Seneca the Elder (c.54 BC-c.39 AD), Roman orator. Seneca, called the Elder to distinguish him from his son, was born in Cordoba (present-day Spain) in the Roman province of Hispania, and lived during the reign of the emperors Augustus, Tiberius and Caligula. He followed in the oratorical tradition of Cicero, and attended lectures in Rome as training to be an advocate. His surviving works include parts of the Controversiae, a collection of imaginary legal cases intended to illustrate particular themes. Seneca's full Roman name is uncertain; he may have been known as Lucius or Marcus Annaeus Seneca. Artwork from 'Histoire des Romains' (1883).