This text is part of:
Search the Perseus Catalog for:
Table of Contents:
[28]
The orator, I fear, does lose in efficiency on account
of old age, because his success depends not only
upon his intellect, but also upon his lungs and
bodily strength. In old age, no doubt, the voice
actually gains (I know not how) that magnificent
resonance1 which even I have not lost, and you see
my years; and yet the style of speech that graces
the old man is subdued and gentle, and very often
the sedate and mild speaking of an eloquent old man
wins itself a hearing. And although one cannot
himself engage in oratory, still, he may be able to
give instruction to a Scipio or a Laelius! For what
is more agreeable than an old age surrounded by the
enthusiasm of youth?
1 Canorum . . . splendescit is a mixed metaphor-the first word appeals to the ear, the second to the eye; literally, “a clarion-like ring which gives it brilliancy.”
Cicero: De Senectute De Amicitia De Divinatione. With An English Translation. William Armistead Falconer. Cambridge. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass., London, England. 1923.
The Annenberg CPB/Project provided support for entering this text.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.