Like a young swallow: old age and masculinity in ancient Rome

Abstract

Old age is socially perceived as a stage that decreases the value of people. In the case of gender, it subjects people to a process of androgenization that blurs the characteristics of the masculine and the feminine. Thus, men must renegotiate the terms from which masculinity is constructed to adapt it to their situation. This paper analyzes this issue in ancient Rome. We describe how the body of the senex could be seen as non-masculine, placing the old man closer to women than to viri. We settle the characteristics that a good old age must had for ancient Romans, and show how the elderly renegotiated their masculinity, creating a model of wise, moderate, autonomous and authoritarian senex.