His epithet "the Younger" distinguishes him from his great-grandfather, Cato the Elder. Novels: Cato is a major character in several novels of Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series. Cato was born in 95 BC in Rome, the son of Marcus Porcius Cato and his wife, Livia. At the end of the year, Cato stepped down from his quaestorship amid popular acclaim, but he never ceased to keep an eye on the treasury, always looking for irregularities. Reference to Cato as "Uticensis" is presumably meant to glorify him by portraying his suicide at Utica as a great victory over Caesar's tyranny.[4][5]. Badian, E. "M. Porcius Cato and the Annexation and Early Administration of Cyprus". Marcus Porcius Cato ("the Younger") is most famous for being Julius Caesar's nemesis. Caesar made numerous attempts to negotiate, at one point even conceding to give up all but one of his provinces and legions, allowing him to retain his immunity while diminishing his authority. In 63 BC, he was elected tribune of the plebs for the following year, and assisted the consul, Marcus Tullius Cicero, in dealing with the Catiline conspiracy. Mi. Only Cato's untainted reputation saved him from charges of embezzlement. Plutarch specifically mentions the accounts of Cato's close friend Munatius Rufus and the later Neronian senator Thrasea Paetus as references used for parts of his biography of Cato. In 49 BC, he famously crossed the Rubicon River and headed for Rome to seize power. Whilst it was not particularly safe to praise Cato, Augustus did tolerate and appreciate Cato. He is portrayed as a stubborn alcoholic with strong moral values, though he is prepared to transgress these beliefs if it means the destruction of his mortal enemy, Caesar. Nadig, Peter. Plutarch wrote: Cato did not immediately die of the wound; but struggling, fell off the bed, and throwing down a little mathematical table that stood by, made such a noise that the servants, hearing it, cried out. All of them nodded and smiled except Cato, who stared at the guest suspiciously. As a leading spokesman for the Optimate cause, Cato stood against them all in defense of the traditional privileges of the aristocracy. Whilst one might argue that heaping posthumous praise on Cato highlights one's opposition to the new shape of Rome without directly challenging Augustus, it was actually later generations who were more able to embrace the role model of Cato without the fear of prosecution. Joseph Addison's play Cato, a Tragedy, first staged on April 14, 1713, celebrated Cato as a martyr to the republican cause. The syndicate's winning bid was far greater than the syndicate was able to recoup through the tax collection. Cato took the paper from his hands and read it, discovering that it was a love letter from Caesar's mistress Servilia, Cato's half-sister. Caesar eventually got the job, but while in office, Cato vexed him more than any other senator. Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick refers to Cato in the first paragraph: "With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship." Portuguese Romantic poet Almeida Garrett wrote a tragedy titled Catão (Cato), featuring the last days of Cato's life and his struggle against Julius Caesar, a fight between virtue (Cato) and vice (Caesar), democracy (Cato) and tyranny (Caesar). Plutarch, later named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus, c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia. Plutarch recounts a few other stories as well. Marcus Tullius Cicero was one. Cato the Younger Written 75 A.C.E. Certainly under Nero, the resurgence of republican ambitions with Cato as their ideal, ended in death for such figures as Seneca and Lucan, but Cato continued nevertheless as a righteous ideal for generations to come. This was entirely for philosophical reasons; his inheritance would have permitted him to live comfortably. Lawrence W. Reed is FEE's President Emeritus, Humphreys Family Senior Fellow, and Ron Manners Global Ambassador for Liberty, having served for nearly 11 years as FEE’s president (2008-2019). Incensed, Cato threatened to sue for her hand, but his friends mollified him, and Cato was contented to compose Archilochian iambics against Scipio in consolation. He was noted for his conservative and anti-Hellenic policies, in opposition to the phil-Hellenic ideals of the Scipio family. Cato was lionized during the republican revolutions of the Enlightenment. I’m Not There: Cato the