On Benefits is one of the works of the final period of Seneca's life, concerns the concession and reception of gifts and favors within society, and examines the complex nature and role of gratitude in the context of stoic ethics. The work is divided into seven books subdivided into various sections, containing exhortations that the philosopher makes to his friend Aebutius Liberalis who is also the subject of Seneca's letter 91.
It is an essay on gratitude. Seneca explains why he considers the exchange of benefits to be the main bond of human society. The book answers questions such as What should we in return for a benefit received - What kinds of benefits should be granted, and in what way - From whom should we receive a benefit? - Should ingratitude be punished by law? - Can a slave grant a benefit? - Can a child grant a benefit to his father? - How to choose the man to benefit - How to tolerate the ungrateful.
Seneca uses the daily situations and common habits of the Romans to carry out some aspects of stoic philosophy, which makes reading doubly interesting: not only for philosophy but also because it allows us to get to know the culture and society of the Roman Empire. Seneca's ethics are always pure, and from him we get the vision of the doctrines of the Greek philosophers, Zeno, Epicurus, Crisippus and others, whose precepts and system of philosophical thought had in the cultured Roman society occupied the place of the old worship of the gods Jupiter.
Although De Beneficiis is typically translated as On Benefits, the word Beneficiis is derived from the Latin word beneficium, meaning a favor, benefit, service, or kindness. Other translations of the title have included: On gifts and services; On the Award and Reception of Favors; On Favours and On kind deeds.
