---
title: "On Old Age · Cato Maior de Senectute"
author: "Cicero"
translator: "William Armistead Falconer"
languages: [la, en]
shelf: "Classical Latin"
section: 3 of 3
url: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-senectute/3/
cite: "Cicero, tr. William Armistead Falconer, On Old Age · Cato Maior de Senectute, section 3. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-senectute/3/"
---

# On Old Age · Cato Maior de Senectute

*Cicero, tr. William Armistead Falconer*

Old Cato tells two young men why old age need not be feared.

> Latin: ed. William Armistead Falconer, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit, phi0474.phi051, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: William Armistead Falconer, from the Perseus Digital Library (phi0474.phi051.perseus-eng1). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 3. Sections 57–85

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-senectute/3/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/cicero-de-senectute/3/#p-N

[¶0] 57. Of the verdure of the meadows, the even rows of trees and the beauty of the vineyards and olive groves why should I speak at length? I will be concise. Nothing can be more abounding in usefulness or more attractive in appearance than a well-tilled farm, and to its enjoyment old age not merely offers no obstacle, but even entices and allures. For where else can the old man find more genial warmth of sun or fire, and, on the other hand, where, in summer time, can he more healthfully cool himself with shade and running streams? Let others, then, have their weapons, their horses and their spears, their fencing-foils, and games of ball, their swimming contests and foot-races, and out of many sports leave us old fellows our dice and knuckle-bones.

> Latin: 57. de pratorum viriditate aut arborum ordinibus aut vinearum olivetorumve specie plura dicam? praecidam. bene culto nihil potest esse nec usu uberius nec specie ornatius, ad quem fruendum non modo non retardat, verum etiam invitat atque allectat senectus. enim potest illa aetas aut calescere vel apricatione melius vel igni, aut vicissim umbris aquisve refrigerari salubrius? habeant igitur arma, sibi equos, sibi hastas, sibi clavam et pilam, sibi natationes atque cursus;

[¶1] 58. Or take away the dice-box, too, if you will, since old age can be happy without it.

> Latin: 58. nobis senibus ex lusionibus multis talos relinquant et tesseras; id ipsum ut lubebit, quoniam sine eis beata esse senectus potest.

[¶2] 59. Xenophon's writings are very instructive on many subjects and I beg you to go on reading them with studious care. With what copious eloquence agriculture is lauded in his book entitled The Householder, which treats of the management of estates! To show you that Xenophon regarded nothing more befitting royalty than zeal in husbandry, let me recall the incident in the same book, related by Socrates in a conversation with Critobulus. Cyrus the Younger, a Persian prince, eminent for his intelligence and the glory of his rule, was visited at Sardis by Lysander the Spartan, a man of the highest virtue, who brought presents from the allies Among other courtesies to Lysander while his guest, Cyrus showed him a certain carefully planted park. After admiring the stateliness of the trees, regularly placed in quincunx rows, the clean and well-cultivated soil, and the sweet odours emanating from the flowers, Lysander then remarked: “I marvel not only at the industry, but also at the skill of the man who planned and arranged this work.” “But it was I,” Cyrus answered, “who planned it all; mine are the rows and mine the arrangement, and many of those trees I set out with my own hands.” After gazing at the prince's purple robe, the beauty of his person, his Persian costume adorned with much gold and many precious stones, Lysander said: “With good reason, Cyrus, men call you happy, since in you good fortune has been joined with virtue.”

> Latin: 59. ad res perutiles Xenophontis libri sunt, quos legite, quaeso, studiose, ut facitis. copiose ab eo agri cultura laudatur in eo libro, qui est de tuenda re familiari, qui Oeconomicus inscribitur! ut intellegatis nihil ei tam regale videri quam studium agri colendi, Socrates in eo libro loquitur cum Critobulo Cyrum minorem, Persarum regem, praestantem ingenio atque imperi gloria, cum Lysander Lacedaemonius, vir summae virtutis, venisset ad eum Sardis eique dona a sociis attulisset, et ceteris in rebus communem erga Lysandrum atque humanum fuisse et ei quendam consaeptum agrum diligenter consitum ostendisse. autem admiraretur Lysander et proceritates arborum et directos in quincuncem ordines et humum subactam atque puram et suavitatem odorum qui afflarentur ex floribus, tum eum dixisse mirari se non modo diligentiam sed etiam sollertiam eius a quo essent illa dimensa atque discripta; et Cyrum respondisse: atqui ego ista sum omnia dimensus, mei sunt ordines, mea discriptio; multae etiam istarum arborum mea manu sunt satae. Lysandrum, intuentem purpuram eius et nitorem corporis ornatumque Persicum multo auro multisque gemmis, dixisse: recte vero te, Cyre, beatum ferunt, quoniam virtuti tuae fortuna coniuncta est!