Younger in the Writings of Tacitus In the spring of 46 B.C.E., Julius Caesar (100–44 B.C.E.) Poetry: Cato appears as a character in Dante's Purgatorio. So in April 46 BC in Utica, using his own sword to do the deed, Cato committed suicide rather than live under the thumb of the man whose power lust was about to extinguish the old republic. Cato accepted the loss, but refused to run a second time. Sallust also wrote a comparison between Cato and Caesar. Eventually, Bibulus confined himself to his home and pronounced unfavorable omens in an attempt to lay the legal groundwork for the later repeal of Caesar’s consular acts. It wasn’t a libertarian paradise — slavery was a part of its makeup, as it was even more brutal everywhere else — but Rome had taken liberty to a zenith the world had never seen before and wouldn’t see again for a long time after it finally fell. Roman political leader. For the wife of Marphadates was named Psyche (soul). Please do not edit the piece, ensure that you attribute the author and mention that this article was originally published on FEE.org. Plays: In 1712, Joseph Addison wrote his most famous work of fiction, a play titled Cato, a Tragedy. According to Plutarch, Cato attempted to kill himself by stabbing himself with his own sword, but failed to do so due to an injured hand. Cato was four when his uncle was assassinated in 91 BC, an event which helped to spark the Social War. In Canto I, Dante writes of Cato: He is one of the two pagans presented by Dante as saved souls encountered in Purgatorio, the other being Statius (Cantos XX-XXII). He went out of his way to hold previous quaestors accountable for their dishonesty and misappropriation of funds, which he himself uncovered. Sallust also draws on the archaic language of Cato, and the typical features of Sallustian style—namely inconcinnitas, a lack of parallelism—appear to be derived from Cato’s work. After Cato's death, both pro- and anti-Cato treatises appeared; among them Cicero wrote a panegyric, entitled Cato, to which Caesar, who never forgave him for all the obstructions, answered with his Anti-Cato. Mi. Due to Pompey's enormous popularity, the senate was willing to oblige Pompey at first, but Cato intervened and convinced the senate to force Pompey to choose. In the 2002 miniseries Julius Caesar, Cato as played by Christopher Walken is depicted as much older than he was, seen as a major figure in the senate when Caesar is just a young man, although Caesar was five years older than Cato. While Cato was in service in Macedon, he received the news that his beloved brother Caepio, from whom he was nearly inseparable, was dying in Thrace. CATO On Farming Preface Trading can sometimes bring success, but it is insecure; so can money-lending, but that is not respectable. [11], Plutarch wrote that, on hearing of his death in Utica, Caesar commented, "Cato, I grudge you your death, as you would have grudged me the preservation of your life. Cicero stands out amongst other Romans in Plutarch’s Lives alongside Cato the Younger, ... Their writings echo throughout history and affect the predispositions and ideals of thinkers over a thousand years later. His website is www.lawrencewreed.com. First, in 62 BC, Pompey returned from his Asian campaign with two ambitions: to celebrate a Triumph and to become consul for the second time. "[12], Starting with Pliny the Elder, later writers sometimes refer to Cato the Younger as "Cato Uticensis" ("the Utican"). Lucan, writing under Nero, also made Cato the hero of the later books of his epic Pharsalia. Od. He is author of the 2020 book, Was Jesus a Socialist? Cato, who upheld the strong traditional Roman principles, was remembered particularly well. Find a Portuguese translation of this article here. Lawrence W. Reed is FEE's President Emeritus, Humphreys Family Senior Fellow, and Ron Manners Global Ambassador for Liberty, having served for nearly 11 years as FEE’s president (2008-2019). Cato's garrison was insufficient to withstand a force of this magnitude; he abandoned the island and went to Greece to join Pompey. But when he did appear in the forum, his speeches and rhetorical skills were most admired. ", Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the Roman dictator, liked to talk with Cato and his brother Caepio, and often requested the child's presence even when the boy openly defied his opinions and policies in public. George Washington ordered it performed for his bedraggled troops