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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Treatises on Friendship and Old Age + +Author: Marcus Tullius Cicero + +Translator: E. S. Shuckburgh + +Release Date: January 4, 2009 [EBook #2808] +[Last updated: December 20, 2020] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON FRIENDSHIP *** + + + + +Produced by David Reed, and David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + TREATISES ON <br /> FRIENDSHIP AND OLD AGE + </h1> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Marcus Tullius Cicero + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + Translated by E. S. Shuckburgh + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + Contents + </h3> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> INTRODUCTORY NOTE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> ON FRIENDSHIP </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> ON OLD AGE </a> + </p> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + INTRODUCTORY NOTE + </h2> + <p> + MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO, the greatest of Roman orators and the chief master + of Latin prose style, was born at Arpinum, Jan. 3, 106 B.C. His father, + who was a man of property and belonged to the class of the "Knights," + moved to Rome when Cicero was a child; and the future statesman received + an elaborate education in rhetoric, law, and philosophy, studying and + practising under some of the most noted teachers of the time. He began his + career as an advocate at the age of twenty-five, and almost immediately + came to be recognized not only as a man of brilliant talents but also as a + courageous upholder of justice in the face of grave political danger. + After two years of practice he left Rome to travel in Greece and Asia, + taking all the opportunities that offered to study his art under + distinguished masters. He returned to Rome greatly improved in health and + in professional skill, and in 76 B. C. was elected to the office of + quaestor. He was assigned to the province of Lilybaeum in Sicily, and the + vigor and justice of his administration earned him the gratitude of the + inhabitants. It was at their request that he undertook in 70 B. C. the + Prosecution of Verres, who as Praetor had subjected the Sicilians to + incredible extortion and oppression; and his successful conduct of this + case, which ended in the conviction and banishment of Verres, may be said + to have launched him on his political career. He became aedile in the same + year, in 67 B.C. praetor, and in 64 B. C. was elected consul by a large + majority. The most important event of the year of his consulship was the + conspiracy of Catiline. This notorious criminal of patrician rank had + conspired with a number of others, many of them young men of high birth + but dissipated character, to seize the chief offices of the state, and to + extricate themselves from the pecuniary and other difficulties that had + resulted from their excesses, by the wholesale plunder of the city. The + plot was unmasked by the vigilance of Cicero, five of the traitors were + summarily executed, and in the overthrow of the army that had been + gathered in their support Catiline himself perished. Cicero regarded + himself as the savior of his country, and his country for the moment + seemed to give grateful assent. + </p> + <p> + But reverses were at hand. During the existence of the political + combination of Pompey, Caesar, and Crassus, known as the first + triumvirate, P. Clodius, an enemy of Cicero's, proposed a law banishing + "any one who had put Roman citizens to death without trial." This was + aimed at Cicero on account of his share in the Catiline affair, and in + March, 58 B. C., he left Rome. The same day a law was passed by which he + was banished by name, and his property was plundered and destroyed, a + temple to Liberty being erected on the site of his house in the city. + During his exile Cicero's manliness to some extent deserted him. He + drifted from place to place, seeking the protection of officials against + assassination, writing letters urging his supporters to agitate for his + recall, sometimes accusing them of lukewarmness and even treachery, + bemoaning the ingratitude of his country or regretting the course of + action that had led to his outlawry, and suffering from extreme depression + over his separation from his wife and children and the wreck of his + political ambitions. Finally in August, 57 B. C., the decree for his + restoration was passed, and he returned to Rome the next month, being + received with immense popular enthusiasm. During the next few years the + renewal of the understanding among the triumvirs shut Cicero out from any + leading part in politics, and he resumed his activity in the law-courts, + his most important case being, perhaps, the defence of Milo for the murder + of Clodius, Cicero's most troublesome enemy. This oration, in the revised + form in which it has come down to us, is ranked as among the finest + specimens of the art of the orator, though in its original form it failed + to secure Milo's acquittal. Meantime, Cicero was also devoting much time + to literary composition, and his letters show great dejection over the + political situation, and a somewhat wavering attitude towards the various + parties in the state. In 55 B. C. he went to Cilicia in Asia Minor as + proconsul, an office which he administered with efficiency and integrity + in civil affairs and with success in military. He returned to Italy in the + end of the following year, and he was publicly thanked by the senate for + his services, but disappointed in his hopes for a triumph. The war for + supremacy between Caesar and Pompey which had for some time been gradually + growing more certain, broke out in 49 B.C., when Caesar led his army + across the Rubicon, and Cicero after much irresolution threw in his lot + with Pompey, who was overthrown the next year in the battle of Pharsalus + and later murdered in Egypt. Cicero returned to Italy, where Caesar + treated him magnanimously, and for some time he devoted himself to + philosophical and rhetorical writing. In 46 B.C. he divorced his wife + Terentia, to whom he had been married for thirty years and married the + young and wealthy Publilia in order to relieve himself from financial + difficulties; but her also he shortly divorced. Caesar, who had now become + supreme in Rome, was assassinated in 44 B.C., and though Cicero was not a + sharer in the conspiracy, he seems to have approved the deed. In the + confusion which followed he supported the cause of the conspirators + against Antony; and when finally the triumvirate of Antony, Octavius, and + Lepidus was established, Cicero was included among the proscribed, and on + December 7, 43 B.C., he was killed by agents of Antony. His head and hand + were cut off and exhibited at Rome. + </p> + <p> + The most important orations of the last months of his life were the + fourteen "Philippics" delivered against Antony, and the price of this + enmity he paid with his life. + </p> + <p> + To his contemporaries Cicero was primarily the great forensic and + political orator of his time, and the fifty-eight speeches which have come + down to us bear testimony to the skill, wit, eloquence, and passion which + gave him his pre-eminence. But these speeches of necessity deal with the + minute details of the occasions which called them forth, and so require + for their appreciation a full knowledge of the history, political and + personal, of the time. The letters, on the other hand, are less elaborate + both in style and in the handling of current events, while they serve to + reveal his personality, and to throw light upon Roman life in the last + days of the Republic in an extremely vivid fashion. Cicero as a man, in + spite of his self-importance, the vacillation of his political conduct in + desperate crises, and the whining despondency of his times of adversity, + stands out as at bottom a patriotic Roman of substantial honesty, who gave + his life to check the inevitable fall of the commonwealth to which he was + devoted. The evils which were undermining the Republic bear so many + striking resemblances to those which threaten the civic and national life + of America to-day that the interest of the period is by no means merely + historical. + </p> + <p> + As a philosopher, Cicero's most important function was to make his + countrymen familiar with the main schools of Greek thought. Much of this + writing is thus of secondary interest to us in comparison with his + originals, but in the fields of religious theory and of the application of + philosophy to life he made important first-hand contributions. From these + works have been selected the two treatises, on Old Age and on Friendship, + which have proved of most permanent and widespread interest to posterity, + and which give a clear impression of the way in which a high-minded Roman + thought about some of the main problems of human life. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ON FRIENDSHIP + </h2> + <p> + THE augur Quintus Mucius Scaevola used to recount a number of stories + about his father-in-law Galus Laelius, accurately remembered and + charmingly told; and whenever he talked about him always gave him the + title of "the wise" without any hesitation. I had been introduced by my + father to Scaevola as soon as I had assumed the <i>toga virilis</i>, and I + took advantage of the introduction never to quit the venerable man's side + as long as I was able to stay and he was spared to us. The consequence was + that I committed to memory many disquisitions of his, as well as many + short pointed apophthegms, and, in short, took as much advantage of his + wisdom as I could. When he died, I attached myself to Scaevola the + Pontifex, whom I may venture to call quite the most distinguished of our + countrymen for ability and uprightness. But of this latter I shall take + other occasions to speak. To return to Scaevola the augur. Among many + other occasions I particularly remember one. He was sitting on a + semicircular garden-bench, as was his custom, when I and a very few + intimate friends were there, and he chanced to turn the conversation upon + a subject which about that time was in many people's mouths. You must + remember, Atticus, for you were very intimate with Publius Sulpicius, what + expressions of astonishment, or even indignation, were called forth by his + mortal quarrel, as tribune, with the consul Quintus Pompeius, with whom he + had formerly lived on terms of the closest intimacy and affection. Well, + on this occasion, happening to mention this particular circumstance, + Scaevola detailed to us a discourse of Laelius on friendship delivered to + himself and Laelius's other son-in-law Galus Fannius, son of Marcus + Fannius, a few days after the death of Africanus. The points of that + discussion I committed to memory, and have arranged them in this book at + my own discretion. For I have brought the speakers, as it were, personally + on to my stage to prevent the constant "said I" and "said he" of a + narrative, and to give the discourse the air of being orally delivered in + our hearing. + </p> + <p> + You have often urged me to write something on Friendship, and I quite + acknowledged that the subject seemed one worth everybody's investigation, + and specially suited to the close intimacy that has existed between you + and me. Accordingly I was quite ready to benefit the public at your + request. + </p> + <p> + As to the <i>dramatis personae</i>. In the treatise on Old Age, which I + dedicated to you, I introduced Cato as chief speaker. No one, I thought, + could with greater propriety speak on old age than one who had been an old + man longer than any one else, and had been exceptionally vigorous in his + old age. Similarly, having learnt from tradition that of all friendships + that between Gaius Laelius and Publius Scipio was the most remarkable, I + thought Laelius was just the person to support the chief part in a + discussion on friendship which Scaevola remembered him to have actually + taken. Moreover, a discussion of this sort gains somehow in weight from + the authority of men of ancient days, especially if they happen to have + been distinguished. So it comes about that in reading over what I have + myself written I have a feeling at times that it is actually Cato that is + speaking, not I. + </p> + <p> + Finally, as I sent the former essay to you as a gift from one old man to + another, so I have dedicated this <i>On Friendship</i> as a most + affectionate friend to his friend. In the former Cato spoke, who was the + oldest and wisest man of his day; in this Laelius speaks on friendship—Laelius, + who was at once a wise man (that was the title given him) and eminent for + his famous friendship. Please forget me for a while; imagine Laelius to be + speaking. + </p> + <p> + Gaius Fannius and Quintus Mucius come to call on their father-in-law after + the death of Africanus. They start the subject; Laelius answers them. And + the whole essay on friendship is his. In reading it you will recognise a + picture of yourself. + </p> + <p> + 2. <i>Fannius</i>. You are quite right, Laelius! there never was a better + or more illustrious character than Africanus. But you should consider that + at the present moment all eyes are on you. Everybody calls you "the wise" + <i>par excellence</i>, and thinks you so. The same mark of respect was + lately paid Cato, and we know that in the last generation Lucius Atilius + was called "the wise." But in both cases the word was applied with a + certain difference. Atilius was so called from his reputation as a jurist; + Cato got the name as a kind of honorary title and in extreme old age + because of his varied experience of affairs, and his reputation for + foresight and firmness, and the sagacity of the opinions which he + delivered in senate and forum. You, however, are regarded as wise in a + somewhat different sense not alone on account of natural ability and + character, but also from your industry and learning; and not in the sense + in which the vulgar, but that in which scholars, give that title. In this + sense we do not read of any one being called wise in Greece except one man + at Athens; and he, to be sure, had been declared by the oracle of Apollo + also to be "the supremely wise man." For those who commonly go by the name + of the Seven Sages are not admitted into the category of the wise by + fastidious critics. Your wisdom people believe to consist in this, that + you look upon yourself as self-sufficing and regard the changes and + chances of mortal life as powerless to affect your virtue. Accordingly + they are always asking me, and doubtless also our Scaevola here, how you + bear the death of Africanus. This curiosity has been the more excited from + the fact that on the Nones of this month, when we augurs met as usual in + the suburban villa of Decimus Brutus for consultation, you were not + present, though it had always been your habit to keep that appointment and + perform that duty with the utmost punctuality. + </p> + <p> + <i>Scaevola</i>. Yes, indeed, Laelius, I am often asked the question + mentioned by Fannius. But I answer in accordance with what I have + observed: I say that you bear in a reasonable manner the grief which you + have sustained in the death of one who was at once a man of the most + illustrious character and a very dear friend. That of course you could not + but be affected—anything else would have been wholly unnatural in a + man of your gentle nature—but that the cause of your non-attendance + at our college meeting was illness, not melancholy. + </p> + <p> + <i>Laelius</i>. Thanks, Scaevola! You are quite right; you spoke the exact + truth. For in fact I had no right to allow myself to be withdrawn from a + duty which I had regularly performed, as long as I was well, by any + personal misfortune; nor do I think that anything that can happen will + cause a man of principle to intermit a duty. As for your telling me, + Fannius, of the honourable appellation given me (an appellation to which I + do not recognise my title, and to which I make no claim), you doubtless + act from feelings of affection; but I must say that you seem to me to do + less than justice to Cato. If any one was ever "wise,"—of which I + have my doubts,—he was. Putting aside everything else, consider how + he bore his son's death! I had not forgotten Paulus; I had seen with my + own eyes Gallus. But they lost their sons when mere children; Cato his + when he was a full-grown man with an assured reputation. Do not therefore + be in a hurry to reckon as Cato's superior even that same famous personage + whom Apollo, as you say, declared to be "the wisest." Remember the + former's reputation rests on deeds, the latter's on words. + </p> + <p> + 3. Now, as far as I am concerned (I speak to both of you now), believe me + the case stands thus. If I were to say that I am not affected by regret + for Scipio, I must leave the philosophers to justify my conduct, but in + point of fact I should be telling a lie. Affected of course I am by the + loss of a friend as I think there will never be again, such as I can + fearlessly say there never was before. But I stand in no need of medicine. + I can find my own consolation, and it consists chiefly in my being free + from the mistaken notion which generally causes pain at the departure of + friends. To Scipio I am convinced no evil has befallen: mine is the + disaster, if disaster there be; and to be severely distressed at one's own + misfortunes does not show that you love your friend, but that you love + yourself. + </p> + <p> + As for him, who can say that all is not more than well? For, unless he had + taken the fancy to wish for immortality, the last thing of which he ever + thought, what is there for which mortal man may wish that he did not + attain? In his early manhood he more than justified by extraordinary + personal courage the hopes which his fellow-citizens had conceived of him + as a child. He never was a candidate for the consulship, yet was elected + consul twice: the first time before the legal age; the second at a time + which, as far as he was concerned, was soon enough, but was near being too + late for the interests of the State. By the overthrow of two cities which + were the most bitter enemies of our Empire, he put an end not only to the + wars then raging, but also to the possibility of others in the future. + What need to mention the exquisite grace of his manners, his dutiful + devotion to his mother, his generosity to his sisters, his liberality to + his relations, the integrity of his conduct to every one? You know all + this already. Finally, the estimation in which his fellow-citizens held + him has been shown by the signs of mourning which accompanied his + obsequies. What could such a man have gained by the addition of a few + years? Though age need not be a burden,—as I remember Cato arguing + in the presence of myself and Scipio two years before he died,—yet + it cannot but take away the vigour and freshness which Scipio was still + enjoying. We may conclude therefore that his life, from the good fortune + which had attended him and the glory he had obtained, was so circumstanced + that it could not be bettered, while the suddenness of his death saved him + the sensation of dying. As to the manner of his death it is difficult to + speak; you see what people suspect. Thus much, however, I may say: Scipio + in his lifetime saw many days of supreme triumph and exultation, but none + more magnificent than his last, on which, upon the rising of the Senate, + he was escorted by the senators and the people of Rome, by the allies, and + by the Latins, to his own door. From such an elevation of popular esteem + the next step seems naturally to be an ascent to the gods above, rather + than a descent to Hades. + </p> + <p> + 4. For I am not one of these modern philosophers who maintain that our + souls perish with our bodies, and that death ends all. With me ancient + opinion has more weight: whether it be that of our own ancestors, who + attributed such solemn observances to the dead, as they plainly would not + have done if they had believed them to be wholly annihilated; or that of + the philosophers who once visited this country, and who by their maxims + and doctrines educated Magna Graecia, which at that time was in a + flourishing condition, though it has now been ruined; or that of the man + who was declared by Apollo's oracle to be "most wise," and who used to + teach without the variation which is to be found in most philosophers that + "the souls of men are divine, and that when they have quitted the body a + return to heaven is open to them, least difficult to those who have been + most virtuous and just." This opinion was shared by Scipio. Only a few + days before his death—as though he had a presentiment of what was + coming—he discoursed for three days on the state of the republic. + The company consisted of Philus and Manlius and several others, and I had + brought you, Scaevola, along with me. The last part of his discourse + referred principally to the immortality of the soul; for he told us what + he had heard from the elder Africanus in a dream. Now if it be true that + in proportion to a man's goodness the escape from what may be called the + prison and bonds of the flesh is