[¶3] 60. And this good fortune, therefore, we old men may enjoy; nor does age offer any hindrance to our pursuit of other activities, and especially the cultivation of the soil, even to the very end of old age. For example, there is a tradition that Valerius Corvinus, after passing the ordinary span of life, lived on his farm and cultivated it, and continued his pursuit of agriculture to his hundredth year. Forty-six years intervened between his first and sixth consulships. Thus, so much space of time as by our forefathers' reckoning marked the beginning of old age, just that space was the course of his public honours; and the last period of his life was happier than the middle span, because his influence was greater and his labours were less.

> Latin: 60. igitur fortuna frui licet senibus, nec aetas impedit quo minus et ceterarum rerum et in primis agri colendi studia teneamus usque ad ultimum tempus senectutis. M. quidem Valerium Corvinum accepimus ad centesimum annum perduxisse, cum esset acta iam aetate in agris eosque coleret, cuius inter primum et sextum consulatum sex et quadraginta anni interfuerunt. quantum spatium aetatis maiores ad senectutis initium esse voluerunt, tantus illi cursus honorum fuit; atque huius extrema aetas hoc beatior quam media, quod auctoritatis habebat plus, laboris minus.

[¶4] 61. But the crowning glory of old age is influence. How great was the influence of Lucius Caecilius Metellus! How great, too, was that of Aulus Atilius Calatinus, for whom this epitaph was made:
All peoples say of him who lieth here:
He was his country's very foremost man.
But the entire epitaph is known because it is inscribed upon his tomb. Deservedly weighty, then, was his influence, since all men united in his praise. What heroic qualities I saw not long ago in Publius Crassus, the chief pontiff, and in Marcus Lepidus, his successor in that priestly office! And what shall I say of Paulus, and of Africanus, and of Maximus, of whom I have spoken before? These men had power, not only in their speech, but in their very nod. Surely old age, when crowned with public honours, enjoys an influence which is of more account than all the sensual pleasures of youth.

> Latin: 61. est autem senectutis auctoritas. fuit in L. Caecilio Metello, quanta in A. Atilio Calatino! quem illud elogium:
hunc unum plurimae consentiunt gentes
populi primarium fuisse virum.
est totum carmen incisum in sepulcro. igitur gravis, cuius de laudibus omnium esset fama consentiens. virum nuper P. Crassum, pontificem maximum, quem postea M. Lepidum eodem sacerdotio praeditum vidimus! de Paulo aut Africano loquar, aut, ut iam ante, de Maximo? non in sententia solum, sed etiam in nutu residebat auctoritas. senectus, honorata praesertim, tantam auctoritatem, ut ea pluris sit quam omnes adulescentiae voluptates.

[¶5] 62. But bear well in mind that in this entire discussion I am praising that old age which has its foundation well laid in youth. Hence it follows— as I once said with the approval of all who heard it— that that old age is wretched which needs to defend itself with words. Nor can wrinkles and grey hair suddenly seize upon influence; but when the preceding part of life has been nobly spent, old age gathers the fruits of influence at the last.

> Latin: 62. in omni orationemementote eam me senectutem laudare, quae fundamentis adulescentiae constituta sit. quo efficitur id, quod ego magno quondam cum assensu omnium dixi, miseram esse senectutem quae se oratione defenderet. cani nec rugae repente auctoritatem arripere possunt, sed honeste acta superior actas fructus capit auctoritatis extremos.

[¶6] 63. For those very things, that seem light and trivial, are marks of honour—the morning visit, being sought after, being made way for, having people rise at one's approach, being escorted to and from the forum, being asked for advice—civilities most scrupulously observed among us and in every other state in proportion as its morals are good. Moreover, Lysander, the Spartan, of whom I just now spoke, is reported to have said more than once that in Sparta old age has its most fitting abode; because nowhere else is so much deference paid to age and nowhere else is it more honoured. For example, there is a story that when an old man entered the theatre at Athens during the dramatic performances, not one of his countrymen in that vast crowd offered him a place; but when he came to the special seats occupied by the Lacedaemonians and assigned to them because they were ambassadors, all of them arose, it is said, and invited him to sit down.

> Latin: 63. enim ipsa sunt honorabilia, quae videntur levia atque communia—salutari appeti decedi assurgi deduci reduci consuli, quae et apud nos et in aliis civitatibus, ut quaeque optime morata est, ita diligentissime observantur. Lysandrum Lacedaemonium, cuius modo feci mentionem, dicere aiunt solitum Lacedaemonem esse honestissimum domicilium senectutis; nusquam enim tantum tribuitur aetati, nusquam est senectus honoratior. etiam memoriae proditum est, cum Athenis ludis quidam in theatrum grandis natu venisset, magno consessu locum nusquam ei datum a suis civibus, cum autem ad Lacedaemonios accessisset, qui, legati cum essent, certo in loco considerant, consurrexisse omnes illi dicuntur et senem sessum recepisse;

[¶7] 64. After this action had been greeted by the whole audience with repeated applause, one of the Spartans remarked: “These Athenians know what politeness is, but they won't practise it.” There are many noteworthy customs in our college of augurs, but especially in point is the one whereby each has precedence in debate according to his age, and the oldest is preferred, not only to those of higher official rank, but even to those having imperium. What physical pleasures, then, are comparable to the distinction which influence bestows? The men who have put these distinctions to noble use are, it seems to me, like skilful actors who have played well their parts in the drama of life to the end, and not like untrained players who have broken down in the last act.

