Sometime in the spring of the year 59, the emperor Nero decided to murder his mother. As you can imagine, the two were not on good terms. In a gesture designed to appear conciliatory, Nero invited his mother, Agrippina, to join him at a festival in Baiae, a resort town near present-day Naples…

An extract from the New Yorker: How Seneca became the first philosopher-fixer.  Or how Seneca wrote a speech for Nero excusing his murder of his mother via collapsible boat.