AGING
Getting Older Is a Process
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Galen’s book Keeping Well is a thorough description of a well-balanced lifestyle. According to this account, a good regimen is a lifelong project, and the foundations for longevity can be set in early life. Childhood and adolescence, followed by adulthood, and finally old age: each stage requires adjustments suited to its specific developmental moment, yet personalized according to an individual’s unique constitution. Everyone’s path is different—there are many possible outcomes at any time—but the underlying principle is that a lifetime of moderation and proper self-care can extend life.
Mosaic depicting a boy holding a platter of fruits and what may be a bucket of crabs, in a kitchen with fish and squid. Roman, 1st century, CE. Pompeii. Hermitage Museum. Photo: Sailko / Wikimedia. CC BY-SA 3.0.
This model of aging may seem intuitive to us today, yet in the ancient world, it was a debated topic. Prior to Galen, some saw aging as a disease in itself or as the extinction of youth, not as a gradual process particular to each person. In the sixth century BCE, for example, the Athenian statesman Solon presented human development as a fixed series of ten stages, each seven years long, with old age simply the final chapter.
Bust of Solon. Roman, 1st century CE, after a Greek original from 2nd century BCE. Marble. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli: 6143. Photo: Azoor Photo Collection / Alamy Stock Photo.
But Galen did not specify the length of a developmental phase beyond the first twenty-one years (subdivided into seven-year blocks), and instead allowed for an unspecified duration for the subsequent eras of life. Within his three-stage timeline, there are subtle nuances: although old age ranges from active old age to senility, there is no fixed schedule.
Portrait bust of an old man. Marble. H. 64.5 cm. Metropolitan Museum of Art: Rogers Fund, 1908; 08.258.45. Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public domain.
Galen’s regimen is anti-aging, and contemporary doctors would greet many of his recommendations with approval: follow a diet of simple foods, eat in moderation, get regular exercise, avoid overly strong purges (admittedly, deliberate purging is a less-common practice today), and allow for gentle massage and other indulgences in modest amounts. The author recounts the tales of men who have followed such a regimen as proof of its effectiveness: he tells of Antiochus, a doctor who practiced medicine into his eighties, and Telephus the grammarian, who lived a full century. While his regimen aimed at longevity, Galen knew life could not be indefinitely extended. He ridiculed those who believed they could prevent death completely. “The body deteriorates of itself,” wrote Galen, and no matter how balanced the regimen or how talented the physician, death is inevitable and a necessary part of life. Although we don’t know exactly when Galen died, his recommendations contributed to his own longevity and he likely lived into his eighties.