Little known probable and actual facts about Seneca
- He probably had his elder brother, Gallio, with him in exile on Corsica and they probably returned to Rome together when Seneca was called back. Gallio became proconsul of the newly constituted senatorial province of Achaea under Claudius and the emperor referred to him as his friend. During Gallio's time in Achaea some Jews came to him with a guy called Paul who they said were causing trouble...
- He was probably not wealthy at all during the eight years on Corsica but relied on the allowance granted to exiles. He made fun of that allowance and described it as quite big when he tried to convince his mother that everything was fine on Corsica - but it probably wasn't.
- Both of Seneca's brothers became involved in high-level intrigues in the early 60s AD - just like Seneca - and both were forced to kill themselves - just like Seneca.
Sources:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Junius_Gallio_Annaeanus
Seneca: Consolation to Helvia
Another interesting fact is that Seneca's first name "Lucius" and the name of the person he addressed his letters and other writings to - Lucilius - both are derived from the Latin word "Lux" which means "light" (as in sunlight). Names like that were common at the time but it's tempting to speculate that the writings to "Lucilius" are actually directed to Seneca's younger self - not least because Lucilius is not mentioned anywhere outside of Seneca's writings.