> Latin: 64. quibus cum a cuncto consessu plausus esset multiplex datus, dixisse ex eis quendam Atheniensis scire quae recta essent, sed facere nolle. in nostro collegio praeclara, sed hoc, de quo agimus, in primis, quod, ut quisque aetate antecedit, ita sententiae principatum tenet, neque solum honore antecedentibus, sed eis etiam, qui cum imperio sunt, maiores natu augures anteponuntur. sunt igitur voluptates corporis cum auctoritatis praemiis comparandae? qui splendide usi sunt, ei mihi videntur fabulam aetatis peregisse nec tamquam inexercitati histriones in extremo actu corruisse.

[¶8] 65. But, the critics say, old men are morose, troubled, fretful, and hard to please; and, if we inquire, we shall find that some of them are misers, too. However, these are faults of character, not of age. Yet moroseness and the other faults mentioned have some excuse, not a really sufficient one, but such as it may seem possible to allow, in that old men imagine themselves ignored, despised, and mocked at; and besides, when the body is weak, the lightest blow gives pain. But nevertheless all these faults are much ameliorated by good habits and by education, as may be seen in real life, and particularly on the stage in the case of the two brothers in the play of that name. What a disagreeable nature one of them has, and what an affable disposition has the other! Indeed the case stands thus: as it is not every wine, so it is not every disposition, that grows sour with age. I approve of some austerity in the old, but I want it, as I do everything else, in moderation. Sourness of temper I like not at all. As for avariciousness in the old, what purpose it can serve I do not understand, for can anything be more absurd in the traveller than to increase his luggage as he nears his journey's end?

> Latin: 65. At sunt morosi et anxii et iracundi et difficiles senes. quaerimus, etiam avari; sed haec morum vitia sunt, non senectutis. morositas tamen et ea vitia, quae dixi, habent aliquid excusationis, non illius quidem iustae, sed quae probari posse videatur: contemni se putant, despici, illudi; praeterea in fragili corpore odiosa omnis offensio est; quae tamen omnia dulciora fiunt et moribus bonis et artibus, idque cum in vita tum in scaena intellegi potest ex eis fratribus qui in Adelphis sunt. in altero diritas, in altero comitas! Sic se res habet: ut enim non omne vinum, sic non omnis natura vetustate coacescit. in senectute probo, sed eam, sicut alia, modicam; acerbitatem nullo modo; avaritia vero senilis quid sibi velit, non intellego.

[¶9] 66. It remains to consider now the fourth reason—one that seems especially calculated to render my time of life anxious and full of care—the nearness of death; for death, in truth, cannot be far away. O wretched indeed is that old man who has not learned in the course of his long life that death should be held of no account! For clearly death is negligible, if it utterly annihilates the soul, or even desirable, if it conducts the soul to some place where it is to live for ever. Surely no other alternative can be found.

> Latin: 66. Potest enim quicquam esse absurdius quam, quo viae minus restet, eo plus viatici quaerere? restat causa, quae maxime angere atque sollicitam habere nostram aetatem videtur, appropinquatio mortis, quae certe a senectute non potest esse longe. O miserum senem, qui mortem contemnendam esse in tam longa aetate non viderit! aut plane neglegenda est, si omnino exstinguit animum, aut etiam optanda, si aliquo eum deducit ubi sit futurus aeternus. tertium certe nihil inveniri potest.

[¶10] 67. What, then, shall I fear, if after death I am destined to be either not unhappy or happy? And yet is there anyone so foolish, even though he is young, as to feel absolutely sure that he will be alive when evening comes? Nay, even youth, much more than old age, is subject to the accident of death; the young fall sick more easily, their sufferings are more intense, and they are cured with greater difficulty. Therefore few arrive at old age, and, but for this, life would be lived in better and wiser fashion. For it is in old men that reason and good judgement are found, and had it not been for old men no state would have existed at all. But I return to the question of impending death. What fault is this which you charge against old age, when, as you see, it is one chargeable likewise to youth?

> Latin: 67. igitur timeam, si aut non miser post mortem, aut beatus etiam futurus sum? quis est tam stultus, quamvis sit adulescens, cui sit exploratum se ad vesperum esse victurum? etiam aetas illa multo pluris quam nostra casus mortis habet: facilius in morbos incidunt adulescentes, gravius aegrotant, tristius curantur. pauci veniunt ad senectutem; quod ni ita accideret, melius et prudentius viveretur. enim et ratio et consilium in senibus est, qui si nulli fuissent, nullae omnino civitates fuissent. redeo ad mortem impendentem. est istud crimen senectutis, cum id ei videatis cum adulescentia esse commune?

