Old Age in Rome - Truth in Statues

Boxer at Rest at Palazzo Massimo alle Terme

Covid-19 is forcing us to look at old age more closely, even to consider the value of an older human life as the virus ravages the elderly. And so it might be helpful to examine the attitude towards old age of other ages and cultures as well--in the case of this blog, that of the ancient Romans.

Cicero (106-43 BCE), from the Capitoline
Museums in Rome. Bust 1st century CE.
An image of Cicero is the lead photo
for the site: The Geopolitics of Dignity.

Much has been written about old age in ancient Rome, based primarily on writings of the classic authors of the epoch - Cicero, Horace, Juvenal, Plautus. The general conclusion is that, perhaps as today, the attitude was one of ambivalence. The weak and decrepit were often marginalized, because they were seen as not contributing to society. And Romans had a strong work ethic, and a commitment to their society. 

On the other hand, the old were valued as having gained knowledge, being good moral models for the young, and as still useful in society, some holding important positions into their 80s.

The average life expectancy of ancient Romans was much shorter than in the Western world today--around 25. This is distorted, however, by half of children dying before 10. And 7-8% of the population lived beyond 60 or 65. Although that is less than half of the percentage of Americans today living beyond 65, it's still a significant group.

This image from The Getty accompanies
an article on hair loss in ancient Rome.
25 BC - 10 CE

Most surprising is Romans' willingness--even desire--to portray old age accurately, complete with balding heads (photo at left), wrinkles, flabby skin, sunken cheeks, and blemishes. We get these depictions from statues, the faces of which are usually solemn, indicating the gravitas of old age. These physical markers of old age are considered to be signs of one's having contributed to society, having put in years of hard work and having gained experience--in a word, dignity.

Boxer at the Getty, 2015. Date of sculpture from
330-50 BCE.

We first saw the dramatic effects of this kind of portraiture in the spectacular sculpture, "Boxer at Rest." It's a Greek sculpture, valued by the Romans, and found only in the 1880s near the Quirinale. You can see it now in the national museum at Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, near the train station. The statue shows the boxer's scarred and bruised face and broken nose. We saw the "Boxer" a few years ago when it had been recently restored--in a room in the seat of the Italian Senate, Palazzo Madama, as I recall. It was alone in the room, and we were alone with it, all the better to feel its power. We saw him again in 2015 at The Getty Center, which managed to borrow the statue for its blockbuster Roman statuary exhibit that year. The photo at the top is by Carole Raddato on Wiki commons.

from the Vatican Museums;
1st half of 1st century BCE.

The bust at left is from the Vatican Museums and illustrates "Verism" - the hyper-realism valued by the Romans, according to some scholars. 

Photo of bust - cast from the original
bronze -  in Wiki commons.
See By Daderot - Own work, CC0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78464202

At right, from the Naples museum, Lucius Caecilius lucundus. He's not bald; his hair is etched into the bronze bust. But, as others have pointed out, he's a "Verism" example - or "warts and all," which the Romans preferred. He was a Pompeian banker, born 14 AD, died about age 62.

Women who reached old age also were viewed from two perspectives: as useful and authoritative matrons or as grotesque - especially, in the latter case, old prostitutes.

It's not as easy to find statutes of women in old age as it is as of men. Perhaps women were not generally subject to the "verism" of male portraits. I didn't find any in Rome--a hunt left for a future visit.

"Bust of a Flavian Matron" - Toledo (Ohio) Museum
of Art.  1st-2nd century CE

The bust at right is considered a rare portrait of an older woman. And, according to the museum's notes, the hairstyle is that of a younger woman.

Below is the statue of a clearly old woman - from The Met. It's a 1st Century CE copy of an earlier Greek sculpture. The museum notes the range of subject matter for sculptures was expanded to include figures on the fringe of society. This sculpture is known as the Old Market Woman, but it is probably, per the museum notes, an aged courtesan on her way to a Dionysian festival.

Old market woman or aged courtesan? 14-68 CE.

For more information on the treatment of old age in ancient Rome, see these two articles, both titled "Old Age in Ancient Rome":

https://www.brlsi.org/events-proceedings/proceedings/25020#:~:text=At%20present%2C%20the%20aged%20(those,becoming%20a%20major%20social%20problem.

and

https://www.historytoday.com/archive/old-age-ancient-rome

The illustrations in this post - and decisions on how to illustrate these points - are from my own research.

Dianne

Retiring in Rome: a Guide

A very good friend is thinking of retiring, hanging up the spikes.  He's American, but he lives in Rome and has worked in Rome for decades.  He speaks Italian.  So we thought it appropriate to help him imagine what it's like to be a retired older man in Italy's capital--or on the periphery--and to help him prepare for the day when retirement becomes a reality.

The retirement wardrobe deserves attention.  The required piece of clothing is a sleeveless fishing jacket.  All the older men wear them, and not because they go fishing regularly.  No, the fishing jacket is popular because it has so many pockets, apparently for carrying all the objects that retired men carry around, such as house keys and spare change. Ironically, the number of pockets increases as the items to fill them decreases, after retirement.

Regardless of the purpose of the fishing jacket, you'll need one to fit in.

Practice the retired man's walk: slightly bent over, hands behind the back--that's crucial.  Older women don't do the behind-the-back thing, but men do, even though it's not safe (with hands behind the back, it can be hard breaking the inevitable falls).  To compensate for the added danger, walk very slowly, as if deep in thought, contemplating the infinite.

One table for talking, the other (in back of this one) for
playing cards.  

Think about moving to a small town, where older men abound.  You'll spend your mornings at Bar Centrale in the main (or only) piazza, talking with other retirees about Serie A (the premier Italian soccer league), Roma/Lazio, Totti, and all that sport stuff--so read Corriere dello Sport, the sports newspaper, carefully.  The Bar Centrale at left is in Rocca di Papa, below Monte Cavo.





When sitting outside the bar gets boring, you can move into the piazza proper; even that will be crowded with older men.  Lunch you'll have at home, prepared by your wife, followed by a nap and then a return to the piazza around 4 p.m. for more small talk.  Some older men begin drinking in the morning, so

you should consider gearing up for elevated alcohol consumption.  Older men in Italy do not read books--at least not in public--so put the book away and prepare to spend the day chatting, or nodding off.

No matter where you live, but especially in the big city, street life will provide plenty of entertainment.  You'll join other older men enjoying the spectacle of someone moving a piece of furniture up to a 4th floor apartment.

When the city decides to trim the trees on your street, that's a special 2 or 3 days, watching the city workers (and some prisoners who get out of jail to provide labor) trim the trees and cart away the branches.  It's especially exciting when the workers decide that a tree isn't worth saving and cut it down altogether, leaving long stumps.

There's always something going on outside the bar

It's exciting, too, when the "detenuti" (we would say prisoners) 
who are helping with the tree-trimming, come into the bar for coffee
--supervised by armed prison staff, of course

Or you can observe the tree trimming from your balcony (above right)

Of course, you can always walks the dog(s):

Bocce ball remains popular with older men. You don't have to be "in shape" to play.  This club is in Testaccio, near the Pyramid (a bocciofila is a bocce club):

Or, you could rent out your apartment using the Sweet Guest service, and play basketball:

As you get older--and if your wife isn't around to care for you--you'll want to consider hiring a badante (a caregiver).  Your badante will get you dressed, take you out for a walk in the morning and get you to your local bar (the bar's name at right is, in fact "Your Bar").

Most badanti are women, some are men.  Most are recent immigrants, from the Philippines, Romania, and north Africa.  With your badante, you can learn about distant lands and different cultures!

Enjoy retirement!

Bill