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he is drunk, sits in taverns, an old man hurries to the horse-races, an old man goes up into the theaters, running like a child with the crowd. Truly a shame and a mockery, to be adorned outwardly with grey hair, but inwardly to have the mind of a child. And if some young man insults him, he immediately puts forward his grey hairs. Respect them yourself first; for if you do not respect your own, and this as an old man, how do you expect the young man to respect your grey hairs? You do not respect your grey hairs, but you disgrace them. God has honored you with the whiteness of your hair, He has given you great precedence; why do you betray the honor? How will the young man respect you, when you are more wanton than he? For grey hair is respectable then, when it does the things of grey hair; but when it acts young, it will be more ridiculous than the young. How then will you be able, you old men who are drunk with disorder, to give this advice to the young man? I do not say these things accusing the old, God forbid, but the young. For those who do these things, it seems to me, even if they reach their hundredth year, are young; just as the young, even if they are small children, but are of sound mind, are better than the old men. 63.66 And this is not my word, but Scripture also knows this distinction: For honorable old age, it says, is not that which standeth in length of time, and the age of old age is a life unspotted. 4. For we honor grey hair, not because we prefer the white color to the black, but because it is a proof of a virtuous life, and seeing it, we infer from this the inner grey hair; but if they do things contrary to their grey hair, they will become more ridiculous for this reason. Since we also honor a king, and the purple robe and the diadem, because they are symbols of his rule; but if we see him being spat upon while in his purple, trampled underfoot by his bodyguards, being choked, thrown into prison, torn apart, will we respect the purple robe, or the diadem, tell me, but will we not rather weep for that very appearance? Do not, therefore, expect to be honored for your grey hair, when you yourself wrong it; for it too ought to receive justice from you, because you disgrace a form so splendid and honorable. We do not say these things against everyone, nor is our argument simply against old age, I am not so mad, but against a young soul that shames old age; nor do we say these things out of sorrow for the aged, but for those who disgrace their grey hair. For an old man is a king, if he wishes, and more kingly than one who has the purple, mastering his passions, and subjugating his passions in the manner of bodyguards; but if he is dragged about, and brought down from his throne, and becomes a slave to the love of money and of vain glory and of adornment and of luxury