mostly Greeks, and therefore unfit to be trusted with
Roman lives, inasmuch as all Greeks looked upon
His resistance to luxury continued.
Roman lives, inasmuch as all Greeks looked upon
His resistance to luxury continued.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - a
Scipio served together under Glabrio,
Macedonia, we soon find Sempronius in Cisalpine or that the words “cum Scipione," as some critica
Gaul (Liv. xxxiv. 43, 46), and in B. c. 193, we have thought, are an interpolation.
find Cato at Rome dedicating to Victoria Virgo a In B. c. 189, M. Fulvius Nobilior, the consul,
small temple which he had vowed two years before. obtained Aetolia as his province, and Cato was
(Liv. xxxv. 9. )
sent thither after him, as we learn from an extract
The military career of Cato was not yet ended. (preserved by Festus, s. v. Oratores), from his
In B. C. 191, he was appointed military tribune speech “ de suis Virtutibus contra Thermum. " It
(or legatus ? Liv. xxxvi. 17, 21), under the con- seems that his legation was rather civil than mili-
sul M'. Acilius Glabrio, who was despatched to tary, and that he was sent to confer with Fulvius
Greece to oppose the invasion of Antiochus the on the petition of the Aetolians, who were placed
Great, king of Syria. In the decisive battle of in an unfortunate situation, not sufficiently pro-
Thermopylae, which led to the downfall of Antio- tected by Rome if they maintained their fidelity,
chus, Cato behaved with his wonted valour, and en- and yet punished if they were induced to assist her
joyed the good fortune which usually waits upon enemies.
genius. By a daring and difficult advance, he sur- We have seen Cato in the character of an emi-
prised and dislodged a body of the enemy's Aeto- nent and able soldier: we have now to observe him
lian auxiliaries, who were posted upon the Calli- in the character of an active and leading citizen.
dromus, the highest summit of the range of Oeta. If Cato were in B. c. 190 with L. Scipio Asiaticus
He then commenced a sudden descent from the (as Cicero seems to have imagined), and in B. c
hills above the royal camp, and the panic occasioned 189 in Aetolia with Fulvius, he must still have
by this unexpected movement at once turned the passed a portion of those years in Rome. We find
day in favour of the Romans. After the action, him in B. c. 190 most strenuous in resisting the
the general embraced Cato with the utmost warmth, claims of Q. Minucius Thermus to a triumph.
and ascribed to him the whole credit of the victory. Thermus had been displaced by Cato in the com-
This fact rests on the authority of Cato himself, mand of Citerior Spain, and was afterwards en-
who, like Cicero, often indu in the babit, offen- in repressing the incursions of the Ligurians,
sive to modern taste, of sounding his own praises. whom he reduced to submission, and now demanded
After an interval spent in the pursuit of Antiochus a triumph as his reward. Cato accused him of
and the pacification of Greece, Cato was despatched fabricating battles and exaggerating the numbers of
to Rome by the consul Glabrio to announce the the enemy slain in real engagements, and declaimed
successful result of the campaign, and he performed against his cruel and ignominious execution of ten
his journey with such celerity that he had com- magistrates (decemviri) of the Boian Gauls, with-
menced his report in the senate before the arrival of out even the forms of justice, on the pretext that
L. Scipio, (the subsequent conqueror of Antiochus,) | they were dilatory in furnishing the required sup
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CATO.
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plies. (Gell. xii. 24, x. 3. ) Cato's opposition was lior. He was loud in his promises or threats of
successful; but the passage of Festus already re- reform, and declared that, if invested with power,
ferred to shews that, after his return from Aetolia he would not belie the professions of his past life.
in 189, he had to defend his own conduct against The dread of his success alarmed all his personal
Thermus, who was tribune B. c. 189, and died in enemies, all who were notorious for their luxury,
battle, B. C. 188.
