“It is the law of human life and of human nature that a new generation is ever coming forth,” said the Roman statesman Cicero (106–43 BCE).

His view was echoed by the poet Simonides of Ceos (6th to 5th century BCE): “As is the generation of leaves, so is that of men.”

The metaphor was a simple one. One day we are full of life, green and fresh, but soon we start to wither and die. Fresh leaves take our place, but they too will fall, only to be replaced by new leaves in their turn.

In the ancient world, there were many different views about the relationship between younger and older generations. Greek and Roman texts reveal that, just like today, generational conflict was rife.

At the same time, however, ancient texts also suggest ways the young and old can profitably get along – a message that is perhaps needed for our times.

Causes of generational conflict

In ancient times, there were many causes of generational conflict. One was that the old sensed things were changing in ways contrary to their hopes and wishes.

The Roman comic playwright Caecilius (219–168 BCE) described the feelings of an old man watching and reflecting on the new generations coming up. In a play (whose title is unknown), the old man is exasperated and frustrated, and decides to complain:

Old Age, if you bring no other defects with you, when you come, this one’s enough: by living long a man sees much he doesn’t want to.

Old Age, if you bring no other defects with you, when you come, this one’s enough: by living long a man sees much he doesn’t want to.

Another source of conflict was that the young felt society had been ruined by the previous generation. For this reason, the young had little hope of making a way within that society for themselves. The Roman poet Horace (65–8 BCE), for example, criticised his parents’ generation with these harsh words:

Our fathers’ age, worse than our grandfathers’, gave birth to us, an inferior breed, who will in due course produce still more degenerate........

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