easiest, whom can we imagine to have had + an easier voyage to the gods than Scipio? I am disposed to think, + therefore, that in his case mourning would be a sign of envy rather than + of friendship. If, however, the truth rather is that the body and soul + perish together, and that no sensation remains, then though there is + nothing good in death, at least there is nothing bad. Remove sensation, + and a man is exactly as though he had never been born; and yet that this + man was born is a joy to me, and will be a subject of rejoicing to this + State to its last hour. + </p> + <p> + Wherefore, as I said before, all is as well as possible with him. Not so + with me; for as I entered life before him, it would have been fairer for + me to leave it also before him. Yet such is the pleasure I take in + recalling our friendship, that I look upon my life as having been a happy + one because I have spent it with Scipio. With him I was associated in + public and private business; with him I lived in Rome and served abroad; + and between us there was the most complete harmony in our tastes, our + pursuits, and our sentiments, which is the true secret of friendship. It + is not therefore in that reputation for wisdom mentioned just now by + Fannius—especially as it happens to be groundless—that I find + my happiness so much, as in the hope that the memory of our friendship + will be lasting. What makes me care the more about this is the fact that + in all history there are scarcely three or four pairs of friends on + record; and it is classed with them that I cherish a hope of the + friendship of Scipio and Laelius being known to posterity. + </p> + <p> + <i>Fannius</i>. Of course that must be so, Laelius. But since you have + mentioned the word friendship, and we are at leisure, you would be doing + me a great kindness, and I expect Scaevola also, if you would do as it is + your habit to do when asked questions on other subjects, and tell us your + sentiments about friendship, its nature, and the rules to be observed in + regard to it. + </p> + <p> + <i>Scaevola</i>. I shall of course be delighted. Fannius has anticipated + the very request I was about to make. So you will be doing us both a great + favour. + </p> + <p> + 5. <i>Laelius</i>. I should certainly have no objection if I felt + confidence in myself. For the theme is a noble one, and we are (as Fannius + has said) at leisure. But who am I? and what ability have I? What you + propose is all very well for professional philosophers, who are used, + particularly if Greeks, to have the subject for discussion proposed to + them on the spur of the moment. It is a task of considerable difficulty, + and requires no little practice. Therefore for a set discourse on + friendship you must go, I think, to professional lecturers. All I can do + is to urge on you to regard friendship as the greatest thing in the world; + for there is nothing which so fits in with our nature, or is so exactly + what we want in prosperity or adversity. + </p> + <p> + But I must at the very beginning lay down this principle—<i>friendship + can only exist between good men</i>. I do not, however, press this too + closely, like the philosophers who push their definitions to a superfluous + accuracy. They have truth on their side, perhaps, but it is of no + practical advantage. Those, I mean, who say that no one but the "wise" is + "good." Granted, by all means. But the "wisdom" they mean is one to which + no mortal ever yet attained. We must concern ourselves with the facts of + everyday life as we find it—not imaginary and ideal perfections. + Even Gaius Fannius, Manius Curius, and Tiberius Coruncanius, whom our + ancestors decided to be "wise," I could never declare to be so according + to their standard. Let them, then, keep this word "wisdom" to themselves. + Everybody is irritated by it; no one understands what it means. Let them + but grant that the men I mentioned were "good." No, they won't do that + either. No one but the "wise" can be allowed that title, say they. Well, + then, let us dismiss them and manage as best we may with our own poor + mother wit, as the phrase is. + </p> + <p> + We mean then by the "good" <i>those whose actions and lives leave no + question as to their honour, purity, equity, and liberality; who are free + from greed, lust, and violence; and who have the courage of their + convictions</i>. The men I have just named may serve as examples. Such men + as these being generally accounted "good," let us agree to call them so, + on the ground that to the best of human ability they follow nature as the + most perfect guide to a good life. + </p> + <p> + Now this truth seems clear to me, that nature has so formed us that a + certain tie unites us all, but that this tie becomes stronger from + proximity. So it is that fellow-citizens are preferred in our affections + to foreigners, relations to strangers; for in their case Nature herself + has caused a kind of friendship to exist, though it is one which lacks + some of the elements of permanence. Friendship excels relationship in + this, that whereas you may eliminate affection from relationship, you + cannot do so from friendship. Without it relationship still exists in + name, friendship does not. You may best understand this friendship by + considering that, whereas the merely natural ties uniting the human race + are indefinite, this one is so concentrated, and confined to so narrow a + sphere, that affection is ever shared by two persons only or at most by a + few. + </p> + <p> + 6. Now friendship may be thus defined: a complete accord on all subjects + human and divine, joined with mutual goodwill and affection. And with the + exception of wisdom, I am inclined to think nothing better than this has + been given to man by the immortal gods. There are people who give the palm + to riches or to good health, or to power and office, many even to sensual + pleasures. This last is the ideal of brute beasts; and of the others we + may say that they are frail and uncertain, and depend less on our own + prudence than on the caprice of fortune. Then there are those who find the + "chief good" in virtue. Well, that is a noble doctrine. But the very + virtue they talk of is the parent and preserver of friendship, and without + it friendship cannot possibly exist. + </p> + <p> + Let us, I repeat, use the word virtue in the ordinary acceptation and + meaning of the term, and do not let us define it in high-flown language. + Let us account as good the persons usually considered so, such as Paulus, + Cato, Gallus, Scipio, and Philus. Such men as these are good enough for + everyday life; and we need not trouble ourselves about those ideal + characters which are nowhere to be met with. + </p> + <p> + Well, between men like these the advantages of friendship are almost more + than I can say. To begin with, how can life be worth living, to use the + words of Ennius, which lacks that repose which is to be found in the + mutual good-will of a friend? What can be more delightful than to have + some one to whom you can say everything with the same absolute confidence + as to yourself? Is not prosperity robbed of half its value if you have no + one to share your joy? On the other hand, misfortunes would be hard to + bear if there were not some one to feel them even more acutely than + yourself. In a word, other objects of ambition serve for particular ends—riches + for use, power for securing homage, office for reputation, pleasure for + enjoyment, health for freedom from pain and the full use of the functions + of the body. But friendship embraces innumerable advantages. Turn which + way you please, you will find it at hand. It is everywhere; and yet never + out of place, never unwelcome. Fire and water themselves, to use a common + expression, are not of more universal use than friendship. I am not now + speaking of the common or modified form of it, though even that is a + source of pleasure and profit, but of that true and complete friendship + which existed between the select few who are known to fame. Such + friendship enhances prosperity, and relieves adversity of its burden by + halving and sharing it. + </p> + <p> + 7. And great and numerous as are the blessings of friendship, this + certainly is the sovereign one, that it gives us bright hopes for the + future and forbids weakness and despair. In the face of a true friend a + man sees as it were a second self. So that where his friend is he is; if + his friend be rich, he is not poor; though he be weak, his friend's + strength is his; and in his friend's life he enjoys a second life after + his own is finished. This last is perhaps the most difficult to conceive. + But such is the effect of the respect, the loving remembrance, and the + regret of friends which follow us to the grave. While they take the sting + out of death, they add a glory to the life of the survivors. Nay, if you + eliminate from nature the tie of affection, there will be an end of house + and city, nor will so much as the cultivation of the soil be left. If you + don't see the virtue of friendship and harmony, you may learn it by + observing the effects of quarrels and feuds. Was any family ever so well + established, any State so firmly settled, as to be beyond the reach of + utter destruction from animosities and factions? This may teach you the + immense advantage of friendship. + </p> + <p> + They say that a certain philosopher of Agrigentum, in a Greek poem, + pronounced with the authority of an oracle the doctrine that whatever in + nature and the universe was unchangeable was so in virtue of the binding + force of friendship; whatever was changeable was so by the solvent power + of discord. And indeed this is a truth which everybody understands and + practically attests by experience. For if any marked instance of loyal + friendship in confronting or sharing danger comes to light, every one + applauds it to the echo. What cheers there were, for instance, all over + the theatre at a passage in the new play of my friend and guest Pacuvius; + where the king, not knowing which of the two was Orestes, Pylades declared + himself to be Orestes, that he might die in his stead, while the real + Orestes kept on asserting that it was he. The audience rose <i>en masse</i> + and clapped their hands. And this was at an incident in fiction: what + would they have done, must we suppose, if it had been in real life? You + can easily see what a natural feeling it is, when men who would not have + had the resolution to act thus themselves, shewed how right they thought + it in another. + </p> + <p> + I don't think I have any more to say about friendship. If there is any + more, and I have no doubt there is much, you must, if you care to do so, + consult those who profess to discuss such matters. + </p> + <p> + <i>Fannius</i>. We would rather apply to you. Yet I have often consulted + such persons, and have heard what they had to say with a certain + satisfaction. But in your discourse one somehow feels that there is a + different strain. + </p> + <p> + <i>Scaevola</i>. You would have said that still more, Fannius, if you had + been present the other day in Scipio's pleasure-grounds when we had the + discussion about the State. How splendidly he stood up for justice against + Philus's elaborate speech. + </p> + <p> + <i>Fannius</i>. Ah! it was naturally easy for the justest of men to stand + up for justice. + </p> + <p> + <i>Scaevola</i>. Well, then, what about friendship? Who could discourse on + it more easily than the man whose chief glory is a friendship maintained + with the most absolute fidelity, constancy, and integrity? + </p> + <p> + 8. <i>Laclius</i>. Now you are really using force. It makes no difference + what kind of force you use: force it is. For it is neither easy nor right + to refuse a wish of my sons-in-law, particularly when the wish is a + creditable one in itself. + </p> + <p> + Well, then, it has very often occurred to me when thinking about + friendship, that the chief point to be considered was this: is it weakness + and want of means that make friendship desired? I mean, is its object an + interchange of good offices, so that each may give that in which he is + strong, and receive that in which he is weak? Or is it not rather true + that, although this is an advantage naturally belonging to friendship, yet + its original cause is quite other, prior in time, more noble in character, + and springing more directly from our nature itself? The Latin word for + friendship—<i>amicitia</i>—is derived from that for love—<i>amor</i>; + and love is certainly the prime mover in contracting mutual affection. For + as to material advantages, it often happens that those are obtained even + by men who are courted by a mere show of friendship and treated with + respect from interested motives. But friendship by its nature admits of no + feigning, no pretence: as far as it goes it is both genuine and + spontaneous. Therefore I gather that friendship springs from a natural + impulse rather than a wish for help: from an inclination of the heart, + combined with a certain instinctive feeling of love, rather than from a + deliberate calculation of the material advantage it was likely to confer. + The strength of this feeling you may notice in certain animals. They show + such love to their offspring for a certain period, and are so beloved by + them, that they clearly have a share in this natural, instinctive + affection. But of course it is more evident in the case of man: first, in + the natural affection between children and their parents, an affection + which only shocking wickedness can sunder; and next, when the passion of + love has attained to a like strength—on our finding, that is, some + one person with whose character and nature we are in full sympathy, + because we think that we perceive in him what I may call the beacon-light + of virtue. For nothing inspires love, nothing conciliates affection, like + virtue. Why, in a certain sense we may be said to feel affection even for + men we have never seen, owing to their honesty and virtue. Who, for + instance, fails to dwell on the memory of Gaius Fabricius and Manius + Curius with some affection and warmth of feeling, though he has never seen + them? Or who but loathes Tarquinius Superbus, Spurius Cassius, Spurius + Maelius? We have fought for empire in Italy with two great generals, + Pyrrhus and Hannibal. For the former, owing to his probity, we entertain + no great feelings of enmity: the latter, owing to his cruelty, our country + has detested and always will detest. + </p> + <p> + 9. Now, if the attraction of probity is so great that we can love it not + only in those whom we have never seen, but, what is more, actually in an + enemy, we need not be surprised if men's affections are roused when they + fancy that they have seen virtue and goodness in those with whom a close + intimacy is possible. I do not deny that affection is strengthened by the + actual receipt of benefits, as well as by the perception of a wish to + render service, combined with a closer intercourse. When these are added + to the original impulse of the heart, to which I have alluded, a quite + surprising warmth of feeling springs up. And if any one thinks that this + comes from a sense of weakness, that each may have some one to help him to + his particular need, all I can say is that, when he maintains it to be + born of want and poverty, he allows to friendship an origin very base, and + a pedigree, if I may be allowed the expression, far from noble. If this + had been the case, a man's inclination to friendship would be exactly in + proportion to his low opinion of his own resources. Whereas the truth is + quite the other way. For when a man's confidence in himself is greatest, + when he is so fortified by virtue and wisdom as to want nothing and to + feel absolutely self-dependent, it is then that he is most conspicuous for + seeking out and keeping up friendships. Did Africanus, for example, want + anything of me? Not the least in the world! Neither did I of him. In my + case it was an admiration of his virtue, in his an opinion, may be, which + he entertained of my character, that caused our affection. Closer intimacy + added to the warmth of our feelings. But though many great material + advantages did ensue, they were not the source from which our affection + proceeded. For as we are not beneficent and liberal with any view of + extorting gratitude, and do not regard an act of kindness as an + investment, but follow a natural inclination to liberality; so we look on + friendship as worth trying for, not because we are attracted to it by the + expectation of ulterior gain, but in the conviction that what it has to + give us is from first to last included in the feeling itself. + </p> + <p> + Far different is the view of those who, like brute beasts, refer + everything to sensual pleasure. And no wonder. Men who have degraded all + their powers of thought to an object so mean and contemptible can of + course raise their eyes to nothing lofty, to nothing grand and divine. + Such persons indeed let us leave out of the present question. And let us + accept the doctrine that the sensation of love and the warmth of + inclination have their origin in a spontaneous feeling which arises + directly the presence of probity is indicated. When once men have + conceived the inclination, they of course try to attach themselves to the + object of it, and move themselves nearer and nearer to him. Their aim is + that they may be on the same footing and the same level in regard to + affection, and be more inclined to do a good service than to ask a return, + and that there should be this noble rivalry between them. Thus both truths + will be established. We shall get the most important material advantages + from friendship; and its origin from a natural impulse rather than from a + sense of need will be at once more dignified and more in accordance with + fact. For if it were true that its material advantages cemented + friendship, it would be equally true that any change in them would + dissolve it. But nature being incapable of change, it follows that genuine + friendships are eternal. + </p> + <p> + So much for the origin of friendship. But perhaps you would not care to + hear any more. + </p> + <p> + <i>Fannius</i>. Nay, pray go on; let us have the rest, Laelius. I take on + myself to speak for my friend here as his senior. + </p> + <p> + <i>Scaevola</i>. Quite right! Therefore, pray let us hear. + </p> + <p> + 10. <i>Loelius</i>. Well, then, my good friends, listen to some + conversations about friendship which very frequently passed between Scipio + and myself. I must begin by telling you, however, that he used to say that + the most difficult thing in the world was for a friendship to remain + unimpaired to the end of life. So many things might intervene: conflicting + interests; differences of opinion in politics; frequent changes in + character, owing sometimes to misfortunes, sometimes to advancing years. + He used to illustrate these facts from the analogy of boyhood, since the + warmest affections between boys are often laid aside with the boyish toga; + and even if they did manage to keep them up to adolescence, they were + sometimes broken by a rivalry in courtship, or for some other advantage to + which their mutual claims were not compatible. Even if the friendship was + prolonged beyond that time, yet it frequently received a rude shock should + the two happen to be competitors for office. For while the most fatal blow + to friendship in the majority of cases was the lust of gold, in the case + of the best men it was a rivalry for office and reputation, by which it + had often happened that the most violent enmity had arisen between the + closest friends. + </p> + <p> + Again, wide breaches and, for the most part, justifiable ones were caused + by an immoral request being made of friends, to pander to a man's unholy + desires or to assist him in inflicting a wrong. A refusal, though + perfectly right, is attacked by those to whom they refuse compliance as a + violation of the laws of friendship. Now the people who have no scruples + as to the requests they make to their friends, thereby allow that they are + ready to have no scruples as to what they will do for their friends; and + it is the recriminations of such people which commonly not only quench + friendships, but give rise to lasting enmities. "In fact," he used to say, + "these fatalities overhang friendship in such numbers that it requires not + only wisdom but good luck also to escape them all." + </p> + <p> + 11. With these premises, then, let us first, if you please, examine the + question—how far ought personal feeling to go in friendship? For + instance: suppose Coriolanus to have had friends, ought they to have + joined him in invading his country? Again, in the case of Vecellinus or + Spurius Maelius, ought their friends to have assisted them in their + attempt to establish a tyranny? Take two instances of either line of + conduct. When Tiberius Gracchus attempted his revolutionary measures he + was deserted, as we saw, by Quintus Tubero and the friends of his own + standing. On the other hand, a friend of your own family, Scaevola, Gaius + Blossius of Cumae, took a different course. I was acting as assessor to + the consuls Laenas and Rupilius to try the conspirators, and Blossius + pleaded for my pardon on the ground that his regard