at Valley Forge during the awful winter of 1777–78. He saw in the ambitious, power-hungry general a mortal threat to the republic and tried to block his every move. In Rome’s Last Citizen: The Life and Legacy of Cato, Caesar’s Mortal Enemy, authors Rob Goodman and Jimmy Soni underscore Cato’s implacable resistance: It had been an unprecedented year of obstruction and deadlock, all spearheaded by Cato. 95-46 B.C. Marcus Porcius Cato, or “Cato the Younger,” was the other. Translated by John Dryden The Comparison of Alcibiades with Coriolanus Written 75 A.C.E. He flourished during the reign of the Emperor Trajan and is best … Cato’s stand against Caesar made him a hero to those who glorified the Roman Republic and its ideals, especially after his death. Other Imperial authors, such as Horace, the Tiberian authors Velleius Paterculus and Valerius Maximus along with Lucan and Seneca in the 1st century AD, and later authors, such as Appian and Dio, celebrated the historical importance of Cato the Younger in their own writings. With Cicero’s death three years later under the orders of Caesar’s successor, Marc Antony, the Republic died and the dictatorship of the empire commenced. He is often remembered for his hostility to Greek learning, but he is also considered the virtual founder of Roman historiography, oratory, and Latin prose in general. Cato was just five years of age when Rome went to war with its former allies in the Italian peninsula — the so-called “Social War.” Though the conflict lasted just two years, its deleterious effects were huge. Cato was born in Tusculum, an old Latin town tucked away in the Alban Hills roughly ten miles away from Rome, into an upcoming plebeian family. Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis (/ ˈ k eɪ t oʊ /; 95 BC – April 46 BC), commonly known as Cato the Younger (Cato Minor) to distinguish him from his great-grandfather (Cato the Elder), was a statesman in the late Roman Republic, and a follower of the Stoic philosophy. Caesar, Cato's long-time rival, was praised for his mercy, compassion, and generosity, and Cato, for his discipline, rigidity, and moral integrity. Cato was sent to Sicily to secure control of the grain supply. The statue was begun by Jean-Baptiste Roman (Paris, 1792 - 1835) using white Carrara marble. Plutarch, Cato the Younger Bernadotte Perrin, Ed. He would not recognize a tyrant’s legitimacy by accepting his power to save. And thankfully, it did. Many of the Optimates at this time had been Sulla's personal friends, whom Cato had despised since his youth, yet Cato attempted to make his name by returning his faction to its pure republican roots. He thought about every unexpected event, even to tying ropes to the coffers with a big piece of cork on the other end, so they could be located in the event of a shipwreck. Hide browse bar Your current position in the text is marked in blue. Cato the Elder was the great grandfather of the younger. Later, Cato was married to a woman called Atilia. Marcus Porcius Cato, byname Cato The Censor, or Cato The Elder, (born 234 bc, Tusculum, Latium [Italy]—died 149), Roman statesman, orator, and the first Latin prose writer of importance. It was a time of political turmoil, when popular figures like Publius Clodius Pulcher tried to advance the cause of the common people of Rome, going so far as abandoning his patrician status to become a plebeian. He began to live in a very modest way, as his great-grandfather Marcus Porcius Cato the Elder had famously done. Cato's Letters were written in the early 18th century on the topic of republicanism, using Cato as a pseudonym. 9.1", "denarius") All ... he was satirized in such writings as these: On the morrow Cato journeys,—after a good round thirty days; and, Marphadates and Porcius, two friends with but a single Soul. Unfortunately, luck played him a trick. When Clodius passed legislation conferring the commission on Cato "though ever so unwillingly," Cato accepted the position in compliance with the law. A noted orator and a follower of the Stoic philosophy, he is remembered for his stubbornness and tenacity (especially in his lengthy conflict with Julius Caesar), as well as his immunity to bribes, his moral integrity, and his famous distaste for the ubiquitous corruption of the period. My parents saw fit … “Furthermore, I consider that Carthage must be destroyed” (Cato was not present during the battle, Pompey had left him in command of Dyrrhachium[10]). In the estimations of many historians, two men hold the honor as the most notable defenders of the Roman Republic. He is about to kill himself while reading the Phaedo, a dialogue of Plato which details the death of Socrates. It is this second one to whom I refer in the balance of this essay as simply “Cato.”