and all who derived profit from the mismanage-
In B. c. 189, Cato and bis old friend L. Valerius ment of the public finances. Notwithstanding
Flaccus were among the candidates for the censor- the combined opposition of the six other candi-
ship, and, among their competitors, was their dates, he obtained the censorsliip, B. c. 184, bring-
former general M°. Acilius Glabrio. Glabrio, who ing in by his own influcnce L. Valerius Flaccus
did not possess the advantage of nobility, deter- as his colleague.
mined to try what the influence of money could This was a great epoch in Cato's life. He ap-
effect. In order to counteract his endeavours, he plied himself strenuously to the duties of his office,
was met by an accusation of having applied the regardless of the enemies he was making. He
treasures of Antiochus to his own use, and was ul- repaired the watercourses, paved the reservoirs,
timately obliged to retire from the contest. Cato cleansed the drains, destroyed the communications
was active in promoting the opposition to his old by which private individuals illegally drew off the
general, and declared that he had seen vessels of public water to supply their dwellings and irrigate
gold and silver among the royal booty in the camp, their gardens, raised the rents paid by the publi-
but had not seen them displayed in the parade of cani for the farm of the taxes, and diminished the
Glabrio's triumph. Neither Cato nor Flaccus was contract prices paid by the state to the undertakers
elected. The choice fell upon two of the opposite of public works. It may be doubted whether he
party, T. Flamininus and M. Marcellus.
did not go too far in his reforms, from considering
Cato was not to be daunted by a failure. In rather the cheapness of an offer than the security
B. C. 187, M. Fulvius Nobilior returned from which was afforded by the character and circum-
Aetolia, and sought the honour of a triumph. stances of the applicant; but there can be no doubt
Again, Cato' was found at his post of opposition. that great abuses existed, with which nothing but
Fulvius was indulgent to his soldiers. He was a the undaunted courage and extraordinary adminis-
man of literary taste, and patronized Ennius, who trative faculties of Cato could have successfully
was his companion in hours not devoted to military grappled. He was disturbing a nest of hornets,
duty. All this was repugnant to the old Roman and all his future life was troubled by their buzz
principles of Cato, who, among other charges, and their attempts to sting. After his censorship,
found fault with Fulvius for keeping poets in his he was prosecuted by some of the tribunes, at the
camp (Cic. Tusc. i. 2), and impairing military dis- instigation of T. Flamininus, for misconduct in
cipline, by giving crowns to his soldiers for such this department of his office, and condemned to
mighty services as digging a well with spirit, or pay a fine of two talents (Plut. Cat. Maj. 10), or in
valorously throwing up a mound. (Gell. v. 6. ) | Roman money 12,000 asses. Though he was ac-
Again, Cato was unsuccessful, and Fulvius ob-cused no fewer than forty-four times during the
tained the triumph he sought for.
course of his life, this is the only recorded in-
When P. Scipio Africanus was charged with stance in which his enemies prevailed against him.
having received sums of money from Antiochus, The provisions against luxury, contained in his
which had not been duly accounted for to the censorial edict, were severe and stringent. He
state, and with having allowed the unfortunate directed unauthorized statues erected to the ha
monarch to come off too leniently, Cato is said nour of unworthy men to be removed from the
to have been the instigator of the accusation. public places, and declaimed against the uncere-
(Liv. xxxviii. 51. ) Every one has read how the monious indecency and want of religious feeling
proud conqueror of Africa tore with bis own
with which the images of gods taken from the
hands the books of account which his brother temples of conquered countries were used, like
Lucius was producing to the senate ; and how, on ordinary household furniture, to ornament the
the day of his own trial, he bade the people fol- mansions of the nobles.
