Chapter 20

72 “Old age has no fixed boundary. We live rightly in it so long as we can perform and uphold our duties and hold death of no account. This makes old age even more spirited and courageous than youth. Such was the meaning of Solon’s answer to the tyrant Pisistratus. Asked what gave him the confidence to oppose him so boldly, he is said to have answered, ‘My old age.’ But the best end of life comes when, with mind intact and senses clear, nature herself dissolves the work she put together. Just as the builder most readily dismantles a ship or a house, so the nature that joined a human being together most fittingly takes him apart. A new bond is always hard to break, an old one easy.

“It follows that the old should neither clutch greedily at the brief remainder of life nor abandon it without cause;”

73 “and Pythagoras forbids us to leave life’s guard post and station without orders from our commander, that is, from God. There is an elegy of Solon the wise in which he says he does not wish his death to pass without his friends’ grief and lamentation. He wishes, I suppose, to be dear to his own people. Yet perhaps Ennius speaks better:Let no one honor me with tears, or mourn my funeral with weeping.He thinks a death followed by immortality should not be mourned.”

74 “The act of dying may involve some sensation, but only for a little while, especially for an old man. After death sensation is either desirable or nonexistent. But from youth onward we should have reflected on this, so that death does not concern us. Without that reflection no one can have a tranquil mind. For die we certainly must, perhaps this very day. How can anyone stand firm in spirit while fearing death, which hangs over him every hour?”

75 “There seems little need for a long discussion of it when I remember—not Lucius Brutus, killed while freeing his country; not the two Decii, who spurred their horses toward a death freely chosen; not Marcus Atilius, who went to torture to keep the pledge he had given an enemy; not the two Scipios, who wished to block the Carthaginians’ path even with their own bodies; not your grandfather Lucius Paulus, who paid with his death for his colleague’s rashness in the disgrace at Cannae; not Marcus Marcellus, whose death even the cruelest enemy would not allow to go without the honor of burial—but our legions, which, as I wrote in my Origins, often went eagerly and proudly into places from which they thought they would never return. Shall learned old men dread what young men, not merely uneducated but country-bred, hold in contempt?”

76 “Altogether, as I see it, satiety with every pursuit brings satiety with life. Childhood has its own interests: do young men miss them? Early youth has its interests: does the settled age we call middle life long for them? That age too has interests, and even these are not sought in old age. There are certain final interests of old age itself. Just as the interests of earlier years die away, so those of old age die away as well. When that happens, life’s fullness brings the ripe time for death.”

72 “There is no set limit to old age. We can live it well for as long as we can carry out our duties, stand by them, and face death without concern. This can make older people even bolder and braver than the young. That is the point of Solon’s answer to the tyrant Pisistratus. The tyrant asked what he was relying on when he opposed him so fearlessly. Solon is said to have replied, ‘My old age.’ But the best end comes when our minds are sound and our senses clear, and nature takes apart the work she put together. The person who built a ship or a house can most easily take it down. Similarly, the nature that put a human being together can best take that person apart. Anything freshly joined is hard to separate; an old join comes apart easily.

“So older people should neither grasp greedily at the little time left nor give it up for no reason;”

73 “and Pythagoras tells us not to leave our guard duty and our post in life without an order from our commander, meaning God. Solon the wise wrote a verse saying that he did not want his death to pass without his friends’ grief and mourning. I suppose he wanted to be loved by the people close to him. But perhaps Ennius put it better:Let nobody honor me with tears or weep at my funeral.He does not think we should mourn a death that is followed by immortality.”

74 “We may feel something as we die, but only briefly, especially if we are old. After death, either our experience will be something to wish for or we will have no experience at all. But we should have practiced thinking about this since youth, so that death does not worry us. Without that preparation, nobody can feel at peace. We are certain to die, and for all we know it could be today. How can anyone stay calm while fearing a death that could come at any hour?”

75 “I do not think we need a long argument about this when I remember certain examples. I do not mean Lucius Brutus, killed while freeing his country; the two Decii, who rode their horses straight toward a death they had chosen; Marcus Atilius, who went to be tortured rather than break his promise to an enemy; the two Scipios, who tried to stop the Carthaginians’ advance even with their own bodies; your grandfather Lucius Paulus, whose death paid for his colleague’s recklessness in the disgrace at Cannae; or Marcus Marcellus, whom even a supremely cruel enemy would not allow to die without an honorable burial. I mean our legions. As I wrote in the Origins, they often went willingly and proudly into positions they never expected to come back from. If young men—not just without education but also brought up in the country—think death is nothing to fear, should educated old men be frightened by it?”

76 “In my view, getting our fill of every interest makes us get our fill of life. Children have particular interests. Do young people miss them? Early youth has its own interests. Do people of settled, middle age want those back? Middle age also has its interests, but people do not keep looking for those in old age. Finally, old age has interests of its own. Just as the interests of earlier years fade away, the interests of old age fade too. When that happens, having had enough of life brings the right time to die.”