. More than 17 centuries later, in April 1713, Joseph Addison’s play Cato: A Tragedy debuted in London. Caesar, after a delay in Egypt, pursued Cato and Metellus Scipio. Caesar even ordered Cato dragged from the Senate in the middle of one of his orations, whereupon another senator declared, according to historian Cassius Dio, that he “would rather be in jail with Cato than in the Senate with Caesar.”. Revered statesman and soldier, Cato the Elder was the first important writer in Latin prose. was in haste to reach the city of Utica. Cato appears in the Purgatorio not as a "saved" soul, but as one who will receive special compensation on the Day of Judgment. The Stoics, from at least the time of Chrysippusonward, taught that the wise man should engage in politics if nothing prevents him. Never before had a senator brought forth such a range of legislation to the same dead halt in a matter of months. 72.2, Diogenes Laertius, Lives and Opinions, 7.1.121, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire, http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Cato_Minor*.html, "Cato’s Speech on Stoic Philosophy from Lucan’s The Civil War", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cato_the_Younger&oldid=1007009527, Ancient Roman politicians who committed suicide, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles lacking in-text citations from July 2011, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2013, Articles needing additional references from April 2015, All articles needing additional references, Articles with Encyclopædia Britannica links, Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers, Wikipedia articles with CANTIC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, 63 BC: Tribune of the Plebs; Cato passes corn dole, 55 BC: unsuccessful 1st run for praetorship. Cat. He is not "in" Purgatory, but on the shores of "The High Mount," or part of ante-purgatory. In contrast, Cato argued that capital punishment was necessary to deter treason and that it was folly to await the ultimate test of the conspirators' guilt—the overthrow of the state—because the very proof of their guilt would make it impossible to enforce the laws. When faced with the same request from Caesar, Cato used the device of filibuster, speaking continuously until nightfall, to prevent the senate from voting on the issue of whether or not Caesar would be allowed to stand for consul in absentia. Sarpedon, his teacher, reports a very obedient and questioning child, although slow in being persuaded of things and sometimes very difficult to retrain. Cato appeared to have two major goals in Cyprus. Caesar chose to forgo the Triumph and entered Rome in time to register as a candidate in the 59 BC election, which he won. Cato the Younger (95–46 BCE in Latin, Cato Uticensis and also known as Marcus Porcius Cato) was a pivotal figure in Rome during the first century BCE. Sarpedon's answer was thus: "They fear him, my child, more than they hate him." Cato was known to drink wine generously.[3]. Use Entities Finder to find relationships between entities, things, concepts and people. Early life. Cato the Younger Nov. 16, 2011 original A statue of Cato the Younger. Cato the Elder (Marcus Porcius Cato) lived from 234-149 BCE.He was a speaker, politician, and Roman writer. In a playful mood, he asked the children's support for his cause. He appears as a major character in Robert Harris' Imperium and Lustrum novels, appearing as a heroic guardian of republican virtues, foreseeing Caesar's aggregation of power as perilous for the long-term stability of Rome. Through his superb oratory in public and deft maneuverings in private, he worked tirelessly to restore fealty to the ideals of the fading Republic. His work ‘On Agriculture’ is famed for its direct, wise and grimly humorous style, providing a valuable insight of a contemporary farmer’s work, as well as interesting details of Roman domestic life. Cato saw the ambitious, power-hungry Julius Caesar as a mortal threat to the Republic. After divorcing Atilia, Cato married Marcia, daughter of Lucius Marcius Philippus, who bore him two or three children. A talented commander, administrator