Sen. 11.1Nē sint in senectūte vīrēs: nē postulantur quidem vīrēs ā senectūte.Suppose there is no strength in old age: strength is not even demanded of old age. Sen. 11.1Ergō et lēgibus et īnstitūtīs vacat aetās nostra mūneribus eīs quae nōn possunt sine vīribus sustinērī.And so by both laws and customs our age is exempt from those duties which cannot be sustained without strength. Sen. 11.1Itaque nōn modo quod nōn possumus, sed nē quantum possumus quidem cōgimur.Thus we are not compelled to do what we cannot do — no, not even as much as we can. Sen. 11.35At multī ita sunt imbēcillī senēs, ut nūllum officī aut omnīnō vītae mūnus exsequī possint.But many old men are so feeble that they can perform no task of duty, or indeed of life at all. Sen. 11.35At id quidem nōn proprium senectūtis vitium est, sed commūne valētūdinis.But that is not a fault peculiar to old age; it is one common to ill health. Sen. 11.35Quam fuit imbēcillus P. Āfricānī fīlius, is quī tē adoptāvit, quam tenuī aut nūllā potius valētūdine!How feeble was the son of Publius Africanus, the one who adopted you, how frail his health, or rather how lacking!
Sen. 11.35Quod nī ita fuisset, alterum illud exstitisset lūmen cīvitātis;Had that not been so, he would have stood out as a second light of the state; Sen. 11.35ad paternam enim magnitūdinem animī doctrīna ūberior accesserat.for to his father's greatness of mind he had added richer learning. Sen. 11.35Quid mīrum igitur in senibus, sī īnfirmī sunt aliquandō, cum id nē adulēscentēs quidem effugere possint?What wonder, then, if old men are sometimes weak, when not even young men can escape that? Sen. 11.35Resistendum, Laelī et Scīpiō, senectūtī est eiusque vitia dīligentiā compēnsanda sunt, pugnandum tamquam contrā morbum sīc contrā senectūtem, habenda ratiō valētūdinis, ūtendum exercitātiōnibus modicīs, tantum cibī et pōtiōnis adhibendum, ut reficiantur vīrēs, nōn opprimantur.We must resist old age, Laelius and Scipio, and make up for its faults by diligence; we must fight against old age as against a disease, take account of our health, use moderate exercise, and take only so much food and drink that our strength is restored, not overwhelmed. Sen. 11.36Nec vērō corporī sōlum subveniendum est, sed mentī atque animō multō magis.Nor indeed must we come to the aid of the body alone, but much more of the mind and spirit.
Sen. 11.36Nam haec quoque, nisi tamquam lūminī oleum īnstillēs, exstinguuntur senectūte.For these too, unless you drip oil into them as into a lamp, are put out by old age. Sen. 11.36Et corpora quidem exercitātiōnum dēfetīgātiōne ingravēscunt, animī autem exercitandō levantur.And bodies, indeed, grow heavy with the fatigue of exercise, but minds are lightened by exercising. Sen. 11.36Nam quōs ait Caecilius "cōmicōs stultōs senēs," hōs significat crēdulōs oblīviōsōs dissolūtōs, quae vitia sunt nōn senectūtis, sed inertis ignāvae somniculōsae senectūtis.For those whom Caecilius calls 'the foolish old men of comedy' he means the credulous, the forgetful, the dissolute, and these are faults not of old age but of an idle, sluggish and drowsy old age. Sen. 11.36Ut petulantia, ut libīdō magis est adulēscentium quam senum, nec tamen omnium adulēscentium, sed nōn probōrum, sīc ista senīlis stultitia, quae dēlīrātiō appellārī solet, senum levium est, nōn omnium.Just as wantonness and lust belong more to young men than to old, and yet not to all young men but to those who are not upright, so that senile folly which is usually called dotage belongs to old men of no character, not to all.
Sen. 11.37Quattuor rōbustōs fīliōs, quīnque fīliās, tantam domum, tantās clientēlās Appius regēbat et caecus et senex;Four sturdy sons, five daughters, so great a household, such great bodies of clients did Appius govern, though both blind and old; Sen. 11.37intentum enim animum tamquam arcum habēbat nec languēscēns succumbēbat senectūtī.for he kept his mind strung taut like a bow and did not grow slack and give in to old age. Sen. 11.37Tenēbat nōn modo auctōritātem, sed etiam imperium in suōs: metuēbant servī, verēbantur līberī, cārum omnēs habēbant;He held not only authority but actual command over his own people: his slaves feared him, his children revered him, all held him dear; Sen. 11.37vigēbat in illā domō mōs patrius et disciplīna.in that house the ancestral way of life and discipline flourished. Sen. 11.38Ita enim senectūs honesta est, sī sē ipsa dēfendit, sī iūs suum retinet, sī nēminī ēmancipāta est, sī ūsque ad ultimum spīritum dominātur in suōs.For old age is honourable only if it defends itself, if it keeps its rights, if it is in bondage to no one, if to its last breath it rules over its own.
Sen. 11.38Ut enim adulēscentem in quō est senīle aliquid, sīc senem in quō est aliquid adulēscentis probō, quod quī sequitur, corpore senex esse poterit, animō numquam erit.For just as I approve of a young man in whom there is something of the old, so I approve of an old man in whom there is something of the young, and he who follows this rule may be old in body, but will never be old in mind. Sen. 11.38Septimus mihi liber Orīginum est in manibus;I have in hand the seventh book of my Origins; Sen. 11.38omnia antīquitātis monumenta colligō;I am collecting all the records of antiquity; Sen. 11.38causārum illūstrium, quāscunque dēfendī, nunc cum maximē cōnficiō ōrātiōnēs;I am at this very moment working up the speeches from the famous cases that I defended; Sen. 11.38iūs augurium pontificium cīvīle trāctō;I am dealing with augural, pontifical and civil law; Sen. 11.38multum etiam Graecīs litterīs ūtor;I also make much use of Greek literature; Sen. 11.38Pȳthagorīōrumque mōre, exercendae memoriae grātiā, quid quōque diē dīxerim audierim ēgerim commemorō vesperī.and in the manner of the Pythagoreans, for the sake of exercising my memory, I go over in the evening what I have said, heard and done each day.
Sen. 11.38Hae sunt exercitātiōnēs ingenī, haec curricula mentis;These are the exercises of the intellect, these the racecourses of the mind; Sen. 11.38in hīs dēsūdāns atque ēlabōrāns corporis vīrīs nōn magnō opere dēsīderō.sweating and toiling at these I do not greatly miss bodily strength. Sen. 11.38Adsum amīcīs, veniō in senātum frequēns ultrōque afferō rēs multum et diū cōgitātās eāsque tueor animī, nōn corporis vīribus.I stand by my friends, I come often to the senate and of my own accord bring forward matters long and much pondered, and I defend them with the strength of my mind, not of my body. Sen. 11.38Quās sī exsequī nequīrem, tamen mē lectulus meus oblectāret ea ipsa cōgitantem, quae iam agere nōn possem;And if I were unable to carry these out, still my couch would give me pleasure as I thought over the very things that I could no longer do; Sen. 11.38sed ut possim facit ācta vīta.but the life I have led makes it possible for me to do them. Sen. 11.38Semper enim in hīs studiīs labōribusque vīventī nōn intellegitur quandō obrēpat senectūs: ita sēnsim sine sēnsū aetās senēscit nec subitō frangitur, sed diūturnitāte exstinguitur.For a man who lives always in these pursuits and labours does not notice when old age creeps upon him: thus gradually, without our perceiving it, life grows old, and is not suddenly broken off, but is put out through long duration.