Letters to Ain: Jesus, Seneca, and Roman Emperors:

A Study in Moral Containment of Power

K. Ali Khan

 

Abstract: This epistolary work, which is in the form of letters, explores whether rationality or religion can limit the absolute power granted to rulers for life. Using the contemporary lives of Jesus and Seneca, set against the reigns of Roman emperors from Augustus to Theodosius, the work argues that power defies moral boundaries. Seneca’s Stoic rationalism and Jesus’s radical ethics, especially the command to turn the other cheek, failed to reform rulers who embraced cruelty, even after adopting Christianity. From Nero’s tutelage to Constantine’s conversion and Theodosius’s massacre, history demonstrates that power cannot be effectively taught. The letters conclude that lifelong, unaccountable sovereignty inevitably leads to brutality, regardless of faith, education, or virtue.