His only heir was his uncle, Claudius, who had been deformed by a childhood illness and had spent his life as the butt of family jokes. Possibly Rome's most unlikely emperor, Claudius worked hard ...

When Claudius took the throne, things got even worse. Accused of adultery with the emperor's niece, Julia Livilla, Seneca was banished to Corsica in 41 AD. He was already famous as a writer and ...