[32]
But I return to myself. I am in my eighty-fourth
year and would that I myself could boast as Cyrus
did; but still I can say this much: that while I
am not now, indeed, possessed of that physical
strength which I had as a private soldier in the
Punic War, or as a quaestor in the same war, or as
commander-in-chief in Spain, or when as military
tribune four years later I fought the war out at
Thermopylae under the command of Manius Acilius
Glabrio;1 yet, as you see, old age has not quite
unnerved or shattered me. The senate and the
popular assembly never find my vigour wanting,
nor do my friends, my dependents, or my guests;
for I have never assented to that ancient and much quoted proverb, which advises: “Become old early
if you would be old long.” For my part I would
rather not be old so long than be old before my
time. Accordingly, I have so far never refused an
audience to anyone who wished to consult me.
1 For these events in Cato's life and their dates see Introduction.
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