Plutarch, An seni respublica gerenda sit, Harold North Fowler (Translator), 12

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[12] Aesop’s fox, we recall, would not let the hedgehog, although he offered to do so, remove the ticks from her: For if you remove these, she said, which are full, other hungry ones will come on; and the State which always discards the old men must necessarily be filled up with young men who are thirsty for reputation and power, but do not possess a statesmanlike mind. And where should they acquire it, if they are Rot to be pupils or even spectators of any old man active in public life? Treatises on navigation do not make ship-captains of men who have not often stood upon the stern and been spectators of the struggles against wind and wave and wintry night,

When yearning for the twin Tyndaridae¹

Doth strike the sailor driven o’er the sea;²

and can a youngster manage a State rightly and persuade an assembly or a senate after reading a book or writing in the Lyceum a school exercise about political science, if he has not stood many a time by the driver’s rein or the pilot’s steering-oar,³ leaning this way and that with the politicians and generals as they contend with the aid of their experiences and their fortunes, thus amid dangers and troubles acquiring the knowledge they need? No one can assert that. But if for no other reason, old men should engage in affairs of State for the education and instruction of the young. For just as the teachers of letters or of music themselves first play the notes or read to their pupils and thus show them the way, so the statesman, not only by speech or by making suggestions from outside, but by action in administering the affairs of the community, directs the young man, whose character is moulded and formed by the old man’s actions and words alike. For he who is trained in this way - not in the wrestling-schools or training-rings of masters of the arts of graceful speech where no danger is, but, we may say, in truly Olympic and Pythian games, -

Keeps pace as foal just weaned runs with the mare,⁴

to quote Simonides. So Aristeides ran in the footsteps of Cleisthenes and Cimon in those of Aristeides, Phocion followed Chabrias, Cato had Fabius Maximus as his guide, Pompey had Sulla, and Polybius had Philopoemen; for these men, coming when young in contact with older men and then, as it were, sprouting up beside them and growing up with their policies and actions, gained experience and familiarity with public affairs and at the same time reputation and power.

An seni respublica gerenda sit. Plutarch. Harold North Fowler (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1936.

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Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

Whether an Old Man Should Engage in Public Affairs (English) (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. X. Fowler, Harold North, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Εἰ πρεσβυτέρῳ πολιτευτέον Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol V. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig. Teubner, 1893.) — 12 focus

[12] ἡ μὲν γὰρ Αἰσώπειος ἀλώπηξ τὸν ἐχῖνον οὐκ εἴα τοὺς κρότωνας αὐτῆς ἀφαιρεῖν βουλόμενον· 790d ἂν γὰρ τούτους ἔφη μεστοὺς ἀπαλλάξῃς, ἕτεροι 20 προσίασι πεινῶντες· τὴν δὲ πολιτείαν ἀεὶ τοὺς γέροντας ἀποβάλλουσαν ἀναπίμπλασθαι νέων ἀνάγκη διψώντων δόξης καὶ δυνάμεως, νοῦν δὲ πολιτικὸν οὐκ ἐχόντων· πόθεν γὰρ, εἰ μηδενὸς ἔσονται μαθηταὶ μηδὲ θεαταὶ πολιτευομένου γέροντος; ἢ πλοίων 25 μὲν ἄρχοντας οὐ ποιεῖ γράμματα κυβερνητικά, μὴ πολλάκις γενομένους ἐν πρύμνῃ θεατὰς τῶν πρὸς κῦμα καὶ πνεῦμα καὶ νύκτα χειμέριον¹ ἀγώνων,

ὅτε Τυνδαριδᾶν ἀδελφῶν ἅλιον ναύταν πόθος βάλλει;

πόλιν δὲ μεταχειρίσασθαι καὶ πεῖσαι³ δῆμον ἢ βουλὴν 790e δύναιτʼ ἂν ὀρθῶς νέος ἀναγνοὺς βίβλον ἢ 5 σχολὴν περὶ πολιτείας ἐν Λυκείῳ γραψάμενος, ἂν μὴ παρʼ ἡνίαν καὶ παρʼ οἴακα πολλάκις στάς, δημαγωγῶν καὶ στρατηγῶν ἀγωνιζομένων ἐμπειρίαις ἅμα καὶ τύχαις συναποκλίνων ἐπʼ ἀμφότερα, μετὰ κινδύνων καὶ πραγμάτων λάβῃ τὴν μάθησιν; οὐκ ἔστιν 10 εἰπεῖν· ἀλλʼ εἰ διὰ μηδὲν ἄλλο τῷ γέροντι παιδείας ἕνεκα τῶν νέων καὶ διδασκαλίας πολιτευτέον ἐστίν. ὡς γὰρ οἱ γράμματα καὶ μουσικὴν διδάσκοντες, αὐτοὶ προανακρούονται καὶ προαναγινώσκουσιν ὑφηγούμενοι 790f τοῖς μανθάνουσιν, οὕτως ὁ πολιτικὸς οὐ 15 λέγων μόνον οὐδʼ ὑπαγορεύων ἔξωθεν ἀλλὰ πράττων τὰ κοινὰ καὶ διοικῶν ἐπευθύνει⁴ τὸν νέον, ἔργοις ἅμα καὶ λόγοις πλαττόμενον ἐμψύχως⁵ καὶ κατασχηματιζόμενον. ὁ γὰρ τοῦτον ἀσκηθεὶς τὸν τρόπον οὐκ ἐν παλαίστραις καὶ κηρώμασιν ἀκινδύνοις⁶ εὐρύθμων 20 σοφιστῶν, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἀληθῶς ἐν Ὀλυμπιακοῖς καὶ Πυθικοῖς ἀγῶσιν

