CICERO: "CATO MAIOR: DE SENECTUTE" (ON OLD AGE).

CICERO: "CATO MAIOR: DE SENECTUTE" (ON OLD AGE).

Introduction:

Sabidius published on this blog a translation of Book III of Cicero's "De Officiis" on December 8th, 2018, and in the introduction to this he explains why that particular book was chosen. In making that translation, however, he was assisted, and, to some extent inspired, by the translation offered by Michael Grant as an item in his "Cicero's 'Selected Works' ", (Penguin Classics, 1960). Now, Sabidius has turned to the translation of another of Cicero's philosophical works, his "De Senectute," - 'On Old Age' - or, to give it its full title, his "Cato Maior De Senectute," since Cicero's expresses his views through the supposed mouthpiece of Cato the Elder, or Cato the Censor, the famous Roman statesman, farmer, soldier and writer ( 234-149 B.C.) The imaginary conversation recorded in this work is supposed to have occurred in 150 B.C. when Cato the Elder was 84 years of age. His interlocutors, or, more truthfully perhaps, his audience, were Scipio Aemilianus and Laelius Sapiens, both still relatively young men at the time of the conversation, who were later to become famous statesmen themselves. 

Cicero is thought to have first published the "De Senectute" in April 44, shortly after Caesar's death on the Ides of March, but he probably began working on it prior to this and continued to revise it for some weeks and months into the summer of 44. Unsurprisingly perhaps, the work is dedicated to his great friend, Titus Pomponius Atticus. In writing the "De Senectute", Cicero follows the pattern of the now lost Aristotelian dialogues, in which an exposition is presented rather than the sort of discussion that is featured in the dialogues of Plato. 

Apart from the linguistic delights of Cicero's beautiful Latin prose, with its exalted sentiments and its exquisite literary finish, "De Senectute" is a most engaging piece of work. It is a goldmine of information about Roman history and famous Roman heroes and statesmen, upon whom both Cicero and his readers would naturally wish to model themselves, such as Fabius Maximus Cunctator, with whom Cato himself had clearly been closely associated. At the same time, much of the advice that he gives in relation to old age, and how to maximise its advantages, are thoroughly pertinent, not only to the times in which he, Cato the Elder that is, lived, but also to any other age or time, including our own.

Indeed, from the mouth of Cato Cicero demonstrates clearly, and in a truly inspirational manner, just how far old age promotes, and does not frustrate, intellectual strength. By way of examples, the following quotations from Cicero's text are given below:   

a. "Manent ingenia senibus, modo permaneat studium et industria ... ". Old men retain their mental faculties, if only their interest and application continue ... (sec. 22).

b. "Hae sunt exercitationes ingeni, haec curricula mentis; in his desudans atque elaborans corporis viris non magno opere desidero." These are the exercises of my intellect, these are the race-courses of my mind, and, while I am sweating and toiling with them, I do not, to any degree, feel the loss of my bodily strength (sec. 38). 

c. "Si vero habet aliquod tamquam pabulum studi atque doctrinae, nihil est otiosa senectute iucundius." Indeed, if it possesses any fodder-store. as it were, of literary study and learning, there is nothing more enjoyable than a leisured old age (sec. 49).

d. " ... senescere se multa in dies addiscentem, qua voluptate animi nulla certe potest esse maior." ... that as he grew old he learned many things every day; and surely there can be nothing greater than the pleasures of the mind (sec. 50).

Sources. In making this translation Sabidius has principally relied upon the text and translation issued by William Armistead Falconer, Harvard University Press, 1923, available on the Perseus website. Also available to him was the text of "De Senectute", edited by James S. Reid, as revised in America by Francis S. Kelsey, 1882, together with its extensive notes, both of which were fully utilised by Falconer himself. Reid's work is available on the Project Gutenberg website. Sabidius is also indebted to Reid for the structural headings which he has inserted into the translation below.  While a structure of three main headings, in which all but the first nine of the total eighty-five sections, into which the text has been sub-divided, are included under just one section, does seem somewhat unbalanced, it does in fact reflect the way the work is actually structured. Sabidius was also able to make extensive reference to the translation of "De Senectute" by E.S. Shuckburgh, available also on the Project Gutenberg website in 'Cicero's "Treatises on Friendship and Old Age", ' released in 2009. In fact, Shuckburgh's translation dates back to approx. 1900, although, for some reason, Project Gutenberg seems to have obscured this. Nevertheless, Sabidius found it particularly helpful, and was interested to read in Falconer's own accompanying notes that he had also found Shuckburgh's version the best alternative available to him. Finally, of course, Sabidius had available the translation offered by Michael Grant in his "Cicero's Selected Works" (Penguin Classics, 1960) - see the first paragraph above. While Grant's version, in line with his general approach to such translation, is a relatively free one, it has been of value in relation to vocabulary, particularly where abstract nouns are concerned, and in relation to the emphasis to be given to particular words. In general, however, Sabidius has sought to follow his usual approach of keeping his translation in line with the structure of the Latin sentences before him, something which has been a little easier to do perhaps here, when translating one of Cicero's philosophical works, than when one is translating one of his more rhetorical set-pieces, such as one finds in his legal or political speeches.

A.  PRELIMINARY, DEDICATION TO ATTICUS ... 1-3. 

(1) Addressing Atticus, Cicero states his purpose in writing the book.

"O Titus, if I can bring (you) some help or relieve the (weight of) care which is now roasting you and turning (you on the spit which is) implanted in your breast, what will be my reward?"

For I may address you, Atticus (i.e. Titus Pomponius Atticus), in the same words, in which (our poet) (i.e. Gaius Ennius, 239-169, the initiator of Latin hexameter epic poetry, writing in his "Annales") addresses Flamininus (i.e. Titus Quinctius Flamininus, consul 198 B.C. and conqueror of Philip V of Macedon at the battle of Cynoscephalae 197), "that man of no great property but rich in loyalty", although I know for certain that you, Titus, "do not fret and worry night and day", as Flamininus (did), for I know your sense of moderation and the even temper of your mind, and I understand that you brought home from Athens not only a surname (i.e. Atticus), but culture and good sense. And yet I suspect that you are sometimes quite seriously perturbed by the same circumstances (i.e. what he considered to be the tyrannical rule of Julius Caesar, or the dictatorial conduct of Marcus Antonius after Caesar's murder) as (I am) myself, but (to find) comfort for these is too great a task and must be put off to another time. Now, however, I have determined to write some (work) on old age (dedicated) to you.  

(2) Cicero tells us the effect on himself of writing the book. 

For I wish that both you and myself could be relieved from the burden of old age, which is common to me and you (i.e. Cicero was 62 and Atticus 65), and which is either oppressing (us) already or (it is) surely approaching; and yet I know for certain that you, at any rate, are both bearing and will continue to bear it both calmly and philosophically, as (you do) all (other burdens). But, when I decided to write something about old age, you continually occurred to me (as someone) worthy of a gift which both of us might enjoy together. To me, at any rate, the composition of this book was so delightful that it has not only wiped away the vexations of old age, but it has even made old age (seem) comfortable and pleasant. Never, therefore, can philosophy be praised in a sufficiently worthy manner, (as he) who complies with her (precepts) can spend every period of his life free from worry.  

(3) The reasons for putting the sentiments on old age into the mouth of Cato, and the circumstances of the supposed conversation. 

But on other (subjects) I have spoken at length and will often speak (further): this book (which) I have sent to you (is) about old age. But I have attributed the entire discourse, not to Tithonus (i.e. the husband of Dawn, to whom Zeus had granted the gift of eternal life, but not eternal youth) as Aristo of Ceos (did), for there would be too little authority in a myth, but to old Marcus Cato (i.e. Marcus Porcius Cato Maior, consul 195) from whom the dialogue would derive a greater authority; at his home I represent Laelius (i.e. Gaius Laelius Sapiens, consul 140) and Scipio (i.e. Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus Minor, consul 147 and 134, and destroyer of Carthage in 146) expressing their astonishment that he bears his old age so easily, and him replying to them; if he shall appear to argue with greater erudition than he is accustomed (to do) in his books, attribute (this) to Greek literature, of which it is agreed he had become very fond in his old age. But what need is there (to say) more? For, from now on, the words of Cato himself will explain all my views on old age. 

B.  INTRODUCTORY CONVERSATION ... 4-9.

(4) Scipio declares his admiration of Cato's vigorous and happy old age. Cato replies that the secret lies in following the dictates of nature.      

SCIPIO: Together with Gaius Laelius here, I am most frequently wont to marvel, Marcus Cato, at your outstanding and flawless wisdom on matters generally, and especially perhaps because I have felt that old age is never burdensome to you, though to most old men it is so vexatious that they declare themselves to be bearing a burden more heavy than Etna (i.e. the volcanic mountain in eastern Sicily, under which Zeus is said to have entombed the giant Polyphemus). 

CATO: Scipio and Laelius, you seem to be marvelling at something which is not all difficult. For to those, for whom there are no means within themselves to live a good and happy life, every age is wearisome; on the other hand, to those who seek all good (things) from themselves, nothing can seem evil that the requirements of nature involve. In this category old age especially belongs, (something) which everyone wishes to attain, (yet) they complain about it (when it has) arrived; so great is the inconsistency and perversity of folly! They say that it had stolen upon them faster than they had expected. (But,) in the first place, who compelled them to make a false judgment? For how much more rapidly does old age steal up upon youth than youth upon childhood? And again, how much less burdensome would old age be to them, if they were coming up to their eight hundredth year rather than to their eightieth (one)? For past time, however long, once it had slipped away, could not appease foolish old age with any (sort of) consolation. 

(5) Cato emphasises the need to work with nature, and not against her.

Therefore, if you are accustomed to marvel at my wisdom - (and) would that it were worthy of your estimation and my surname (i.e. Sapiens)! - I am wise in this (respect), that I follow nature as the best guide, and I obey her like a divine being; since the other periods of our lives have been (so) well written up (by her), it is not likely that the final act should have been skimped by her, as if by a poor playwright. But yet, there has to be something final, and in the fulness of time, shrivelled and perishable, as it were, just like the berries on trees and the fruits of the earth, which should be borne with resignation by the wise man. For what else is warring with the gods, like the giants (did), other than fighting against nature. 

(6) Laelius then asks Cato to point out the road to such an old age as his own.  

