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Seneca mentions many individual and competitive sports in his philosophical writing because, since they were obviously familiar to his audience, he could use them to drive home points, and because he thought moderate exercise developed character. Through direct reference and allusions, he refers to the following recreational sports activities:

• ball-playing
• physical exercises like weight lifting
• athletic events such as long and high jumping
• foot racing
• javelin throwing
• swimming
• archery
• combat sports like boxing

Romans were practical. The first permanent stadium for athletics wasn't constructed until Domitian, but athletic activity doesn't require a fixed site. Besides the natural rivers and paths for bathing and staying fit, the public used the baths for games and exercise.

Seneca thought exercise should be a means to an end rather than an end in itself. Jealousy of natural athletes may have played a small part in this since the philosopher was not strong and healthy. His frailties even saved his life when Caligula sought to kill him, but was persuaded that nature would do the job just as well. Seneca tried various methods to lessen the severity of his asthma and other ailments, including a rigorous daily regimen of running and swimming. He suggested to his friend Lucilius that he engage in "'running, brandishing weights, and jumping, high-jumping or broad-jumping....'" While he acknowledged the value of exercise, he looked down on those who work on creating bulging muscles. To him they were wasteful: sacrificing time and mental energy. In addition, the amount of food required to support a life devoted to professional athletics leads to mental lethargy.

Healthy body in a healthy mind, Juvenal's mens sana in corpore sano line, is more famous, but Seneca expressd a similar idea. One should exercise to obtain

1. a good mind
2. good spiritual health
3. finally, health of body