thumb|right|upright=1.2|Art depicting Saint [[Paul of Tarsus|Paul in a 9th-century manuscript from the Abbey of Saint Gall.]]
The Correspondence of (or between) Paul and Seneca, also known as the Letters of Paul and Seneca or Epistle to Seneca the Younger, is a collection of letters claiming to be between Paul the Apostle and Seneca the Younger. There are 8 epistles from Seneca, and 6 replies from Paul. They were purportedly authored from 58–64 CE during the reign of Roman Emperor Nero, but appear to have actually been written in the middle of the fourth century (). Until the Renaissance, the epistles were seen as genuine, but scholars began to critically examine them in the 15th century, and today they are held to be inauthentic forgeries.
Summary and background
thumb|right|upright=1.2|A 14th-century English depiction of three classical philosophers held in high esteem in the medieval era: [[Plato, Seneca, and Aristotle. Seneca's reputation was partially linked to his apocryphal friendship with Paul.]]
Paul of Tarsus was an early Christian theologian and evangelist, who wrote epistles to Christian communities and founded multiple churches across the Greek-speaking Eastern Mediterranean region. Seneca the Younger was one of the foremost philosophers of Stoicism, a teacher and adviser to Emperor Nero, a dramatist, and a Roman government official. The correspondence between them comprises fourteen letters in total (8 from Seneca, 6 from Paul) and is written in Latin. It has little substantive content. It largely consists of the two praising each other; Seneca lavishes flattery on Paul, while Paul responds in kind. Essentially, the main interest of these letters is that they exist at all: they ostensibly demonstrate that Paul was important and respected enough to trade letters with the eminent philosopher Seneca, that Seneca was wise enough to understand Paul's greatness despite being a pagan, and that the two were friends.
Many, but not all, surviving manuscripts include dates on some of the letters of the correspondence. The one epistle that does include substantive content is the 11th one dated 64 CE, which directly discusses the Great Fire of Rome.
Augustine of Hippo also briefly mentions the correspondence, as does Pseudo-Linus. Paul's Epistle to Philemon says he was imprisoned in Rome and that the Praetorian Guard knew of this; the Guard was at one point commanded by Burrus, an ally of Seneca. Stoicism, much like Hellenistic Judaism, was considered a precursor to Christianity that helped influence its stances and terminology; ('conscience') was originally a Stoic term, for example, and Stoicism's criticisms of the (pagan) Roman religion was something Christians were eager to take for themselves as well. The Christian polemicist Tertullian called Seneca "" ("often ours") and approved of his criticism of pagan superstition. The medieval authors Peter of Cluny, Peter Abelard, and Petrarch all seem familiar with the correspondence. A few medieval writers such as Giovanni Colonna and Giovanni Boccaccio even claimed that Seneca had outright converted to Christianity before his suicide in 65 CE, partially on the basis of the correspondence.
Scholarly analysis
Scholars almost universally believe the correspondence to be forged. Italian historian Marta Sordi also supports the authenticity of the letters. During the 15th century in the Renaissance, more skeptical analysis raised doubts on the veracity of the correspondence. Later scholars detected errors of fact and chronology that the genuine Seneca would not have made, but a forger not intricately familiar with Roman history writing centuries later might have.