[¶11] 68. That death is common to every age has been brought home to me by the loss of my dearest son, and to you, Scipio, by the untimely end of your two brothers, when they were giving promise of attaining to the highest honours in the State. But, you may say, the young man hopes that he will live for a long time and this hope the old man cannot have. Such a hope is not wise, for what is more unwise than to mistake uncertainty for certainty, falsehood for truth? They say, also, that the old man has nothing even to hope for. Yet he is in better case than the young man, since what the latter merely hopes for, the former has already attained; the one wishes to live long, the other has lived long.

> Latin: 68. ego in optimo filio, tu in exspectatis ad amplissimam dignitatem fratribus, Scipio, mortem omni aetati esse communem. At sperat adulescens diu se victurum, quod sperare idem senex non potest. sperat; quid enim stultius quam incerta pro certis habere, falsa pro veris? At senex ne quod speret quidem habet. At est eo meliore condicione quam adulescens, quioniam id quod ille sperat hic consecutus est: ille volt diu vivere, hic diu vixit.

[¶12] 69. But, ye gods! what is there in human nature that is for long? For grant the utmost limit of life; let us hope to reach the age of the Tartessian king—for at Cadiz there was, as I have seen it recorded, a certain Arganthonius, who had reigned eighty and had lived one hundred and twenty years—, but to me nothing whatever seems “lengthy” if it has an end; for when that end arrives, then that which was is gone; naught remains but the fruit of good and virtuous deeds. Hours and days, and months and years, go by; the past returns no more, and what is to be we cannot know; but whatever the time given us in which to live, we should therewith be content.

> Latin: 69. , o di boni, quid est in hominis natura diu? enim supremum tempus; exspectemus Tartessiorum regis aetatem—fuit enim, ut scriptum video, Arganthonius quidam Gadibus, qui octoginta regnaverat annos, centum viginti vixerat—sed mihi ne diuturnum quidem quicquam videtur, in quo est aliquid extremum; cum enim id advenit, tum illud, quod praeteriit, effluxit; tantum remanet, quod virtute et recte factis consecutus sis. quidem cedunt et dies et menses et anni, nec praeteritum tempus umquam revertitur nec quid sequatur sciri potest. cuique temporis ad vivendum datur, eo debet esse contentus.

[¶13] 70. The actor, for instance, to please his audience need not appear in every act to the very end; it is enough if he is approved in the parts in which he plays; and so it is not necessary for the wise man to stay on this mortal stage to the last fall of the curtain. For even if the allotted space of life be short, it is long enough in which to live honourably and well; but if a longer period of years should be granted, one has no more cause to grieve than the farmers have that the pleasant springtime has passed and that summer and autumn have come. For spring typifies youth and gives promise of future fruits; while the other seasons are designed for gathering in those fruits and storing them away.

> Latin: 70. enim histrioni, ut placeat, peragenda fabula est, modo in quocunque fuerit actu probetur; neque sapientibus usque ad plaudite veniendum est, breve enim tempus aetatis satis longum est ad bene honesteque vivendum; sin processerit longius, non magis dolendum est, quam agricolae dolent praeterita verni temporis suavitate aestatem autumnumque venisse. enim tamquam adulescentia significat ostenditque fructus futuros; reliqua autem tempora demetendis fructibus et percipiendis accommodata sunt.

[¶14] 71. Now the fruit of old age, as I have often said, is the memory of abundant blessings previously acquired. Moreover, whatever befalls in accordance with Nature should be accounted good; and indeed, what is more consonant with Nature than for the old to die? But the same fate befalls the young, though Nature in their case struggles and rebels. Therefore, when the young die I am reminded of a strong flame extinguished by a torrent; but when old men die it is as if a fire had gone out without the use of force and of its own accord, after the fuel had been consumed; and, just as apples when they are green are with difficulty plucked from the tree, but when ripe and mellow fall of themselves, so, with the young, death comes as a result of force, while with the old it is the result of ripeness. To me, indeed, the thought of this “ripeness” for death is so pleasant, that the nearer I approach death the more I feel like one who is in sight of land at last and is about to anchor in his home port after a long voyage.

> Latin: 71. autem senectutis est, ut saepe dixi, ante partorum bonorum memoria et copia. autem, quae secundum naturam fiunt, sunt habenda in bonis; quid est autem tam secundum naturam quam senibus emori? idem contingit adulescentibus adversante et repugnante natura. adulescentes mihi mori sic videntur, ut cum aquae multitudine flammae vis opprimitur, senes autem sic, ut cum sua sponte, nulla adhibita vi, consumptus ignis exstinguitur, et quasi poma ex arboribus, cruda si sunt, vix evelluntur, si matura et cocta, decidunt, sic vitam adulescentibus vis aufert, senibus maturitas; quae quidem mihi tam iucunda est, ut, quo propius ad mortem accedam, quasi terram videre videar aliquandoque in portum ex longa navigatione esse venturus.

