Chapter 23
Original Latin
81 atqui dormientium animi maxime declarant divinitatem suam; multa enim, cum remissi et liberi sunt, futura prospiciunt; ex quo intellegitur quales futuri sint, cum se plane corporis vinculis relaxaverint. qua re, si haec ita sunt, sic me colitote, inquit, ut deum, sin una est interiturus animus cum corpore, vos tamen, deos verentes, qui hanc omnem pulchritudinem tuentur et regunt, memoriam nostri pie inviolateque servabitis. Cyrus quidem haec moriens; nos, si placet, nostra videamus.
82 nemo umquam mihi, Scipio,persuadebit aut patrem tuum Paulum, aut duos avos Paulum et Africanum, aut Africani patrem aut patruum, aut multos praestantis viros, quos enumerare non est necesse, tanta esse conatos quae ad posteritatis memoriam pertinerent, nisi animo cernerent posteritatem ad ipsos pertinere. anne censes, ut de me ipse aliquid more senum glorier, me tantos labores diurnos nocturnosque domi militiaeque suscepturum fuisse, si isdem finibus gloriam meam quibus vitam essem terminaturus? nonne melius multo fuisset otiosam et quietam aetatem sine ullo labore et contentione traducere? sed nescio quo modo animus erigens se posteritatem ita semper prospiciebat, quasi, cum excessisset e vita, tum denique victurus esset. quod quidem ni ita se haberet ut animi immortales essent, haud optimi cuiusque animus maxime ad immortalitatis gloriam niteretur. quid quod sapientissimus quisque aequissimo animo moritur,
83 stultissimus iniquissimo, nonne vobis videtur is animus, qui plus cernat et longius, videre se ad meliora proficisci, ille autem, cuius obtusior sit acies, non videre?
equidem efferor studio patres vestros quos colui et dilexi videndi, neque vero eos solum convenire aveo, quos ipse cognovi, sed illos etiam, de quibus audivi et legi et ipse conscripsi; quo quidem me proficiscentem haud sane quid facile retraxerit, nec tamquam Peliam recoxerit. et si quis deus mihi largiatur ut ex hac aetate repuerascam et in cunis vagiam, valde recusem, nec vero velim quasi decurso spatio ad carceres a calce revocari.
84 quid habet enim vita commodi? quid non potius laboris? sed habeat sane; habet certe tamen aut satietatem aut modum. non libet enim mihi deplorare vitam, quod multi et ei docti saepe fecerunt, neque me vixisse paenitet, quoniam ita vixi, ut non frustra me natum existimem, et ex vita ita discedo tamquam ex hospitio, non tamquam e domo; commorandi enim natura devorsorium nobis, non habitandi dedit.
O praeclarum diem cum in illud divinum animorum concilium coetumque proficiscar cumque ex hac turba et colluvione discedam! proficiscar enim non ad eos solum viros, de quibus ante dixi, verum etiam ad Catonem meum, quo nemo vir melior natus est, nemo pietate praestantior, cuius a me corpus est crematum, quod contra decuit ab illo meum, animus vero non me deserens sed respectans, in ea profecto loca discessit quo mihi ipsi cernebat esse veniendum. quem ego meum casum fortiter ferre visus sum, non quo aequo animo ferrem, sed me ipse consolabar existimans non longinquum inter nos digressum et discessum fore.
85 His mihi rebus, Scipio, id enim te cum Laelio admirari solere dixisti, levis est senectus, nec solum non molesta, sed etiam iucunda. quod si in hoc erro, qui animos hominum immortalis esse credam, libenter erro nec mihi hunc errorem, quo delector, dum vivo, extorqueri volo; sin mortuus, ut quidam minuti philosophi censent, nihil sentiam, non vereor ne hunc errorem meum philosophi mortui irrideant. quod si non sumus immortales futuri, tamen exstingui homini suo tempore optabile est. nam habet natura, ut aliarum omnium rerum, sic vivendi modum. senectus autem aetatis est peractio tamquam fabulae, cuius defetigationem fugere debemus, praesertim adiuncta satietate.
haec habui de senectute quae dicerem, ad quam utinam veniatis, ut ea, quae ex me audistis, re experti probare possitis!
Musean translation
Complete machine-assisted Musean translation made directly from the Latin in all 23 chapters and 85 sections. Latin-source editorial review recorded; no human specialist certification is claimed.
81 “‘Yet the souls of sleepers reveal their divinity most clearly: when relaxed and free, they foresee much of the future. This shows what they will be like when they have wholly released themselves from the body’s bonds. So if these things are true,’ he said, ‘honor me as a god. But if the soul is to perish along with the body, you will nevertheless, in reverence for the gods who guard and govern all this beauty, keep my memory devoutly and inviolate.’ Such were Cyrus’s words as he died. Let us now, if you please, consider our own case.”
82 “No one will ever persuade me, Scipio, that your father Paulus, or your two grandfathers Paulus and Africanus, or Africanus’s father or uncle, or the many outstanding men whom there is no need to list, would have attempted such great deeds to live in posterity’s memory unless they saw in their minds that posterity concerned them too. Do you imagine—to boast of myself a little, as old men do—that I should have undertaken such labors by day and night, at home and in war, if my glory were to end within the same bounds as my life? Would it not have been far better to pass my years in leisure and peace, without labor or struggle? Yet somehow my soul, rising up, always looked toward posterity as though only when it had left this life would it truly begin to live. Were it not true that souls are immortal, the soul of every excellent man would not strive above all for immortal glory. Again, the wisest man dies with the most tranquil mind,”
83 “and the most foolish with the most troubled. Does it not seem to you that the soul whose sight is clearer and longer sees that it is setting out for something better, while the soul of duller vision does not?