LAELIUS: True, Cato, but, (assuming) that I may speak for Scipio too, you would be doing us a very great favour, if, since we expect, or at least we wish, to become old (men), we may learn from you well in advance on what basis we shall be able to endure the burdens of old age most readily.  

CATO: I shall certainly do (so), Laelius, especially if, as you say, it will be pleasing to both of you. 

LAELIUS: As you have completed that long journey, (upon) which we also must set out, we really do wish, unless it is (too much) trouble (for you), Cato, to see what sort of a place it is, at which you have arrived. 

(7) Cato promises to do as he has been asked, but first remarks that the faults attributed to old age are generally due to defects of character. 

CATO: I shall do (it) as (well as) I can, Laelius. For I have often heard the complaints of my contemporaries - now according to the old adage, like consorts most readily with like - such as Gaius (Livius) Salinator (i.e. consul 188) and Spurius (Postumius) Albinus (i.e. consul 186), men of consular rank, and almost my equals (in years), (who) used to lament, now that they were deprived of sensual pleasures, without which they thought that life was no (life) at all, (and) now that they were being spurned by those by whom they were accustomed to be courted; to me they seemed not to be placing the blame on the thing that should have been taking the blame. For if it had been the fault of old age, (then) these same (misfortunes) would, in practice, have befallen me and all the rest of (those who were) advanced in years, many of whom I have known to be of such a nature that they bore old age without complaint, were not troubled that they had been released from the chains of lust, and were not scorned by their (associates). But the blame for all the complaints of such a kind should fall upon character, not upon age. For old men, (who are) restrained (in their behaviour), and not awkward or churlish, find old age tolerable (enough), while bad temper and discourtesy are tiresome at all (times of) life.    

(8) Laelius suggests that prosperity makes Cato's declining years pleasant. Cato admits that there may be some truth in this, but maintains that good character alone can make old age tolerable.

LAELIUS: It is as you say, Cato; but perhaps someone may say that old age seems more tolerable to you, because of your resources, your means, and your social position, but this cannot befall the lot of many (people). 

CATO: There is, indeed, something in that (objection), Laelius, are all (things) covered by it; as the story goes, Themistocles replied to a certain Seriphian (i.e. Seriphos was a small Aegean island belonging to the Cyclades group) during a quarrel, when the latter had said that his reputation was due to his country's greatness, not his own: "By Hercules," he said, "I would never have been famous, if I (had been) a Seriphian, nor would you, if you had been an Athenian."This can be said in the same way of old age; for amid utter want, old age cannot be a small (matter), not even to a wise (man), nor to a fool, even amid the greatest wealth, (can it) not (be) burdensome.  

(9) According to Cato, the practice of the virtues is the best defence against old age.

Undoubtedly, Scipio and Laelius, the most suitable defences against old age, are the study and practice of the virtues, which, (if) cultivated in every (period of) life, bring forth wonderful fruits, when you have lived a long and active life, not only because they never fail you, not even at the very end of your life, although that is (a matter) of very great (importance), but also because the consciousness of a life well spent and the recollection of many things well done is most delightful. 

C. CATO'S DEFENCE OF OLD AGE ... 10-85.

I. Introductory argument from fact. Accounts of celebrated old men, whose lives until death were happy and useful ... 10-14. 

Fabius Maximus - how he introduced the young Cato into military service.  

(10) In my youth, I was as fond of the elderly Quintus Maximus (i.e. Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator, consul 233, 228, 215, 214, 209, and dictator in 221 and 217), the (man) who recovered Tarentum (i.e. in 209), as if he were of the same age (as me). For there was in that man a dignity tempered with courtesy, and old age had not changed his character. Although I began to cultivate him, (when he was) not extremely old, he was, nevertheless, well advanced in years. For he had been consul for the first time in the year after which I was born, and, when he was consul for the fourth time (i.e. in 214), I set out (with him) for Capua (as) a very young soldier, and five years later for Tarentum. Then, four years after (that) I was elected quaestor, which office I held when (Publius Sempronius) Tuditanus and (Marcus Cornelius) Cethegus were consuls (i.e. in 204), when, as a very old man indeed, he was an advocate of the Cincian law on gifts and fees (i.e. the law proposed in that year by Marcus Cincius Alimentus, which prohibited lawyers from receiving fees from clients, and restricted the extent of the gifts which senators might receive from poor men in exchange for their services). He waged war like a young man, though he was quite old, and he mitigated the boyish exuberance of Hannibal by his patient endurance; about him my friend Ennius (wrote) these splendid (lines): "One man alone restored our state; for he did not put his reputation before our safety; so this man's glory now shines more and more." 

(11) Fabius Maximus (continued) - his many services to the state.

Indeed, with what vigilance and with what insight did he manage to recapture Tarentum! When, in my hearing, (Marcus Livius) Salinator (n.b. this name is given in error by Cicero: the commander of the citadel was actually Marcus Livius Macatus), who had fled to the citadel after losing (control of) the town, said this (to him) in a boastful (voice), "You have recaptured Tarentum, Quintus Fabius, through my exertions," he said with a laugh, "Quite so, for, if you had not lost (it), I could never have recaptured (it)." But, in truth, (he was) not more distinguished in warfare than in civil life. When he was consul for the second time (i.e. in 228), although his colleague Spurius Carvilius (Maximus) kept quiet, he resisted for as long as he could the people's tribune, Gaius Flaminius (i.e. he later became consul in 217, when he was defeated and killed by Hannibal at the disastrous battle of Lake Trasimene) when he tried to divide the territory of the Picenians and the Gauls into separate plots, contrary to the expressed wish of the senate; and, when he was an augur, he ventured to say that, whatever was done on behalf of the security of the state, was done with the best possible auspices; (and) that, whatever was undertaken contrary to (the interests of) the state, was carried out against the auspices.    

(12) Fabius Maximus (continued) - his remarkable level of understanding and historical knowledge.

I recognised many remarkable (qualities) in that great man, but nothing (was) more amazing than the manner in which he bore the death of his son, a distinguished man and a former consul (i.e. Quintus Fabius Maximus, consul 213). His (funeral) eulogy is in everyone's hands (i.e. it is widely read), and, when we read it, what philosopher do we not consider to be inadequate (in comparison). Nor indeed was he great only in public and in the sight of his fellow-countrymen, but at home in private (he was even) more outstanding. What (wonderful) conversation! What (weighty) maxims! What a great understanding of ancient history, and knowledge of augural law! (He was) also very well read for a Roman; he had a complete record, not only of wars involving our own country, but also (those) between foreign (states). At that time, I used to enjoy his conversation so eagerly, as if I already foresaw what (actually) turned out to be the case, that on his death there would be no one (else) from whom I could learn (anything).  

(13) Plato; Isocrates; and Gorgias.

So why (have I said) so many things about Maximus? Because you can surely see that it would be monstrous to say that such an old age (as his) had been an unhappy (one). And yet not everyone can be men like Scipio or Maximus, so they can bring to mind the storming of cities, the battles on land and sea, the wars waged by them, and the triumphs. (But) there is also the tranquil and serene old age of a life spent quietly and with faultless good taste, such as we are told (was that) of Plato (i.e. he lived 428-347), who died at his writing desk in his eighty-first year, (and) such as (that) of Isocrates (i.e. he lived 436-338), who tells (us) that he wrote the book, which is entitled 'Panathenaicus', in his ninety-fourth year, and yet he lived five years after (that); his teacher, Gorgias of Leontini (i.e. he lived 485-c.378) (i.e.  completed a hundred and seven years, but he never put a stop to his literary work. When it was asked of him why he chose to live so long, he said, "I have no (reason) to find fault with old age." 

(14) Ennius. 

A fine answer, and (one) worthy of a learned man!

For fools attribute their own vices and their own faults to old age, but Ennius (i.e. he lived 239-169), the man of whom I made mention just now (see section 10), did not do this: (but he wrote): "So, like a gallant steed that often won an Olympic (trophy) in the final lap, he now takes his rest, worn out by old age." He is comparing his own old age to (that) of a brave and victorious horse; you may indeed recall him quite distinctly; for nineteen years after his death (i.e. in the year 169, when Laelius and Scipio were 17 and 16 years old respectively), our present consuls, Titus (Quinctius) Flamininus and Manius Acilius (Balbus) were elected (i.e. 150, the year in which this conversation was supposed to have occurred); yet he died when (Gnaeus Servilius) Caepio and (Quintus Marcius) Philippus, for the second time, (were) consuls (i.e. 169), (and in the year) when I, at the age of sixty-five, spoke out with a mighty voice and powerful lungs in support of the Voconian law (i.e. the Lex Voconia de mulierum hereditatibus, which was aimed at securing the contiuance of property in families.) At seventy years of age - for Ennius lived that long - he was bearing the two burdens which are regarded (as) the greatest (ones), (namely) poverty and old age, in such a way that he almost seemed to be delighted by them. 

II. Refutation of charges made against old age ... 15-85. 

Statement of the four charges commonly made against old age: 

(15) And, indeed, when I reflect on (it), I find four reasons why old age seems (to be) an unhappy (time): firstly, because it takes (us) away from doing things (i.e. active pursuits); secondly, because it makes the body weaker; thirdly, because it deprives (us) of physical pleasures; (and) fourthly, because it is not far away from death. Let us, if you please, look at each one of these reasons, (and see) how much truth there is in each one (of them). 

1. Refutation of the first charge, that old age withdraws men from active life.

(a) There are employments suited to old age which are as necessary to the well-being of society as those which require greater physical powers ... 15-20.

(15 cont.) Old age takes (us) away from doing things. From what (things)? (Is it) from those (things) which are pursued by means of youth and strength? Are there, then, no activities (suitable for) old men, such as can be governed by their minds and brains? Was there, therefore, no occupation for Quintus Maximus, and none for your father (i.e. the father of Scipio Aemilianus), Lucius (Aemilius) Paulus (Macedonicus) (i.e. consul 182, 168, who finished the Third Macedonian War by utterly defeating King Perseus at Pydna in 168), the father-in-law of that best of men, my son (i.e. Marcus Porcius Cato Licinianus, who distinguished himself at the battle of Pydna in 168 under the command of Lucius Paulus, whose daughter Aemilia Tertia he later married; he died in 152, two years before this supposed conversation)? (And) those other old (men, like) (Gaius) Fabricius (Luscinus) (i.e. consul 282, 278, and 273, and who held the command against King Pyrrhus of Epirus during his second consulship), (Manius) Curius (Dentatus) (i.e. consul 290, 284, 275, 274, who fought Pyrrhus in the inconclusive battle of Beneventum in 275, which nevertheless forced Pyrrhus out of Italy) (and) (Tiberius) Coruncanius (i.e. consul 280, when he crushed an Etruscan insurrection), were they doing nothing, when they were defending the state by their experience and their authority?  