[¶15] 72. But old age has no certain term, and there is good cause for an old man living so long as he can fulfil and support his proper duties and hold death of no account. By this means old age actually becomes more spirited and more courageous than youth. This explains the answer which Solon gave to the tyrant Pisistratus who asked, “Pray, what do you rely upon in opposing me so boldly?” and Solon replied, “Old age.” But the most desirable end of life is that which comes while the mind is clear and the faculties are unimpaired, when Nature herself takes apart the work which she has put together. As the builder most readily destroys the ship or the house which he has built, so Nature is the agent best fitted to give dissolution to her creature, man. Now every structure when newly built is hard to pull apart, but the old and weather-beaten house comes easily down. Hence, it follows that old men ought neither to cling too fondly to their little remnant of life, nor give it up without a cause.

> Latin: 72. autem nullus est certus terminus, recteque in ea vivitur, quoad munus offici exsequi et tueri possit mortemque contemnere, ex quo fit ut animosior etiam senectus sit quam adulescentia et fortior. illud est, quod Pisistrato tyranno a Solone responsum est, cum illi quaerenti qua tandem re fretus sibi tam audaciter obsisteret respondisse dicitur senectute. vivendi est finis optimus, cum integra mente certisque sensibus opus ipsa suum eadem quae coagmentavit natura dissolvit. navem, ut aedificium idem destruit facillime qui construxit, sic hominem eadem optime quae conglutinavit natura dissolvit. omnis conglutinatio recens aegre, inveterata facile divellitur. fit ut illud breve vitae reliquum nec avide appetendum senibus nec sine causa deserendum sit;

[¶16] 73. Pythagoras bids us stand like faithful sentries and not quit our post until God, our Captain, gives the word. Solon the Wise has a couplet in which he says that he does not want his death to be free from the grief and mourning of his friends. He wishes, no doubt to make out that he is dear to his friends, but I am inclined to think that Ennius has expressed it better when he says:
I do not wish the honour of a tear,
Or any wailing cries about my bier.
He does not think that death, which is followed by eternal life, should be a cause of grief.

> Latin: 73. vetatque Pythagoras iniussu imperatoris, id est dei, de praesidio et statione vitae decedere. Solonis quidem sapientis est elogium, quo se negat velle suam mortem dolore amicorum et lamentis vacare., credo, se esse carum suis. haud scio an melius Ennius:
nemo me lacrumis decoret, neque funera fletu faxit.
censet lugendam esse mortem, quam immortalitas consequatur.

[¶17] 74. Now, there may be some sensation in the process of dying, but it is a fleeting one, especially to the old; after death the sensation is either pleasant or there is none at all. But this should be thought on from our youth up, so that we may be indifferent to death, and without this thought no one can be in a tranquil state of mind. For it is certain that we must die. and, for aught we know, this very day. Therefore, since death threatens every hour, how can he who fears it have any steadfastness of soul?

> Latin: 74. sensus moriendi aliquis esse potest, isque ad exiguum tempus, praesertim seni: post mortem quidem sensus aut optandus aut nullus est. hoc meditatum ab adulescentia debet esse, mortem ut neglegamus; sine qua meditatione tranquillo animo esse nemo potest. enim certe est, et incertum an hoc ipso die. igitur omnibus horis impendentem timens qui poterit animo consistere?

[¶18] 75. No very extended argument on this point seems necessary when I recall—not the conduct of Lucius Brutus, who was killed in liberating his country; nor that of the two Decii who rode full speed to a voluntary death; nor that of Marcus Atilius Regulus, who set out from home to undergo torture and keep the faith pledged to his foe; nor that of the two Scipios, who with their bodies sought to stay the Punic march; nor that, Scipio, of your grandfather Lucius Paulus who, in the shameful rout at Cannae, gave his life to atone for his colleague's folly; nor that of Marcus Marcellus, to whom not even his most pitiless foe denied the honours of a funeral—but rather when I recall, as I have noted in my Antiquities, how our legions have often marched with cheerful and unwavering courage into situations whence they thought they would never return. Then shall wise old men fear a thing which is despised by youths, and not only by those who are untaught, but by those also who are mere clowns?

> Latin: 75. De qua non ita longa disputatione opus esse videtur, cum recordor non L. Brutum, qui in liberanda patria est interfectus, non duos Decios, qui ad voluntariam mortem cursum equorum incitaverunt, non M. Atilium, qui ad supplicium est profectus ut fidem hosti datam conservaret, non duos Scipiones, qui iter Poenis vel corporibus suis obstruere voluerunt, non avum tuum L. Paulum, qui morte luit collegae in Cannensi ignominia temeritatem, non M. Marcellum, cuius interitum ne crudelissimus quidem hostis honore sepulturae carere passus est, sed legiones nostras, quod scripsi in Originibus, in eum locum saepe profectas alacri animo et erecto, unde se redituras numquam arbitrarentur. igitur adulescentes, et ei quidem non solum indocti sed etiam rustici contemnunt, id docti senes extimescent?

