Evelyn S. Shuckburgh (1843–1906)

Read and useful volume for those past middle age: Cicero's reflections on aging. On Old Age is an essay written by Cicero in 44 BC on the subject of aging and death. It has remained popular because of its profound subject matter as well as its clear and beautiful language. It is a standard text for teaching Latin to students in the second year of studies. The Latin title of the piece is "Cato Maior de Senectute". To lend his reflections greater import, Cicero wrote his essay such that the esteemed Cato the Elder was lecturing to Scipio Africanus and Gaius Laelius Sapiens. A translation by the colonial American scholar James Logan was published by Benjamin Franklin, the first printing of a translation of a classic text in North America. It was a favorite of former U.S. President John Adams, and was selected for inclusion in the Harvard Classics.

Introduction

Time of Composition

In 45 Cicero experienced a great personal bereavement in the death of his daughter Tullia, and this sorrow of his later years was increased by his grief at the condition of affairs in the state, the downfall of the Republic, and the dictatorship of Caesar. These feelings were still strong when the death of Caesar, March 15, 44, gave a momentary hope that the state would be restored, a hope that was followed, however, by greater disgust and anxiety because of the power of Antonius (Mark Antony).
It is probably to these apprehensions, which were shared by Atticus, that Cicero makes reference in section 1. Cicero appears also to approach very closely to his own sorrow when he alludes to Cato's fortitude at the time of his son's death, 12; and the hope of immortality expressed at the close, 85, is no doubt the sentiment of Cicero's own heart, though placed in the mouth of Cato. These hints, together with allusions to the Cato Maior in three letters addressed to Atticus (14, 21, 3; 16, 3, 1; 16, 11, 3) lead us to place the date a few weeks after the assassination of Caesar, i.e. in April, 44.

Form of the Work

As in other philosophical writings, Cicero has selected for his treatise on old age the dialogue form, which was a favorite method of literary presentation of philosophical theories among the ancients. The Socratic dialogue, as found in the works of Plato, consists of a continual discussion and debate, in which the principal characters take the most important part. Cicero, however, intending to set forth his own theories with slight interruption, and yet desiring to arouse interest by the introduction of additional characters, has rather followed the Aristotelian plan, and has combined the length exposition of the principal speaker with brief and comparatively unimportant remarks on the part of the other members of the company. The dialogue purports to be a conversation held in the year 150 B.C. between Cato, then eighty-three years of age, and two young men, representatives of the new generation, who were soon to win the highest distinction in the state, Scipio Africanus the younger, about thirty-five years old, and C. Laelius the younger, about one year older.

Characters

P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus Minor
Gaius Laelius Sapiens
Marcus Porcius Cato… (more)