In the lustral census,
low hiin from the rostra to the Capitol to return young slaves, purchased at 10,000 asses and up-
thanks to the immortal gods on the anniversary of wards, were valued at ten times their cost, and
the battle of Zama. Unused to submit to ques. then taxed, upon this fictitious value at the rate of
tion, and conscious of his great benefits to the three, instead of one, per 1000-a circuitous mode
state, he deemed himself almost above the law. of imposing a rate of three per cent. The same
Though Cato devolved upon others the obloquy of course was pursued in rating the dress, furniture,
accusing Africanus, he hesitated not openly to and equipage of the women, when their real value
speak in favour of a proposition which was calcu- amounted to 15,000 asses. (Liv. xxxix. 44. )
lated to prepare the way for the successful prose Whether or not the rating were anciently or
cution of a similar charge against L. Scipio Asia- usually confined to res mancipi, such was clearly
ticus. By his influence a plebiscitum was carried, not the case upon the present occasion. In the
referring it to the senate to appoint a commissioner exercise of the tremendous power of the nota cen-
to inquire into the charge concerning the money soria, he was equally uncompromising. He most
of Antiochus. The result was, that Lucius and justly degraded from the senate L. Quintius Fla-
others were condemned. As to the dates and de- mininus (the brother of Titus, his former success-
tails of these transactions, there is the utmost ful opponent in the canvas for the censorship), for
variance in the early authorities. (Scipio. ) having committed (whatever version of the story
Cato was now again a candidate for the censor- we accept) an act of the most abominable cruelty,
ship, with his old friend L. Valerius Flaccus and accompanied by circumstances of the most disgust-
six others, ainong whom were the patricians P. ing profligacy (Liv. xxxix. 42, 43; Plut. Cat. Maj. 17;
and L. Scipio, and the plebeian L. Fulvius Nobi-Cic. Scncct. 12); yet such was already the low
## p. 641 (#661) ############################################
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641
CATO.
state of morals at Rome, that a mob could be pro- I at a high arbitrary commutation, and then forced the
cured to invite the degraded wretch to resume his provincial farmers to supply the Romans with cori
former place at the theatre in the seats allotted to at a greatly reduced price. When the Spanish depu-
the consulars. He degraded Manilius, a man of ties came to Rome, B. c. 171, to complain of such
praetorian rank, for having kissed his wife in his unjust exaction, Cato was chosen advocate of his
daughter's presence in open day. Whether Cato's former province, Citerior Spain, and conducted the
strange statement as to his own practice (Plut. prosecution with such spirit as to draw down upon
Cato, 17) is to be taken as a hyperbolical recom- himself powerful enmity, although the guilty go-
mendation of decent reserve, or to be explained as vernors, M. Matienus and P. Furius Philus, es-
Balzac (cited by Bayle, s. v. Porcius) explains it, caped condemnation by voluntary exile. (Liv.
we cannot stop to inquire. He degraded L. Na- xliii. 2. )
sica (or, as some conjecturally read, L. Porcius Again, when the Rhodians besought the senate
Laecn) for an unscasonable and irreverent joke in not to punish the whole island for the unauthorized
answer to a solemn question. (Cic. de Orat. ii. acts of a few factious individuals, on the charge of
61. ) In order to detect that celibacy which it general disaffection towards the Roman arms in the
was the duty of the censors to put an end to or to wars with Antiochus and Persens, Cato pleaded
punish, men of marriageable age were asked, the cause of Rhodes before the senate in an able
“ Ex tui animi sententia, tu uxorem habes ? " and effective speech. The minute and artificial cri-
“Non hercule,” was the answer of L. Nasica, ticisms of Tiro, the freedman of Cicero, upon parts
“ ex mei animi sententia. " At the muster of the of this speech, are reported and refuted by Gellius
knights, he deprived L. Scipio Asiaticus of his (vii. 3). Cicero himself speaking by the mouth of
horse for having accepted the bribes of Antiochus. Atticus (Brutus, 85), was scarcely able sufficiently
L. Scipio was a senator, but senators, not beyond to appreciate the sturdy, rugged, sententious, pas-
the age of service, still retained the public horse sionate, racy, oratory of Cato. It was tinged with
of the knight, and took their place at the muster. some affectations of striking expressions --- with
(Dict. Ant. s. v. Equites. ) He deprived L. Vetu- quaintnesses, vulgarisms, archaisnis, and neologisms,
rius of his horse for having omitted a stated sacri- but it told—it worked-it came home to men's
fice, and for having grown too corpulent to be of business and bosoms. If we may judge of Cato
use in battle. (Fest. s. v. Stata. ) Several others by his fragments, he possessed the living fiery
he degraded and deprived of their horses, and, not spirit and intense earnestness of Demosthenes,
content with this, be publicly exposed, with bitter without the elevation of thought, the harmony of
vchemence, the vices of his victims.
