Romm spins a good yarn. His work on Seneca in Nero's court, which read more like Nero's court featuring Seneca, accomplished what Aristotle asks of all literature: to delight and instruct.

Although Romm appears to sympathize with Seneca's position, he presents the Stoic sage's advocates and detractors with fairness.

In the end, "Dying Every Day" depicts a Seneca aligned to Seneca's own imago in "De Vita Beata:""Not a sage. Not as good as the best, but better than the worst."