Fitness For Seniors

Epictetus was a stoic philosopher who lived in the 1st - 2nd century. He was a very wise man and as a freed man, knew much about how we enslave ourselves. His views about sucking up to other people are well worth reading (and I paraphrase....): When a man cringes before another, or flatters that person despite having holding other views he is a slave.  If he holds a position of authority and sucks up to a more powerful person, then he is slave on a large scale.  If he is a common man and does so for a paltry meal, then he is a slave on a small scale .

In 440BC, the Athenians intervened in a conflict between Samos and Miletus. The Samians sought the assistance of the Spartans.  The Spartans were unwilling to help the Samians as the were bound by a 30 year treaty with the Athenians. They were however willing to listen. And so the Samians spoke at length, and as with many of the ancient Greeks, the Samians really did speak at length . After listening patiently Spartans replied succinctly in a typical laconic Spartan manner: "We have forgotten the first part, and the latter part we did not understand because we forgot the first part." The Spartans words are a lesson for those who have to give presentations and lessons. Keep them simple, brief and to the point!

Pliny the Younger once sought the advice of the Emperor Trajan about a Jewish sect called "Christiani".  These Christians were not showing proper respect for the Emperor and other gods but were placing a long dead person called "Christ" above all.  Apart from that they were quite decent folk who did not commit adultery, fraud or theft.  Pliny however had never actually sought first hand information about the sect or its members. He had garnered his information only his officers who in turn had gathered their information from anonymous sources . Trajan's reply to Pliny's query was brief.  Find out who is not obeying the law but do not persecute them. Those who had disobeyed the law but showed a degree of contriteness should be freed. Those who who demonstrate any sign of repentance  were to be punished.  He ended his reply with " Anonymous accusations shall not be introduced into the proceedings. They set a bad precedent and

Trajan was the second of a line of "Five Good Emperors" of Rome. He was fondly referred to even in his own life time as Optimus Princep (or "Best Emperor"). His style of management is reflected in the many letters between himself and Pliny the Younger, who had held the position of Propraetor of the province of Bithynia. In one correspondence, Pliny had written to Trajan to seek his advice over an aqueduct which had been paid for by the local population but had never been completed. Trajan replied "I have full confidence that you will undertake the duty with all due care. But I profess it is also part of your diligent duty to find out who is to blame for the waste of such sums of money".  In other words, he reminded Pliny that he had been empowered to do a job and he should do it .  Not only that, Trajan also gave proper guidance to Pliny to ensure that he would know how to act in the future.