(16) To the old age of Appius Claudius (Caecus) (i.e. consul 307 and 296) was also added (the fact) that he was blind; yet, when the opinion of the senate was inclining towards peace with Pyrrhus (i.e. King of Epirus 295-272) and the making of a treaty (with him), he did not hesitate to say those (words) which Ennius (later) put into verse: "What madness has turned your minds, which, until now, were wont to stand firm, from their course?" - and so on in the most impressive style, for the poem is familiar to you, and, after all, the speech of Appius himself is (still) extant. Now he delivered it seventeen years after his second consulship (i.e. in 279), although ten years had elapsed between his two consulships, and he had been censor before his earlier consulship (i.e. in 312-308), from which it is known that he was extremely old at the time of the war with Pyrrhus (i.e. 282-275), and yet such is the story we have received from our fathers. 

(17) (Those) who say that old age means doing nothing useful are contributing nothing (that makes any sense), and they are like those who say that a helmsman is doing nothing in relation to the sailing of a ship, (because,) while others are climbing the masts, and hurrying across the gangways, and pumping out the bilge-water, he is sitting quietly in the stern holding the tiller; he may not be doing what the young men (are doing), but in truth he is doing (things which are) far more important and more valuable. (It is) not by strength, or speed, or physical dexterity that great things are done, but by thought, character and judgment, (qualities) which are wont not only to diminish but even to expand in old age.  

(18) Unless perhaps I, who as a private soldier, and as a military tribune, and as a legate, and as consul, have been engaged in various kinds of warfare, now appear to be idle, because I am not waging war. Yet I direct the senate as to what (wars) should be waged and by what means. Now well in advance, I am declaring war upon Carthage, which has long been plotting mischief, and I shall not cease to fear her until I know that she had been destroyed.  

(19) Would that the immortal gods may reserve this prize for you, Scipio, so you may pursue what is left of the work of your grandfather (i.e. Lucius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Maior, consul 205, 194), from whose death (i.e. in 183) thirty-three years have passed, but each succeeding year will honour that man's memory. He died in the year before I was censor (n.b. as Cato was censor in 184, this implies that the Elder Scipio died in 185, which is two years before the actual date of his death), nine years after my consulship, (and) while I was consul (i.e. in 195), he was elected consul for the second time. So, if he had lived to his hundredth year, would he not be regretting his old age? (No,) for he would not be spending his time running and jumping, and in long-distance throwing of spears or hand-to-hand sword(-fighting), but in counselling, reasoning and voting, (activities) which, if they were not characteristic of old men, our ancestors would not have called their highest council the 'senate' (i.e. assembly of old men). 

(20) Indeed, among the Lacedaemonians (i.e. the Spartans), those, who hold the most honorable office of state are also called the 'elders'. But if you chose to read and to listen to the (histories of) foreign (countries), you will learn that the greatest states have been brought down by the young and sustained and restored by the old. "How, pray, did you lose that great state of yours so quickly?" For so are they asked in (a play) of the poet Naevius, entitled 'The Wolf'. They gave a number of answers, and this (one) especially: "(Because) brand new orators, silly lads (they were), came forth." Rashness, you see, is (the mark) of youth; good sense is (that) of growing old.

(b) The special objection that old men have weak memories is answered by showing that this is due either to an original defect or to insufficient exercise ... 21-22.

(21) But, (it is alleged), memory is impaired (by old age). Of course (it is), if you do not exercise it, or if you are also somewhat retarded by nature. Themistocles had learned by heart the names of all his (fellow-)citizens; do you imagine then that, when he was advanced in age, he would have been wont to greet (as) Lysimachus (the man) who was (actually) Aristides? For I indeed am acquainted not only with those who are (living), but also with their fathers and grandfathers, nor, as I read (the epitaphs on) their tombs, do I fear that I shall lose my memory (of them), as some say (will happen); for, by reading them, I refresh my memory of the dead. I have never heard of any old man forgetting in what place he had hidden his money. They remember everything which matters (to them), any court appointments (which have been) arranged (for them), those to whom they owe (money) and anyone who owes them. 

(22) (And) what about elderly lawyers, priests, augurs, and philosophers? What a multitude (of things) they remember! Old men retain their mental faculties, if only their interest and application continue, and this applies not only to men (who are) well-known and in public office, but also (those) leading a quiet and private life. Sophocles wrote tragedies right up into extreme old age; when he seemed to be neglecting his family's business affairs on account of his literary work, he was taken to court by his sons, so that, just as in our case it is customary for fathers who are badly managing their family's affairs to be deprived of (controlling) their property, the judges might remove him, on account of being weak-minded, as it were, from the management of his family's affairs. Then, the old man is said to have read to the judges the play which he had on hand and which he had just finished writing, the 'Oedipus at Colonus', and to have inquired whether this poem seemed to be the work of a man of weak intellect; and, when he had recited it, he was acquitted by the verdict of the judges. 

(c) Argument from fact: instances of old men in public and in private life who, until their death, were actively at work ... 23-26. 

(23) So then, (do you really think) that old age forced him to cease his pursuits, or (that it silenced) Homer, Hesiod, Simonides, (and) Stesichorus, or Isocrates (and) Gorgias, of whom I have spoken before, or (any of those) outstanding philosophers, Pythagoras (and) Democritus, or Plato (and) Xenocrates, or Zeno (and) Cleanthes of a later time, or the (man), whom you have even seen at Rome, Diogenes the Stoic. Rather did not activity in their pursuits continue among all (of them) as long as life (itself)? 

(24) But come now, setting aside these divine pursuits, I am able to name Roman farmers from the Sabine country, neighbours and friends of mine, in whose absence scarcely no major operations on the land are ever carried out, not sowing, not reaping, not storing the crops. Although this (work of theirs) is less remarkable in other (matters), for no one is so old that he he does not think that he can live (another) year, yet these same (men) labour at things which they know will not profit them at all: "He plants trees, which will benefit another age," as our (fellow-countryman), (Caecilius) Statius (i.e. c. 220 - c.166 who wrote comic poetry modelled on the plays of the Greek New Comedian Menander) says in his "Comrades in Youth." 

(25) Nor indeed would any farmer, however old he may be, hesitate to answer (anyone who) asked (him) for whom he was planting: "for the immortal gods, whose will it was that I should not only receive these (things) from my ancestors, but that I should also hand (them) on to my descendants".

And, when writing of an old man making provision for a future generation, Caecilius (wrote) to better purpose than he did in the following lines: "In truth, old age, if you were to bring with you, when you come, no other evil than this, that alone is enough (for me), because, by living for such a long time, (a man) sees many (things) he does not wish (to see)".

Now, perhaps (he sees) many (things) that he wishes (to see), and, with regard to those (things) which he does not wish (to see), youth also experiences (them). But the same Caecilius makes the following even more faulty (comment): "Then indeed, the saddest (thing) about old age (is) this, I think, that he who is old feels that this is odious to others." (In fact, it is) agreeable rather than odious.

(26) For. just as wise old men take delight in young men with a good character, and (the burden of) old age is rendered lighter (in the case) of those who are courted and esteemed by the young, so young men find pleasure in the precepts of old men, by which they are led towards a fondness for the virtues; nor do I think that I am any less pleasurable to you than you (are) to me. But you can see how old age is not only far from (being) feeble and inactive, but it is even busy and always striving to do something of the same nature, of course, as had been to the taste of each man in his earlier life. What of those who even go on adding something to their store of knowledge, as we see, for instance, (in the case of) Solon (i.e.  the famous Athenian statesman, lawgiver, and poet, who lived from c. 640 to c, 560), who says, as he boasts in his verses, that he is growing old learning something new every day. And I have done (this too, I) who, in my old age, have learned Greek literature, which, indeed, I have seized upon so eagerly, as though (I had been) desiring to quench a long-endured thirst, with the result that these very (things) have been acquired by me which you now see me using by way of examples. When I read what Socrates had done in the case of the lyre, I indeed wished (to do) that too, for the ancients were taught the lyre, but I have certainly laboured hard at the literature.  

2. Rebuttal of the second charge, that old age weakens the physical powers.

(a) Old age does not require the strength of youth, because it may exert influence through other means. Instances cited to show this ... 27-32.

(27) Now, I do not even feel the loss of the strength of youth - for that was the second heading concerning the faults of old age - any more than, (as) a young man, I yearned for (the strength) of a bull or an elephant. What (strength a man) has, he ought to use, and, whatever he does, he should do (it) in proportion to his strength. For what utterance could be more pitiable than (that) of Milo of Crotona (i.e. victor in wrestling six times at the Olympic Games towards the end of the Sixth Century B.C.)? When he was already an old man, and he was watching the athletes exercising themselves on the race-course, it is said that he looked at his own muscles and said with tears in his eyes, "But these are now as good as dead." But, in truth, they are not so (dead) as you (are) yourself, (you) braggart, for you were never made famous due to yourself, but from your size and your brawn. Sextus Aelius (Paetus Catus) (i.e. consul in 198) made no such remark, nor did Tiberius Coruncanius (sc, sec. 15)) from many years ago, nor, nearer our own time, (did) Publius (Licinius) Crassus (Dives) (i.e. consul in 205 and Pontifex Maximus 212-183), by whom the law was explained to their fellow-citizens, (and) whose wisdom was maintained right up to their last breath.

(28) I fear that the public speaker does become less effective due to old age, for his function depends not only on his intellect, but also on his lungs and his (bodily) strength. To be sure, that resonance in one's voice actually increases in old age, I know not how, and indeed I have not yet lost it, and you see my years. But still the (style of) speech appropriate to an old man is subdued and restrained, and very often the sedate and mild language of an eloquent old man secures itself a hearing, and, if you cannot accomplish that yourself, you might still be able to instruct a Scipio and a Laelius. For what is more delightful than old age accompanied by the enthusiasm of youth.  