for Tiberius Gracchus + had been so high that he looked upon his wishes as law. "Even if he had + wished you to set fire to the Capitol?" said I. "That is a thing," he + replied, "that he never would have wished." "Ah, but if he had wished it?" + said I. "I would have obeyed." The wickedness of such a speech needs no + comment. And in point of fact he was as good and better than his word for + he did not wait for orders in the audacious proceedings of Tiberius + Gracchus, but was the head and front of them, and was a leader rather than + an abettor of his madness. The result of his infatuation was that he fled + to Asia, terrified by the special commission appointed to try him, joined + the enemies of his country, and paid a penalty to the republic as heavy as + it was deserved. I conclude, then, that the plea of having acted in the + interests of a friend is not a valid excuse for a wrong action. For, + seeing that a belief in a man's virtue is the original cause of + friendship, friendship can hardly remain if virtue he abandoned. But if we + decide it to be right to grant our friends whatever they wish, and to ask + them for whatever we wish, perfect wisdom must be assumed on both sides if + no mischief is to happen. But we cannot assume this perfect wisdom; for we + are speaking only of such friends as are ordinarily to be met with, + whether we have actually seen them or have been told about them—men, + that is to say, of everyday life. I must quote some examples of such + persons, taking care to select such as approach nearest to our standard of + wisdom. We read, for instance, that Papus Aemilius was a close friend of + Gaius Luscinus. History tells us that they were twice consuls together, + and colleagues in the censorship. Again, it is on record that Manius + Curius and Tiberius Coruncanius were on the most intimate terms with them + and with each other. Now, we cannot even suspect that any one of these men + ever asked of his friend anything that militated against his honour or his + oath or the interests of the republic. In the case of such men as these + there is no point in saying that one of them would not have obtained such + a request if he had made it; for they were men of the most scrupulous + piety, and the making of such a request would involve a breach of + religious obligation no less than the granting it. However, it is quite + true that Gaius Carbo and Gaius Cato did follow Tiberius Gracchus; and + though his brother Caius Gracchus did not do so at the time, he is now the + most eager of them all. + </p> + <p> + 12. We may then lay down this rule of friendship—neither ask nor + consent to do what is wrong. For the plea "for friendship's sake" is a + discreditable one, and not to be admitted for a moment. This rule holds + good for all wrong-doing, but more especially in such as involves + disloyalty to the republic. For things have come to such a point with us, + my dear Fannius and Scaevola, that we are bound to look somewhat far ahead + to what is likely to happen to the republic. The constitution, as known to + our ancestors, has already swerved somewhat from the regular course and + the lines marked out for it. Tiberius Gracchus made an attempt to obtain + the power of a king, or, I might rather say, enjoyed that power for a few + months. Had the Roman people ever heard or seen the like before? What the + friends and connexions that followed him, even after his death, have + succeeded in doing in the case of Publius Scipio I cannot describe without + tears. As for Carbo, thanks to the punishment recently inflicted on + Tiberius Gracchus, we have by hook or by crook managed to hold out against + his attacks. But what to expect of the tribuneship of Caius Gracchus I do + not like to forecast. One thing leads to another; and once set going, the + downward course proceeds with ever-increasing velocity. There is the case + of the ballot: what a blow was inflicted first by the lex Gabinia, and two + years afterwards by the lex Cassia! I seem already to see the people + estranged from the Senate, and the most important affairs at the mercy of + the multitude. For you may be sure that more people will learn how to set + such things in motion than how to stop them. What is the point of these + remarks? This: no one ever makes any attempt of this sort without friends + to help him. We must therefore impress upon good men that, should they + become inevitably involved in friendships with men of this kind, they + ought not to consider themselves under any obligation to stand by friends + who are disloyal to the republic. Bad men must have the fear of punishment + before their eyes: a punishment not less severe for those who follow than + for those who lead others to crime. Who was more famous and powerful in + Greece than Themistocles? At the head of the army in the Persian war he + had freed Greece; he owed his exile to personal envy: but he did not + submit to the wrong done him by his ungrateful country as he ought to have + done. He acted as Coriolanus had acted among us twenty years before. But + no one was found to help them in their attacks upon their fatherland. Both + of them accordingly committed suicide. + </p> + <p> + We conclude, then, not only that no such confederation of evilly disposed + men must be allowed to shelter itself under the plea of friendship, but + that, on the contrary, it must be visited with the severest punishment, + lest the idea should prevail that fidelity to a friend justifies even + making war upon one's country. And this is a case which I am inclined to + think, considering how things are beginning to go, will sooner or later + arise. And I care quite as much what the state of the constitution will be + after my death as what it is now. + </p> + <p> + 13. Let this, then, be laid down as the first law of friendship, that <i>we + should ask from friends, and do for friends', only what is good</i>. But + do not let us wait to be asked either: let there be ever an eager + readiness, and an absence of hesitation. Let us have the courage to give + advice with candour. In friendship, let the influence of friends who give + good advice be paramount; and let this influence be used to enforce advice + not only in plain-spoken terms, but sometimes, if the case demands it, + with sharpness; and when so used, let it be obeyed. + </p> + <p> + I give you these rules because I believe that some wonderful opinions are + entertained by certain persons who have, I am told, a reputation for + wisdom in Greece. There is nothing in the world, by the way, beyond the + reach of their sophistry. Well, some of them teach that we should avoid + very close friendships, for fear that one man should have to endure the + anxieties of several. Each man, say they, has enough and to spare on his + own hands; it is too bad to be involved in the cares of other people. The + wisest course is to hold the reins of friendship as loose as possible; you + can then tighten or slacken them at your will. For the first condition of + a happy life is freedom from care, which no one's mind can enjoy if it has + to travail, so to speak, for others besides itself. Another sect, I am + told, gives vent to opinions still less generous. I briefly touched on + this subject just now. They affirm that friendships should be sought + solely for the sake of the assistance they give, and not at all from + motives of feeling and affection; and that therefore just in proportion as + a man's power and means of support are lowest, he is most eager to gain + friendships: thence it comes that weak women seek the support of + friendship more than men, the poor more than the rich, the unfortunate + rather than those esteemed prosperous. What noble philosophy! You might + just as well take the sun out of the sky as friendship from life; for the + immortal gods have given us nothing better or more delightful. + </p> + <p> + But let us examine the two doctrines. What is the value of this "freedom + from care"? It is very tempting at first sight, but in practice it has in + many cases to be put on one side. For there is no business and no course + of action demanded from us by our honour which you can consistently + decline, or lay aside when begun, from a mere wish to escape from anxiety. + Nay, if we wish to avoid anxiety we must avoid virtue itself, which + necessarily involves some anxious thoughts in showing its loathing and + abhorrence for the qualities which are opposite to itself—as + kindness for ill-nature, self-control for licentiousness, courage for + cowardice. Thus you may notice that it is the just who are most pained at + injustice, the brave at cowardly actions, the temperate at depravity. It + is then characteristic of a rightly ordered mind to be pleased at what is + good and grieved at the reverse. Seeing then that the wise are not exempt + from the heart-ache (which must be the case unless we suppose all human + nature rooted out of their hearts), why should we banish friendship from + our lives, for fear of being involved by it in some amount of distress? If + you take away emotion, what difference remains I don't say between a man + and a beast, but between a man and a stone or a log of wood, or anything + else of that kind? + </p> + <p> + Neither should we give any weight to the doctrine that virtue is something + rigid and unyielding as iron. In point of fact it is in regard to + friendship, as in so many other things, so supple and sensitive that it + expands, so to speak, at a friend's good fortune, contracts at his + misfortunes. We conclude then that mental pain which we must often + encounter on a friend's account is not of sufficient consequence to banish + friendship from our life, any more than it is true that the cardinal + virtues are to be dispensed with because they involve certain anxieties + and distresses. + </p> + <p> + 14. Let me repeat then, "the clear indication of virtue, to which a mind + of like character is naturally attracted, is the beginning of friendship." + When that is the case the rise of affection is a necessity. For what can + be more irrational than to take delight in many objects incapable of + response, such as office, fame, splendid buildings, and personal + decoration, and yet to take little or none in a sentient being endowed + with virtue, which has the faculty of loving or, if I may use the + expression, loving back? For nothing is really more delightful than a + return of affection, and the mutual interchange of kind feeling and good + offices. And if we add, as we may fairly do, that nothing so powerfully + attracts and draws one thing to itself as likeness does to friendship, it + will at once be admitted to be true that the good love the good and attach + them to themselves as though they were united by blood and nature. For + nothing can be more eager, or rather greedy, for what is like itself than + nature. So, my dear Fannius and Scaevola, we may look upon this as an + established fact, that between good men there is, as it were of necessity, + a kindly feeling, which is the source of friendship ordained by nature. + But this same kindliness affects the many also. For that is no + unsympathetic or selfish or exclusive virtue, which protects even whole + nations and consults their best interests. And that certainly it would not + have done had it disdained all affection for the common herd. + </p> + <p> + Again, the believers in the "interest" theory appear to me to destroy the + most attractive link in the chain of friendship. For it is not so much + what one gets by a friend that gives one pleasure, as the warmth of his + feeling; and we only care for a friend's service if it has been prompted + by affection. And so far from its being true that lack of means is a + motive for seeking friendship, it is usually those who being most richly + endowed with wealth and means, and above all with virtue (which, after + all, is a man's best support), are least in need of another, that are most + openhanded and beneficent. Indeed I am inclined to think that friends + ought at times to be in want of something. For instance, what scope would + my affections have had if Scipio had never wanted my advice or + co-operation at home or abroad? It is not friendship, then, that follows + material advantage, but material advantage friendship. + </p> + <p> + 15. We must not therefore listen to these superfine gentlemen when they + talk of friendship, which they know neither in theory nor in practice. For + who, in heaven's name, would choose a life of the greatest wealth and + abundance on condition of neither loving or being beloved by any creature? + That is the sort of life tyrants endure. They, of course, can count on no + fidelity, no affection, no security for the goodwill of any one. For them + all is suspicion and anxiety; for them there is no possibility of + friendship. Who can love one whom he fears, or by whom he knows that he is + feared? Yet such men have a show of friendship offered them, but it is + only a fair-weather show. If it ever happen that they fall, as it + generally does, they will at once understand how friendless they are. So + they say Tarquin observed in his exile that he never knew which of his + friends were real and which sham, until he had ceased to be able to repay + either. Though what surprises me is that a man of his proud and + overbearing character should have a friend at all. And as it was his + character that prevented his having genuine friends, so it often happens + in the case of men of unusually great means—their very wealth + forbids faithful friendships. For not only is Fortune blind herself; but + she generally makes those blind also who enjoy her favours. They are + carried, so to speak, beyond themselves with self-conceit and self-will; + nor can anything be more perfectly intolerable than a successful fool. You + may often see it. Men who before had pleasant manners enough undergo a + complete change on attaining power of office. They despise their old + friends: devote themselves to new. + </p> + <p> + Now, can anything be more foolish than that men who have all the + opportunities which prosperity, wealth, and great means can bestow, should + secure all else which money can buy—horses, servants, splendid + upholstering, and costly plate—but do not secure friends, who are, + if I may use the expression, the most valuable and beautiful furniture of + life? And yet, when they acquire the former, they know not who will enjoy + them, nor for whom they may be taking all this trouble; for they will one + and all eventually belong to the strongest: while each man has a stable + and inalienable ownership in his friendships. And even if those + possessions, which are, in a manner, the gifts of fortune, do prove + permanent, life can never be anything but joyless which is without the + consolations and companionship of friends. + </p> + <p> + 16. To turn to another branch of our subject. We must now endeavour to + ascertain what limits are to be observed in friendship—what is the + boundary-line, so to speak, beyond which our affection is not to go. On + this point I notice three opinions, with none of which I agree. One is <i>that + we should love our friend just as much as we love ourselves, and no more; + another, that our affection to them should exactly correspond and equal + theirs to us; a third, that a man should be valued at exactly the same + rate as he values himself</i>. To not one of these opinions do I assent. + The first, which holds that our regard for ourselves is to be the measure + of our regard for our friend, is not true; for how many things there are + which we would never have done for our own sakes, but do for the sake of a + friend! We submit to make requests from unworthy people, to descend even + to supplication; to be sharper in invective, more violent in attack. Such + actions are not creditable in our own interests, but highly so in those of + our friends. There are many advantages too which men of upright character + voluntarily forego, or of which they are content to be deprived, that + their friends may enjoy them rather than themselves. + </p> + <p> + The second doctrine is that which limits friendship to an exact equality + in mutual good offices and good feelings. But such a view reduces + friendship to a question of figures in a spirit far too narrow and + illiberal, as though the object were to have an exact balance in a debtor + and creditor account. True friendship appears to me to be something richer + and more generous than that comes to; and not to be so narrowly on its + guard against giving more than it receives. In such a matter we must not + be always afraid of something being wasted or running over in our measure, + or of more than is justly due being devoted to our friendship. + </p> + <p> + But the last limit proposed is the worst, namely, that a friend's estimate + of himself is to be the measure of our estimate of him. It often happens + that a man has too humble an idea of himself, or takes too despairing a + view of his chance of bettering his fortune. In such a case a friend ought + not to take the view of him which he takes of himself. Rather he should do + all he can to raise his drooping spirits, and lead him to more cheerful + hopes and thoughts. + </p> + <p> + We must then find some other limit. But I must first mention the sentiment + which used to call forth Scipio's severest criticism. He often said that + no one ever gave utterance to anything more diametrically opposed to the + spirit of friendship than the author of the dictum, "You should love your + friend with the consciousness that you may one day hate him." He could not + be induced to believe that it was rightfully attributed to Bias, who was + counted as one of the Seven Sages. It was the sentiment of some person + with sinister motives or selfish ambition, or who regarded everything as + it affected his own supremacy. How can a man be friends with another, if + he thinks it possible that he may be his enemy? Why, it will follow that + he must wish and desire his friend to commit as many mistakes as possible, + that he may have all the more handles against him; and, conversely, that + he must be annoyed, irritated, and jealous at the right actions or good + fortune of his friends. This maxim, then, let it be whose it will, is the + utter destruction of friendship. The true rule is to take such care in the + selection of our friends as never to enter upon a friendship with a man + whom we could under any circumstances come to hate. And even if we are + unlucky in our choice, we must put up with it—according to Scipio—in + preference to making calculations as to a future breach. + </p> + <p> + 17. The real limit to be observed in friendship is this: the characters of + two friends must be stainless. There must be complete harmony of + interests, purpose, and aims, without exception. Then if the case arises + of a friend's wish (not strictly right in itself) calling for support in a + matter involving his life or reputation, we must make some concession from + the straight path—on condition, that is to say, that extreme + disgrace is not the consequence. Something must be conceded to friendship. + And yet we must not be entirely careless of our reputation, nor regard the + good opinion of our fellow-citizens as a weapon which we can afford to + despise in conducting the business of our life, however lowering it may be + to tout for it by flattery and smooth words. We must by no means abjure + virtue, which secures us affection. + </p> + <p> + But to return again to Scipio, the sole author of the discourse on + friendship. He used to complain that there was nothing on which men + bestowed so little pains: that every one could tell exactly how many goats + or sheep he had, but not how many friends; and while they took pains in + procuring the former, they were utterly careless in selecting friends, and + possessed no particular marks, so to speak, or tokens by which they might + judge of their suitability for friendship. Now the qualities we ought to + look out for in making our selection are firmness, stability, constancy. + There is a plentiful lack of men so endowed, and it is difficult to form a + judgment without testing. Now this testing can only be made during the + actual existence of the friendship; for friendship so often precedes the + formation of a judgment, and makes a previous test impossible. If we are + prudent then, we shall rein in our impulse to affection as we do chariot + horses. We make a preliminary trial of horses. So we should of friendship; + and should test our friends' characters by a kind of tentative friendship. + It may often happen that the untrustworthiness of certain men is + completely displayed in a small money matter; others who are proof against + a small sum are detected if it be large. But even if some are found who + think it mean to prefer money to friendship, where shall we look for those + who put friendship before office, civil or military promotions, and + political power, and who, when the choice lies between these things on the + one side and the claims of friendship on the other, do not give a strong + preference to the former? It is not in human nature to be indifferent to + political power; and if the price men have to pay for it is the sacrifice + of friendship, they think their treason will be thrown into the shade by + the magnitude of the reward. This is why true friendship is very