Sen. 12.1Sequitur tertia vituperātiō senectūtis, quod eam carēre dīcunt voluptātibus.There follows the third charge against old age, that it lacks pleasures, as they say. Sen. 12.1Ō praeclārum mūnus aetātis, sī quidem id aufert ā nōbīs, quod est in adulēscentiā vitiōsissimum!O splendid gift of age, if indeed it takes from us what is most vicious in youth! Sen. 12.1Accipite enim, optimī adulēscentēs, veterem ōrātiōnem Archȳtae Tarentīnī, magnī in prīmīs et praeclārī virī, quae mihi trādita est cum essem adulēscēns Tarentī cum Q. Maximō.For hear, excellent young men, an old speech of Archytas of Tarentum, a great and illustrious man above all others, which was handed down to me when I was a young man at Tarentum with Quintus Maximus. Sen. 12.1Nūllam capitāliōrem pestem quam voluptātem corporis hominibus dīcēbat ā nātūrā datam, cuius voluptātis avidae libīdinēs temerē et effrēnātē ad potiendum incitārentur.He used to say that no more deadly plague had been given to men by nature than bodily pleasure, in eager pursuit of which the passions were driven rashly and unbridled to possess it. Sen. 12.40Hinc patriae prōditiōnēs, hinc rērum pūblicārum ēversiōnēs, hinc cum hostibus clandestīna colloquia nāscī;From this, he said, sprang betrayals of one's country, from this the overthrow of states, from this secret conferences with the enemy; Sen. 12.40nūllum dēnique scelus, nūllum malum facinus esse, ad quod suscipiendum nōn libīdō voluptātis impelleret;there was, in short, no crime, no evil deed, which the lust for pleasure did not drive men to undertake; Sen. 12.40stupra vērō et adulteria et omne tāle flāgitium nūllīs excitārī aliīs illecebrīs nisi voluptātis;debaucheries and adulteries and every such outrage were roused by no other enticements than those of pleasure; Sen. 12.40cumque hominī sīve nātūra sīve quis deus nihil mente praestābilius dedisset, huic dīvīnō mūnerī ac dōnō nihil tam esse inimīcum quam voluptātem.and since nature, or some god, had given man nothing more excellent than his mind, nothing was so hostile to this divine gift and present as pleasure.
Sen. 12.41Nec enim lubīdine dominante temperantiae locum esse, neque omnīnō in voluptātis regnō virtūtem posse cōnsistere.For when lust holds sway there is no room for self-control, nor can virtue have any footing at all in the realm of pleasure. Sen. 12.41Quod quō magis intellegī posset, fingere animō iubēbat tantā incitātum aliquem voluptāte corporis, quanta percipī posset maxima;So that this might be better understood, he used to bid his hearers imagine someone excited by as great a bodily pleasure as could possibly be felt; Sen. 12.41nēminī cēnsēbat fore dubium quīn tam diū, dum ita gaudēret, nihil agitāre mente, nihil ratiōne, nihil cōgitātiōne cōnsequī posset.he thought it would be doubtful to no one that, for as long as he was enjoying himself in this way, he could achieve nothing by mind, nothing by reason, nothing by thought. Sen. 12.41Quōcircā nihil esse tam dētestābile tamque pestiferum quam voluptātem, sī quidem ea, cum maior esset atque longior, omne animī lūmen exstingueret.Therefore nothing was so detestable and so pernicious as pleasure, since, when it was rather great and lasting, it put out all the light of the mind.
Sen. 12.41Haec cum C. Pontiō Samnīte, patre eius, ā quō Caudīnō proeliō Sp. Postumius T. Veturius cōnsulēs superātī sunt, locūtum Archȳtam Nearchus Tarentīnus hospes noster, quī in amīcitiā populī Rōmānī permānserat, sē ā maiōribus nātū accēpisse dīcēbat, cum quidem eī sermōnī interfuisset Platō Athēniēnsis, quem Tarentum vēnisse L. Camillō Ap. Claudiō cōnsulibus reperiō.Nearchus of Tarentum, my host, who had remained steadfast in friendship with the Roman people, used to say that he had heard from his elders that Archytas spoke these words with Gaius Pontius the Samnite, father of the man by whom the consuls Spurius Postumius and Titus Veturius were defeated in the battle of Caudium, and that Plato the Athenian had indeed been present at that conversation, who, I find, came to Tarentum in the consulship of Lucius Camillus and Appius Claudius. Sen. 12.42Quōrsus hoc?What is the point of this? Sen. 12.42Ut intellegerētis, sī voluptātem aspernārī ratiōne et sapientiā nōn possēmus, magnam esse habendam senectūtī grātiam, quae efficeret ut id nōn libēret quod nōn oportēret.That you might understand that, if we could not spurn pleasure by reason and wisdom, great thanks would be owed to old age, which brought it about that we did not wish for what we ought not.
Sen. 12.42Impedit enim cōnsilium voluptās, ratiōnī inimīca est, mentis ut ita dīcam praestringit oculōs, nec habet ūllum cum virtūte commercium.For pleasure hinders deliberation, is hostile to reason, blindfolds, so to speak, the eyes of the mind, and has no dealings with virtue. Sen. 12.42Invītus fēcī ut fortissimī virī T. Flāminīnī frātrem L. Flāminīnum ē senātū ēicerem septem annīs post quam cōnsul fuisset, sed notandam putāvī libīdinem.It was against my will that I expelled from the senate Lucius Flamininus, the brother of that bravest of men Titus Flamininus, seven years after he had been consul, but I thought that lust ought to be branded. Sen. 12.42Ille enim cum esset cōnsul in Galliā exōrātus in convīviō ā scortō est ut secūrī ferīret aliquem eōrum quī in vinculīs essent, damnātī reī capitālis.For when he was consul in Gaul, he was prevailed upon at a banquet by a harlot to behead with the axe one of those who were in chains, condemned on a capital charge. Sen. 12.42Hic Titō frātre suō cēnsōre, quī proximus ante mē fuerat, ēlāpsus est, mihi vērō et Flaccō neutiquam probārī potuit tam flāgitiōsa et tam perdita libīdō, quae cum probrō prīvātō coniungeret imperī dēdecus.He escaped while his brother Titus was censor, who had been my immediate predecessor, but neither Flaccus nor I could in any way approve so shameful and so abandoned a lust, which joined to private disgrace the dishonour of his command.