(29) Shall we not even concede to old age the capacity to teach and train young men and instruct (them) in (the performance) of every (kind of) official function? Indeed, what can be more splendid than this? In fact (Scipio), Gnaeus and Publius Scipiones (i.e. the uncle and father respectively of Scipio Africanus the Elder: Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus, was consul in 222, and Publius Cornelius Scipio was consul 218, when he was wounded in a skirmish with Hannibal at the River Ticinus, and they both died in battle against the Carthaginians in Spain in 211) and your two grandfathers, Lucius Aemilius (Paulus) (i.e. consul in 219 and in 216, when he was killed by Hannibal at the Battle of Cannae) and Publius (Cornelius Scipio) Africanus (i.e. Scipio Africanus the Elder, consul 205 and 194, who defeated Hannibal at the battle of Zama in 202), seemed fortunate to me (to be) in the company of such noble young men, and no teachers of the liberal arts should be considered unhappy, even though their (bodily) strength may have decayed and deserted (them).  

And yet that very loss of strength is more often caused by the dissipations of youth than by old age; for an extravagant and immoderate youth delivers a worn out body to old age. 

(30) Indeed, in Xenophon, Cyrus (i.e. founding king of the Persian empire, 559-529 B.C.), in that discourse which he made on his deathbed, when he was very old, says that he never felt that he had become more frail in his old age than he had been in his youth. (As) a boy, I recall that Lucius (Caecilius) Metellus (i.e. consul 251 and 247), who, when he had become Chief Priest four years after his second consulship, (and) he held that sacred office for twenty-two years, had such great vigour right up to the very end of his life that he did not feel the loss of his youth. It is not necessary for me to say anything about myself, although it is indeed an old man's (privilege) and is permitted to (one) of my age.  

(31) Do you not observe in Homer (how Nestor constantly proclaims his own merits? For he was looking at a third generation of men, and yet he was not afraid that, if he told the truth about himself, that he would appear at all conceited or garrulous. "For," as Homer says, "speech sweeter than honey flowed from his lips," (i.e. Iliad I, 249) and this sweetness had no need of physical strength. And yet, that (illustrious) leader of Greece (i.e. Agamemnon) does not anywhere (i.e. in Homer) pray that he should possess ten (men) like Ajax, but (ten men) like Nestor, and he does not doubt that, if they should come to him, that Troy would speedily be destroyed. 

(32) But I return to myself. I am in my eighty-fourth year: I wish, indeed, that I could make the same boast as Cyrus (did), but still I can say this, that while, it is true, that I do have the strength that I had (as) a private soldier in the Punic War, or (as) a quaestor in the same war, or (as) consul in Spain, or four years later when I fought hard (as) a military tribune at Thermopylae under the consul Manius (Acilius) Glabrio (i.e. consul 191); but yet, as you can see, old age had not completely weakened or crushed me: Neither the senate-house nor the popular assembly (ever) feel the loss of my strength. nor (do) my friends, or my clients, or my guests. For I have never agreed with that ancient and much-vaunted proverb, which advises (one) to become old early, if you wish to be old for a long time. But I would rather that I were old for a shorter time than that I were old before I should be. Accordingly, (there is) as yet no one (who) has wished to consult me, to whom I have been unavailable. 

(b. i) Temperate habits will retain a good measure of strength till old age ... 33-34.  

(33) But yet I have less strength than either one of you. But not even you have the strength of the centurion Titus Pontius; is he therefore the better (person)? Only let every man make a proper use of his strength and strive as much as he can, then indeed he will not suffer from from any great want of strength. It is said that Milo walked all over the race-course of Olympia while bearing an ox on his shoulders: so which (of these) would you prefer to be given to you, that man's bodily (strength) or Pythagoras' strength of mind? In short, you should enjoy that blessing while it is present, and not lament (it) when it is gone: unless, perhaps, (you believe) that young men should lament the loss of childhood, and those somewhat older the passing of youth. Life's race-course is fixed, and has a single path and this (is) invariable, and its own characteristics are given to every stage of life, so that the weakness of boys, and the aggressiveness of young men, and the dignity of middle age, and the maturity of old age, each one has a natural (quality) which must be garnered in its (due) season.

(34) In think that you, Scipio, are informed of what your grandfather's host, Masinissa, does to this day, (despite him being) ninety years old: when he has started a journey on foot, he never mounts a horse; but, when (he sets out) on horseback, he never dismounts from his horse; he cannot be induced by any rain or coldness to cover his head; he has the utmost wiriness of body, and so he performs all the duties and functions of a king. So, discipline and self-control can preserve some of one's former strength, even in old age. 

Grant that there is no strength in old age: strength is not even expected of old men. Therefore, both by law and by tradition, (men of) my age are exempt from those services which cannot be sustained without strength. So, not only are we (not) required (to do) what we cannot (do), but (we are) not even (required to do) as much as we can (do).

(b. ii) Many instances of weakness in old age may be attributed to ill-health, which is common to all periods of life ... 35. 

(35) But many old men are so feeble that they can perform no duty or function at all in their life. But that indeed is not a fault peculiar to old age, but is shared with (ill-)health. How weak was the son of Publius Africanus (i.e. Scipio Africanus the Elder), (that is) the (man) who adopted you (i.e. Publius Cornelius Scipio, augur c.190, died 170)! What poor health he had, or rather none at all! If that had not been so, he would have shone forth as the second luminary of the state, for, (in his case,) more abundant learning was added to his father's greatness of spirit. What a surprise (is it) then in relation to old men, if they are sometimes weak, when not even the young can escape this (fate)? 

(b. iii) Proper care will greatly retard decay ... 36-38.

(36) It is our duty, Laelius and Scipio, to resist old age and to compensate for its defects by watchful care, (and) so to fight against old age as if against a disease, (and) to take account of our health,  to practise moderate exercise, and to take enough food and drink so that our strength is restored (but) not overburdened. Nor, indeed, should we pay attention to the body only, but much more to the mind and spirit. For they too are extinguished by old age, unless you fill (them) with oil like a lamp. Now bodies, it is true, are worn out by the fatigue of exercise, but minds are stimulated by intellectual activity. For (when) Caecilius (Statius) speaks of "foolish old men in comedies" (i.e. from his lost play, "Epiclerus"), those whom he has in mind (are) credulous, forgetful, (and) slovenly, faults which are not those of old men in general, but of old men (who are) inactive, sluggish and drowsy. Just as waywardness and lustfulness are more (often found) among young men than among old ones, but not among all young men, but (only) the indecent, so that senile stupidity, which is usually called dotage, is (found) among feeble-minded old men, not among all (of them).  

(37) Appius (i.e. Claudius Caecus) ruled four sturdy sons, five daughters, a great household and a great number of clients; for he kept his mind taut like a bow and did not succumb passively to old age. He maintained not only authority, but also command, over the members of his (household): his slaves feared (him), his children revered (him), they all held (him) dear; ancestral custom and habits flourished in that household.  

(38) For old age is only held in respect if it defends itself, if it preserves its rights, if it is subservient to no one, (and) if it is master of its own (domain) right up to the the last breath. For, just as I approve of the young man in whom there is a touch of old age, so (I also approve of) the old man in whom there is a touch of youth, because (he) who follows (such a path) can become old in body, but he will never be old in spirit. 

I am (now) at work on my seventh book of "Origins" (i.e. a history of Rome, now lost, from its foundation to 150 B.C.); I am collecting all the records of our ancient history; now more than ever, I am (engaged on) composing speeches on the many illustrious causes that I have promoted; I am preparing a treatise on augural, pontifical, (and) civil law: I am also an active student of Greek literature; and, following the practice of the Pythagoreans, and for the sake of keeping my memory in good working order, I repeat to myself every evening whatever I have said, heard (and) done during the day. These are the exercises of my intellect, these (are) the race-courses of my mind; (and,) while I am sweating and toiling with them, I do not, to any great degree, feel the loss of my bodily strength. I act as counsel to my friends, I frequently attend the senate, and bring forward of my own accord issues (for debate), after thinking (about them) deeply and at length, and I advocate these (things) with my mind, not with the strength of my body. (But even) if I could not perform these (services), my couch would still bring me delight, while I reflected on the very things which I could no longer do; but the fact that I can do (them is) due to the life that I have led. For with regard to (the man) always living amid these pursuits and tasks, he is not aware when old age creeps up: so old age comes upon (him) gradually and imperceptibly, nor is there a sudden break-up, but the process of extinction occurs over a long period of time. 

3. Refutation of the third charge, that old age takes away the capacity for enjoyment.

(a) The pleasures in which youth finds its keenest enjoyment are in themselves bad, and old age is beneficent in freeing one from their allurements ... 39-44.

(39) There follows the third charge against old age, (which is,) they say, that it is lacking in sensual pleasures. O glorious gift of age, if indeed it does free us from is that most wicked (aspect) of youth! Now listen, (you) most noble young men, to the ancient words of that especially great and distinguished man, Archytas of Tarentum, which were handed down to me, when, (as) a young man, I was (serving) with Quintus Maximus (i.e. Fabius Cunctator) at Tarentum. "No more deadly curse (has been) given to men by nature," said he, "than carnal pleasure, and to gratify this pleasure our eager passions are recklessly and uncontrollably aroused. 

(40) "From it come national betrayals and revolutions of the state, and secret negotiations with the enemy; in short, there is no crime, no evil deed, which the lust for sensual pleasure will not drive (men) to undertake; indeed, rape, and adultery, and every (other) kind of outrage are caused by no other enticements but (those) of sensual pleasure; and, since nature or some god has given man nothing more excellent than his mind, (so) this divine gift and endowment has no greater foe than sensual pleasure.  

(41) "For where lust rules there is no place for self-control, nor in the domain of sensual pleasure can virtue find any sort of foothold.

"So this could be understood more (clearly)," he bade (them) "imagine a man excited by the greatest degree of bodily pleasure that could (possibly) be felt; it would not occur to anyone that there should be any doubt that, as long as he was thus engaged in such delights, he could be active in his mind in any way (or) make any use at all of his reason or thinking process. Therefore, there is nothing so hateful or so destructive as sensual pleasure, since, at any rate, if it should be indulged in too much and for too long, it would extinguish entirely the light of the soul." 