difficult + to find among those who engage in politics and the contest for office. + Where can you find the man to prefer his friend's advancement to his own? + And to say nothing of that, think how grievous and almost intolerable it + is to most men to share political disaster. You will scarcely find anyone + who can bring himself to do that. And though what Ennius says is quite + true,—" the hour of need shews the friend indeed,"—yet it is + in these two ways that most people betray their untrustworthiness and + inconstancy, by looking down on friends when they are themselves + prosperous, or deserting them in their distress. A man, then, who has + shewn a firm, unshaken, and unvarying friendship in both these + contingencies we must reckon as one of a class the rarest in the world, + and all but superhuman. + </p> + <p> + 18. Now, what is the quality to look out for as a warrant for the + stability and permanence of friendship? It is loyalty. Nothing that lacks + this can be stable. We should also in making our selection look out for + simplicity, a social disposition, and a sympathetic nature, moved by what + moves us. These all contribute to maintain loyalty. You can never trust a + character which is intricate and tortuous. Nor, indeed, is it possible for + one to be trustworthy and firm who is unsympathetic by nature and unmoved + by what affects ourselves. We may add, that he must neither take pleasure + in bringing accusations against us himself, nor believe them when they are + brought. All these contribute to form that constancy which I have been + endeavouring to describe. And the result is, what I started by saying, + that friendship is only possible between good men. + </p> + <p> + Now there are two characteristic features in his treatment of his friends + that a good (which may be regarded as equivalent to a wise) man will + always display. First, he will be entirely without any make-believe or + pretence of feeling; for the open display even of dislike is more becoming + to an ingenuous character than a studied concealment of sentiment. + Secondly, he will not only reject all accusations brought against his + friend by another, but he will not be suspicious himself either, nor be + always thinking that his friend has acted improperly. Besides this, there + should be a certain pleasantness in word and manner which adds no little + flavour to friendship. A gloomy temper and unvarying gravity may be very + impressive; but friendship should be a little less unbending, more + indulgent and gracious, and more inclined to all kinds of good-fellowship + and good-nature. + </p> + <p> + 19. But here arises a question of some little difficulty. Are there any + occasions on which, assuming their worthiness, we should prefer new to old + friends, just as we prefer young to aged horses? The answer admits of no + doubt whatever. For there should be no satiety in friendship, as there is + in other things. The older the sweeter, as in wines that keep well. And + the proverb is a true one, "You must eat many a peck of salt with a man to + be thorough friends with him." Novelty, indeed, has its advantage, which + we must not despise. There is always hope of fruit, as there is in healthy + blades of corn. But age too must have its proper position; and, in fact, + the influence of time and habit is very great. To recur to the + illustration of the horse which I have just now used. Every one likes <i>ceteris + paribus</i> to use the horse to which he has been accustomed, rather than + one that is untried and new. And it is not only in the case of a living + thing that this rule holds good, but in inanimate things also; for we like + places where we have lived the longest, even though they are mountainous + and covered with forest. But here is another golden rule in friendship: <i>put + yourself on a level with your friend</i>. For it often happens that there + are certain superiorities, as for example Scipio's in what I may call our + set. Now he never assumed any airs of superiority over Philus, or + Rupilius, or Mummius, or over friends of a lower rank still. For instance, + he always shewed a deference to his brother Quintus Maximus because he was + his senior, who, though a man no doubt of eminent character, was by no + means his equal. He used also to wish that all his friends should be the + better for his support. This is an example we should all follow. If any of + us have any advantage in personal character, intellect, or fortune, we + should be ready to make our friends sharers and partners in it with + ourselves. For instance, if their parents are in humble circumstances, if + their relations are powerful neither in intellect nor means, we should + supply their deficiencies and promote their rank and dignity. You know the + legends of children brought up as servants in ignorance of their parentage + and family. When they are recognized and discovered to be the sons of gods + or kings, they still retain their affection for the shepherds whom they + have for many years looked upon as their parents. Much more ought this to + be so in the case of real and undoubted parents. For the advantages of + genius and virtue, and in short, of every kind of superiority, are never + realized to their fullest extent until they are bestowed upon our nearest + and dearest. + </p> + <p> + 20. But the converse must also be observed. For in friendship and + relationship, just as those who possess any superiority must put + themselves on an equal footing with those who are less fortunate, so these + latter must not be annoyed at being surpassed in genius, fortune, or rank. + But most people of that sort are forever either grumbling at something, or + harping on their claims; and especially if they consider that they have + services of their own to allege involving zeal and friendship and some + trouble to themselves. People who are always bringing up their services + are a nuisance. The recipient ought to remember them; the performer should + never mention them. In the case of friends, then, as the superior are + bound to descend, so are they bound in a certain sense to raise those + below them. For there are people who make their friendship disagreeable by + imagining themselves undervalued. This generally happens only to those who + think that they deserve to be so; and they ought to be shewn by deeds as + well as by words the groundlessness of their opinion. Now the measure of + your benefits should be in the first place your own power to bestow, and + in the second place the capacity to bear them on the part of him on whom + you are bestowing affection and help. For, however great your personal + prestige may be, you cannot raise all your friends to the highest offices + of the State. For instance, Scipio was able to make Publius Rupilius + consul, but not his brother Lucius. But granting that you can give anyone + anything you choose, you must have a care that it does not prove to be + beyond his powers. As a general rule, we must wait to make up our mind + about friendships till men's characters and years have arrived at their + full strength and development. People must not, for instance, regard as + fast friends all whom in their youthful enthusiasm for hunting or football + they liked for having the same tastes. By that rule, if it were a mere + question of time, no one would have such claims on our affections as + nurses and slave-tutors. Not that they are to be neglected, but they stand + on a different ground. It is only these mature friendships that can be + permanent. For difference of character leads to difference of aims, and + the result of such diversity is to estrange friends. The sole reason, for + instance, which prevents good men from making friends with bad, or bad + with good, is that the divergence of their characters and aims is the + greatest possible. + </p> + <p> + Another good rule in friendship is this: do not let an excessive affection + hinder the highest interests of your friends. This very often happens. I + will go again to the region of fable for an instance. Neoptolemus could + never have taken Troy if he had been willing to listen to Lycomedes, who + had brought him up, and with many tears tried to prevent his going there. + Again, it often happens that important business makes it necessary to part + from friends: the man who tries to baulk it, because he thinks that he + cannot endure the separation, is of a weak and effeminate nature, and on + that very account makes but a poor friend. There are, of course, limits to + what you ought to expect from a friend and to what you should allow him to + demand of you. And these you must take into calculation in every case. + </p> + <p> + 21. Again, there is such a disaster, so to speak, as having to break off + friendship. And sometimes it is one we cannot avoid. For at this point the + stream of our discourse is leaving the intimacies of the wise and touching + on the friendship of ordinary people. It will happen at times that an + outbreak of vicious conduct affects either a man's friends themselves or + strangers, yet the discredit falls on the friends. In such cases + friendships should be allowed to die out gradually by an intermission of + intercourse. They should, as I have been told that Cato used to say, + rather be unstitched than torn in twain; unless, indeed, the injurious + conduct be of so violent and outrageous a nature as to make an instant + breach and separation the only possible course consistent with honour and + rectitude. Again, if a change in character and aim takes place, as often + happens, or if party politics produces an alienation of feeling (I am now + speaking, as I said a short time ago, of ordinary friendships, not of + those of the wise), we shall have to be on our guard against appearing to + embark upon active enmity while we only mean to resign a friendship. For + there can be nothing more discreditable than to be at open war with a man + with whom you have been intimate. Scipio, as you are aware, had abandoned + his friendship for Quintus Pompeius on my account; and again, from + differences of opinion in politics, he became estranged from my colleague + Metellus. In both cases he acted with dignity and moderation, shewing that + he was offended indeed, but without rancour. + </p> + <p> + Our first object, then, should be to prevent a breach; our second, to + secure that, if it does occur, our friendship should seem to have died a + natural rather than a violent death. Next, we should take care that + friendship is not converted into active hostility, from which flow + personal quarrels, abusive language, and angry recriminations. These last, + however, provided that they do not pass all reasonable limits of + forbearance, we ought to put up with, and, in compliment to an old + friendship, allow the party that inflicts the injury, not the one that + submits to it, to be in the wrong. Generally speaking, there is but one + way of securing and providing oneself against faults and inconveniences of + this sort—not to be too hasty in bestowing our affection, and not to + bestow it at all on unworthy objects. + </p> + <p> + Now, by "worthy of friendship" I mean those who have in themselves the + qualities which attract affection. This sort of man is rare; and indeed + all excellent things are rare; and nothing in the world is so hard to find + as a thing entirely and completely perfect of its kind. But most people + not only recognize nothing as good in our life unless it is profitable, + but look upon friends as so much stock, caring most for those by whom they + hope to make most profit. Accordingly they never possess that most + beautiful and most spontaneous friendship which must be sought solely for + itself without any ulterior object. They fail also to learn from their own + feelings the nature and the strength of friendship. For every one loves + himself, not for any reward which such love may bring, but because he is + dear to himself independently of anything else. But unless this feeling is + transferred to another, what a real friend is will never be revealed; for + he is, as it were, a second self. But if we find these two instincts + shewing themselves in animals,—whether of the air or the sea or the + land, whether wild or tame,—first, a love of self, which in fact is + born in everything that lives alike; and, secondly, an eagerness to find + and attach themselves to other creatures of their own kind; and if this + natural action is accompanied by desire and by something resembling human + love, how much more must this be the case in man by the law of his nature? + For man not only loves himself, but seeks another whose spirit he may so + blend with his own as almost to make one being of two. + </p> + <p> + 22. But most people unreasonably, not to speak of modesty, want such a + friend as they are unable to be themselves, and expect from their friends + what they do not themselves give. The fair course is first to be good + yourself, and then to look out for another of like character. It is + between such that the stability in friendship of which we have been + talking can be secured; when, that is to say, men who are united by + affection learn, first of all, to rule those passions which enslave + others, and in the next place to take delight in fair and equitable + conduct, to bear each other's burdens, never to ask each other for + anything inconsistent with virtue and rectitude, and not only to serve and + love but also to respect each other. I say "respect"; for if respect is + gone, friendship has lost its brightest jewel. And this shows the mistake + of those who imagine that friendship gives a privilege to licentiousness + and sin. Nature has given us friendship as the handmaid of virtue, not as + a partner in guilt: to the end that virtue, being powerless when isolated + to reach the highest objects, might succeed in doing so in union and + partnership with another. Those who enjoy in the present, or have enjoyed + in the past, or are destined to enjoy in the future such a partnership as + this, must be considered to have secured the most excellent and auspicious + combination for reaching nature's highest good. This is the partnership, I + say, which combines moral rectitude, fame, peace of mind, serenity: all + that men think desirable because with them life is happy, but without them + cannot be so. This being our best and highest object, we must, if we + desire to attain it, devote ourselves to virtue; for without virtue we can + obtain neither friendship nor anything else desirable. In fact, if virtue + be neglected, those who imagine themselves to possess friends will find + out their error as soon as some grave disaster forces them to make trial + of them. Wherefore, I must again and again repeat, you must satisfy your + judgment before engaging your affections: not love first and judge + afterwards. We suffer from carelessness in many of our undertakings: in + none more than in selecting and cultivating our friends. We put the cart + before the horse, and shut the stable door when the steed is stolen, in + defiance of the old proverb. For, having mutually involved ourselves in a + long-standing intimacy or by actual obligations, all on a sudden some + cause of offence arises and we break off our friendships in full career. + </p> + <p> + 23. It is this that makes such carelessness in a matter of supreme + importance all the more worthy of blame. I say "supreme importance," + because friendship is the one thing about the utility of which everybody + with one accord is agreed. That is not the case in regard even to virtue + itself; for many people speak slightingly of virtue as though it were mere + puffing and self-glorification. Nor is it the case with riches. Many look + down on riches, being content with a little and taking pleasure in poor + fare and dress, And as to the political offices for which some have a + burning desire—how many entertain such a contempt for them as to + think nothing in the world more empty and trivial! + </p> + <p> + And so on with the rest; things desirable in the eyes of some are regarded + by very many as worthless. But of friendship all think alike to a man, + whether those have devoted themselves to politics, or those who delight in + science and philosophy, or those who follow a private way of life and care + for nothing but their own business, or those lastly who have given + themselves body and soul to sensuality—they all think, I say, that + without friendship life is no life, if they want some part of it, at any + rate, to be noble. For friendship, in one way or another, penetrates into + the lives of us all, and suffers no career to be entirely free from its + influence. Though a man be of so churlish and unsociable a nature as to + loathe and shun the company of mankind, as we are told was the case with a + certain Timon at Athens, yet even he cannot refrain from seeking some one + in whose hearing he may disgorge the venom of his bitter temper. We should + see this most clearly, if it were possible that some god should carry us + away from these haunts of men, and place us somewhere in perfect solitude, + and then should supply us in abundance with everything necessary to our + nature, and yet take from us entirely the opportunity of looking upon a + human being. Who could steel himself to endure such a life? Who would not + lose in his loneliness the zest for all pleasures? And indeed this is the + point of the observation of, I think, Archytas of Tarentum. I have it + third hand; men who were my seniors told me that their seniors had told + them. It was this: "If a man could ascend to heaven and get a clear view + of the natural order of the universe, and the beauty of the heavenly + bodies, that wonderful spectacle would give him small pleasure, though + nothing could be conceived more delightful if he had but had some one to + whom to tell what he had seen." So true it is that nature abhors + isolation, and ever leans upon something as a stay and support; and this + is found in its most pleasing form in our closest friend. + </p> + <p> + 24. But though Nature also declares by so many indications what her wish + and object and desire is, we yet in a manner turn a deaf ear and will not + hear her warnings. The intercourse between friends is varied and complex, + and it must often happen that causes of suspicion and offence arise, which + a wise man will sometimes avoid, at other times remove, at others treat + with indulgence. The one possible cause of offence that must be faced is + when the interests of your friend and your own sincerity are at stake. For + instance, it often happens that friends need remonstrance and even + reproof. When these are administered in a kindly spirit they ought to be + taken in good part. But somehow or other there is truth in what my friend + Terence says in his <i>Andria</i>: + </p> + <p> + Compliance gets us friends, plain speaking hate. + </p> + <p> + Plain speaking is a cause of trouble, if the result of it is resentment, + which is poison of friendship; but compliance is really the cause of much + more trouble, because by indulging his faults it lets a friend plunge into + headlong ruin. But the man who is most to blame is he who resents plain + speaking and allows flattery to egg him on to his ruin. On this point, + then, from first to last there is need of deliberation and care. If we + remonstrate, it should be without bitterness; if we reprove, there should + be no word of insult. In the matter of compliance (for I am glad to adopt + Terence's word), though there should be every courtesy, yet that base kind + which assists a man in vice should be far from us, for it is unworthy of a + free-born man, to say nothing of a friend. It is one thing to live with a + tyrant, another with a friend. But if a man's ears are so closed to plain + speaking that he cannot bear to hear the truth from a friend, we may give + him up in despair. This remark of Cato's, as so many of his did, shews + great acuteness: "There are people who owe more to bitter enemies than to + apparently pleasant friends: the former often speak the truth, the latter + never." Besides, it is a strange paradox that the recipients of advice + should feel no annoyance where they ought to feel it, and yet feel so much + where they ought not. They are not at all vexed at having committed a + fault, but very angry at being reproved for it. On the contrary, they + ought to be grieved at the crime and glad of the correction. + </p> + <p> + 25. Well, then, if it is true that to give and receive advice—the + former with freedom and yet without bitterness, the latter with patience + and without irritation—is peculiarly appropriate to genuine + friendship, it is no less true that there can be nothing more utterly + subversive of friendship than flattery, adulation, and base compliance. I + use as many terms as possible to brand this vice of light-minded, + untrustworthy men, whose sole object in speaking is to please without any + regard to truth. In everything false pretence is bad, for it suspends and + vitiates our power of discerning the truth. But to nothing it is so + hostile as to friendship; for it destroys that frankness without which + friendship is an empty name. For the essence of friendship being that two + minds become as one, how can that ever take place if the mind of each of + the separate parties to it is not single and uniform, but variable, + changeable, and