[¶19] 76. Undoubtedly, as it seems to me at least, satiety of all pursuits causes satiety of life. Boyhood has certain pursuits: does youth yearn for them? Early youth has its pursuits: does the matured or so-called middle stage of life need them? Maturity, too, has such as are not even sought in old age, and finally, there are those suitable to old age. Therefore as the pleasures and pursuits of the earlier periods of life fall away, so also do those of old age; and when that happens man has his fill of life and the time is ripe for him to go.

> Latin: 76. , ut mihi quidem videtur studiorum omnium satietas vitae facit satietatem. pueritiae studia certa: num igitur ea desiderant adulescentes? ineuntis adulescentiae: num ea constans iam requirit aetas, quae media dicitur? etiam eius aetatis: ne ea quidem quaeruntur in senectute. extrema quaedam studia senectutis: ergo, ut superiorum aetatum studia occidunt, sic occidunt etiam senectutis; quod cum evenit, satietas vitae tempus maturum mortis affert.

[¶20] 77. Really I do not see why I should not venture to tell you what I, myself, think of death; for it seems to me that I apprehend it better as I draw nearer to it. It is my belief, Scipio, that your father, and yours, Laelius—both of them most illustrious men and very dear to me—are living yet, and living the only life deserving of the name. For while we are shut up within these frames of flesh we perform a sort of task imposed by necessity and endure grievous labour; for the soul is celestial, brought down from its most exalted home and buried, as it were, in earth, a place uncongenial to its divine and eternal nature. But I believe that the immortal gods implanted souls in human bodies so as to have beings who would care for the earth and who, while contemplating the celestial order, would imitate it in the moderation and consistency of their lives. Nor have I been driven to this belief solely by the force of reason and of argument, but also by the reputation and authority of philosophers of the highest rank.

> Latin: 77. enim video, cur, quid ipse sentiam de morte, non audeam vobis dicere, quod eo cernere mihi melius videor, quo ab ea propius absum. vestros patres, P. Scipio tuque, C. Laeli, viros clarissimos mihique amicissimos, vivere arbitror et eam quidem vitam, quae est sola vita nominanda. dum sumus inclusi in his compagibus corporis, munere quodam necessitatis et gravi opere perfungimur; est enim animus caelestis ex altissimo domicilio depressus et quasi demersus in terram, locum divinae naturae aeternitatique contrarium. credo deos immortalis sparsisse animos in corpora humana, ut essent qui terras tuerentur quique caelestium ordinem contemplantes imitarentur eum vitae modo atque constantia. me solum ratio ac disputatio impulit ut ita crederem, sed nobilitas etiam summorum philosophorum et auctoritas.

[¶21] 78. I used to be told that Pythagoras and his disciples, —who were almost fellow-countrymen of ours, inasmuch as they were formerly called “Italian philosophers,”—never doubted that our souls were emanations of the Universal Divine Mind. Moreover, I had clearly set before me the arguments touching the immortality of the soul, delivered on the last day of his life by Socrates, whom the oracle of Apollo had pronounced the wisest of men. Why multiply words? That is my conviction, that is what I believe—since such is the lightning-like rapidity of the soul, such its wonderful memory of things that are past, such its ability to forecast the future, such its mastery of many arts, sciences, and inventions, that its nature, which encompasses all these things, cannot be mortal; and since the soul is always active and has no source of motion because it is self-moving, its motion will have no end, because it will never leave itself; and since in its nature the soul is of one substance and has nothing whatever mingled with it unlike or dissimilar to itself, it cannot be divided, and if it cannot be divided it cannot perish. And a strong argument that men's knowledge of numerous things antedates their birth is the fact that mere children, in studying difficult subjects, so quickly lay hold upon innumerable things that they seem not to be then learning them for the first time, but to be recalling and remembering them. This, in substance, is Plato's teaching.

> Latin: 78. Pythagoram Pythagoriosque, incolas paene nostros, qui essent Italici philosophi quondam nominati, numquam dubitasse quin ex universa mente divina delibatos animos haberemus. mihi praeterea quae Socrates supremo vitae die de immortalitate animorum disseruisset, is qui esset omnium sapientissimus oraculo Apollinis iudicatus. multa? Sic mihi persuasi, sic sentio, cum tanta celeritas animorum sit, tanta memoria praeteritorum futurorumque prudentia, tot artes, tantae scientiae, tot inventa, non posse eam naturam, quae res eas contineat, esse mortalem; cumque semper agitetur animus nec principium motus habeat, quia se ipse moveat, ne finem quidem habiturum esse motus, quia numquam se ipse sit relicturus; et cum simplex animi natura esset neque haberet in se quicquam admixtum dispar sui atque dissimile, non posse eum dividi, quod si non posset, non posse interire; magnoque esse argumento homines scire pleraque ante quam nati sint, quod iam pueri, cum artis difficilis discant, ita celeriter res innumerabilis arripiant, ut eas non tum primum accipere videantur, sed reminisci et recordari. Platonis fere.

