Sen. 20.1Senectūtis autem nūllus est certus terminus, rēctēque in eā vīvitur, quoad mūnus officī exsequī et tuērī possit mortemque contemnere, ex quō fit ut animōsior etiam senectūs sit quam adulēscentia et fortior.Of old age, however, there is no fixed limit, and one lives rightly in it so long as one can perform and maintain the task of duty and despise death, from which it comes about that old age is even bolder and braver than youth. Sen. 20.1Hoc illud est, quod Pīsistratō tyrannō ā Solōne respōnsum est, cum illī quaerentī quā tandem rē frētus sibi tam audāciter obsisteret respondisse dīcitur "senectūte."This is what was meant by Solon's answer to the tyrant Pisistratus, when, to the tyrant's question of what in the world he relied on in opposing him so boldly, he is said to have answered, 'Old age.' Sen. 20.1Sed vīvendī est fīnis optimus, cum integrā mente certīsque sēnsibus opus ipsa suum eadem quae coagmentāvit nātūra dissolvit.But the best end of living is when, with mind unimpaired and senses sound, the same nature that put together its own work takes it apart. Sen. 20.1Ut nāvem, ut aedificium īdem dēstruit facillimē quī cōnstrūxit, sīc hominem eadem optimē quae conglūtināvit nātūra dissolvit.Just as a ship or a building is most easily pulled down by the same man who built it, so a man is best taken apart by the same nature that glued him together.
Sen. 20.1Iam omnis conglūtinātiō recēns aegrē, inveterāta facile dīvellitur.Moreover, every joining is hard to tear apart when fresh, easy when it has grown old. Sen. 20.1Ita fit ut illud breve vītae reliquum nec avidē appetendum senibus nec sine causā dēserendum sit;So it comes about that the short remainder of life is neither to be clutched at greedily by old men nor to be abandoned without reason; Sen. 20.73vetatque Pȳthagorās iniussū imperātōris, id est deī, dē praesidiō et statiōne vītae dēcēdere.and Pythagoras forbids us to leave our guard-post and station in life without the order of our commander, that is, of god. Sen. 20.73Solōnis quidem sapientis est ēlogium, quō sē negat velle suam mortem dolōre amīcōrum et lāmentīs vacāre.There is, indeed, an epitaph of the wise Solon in which he says that he does not wish his death to lack the grief and lamentation of his friends. Sen. 20.73Volt, crēdō, sē esse cārum suīs.He wants, I suppose, to be dear to his own people. Sen. 20.73Sed haud sciō an melius Ennius: " nēmō mē lacrumīs decoret, neque fūnera flētū faxit.But I rather think Ennius said it better: 'Let no one honour me with tears, nor make my funeral with weeping.' Sen. 20.73" Nōn cēnset lūgendam esse mortem, quam immortālitās cōnsequātur.He does not think that a death should be mourned which is followed by immortality.
Sen. 20.74Iam sēnsus moriendī aliquis esse potest, isque ad exiguum tempus, praesertim senī: post mortem quidem sēnsus aut optandus aut nūllus est.Then again, there can be some feeling in dying, and that for a short time, especially for an old man: after death, indeed, feeling is either to be wished for or there is none. Sen. 20.74Sed hoc meditātum ab adulēscentiā dēbet esse, mortem ut neglegāmus;But this ought to have been practised from youth, that we disregard death; Sen. 20.74sine quā meditātiōne tranquillō animō esse nēmō potest.without this practice no one can be of a tranquil mind. Sen. 20.74Moriendum enim certē est, et incertum an hōc ipsō diē.For die we certainly must, and it is uncertain whether it will not be this very day. Sen. 20.74Mortem igitur omnibus hōrīs impendentem timēns quī poterit animō cōnsistere?How then can anyone who fears death, hanging over him at every hour, keep his mind steady? Sen. 20.75Dē quā nōn ita longā disputātiōne opus esse vidētur, cum recordor nōn L. Brūtum, quī in līberandā patriā est interfectus, nōn duōs Deciōs, quī ad voluntāriam mortem cursum equōrum incitāvērunt, nōn M. Atīlium, quī ad supplicium est profectus ut fidem hostī datam cōnservāret, nōn duōs Scīpiōnēs, quī iter Poenīs vel corporibus suīs obstruere voluērunt, nōn avum tuum L. Paulum, quī morte luit collēgae in Cannēnsī ignōminiā temeritātem, nōn M. Mārcellum, cuius interitum nē crūdēlissimus quidem hostis honōre sepultūrae carēre passus est, sed legiōnēs nostrās, quod scrīpsī in Orīginibus, in eum locum saepe profectās alacrī animō et ērēctō, unde sē reditūrās numquam arbitrārentur.On this there seems to be no need of very long discussion, when I recall not Lucius Brutus, who was killed in freeing his country, not the two Decii, who spurred their horses to a voluntary death, not Marcus Atilius, who set out to his punishment in order to keep the faith he had pledged to the enemy, not the two Scipios, who wished to block the Carthaginians' path even with their own bodies, not your grandfather Lucius Paulus, who paid with his death for his colleague's rashness in the disgrace at Cannae, not Marcus Marcellus, whose death not even the cruellest of enemies allowed to go without the honour of burial, but our legions, which, as I have written in my Origins, have often set out with eager and lofty spirit for a place from which they believed they would never return.
Sen. 20.75Quod igitur adulēscentēs, et eī quidem nōn sōlum indoctī sed etiam rūsticī contemnunt, id doctī senēs extimēscent?What young men, then, and those not only unlearned but even rustic, despise, shall learned old men dread? Sen. 20.76Omnīnō, ut mihi quidem vidētur studiōrum omnium satietās vītae facit satietātem.Altogether, as it seems to me at least, satiety of all pursuits produces satiety of life. Sen. 20.76Sunt pueritiae studia certa: num igitur ea dēsīderant adulēscentēs?There are certain pursuits of childhood: do young men then long for them? Sen. 20.76Sunt ineuntis adulēscentiae: num ea cōnstāns iam requīrit aetās, quae media dīcitur?There are those of early youth: does the age now settled, which is called middle life, seek them? Sen. 20.76Sunt etiam eius aetātis: nē ea quidem quaeruntur in senectūte.There are those of that age too: not even these are sought in old age. Sen. 20.76Sunt extrēma quaedam studia senectūtis: ergō, ut superiōrum aetātum studia occīdunt, sīc occīdunt etiam senectūtis;There are certain final pursuits of old age: so, just as the pursuits of earlier ages fall away, so too do those of old age; Sen. 20.76quod cum ēvenit, satietās vītae tempus mātūrum mortis affert.and when this happens, satiety of life brings the time ripe for death.