Head of Autumn: detail of a mosaic at Cirencester, Gloucestershire (late second century A.D.). The Four Seasons were a popular subject in mosaic pavements and painted
ceilings, since one could be placed at each corner. Here Autumn is characterized by the grapes in her hair and a pruning knife above her shoulder.
Growing up in the early years of Tiberius (Epist. 108.22), the younger Seneca was much attracted by philosophy, especially the more ascetic kind. He became a vegetarian,
influenced by Pythagorean ideas, and only desisted in deference to his father, who feared that such eccentricity would earn a black mark from people who mattered: it was
one of the times when 'foreign superstitions' were under governmental attack. Seneca was in any case no rebel. His ambitions soared high. He was prominent enough to be
exiled for a court intrigue under Claudius, but was recalled, and was continuously in a position of influence from about A.D. 49 to A.D. 62. He then fell from grace, and