complex? Can anything be so pliable, so wavering, as the + mind of a man whose attitude depends not only on another's feeling and + wish, but on his very looks and nods? + </p> + <pre> + If one says "No," I answer "No"; + If "Yes," I answer "Yes." + In fine, I've laid this task upon myself + To echo all that's said— + </pre> +<p> +to quote my old friend Terence again. But he puts these words into the mouth of a Gnatho. + To admit such a man into one's intimacy at all is a sign of folly. But + there are many people like Gnatho, and it is when they are superior either + in position or fortune or reputation that their flatteries become + mischievous, the weight of their position making up for the lightness of + their character. But if we only take reasonable care, it is as easy to + separate and distinguish a genuine from a specious friend as anything else + that is coloured and artificial from what is sincere and genuine. A public + assembly, though composed of men of the smallest possible culture, + nevertheless will see clearly the difference between a mere demagogue + (that is, a flatterer and untrustworthy citizen) and a man of principle, + standing, and solidity. It was by this kind of flattering language that + Gaius Papirius the other day endeavoured to tickle the ears of the + assembled people, when proposing his law to make the tribunes re-eligible. + I spoke against it. But I will leave the personal question. I prefer + speaking of Scipio. Good heavens! how impressive his speech was, what a + majesty there was in it! You would have pronounced him, without + hesitation, to be no mere henchman of the Roman people, but their leader. + However, you were there, and moreover have the speech in your hands. The + result was that a law meant to please the people was by the people's votes + rejected. Once more to refer to myself, you remember how apparently + popular was the law proposed by Gaius Licinius Crassus "about the election + to the College of Priests" in the consulship of Quintus Maximus, Scipio's + brother, and Lucius Mancinus. For the power of filling up their own + vacancies on the part of the colleges was by this proposal to be + transferred to the people. It was this man, by the way, who began the + practice of turning towards the forum when addressing the people. In spite + of this, however, upon my speaking on the conservative side, religion + gained an easy victory over his plausible speech. This took place in my + praetorship, five years before I was elected consul, which shows that the + cause was successfully maintained more by the merits of the case than by + the prestige of the highest office. + </p> + <p> + 26. Now, if on a stage, such as a public assembly essentially is, where + there is the amplest room for fiction and half-truths, truth nevertheless + prevails if it be but fairly laid open and brought into the light of day, + what ought to happen in the case of friendship, which rests entirely on + truthfulness? Friendship, in which, unless you both see and show an open + breast, to use a common expression, you can neither trust nor be certain + of anything—no, not even of mutual affection, since you cannot be + sure of its sincerity. However, this flattery, injurious as it is, can + hurt no one but the man who takes it in and likes it. And it follows that + the man to open his ears widest to flatterers is he who first flatters + himself and is fondest of himself. I grant you that Virtue naturally loves + herself; for she knows herself and perceives how worthy of love she is. + But I am not now speaking of absolute virtue, but of the belief men have + that they possess virtue. The fact is that fewer people are endowed with + virtue than wish to be thought to be so. It is such people that take + delight in flattery. When they are addressed in language expressly adapted + to flatter their vanity, they look upon such empty persiflage as a + testimony to the truth of their own praises. It is not then properly + friendship at all when the one will not listen to the truth, and the other + is prepared to lie. Nor would the servility of parasites in comedy have + seemed humorous to us had there been no such things as braggart captains. + "Is Thais really much obliged to me?" It would have been quite enough to + answer "Much," but he must needs say "Immensely." Your servile flatterer + always exaggerates what his victim wishes to be put strongly. Wherefore, + though it is with those who catch at and invite it that this flattering + falsehood is especially powerful, yet men even of soldier and steadier + character must be warned to be on the watch against being taken in by + cunningly disguised flattery. An open flatterer any one can detect, unless + he is an absolute fool the covert insinuation of the cunning and the sly + is what we have to be studiously on our guard against. His detection is + not by any means the easiest thing in the world, for he often covers his + servility under the guise of contradiction, and flatters by pretending to + dispute, and then at last giving in and allowing himself to be beaten, + that the person hoodwinked may think himself to have been the + clearer-sighted. Now what can be more degrading than to be thus + hoodwinked? You must be on your guard against this happening to you, like + the man in the <i>Heiress</i>: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + How have I been befooled! no drivelling dotards + On any stage were e'er so p1ayed upon. +</pre> + <p> + For even on the stage we have no grosser representation of folly than that + of short-sighted and credulous old men. But somehow or other I have + strayed away from the friendship of the perfect, that is of the "wise" + (meaning, of course, such "wisdom" as human nature is capable of), to the + subject of vulgar, unsubstantial friendships. Let us then return to our + original theme, and at length bring that, too, to a conclusion. + </p> + <p> + 27. Well, then, Fannius and Mucius, I repeat what I said before. It is + virtue, virtue, which both creates and preserves friendship. On it depends + harmony of interest, permanence, fidelity. When Virtue has reared her head + and shewn the light of her countenance, and seen and recognised the same + light in another, she gravitates towards it, and in her turn welcomes that + which the other has to shew; and from it springs up a flame which you may + call love or friendship as you please. Both words are from the same root + in Latin; and love is just the cleaving to him whom you love without the + prompting of need or any view to advantage—though this latter + blossoms spontaneously on friendship, little as you may have looked for + it. It is with such warmth of feeling that I cherished Lucius Paulus, + Marcus Cato, Galus Gallus, Publius Nasica, Tiberius Gracchus, my dear + Scipio's father-in-law. It shines with even greater warmth when men are of + the same age, as in the case of Scipio and Lucius Furius, Publius + Rupilius, Spurius Mummius, and myself. <i>En revanche</i>, in my old age I + find comfort in the affection of young men, as in the case of yourselves + and Quintus Tubero: nay more, I delight in the intimacy of such a very + young man as Publius Rutilius and Aulus Verginius. And since the law of + our nature and of our life is that a new generation is for ever springing + up, the most desirable thing is that along with your contemporaries, with + whom you started in the race, you may also teach what is to us the goal. + But in view of the instability and perishableness of mortal things, we + should be continually on the look-out for some to love and by whom to be + loved; for if we lose affection and kindliness from our life, we lose all + that gives it charm. For me, indeed, though torn away by a sudden stroke, + Scipio still lives and ever wilt live. For it was the virtue of the man + that I loved, and that has not suffered death. And it is not my eyes only, + because I had all my life a personal experience of it, that never lose + sight of it: it will shine to posterity also with undimmed glory. No one + will ever cherish a nobler ambition or a loftier hope without thinking his + memory and his image the best to put before his eyes. I declare that of + all the blessings which either fortune or nature has bestowed upon me I + know none to compare with Scipio's friendship. In it I found sympathy in + public, counsel in private business; in it too a means of spending my + leisure with unalloyed delight. Never, to the best of my knowledge, did I + offend him even in the most trivial point; never did I hear a word from + him I could have wished unsaid. We had one house, one table, one style of + living; and not only were we together on foreign service, but in our tours + also and country sojourns. Why speak of our eagerness to be ever gaining + some knowledge, to be ever learning something, on which we spent all our + leisure hours far from the gaze of the world? If the recollection and + memory of these things had perished with the man, I could not possibly + have endured the regret for one so closely united with me in life and + affection. But these things have not perished; they are rather fed and + strengthened by reflexion and memory. Even supposing me to have been + entirely bereft of them, still my time of life of itself brings me no + small consolation: for I cannot have much longer now to bear this regret; + and everything that is brief ought to be endurable, however severe. + </p> + <p> + This is all I had to say on friendship. One piece of advice on parting. + Make up your minds to this. Virtue (without which friendship is + impossible) is first; but next to it, and to it alone, the greatest of all + things is Friendship. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ON OLD AGE + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 1. And should my service, Titus, ease the weight + Of care that wrings your heart, and draw the sting + Which rankles there, what guerdon shall there be? +</pre> + <p> + FOR I may address you, Atticus, in the lines in which Flamininus was + addressed by the man, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + who, poor in wealth, was rich in honour's gold, +</pre> + <p> + though I am well assured that you are not, as Flamininus was, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + kept on the rack of care by night and day. +</pre> + <p> + For I know how well ordered and equable your mind is, and am fully aware + that it was not a surname alone which you brought home with you from + Athens, but its culture and good sense. And yet I have an idea that you + are at times stirred to the heart by the same circumstances as myself. To + console you for these is a more serious matter, and must be put off to + another time. For the present I have resolved to dedicate to you an essay + on Old Age. For from the burden of impending or at least advancing age, + common to us both, I would do something to relieve us both though as to + yourself I am fully aware that you support and will support it, as you do + everything else, with calmness and philosophy. But directly I resolved to + write on old age, you at once occurred to me as deserving a gift of which + both of us might take advantage. To myself, indeed, the composition of + this book has been so delightful, that it has not only wiped away all the + disagreeables of old age, but has even made it luxurious and delightful + too. Never, therefore, can philosophy be praised as highly as it deserves + considering that its faithful disciple is able to spend every period of + his life with unruffled feelings. However, on other subjects I have spoken + at large, and shall often speak again: this book which I herewith send you + is on Old Age. I have put the whole discourse not, as Alisto of Cos did, + in the mouth of Tithonus—for a mere fable would have lacked + conviction—but in that of Marcus Cato when he was an old man, to + give my essay greater weight. I represent Laelius and Scipio at his house + expressing surprise at his carrying his years so lightly, and Cato + answering them. If he shall seem to shew somewhat more learning in this + discourse than he generally did in his own books, put it down to the Greek + literature of which it is known that he became an eager student in his old + age. But what need of more? Cato's own words will at once explain all I + feel about old age. + </p> + <p> + M. Cato. Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (the younger). Gaius Laelius. + </p> + <p> + 2. <i>Scipio</i>. Many a time have I in conversation with my friend Gaius + Laelius here expressed my admiration, Marcus Cato, of the eminent, nay + perfect, wisdom displayed by you indeed at all points, but above + everything because I have noticed that old age never seemed a burden to + you, while to most old men it is so hateful that they declare themselves + under a weight heavier than Aetna. + </p> + <p> + <i>Cato</i>. Your admiration is easily excited, it seems, my dear Scipio + and Laelius. Men, of course, who have no resources in themselves for + securing a good and happy life find every age burdensome. But those who + look for all happiness from within can never think anything bad which + nature makes inevitable. In that category before anything else comes old + age, to which all wish to attain, and at which all grumble when attained. + Such is Folly's inconsistency and unreasonableness! They say that it is + stealing upon them faster than they expected. In the first place, who + compelled them to hug an illusion? For in what respect did old age steal + upon manhood faster than manhood upon childhood? In the next place, in + what way would old age have been less disagreeable to them if they were in + their eight-hundredth year than in their eightieth? For their past, + however long, when once it was past, would have no consolation for a + stupid old age. Wherefore, if it is your wont to admire my wisdom—and + I would that it were worthy of your good opinion and of my own surname of + Sapiens—it really consists in the fact that I follow Nature, the + best of guides, as I would a god, and am loyal to her commands. It is not + likely, if she has written the rest of the play well, that she has been + careless about the last act like some idle poet. But after all some "last" + was inevitable, just as to the berries of a tree and the fruits of the + earth there comes in the fulness of time a period of decay and fall. A + wise man will not make a grievance of this. To rebel against nature—is + not that to fight like the giants with the gods? + </p> + <p> + <i>Laelius</i>. And yet, Cato, you will do us a very great favour (I + venture to speak for Scipio as for myself) if—since we all hope, or + at least wish, to become old men—you would allow us to learn from + you in good time before it arrives, by what methods we may most easily + acquire the strength to support the burden of advancing age. + </p> + <p> + <i>Cato</i>. I will do so without doubt, Laelius, especially if, as you + say, it will be agreeable to you both. + </p> + <p> + <i>Laelius</i> We do wish very much, Cato, if it is no trouble to you, to + be allowed to see the nature of the bourne which you have reached after + completing a long journey, as it were, upon which we too are bound to + embark. + </p> + <p> + 3. <i>Cato</i>. I will do the best I can, Laelius. It has often been my + fortune to bear the complaints of my contemporaries—like will to + like, you know, according to the old proverb—complaints to which men + like C. Salinator and Sp. Albinus, who were of consular rank and about my + time, used to give vent. They were, first, that they had lost the + pleasures of the senses, without which they did not regard life as life at + all; and, secondly, that they were neglected by those from whom they had + been used to receive attentions. Such men appear to me to lay the blame on + the wrong thing. For if it had been the fault of old age, then these same + misfortunes would have befallen me and all other men of advanced years. + But I have known many of them who never said a word of complaint against + old age; for they were only too glad to be freed from the bondage of + passion, and were not at all looked down upon by their friends. The fact + is that the blame for all complaints of that kind is to be charged to + character, not to a particular time of life. For old men who are + reasonable and neither cross-grained nor churlish find old age tolerable + enough: whereas unreason and churlishness cause uneasiness at every time + of life. + </p> + <p> + <i>Laelius</i> It is as you say, Cato. But perhaps some one may suggest + that it is your large means, wealth, and high position that make you think + old age tolerable: whereas such good fortune only falls to few. + </p> + <p> + <i>Cato</i>. There is something in that, Laelius, but by no means all. For + instance, the story is told of the answer of Themistocles in a wrangle + with a certain Seriphian, who asserted that he owed his brilliant position + to the reputation of his country, not to his own. "If I had been a + Seriphian," said he, "even I should never have been famous, nor would you + if you had been an Athenian." Something like this may be said of old age. + For the philosopher himself could not find old age easy to bear in the + depths of poverty, nor the fool feel it anything but a burden though he + were a millionaire. You may be sure, my dear Scipio and Laelius, that the + arms best adapted to old age are culture and the active exercise of the + virtues. For if they have been maintained at every period—if one has + lived much as well as long—the harvest they produce is wonderful, + not only because they never fail us even in our last days (though that in + itself is supremely important), but also because the consciousness of a + well-spent life and the recollection of many virtuous actions are + exceedingly delightful. + </p> + <p> + 4. Take the case of Q. Fabius Maximus, the man, I mean, who recovered + Tarentum. When I was a young man and he an old one, I was as much attached + to him as if he had been my contemporary. For that great man's serious + dignity was tempered by courteous manners, nor had old age made any change + in his character. True, he was not exactly an old man when my devotion to + him began, yet he was nevertheless well on in life; for his first + consulship fell in the year after my birth. When quite a stripling I went + with him in his fourth consulship as a soldier in the ranks, on the + expedition against Capua, and in the fifth year after that against + Tarentum. Four years after that I was elected Quaestor, holding office in + the consulship of Tuditanus and Cethegus, in which year, indeed, he as a + very old man spoke in favour of the Cincian law "on gifts and fees." + </p> + <p> + Now this man conducted wars with all the spirit of youth when he was far + advanced in life, and by his persistence gradually wearied out Hannibal, + when rioting in all the confidence of youth. How brilliant are those lines + of my friend Ennius on him! + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + For us, down beaten by the storms of fate, + One man by wise delays restored the State. + Praise or dispraise moved not his constant mood, + True to his purpose, to his country's good! + Down ever-lengthening avenues of fame + Thus shines and shall shine still his glorious name. +</pre> + <p> + Again what vigilance, what profound skill did he show in the capture of + Tarentum! It was indeed in my hearing that he made the famous retort to + Salinator, who had retreated into the citadel after losing the town: "It + was owing to me, Quintus Fabius, that you retook Tarentum." "Quite so," he + replied with a laugh; "for had you not lost it, I should never have + recovered it." Nor was he less eminent in civil life than in war. In his + second consulship, though his colleague would not move in the matter, he + resisted as long as he could the proposal of the tribune C. Flaminius to + divide the territory of the Picenians and Gauls in free allotments in + defiance of a resolution of the Senate. Again, though he was an augur, he + ventured to say that whatever was done in the interests of the State was + done with the best possible auspices, that any laws proposed against its + interest were proposed against the auspices. I was cognisant of much that + was admirable in that great man, but nothing struck me with greater + astonishment than the way in which he bore the death of his son—a + man of brilliant character and who had been consul. His funeral speech + over him is in wide circulation, and when we read it, is there any + philosopher of whom we do not think meanly? Nor in truth was he only great + in the light of day and in the sight of his fellow-citizens; he was still + more eminent in private and at home. What a wealth of conversation! What + weighty maxims! What a wide acquaintance with ancient history! What an + accurate knowledge of the science of augury! For a Roman, too, he had a + great tincture of letters. He had a tenacious memory for military history + of every sort, whether of Roman or foreign wars. And I used at that time + to enjoy his conversation with a passionate eagerness, as though I already + divined, what actually turned out to be the case, that when he died there + would be no one to teach me anything. + </p> + <p> + 5. What then is the purpose of such a long disquisition on Maximus? It is + because you now see that