Contro la passione di punire. Rileggendo Seneca

The semantic field of punishment (e.g., poena, supplicium, castigatio, ultio) is widely attested in Seneca’s philosophical works. He was deeply interested in such matters, from both a moral and a political point of view. This article investigates in particular two texts: De ira, where punishment is explored in its psychological, anthropological, and ethical dimensions related to the genesis of anger, and De clementia, which deals with punishment as a prerogative of the imperial power. Seneca’s statements about punishment (the call for mildness, rationality, and restraint in punishment policy, the critique of retributivism, and the emphasis on the goal of reforming the offender) mark a fundamental step in the history of philosophical and legal thought.