Chapter 5, Cato the Elder on Old Age, On Old Age Summary and Analysis

Cato the Elder on Old Age was written in 44 B.C. Cicero dedicated it to his friend Atticus. In the essay Cicero anticipates the views on old age of philosophers and scientists millennia after him. The book is staged in 150 B.C. and the main speaker is Marcus Porcius Cato the Elder, who was also called 'the Censor.' Cicero greatly admired Cato the Elder but admits that his Cato is probably not wholly true to the original. Cato is accompanied by Scipio Aemilianus and his friend Gaius Laelius. In the piece, Cato is 84 and Scipio is 35.

In the introduction, Cicero sets out his aims, to write an essay on old age. Most become old and the piece is written to console people...