an old age like his cannot conscientiously be + called unhappy. Yet it is after all true that everybody cannot be a Scipio + or a Maximus, with stormings of cities, with battles by land and sea, with + wars in which they themselves commanded, and with triumphs to recall. + Besides this there is a quiet, pure, and cultivated life which produces a + calm and gentle old age, such as we have been told Plato's was, who died + at his writing-desk in his eighty-first year; or like that of Isocrates, + who says that he wrote the book called The Panegyric in his ninety-fourth + year, and who lived for five years afterwards; while his master Gorgias of + Leontini completed a hundred and seven years without ever relaxing his + diligence or giving up work. When some one asked him why he consented to + remain so long alive—"I have no fault," said he, "to find with old + age." That was a noble answer, and worthy of a scholar. For fools impute + their own frailties and guilt to old age, contrary to the practice of + Ennui, whom I mentioned just now. In the lines— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Like some brave steed that oft before + The Olympic wreath of victory bore, + Now by the weight of years oppressed, + Forgets the race, and takes his rest— +</pre> + <p> + he compares his own old age to that of a high-spirited and successful + race-horse. And him indeed you may very well remember. For the present + consuls Titus Flamininus and Manius Acilius were elected in the nineteenth + year after his death; and his death occurred in the consulship of Caepio + and Philippus, the latter consul for the second time: in which year I, + then sixty-six years old, spoke in favour of the Voconian law in a voice + that was still strong and with lungs still sound; while be, though seventy + years old, supported two burdens considered the heaviest of all—poverty + and old age—in such a way as to be all but fond of them. + </p> + <p> + The fact is that when I come to think it over, I find that there are four + reasons for old age being thought unhappy: First, that it withdraws us + from active employments; second, that it enfeebles the body; third, that + it deprives us of nearly all physical pleasures; fourth, that it is the + next step to death. Of each of these reasons, if you will allow me, let us + examine the force and justice separately. + </p> + <p> + 6. OLD AGE WITHDRAWS US FROM ACTIVE EMPLOYMENTS. From which of them? Do + you mean from those carried on by youth and bodily strength? Are there + then no old men's employments to be after all conducted by the intellect, + even when bodies are weak? So then Q. Maximus did nothing; nor L. Aemilius—our + father, Scipio, and my excellent son's father-in-law! So with other old + men—the Fabricii, the Guru and Coruncanii—when they were + supporting the State by their advice and influence, they were doing + nothing! To old age Appius Claudius had the additional disadvantage of + being blind; yet it was he who, when the Senate was inclining towards a + peace with Pyrrhus and was for making a treaty, did not hesitate to say + what Ennius has embalmed in the verses: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Whither have swerved the souls so firm of yore? + Is sense grown senseless? Can feet stand no more? +</pre> + <p> + And so on in a tone of the most passionate vehemence. You know the poem, + and the speech of Appius himself is extant. Now, he delivered it seventeen + years after his second consulship, there having been an interval of ten + years between the two consulships, and he having been censor before his + previous consulship. This will show you that at the time of the war with + Pyrrhus he was a very old man. Yet this is the story handed down to us. + </p> + <p> + There is therefore nothing in the arguments of those who say that old age + takes no part in public business. They are like men who would say that a + steersman does nothing in sailing a ship, because, while some of the crew + are climbing the masts, others hurrying up and down the gangways, others + pumping out the bilge water, he sits quietly in the stern holding the + tiller. He does not do what young men do; nevertheless he does what is + much more important and better. The great affairs of life are not + performed by physical strength, or activity, or nimbleness of body, but by + deliberation, character, expression of opinion. Of these old age is not + only not deprived, but, as a rule, has them in a greater degree. Unless by + any chance I, who as a soldier in the ranks, as military tribune, as + legate, and as consul have been employed in various kinds of war, now + appear to you to be idle because not actively engaged in war. But I enjoin + upon the Senate what is to be done, and how. Carthage has long been + harbouring evil designs, and I accordingly proclaim war against her in + good time. I shall never cease to entertain fears about her till I hear of + her having been levelled with the ground. The glory of doing that I pray + that the immortal gods may reserve for you, Scipio, so that you may + complete the task begun by your grand-father, now dead more than + thirty-two years ago; though all years to come will keep that great man's + memory green. He died in the year before my censorship, nine years after + my consulship, having been returned consul for the second time in my own + consulship. If then he had lived to his hundredth year, would he have + regretted having lived to be old? For he would of course not have been + practising rapid marches, nor dashing on a foe, nor hurling spears from a + distance, nor using swords at close quarters—but only counsel, + reason, and senatorial eloquence. And if those qualities had not resided + in us <i>seniors</i>, our ancestors would never have called their supreme + council a Senate. At Sparta, indeed, those who hold the highest + magistracies are in accordance with the fact actually called "elders." But + if you will take the trouble to read or listen to foreign history, you + will find that the mightiest States have been brought into peril by young + men, have been supported and restored by old. The question occurs in the + poet Naevius's <i>Sport</i>: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Pray, who are those who brought your State + With such despatch to meet its fate? +</pre> + <p> + There is a long answer, but this is the chief point: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + A crop of brand-new orators we grew, + And foolish, paltry lads who thought they knew. +</pre> + <p> + For of course rashness is the note of youth, prudence of old age. + </p> + <p> + 7. But, it is said, memory dwindles. No doubt, unless you keep it in + practice, or if you happen to be somewhat dull by nature. Themistocles had + the names of all his fellow-citizens by heart. Do you imagine that in his + old age he used to address Aristides as Lysimachus? For my part, I know + not only the present generation, but their fathers also, and their + grandfathers. Nor have I any fear of losing my memory by reading + tombstones, according to the vulgar superstition. On the contrary, by + reading them I renew my memory of those who are dead and gone. Nor, in + point of fact, have I ever heard of any old man forgetting where he had + hidden his money. They remember everything that interests them: when to + answer to their bail, business appointments, who owes them money, and to + whom they owe it. What about lawyers, pontiffs, augurs, philosophers, when + old? What a multitude of things they remember! Old men retain their + intellects well enough, if only they keep their minds active and fully + employed. Nor is that the case only with men of high position and great + office: it applies equally to private life and peaceful pursuits. + Sophocles composed tragedies to extreme old age; and being believed to + neglect the care of his property owing to his devotion to his art, his + sons brought him into court to get a judicial decision depriving him of + the management of his property on the ground of weak intellect—just + as in our law it is customary to deprive a paterfamilias of the management + of his property if he is squandering it. There—upon the old poet is + said to have read to the judges the play he had on hand and had just + composed—the <i>Oedipus Coloneus</i>—and to have asked them + whether they thought that the work of a man of weak intellect. After the + reading he was acquitted by the jury. Did old age then compel this man to + become silent in his particular art, or Homer, Hesiod, Simonides, or + Isocrates and Gorgias whom I mentioned before, or the founders of schools + of philosophy, Pythagoras, Democritus, Plato, Xenocrates, or later Zeno + and Cleanthus, or Diogenes the Stoic, whom you too saw at Rome? Is it not + rather the case with all these that the active pursuit of study only ended + with life? + </p> + <p> + But, to pass over these sublime studies, I can name some rustic Romans + from the Sabine district, neighbours and friends of my own, without whose + presence farm work of importance is scarcely ever performed—whether + sowing, or harvesting or storing crops. And yet in other things this is + less surprising; for no one is so old as to think that he may not live a + year. But they bestow their labour on what they know does not affect them + in any case: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + He plants his trees to serve a race to come, +</pre> + <p> + as our poet Statius says in his Comrades. Nor indeed would a farmer, + however old, hesitate to answer any one who asked him for whom he was + planting: "For the immortal gods, whose will it was that I should not + merely receive these things from my ancestors, but should also hand them + on to the next generation." + </p> + <p> + 8. That remark about the old man is better than the following: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + If age brought nothing worse than this, + It were enough to mar our bliss, + That he who bides for many years + Sees much to shun and much for tears. +</pre> + <p> + Yes, and perhaps much that gives him pleasure too. Besides, as to subjects + for tears, he often comes upon them in youth as well. + </p> + <p> + A still more questionable sentiment in the same Caecilius is: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + No greater misery can of age be told + Than this: be sure, the young dislike the old. +</pre> + <p> + Delight in them is nearer the mark than dislike. For just as old men, if + they are wise, take pleasure in the society of young men of good parts, + and as old age is rendered less dreary for those who are courted and liked + by the youth, so also do young men find pleasure in the maxims of the old, + by which they are drawn to the pursuit of excellence. Nor do I perceive + that you find my society less pleasant than I do yours. But this is enough + to show you how, so far from being listless and sluggish, old age is even + a busy time, always doing and attempting something, of course of the same + nature as each man's taste had been in the previous part of his life. Nay, + do not some even add to their stock of learning? We see Solon, for + instance, boasting in his poems that he grows old "daily learning + something new." Or again in my own case, it was only when an old man that + I became acquainted with Greek literature, which in fact I absorbed with + such avidity—in my yearning to quench, as it were, a long-continued + thirst—that I became acquainted with the very facts which you see me + now using as precedents. When I heard what Socrates had done about the + lyre I should have liked for my part to have done that too, for the + ancients used to learn the lyre but, at any rate, I worked hard at + literature. + </p> + <p> + 9. Nor, again, do I now MISS THE BODILY STRENGTH OF A YOUNG MAN (for that + was the second point as to the disadvantages of old age) any more than as + a young man I missed the strength of a bull or an elephant. You should use + what you have, and whatever you may chance to be doing, do it with all + your might. What could be weaker than Milo of Croton's exclamation? When + in his old age he was watching some athletes practising in the course, he + is said to have looked at his arms and to have exclaimed with tears in his + eyes: "Ah well! these are now as good as dead." Not a bit more so than + yourself, you trifler! For at no time were you made famous by your real + self, but by chest and biceps. Sext. Aelius never gave vent to such a + remark, nor, many years before him, Titus Coruncanius, nor, more recently, + P. Crassus—all of them learned juris-consults in active practice, + whose knowledge of their profession was maintained to their last breath. I + am afraid an orator does lose vigour by old age, for his art is not a + matter of the intellect alone, but of lungs and bodily strength. Though as + a rule that musical ring in the voice even gains in brilliance in a + certain way as one grows old—certainly I have not yet lost it, and + you see my years. Yet after all the style of speech suitable to an old man + is the quiet and unemotional, and it often happens that the chastened and + calm delivery of an old man eloquent secures a hearing. If you cannot + attain to that yourself, you might still instruct a Scipio and a Laelius. + For what is more charming than old age surrounded by the enthusiasm of + youth? Shall we not allow old age even the strength to teach the young, to + train and equip them for all the duties of life? And what can be a nobler + employment? For my part, I used to think Publius and Gnaeus Scipio and + your two grandfathers, L. Aemilius and P. Africanus, fortunate men when I + saw them with a company of young nobles about them. Nor should we think + any teachers of the fine arts otherwise than happy, however much their + bodily forces may have decayed and failed. And yet that same failure of + the bodily forces is more often brought about by the vices of youth than + of old age; for a dissolute and intemperate youth hands down the body to + old age in a worn-out state. Xenophon's Cyrus, for instance, in his + discourse delivered on his death-bed and at a very advanced age, says that + he never perceived his old age to have become weaker than his youth had + been. I remember as a boy Lucius Metellus, who having been created + Pontifex Maximus four years after his second consulship, held that office + twenty-two years, enjoying such excellent strength of body in the very + last hours of his life as not to miss his youth. I need not speak of + myself; though that indeed is an old man's way and is generally allowed to + my time of life. Don't you see in Homer how frequently Nestor talks of his + own good qualities? For he was living through a third generation; nor had + he any reason to fear that upon saying what was true about himself he + should appear either over vain or talkative. For, as Homer says, "from his + lips flowed discourse sweeter than honey," for which sweet breath he + wanted no bodily strength. And yet, after all, the famous leader of the + Greeks nowhere wishes to have ten men like Ajax, but like Nestor: if he + could get them, he feels no doubt of Troy shortly falling. + </p> + <p> + 10. But to return to my own case: I am in my eighty-fourth year. I could + wish that I had been able to make the same boast as Cyrus; but, after all, + I can say this: I am not indeed as vigorous as I was as a private soldier + in the Punic war, or as quaestor in the same war, or as consul in Spain, + and four years later when as a military tribune I took part in the + engagement at Thermopylae under the consul Manius Acilius Glabrio; but + yet, as you see, old age has not entirely destroyed my muscles, has not + quite brought me to the ground. The Senate-house does not find all my + vigour gone, nor the rostra, nor my friends, nor my clients, nor my + foreign guests. For I have never given in to that ancient and much-praised + proverb: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Old when young + Is old for long. +</pre> + <p> + For myself, I had rather be an old man a somewhat shorter time than an old + man <i>before</i> my time. Accordingly, no one up to the present has + wished to see me, to whom I have been denied as engaged. But, it may be + said, I have less strength than either of you. Neither have you the + strength of the centurion T. Pontius: is he the more eminent man on that + account? Let there be only a proper husbanding of strength, and let each + man proportion his efforts to his powers. Such an one will assuredly not + be possessed with any great regret for his loss of strength. At Olympia + Milo is said to have stepped into the course carrying a live ox on his + shoulders. Which then of the two would you prefer to have given to you—bodily + strength like that, or intellectual strength like that of Pythagoras? In + fine, enjoy that blessing when you have it; when it is gone, don't wish it + back—unless we are to think that young men should wish their + childhood back, and those somewhat older their youth! The course of life + is fixed, and nature admits of its being run but in one way, and only + once; and to each part of our life there is something specially + seasonable; so that the feebleness of children, as well as the high spirit + of youth, the soberness of maturer years, and the ripe wisdom of old age—all + have a certain natural advantage which should be secured in its proper + season. I think you are informed, Scipio, what your grandfather's foreign + friend Masinissa does to this day, though ninety years old. When he has + once begun a journey on foot he does not mount his horse at all; when on + horseback he never gets off his horse. By no rain or cold can he be + induced to cover his head. His body is absolutely free from unhealthy + humours, and so he still performs all the duties and functions of a king. + Active exercise, therefore, and temperance can preserve some part of one's + former strength even in old age. + </p> + <p> + 11. Bodily strength is wanting to old age; but neither is bodily strength + demanded from old men. Therefore, both by law and custom, men of my time + of life are exempt from those duties which cannot be supported without + bodily strength. Accordingly not only are we not forced to do what we + cannot do; we are not even obliged to do as much as we can. But, it will + be said, many old men are so feeble that they cannot perform any duty in + life of any sort or kind. That is not a weakness to be set down as + peculiar to old age: it is one shared by ill health. How feeble was the + son of P. Africanus, who adopted you! What weak health he had, or rather + no health at all! If that had not been the case, we should have had in him + a second brilliant light in the political horizon; for he had added a + wider cultivation to his father's greatness of spirit. What wonder, then, + that old men are eventually feeble, when even young men cannot escape it? + My dear Laelius and Scipio, we must stand up against old age and make up + for its drawbacks by taking pains. We must fight it as we should an + illness. We must look after our health, use moderate exercise, take just + enough food and drink to recruit, but not to overload, our strength. Nor + is it the body alone that must be supported, but the intellect and soul + much more. For they are like lamps: unless you feed them with oil, they + too go out from old age. Again, the body is apt to get gross from + exercise; but the intellect becomes nimbler by exercising itself. For what + Caecilius means by "old dotards of the comic stage" are the credulous, the + forgetful, and the slipshod. These are faults that do not attach to old + age as such, but to a sluggish, spiritless, and sleepy old age. Young men + are more frequently wanton and dissolute than old men; but yet, as it is + not all young men that are so, but the bad set among them, even so senile + folly—usually called imbecility—applies to old men of unsound + character, not to all. Appius governed four sturdy sons, five daughters, + that great establishment, and all those clients, though he was both old + and blind. For he kept his mind at full stretch like a bow, and never gave + in to old age by growing slack. He maintained not merely an influence, but + an absolute command over his family: his slaves feared him, his sons were + in awe of him, all loved him. In that family, indeed, ancestral custom and + discipline were in full vigour. The fact is that old age is respectable + just as long as it asserts itself, maintains its proper rights, and is not + enslaved to any one. For as I admire a young man who has something of the + old man in him, so do I an old one who has something of a young man. The + man who aims at this may possibly become old in body—in mind he + never will. I am now engaged in composing the seventh book of my <i>Origins</i>. + I collect all the records of antiquity. The speeches delivered in all the + celebrated cases which I have defended I am at this particular time + getting into shape for publication. I am writing treatises on augural, + pontifical, and civil law. I am, besides, studying hard at Greek, and + after the manner of the Pythagoreans—to keep my memory in working + order—I repeat in the evening whatever I have said, heard, or done + in the course of each day. These are the exercises of the intellect, these + the training grounds of the mind: while I sweat and labour on these