My Tarentine host, Nearchus, who has remained steadfast in his friendship with the Roman people, told (me) that he had heard from some elders that Archytas had spoken these (words, while conversing) with the Samnite Gaius Pontius (Herennius), father of the man (i.e. Gaius Pontius Telesinus) by whom the consuls Spurius Postumius (Albinus) and Titus Veturius (Calvinus) were defeated at the battle of the Caudine (Forks) (i.e. in 321); and, indeed, (he also told me that) Plato the Athenian had been present at this discourse, and, I find, that he did come to Tarentum (in the year) when Lucius (Furius) Camillus and Appius Claudius (Crassus Inregillensis) were consuls (i.e. 349, although Plato's last visit to Italy is usually attributed to 361).

(42) What was the point of (my quoting) this? (It was) so that you might realise that, if we were unable to reject carnal pleasure through our reason and good sense, we should be very grateful to old age in that it ensures that it does not please (us to do) what we ought not (to do). For sensual pleasure obstructs good judgment, is hostile to reason, dazzles the mind, so to speak, and it does not have any dealings with virtue. I acted with reluctance when I expelled from the senate Lucius (Quinctius) Flamininus (i.e. consul 192), the brother of that most valiant man, Titus Flamininus (vid. sec. 1), seven years after he had been consul, but I thought that his lustful behaviour necessitated this action. For, when he was in Gaul during his consulship, he was prevailed upon by a harlot at a banquet to execute one of those men who were in prison, having been condemned on a capital charge. While his brother Titus was censor - he had been in office immediately before me - he escaped (justice), but such profligate and such abandoned wilfulness, which combined dishonour to our government with an offence to an individual, could by no means be approved by (Lucius Valerius) Flaccus (i.e. consul in 194 with Cato as his colleague) and myself (i.e. Cato and Flaccus were also censors together in 184).  

(43) I have often heard from my elders, who in turn said that when (they were) boys they heard (it) from old men, that Gaius Fabricius (vid. sec. 15) used to marvel that, when he was an envoy at the court of King Pyrrhus (vid. sec. 16), he had heard from Cineas of Thessaly (i.e. an orator engaged by Pyrrhus to negotiate with the Romans) that there was a certain man at Athens (i.e. Epicurus) who professed himself (to be) wise, and yet he used to say that everything which we do should be judged by the standard of pleasure. When Manius Curius (vid. sec. 15) and Tiberius Coruncanius (vid. sec. 15) heard of this from him (i.e. Fabricius), they used to (express the) wish that the Samnites and Pyrrhus himself would be persuaded of it, as they could (then) be more easily conquered when they given themselves over to sensual pleasures. Manius Curius had lived (on terms of close friendship) with Publius Decius (Mus) (i.e. consul 312, 308, 297, 295), who in his fourth consulship (and) five years before he became consul, had sacrificed himself for his country (i.e. at the the battle of Sentinum in 295, which saw a great Roman victory against the Samnites). Fabricius knew him, (and) Coruncanius knew (him too), and, both from their own lives and from that deed of Decius, whom I mention, they were of the opinion that there is some (principle), pure and noble by nature, which should be sought for its own sake, and which all good men should follow, while rejecting and despising sensual indulgence. 

(44) Why then do I (have) so much (to say) about pleasure? Because, (in the case) of old age not only is there no (cause for) reproach, but (there are) also (grounds for) the highest praise, because it does not greatly feel the want of any sensual pleasures. It lacks banquets, and loaded tables and cups that are regularly filled. Therefore, it also lacks drunkenness, and indigestion, and insomnia. But, if some (concession) must be made to pleasure, since we cannot easily resist her allurements - for Plato admirably calls carnal pleasure 'the bait of evil', because, of course, men are caught by it like fish - (yet) although old age lacks extravagant feasts, it can still enjoy a moderate (amount of) conviviality. (When I was) a boy, I often used to see Gaius Duellius, the son of Marcus, who (had been) the first person (to) have defeated the Carthaginians in a naval battle (i.e. off Mylae in 260 at the beginning of the First Punic War), when he was an old man returning (home) from a dinner; he delighted to be accompanied by torch-light and (the playing of) a flute, (honours) which he had assumed as a private citizen without any precedent: his glory gave (him) such licence (n.b. in practice, these privileges may have been awarded to him by the Comitia Tributa).  

(b. i) Old age has pleasures far more refined and satisfying than those involving sensual indulgence: such as conversation and literature ... 45-50.

(45) But why (do) I (speak of) others? Let me now revert to myself. (Now,) to begin with, I have always had my club companions - (it was,) moreover, during my time as quaestor (i.e. in 204), that clubs were (first) established (at Rome) when that Idaean (i.e. the image of Cybele was transferred from Mount Ida in Phrygia) worship in honour of the Great Mother (i.e. Cybele) was introduced (into the city) - therefore, I used to dine with these companions in an entirely moderate fashion, yet there was (at these dinners) a certain ardour belonging to that time of life, but as (life) progresses all (such delights) become milder on a daily basis. For I did not measure my delight at these social gatherings more by their physical pleasures than by meeting and conversing with my friends; for our forebears well named the reclining of their friends at banquets a 'conviviality', because it involved an association of their lives, (and this was) a better (designation) than (that of) the Greeks, who call this same (thing) a 'drinking together' or an 'eating together', so as to appear to esteem what is least (significant) about such an occasion (beyond) what (is) most important (about it).  

(46) For my part, on account of my fondness for conversation, I enjoy even afternoon festivities, not only with my contemporaries, very few of whom (now) remain, but with also with (those of) your age and with you, and I have a great gratitude to old age, which has increased my eagerness for conversation (and) has taken away (my desire) for food and drink. But if those things delight anyone else, in order that I do not appear to have declared total war upon pleasure, a certain amount of which is perhaps justified by nature, I do not accept that even in these very pleasures old age is lacking in appreciation. Indeed, the presidencies (of the feast), established by our ancestors, delight me too, and the kind of talk, in which, in accordance with the custom of our ancestors, we engage, (beginning) at the upper (table) as the cup (goes round); and (I enjoy) cups, like (the ones) we find in Xenophon's 'Symposium', (that are) small (in size), and filled with dew-like drops, and cooled in summer, and, in turn, (heated) in winter by sun or fire. Indeed, even when (I am) among the Sabines (i.e. a race celebrated for their simplicity of life), I am accustomed to follow these (practices), and I join every day in a social gathering with my neighbours, which we extend as late into the night as we possibly can with talk on all manner of subjects. 

(47) But (it may be said) that in old men the titillation of pleasures, so to speak, is not so great. (This) I believe, but nor is their yearning (for pleasures so great); moreover, nothing is a source of trouble (to you) that you do not long for. Well did Sophocles reply (i.e. in Book I of Plato's "Republic"), when someone asked him, when he was already afflicted with (old) age, whether he indulged in the delights of love-making: "Heaven help (us)! I, indeed, have fled from these things as from a harsh and cruel master." For to (those) desiring such things, the want (of them) is vexatious and irksome, but to (those who are) sated and stuffed (with them) it is more pleasing to be in want (of them) than to be involved (in them); and yet a man is not in want of (something) he has no longing for; (and) therefore, I assert that it is more pleasing not to long for (anything). 

(48) But, even if youth enjoys these very pleasures the more keenly, (then) in the first place, as I have said (i.e. not stated directly but strongly implied in secs. 44, 45), it is enjoying trivial things; (and) secondly, even if old age does not possess them in abundance, it is not wholly lacking them. Just as those who watch in the front stall (i.e. the lower tier of seats in the theatre) are more delighted by (the plays of) (Lucius) Turpio Ambivio (i.e. the actor and producer of the comedies of Terence, c. 195-159), yet (those) who are at the back are delighted too, so youth perhaps enjoys sexual pleasures the more because it looks on them at close quarters, but (on the other hand) old age also finds as much delight as is sufficient, while looking at them from a distance.   

(49) But how blessed it is that the soul, having, as it were, completed its service in the lust of ambition and the strife of enmity, and all the passions, should be with itself, and, as it is said, live with itself! (And) indeed if it possesses any fodder(-store), as it were, of literary study and learning, there is nothing more enjoyable than a leisured old age. I used to see, Scipio, your father's friend (Gaius Sulpicius) Gallus (i.e. consul in 157, he had earlier served under Scipio's father, Lucius Aemilius Paulus at the battle of Pydna in 168, the victory which ended the Third Macedonian War) engaged in the task of almost measuring bit by bit the heavens and the earth. How often dawn would burst upon him as he was sketching something (he had begun) during the night, (and) how often night would surprise (him) when he had begun (a task) early in the morning! What joy he had in telling us well beforehand of the eclipses of the sun and the moon! (n.b. Gallus was a famous astronomer, and he successfully predicted an eclipse of the moon before the battle of Pydna.)  

(50) (And) what (of those men engaged) in less (exacting) but still demanding studies? How (Gaius) Naevius (i.e. a precursor of Latin epic poetry who lived c. 264-194, and who wrote in Saturnian verse with its vivid and rapid flow) used to revel in his "Punic War", as (did) Plautus in "The Savage and the Cheat"! I also saw Livius (Andronicus) (i.e. he lived c. 284 - c. 205, and is considered to be the originator of Latin literature, both poetry and prose, and made his name by translating the Odyssey into Latin verse) (when he was) an old man, who, although he had brought out a play in the consulship of (Gaius Claudius) Cento and (Marcus Sempronius) Tuditanus (i.e. in 240) six years before I was born (i.e. Cato was born in 234), continued to live right up to my (becoming) an adult. 

Why (need) I speak of Licinius Crassus (vid. sec. 27) and of his devotion to pontifical and civil law, or of the present Publius Scipio (i.e. Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum, consul 162 and 155), who was appointed chief priest in the (last) few days? And yet I have seen all these (men), whom I have just mentioned, ardent in their pursuits. Indeed, what zeal I used to see Marcus (Cornelius) Cethegus (i.e. consul 204), whom Ennius (vid, sec. 1) justly called "the essence of persuasiveness", display in his (public) speaking, (when he) too (was) an old man! So how can the pleasures of feasting, or (watching) plays, or (consorting with) harlots be compared with such pleasures as these? And, indeed, this zeal for learning, which at any rate in (the case of) the wise and the well-taught advances in line with their years, so that what is said by Solon in a certain piece of verse, that I have mentioned above (vid. sec. 26) does him honour - that as he grew old he learned more (things) every day, and surely there can be no greater (pleasure) than the pleasure of the mind. 

(b. ii) Old age has pleasures far more refined and satisfying than those involving sensual indulgence: especially those of agriculture ... 51-60.

