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ONSIDE / PHILOSOPHY Who was Seneca? We are often asked, who was Seneca? And what relevance does a Roman philosopher have to a business in the financial sector? M any people have heard the everyday phrase “philosophically speaking” without ever pausing to understand its true meaning or origin. It derives from the Roman philosopher Seneca the Younger, who was tutor to the Emperor Nero and occasional political rising star in the Roman empire. He died in AD49 at his own hand, having learned that he was to be killed under the orders of the unpredictable Emperor. In his death, he evoked the Greek philosopher Socrates who explained how philosophy enabled the learned to rise above external circumstance ̸)%Ё݅́