Seneca’s thoughts on revenge

Most philosophers get it wrong about revenge, and #seneca was no exception. In his essays titled “On Anger” and “On Clemency,” he recommended to forget #injury and insult, and abandon the #idea of revenge. Seneca gave extensive #arguments against revenge when conceived as warlike. He said that, if we seek revenge, we’ll become “slaves to our passions.” He categorised revengeful individuals as irrational, short-sighted, and self-destructive. His essay “On Anger” shows the problems generated by revenge, which I would categorise as an #emotional plague that has inflicted vast damage in history. Seneca calls for letting go of revengeful attempts and thoughts. Was Seneca right in his admonitions? His condemnation of revenge is similar to the Christian doctrine. We can regard him as a precursor or fellow traveller of Christianity in this respect. I must however dissent on this matter. I don’t share Seneca’s recommendations in this area because his arguments are weak. In his argumentation, he tells us many stories, but those remain unconvincing. For instance, in his essay “On Clemency,” Seneca praises Julius #caesar (100-44 BC) for pardoning his enemies instead of taking revenge. Caesar did indeed pardon many opponents, including Brutus and Cassius. However, those two later plotted against him and ended up assassinating him. Seneca’s praise for Caesar's magnanimity does not match the course of events. It seems obvious that Caesar should have taken revenge, however mild, to prevent his opponents from plotting against him in the future. His magnanimity did him in, one could argue. I wonder why Seneca did not recount the story of Licinius in this respect. If we trust the traditional version of the story, the poet Licinius had insulted Emperor #augustus (63 BC- 14 AD) and feared being punished with exile or worse. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/senecas-thoughts-on-revenge/