 (51)  I come now to the pleasures of farming, in which I am incredibly delighted, (and) which are in no way hindered by old age and seem to me to come closest to the (ideal) life of a wise man. For they have an account with the earth, which never fails to honour a draft, nor ever return what it has accepted without usury, sometimes indeed with less, but usually with greater, interest; and yet it is not only the product, but also the power and (fertile) nature of the earth that delights me. It takes the scattered corn-seed within its soft and upturned breast, (and) at first it keeps it hidden, from which the harrowing which accomplished this is named (n.b. actually 'occatio', the word for harrowing comes, not from 'occaecatum', hidden, but from 'occa', the word for a hoe); then, having warmed (it) with the heat of its embrace, it expands (it) and brings forth from it the greenery of a blade of grass, which, supported by the fibres of its roots, gradually matures, and, held upright on its jointed stalk, is enfolded in its sheaths, as if (it were) now in its adolescence; when it has emerged from these, it produces in abundance grains of corn, arranged in rows, and is protected against the pecks of the smaller birds by a palisade of ears of corn.  

(52) Why should I mention the origin, planting, (and) growth of vines? I can never have enough of this pleasure - (I say this) so that you may know (the source of) my relaxation and amusement in old age. For I pass over the inherent force of all (the plants) which are generated from the earth, and which can produce such mighty trunks and boughs from a tiny fig-seed, or from a grape-stone, of from the smallest seeds of other fruits or plants; surely the vine-shoots, sprouts, brushwood, root cuttings (and) layers are sufficient to to fill anyone with wonder and delight, are they not? Indeed, the vine, which trails by nature and falls to the ground, unless it is supported, enfolds whatever it meets in its finger-like tendrils in order to lift itself up, and, as on it creeps with its multiple twists and turns, the farmers' skill checks (its growth by) pruning (it) with a knife, lest through its branches it runs to wood and spreads too far in all directions. 

(53) And so, at the beginning of spring, in those (bushes) that are left, there springs up, at the joints, as it were, of the branches, what is called a bud, from which the grape itself emerges and shows itself; as it begins to grow in the moisture of the earth and the heat of the sun, it is at first very bitter to the taste, (but) then, as it ripens, it becomes sweet, and wrapped, (as it is,) in vine-leaves, it does not lack moderate warmth, and wards off the excessive heat of the sun. What can be both more delicious to the taste and more attractive to the eye? 

Indeed, (it is)  not only its utility (that) delights me, as I have said before, but also its cultivation and its very nature: the rows of stakes, the joining of the vine-tops (to the stakes), the tying down (of the shoots), the propagation of the vines, (and) the pruning of some of the branches, which I have mentioned, (and) the freedom (given) to others to grow.

Why should I mention the irrigation, and the digging, and the continuous hoeings of the soil, by which the earth is made much more fertile? Why should I speak of the advantages of spreading manure? I have talked (of this) in the book which I wrote on matters of agriculture (i.e. the "De Agri Cultura, which Cato the Elder wrote c. 160). 

(54) On this (subject), the learned Hesiod (i.e. the ancient Greek poet, active in the second half of the Eighth Century, and the first half of the Seventh Century B.C.) has not even a (single) word to say, although he was writing about agriculture (i.e. in his poem, "Works and Days"). But Homer who seems to me to have lived a generation earlier, portrays Laertes (i.e. in the "Odyssey") soothing the sense of loss that he felt on account of his son (i.e. Ulysses), (by) cultivating his farmland and keeping it manured. Indeed, his rustic life is a source of joy (to him), not only in his cornfields, and meadows, and vineyards, and woodlands, but also in his gardens and orchards, his bees in their swarms, and his flowers in all their variety. Not only does planting delight (him), but also grafting, and he finds nothing in agriculture more ingenious than this. 

(55) I am able to enlarge upon the numerous charms of country life, but I feel that what I have already said has been (far) too lengthy. Yet (I know) you will excuse (me), for I have been carried away by my enthusiasm for rural affairs, and, (I would say that) old age is by nature rather garrulous, lest I seem to  acquit it of every fault. So, (it was) in this (sort of) life that Manius Curius (vid. sec. 15) spent his final years, after he had triumphed over the Samnites, the Sabines, and Pyrrhus; indeed, as I gaze at his country-house, for it is not far away from mine, I cannot admire enough either the moderation of the man himself, or the habits of the times (in which he lived). 

(56) When the Samnites had brought Curius a great heap of gold, they were scorned; for he said that it seemed to him that the glory (was) not to have the gold, but to rule over those who had the gold. Could so great a soul not make a happy old age? 

But, lest I wander from my (subject), I return to the farmers. In those days, senators, elders that is, lived on their farms - if Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus (i.e. consul 460 and dictator in 458 and in 439, when he was appointed to check the uprising of the plebeians under Spurius Maelius) was told that he had been appointed dictator, when he was actually at the plough, (it was) by his order as dictator (that) Gaius Servilius Ahala, the master of the horse, put Spurius Maelius to death for trying to seize the throne. (It was) from the farmhouse (that) Curius and the other elders were summoned to the senate, and for these (reasons, those) who summoned them were called 'travellers'. So, the old age of these men who relished the cultivation of the soil was surely not a pitiable one, was it? In my view at any rate, I feel sure that no (life) could be happier (than theirs), not merely on account of its service, because agriculture is of benefit to the whole human race, but also on account of its pleasure, to which I have alluded, and the abundant supply of all things which relate to the sustenance of man, (and) also to the worship of the gods; so, as certain (people) desire these (things), let us now be reconciled to this pleasure. For the provident and industrious householder always has his wine-cellars, oil-stores, and larders crammed full (of provisions), and his whole farmhouse is opulent (in its appearance), (and) abounds with pork, goat's (meat), lamb, poultry, milk, cheese, (and) honey. Now, the farmers, themselves, call his garden 'a second flitch', (i.e. side of meat). Hawking and hunting also add their spice to any toils that are left over. 

(57) Why should I say any more about the greenness of the meadows, or the rows of trees, or the beauty of the vineyards or the olive-groves? I will cut (things) short. Nothing can be more full of usefulness or more beautiful in appearance than a well-tilled field, and to the enjoyment of it old age offers no barriers, but even invites and entices (one). For where else can (old) age better warm itself, either by basking in the sun or sitting by a fire, or, in turn, more healthily cool itself in shade or water? 

(58) So let (others) have their weapons, their horses, their spears, their fencing foils and ball games, and their hunting and foot-races, and out of(all) these sports let them leave us old fellows our knuckle-bones and our dice; (but do it) as you will, since old age can be happy without them. 

(59) Xenophon's books are very instructive on many matters (n.b. Xenophon, the Athenian soldier and writer lived c. 430 - c. 354), and I beg (you) to go on carefully reading them, as you are doing. How abundantly is agriculture lauded by him in his book, which is about managing one's property, (and) which is entitled 'Oeconomicos' (i.e. 'The Householder')! And, so that you may understand that nothing seemed to him so worthy of a prince as the pursuit of agriculture, in that book Socrates tells Critobulus that the younger Cyrus, prince of the Persians (i.e. well-known from Xenophon's 'Anabasis, in which 10,000 Greek mercenaries had gone to help him take the throne of Persia from his elder brother), pre-eminent, (as he was, in his intellect and the glory of his rule, when the Spartan Lysander (i.e. d. 395, the great general, who led the Spartans to victory at the naval battle of Aegospotami in 405, which led to the defeat of the Athenians at the end of the Peloponnesian War 431-404), a man of the highest virtue, had come to visit him at Sardis and had brought him gifts from their allies, treated Lysander in all respects in an affable and cultured (fashion), and showed him a certain park, carefully planted (with trees). But, after Lysander expressed admiration at the height of the trees, their arrangement in quincunx rows (i.e. trees planted in the form of the five spots on a dice), the clean and well-cultivated soil, and the sweetness of the fragrance which emanated from the flowers, he then said to him that he marvelled not only at the diligence and the ingenuity of the man by whom these (trees) were marked out and assigned (for planting); and Cyrus replied: "But I am (the one who) planned all these (things), their distribution (is) mine; also, many of these trees were planted by my hand." Then, Lysander, after gazing at his purple cloth and the splendour of his body, (adorned) with much gold and many jewels, said: "(They are) right indeed to call you happy, Cyrus, since in you fortune has been joined to virtue!" 

(60) And so it is permitted to old men (like us) to enjoy such (good) fortune, nor does old age hinder us from maintaining our pursuit of other activities, especially the cultivation of the soil, right up to the very end of old age. Indeed, we have it that Marcus Valerius Corvinus (i.e. his cognomen is usually given as Corvus, 'raven'; he lived c. 370 - c. 270; he was consul six times; 348, 346, 343, 335, 300, and 299; and dictator three times: 342, 302, and 301) prolonged (his life) to his hundredth year, after he had lived on his lands and cultivated them, now his (active) life was spent, and forty-six years had elapsed between his first and sixth consulship. So, his public career lasted as long as our ancestors reckoned our span of life to be to the beginning of old age; and the last (period of) his life was happier to him than the middle (part), because he had more influence, (and) less work.  

(b. iii) Old age has pleasures far more refined and satisfying than those involving sensual indulgence: lastly the exercise of influence, which old age will always possess if a rightly spent youth has preceded it ... 61-64.

(61) But the crowning (glory) of old age is influence. How great was that of Lucius Caecilius Metellus (vid. sec. 30), how great was that of Aulus Atilius Calatinus (i.e. consul 187, 175)! On him this epitaph (was written): "Most nations are in agreement that he was the foremost man of his people." This whole verse is well-known (as it was) cut on his tomb. So justly heavy was the influence of this man, whose fame was consistent with the praises of all. What a man I lately saw (in) Publius Crassus, the chief priest (vid. sec. 27), and (in) Marcus (Aemilius) Lepidus (i.e. consul 187 and 175, and chief priest from 180 until  his death in 152) who was endowed with the same priestly office after him! (And) why should I speak of Paulus (vid. sec. 15) or Africanus (vid. sec. 29), as I have already spoken before of Maximus (vid. secs. 10-11)? Their authority rested not only not only on the views (they expressed), but even on their (very) nod. Old age, (when it is) especially distinguished, enjoys such great authority that it is of more (account) than all of the sensual pleasures of youth. 