[¶22] 79. Again, in Xenophon, Cyrus the Elder utters the following words as he is dying: “Think not, my dearest sons, that, when I have left you, I shall cease to be. For while I was with you you did not see my soul, but you knew that it was in this body from the deeds that I performed. Continue to believe, therefore, that it exists as before, even though you see it not.

> Latin: 79. Xenophontem autem moriens Cyrus maior haec dicit: “nolite arbitrari, o mihi carissimi filii, me, cum a vobis discessero, nusquam aut nullum fore. enim, dum eram vobiscum, animum meum videbatis, sed eum esse in hoc corpore ex eis rebus quas gerebam intellegebatis. igitur esse creditote, etiam si nullum videbitis.”

[¶23] 80. Nor, indeed, would the fame of illustrious men survive their death if the souls of those very men did not cause us to retain their memory longer. I, for my part, could never be persuaded that souls, which lived while they were in human bodies, perished when they left those bodies; nor, indeed, that the soul became incapable of thought when it had escaped from the unthinking corpse, but rather that, when it had been freed from every admixture of flesh and had begun to exist pure and undefiled, then only was it wise. And even when man is dissolved by death it is evident to the sight whither each bodily element departs; for the corporeal returns to the visible constituents from which it came, but the soul alone remains unseen, both when it is present and when it departs. Again, you really see nothing resembling death so much as sleep;

> Latin: 80. “vero clarorum virorum post mortem honores permanerent, si nihil eorum ipsorum animi efficerent, quo diutius memoriam sui teneremus. quidem numquam persuaderi potuit animos dum in corporibus essent mortalibus vivere, cum excessissent ex eis emori; nec vero tum animum esse insipientem cum ex insipienti corpore evasisset, sed cum omni admixtione corporis liberatus purus et integer esse coepisset, tum esse sapientem. etiam, cum hominis natura morte dissolvitur, ceterarum rerum perspicuum est quo quaeque discedat, abeunt enim illuc omnia, unde orta sunt; animus autem solus nec cum adest nec cum discessit apparet. vero videtis nihil esse morti tam simile quam somnum.”

[¶24] 81. and yet it is when the body sleeps that the soul most clearly manifests its divine nature; for when it is unfettered and free it sees many things that are to come. Hence we know what the soul's future state will be when it has been wholly released from the shackles of the flesh. Wherefore, if what I have said be true, cherish me as you would a god. But on the other hand, if my soul is going to perish along with my body, still you, who revere the gods as the guardians and rulers of this beautiful universe, will keep me in loving and sacred memory.” This was the view of the dying Cyrus. Let me, if you please, give my own.

> Latin: 81. “dormientium animi maxime declarant divinitatem suam; multa enim, cum remissi et liberi sunt, futura prospiciunt; ex quo intellegitur quales futuri sint, cum se plane corporis vinculis relaxaverint. re, si haec ita sunt, sic me colitote,” inquit, ut deum, sin una est interiturus animus cum corpore, vos tamen, deos verentes, qui hanc omnem pulchritudinem tuentur et regunt, memoriam nostri pie inviolateque servabitis. Cyrus quidem haec moriens; nos, si placet, nostra videamus.

[¶25] 82. No one, my dear Scipio, will ever convince me that your father Paulus, or your two grandfathers, Paulus and Africanus, or the latter's father and uncle, or many other illustrious men, unnecessary now to name, would have attempted such mighty deeds, to be remembered by posterity, if they had not known that posterity belonged to them. Or, to boast somewhat of myself after the manner of the old, do you think that I should have undertaken such heavy labours by day and by night, at home and abroad, if I had believed that the term of my earthly life would mark the limits of my fame? Would it not have been far better for me to spend a leisured and quiet life, free from toil and strife? But somehow, my soul was ever on the alert, looking forward to posterity, as if it realized that when it had departed from this life, then at last would it be alive. And, indeed, were it not true that the soul is immortal, it would not be the case that it is ever the souls of the best men that strive most for immortal glory. And what of the fact that the wisest men die with the greatest equanimity, the most foolish with the least?

> Latin: 82. umquam mihi, Scipio,persuadebit aut patrem tuum Paulum, aut duos avos Paulum et Africanum, aut Africani patrem aut patruum, aut multos praestantis viros, quos enumerare non est necesse, tanta esse conatos quae ad posteritatis memoriam pertinerent, nisi animo cernerent posteritatem ad ipsos pertinere. censes, ut de me ipse aliquid more senum glorier, me tantos labores diurnos nocturnosque domi militiaeque suscepturum fuisse, si isdem finibus gloriam meam quibus vitam essem terminaturus? melius multo fuisset otiosam et quietam aetatem sine ullo labore et contentione traducere? nescio quo modo animus erigens se posteritatem ita semper prospiciebat, quasi, cum excessisset e vita, tum denique victurus esset. quidem ni ita se haberet ut animi immortales essent, haud optimi cuiusque animus maxime ad immortalitatis gloriam niteretur. quod sapientissimus quisque aequissimo animo moritur, stultissimus iniquissimo, nonne vobis videtur is animus, qui plus cernat et longius, videre se ad meliora proficisci, ille autem, cuius obtusior sit acies, non videre?

