On Friendship and On Old Age
Marcus Tullius Cicero c. 44 BCE
Two imagined conversations examine what makes a true friend and how to face old age. The elderly Cato defends later life, including its pleasures of farming and conversation.
103 pages 2h reading time
- Two of the most widely read works of ancient Roman thought, studied and quoted for over two thousand years.
- Argues that true friendship can exist only between good people, and that a friend should never ask another to do wrong.
- Argues that old age is not a misery to be feared, since the mind can stay active, and even death is nothing to dread.
- Shaped how medieval and Renaissance Europe thought about friendship and aging, and Montaigne's famous essay on friendship draws directly on it.
- Became a standard school text for learning Latin in Europe and early America, so generations of students learned these ideas along with the language.
Written as Rome fell apart
Cicero wrote both works in the year Julius Caesar was murdered, and was himself killed about a year later.
Comfort after grief
He wrote them while shut out of politics and still mourning his beloved daughter Tullia, who had died the year before.
Gifts to a best friend
Both works are dedicated to Atticus, Cicero's closest friend, who was also growing old alongside him.
Among England's first printed books
William Caxton, who brought printing to England, published an English version of "On Old Age" in 1481.
Translated from Latin by Evelyn S. Shuckburgh