(62) But everywhere throughout my discourse remember that I am praising that old age which has been well laid on the foundations of youth. From this it follows what I once said with the full assent of all (who heard it), that it was a wretched old age that had to defend itself with words (i.e. rather than being able to refer to the actions of one's earlier years). Nor can grey hairs and wrinkles suddenly acquire authority, but, when the earlier (period of) one's life has been nobly spent, it does receive the reward of influence at its end.  

(63) For these very (things), which seem trivial and ordinary, are marks of honour - to be greeted (by morning visitors), to be courted (for interviews), to be made way for (in the street), for people to rise (at one's approach), to be escorted to and escorted from (the forum), to be asked for one's advice, (things) which are thus most conscientiously observed among us and in other states, according to (how) well-mannered each one is. They say that Lysander the Spartan, of whom I have just made mention (vid. sec. 59) often used to say that Sparta was the most fitting abode for old age; for nowhere (else) was so much deference paid to old age, (and) nowhere (else) was old age more honoured. Indeed, it is also handed down by tradition, that, when an old man entered the theatre during the Athenian games (i.e. the Panathenian Games, celebrated every four years in honour of Athene, the city's patron goddess), nowhere in that vast assembly was a place offered to him by his own citizens, but when he came to (the seats of) the Spartans, who had been seated in a fixed area, since they were ambassadors, they all arose in his (honour), it is said, and the old man accepted a place to sit;  

(64) after prolonged applause had been given by the whole audience to this action, one of them (i.e. the Spartans) remarked that the Athenians know what (things) are proper, but they are unwilling to put (them) into practice.

(There are) many fine (customs practised) in my college (i.e. the priesthood of augurs, who interpreted the flight of birds and other natural phenomena), but the one with which I am especially concerned, is this, that each (member) has precedence according to age, so that he has priority in debate, and the augurs who are senior in age are preferred not only to those who precede (them) in seniority of office, but even to those who are (actually) in power (at the time).  So, what physical pleasures can be compared with the rewards conferred by authority? Those who have made good use of these (opportunities) seem to me to have fulfilled to the end the drama of life, and not to have broken down like untrained players in the last act. 

(b. iv) Old age has pleasures far more refined and satisfying than those involving sensual indulgence: the special objection that old men's tempers spoil their enjoyments is met by the statement that this is the fault of character, and not of age ... 65.

(65) But (they say) old men are morose, fretful, bad-tempered and awkward. If we inquire, (we find they are) avaricious too; but these are faults of character, not of old age. And yet moroseness and the (other) faults that I have mentioned do have some sort of an excuse, not indeed well-grounded, but such as it may seem possible to allow: (for old men) think that they are disparaged, despised, and mocked; besides, every knock is painful when the body (is) weak; yet all these (faults) become more acceptable through good habits and skills, and this can be understood both in (real) life and on the stage, in the case of the brothers who are in the 'Adelphi' (i.e. a play of Terence). What mischief (there is) in one of them, (what) affability (there is) in the other! So it is in this case: for just as (it is) not every wine, so (it) is not every personality (that) grows sour with age. Gravity in old age I approve of, but this, as in other (matters), (should be) in moderation; harshness (I can)not (approve of) in any way; indeed, what the point is of senile avarice I do not understand. For can there be anything more absurd than seeking an increase in one's travelling allowance, when there is so little left of one's journey? 

4. Refutation of the fourth charge, that old age is unhappy because it involves the anticipation of death. 

(a) Since the right aim of life is to live not long but well, death ought not to be dreaded at any age ... 66-69.

(66) There remains the fourth reason, which seems especially to torment and cause trouble to (men of) my age, (that is,) the approach of death, which cannot be far away from (a man in) old age. O wretched (is) that man who has not learned in the course of such a long life that death should not be feared! It is either be be totally disregarded, if it entirely extinguishes the soul, or (it is) even to be desired, if it leads him to some place where he is to live forever. And, assuredly, no third case can be found. 

(67) Why, then, should I be afraid, if, after death, I am destined to be either not unhappy or even happy? And yet, is there anyone so foolish, even though he may be young, that he can be absolutely certain that he will be alive when evening (comes)? Nay, even that (time of) life (i.e. youth) has a much greater risk of death than ours (has): young men contract diseases more easily, they fall more seriously ill, and they suffer more painful treatments. Therefore, few (of them) attain old age; if that were not so, (people) would live better and more wisely. For sense, reason, and (good) judgment are (to be found) in old men, and, if there had been no old men, no states would have existed at all. 

But I return to the imminence of death. What (sort of) charge is this against old age, when you see that it is shared with youth? 

(68) I have learned in the case of my excellent son (i.e. the distinguished jurist, Marcus Porcius Cato Licinianus, who died shortly before his father in 152, when he was praetor designatus), and you, Scipio, have learned in the case of your brothers, who were expected to win the highest honours in the state (i.e. the third and fourth sons of Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus, vid. sec. 15, both of whom died in 167) that death is common to  every (stage of) life. But, (you may say,) the young man hopes he will live for a long time, the very (thing) which an old man cannot hope for. He hopes unwisely; for what (can be) more foolish than to regard the uncertain as certain (and) the false as true? Now, an old man has nothing even to hope for. But he is in a better position than a young man, since what the latter hopes for the former has (already) attained: the one wishes to live for a long time, the other has (actually) lived for a long time.  

(69) And yet, O (you) good gods, what is a long time in the life of a man? For grant the longest possible limit; let us hope (to reach) the age of the king of Tartessus (i.e. south-west Spain) - for, as I have seen (it) written (i.e. by Herodotus in the first book of his 'Histories'), there lived at Gades (i.e. Cadiz) a certain Arganthonius, who reigned for eighty years and lived for a hundred (and) twenty - but to me, indeed, nothing seems lengthy, in relation to which there is some end; for when that (end) comes, then what has gone by has vanished; there only remains what you may have obtained by your virtue and good deeds. Hours, and days, and months, and years go by, it's true, and the time that has past never returns, nor can what is to follow (ever) be known. Whatever time is granted to each one (of us) to live, we should be content with it.   

(b. i) Old men, especially those of learning and culture, ought not to fear death: because that which is according to nature is good, and it is natural for old men to die  ... 70-73.

(70) For, in order to please (his audience), the actor is not bound to perform in the play in almost every act; nor is it necessary for wise (players) to remain (on the stage) right up to the final round of applause, for a short term of life is long enough (in which) to live honourably and well; but, if it should continue for a longer period, it is no more necessary to grieve than farmers should grieve when the sweetness of spring-time is past and summer and autumn have come. For spring acts like youth, and gives promise of fruits to come; but the other seasons are designed for harvesting and storing away those fruits. 

(71) Now the fruit of old age is, as I have often said, the memory and store of blessings previously acquired. Moreover, everything that happens in accordance with nature should be regarded as (something) good; and what is more in accordance with nature than for old men to die? The same fate befalls young men, though (in their case) nature struggles and resists. So, just as, when young people die, they seem to me to be in the same situation as when a strong flame is extinguished by a torrent of water, so indeed old men die (like) a fire going out of its own accord and without the use of force, and, just as apples are plucked from the trees with difficulty, if they are green, they fall off by themselves, if (they are) ripe and mellow; so pleasant indeed is this to me, that the nearer I come to death, I seem to sight land, as it were, and, at long last, to be coming into port after a long voyage.  

(72) Yet there is no fixed limit to old age, and in it (a man) may lead a proper life, so long as he can satisfy and uphold the call of duty, and consider death of no account, (and) by this (means) it happens that old age becomes even more spirited and more courageous than youth. This is (the meaning of) that answer, which was given by Solon (vid. sec. 26) to the tyrant Pisistratus (i.e. the despot of Athens, who seized power there in 560), when he asked him what it was that he ultimately relied upon, when he opposed (him) so boldly, (and) he is said to have replied, "Upon old age." But the best end to life is, when the mind is clear and the senses unimpaired, and nature takes apart her own handiwork, which she herself has put together. As the same man most easily destroys the ship or building which he has built, so nature is best fitted to dissolve the very thing which she has stuck together, (that is) man. Now every structure is pulled down with difficulty when it is newly (built), (whereas one) of long standing (comes down) easily. 

So it should be that old men ought not to cling greedily to that little remnant of their life, nor should they abandon (it) without (good) reason.

(73) Now, Pythagoras forbids (us), without an instruction from our captain, from god that is, to desert our post and station in life. Indeed, that wise (man) Solon has an epitaph, on which he says that he does not want his death to be free from the grief and lamentations of his (friends). He wishes, I believe, (to make out) that he is dear them. But I feel sure that Ennius (vid. sec. 1) (put it) better (when he wrote): "Nobody should grace me with their tears, nor conduct my funeral rites while weeping." He does not think that a death, which is followed by immortality, should be (the subject of) mourning. 

(b. ii) Old men, especially those of learning and culture, ought not to fear death: because the process of dying is brief and almost painless ... 74.

(74) Now there may possibly be some sensation in (the process of) dying, but it lasts only for a short time, especially in (the case of) an old man: indeed, after death the sensation is either to be desired or (it is) not there at all. But we must have this thought from our youth (up), that we should disregard death; (for) without this thought no one can be in a tranquil (state of) mind. For it is certain that we must die, and we cannot be sure whether (it will be) on this very day. So, can he who fears every hour that death (is) imminent (ever) stand firm in his mind? 

 (b. iii) Old men, especially those of learning and culture, ought not to fear death: because even young men and those without learning often set the example of despising death ... 75.

(75) There does not seem to be the need for a very long argument about this, when I call to mind not (just the conduct of) Lucius (Junius) Brutus, (i.e. the man who led the rebellion against Tarquinius Superbus, that overthrew the monarchy in 509, and then became one of the two first consuls) who was killed while freeing his country (i.e. he died in single combat fighting Tarquinus' son, Arruns), nor (that of) the two Decii (i.e. father and son, both named Publius Decius Mus), who spurred their horses into a charge (so as) to (meet) a voluntary death (i.e. the father died in 343, during the First Samnite War, and the son died at the battle of Sentinum in 295), nor (that of) Marcus Atilius (Regulus) (i.e. consul 267 and 256, who was captured by the Carthaginians in North Africa in 255) while  who returned to (face) torture in order to keep the pledge he had given to the enemy, nor the two Scipiones (vid. sec. 29), who decided to block the Carthaginians' march even with their own bodies, nor (that of) your grandfather, Lucius Paulus (vid. sec. 29), who paid with his death for the rashness of his colleague (i.e. Gaius Terentius Varro) in the disgrace at Cannae (i.e. when defeated by Hannibal in 216), nor (that of) Marcus (Claudius) Marcellus (i.e. consul 222, 215, 214, 210 and 208; he captured Syracuse in 212, and was killed in an ambush by Hannibal in 208) at whose death even his most pitiless foe (i.e. Hannibal) did not suffer (him) to be without the honour of a burial, but (rather that of) our legions, as I have noted in my 'Antiquities'. often marching into with cheerful and unshakeable courage into a place, from which they thought they would never return. So shall educated old men shrink in terror from something which young men, and not only those (who are) untaught, but also (those who are) simple, consider as of no account? 