ἄθηλος ἵππῳ πῶλος ὣς ἅμα τρέχει

⁷ κατὰ Σιμωνίδην, ὡς Ἀριστείδης Κλεισθένει καὶ 791a Κίμων Ἀριστείδῃ καὶ Φωκίων Χαβρίᾳ καὶ Κάτων 25 Μαξίμῳ Φαβίῳ καὶ Σύλλᾳ Πομπήιος καὶ Φιλοποίμενι Πολύβιος· νέοι γὰρ ὄντες πρεσβυτέροις ἐπιβάλλοντες, εἶθʼ οἷον παραβλαστάνοντες καὶ συνεξανιστάμενοι ταῖς ἐκείνων πολιτείαις καὶ πράξεσιν, ἐμπειρίαν καὶ συνήθειαν ἐκτῶντο πρὸς τὰ κοινὰ μετὰ δόξης καὶ δυνάμεως. 5

Translations (1)

Whether an Aged Man Ought to Meddle in State Affairs. Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. V. Goodwin, William W., editor; Fetherston, F., translator. Boston. Little, Brown, and Company, 1874.) — 12 focus

[12] Aesop’s fox indeed would not permit the hedge-hog, who offered it, to take from him the ticks that fed upon his body. For, said he, if thou remov’st those that are full, other hungry ones will succeed them. So it is of necessity, that a commonwealth which is always casting off those who grow old must be replenished with young men, thirsting after glory and power, and void of understanding in state affairs. For whence, I pray, should they have it, if they shall have been neither disciples nor spectators of any ancient statesman? For if treatises of navigation cannot make those skilful pilots who have not often in the stern been spectators of the conflicts against the waves, winds, and pitchy darkness of the night,

When the poor trembling seaman longs to see

The safety-boding twins, Tyndaridae;

how should a raw young man take in hand the government of a city, and rightly advise both the senate and the people, having only read a book or written an exercise in the Lyceum concerning policy, though he has seldom or never stood by the reins or helm, when grave statesmen and old commanders have in debating alleged both their experiences and fortunes, whilst he was wavering on both sides, that so he might with dangers and transacting of affairs gain instruction? This is not to be said. But if it were for nothing else, yet ought an old man to manage in public affairs, that he may instruct and teach those who are young. For as those who teach children reading and music do, by pronouncing and by singing notes and tunes before them, lead and bring on their scholars; so an old statesman, not by speaking and dictating exteriorly, but by acting and administering public affairs, directs and breeds up a young one, who is by his deeds joined with his words interiorly formed and fashioned. For he who is exercised after this manner, not amongst the disputes of nimble tongued sophisters, as in the wrestling-schools and anointings, where there is not the least appearance of any danger, but really, and as it were in the Olympian and Pythian games, will tread in his teacher’s steps,

Like a young colt, which runs by th’ horse’s side,—

as Simonides has it. Thus Aristides followed Clisthenes, Cimon Aristides, Phocion Chabrias, Cato Fabius Maximus, Pompey Sylla, and Polybius Philopoemen; for these, when they were young, joining themselves with their elders, and afterwards as it were flourishing and growing up by their administrations and actions, gained experience, and were inured to the management of public affairs with reputation and power.

Notes on the current edition

Whether an Old Man Should Engage in Public Affairs

1. Castor and Pollux, who were supposed to aid sailors.

2. Bergk, Poet. Lyr. Graec. iii. p. 719, no. 91.

3. Aristophanes, Knights, 542, uses the metaphor of the pilot, though with a different application.

4. Bergk, Poet. Lyr. Graec. ii. p. 445, no. 5 (6).

Plutarch An seni respublica gerenda sit 12

Harold North Fowler (Translator)

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