Overview

Classical authors such as Cicero and Plutarch would have us believe that the elderly were revered, active citizens of Ancient Rome. But upon closer inspection, it appears that older people may not have enjoyed as respected or as powerful a place in Roman society as has been supposed. In this text, Tim Parkin considers the many issues related to ageing and the aged in the classical Roman world. Drawing on his expertise in demography and his knowledge of ancient history and literature, he coaxes insights from a variety of sources, including legal documents on the ""rules of age"", representations of old age in classical literature, epigraphic evidence from tombstones, Greco-Roman medical texts, and papyrii from Roman Egypt. Analyzing such diverse sources, he offers views of old age - not only of men in public life but of men and women in marriage, sexual relationships, and the family. Parkin detects a general lack of interest in old age per se in the early empire, which in itself may provide clues regarding the treatment of older people in the Roman world. Noting that privileges granted to the aged generally took the form of exemptions from duties rather than positive benefits, he argues that the elderly were granted no privileged status or ongoing social roles. At the same time they were both permitted - and expected - to continue to participate actively in society for as long as they were able. As a work of both social and cultural history, this text should broaden our knowledge of the ancient world and encourage us to re-examine our treatment of older people today.

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Reviews

<p>Parkin is especially well-qualified to attempt a study of this scope... The result is a welcome addition to the scholarship on old age in the Roman world, one with which subsequent scholars will have to reckon... Parkin is a consistently astute scholar whose method can be a model to others trying to understand an aspect of ancient society as complex as aging... One of the strengths of his work is that he considers the physical and emotional reality of old age.--Judith de Luce New England Classical Journal (01/01/0001)

<p>This is a remarkable and highly-readable reconstruction of what can and cannot be learned from the scant surviving sources about old age in the distant past... This fascinating study points to important long-run continuities as well as changes in the experience of old age, and convincingly de-romanticises the history of old age.--Pat Thane Ageing and Society

<p> The current boom in old age studies for Roman antiquity includes Umberto Mattioli's two volume collection Senectus: la vecchiaia nel mondo classico (Bologna, 1995) and Hartwin Brandt's Wird auch silbern mein Haar: eine Geschichte des Alters in der Antike (Munich, 2002). At least two others have appeared more recently: Andreas Gutsfeld and Winfried Schmitz's Am schlimmen Rand des Lebens? Altersbilder in der Antike (Cologne, 2003) and Katherine Cokayne's Experiencing Old Age in Ancient Rome (London, 2003). They are now joined by Tim Parkin's analysis of old age in the Roman world... P.'s study is by far the finest of these new efforts. It must be accepted as the standard for further research. -- Brent D. Shaw, Classical Review

Author Information

Tim G. Parkin is a professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. His previous book, Demography and Roman Society, was also published by Johns Hopkins.

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