Whether an Old Man Should Engage in Public Affairs (20-24)

For it is not seasonable for an aged man even to be occupied in public offices, except in those which possess some grandeur and dignity, such as that

which you are now administering at Athens, the presidency of the Senate of the Areopagus, and, by Zeus, the honour of membership in the Amphictyonic Council, which your native State bestowed upon you for life and which entails a pleasant labour and untoilsome toil.[*] But even these offices aged men ought not to seek; they should exercise them though trying to avoid them, not asking for them but asking to be excused from them, as men who do not take office to themselves, but give themselves to office. For it is not, as the Emperor Tiberius said, a disgrace for a man over sixty years of age to hold out his hand to the physician[*]; but rather is it a disgrace to hold out the hand to the people asking for a ballot or a viva voce vote; for this is ignoble and mean, whereas the contrary possesses a certain dignity and honour, when an aged man’s country chooses him, calls him, and waits for him, and he comes down amid honour and friendly applause to welcome and accept a distinction which is truly revered and respected.

And in somewhat the same way a man who has grown old ought to treat speech-making in the assembly; he should not be constantly jumping up on the platform, nor always, like a cock, crowing in opposition to what is said; nor should he, by getting involved in controversy, loose the curb of reverence for him in the young men’s minds and instil into them the practice and custom of disobedience and unwillingness to listen to him; but he should sometimes both slacken the reins and allow them to throw up their heads boldly to oppose his opinion and to show their spirit, without even being present or interfering except when the matter

at stake is important for the common safety or for honour and decorum. But in such cases he ought, even when no one calls him, to run at a speed beyond his strength, letting himself be led by attendants who support him or having himself carried in a litter, as we are told that Appius Claudius did in Rome; for after the Romans had been defeated by Pyrrhus in a great battle, when he heard that the senate was admitting proposals for a truce and peace, he found that intolerable, and although he had lost the sight of both his eyes, had himself carried through the Forum to the Senate-house. He went in, took his stand in the midst of the senate, and said that hitherto he had been grieved by the loss of his eyes, but now he could pray not even to have ears to hear them discussing and doing things so disgraceful and ignoble. And thereupon, partly by rebuking them, partly by instructing and inciting them, he persuaded them to rush to arms forthwith and fight it out with Pyrrhus for the rule of Italy. And Solon, when it became clear that the popular leadership of Peisistratus was a contrivance to make him tyrant, since no one dared to oppose or prevent it, brought out his own arms, stacked them in front of his house, and called upon the citizens to come to the aid of their country; then, when Peisistratus sent and asked him what gave him confidence to do this, he replied, My age.[*]

However, matters of such urgent necessity do kindle and arouse aged men whose fire is quite extinct, provided they merely have breath; yet in other matters the aged man will sometimes, as has been said, act fittingly by declining mean and petty offices which bring more trouble to those who

administer them than profit and advantage to those for whom they are administered; and sometimes by waiting for the citizens to call for him, long for him, and send for him at his house, he will, when he comes, be received with greater confidence by those who begged for his presence. And for the most part he will, even when present, be silent and let younger men speak, acting as a kind of umpire at the contest of political ambition; and if the contest passes the bounds of moderation, by administering a mild and kindly rebuke, he will endeavour to do away with contention, opprobrious language, and anger, will correct and instruct without fault-finding him who errs in his opinions, but will fearlessly praise him who is right; and he will voluntarily suffer defeat and will often give up success in persuading the people to his will in order that the young may grow in power and courage, and for some of them he will supply what is lacking with kindly words, as Nestor said,

No one of all the Achaeans will blame the words thou hast spoken,

Nor will oppose them in speech; and yet thou hast reached no conclusion.

Truly thou art a young man, and thou mightest e’en be my own offspring.[*]

But more statesmanlike than this it is, not merely to avoid, when rebuking them openly and in public, any biting speech which violently represses and humiliates them, but rather in kindly spirit to suggest and inculcate in private to those who have natural ability for public affairs advantageous words and policies, urging them on towards that which is noble, adding brilliancy to their minds, and, after the manner of riding-teachers,

enabling them at first to mount the populace when it is tractable and gentle; then, if the young man fails in any way, not letting him be discouraged, but setting him on his feet and encouraging him, as Aristeides raised up and encouraged Cimon and Mnesiphilus did the like for Themistocles when they were at first disliked and decried in the city as being rash and unrestrained. And there is also a story that when Demosthenes had met with a reverse in the assembly and was disheartened thereby, an aged man who had formerly heard Pericles speak touched him with his hand and told him that he resembled that great man in natural ability and, therefore, had been unjust in condemning himself. And so also when Timotheüs was hissed for being new-fangled and was said to be committing sacrilege upon music, Euripides told him to be of good courage, for in a little while the theatres would be at his feet.

And in general, just as at Rome the Vestal Virgins have a definite time allotted them, first for learning, then for performing the traditional rites, and thirdly and lastly for teaching them, and as at Ephesus they call each one of the servants of Artemis first a novice, then a priestess, and thirdly an expriestess, so the perfect statesman engages in public affairs, first while still a learner and a neophyte and finally as a teacher and initiator. For although it is impossible for the overseer of other athletes to engage in contests himself, yet he who trains a young man in affairs of the community and political struggles and prepares him for the service of his country

Speaker of speeches to be and also a doer of actions,[*]

is useful to the State in no small or mean degree, but helps towards that for which Lycurgus first and especially exerted himself when he accustomed the young always to obey every old man as if he were a lawgiver. For what had Lysander in mind when he said that men grow old most nobly in Lacedaemon? Was it because there the older men are more than elsewhere allowed to live in idleness and to lend money or sit together and throw dice or get together betimes for drinking-parties[*]? You could not say that. No, it was because all men of advanced age hold more or less the position of magistrates, fatherly counsellors, or instructors, and not only oversee public affairs, but also make it their business to learn all details about the gymnasia, the sports, and the daily lives of the young men, and, therefore, they are feared by those who do wrong but revered and desired by the good; for the young men always cultivate and follow them, since they enhance and encourage the decorum and innate nobility of the young without arousing their envy.