and of drunkenness and of anger and of sexual pleasures, and beautifies his hair with oil, and shows his age being insulted by his choice; what punishment would such a one not be worthy of? But may you, the young, not become such; for there is no excuse for you either when you sin. Why so? Because it is possible to be an old man in youth; and just as there are young men in old age, so also the opposite. For just as there the whitening hair saves no one, so here too being black is no hindrance. For if it makes the old man more unseemly to do these things which I have mentioned, much more so the young man; but nevertheless the young man is not free from accusation. For a young man can have an excuse only, when he is called to the management of affairs, when he is inexperienced, when he needs time and experience; but when it is necessary to show self-control and courage, no longer, nor when it is necessary to control money. For there are cases where the young man is accused more than the old man. For that one needs much care, as old age weakens him; but this one, being able, if he wishes, to be sufficient for himself, what excuse could he find, not being willing, when he seizes more than the old man, when he bears grudges, when he despises, when he does not preside more than the old man, when he utters many things unseasonably, when he is insolent, when he reviles, when he is drunk? But if in self-control he thinks he cannot be accused, see that even here he has many aids, if he so wishes. For if 63.67 desire troubles him more vehemently than the old man, nevertheless

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μεθύει, ἐν καπηλείοις καθέζεται, γέρων εἰς ἱπποδρομίας σπεύδει, γέρων εἰς θέατρα ἀναβαίνει, καθάπερ παιδίον τρέχων μετὰ τοῦ πλήθους. Ὄντως αἰσχύνη καὶ γέλως, τῇ μὲν πολιᾷ κοσμεῖσθαι ἔξωθεν, ἔνδοθεν δὲ παιδὸς φρόνημα ἔχειν. Κἂν μὲν ὑβρίσῃ τις νέος, εὐθέως προβάλλεται τὰς πολιάς. Σὺ αὐτὰς αἰδέσθητι πρῶτος· εἰ δὲ σὺ τὰς σεαυτοῦ οὐκ αἰδῇ, καὶ ταῦτα γέρων ὢν, πῶς τὸν νέον τὰς σὰς αἰδεῖσθαι ἀξιοῖς πολιάς; Οὐκ αἰδῇ τὰς πολιὰς, ἀλλ' αἰσχύνεις αὐτάς. Ὁ Θεός σε ἐτίμησε τῇ λευκότητι τῶν τριχῶν, ἔδωκέ σοι προεδρίαν πολλήν· τί προδίδως τὴν τιμήν; Πῶς σε αἰδεσθήσεται ὁ νέος, ὅταν αὐτοῦ πλέον ἀσελγαίνῃς; Ἡ γὰρ πολιὰ τότε αἰδέσιμος, ὅταν τὰ τῆς πολιᾶς πράττῃ· ὅταν δὲ νεωτερίζῃ, τῶν νέων καταγελαστότερος ἔσται. Πῶς οὖν δυνήσεσθε τῷ νέῳ ταῦτα παραινεῖν ὑμεῖς οἱ γέροντες μεθύοντες ὑπὸ τῆς ἀταξίας; Οὐ τῶν γερόντων δὲ κατηγορῶν ταῦτα λέγω, μὴ γένοιτο, ἀλλὰ τῶν νέων. Οἱ γὰρ ταῦτα πράττοντες, ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, κἂν εἰς ἑκατοστὸν ἔλθωσιν ἔτος, νέοι εἰσί· καθάπερ οἱ νέοι, κἂν παιδία μικρὰ ὦσι, σωφρονῶσι δὲ, τῶν γερόντων εἰσὶν 63.66 ἀμείνους. Καὶ οὐκ ἐμὸς οὗτος ὁ λόγος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ Γραφὴ ταύτην οἶδε τὴν διάκρισιν· Γῆρας γὰρ, φησὶ, τίμιον, οὐ τὸ πολυχρόνιον, καὶ ἡλικία γήρως βίος ἀκηλίδωτος. δʹ. Καὶ γὰρ τὴν πολιὰν τιμῶμεν, οὐκ ἐπειδὴ τὸ λευκὸν χρῶμα τοῦ μέλανος προτιμῶμεν, ἀλλ' ὅτι τεκμήριόν ἐστι τῆς ἐναρέτου ζωῆς, καὶ ὁρῶντες ἀπὸ τούτου στοχαζόμεθα τὴν ἔνδον πολιάν· ἂν δὲ τἀναντία τῇ πολιᾷ διαπράττωνται, καταγέλαστοι γενήσονται διὰ τοῦτο μᾶλλον. Ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸν βασιλέα τιμῶμεν, καὶ τὴν ἁλουργίδα καὶ τὸ διάδημα, ἐπειδὴ σύμβολά ἐστι τῆς ἀρχῆς· ἐὰν δὲ ἴδωμεν αὐτὸν μετὰ τῆς ἁλουργίδος ἐμπτυόμενον, ὑπὸ τῶν δορυφόρων καταπατούμενον, ἀγχόμενον, εἰς δεσμωτήριον ἐμβαλλόμενον, σπαραττόμενον, ἆρα αἰδεσθησόμεθα τὴν ἁλουργίδα, ἢ τὸ διάδημα, εἰπέ μοι, ἀλλ' οὐχὶ καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ σχῆμα δακρύσομεν; Μὴ ἀξίου τοίνυν διὰ τὴν πολιὰν τιμᾶσθαι, ὅταν αὐτὴν αὐτὸς ἀδικῇς· καὶ γὰρ καὶ αὐτὴ δίκην ὀφείλει παρὰ σοῦ λαβεῖν, ὅτι σχῆμα λαμπρὸν οὕτω καὶ τίμιον καταισχύνεις. Οὐ κατὰ πάντων ταῦτα λέγομεν, οὐδὲ κατὰ τοῦ γήρως ἁπλῶς ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος, οὐχ οὕτω μέμηνα, ἀλλὰ κατὰ ψυχῆς νέας τὸ γῆρας αἰσχυνούσης· οὐδὲ ὑπὲρ τῶν γεγηρακότων ταῦτα ἀλγοῦντες λέγομεν, ἀλλὰ τῶν καταισχυνόντων τὴν πολιάν. Βασιλεὺς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ γέρων, ἐὰν ἐθέλῃ, καὶ τοῦ τὴν ἁλουργίδα ἔχοντος βασιλικώτερος, τῶν παθῶν κρατῶν, καὶ ἐν τάξει δορυφόρων ὑποτάττων τὰ πάθη· ἐὰν δὲ ἕλκηται, καὶ καταβιβάζηται ἀπὸ τοῦ θρόνου, καὶ χρημάτων ἔρωτος καὶ δόξης κενῆς καὶ καλλωπισμοῦ καὶ τρυφῆς καὶ μέθης καὶ ὀργῆς καὶ ἀφροδισίων γίνηται δοῦλος, καὶ καλλωπίζηται ἐλαίῳ τὴν τρίχα, καὶ τὴν ἡλικίαν ὑπὸ τῆς προαιρέσεως ὑβριζομένην δεικνύῃ· ποίας οὐκ ἂν εἴη κολάσεως ὁ τοιοῦτος ἄξιος; Ἀλλὰ μὴ γένοισθε τοιοῦτοι οἱ νέοι· οὐδὲ γὰρ ὑμῖν συγγνώμη ἐστὶν ἁμαρτάνουσι. Τί δήποτε; Ὅτι ἔξεστι γέροντα εἶναι ἐν νεότητι· καὶ ὥσπερ ἐν γήρᾳ νέοι εἰσὶν, οὕτω καὶ τοὐναντίον. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐκεῖ οὐδένα ἡ θρὶξ λευκαινομένη σώζει, οὕτως οὐδὲ ἐνταῦθα μέλαινα οὖσα ἐμποδίζει. Εἰ γὰρ ἀσχημονέστερον τὸν γέροντα ταῦτα ποιεῖ, ἅπερ εἶπον, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τὸν νέον· ἀλλ' ὅμως οὐδὲ ὁ νέος κατηγορίας ἀπήλλακται. Νέος γὰρ ἐκεῖ δύναται συγγνώμην ἔχειν μόνον, ὅταν εἰς διοίκησιν πραγμάτων καλῆται, ὅταν ἄπειρος ᾖ, ὅταν χρόνου δέηται καὶ πείρας ὅταν, δὲ δέῃ σωφροσύνην καὶ ἀνδρείαν ἐπιδείξασθαι, οὐκέτι, οὐδὲ ὅταν δέῃ χρημάτων κρατεῖν. Ἔστι γὰρ ὅπου μᾶλλον τοῦ γέροντος κατηγορεῖται ὁ νέος. Ἐκεῖνος μὲν γὰρ πολλῆς δεῖται θεραπείας, τοῦ γήρως ἐξασθενοῦντος αὐτόν· οὗτος δὲ δυνάμενος, ἐὰν θέλῃ, ἀρκεῖν ἑαυτῷ, ποίας ἂν τύχοι συγγνώμης, μὴ βουλόμενος, ὅταν ἁρπάζῃ μᾶλλον τοῦ γέροντος, ὅταν μνησικακῇ, ὅταν ἐξουθενῇ, ὅταν μὴ προΐστηται μᾶλλον τοῦ γέροντος, ὅταν πολλὰ φθέγγηται ἀκαίρως, ὅταν ὑβρίζῃ, ὅταν λοιδορῆται, ὅταν μεθύῃ; Εἰ δὲ ἐν τῇ σωφροσύνῃ νομίζει μὴ δύνασθαι ἐγκαλεῖσθαι, ὅρα αὐτὸν καὶ ἐνταῦθα πολλὰ ἔχοντα τὰ βοηθήματα, ἐάνπερ βούληται. Εἰ γὰρ 63.67 καὶ σφοδρότερον αὐτὸν τοῦ γέροντος ἡ ἐπιθυμία ἐνοχλεῖ, ἀλλ' ὅμως