Seneca, the elder (Lucius, or Marcus, Annaeus Seneca), c.60 B.C.-c.A.D. 37, Roman rhetorician and writer, b. Corduba (present-day Córdoba), Spain; grandfather of Lucan and father of Seneca the younger. He spent most of his life in Spain but made frequent trips to Rome, where he observed the leading orators of the day. Seneca the elder wrote two major works, the Controversies, a collection of imaginary legal cases as they might be argued before a court of law; and Persuasions, model orations on various subjects. The prefaces to the Controversies contain valuable material on famous Roman orators. He also wrote a history of Rome from the time of the civil wars to the 1st cent. A.D.

Seneca, the younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca), c.3 B.C.-A.D. 65, Roman philosopher, dramatist, and statesman, b. Corduba (present-day Córdoba), Spain. He was the son of Seneca the elder. The younger Seneca went to Rome in his childhood, studied rhetoric and philosophy, and earned renown as an orator when still a youth. He was exiled by Claudius (A.D. 41) ostensibly because of his intimacy with Julia, Claudius' brother Germanicus' daughter. In A.D. 49 he was recalled at the urgings of Agrippina the Younger to become tutor of the young Nero. In the first years of Nero's reign Seneca was virtual ruler with Afranius Burrus, and their influence on the emperor was probably for the best. But the ascendancy of Poppaea, Nero's wife, brought about first the death of Agrippina (A.D. 59), then that of Burrus (A.D. 62). Seneca asked to retire. He had amassed a huge fortune and wanted no more of court life. Accusations of conspiracy were finally leveled at Seneca, who, instructed to commit suicide, slashed his veins. His death scene was considered remarkably noble by the Romans. Seneca was a Stoic, and his writings show a high, unselfish nobility considerably at variance with his own life, in which greed, expediency, and even connivance at murder figured. His Epistolae morales ad Lucilium are essays on ethics written for his friend Lucilius Junior, to whom he also addressed Quaestiones naturales, philosophical—rather than scientific—remarks about natural phenomena. The so-called Dialogi of Seneca include essays on anger, on divine providence, on Stoic impassivity, and on peace of soul. Other moral essays have also survived, notably De elementia, on the duty of a ruler to be merciful, and De beneficiis, on the award and reception of favors. The Apocolocyntosis is a satire on the apotheosis of Claudius. The most influential of his works, at least in so far as European literature is concerned, were his tragedies. It is generally agreed that his plays were written for recitation and not for stage performance. Nine plays, based on Greek models, are accepted as his—Hercules Furens, Medea, Troades, Phaedra, Agamemnon, Oedipus, Hercules Oetaeus, Phoenissae, and Thyestes. A tenth, Octavia, is now ascribed to a later imitator. Although his drama has been deprecated in modern times, no author had a stronger influence on Renaissance tragedy than did Seneca. His atmosphere of gloom, his horrors, his rhetoric and bombast, his stoicism, were all essential contributions to the forming of Renaissance tragedy. The most significant play influenced by Seneca was Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy.

Seneca, Native North Americans: see Iroquois Confederacy.

North American Indian people living mainly in western New York, U.S. Their language belongs to the Iroquoian linguistic group, and their traditional homeland is western New York and eastern Ohio. They were the largest nation of the Iroquois Confederacy and were known as the “Keepers of the Western Door.” They call themselves Onondowahgah, meaning “People of the Great Hill.” The Seneca have eight clans, with clan membership determined through the maternal line. Historically, families linked by maternal kinship lived together in longhouses. Each community had a council of adult males, which guided the village chief. In the autumn small parties would leave the villages for the annual hunt, returning about midwinter; spring was the fishing season. Seneca women cultivated corn and other vegetables. Warfare with other indigenous nations was frequent. In the American Revolution the Seneca were British allies, as a result of which Gen. John Sullivan destroyed their villages in 1779. In 1797 they secured land for 12 reservations in western New York, some of which still exist. Early 21st-century population estimates indicated some 16,000 individuals of Seneca descent. Seealso Cornplanter; Ganioda'yo.

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Seneca may refer to:

People

• Seneca the Elder, Roman orator and writer
• Seneca the Younger, son of Seneca the Elder, Roman philosopher and playwright, tutor and advisor of Nero
• Seneca Wallace, American football quarterback/wide receiver currently playing for the Seattle Seahawks

Places

Communities

In the United States:

• Seneca, Illinois
• Seneca, Iowa
• Seneca, Kansas
• Seneca, Missouri
• In New York:
• Seneca, New York
• Seneca County, New York
• Seneca Falls (town), New York
• Seneca Falls (village), New York
• West Seneca, New York
• Seneca, Oregon
• Seneca, Pennsylvania
• Seneca, South Carolina
• Seneca, South Dakota
• Seneca, Wisconsin
• Seneca Rocks, West Virginia (formerly "Mouth of Seneca")
• Senecaville, Ohio

Bodies of water

In the United States:

• Seneca Creek (Potomac River), in Maryland
• Seneca Creek (North Fork South Branch Potomac River), West Virginia
• Seneca Lake (New York)
• Senecaville Lake or Seneca Lake, in Ohio
• Seneca River (New York)
• Seneca River (South Carolina)

Schools

Canada

• Seneca College, in Toronto, OntarioUnited States
• Seneca Middle School, in Clinton, Michigan (until 1996: Chippewa Valley High School)
• Seneca High School MCA in Louisville, Kentucky
• Seneca High School (New Jersey), in Burlington County

Other

The moon

• Seneca (crater)United States
• Seneca Army Depot, in Seneca County, New York
• Seneca Rocks, a large crag and local landmark in West Virginia
• Seneca Park Zoo, in Rochester, New York
• Seneca Park, in Louisville, Kentucky

Other

• Seneca nation, a tribe of Native Americans
• The Seneca language
• Seneca Foods, a major fruit and vegetable processor
• USS Seneca, the name of five U.S. Navy ships
• Piper PA-34 Seneca, a light twin-engine aircraft
• The Seneca Falls Convention, often called the birthplace of the American women's rights movement
• Seneca (cigarettes), a brand of additive free cigarettes