But this must suffice in regard to the long-lived castes and nations who are said to exist for a very long period either on account of their soil and climate, or of their diet, or of both. I can fittingly show you that your good hopes are of easy attainment by recounting that on every soil and in every clime men who observe the proper exercise and the diet most suitable for health have been long-lived.

I shall base the principal division of my treatise on their pursuits, and shall first tell you of the kings and the generals, one of whom the gracious dispensation of a great and godlike emperor has brought to the highest rank, thereby conferring a mighty boon upon the emperor’s world. The man is unknown: the emperor has been thought to be Antoninus Pius, Caracalla, and many another. The language, which suggests a period much later than Lucian, is so obscure that the meaning is doubtful. In this way it will be possible for you, observing your similarity to these octogenarians in condition and fortune, to have better expectations of a healthy and protracted old age, and by imitating them in your way of living to make your life at once long and healthy in a high degree.

Numa Pompilius, most fortunate of the kings of Rome and most devoted to the worship of the gods, is said to have lived more than eighty years. Servius Tullius, also a king of Rome, is likewise related to have lived more than eighty years. Tarquinius, the last king of Rome, who was driven into exile and dwelt at Cumae, is said to have lived more than ninety years in the most sturdy health.

These are the kings of Rome, to whom I shall join such other kings as have attained great age, and after them others arranged according to their various walks of life. In conclusion I shall record for you the other Romans . who have attained the greatest age, adding also those who have lived longest in the rest of Italy. The list will be a competent refutation of those who attempt to malign our climate here; and so we may have better hopes for the fulfilment of our prayers that the lord of every land and sea may reach a great and peaceful age, sufficing unto the demands of his world even in advanced years.

Arganthonius, king of the Tartessians, lived a hundred and fifty years according to Herodotus the historian and Anacreon the song-writer, Our author did not verify his references. Herodotus (1, 163) says one hundred and twenty, Anacreon (frg. 8) one hundred and fifty. but some consider this a fable. Agathocles, tyrant of Sicily, died at ninety, as Demochares and Timaeus Timaeus, as quoted in Diodorus (21, 16, 5) said seventy-two. tell us. Hiero, tyrant of Syracuse, died of an illness at the age of ninety-two, after having been ruler for seventy years, as Demetrius of Callatia and others say. Ateas, king of the Scythians, fell in battle against Philip near the river Danube at an age of more than ninety years. Bardylis, king of the Illyrians, is said to have fought on horseback in the war against Philip in his ninetieth year. Teres, king of the Odrysians, from what Theopompus says, died at ninety-two.