In the introduction and chapter i of her book (pp. 1–21), Kreutzer uses a text-based, philologically-oriented approach to investigate the relationship between the concepts of wisdom and old age across authors and according to historical, philosophical and religious context from Greek and Latin traditions, later expanding the focus on late antiquity with Ambrose and Paulinus.
In the second chapter of her study (pp. 22–135), Kreutzer gives a text-based overview of the individual stages of the traditional Greek-philosophical, Roman and biblical concepts of wisdom and old age, as well as the connection between the two. Plato classifies wisdom as based on the principle of lifelong striving and learning and as the sole knowledge of the divine ideas, only attainable by gods. Aristotle, on the other hand, points out that the ‘old sage’ is an unrealistic ideal, as wisdom gained with age is only apparent.
Kreutzer then investigates the concept of wisdom throughout Hellenistic philosophy. Neither in the philosophical tradition of Epicurus nor in the works of the Stoics Zeno of Citium and Chrysippus of Soli is wisdom particularly associated with age. The idealisation and unattainability of human wisdom, Kreutzer concludes, do not lead to connections between wisdom and age in Greek-Stoic thinking (p. 43).
In the second part of chapter ii Kreutzer draws a map of the broad semantic spectrum of the concept of sapientia in early Latin literature and focuses on Cicero and Seneca. She analyses Cicero's sapientia as practical-political cleverness in De orator and letters and as a theoretical concept in his philosophical works. Cicero's investigation of the concept of old age in De senectute and De officiis points out a clear dichotomy between ‘young’ and ‘old’, and the generally positive image of the ‘old wise’. Notwithstanding, the dignity of old age established by sapientia is not a matter of course, but a precious good (p. 89).
Kreutzer later investigates Seneca's letters and draws connections between Cicero and late antiquity. By reducing the concept of sapientia to the philosophical field, Seneca paves the way for the triumph of the Stoic definition of wisdom: as a philosophical ideal of the art of living, wisdom is less the result of intensive study, but is rather based on a world ruled by the gods (p. 103). Seneca's letters, De brevitate vitae and De vita beata are also taken into account to highlight the multifaceted, not always positive, connotation of old age and its relationship to wisdom.
The third part of chapter ii deals with wisdom and old age in the Old Testament, where true wisdom is not attainable by man alone, but is instead bestowed by God, and old age is either positive or negative according to context. In the New Testament, Paul (First Letter to the Corinthians) and James adopt and emphasise the Platonic-philosophical and Jewish-based distinction between human and divine wisdom so that a Weisheitsdualismus arises, serving as the basis for the religious disputes between Judaism, paganism and Christianity (p. 129). Kreutzer concludes that the topos of link between old age and wisdom does not exist in the New Testament, since Christ is identified with the Old Testament's divine wisdom.
Entering late antiquity, the third chapter (pp. 136–308) is dedicated to the concept of wisdom and old age in Ambrose. Through an in-depth analysis of Ambrose's exegetical, moral works and letters, Kreutzer explains how the Ambrosian concept of sapientia feeds on numerous different philosophical currents – Plato, Plotinus and Cicero – and theological models. Ambrose builds his own Christianised notion of sapientia in different ways depending on the context and his intentions. Kreutzer depicts Ambrose as a master of syncretism as regards the triplex sapientia, the stoic vita beata and the philosophical-Ciceronian cardinal virtues or the allegorical interpretation of the Bible. Likewise, Ambrose's traditional images of old age confirm on the one hand the longevity of the literary topoi – so as the puer-senex – and on the other reflect his own Christian worldview. Ambrose therefore becomes representative of the entire epoch and exerts influence on Augustine and Paulinus.
The analysis of Paulinus' letters and carmina constitutes the fourth and final chapter of the book (pp. 309–461). Paulinus' Christian sapientia is detached from any theoretical and philosophical striving for wisdom and from topoi of life experience such as knowledge, education and age, hence it loses its earthly reference and becomes a vehicle to eternal life. Old age hardly plays a significant role in the attainment of Paulinus' wisdom, while sapientia is still a positive descriptive feature of the senectus, particularly in the context of the aetas spiritales and the puer-senex-motif.
In the conclusion (pp. 462–6), approaching the remarks of Homeyer (‘Zur Bedeutungsgeschichte von sapientia’, L'Antiquité classique xxv [1956], 301–18), Kreutzer highlights the tension between pagan education and the biblical ideas of fourth-fifth century Christianity. Ambrose, Paulinus and Augustine adopted the biblical wisdom motif by taking up the connection between Old Testament wisdom and Christ and identifying divine wisdom with Christ. Kreutzer's study adopts a strong, effective diachronic perspective and places late ancient discourses in the broader context of the history of ideas. Her work fits into today's renewed debate concerning tradition and innovation in late antique philosophical and moral thought and fills a void in today's research, in particular regarding Paulinus.