[¶26] 83. Is it not apparent to you that it is because the soul of the one, having a keener and wider vision, sees that it is setting out for a better country, while that of the other, being of duller sight, sees not its path? Really, Scipio, I am carried away with the desire to see your father, and yours too, Laelius, both of whom I honoured and loved; and, indeed, I am eager to meet not only those whom I have known, but those also of whom I have heard and read and written. And when I shall have set out to join them, assuredly no one will easily draw me back. or boil me up again, as if I were a Pelias. Nay, if some god should give me leave to return to infancy from my old age, to weep once more in my cradle, I should vehemently protest; for, truly, after I have run my race I have no wish to be recalled, as it were, from the goal to the starting-place.

> Latin: 83. efferor studio patres vestros quos colui et dilexi videndi, neque vero eos solum convenire aveo, quos ipse cognovi, sed illos etiam, de quibus audivi et legi et ipse conscripsi; quo quidem me proficiscentem haud sane quid facile retraxerit, nec tamquam Peliam recoxerit. si quis deus mihi largiatur ut ex hac aetate repuerascam et in cunis vagiam, valde recusem, nec vero velim quasi decurso spatio ad carceres a calce revocari.

[¶27] 84. For what advantage has life—or, rather, what trouble does it not have? But even grant that it has great advantage, yet undoubtedly it has either satiety or an end. I do not mean to complain of life as many men, and they learned ones, have often done; nor do I regret that I have lived, since I have so lived that I think I was not born in vain, and I quit life as if it were an inn, not a home. For Nature has given us an hostelry in which to sojourn, not to abide. O glorious day, when I shall set out to join the assembled hosts of souls divine and leave this world of strife and sin! For I shall go to meet not only the men already mentioned, but my Cato, too, than whom no better man, none more distinguished for filial duty, was ever born. His body was burned by me, whereas, on the contrary it were more fitting that mine had been burned by him; but his soul, not deserting me, but ever looking back, has surely departed for that realm where it knew that I, myself, must come. People think that I have bravely borne my loss—not that I bore it with an untroubled heart, but I found constant solace in the thought that our separation would not be long.

> Latin: 84. habet enim vita commodi? non potius laboris? habeat sane; habet certe tamen aut satietatem aut modum. libet enim mihi deplorare vitam, quod multi et ei docti saepe fecerunt, neque me vixisse paenitet, quoniam ita vixi, ut non frustra me natum existimem, et ex vita ita discedo tamquam ex hospitio, non tamquam e domo; commorandi enim natura devorsorium nobis, non habitandi dedit. O praeclarum diem cum in illud divinum animorum concilium coetumque proficiscar cumque ex hac turba et colluvione discedam! enim non ad eos solum viros, de quibus ante dixi, verum etiam ad Catonem meum, quo nemo vir melior natus est, nemo pietate praestantior, cuius a me corpus est crematum, quod contra decuit ab illo meum, animus vero non me deserens sed respectans, in ea profecto loca discessit quo mihi ipsi cernebat esse veniendum. ego meum casum fortiter ferre visus sum, non quo aequo animo ferrem, sed me ipse consolabar existimans non longinquum inter nos digressum et discessum fore.

[¶28] 85. For these reasons, Scipio, my old age sits light upon me (for you said that this has been a cause of wonder to you and Laelius), and not only is not burdensome, but is even happy. And if I err in my belief that the souls of men are immortal, I gladly err, nor do I wish this error which gives me pleasure to be wrested from me while I live. But if when dead I am going to be without sensation (as some petty philosophers think), then I have no fear that these seers, when they are dead, will have the laugh on me! Again, if we are not going to be immortal, nevertheless, it is desirable for a man to be blotted out at his proper time. For as Nature has marked the bounds of everything else, so she has marked the bounds of life. Moreover, old age is the final scene, as it were, in life's drama, from which we ought to escape when it grows wearisome and, certainly, when we have had our fill. Such, my friends, are my views on old age. May you both attain it, and thus be able to prove by experience the truth of what you have heard from me.

> Latin: 85. His mihi rebus, Scipio, id enim te cum Laelio admirari solere dixisti, levis est senectus, nec solum non molesta, sed etiam iucunda. si in hoc erro, qui animos hominum immortalis esse credam, libenter erro nec mihi hunc errorem, quo delector, dum vivo, extorqueri volo; sin mortuus, ut quidam minuti philosophi censent, nihil sentiam, non vereor ne hunc errorem meum philosophi mortui irrideant. si non sumus immortales futuri, tamen exstingui homini suo tempore optabile est. habet natura, ut aliarum omnium rerum, sic vivendi modum. autem aetatis est peractio tamquam fabulae, cuius defetigationem fugere debemus, praesertim adiuncta satietate. habui de senectute quae dicerem, ad quam utinam veniatis, ut ea, quae ex me audistis, re experti probare possitis!