I + don't much feel the loss of bodily strength. I appear in court for my + friends; I frequently attend the Senate and bring motions before it on my + own responsibility, prepared after deep and long reflection. And these I + support by my intellectual, not my bodily forces. And if I were not strong + enough to do these things, yet I should enjoy my sofa—imagining the + very operations which I was now unable to perform. But what makes me + capable of doing this is my past life. For a man who is always living in + the midst of these studies and labours does not perceive when old age + creeps upon him. Thus, by slow and imperceptible degrees life draws to its + end. There is no sudden breakage; it just slowly goes out. + </p> + <p> + 12. The third charge against old age is that it LACKS SENSUAL PLEASURES. + What a splendid service does old age render, if it takes from us the + greatest blot of youth! Listen, my dear young friends, to a speech of + Archytas of Tarentum, among the greatest and most illustrious of men, + which was put into my hands when as a young man I was at Tarentum with Q. + Maximus. "No more deadly curse than sensual pleasure has been inflicted on + mankind by nature, to gratify which our wanton appetites are roused beyond + all prudence or restraint. It is a fruitful source of treasons, + revolutions, secret communications with the enemy. In fact, there is no + crime, no evil deed, to which the appetite for sensual pleasures does not + impel us. Fornications and adulteries, and every abomination of that kind, + are brought about by the enticements of pleasure and by them alone. + Intellect is the best gift of nature or God: to this divine gift and + endowment there is nothing so inimical as pleasure. For when appetite is + our master, there is no place for self-control; nor where pleasure reigns + supreme can virtue hold its ground. To see this more vividly, imagine a + man excited to the highest conceivable pitch of sensual pleasure. It can + be doubtful to no one that such a person, so long as he is under the + influence of such excitation of the senses, will be unable to use to any + purpose either intellect, reason, or thought. Therefore nothing can be so + execrable and so fatal as pleasure; since, when more than ordinarily + violent and lasting, it darkens all the light of the soul." + </p> + <p> + These were the words addressed by Archytas to the Samnite Caius Pontius, + father of the man by whom the consuls Spurius Postumius and Titus Veturius + were beaten in the battle of Caudium. My friend Nearchus of Tarentum, who + had remained loyal to Rome, told me that he had heard them repeated by + some old men; and that Plato the Athenian was present, who visited + Tarentum, I find, in the consulship of L. Camillus and Appius Claudius. + </p> + <p> + What is the point of all this? It is to show you that, if we were unable + to scorn pleasure by the aid of reason and philosophy, we ought to have + been very grateful to old age for depriving us of all inclination for that + which it was wrong to do. For pleasure hinders thought, is a foe to + reason, and, so to speak, blinds the eyes of the mind. It is, moreover, + entirely alien to virtue. I was sorry to have to expel Lucius, brother of + the gallant Titus Flamininus, from the Senate seven years after his + consulship; but I thought it imperative to affix a stigma on an act of + gross sensuality. For when he was in Gaul as consul, he had yielded to the + entreaties of his paramour at a dinner-party to behead a man who happened + to be in prison condemned on a capital charge. When his brother Titus was + Censor, who preceded me, he escaped; but I and Flaccus could not + countenance an act of such criminal and abandoned lust, especially as, + besides the personal dishonour, it brought disgrace on the Government. + </p> + <p> + 13. I have often been told by men older than myself, who said that they + had heard it as boys from old men, that Gaius Fabricius was in the habit + of expressing astonishment at having heard, when envoy at the headquarters + of king Pyrrhus, from the Thessalian Cineas, that there was a man of + Athens who professed to be a "philosopher," and affirmed that everything + we did was to be referred to pleasure. When he told this to Manius Curius + and Publius Decius, they used to remark that they wished that the Samnites + and Pyrrhus himself would hold the same opinion. It would be much easier + to conquer them, if they had once given themselves over to sensual + indulgences. Manius Curius had been intimate with P. Decius, who four + years before the former's consulship had devoted himself to death for the + Republic. Both Fabricius and Coruncanius knew him also, and from the + experience of their own lives, as well as from the action of P. Decius, + they were of opinion that there did exist something intrinsically noble + and great, which was sought for its own sake, and at which all the best + men aimed, to the contempt and neglect of pleasure. Why then do I spend so + many words on the subject of pleasure? Why, because, far from being a + charge against old age, that it does not much feel the want of any + pleasures, it is its highest praise. + </p> + <p> + But, you will say, it is deprived of the pleasures of the table, the + heaped up board, the rapid passing of the wine-cup. Well, then, it is also + free from headache, disordered digestion, broken sleep. But if we must + grant pleasure something, since we do not find it easy to resist its + charms,—for Plato, with happy inspiration, calls pleasure "vice's + bait," because of course men are caught by it as fish by a hook,—yet, + although old age has to abstain from extravagant banquets, it is still + capable of enjoying modest festivities. As a boy I often used to see Gaius + Duilius the son of Marcus, then an old man, returning from a + dinner-party. He thoroughly enjoyed the frequent use of torch and + flute-player, distinctions which he had assumed though unprecedented in + the case of a private person. It was the privilege of his glory. But why + mention others? I will come back to my own case. To begin with, I have + always remained a member of a "club"—clubs, you know, were + established in my quaestorship on the reception of the Magna Mater from + Ida. So I used to dine at their feast with the members of my club—on + the whole with moderation, though there was a certain warmth of + temperament natural to my time of life; but as that advances there is a + daily decrease of all excitement. Nor was I, in fact, ever wont to measure + my enjoyment even of these banquets by the physical pleasures they gave + more than by the gathering and conversation of friends. For it was a good + idea of our ancestors to style the presence of guests at a dinner-table—seeing + that it implied a community of enjoyment—a <i>convivium</i>, "a + living together." It is a better term than the Greek words which mean "a + drinking together," or, "an eating together." For they would seem to give + the preference to what is really the least important part of it. + </p> + <p> + 14. For myself, owing to the pleasure I take in conversation, I enjoy even + banquets that begin early in the afternoon, and not only in company with + my contemporaries—of whom very few survive—but also with men + of your age and with yourselves. I am thankful to old age, which has + increased my avidity for conversation, while it has removed that for + eating and drinking. But if anyone does enjoy these—not to seem to + have proclaimed war against all pleasure without exception, which is + perhaps a feeling inspired by nature—I fail to perceive even in + these very pleasures that old age is entirely without the power of + appreciation. For myself, I take delight even in the old-fashioned + appointment of master of the feast; and in the arrangement of the + conversation, which according to ancestral custom is begun from the last + place on the left-hand couch when the wine is brought in; as also in the + cups which, as in Xenophon's banquet, are small and filled by driblets; + and in the contrivance for cooling in summer, and for warming by the + winter sun or winter fire. These things I keep up even among my Sabine + countrymen, and every day have a full dinner-party of neighbours, which we + prolong as far into the night as we can with varied conversation. + </p> + <p> + But you may urge—there is not the same tingling sensation of + pleasure in old men. No doubt; but neither do they miss it so much. For + nothing gives you uneasiness which you do not miss. That was a fine answer + of Sophocles to a man who asked him, when in extreme old age, whether he + was still a lover. "Heaven forbid!" he replied; "I was only too glad to + escape from that, as though from a boorish and insane master." To men + indeed who are keen after such things it may possibly appear disagreeable + and uncomfortable to be without them; but to jaded appetites it is + pleasanter to lack than to enjoy. However, he cannot be said to lack who + does not want: my contention is that not to want is the pleasanter thing. + </p> + <p> + But even granting that youth enjoys these pleasures with more zest; in the + first place, they are insignificant things to enjoy, as I have said; and + in the second place, such as age is not entirely without, if it does not + possess them in profusion. Just as a man gets greater pleasure from + Ambivius Turpio if seated in the front row at the theatre than if he was + in the last, yet, after all, the man in the last row does get pleasure; so + youth, because it looks at pleasures at closer quarters, perhaps enjoys + itself more, yet even old age, looking at them from a distance, does enjoy + itself well enough. Why, what blessings are these—that the soul, + having served its time, so to speak, in the campaigns of desire and + ambition, rivalry and hatred, and all the passions, should live in its own + thoughts, and, as the expression goes, should dwell apart! Indeed, if it + has in store any of what I may call the food of study and philosophy, + nothing can be pleasanter than an old age of leisure. We were witnesses to + C. Gallus—a friend of your father's, Scipio—intent to the day + of his death on mapping out the sky and land. How often did the light + surprise him while still working out a problem begun during the night! How + often did night find him busy on what he had begun at dawn! How he + delighted in predicting for us solar and lunar eclipses long before they + occurred! Or again in studies of a lighter nature, though still requiring + keenness of intellect, what pleasure Naevius took in his <i>Punic War</i>! + Plautus in his <i>Truculentus</i> and <i>Pseudolus</i>! I even saw Livius + Andronicus, who, having produced a play six years before I was born—in + the consulship of Cento and Tuditanus—lived till I had become a + young man. Why speak of Publius Licinius Crassus's devotion to pontifical + and civil law, or of the Publius Scipio of the present time, who within + these last few days has been created Pontifex Maximus? And yet I have seen + all whom I have mentioned ardent in these pursuits when old men. Then + there is Marcus Cethegus, whom Ennius justly called "Persuasion's Marrow"—with + what enthusiasm did we see him exert himself in oratory even when quite + old! What pleasures are there in feasts, games, or mistresses comparable + to pleasures such as these? And they are all tastes, too, connected with + learning, which in men of sense and good education grow with their growth. + It is indeed an honourable sentiment which Solon expresses in a verse + which I have quoted before—that he grew old learning many a fresh + lesson every day. Than that intellectual pleasure none certainly can be + greater. + </p> + <p> + 15. I come now to the pleasures of the farmer, in which I take amazing + delight. These are not hindered by any extent of old age, and seem to me + to approach nearest to the ideal wise man's life. For he has to deal with + the earth, which never refuses its obedience, nor ever returns what it has + received without usury; sometimes, indeed, with less, but generally with + greater interest. For my part, however, it is not merely the thing + produced, but the earth's own force and natural productiveness that + delight me. For received in its bosom the seed scattered broadcast upon + it, softened and broken up, she first keeps it concealed therein (hence + the harrowing which accomplishes this gets its name from a word meaning + "to hide"); next, when it has been warmed by her heat and close pressure, + she splits it open and draws from it the greenery of the blade. This, + supported by the fibres of the root, little by little grows up, and held + upright by its jointed stalk is enclosed in sheaths, as being still + immature. When it has emerged from them it produces an ear of corn + arranged in order, and is defended against the pecking of the smaller + birds by a regular palisade of spikes. + </p> + <p> + Need I mention the starting, planting, and growth of vines? I can never + have too much of this pleasure—to let you into the secret of what + gives my old age repose and amusement. For I say nothing here of the + natural force which all things propagated from the earth possess—the + earth which from that tiny grain in a fig, or the grape-stone in a grape, + or the most minute seeds of the other cereals and plants, produces such + huge trunks and boughs. Mallet-shoots, slips, cuttings, quicksets, layers—are + they not enough to fill anyone with delight and astonishment? The vine by + nature is apt to fall, and unless supported drops down to the earth; yet + in order to keep itself upright it embraces whatever it reaches with its + tendrils as though they were hands. Then as it creeps on, spreading itself + in intricate and wild profusion, the dresser's art prunes it with the + knife and prevents it growing a forest of shoots and expanding to excess + in every direction. Accordingly at the beginning of spring in the shoots + which have been left there protrudes at each of the joints what is termed + an eye. From this the grape emerges and shows itself; which, swollen by the + juice of the earth and the heat of the sun, is at first very bitter to the + taste, but afterwards grows sweet as it matures; and being covered with + tendrils is never without a moderate warmth, and yet is able to ward off + the fiery heat of the sun. Can anything be richer in product or more + beautiful to contemplate? It is not its utility only, as I said before, + that charms me, but the method of its cultivation and the natural process + of its growth: the rows of uprights, the cross-pieces for the tops of the + plants, the tying up of the vines and their propagation by layers, the + pruning, to which I have already referred, of some shoots, the setting of + others. I need hardly mention irrigation, or trenching and digging the + soil, which much increase its fertility. As to the advantages of manuring + I have spoken in my book on agriculture. The learned Hesiod did not say a + single word on this subject, though he was writing on the cultivation of + the soil; yet Homer, who in my opinion was many generations earlier, + represents Laertes as softening his regret for his son by cultivating and + manuring his farm. Nor is it only in cornfields and meadows and vineyards + and plantations that a farmer's life is made cheerful. There are the + garden and the orchard, the feeding of sheep, the swarms of bees, endless + varieties of flowers. Nor is it only planting out that charms: there is + also grafting—surely the most ingenious invention ever made by + husbandmen. + </p> + <p> + 16. I might continue my list of the delights of country life; but even + what I have said I think is somewhat over long. However, you must pardon + me; for farming is a very favourite hobby of mine, and old age is + naturally rather garrulous—for I would not be thought to acquit it + of all faults. + </p> + <p> + Well, it was in a life of this sort that Manius Curius, after celebrating + triumphs over the Samnites, the Sabines, and Pyrrhus, spent his last days. + When I look at his villa—for it is not far from my own—I never + can enough admire the man's own frugality or the spirit of the age. As + Curius was sitting at his hearth the Samnites, who brought him a large sum + of gold, were repulsed by him; for it was not, he said, a fine thing in + his eyes to possess gold, but to rule those who possessed it. Could such a + high spirit fail to make old age pleasant? + </p> + <p> + But to return to farmers—not to wander from my own metier. In those + days there were senators, <i>i. e</i>. old men, on their farms. For L. + Quinctius Cincinnatus was actually at the plough when word was brought him + that he had been named Dictator. It was by his order as Dictator, by the + way, that C. Servilius Ahala, the Master of the Horse, seized and put to + death Spurius Maelius when attempting to obtain royal power. Curius as + well as other old men used to receive their summonses to attend the Senate + in their farm-houses, from which circumstance the summoners were called <i>viatores</i> + or "travellers." Was these men's old age an object of pity who found their + pleasure in the cultivation of the land? In my opinion, scarcely any life + can be more blessed, not alone from its utility (for agriculture is + beneficial to the whole human race), but also as much from the mere + pleasure of the thing, to which I have already alluded, and from the rich + abundance and supply of all things necessary for the food of man and for + the worship of the gods above. So, as these are objects of desire to + certain people, let us make our peace with pleasure. For the good and + hard-working farmer's wine-cellar and oil-store, as well as his larder, + are always well filled, and his whole farm-house is richly furnished. It + abounds in pigs, goats, lambs, fowls, milk, cheese, and honey. Then there + is the garden, which the farmers themselves call their "second flitch." A + zest and flavour is added to all these by hunting and fowling in spare + hours. Need I mention the greenery of meadows, the rows of trees, the + beauty of vineyard and olive-grove? I will put it briefly: nothing can + either furnish necessaries more richly, or present a fairer spectacle, + than well-cultivated land. And to the enjoyment of that, old age does not + merely present no hindrance—it actually invites and allures to it. + For where else can it better warm itself, either by basking in the sun or + by sitting by the fire, or at the proper time cool itself more wholesomely + by the help of shade or water? Let the young keep their arms then to + themselves, their horses, spears, their foils and ball, their swimming + baths and running path. To us old men let them, out of the many forms of + sport, leave dice and counters; but even that as they choose, since old + age can be quite happy without them. + </p> + <p> + 17. Xenophon's books are very useful for many purposes. Pray go on reading + them with attention, as you have ever done. In what ample terms is + agriculture lauded by him in the book about husbanding one's property, + which is called <i>Oceonomicus</i>! But to show you that he thought + nothing so worthy of a prince as the taste for cultivating the soil, I + will translate what Socrates says to Critobulus in that book: + </p> + <p> + "When that most gallant Lacedaemonian Lysander came to visit the Persian + prince Cyrus at Sardis, so eminent for his character and the glory of his + rule, bringing him presents from his allies, he treated Lysander in all + ways with courteous familiarity and kindness, and, among other things, + took him to see a certain park carefully planted. Lysander expressed + admiration of the height of the trees and the exact arrangement of their + rows in the quincunx, the careful cultivation of the soil, its freedom + from weeds, and the sweetness of the odours exhaled from the flowers, and + went on to say that what he admired was not the industry only, but also + the skill of the man by whom this had been planned and laid out. Cyrus + replied: 'Well, it was I who planned the whole thing these rows are my + doing, the laying out is all mine; many of the trees were even planted by + own hand.' Then Lysander, looking at his purple robe, the brilliance of + his person, and his adornment Persian fashion with gold and many jewels, + said: 'People are quite right, Cyrus, to call you happy, since the + advantages of high fortune have been joined to an excellence like yours.'" + </p> + <p> + This kind of good fortune, then, it is in the power of old men to enjoy; + nor is age any bar to our maintaining pursuits of every other kind, and + especially of agriculture, to the very extreme verge of old age. For + instance, we have it on record that M. Valerius Corvus kept it up to his + hundredth year, living on his land and cultivating it after his active + career was over, though between his first and sixth consulships there was + an interval of six and forty years. So that he had an official career + lasting the number of years which our ancestors defined as coming between + birth and the beginning of old age. Moreover, that last period of his old + age was more blessed than that of his middle life, inasmuch as he had + greater influence and less labour. For the crowning grace of old age is + influence. + </p> + <p> + How great was that of L. Caecilius Metellus! How great that of Atilius + Calatinus, over whom the famous epitaph was placed, "Very many classes + agree in deeming this to have been the very first man of the nation"! The + line cut on his tomb is well known. It is natural, then, that a man should + have had influence, in whose praise the verdict of history is unanimous. + Again, in recent times, what a great man was Publius Crassus, Pontifex + Maximus, and his successor in the same office, M. Lepidus! I need scarcely + mention Paulus or Africanus, or, as I did before, Maximus. It was not only + their senatorial utterances that had weight: their least gesture had it + also. In fact, old age, especially when it has enjoyed honours, has an + influence worth all the pleasures of youth put together. + </p> + <p> + 18. But throughout my discourse remember that my panegyric applies to an + old age that has been established on foundations laid by youth. From which + may be deduced what I once said with universal applause, that it was a + wretched old age that had to defend itself by speech. Neither white hairs + nor wrinkles can at once claim influence in themselves: it is the + honourable conduct of earlier days that is rewarded by possessing + influence at the last. Even things generally regarded as trifling and + matters of course—being saluted, being courted, having way made for + one, people rising when one approaches, being escorted to and from the + forum, being referred to for advice—all these are marks of respect, + observed among us and in other States—always most sedulously where + the moral tone is highest. They say that Lysander the Spartan, whom I have + mentioned before, used to remark that Sparta was the most dignified home + for old age; for that nowhere was more respect paid to years, no-where was + old age held in higher honour. Nay, the story is told of how when a man of + advanced years came into the theatre at Athens when the games were going + on, no place was given him anywhere in that large assembly by his own + countrymen; but when he came near the Lacedaemonians, who as ambassadors + had a fixed place assigned to them, they rose as one man out of respect + for him, and gave the veteran a seat. When they were greeted with rounds + of applause from the whole audience, one of them remarked: + </p> + <p> + "The Athenians know what is right, but will not do it." There are many + excellent rules in our augural college, but among the best is one which + affects our subject—that precedence in speech goes by seniority; and + augurs who are older are preferred only to those who have held higher + office, but even to those who are actually in possession of imperium. What + then are the physical pleasures to be compared with the reward of + influence? Those who have employed it with distinction appear to me to + have played the drama of life to its end, and not to have broken down in + the last act like unpractised players. + </p> + <p> + But, it will be said, old men are fretful, fidgety, ill-tempered, and + disagreeable. If you come to that, they are also avaricious. But these are + faults of character, not of the time of life. And, after all, fretfulness + and the other faults I mentioned admit of some excuse—not, indeed, a + complete one, but one that may possibly pass muster: they think themselves + neglected, looked down upon, mocked, Besides with bodily weakness every + rub is a source of pain. Yet all these faults are softened both by good + character and good education. Illustrations of this may be found in real + life, as also on the stage in the case of the brothers in the <i>Adeiphi</i>. + What harshness in the one, what gracious manners in the other The fact is + that, just as it is not every wine, so it is not every life, that turns + sour from keeping, Serious gravity I approve of in old age, but, as in + other things, it must be within due limits: bitterness I can in no case + approve. What the object of senile avarice may be I cannot conceive. For + can there be anything more absurd than to seek more journey money, the + less there remains of the journey? + </p> + <p> + 19. There remains the fourth reason, which more than anything else appears + to torment men of my age and keep them in a flutter—THE NEARNESS OF + DEATH, which, it must be allowed, cannot be far from an old man. But what + a poor dotard must he be who has not learnt in the course of so long a + life that death is not a thing to be feared? Death, that is either to be + totally disregarded, if it entirely extinguishes the soul, or is even to + be desired, if it brings him where he is to exist forever. A third + alternative, at any rate, cannot possibly be discovered. Why then should I + be afraid if I am destined either not to be miserable after death or even + to be happy? After all, who is such a fool as to feel certain—however + young he may be—that he will be alive in the evening? Nay, that time + of life has many more chances of death than ours, Young men more easily + contract diseases; their illnesses are more serious; their treatment has + to be more severe. Accordingly, only a few arrive at old age. If that were + not so, life would be conducted better and more wisely; for it is in old + men that thought, reason, and prudence are to be found; and if there had + been no old men, States would never have existed at all. But I return to + the subject of the imminence of death. What sort of charge is this against + old age, when you see that it is shared by youth? I had reason in the case + of my excellent son—as you had, Scipio, in that of your brothers, + who were expected to attain the highest honours—to realise that + death is common to every time of life. Yes, you will say; but a young man + expects to live long; an old man cannot expect to do so. Well, he is a + fool to expect it. For what can be more foolish than to regard the + uncertain as certain, the false as true? "An old man has nothing even to + hope." Ah, but it is just there that he is in a better position than a + young man, since what the latter only hopes he has obtained. The one + wishes to live long; the other has lived long. + </p> + <p> + And yet, good heaven! what is "long" in a man's life? For grant the utmost + limit: let us expect an age like that of the King of the Tartessi. For + there was, as I find recorded, a certain Agathonius at Gades who reigned + eighty years and lived a hundred and twenty. But to my mind nothing seems + even long in which there is any "last," for when that arrives, then all + the past has slipped away—only that remains to which you have + attained by virtue and righteous actions. Hours indeed, and days and + months and years depart, nor does past time ever return, nor can the + future be known. Whatever time each is granted for life, with that he is + bound to be content. An actor, in order to earn approval, is not bound to + perform the play from beginning to end; let him only satisfy the audience + in whatever act he appears. Nor need a wise man go on to the concluding + "plaudite." For a short term of life is long enough for living well and + honourably. But if you go farther, you have no more right to grumble than + farmers do because the charm of the spring season is past and the summer + and autumn have come. For the word "spring" in a way suggests youth, and + points to the harvest to be: the other seasons are suited for the reaping + and storing of the crops. Now the harvest of old age is, as I have often + said, the memory and rich store of blessings laid up in easier life. + Again, all things that accord with nature are to be counted as good. But + what can be more in accordance with nature than for old men to die? A + thing, indeed, which also befalls young men, though nature revolts and + fights against it. Accordingly, the death of young men seems to me like + putting out a great fire with a deluge of water; but old men die like a + fire going out because it has burnt down of its own nature without + artificial means. Again, just as apples when unripe are torn from trees, + but when ripe and mellow drop down, so it is violence that takes life from + young men, ripeness from old. This ripeness is so delightful to me, that, + as I approach nearer to death, I seem as it were to be sighting land, and + to be coming to port at last after a long voyage. + </p> + <p> + 20. Again, there is no fixed borderline for old age, and you are making a + good and proper use of it as long as you can satisfy the call of duty and + disregard death. The result of this is, that old age is even more + confident and courageous than youth. That is the meaning of Solon's answer + to the tyrant Pisistratus. When the latter asked him what he relied upon + in opposing him with such boldness, he is said to have replied, "On my old + age." But that end of life is the best, when, without the intellect or + senses being impaired, Nature herself takes to pieces her own handiwork + which she also put together. Just as the builder of a ship or a house can + break them up more easily than any one else, so the nature that knit + together the human frame can also best unfasten it. Moreover, a thing + freshly glued together is always difficult to pull asunder; if old, this + is easily done. + </p> + <p> + The result is that the short time of life left to them is not to be + grasped at by old men with greedy eagerness, or abandoned without cause. + Pythagoras forbids us, without an order from our commander, that is God, + to desert life's fortress and outpost. Solon's epitaph, indeed, is that of + a wise man, in which he says that he does not wish his death to be + unaccompanied by the sorrow and lamentations of his friends. He wants, I + suppose, to be beloved by them. But I rather think Ennius says better: + </p> + <p> + None grace me with their tears, nor weeping loud Make sad my funeral + rites! + </p> + <p> + He holds that a death is not a subject for mourning when it is followed by + immortality. + </p> + <p> + Again, there may possibly be some sensation of dying and that only for a + short time, especially in the case of an old man: after death, indeed, + sensation is either what one would desire, or it disappears altogether. + But to disregard death is a lesson which must be studied from our youth + up; for unless that is learnt, no one can have a quiet mind. For die we + certainly must, and that too without being certain whether it may not be + this very day. As death, therefore, is hanging over our head every hour, + how can a man ever be unshaken in soul if he fears it? + </p> + <p> + But on this theme I don't think I need much enlarge: when I remember what + Lucius Brutus did, who was killed while defending his country; or the two + Decii, who spurred their horses to a gallop and met a voluntary death; or + M. Atilius Regulus, who left his home to confront a death of torture, + rather than break the word which he had pledged to the enemy; or the two + Scipios, who determined to block the Carthaginian advance even with their + own bodies; or your grandfather Lucius Paulus, who paid with his life for + the rashness of his colleague in the disgrace at Cannae; or M. Marcellus, + whose death not even the most bloodthirsty of enemies would allow to go + without the honour of burial. It is enough to recall that our legions (as + I have recorded in my <i>Origins</i>) have often marched with cheerful and + lofty spirit to ground from which they believed that they would never + return. That, therefore, which young men—not only uninstructed, but + absolutely ignorant—treat as of no account, shall men who are + neither young nor ignorant shrink from in terror? As a general truth, as + it seems to me, it is weariness of all pursuits that creates weariness of + life. There are certain pursuits adapted to childhood: do young men miss + them? There are others suited to early manhood: does that settled time of + life called "middle age" ask for them? There are others, again, suited to + that age, but not looked for in old age. There are, finally, some which + belong to Old age. Therefore, as the pursuits of the earlier ages have + their time for disappearing, so also have those of old age. And when that + takes place, a satiety of life brings on the ripe time for death. + </p> + <p> + 21. For I do not see why I should not venture to tell you my personal + opinion as to death, of which I seem to myself to have a clearer vision in + proportion as I am nearer to it. I believe, Scipio and Laelius, that your + fathers—those illustrious men and my dearest friends—are still + alive, and that too with a life which alone deserves the name. For as long + as we are imprisoned in this framework of the body, we perform a certain + function and laborious work assigned us by fate. The soul, in fact, is of + heavenly origin, forced down from its home in the highest, and, so to + speak, buried in earth, a place quite opposed to its divine nature and its + immortality. But I suppose the immortal gods to have sown souls broadcast + in human bodies, that there might be some to survey the world, and while + contemplating the order of the heavenly bodies to imitate it in the + unvarying regularity of their life. Nor is it only reason and arguments + that have brought me to this belief, but the great fame and authority of + the most distinguished philosophers. I used to be told that Pythagoras and + the Pythagoreans—almost natives of our country, who in old times had + been called the Italian school of philosophers—never doubted that we + had souls drafted from the universal Divine intelligence. I used besides + to have pointed out to me the discourse delivered by Socrates on the last + day of his life upon the immortality of the soul—Socrates who was + pronounced by the oracle at Delphi to be the wisest of men. I need say no + more. I have convinced myself, and I hold—in view of the rapid + movement of the soul, its vivid memory of the past and its prophetic + knowledge of the future, its many accomplishments, its vast range of + knowledge, its numerous discoveries —that a nature embracing such + varied gifts cannot itself be mortal. And since the soul is always in + motion and yet has no external source of motion, for it is self-moved, I + conclude that it will also have no end to its motion, because it is not + likely ever to abandon itself. Again, since the nature of the soul is not + composite, nor has in it any admixture that is not homogeneous and + similar, I conclude that it is indivisible, and, if indivisible, that it + cannot perish. It is again a strong proof of men knowing most things + before birth, that when mere children they grasp innumerable facts with + such speed as to show that they are not then taking them in for the first + time, but remembering and recalling them. This is roughly Plato's + argument. + </p> + <p> + 22. Once more in Xenophon we have the elder Cyrus on his deathbed speaking + as follows:— + </p> + <p> + "Do not suppose, my dearest sons, that when I have left you I shall be + nowhere and no one. Even when I was with you, you did not see my soul, but + knew that it was in this body of mine from what I did. Believe then that + it is still the same, even though you see it not. The honours paid to + illustrious men had not continued to exist after their death, had the + souls of these very men not done something to make us retain our + recollection of them beyond the ordinary time. For myself, I never could + be persuaded that souls while in mortal bodies were alive, and died + directly they left them; nor, in fact, that the soul only lost all + intelligence when it left the unintelligent body. I believe rather that + when, by being liberated from all corporeal admixture, it has begun to be + pure and undefiled, it is then that it becomes wise. And again, when man's + natural frame is resolved into its elements by death, it is clearly seen + whither each of the other elements departs: for they all go to the place + from which they came: but the soul alone is invisible alike when present + and when departing. Once more, you see that nothing is so like death as + sleep. And yet it is in sleepers that souls most clearly reveal their + divine nature; for they foresee many events when they are allowed to + escape and are left free. This shows what they are likely to be when they + have completely freed themselves from the fetters of the body. Wherefore, + if these things are so, obey me as a god. But if my soul is to perish with + my body, nevertheless do you from awe of the gods, who guard and govern + this fair universe, preserve my memory by the loyalty and piety of your + lives." + </p> + <p> + 23. Such are the words of the dying Cyrus. I will now, with your good + leave, look at home. No one, my dear Scipio, shall ever persuade me that + your father Paulus and your two grandfathers Paulus and Africanus, or the + father of Africanus, or his uncle, or many other illustrious men not + necessary to mention, would have attempted such lofty deeds as to be + remaindered by posterity, had they not seen in their minds that future + ages concerned them. Do you suppose—to take an old man's privilege + of a little self-praise—that I should have been likely to undertake + such heavy labours by day and night, at home and abroad, if I had been + destined to have the same limit to my glory as to my life? Had it not been + much better to pass an age of ease and repose without any labour or + exertion? But my soul, I know not how, refusing to be kept down, ever + fixed its eyes upon future ages, as though from a conviction that it would + begin to live only when it had left the body. But had it not been the case + that souls were immortal, it would not have been the souls of all the best + men that made the greatest efforts after an immortality of fame. + </p> + <p> + Again, is there not the fact that the wisest man ever dies with the + greatest cheerfulness, the most unwise with the least? Don't you think + that the soul which has the clearer and longer sight sees that it is + starting for better things, while the soul whose vision is dimmer does not + see it? For my part, I am transported with the desire to see your fathers, + who were the object of my reverence and affection. Nor is it only those + whom I knew that I long to see; it is those also of whom I have been told + and have read, whom I have myself recorded in my history. When I am + setting out for that, there is certainly no one who will find it easy to + draw me back, or boil me up again like second Pelios. Nay, if some god + should grant me to renew my childhood from my present age and once more to + be crying in my cradle, I would firmly refuse; nor should I in truth be + willing, after having, as it were, run the full course, to be recalled + from the winning—crease to the barriers. For what blessing has life + to offer? Should we not rather say what labour? But granting that it has, + at any rate it has after all a limit either to enjoyment or to existence. + I don't wish to depreciate life, as many men and good philosophers have + often done; nor do I regret having lived, for I have done so in a way that + lets me think that I was not born in vain. But I quit life as I would an + inn, not as I would a home. For nature has given us a place of + entertainment, not of residence. + </p> + <p> + Oh glorious day when I shall set out to join that heavenly conclave and + company of souls, and depart from the turmoil and impurities of this + world! For I shall not go to join only those whom I have before mentioned, + but also my son Cato, than whom no better man was ever born, nor one more + conspicuous for piety. His body was burnt by me, though mine ought, on the + contrary, to have been burnt by him; but his spirit, not abandoning, but + ever looking back upon me, has certainly gone whither he saw that I too + must come. I was thought to bear that loss heroically, not that I really + bore it without distress, but I found my own consolation in the thought + that the parting and separation between us was not to be for long. + </p> + <p> + It is by these means, my dear Scipio,—for you said that you and + Laelius were wont to express surprise on this point,—that my old age + sits lightly on me, and is not only not oppressive but even delightful. + But if I am wrong in thinking the human soul immortal, I am glad to be + wrong; nor will I allow the mistake which gives me so much pleasure to be + wrested from me as long as I live. But if when dead, as some insignificant + philosophers think, I am to be without sensation, I am not afraid of dead + philosophers deriding my errors. Again, if we are not to be immortal, it + is nevertheless what a man must wish—to have his life end at its + proper time. For nature puts a limit to living as to everything else. Now, + old age is as it were the playing out of the drama, the full fatigue of + which we should shun, especially when we also feel that we have had more + than enough of it. + </p> + <p> + This is all I had to say on old age. I pray that you may arrive at it, + that you may put my words to a practical test. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Treatises on Friendship and Old Age, by +Marcus Tullius Cicero + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON FRIENDSHIP *** + +***** This file should be named 2808-h.htm or 2808-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/0/2808/ + +Produced by David Reed, and David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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