Provenance Of

The influences behind The Last Days of Disco

31 works across 28 centuries, back to Hebrew Bible (Genesis, Psalms) and Iliad.

  1. Cover of Moral Letters to Lucilius

    c. 65 CE

    Moral Letters to Lucilius

    Seneca

    Neronian. Imperial Rome. Written in Latin.

    Collection of philosophical letters giving Stoic counsel on living well.

    What it handed down

    To Essays (Essais) (1580)

    Direct source, well documented.

    Montaigne names Seneca, with Plutarch, as the author he returns to most, and the early essays are built on quotations from the Letters. The Letters' personal, conversational treatment of moral topics is a model for the essay form.

    Where it came from

    The line stops here: seneca's sources are Greek Stoic treatises that survive mostly in fragments.

    Find “Moral Letters to Lucilius” on Amazon

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Preview card: the tree of influence behind The Last Days of Disco