Abstract

In his exitus letter on the death of Corellius Rufus, Pliny attempts to present his dead friend with Stoic characteristics. Not only does Corellius follow the Stoic view on suicide in the case of an incurable disease, but also he is implicitly compared to the Stoic sapiens. This is greatly facilitated by allusions to Seneca’s Epistulae Morales, and in particular to epistle 85, where the sapiens is described and dolor is presented as indifferent to the pursuit of virtus. These allusions allow Pliny to both praise Corellius and at the same time express his objections to the prose consolationes of his predecessors.