On Old Age (De Senectute)

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) wrote On Old Age, also called Cato Maior, in 44 BC, during the burst of philosophical writing that followed the death of his daughter Tullia and his withdrawal from politics under Caesar. Dedicated to his friend Atticus, it is a dialogue set in 150 BC, in which the elder Cato, then eighty-four, answers questions from two young men, Scipio Aemilianus and Laelius.

After a dedication to Atticus, Cato explains that old age is a burden only to those without inner resources, and holds up the example of Quintus Fabius Maximus, who recaptured Tarentum in his old age. He then sets out the four charges commonly made against old age: that it takes us away from active life, weakens the body, deprives us of pleasures and brings us close to death. He answers each in turn. Old men can serve the state with counsel, keep their memory and teach the young; strength matters less than wisdom, as the examples of Nestor and the aged king Masinissa show. The loss of bodily pleasures is a release, as the philosopher Archytas taught, and the old still enjoy conversation, study and, above all, farming, the occupation of Manius Curius and the farmer-senators of early Rome. Old age brings authority and honour, and death is not to be feared, since the soul is probably immortal.

The dialogue is gracious and humane, and has long been one of the most widely read of Cicero's works. The Latin is clear, balanced and an excellent introduction to Ciceronian prose.