 (b. iv) Old men, especially those of learning and culture, ought not to fear death: because old age, just like the other periods of life, finally enjoys its season of ripeness and satiety ... 76.

(76) Undoubtedly, as it seems to me at any rate, an abundance of all pursuits causes a satiety of life. Boyhood has certain pursuits: so do young men feel the want of them? Early youth has (its pursuits): does the age of maturity, which is called middle (age), now require them? This time of life also has (its pursuits): they are not indeed sought in old age. Finally, there are certain pursuits that belong to old age: therefore, as the pursuits of earlier (periods of) life fall away, so (those) of old age also fall away; when that happens, fulness of life brings on the ripe time for death. 

(c. i) Death is probably the gateway to a happy immortality; possible proofs of this are the arguments stated in the works of Plato: viz. the rapidity of the mind's action, its powers of memory and invention, its self-activity, invisible nature and pre-existence ... 77-78.

(77) For I do not see why I should not venture to tell you what I myself think about death, and it seems to me that I understand it better as I draw nearer to it. I am of the belief, Publius Scipio, and you, Gaius Laelius, that your fathers, (i.e. Paulus Macedonicus, vid. sec. 15, in the case of Scipio, and, in the case of Laelius, Gaius Laelius, consul 190, a prominent general and statesman, who supported Scipio Africanus Maior by commanding the cavalry at the battle of Zama in 202, when Hannibal was finally defeated), illustrious men and very dear friends of mine, are (still) living, and, indeed, that (they are living) the life which alone is worthy to be called a life. For, while we are enclosed in this framework of a body, we perform a certain (type of) function and heavy labour (as) allotted by fate; for the soul is of heavenly (origin), forced down from its most lofty abode and buried, as it were, in the earth, a place (that is) contrary to its divine and eternal nature. But I believe that the immortal gods have planted souls into human bodies, so that there would be (those) who would take care of the earth, and who, while contemplating the heavenly order, would imitate it in the measure and regularity of their lives. Nor has (the force of) logic and reasoning alone driven me to this belief, but also the excellence of the highest (rank of) philosophers and the authority (that they possessed).  

(78) I used to be told that Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans (i.e. his disciples), almost fellow-countrymen of ours, inasmuch as they were once given the name of Italian philosophers (i.e. Pythagoras is reputed to have established a school at Croton in Southern Italy in 530), never doubted that we had souls (which were) off-shoots of the Divine Universal Mind (i.e. sometimes known as the World-Soul). In addition, (my advisers) clearly pointed out to me that (those arguments) which Socrates, the (man) who was declared by the oracle of Apollo (i.e. at Delphi) (to be) the wisest of all (men), set out on the last day of his life (n.b. the events of the last day of Socrates' life are taken from Plato's 'Phaedo') concerning the immortality of the soul. Why (need I say) more? So I have convinced myself, so I do believe, since such (is) the rapid movement of the soul, so great (is) its memory of past (events) and its awareness of future (ones), so many (are) its accomplishments, so vast is (the scope) of its knowledge, (and) so numerous (are) its discoveries, that a nature comprising (all) these qualities cannot (possibly) be a mortal (one); and, since the soul is always active and has no source of motion, because it moves itself, its motion will indeed have no end, because it will never leave itself; and, since the nature of the soul is of one substance, and has nothing mingled within it (which is) different and dissimilar from it, it cannot be divided, whereas, if it cannot (be divided), it cannot perish; it is the basis of a strong argument that men know countless things before they are born, in that mere children, when they are studying a complex subject, grasp hold of most things so quickly that they appear not to be taking them in for the first time, but remembering and recalling (them). This (is) more or less Plato's (argument).   

(c. ii) Death is probably the gateway to a happy immortality; possible proofs of this are also the arguments attributed to Cyrus, based upon the soul's immateriality, the posthumous fame of great men, and the likeness of death to sleep ... 79-81.

(79) Again in Xenophon (i.e. in his 'Cyropaedia' Book 8), the elder Cyrus (vid. sec. 30) says these (words) on his deathbed: "Do not suppose, O my dearest sons, that, when I have left you, I shall be nowhere and nobody. For (even) when I was with you, you were not (able to) see my soul, but you knew it was in this body (of mine) from the actions that I performed. So, continue to believe that it is (still thee just) the same, even if you will not (be able) to see (it) at all.

(80) "Nor indeed would the renown of eminent men endure after their death, if the souls of those very (men) had done nothing by which we might keep their memory longer. I, indeed, could never be persuaded that souls were alive while they were in mortal bodies, (yet) died as soon as they departed from them; nor indeed that the soul had then become senseless, when it had departed from the unthinking body, but (rather that), when (it had been) freed from all corporeal admixture, and had begun to be pure and undefiled, then (only) was it wise. And even when the substance of a man is dissolved by death, it is clearly seen whither each of the other elements departs, for they all go back to the place from where they came; but the soul alone is unseen, both when it is present and when it is departing. Now indeed, you (can) see that nothing is so like death as sleep. 

(81) "And yet (it is) the souls of sleepers (that) most clearly manifest their divinity; for they foresee many future (events) when they are unfettered and free; from this it is known what their future will be, when they have freed themselves from the shackles of the body. Wherefore, if these (things) are so, cherish me," says he, "as if (I were) a god, but, if my soul is destined to perish together with my body, you, fearing the gods who guard and rule the whole of this beautiful (universe), must still preserve my memory dutifully and free of damage."   

(c. iii) Death is probably the gateway to a happy immortality; a possible proof of this is also the instinctive belief in immortality, so strong as even to form an incentive for action ... 82.

(82) The dying Cyrus expressed these views, it's true; (now,) if you please, let me consider my own. 

No one, (my dear) Scipio, will ever persuade me that your father Paulus (vid. sec. 15), or your two great grandfathers, Paulus and Africanus, or Africanus' father and his uncle (vid. sec. 29 for all of these), or many (other) illustrious men, whom it is unnecessary (now) to name, would have attempted those mighty (deeds) which belong to the record of the past, if they had not understood in their minds that posterity belonged to them. To boast somewhat about myself in the manner of old men, do you think that I should have undertaken such heavy labours by day and by night, at home and abroad, if I should have set the same bounds to my fame as (those) which (limit) my life? Would it not have been far better (for me) to spend a leisured and tranquil life, free from any toil and strife? But somehow my soul, keeping itself alert, ever kept looking forward to posterity, as if when it had departed from this life, then at last it would be alive. Indeed, if it were not the case that souls were immortal, the souls of all the best men would not strive for immortal glory.   

(c. iv) Death is probably the gateway to a happy immortality; a possible proof of this is, finally, the speaker's own longing after immortality, and the hope of union with those whom he once knew and loved ... 83-85.

(83) What of the fact that the wisest of men die with the calmest of minds, and the most foolish with the least (calm)? Is it not apparent to you that that the soul which sees more (clearly) and further knows that it is on the way to better (things), whereas the one whose vision is duller does not see (this)? 

For my part, I am carried away by the desire of seeing (both) your fathers, whom I cherished and esteemed, and, indeed, I crave not only to meet those whom I, myself, have known, but also those of whom I have heard, and read, and written about myself; indeed once I have set out to (join) them, assuredly nothing will easily draw me back, nor boil (me) up again as if I were Pelias (n.b. here Cicero has confused Pelias, the King of Iolcus, with his half-brother Aeson, the father of Jason, whom Medea had restored to youth by cutting him up and boiling him in her enchanted cauldron). And, if some god should give me leave to return to childhood from this old age (of mine), I should vehemently protest, nor, in truth, when I have, as it were, run my race, would I be willing to be recalled from the winning post to the starting blocks. 

(84) For what advantage does life have (to offer)? Rather, what labour does it not bring (with it)? But, although it definitely does have its (advantages), it certainly does have a point of fulfilment and a limit. For I do not like to deprecate life, (something) which many learned men have often done, nor do I regret that I have lived, since I have lived in such a way that makes me think I (was) not born in vain, and I depart from life, as if (it were) from a place of lodging, not as if (it were) from a home; for nature has given us a hostelry in which to sojourn, not to abide. 

O splendid day, when I shall set out to (join) that divine gathering and assembly of souls, and when I shall depart from the disorder and the dregs of this world! For I shall go to (meet) not only those men, about whom I have spoken before, but also to (meet) my (son) Cato (vid. sec. 68), than whom no man has (ever) been more pre-eminent in his (filial) duty, whose body has been cremated by me, whereas, on the contrary, mine should have been (cremated) by him, but his soul, not abandoning but having regard for me, has surely gone to the place to which it knew that I myself must come. I am thought to have bravely borne this my loss, not that I (really) bore it with an equable mind, but I consoled myself (by) imagining that the parting and separation between us would not be long lasting.

(85) (It is) for these reasons, Scipio, for you say that this has been a source of wonder to you and Laelius, (that) for me old age is easy (to bear), not only not oppressive, been even delightful. But if I am mistaken in this (belief), since I do believe that the souls of men are immortal, (then) I am gladly wrong, nor do I wish this my error of mine to be wrested (from me) while I live; but if, (when) dead, I shall feel nothing, as certain petty philosophers (i.e. the Epicureans) think, (then) I have no fear that these philosophers, when they are dead, will (be able) to ridicule this error of mine. But if we are not going to be immortal, it is still desirable for a man's (life) to be ended at his (proper) time. For nature puts such a limit on living, just as on everything else. Moreover, old age is the last act, as it were, of the drama of life, and we ought to be able to escape from the fatigue of it, especially when satiety is attached (to it). 

I have these views, as stated, on old age, which I only hope you attain, so that, when you experience the reality of it, you can (then) put to the test the (things) which you have heard from me.