and statesman. In order to achieve both goals, he asked the senate to postpone consular elections until after his Triumph. Rather he sought to save the life of Cato the Younger (95–46 It was a tactic he hoped would be temporary, but it ultimately failed, becoming the only blot on an otherwise virtuous and principled public career. In 184, Cato became censor; afterwards, he became a most authoritative presence in the Senate and remained active until the year of his death (149 BCE). Cato replied to this, "Give me a sword, that I might free my country from slavery." Caesar offered it up to Cato to read. However, there was one Roman living during the time of Julius Caesar who perfectly embodied the Stoic ideal of a virtuous life: Cato the Younger. Plutarch, Cato the Younger Bernadotte Perrin, Ed. According to Plutarch, Cato ultimately raised the enormous sum of 7,000 talents of silver for the Roman treasury. Translated by John Dryden Cimon Written 75 A.C.E. Before the age of 30, Cato had become a supremely disciplined individual, a devotee of Stoicism in every respect. Plutarch was a Greek biographer, magistrate, and priest of Apollo, who took the Roman name Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus. Thus Caesar was forced to choose between a Triumph or a run for the consulship. On the condition that Marcia's father consented to the match, Cato agreed to divorce Marcia, who then married Hortensius. ("Agamemnon", "Hom. His parents died when he was young, and he was cared for by his maternal uncle, Marcus Livius Drusus, who also looked after Cato's sister Porcia, half-brother Gnaeus Servilius Caepio,[1] and two half-sisters Servilia Major, and Servilia Minor. On his return to Rome in 65 BC, Cato was elected to the position of quaestor. 9.1", "denarius") All Search Options [view abbreviations] Home Collections/Texts Perseus Catalog Research Grants Open Source About Help. Memorable Quotes Cato, who upheld the strong traditional Roman principles, was remembered particularly well. Cato was first engaged to Aemilia Lepida, a patrician woman, but she was married instead to Quintus Caecilius Metellus Scipio, to whom she had been betrothed. The first was to enact his foreign policy ideals, which, as expressed in a letter to Cicero, called for a policy of "mildness" and "uprightness" for governors of Roman-controlled territories. He was strict in discipline and punishment but was nonetheless loved by his legionaries. A defender of the Roman Republic , he forcefully opposed Julius Caesar and was known as the highly moral, incorruptible, inflexible supporter of … Later he served in the Roman Senate, where he never missed a session and criticized other senators who did. Based on the last days of Cato the Younger, it deals with such themes as individual liberty vs. government tyranny, republicanism vs. monarchism, logic vs. emotion and Cato's personal struggle to cleave to his beliefs in the face of death. Cato subjected himself to violent exercise, and learned to endure cold and rain with a minimum of clothes. According to Plutarch, at one point during the height of the civil strife, as respected Roman nobles were being led to execution from Sulla's villa, Cato, aged about 14, asked his tutor why no one had yet killed the dictator. In February 46 BC the outnumbered Caesarian legions defeated the army led by Metellus Scipio at the Battle of Thapsus. Lucius Sergius Catilina, a noble patrician, led a rebellion against the state, raising an army in Etruria. CATO THE YOUNGER. Pompey gained influence over the legions of Rome through Crassus and Caesar. With the tacit support of Pompey, Cato successfully passed a resolution ending Caesar's proconsular command. Cato is remembered as a follower of Stoicism and was one of the most active defenders of the Republic. Translated by John Dryden Cleomenes Written 75 A.C.E. One night, as some children were playing a game in a side room of a house during a social event, they were having a mock trial with judges and accusers as well as a defendant. As Cato saw it, Caesar broke the law even in offering pardons, because he offered them on no authority but his own. [13] Cato's high moral standards and incorruptible virtue gained him several followers—of whom Marcus Favonius was the most well known—as well as praise even from his political enemies, such as Sallust—one of our sources for the anecdote about Caesar and Cato's sister.
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