Sen. 10.1Vidētisne, ut apud Homērum saepissimē Nestor dē virtūtibus suīs praedicet?Do you see how in Homer Nestor very often proclaims his own virtues? Sen. 10.1Tertiam enim aetātem hominum vidēbat, nec erat eī verendum nē vēra praedicāns dē sē nimis vidērētur aut īnsolēns aut loquāx.For he was seeing the third generation of men, and he had no need to fear that, in proclaiming the truth about himself, he might seem either too arrogant or too talkative. Sen. 10.1" Etenim," ut ait Homērus, "ex eius linguā melle dulcior fluēbat ōrātiō;"'For,' as Homer says, 'from his tongue flowed speech sweeter than honey;' Sen. 10.1quam ad suāvitātem nūllīs egēbat corporis vīribus.and for this sweetness he had no need of any bodily strength. Sen. 10.1Et tamen dux ille Graeciae nūsquam optat ut Aiācis similīs habeat decem, sed ut Nestoris, quod sī sibi acciderit, nōn dubitat quīn brevī sit Troia peritūra.And yet that famous leader of Greece nowhere prays to have ten men like Ajax, but ten like Nestor; and if this should happen to him, he does not doubt that Troy would soon fall. Sen. 10.32Sed redeō ad mē.But I return to myself. Sen. 10.32Quartum agō annum et octōgēsimum: vellem equidem idem posse glōriārī quod Cyrus, sed tamen hoc queō dīcere, nōn mē quidem eīs esse vīribus, quibus aut mīles bellō Pūnicō aut quaestor eōdem bellō aut cōnsul in Hispāniā fuerim aut quadrienniō post, cum tribūnus mīlitāris dēpugnāvī apud Thermopylās M'. Glabriōne cōnsule;I am in my eighty-fourth year: I should like indeed to be able to make the same boast as Cyrus, but still I can say this, that I have not, it is true, the strength I had either as a soldier in the Punic war or as quaestor in the same war or as consul in Spain, or four years later, when as military tribune I fought at Thermopylae in the consulship of Manius Glabrio; Sen. 10.32sed tamen, ut vōs vidētis, nōn plānē mē ēnervāvit, nōn afflīxit senectūs: nōn cūria vīrīs meās dēsīderat, nōn rōstra, nōn amīcī, nōn clientēs, nōn hospitēs.but still, as you see, old age has not altogether unnerved me, has not crushed me: the senate house does not miss my strength, nor the rostra, nor my friends, nor my clients, nor my guests.
Sen. 10.32Nec enim umquam sum assēnsus veterī illī laudātōque prōverbiō, quod monet mātūrē fierī senem, sī diū velīs senex esse.For I have never agreed with that old and much-praised proverb which advises you to become an old man early if you wish to be an old man long. Sen. 10.32Ego vērō mē minus diū senem esse māllem quam esse senem ante quam essem.For my part, I would rather be an old man for a shorter time than be an old man before I was one. Sen. 10.32Itaque nēmō adhūc convenīre mē voluit cui fuerim occupātus.And so no one has yet wished to meet me and found me engaged. Sen. 10.33At minus habeō vīrium quam vestrum utervīs.But I have less strength than either of you. Sen. 10.33Nē vōs quidem T. Pontī centuriōnis vīrīs habētis: num idcircō est ille praestantior?Nor do you have the strength of the centurion Titus Pontius: is he therefore the more excellent man? Sen. 10.33Moderātiō modo vīrium adsit et tantum quantum potest quisque nītātur, nē ille nōn magnō dēsīderiō tenēbitur vīrium.Only let strength be used with moderation, and let each man strive as far as he is able, and he will certainly not be gripped by any great longing for strength.
Sen. 10.33Olympiae per stadium ingressus esse Milō dīcitur, cum umerīs sustinēret bovem: utrum igitur hās corporis an Pȳthagorae tibi mālīs vīrīs ingenī darī?Milo is said to have walked the length of the stadium at Olympia carrying an ox on his shoulders: which, then, would you rather be given, this strength of body or the strength of mind of Pythagoras? Sen. 10.33Dēnique istō bonō ūtāre, dum adsit, cum absit, nē requīrās: nisi forte adulēscentēs pueritiam, paulum aetāte prōgressī adulēscentiam dēbent requīrere.In short, use that blessing while it is present, and when it is gone, do not seek it back: unless perhaps young men ought to long for childhood, and those a little advanced in age for youth. Sen. 10.33Cursus est certus aetātis et ūna via nātūrae eaque simplex, suaque cuique partī aetātis tempestīvitās est data, ut et īnfirmitās puerōrum et ferōcitās iuvenum et gravitās iam cōnstantis aetātis et senectūtis mātūritās nātūrāle quiddam habet, quod suō tempore percipī dēbeat.The course of life is fixed, and nature has a single path, and that a simple one, and to each part of life its own proper season has been given, so that the weakness of children, the high spirit of young men, the seriousness of those now in settled age, and the ripeness of old age each have something natural, which ought to be gathered in its own time.
Sen. 10.34Audīre tē arbitror, Scīpiō, hospes tuus avītus Masinissa quae faciat hodiē nōnāgintā nātus annōs: cum ingressus iter pedibus sit, in equum omnīnō nōn ascendere;I think you hear, Scipio, what your grandfather's guest-friend Masinissa does today at ninety years of age: when he has started a journey on foot, he does not mount a horse at all; Sen. 10.34cum autem equō, ex equō nōn dēscendere;but when he has started on horseback, he does not dismount; Sen. 10.34nūllō imbrī, nūllō frīgore addūcī ut capite opertō sit;no rain, no cold can induce him to cover his head; Sen. 10.34summam esse in eō corporis siccitātem, itaque omnia exsequī rēgis officia et mūnera.there is the utmost leanness of body in him, and so he performs all the duties and functions of a king. Sen. 10.34Potest igitur exercitātiō et temperantia etiam in senectūte cōnservāre aliquid prīstinī rōboris.Exercise and temperance, then, can preserve something of one's former strength even in old age.