Sen. 18.1Sed in omnī ōrātiōne mementōte eam mē senectūtem laudāre, quae fundāmentīs adulēscentiae cōnstitūta sit.But throughout my discourse remember that I am praising that old age which has been established on the foundations of youth. Sen. 18.1Ex quō efficitur id, quod ego magnō quondam cum assēnsū omnium dīxī, miseram esse senectūtem quae sē ōrātiōne dēfenderet.From this follows what I once said with great approval from everyone, that wretched is the old age which has to defend itself with speech. Sen. 18.1Nōn canī nec rūgae repente auctōritātem arripere possunt, sed honestē ācta superior aetās frūctūs capit auctōritātis extrēmōs.Neither white hairs nor wrinkles can suddenly seize authority, but an earlier life honourably spent reaps the fruits of authority at the last. Sen. 18.63Haec enim ipsa sunt honōrābilia, quae videntur levia atque commūnia—salūtārī appetī dēcēdī assurgī dēdūcī redūcī cōnsulī, quae et apud nōs et in aliīs cīvitātibus, ut quaeque optimē mōrāta est, ita dīligentissimē observantur.For these very things are marks of honour which seem slight and commonplace — being greeted, being sought out, being made way for, having people rise for one, being escorted from home and back home, being consulted — things which both among us and in other states are observed most carefully in proportion as each state is best in its morals.
Sen. 18.63Lȳsandrum Lacedaemonium, cuius modo fēcī mentiōnem, dīcere aiunt solitum Lacedaemonem esse honestissimum domicilium senectūtis;They say that Lysander the Lacedaemonian, whom I mentioned just now, used to say that Lacedaemon was the most honourable home for old age; Sen. 18.63nūsquam enim tantum tribuitur aetātī, nūsquam est senectūs honōrātior.for nowhere is so much granted to age, nowhere is old age more honoured. Sen. 18.63Quīn etiam memoriae prōditum est, cum Athēnīs lūdīs quīdam in theātrum grandis nātū vēnisset, magnō cōnsessū locum nūsquam eī datum ā suīs cīvibus, cum autem ad Lacedaemoniōs accessisset, quī, lēgātī cum essent, certō in locō cōnsīderant, cōnsurrēxisse omnēs illī dīcuntur et senem sessum recēpisse;Indeed, it is recorded that when at Athens, during the games, a man of great age had come into the theatre, nowhere in that great assembly was a place given him by his fellow citizens, but when he had approached the Lacedaemonians, who, being envoys, had taken their seats in a set place, they all rose, it is said, and received the old man among them as he sat down; Sen. 18.64quibus cum ā cūnctō cōnsessū plausus esset multiplex datus, dīxisse ex eīs quendam Athēniēnsis scīre quae rēcta essent, sed facere nōlle.and when they had been given repeated applause by the whole assembly, one of them said that the Athenians knew what was right, but were unwilling to do it.
Sen. 18.64Multa in nostrō collēgiō praeclāra, sed hoc, dē quō agimus, in prīmīs, quod, ut quisque aetāte antecēdit, ita sententiae prīncipātum tenet, neque sōlum honōre antecēdentibus, sed eīs etiam, quī cum imperiō sunt, maiōrēs nātū augurēs antepōnuntur.There are many excellent things in our college, but this, which we are discussing, above all, that each man holds precedence in giving his opinion according as he is senior in age, and the older augurs are put before not only those who are senior in office but even those who hold supreme command. Sen. 18.64Quae sunt igitur voluptātēs corporis cum auctōritātis praemiīs comparandae?What bodily pleasures, then, are to be compared with the rewards of authority? Sen. 18.64Quibus quī splendidē ūsī sunt, eī mihi videntur fābulam aetātis perēgisse nec tamquam inexercitātī histriōnēs in extrēmō āctū corruisse.Those who have made splendid use of these seem to me to have played out the drama of life to the end, and not to have broken down in the last act like untrained actors. Sen. 18.65At sunt mōrōsī et ānxiī et īrācundī et difficilēs senēs.But old men are morose and anxious and irritable and difficult.
Sen. 18.65Sī quaerimus, etiam avārī;If we look into it, they are also greedy; Sen. 18.65sed haec mōrum vitia sunt, nōn senectūtis.but these are faults of character, not of old age. Sen. 18.65Ac mōrōsitās tamen et ea vitia, quae dīxī, habent aliquid excūsātiōnis, nōn illīus quidem iūstae, sed quae probārī posse videātur: contemnī sē putant, dēspicī, illūdī;And yet moroseness and those faults I have named have some excuse, not indeed a just one, but one that may seem acceptable: they think they are slighted, despised, mocked; Sen. 18.65praetereā in fragilī corpore odiōsa omnis offēnsiō est;besides, in a frail body every knock is hateful; Sen. 18.65quae tamen omnia dulciōra fīunt et mōribus bonīs et artibus, idque cum in vītā tum in scaenā intellegī potest ex eīs frātribus quī in Adelphīs sunt.yet all these things are made sweeter by good character and good training, and this can be understood both in life and on the stage from those brothers who appear in the Adelphi. Sen. 18.65Quanta in alterō dīritās, in alterō cōmitās!How much harshness in the one, how much kindliness in the other! Sen. 18.65Sīc sē rēs habet: ut enim nōn omne vīnum, sīc nōn omnis nātūra vetustāte coacēscit.So it is: for just as not every wine, so not every nature turns sour with age.
Sen. 18.65Sevēritātem in senectūte probō, sed eam, sīcut alia, modicam;I approve of strictness in old age, but, like other things, in moderation; Sen. 18.65acerbitātem nūllō modō;sourness in no way; Sen. 18.65avāritia vērō senīlis quid sibi velit, nōn intellegō.as for the greed of old men, what it means I do not understand. Sen. 18.66Potest enim quicquam esse absurdius quam, quō viae minus restet, eō plūs viāticī quaerere?For can anything be more absurd than to seek more provision for the road the less of the road remains?