thumb|Bust of a patrician from the Roman Republic

("Cato the Elder on Old Age") is an essay written by Cicero in 44 BC on the subject of aging and death. To lend his reflections greater import, Cicero wrote his essay such that the esteemed Cato the Elder was lecturing to Scipio Aemilianus and Gaius Laelius Sapiens.

Title

The original title of the work was Cato Maior. Its subtitle was De senectute, but this came to be preferred as a short title by later writers. Cicero himself refers to the work in his other writings generally as Cato Maior and once as Cato Maior qui est scriptus ad te de senectute. Possibly he calls it Cato in one instance. Plutarch, translating De senectute, calls it Περὶ γήρως (Peri geros) in Greek. Most manuscript copies of the text use the full title or some variant of it (e.g., Catonis de senectute).

Synopsis

It was written by Cicero in his sixty-third year, and is addressed to his friend Atticus. Cicero represents the discourse as delivered by the elder Cato (in his eighty-fourth year) on occasion of young Scipio and Laelius expressing their admiration at the wonderful ease with which he still bore the load of life. Cicero acknowledges that the sentiments put into the mouth of Cato are really Cicero's own. It was a favorite of former U.S. President John Adams, and was selected for inclusion in the Harvard Classics.

Quotes

  • The works of Nature must all be accounted good. () (71)
  • No man is so old that he does not think himself able to live another year () (24)

Editions

  • Cicero, On Old Age, On Friendship, On Divination (Loeb Classical Library No. 154),
  • Cicero, Philip Freeman (tr.) How to Grow Old: Ancient Wisdom for the Second Half of Life (Princeton University Press, 2016),

Notes

References

  • Text in Latin with English introduction at Project Gutenberg
  • Text in English, from Bartleby, translated by Evelyn S. Shuckburgh
  • Text in English, translated by Lamberto Bozzi (2015)
  • Text in Latin at The Latin Library
  • Article in Slate
  • Overview of piece