“For my part, I am carried away by eagerness to see your fathers, whom I honored and loved. Nor do I long to meet only those I knew, but also those of whom I heard and read and wrote myself. Once I set out for that place, nothing would readily draw me back, or boil me young again like Pelias. And if some god offered to turn me from my present age into a child again, wailing in a cradle, I would firmly refuse. Having run the course, I should not wish to be called back from the finish to the starting gates.”
84 “For what advantage does life offer? What labor does it not offer instead? Yet grant its advantages: it certainly has either satiety or a limit. I have no wish to lament life, as many, and learned men too, have often done. Nor do I regret having lived, since I have lived in such a way that I do not think I was born in vain. I leave life as I would leave a lodging, not a home: nature has given us an inn to stay in, not a dwelling to inhabit.
“What a glorious day, when I shall set out for that divine assembly and company of souls, and leave this crowd and confusion behind! I shall go not only to the men of whom I spoke before, but to my Cato, than whom no better man was ever born, none more eminent in devotion to duty. I cremated his body, though it should have been his part to cremate mine; but his soul, not abandoning me but looking back toward me, surely departed to the place where it saw that I too must come. I seemed to bear that loss bravely, not because I bore it calmly, but because I consoled myself with the thought that our parting and separation would not be long.”
85 “These things, Scipio, make old age light for me—the very thing you said you and Laelius so often wondered at. It is not merely untroublesome, but delightful. And if I am mistaken in believing that human souls are immortal, I am gladly mistaken; I do not wish, while I live, to have this delightful error torn from me. If, on the other hand, after death I feel nothing, as some petty philosophers maintain, I need not fear that dead philosophers will laugh at my mistake. Even if we are not destined for immortality, it is still desirable for a person to be extinguished at the proper time. Nature sets a limit to living, as to everything else. Old age is the completion of life’s drama; we should escape its weariness, especially when fullness has joined it.
“This is what I had to say about old age. May you reach it, and through your own experience confirm what you have heard from me!”
Plain English translation
Complete machine-assisted Plain English translation made independently and directly from the Latin in separate source-only production passes, not from Musean or a historical English translation. Latin-source editorial review recorded.
81 “‘Yet souls show their divine nature most clearly when people are asleep. Relaxed and free, they foresee many future events. That tells us what they will be like once they have completely shaken off the body’s restraints. So if this is true,’ he said, ‘honor me as a god. But if my soul is going to die with my body, you will still respect the gods who watch over and rule this whole beautiful world. You will keep my memory faithfully, without harming it.’ That was what Cyrus said at his death. Now let us look at our own situation, if you agree.”
82 “Scipio, nobody will ever convince me that your father Paulus, your grandfathers Paulus and Africanus, Africanus’s father and uncle, or the many other great men I need not list would have attempted such achievements for later generations to remember unless they believed that those generations would matter to them personally. Let me boast a little about myself, as old men do. Do you think I would have taken on all those tasks, working day and night at home and on military service, if my reputation was going to end when my life ended? Would it not have been much better to spend my years peacefully, without work or struggle? Somehow, though, my spirit kept rising up and looking ahead to future generations, as if it would only really begin living once it had left this life. If souls were not in fact immortal, it would not be the best people’s souls that strove hardest for lasting glory. And consider this: the wisest people die most calmly,”
83 “while the most foolish die with the greatest distress. Does it not seem to you that the soul that can see more clearly and further ahead sees that it is going somewhere better? The one with duller sight does not see it.
“I am certainly filled with eagerness to see your fathers, whom I respected and loved. But I am not only keen to meet the people I knew. I also want to meet those I have heard about, read about, and written about myself. Once I am on my way there, nothing will easily bring me back or boil me young again like Pelias. If a god offered to take me from my present age back to being a baby crying in a cradle, I would firmly say no. After running the race, I would not want to be sent from the finish back to the starting gates.”
84 “What benefits does life offer? What is not, rather, hard work? Still, let it have its benefits. Even then, either we have enough of it or it reaches its limit. I do not want to complain about life, as many people, including educated ones, have often done. I do not regret having lived. I have lived in a way that makes me think I was not born for nothing. And I am leaving life as one leaves a place to stay, not one’s own home. Nature gave us an inn for a visit, not a permanent residence.
“What a wonderful day it will be when I go to that divine gathering of souls and leave this crowded mess behind! I will go not only to the men I spoke of earlier, but also to my Cato. No better man was ever born, and nobody was more devoted to his duties. I burned his body on the funeral pyre, when it should have been his task to burn mine. But his soul did not abandon me. It looked back toward me and surely went to the place where it saw that I too must come. People thought I bore that loss bravely. It was not because I felt calm about it. I comforted myself by thinking that we would not be parted and separated for long.”
85 “That is why, Scipio, old age is easy for me—the very thing you said you and Laelius often found surprising. It is not just free from trouble. It is pleasant too. If I am wrong to believe that human souls cannot die, I am happy to be wrong. While I am alive, I do not want anyone to take away a belief that gives me pleasure. But suppose that after death I feel nothing, as some small-minded philosophers think. Then I need not worry about dead philosophers laughing at my mistake. Even if we are not going to live forever, it is still a good thing for a person to die at the right time. Nature puts a limit on living, just as it does on everything else. Old age brings a life to its end, like the last act of a play. We should avoid becoming worn out by it, especially when we have had enough.
“Those are the things I had to say about old age. I hope you reach it, so that your own experience can show you that what you have heard from me is true!”
About this section
Chapter 23 is part of On Old Age by Marcus Tullius Cicero. This page sets the Latin original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is part 23 of 23 in the work, which is kept in the Roman tradition.
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