14. No longer wander at hazard; for neither wilt thou read thy own

memoirs,[A] nor the acts of the ancient Romans and Hellenes, and the selections from books which thou wast reserving for thy old age.[B] Hasten then to the end which thou hast before thee, and, throwing away idle hopes, come to thy own aid, if thou carest at all for thyself, while it is in thy power.

[A] [Greek: hypomnêmata]: or memoranda, notes, and the like. See i. 17.

[B] Compare Fronto, ii. 9; a letter of Marcus to Fronto, who was then consul: "Feci tamen mihi per hos dies excerpta ex libris sexaginta in quinque tomis." But he says some of them were small books.