' 63,14.

References

Praefecti vigilum 1st-century Romans Ancient Roman equites Poisoned ancient Romans 60s deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death uncertain