language, and the perfection of form which crowned
It does not appear that, in the exercise of the the eloquence of the Athenian.
theoretically exorbitant and anomalous power of The strong national prejudices of Cato appear to
the censorship, Cato acted unfairly, although per- have diminished in force as he grew older and
sonal motives and private enmities or party dis- wiser. He applied himself in old age to the study
likes may sometimes have conspired with his of Greek literature, with which in youth he had
views of political and moral duty.
no acquaintance, although he was not ignorant of
The remarkable censorship of Cato was rewarded the Greek language. Himself an historian and
by a public statue, with a commemorative and orator, the excellences of Demosthenes and Thucy-
laudatory inscription.
dides made a deep impression upon his kindred
Henceforward the public life of Cato was spent mind. In many important cases, however, through-
chiefly in forensic contests, senatorial debates, and out his life, his conduct was guided by prejudices
speeches to the people. The fragments of his against classes and nations, whose influence he
orations shew his unceasing activity, and the gene- deemed to be hostile to the simplicity of the old
ral consistency of his career. He pursued his po Roman character. It is likely that he had some
litical opponents with relentless animosity, for with part in the senatusconsultum which, upon the ap-
him, true Italian as he was, revenge was a virtne. pearance of Eumenes, king of Pergamus, at Brun-
In his own words, the most honourable obsequies disium, B. c. 166, forbade kings to enter Rome, for
which a son could pay to the memory of his father when Eumenes, upon his former visit, after the war
were the condemnation and tears of that father's with Antiochus, was received with honour by the
foes. With greenish-gray eyes and sandy hair, an senate, and splendidly entertained by the nobles,
iron frame, and a stentorian voice, he gave utterance Cato was indignant at the respect paid to the mo-
to such bitter invectives as to provoke the pungent narch, refused to go near him, and declared that,
Greek epigram recorded by Plutarch. (Cato, 1) “ kings were naturally carnivorous animals. " He
Πυρρον, πανδακέτην, γλαυκόμματον, ουδε θανόντα
had an antipathy to physicians, because they were
Πόρκιον εις αίδην Περσεφόνη δέχεται.
mostly Greeks, and therefore unfit to be trusted with
Roman lives, inasmuch as all Greeks looked upon
His resistance to luxury continued. In B. C. the barbarians, including the Romans, as natural
181, he urged the adoption of the Lex Orchia for enemies. He loudly cautioned his eldest son against
restricting the number of guests at banquets. In physicians, and dispensed with their attendance. He
B. C. 169 (according to Cicero, Senect. 5, or several was not a bad physician himself in recommending as
years earlier, according to the epitomizer of Livy a peculiarly salutary diet, ducks, geese, pigeons, and
Epit. xli. ) he supported the proposal of the Lex hares, though hares, he tells us, are apt to produce
Voconia, the provisions of which were calculated to dreams. With all his antipathy, there is no ground
prevent the accumulation of wealth in the hands of in ancient authors for the often-repeated statement
that he carried a law for the expulsion of physi
In some questions of foreign policy we find him cians from the city. When Athens sent Carneades,
taking the side of the oppressed. The proconsular Diogenes, and Critolaus to Rome in order to negir
governors of both Spains compelled the provincial tiate a remission of the 500 talents which the
inhabitants to pay their corn-assessments in money | Athenians had been awarded to pay by way of
66
women.
2 T
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CATO.
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66
compormation to the Oropians, Carneades excited | against the claim of Masinissa to part of their
great attention by his philosophical conversation dominions. Scipio Nasica thought that no casus
and lectures, in which he preached the pemicious belli had arisen, and it was arranged that an em-
doctrine of an expediency distinct from justice, and bassy should be sent to Africa to gain information
illustrated his doctrine by touching on a dangerous as to the real state of affairs. When the ten de-
and delicate subject-- the example of Rome herself. puties, of whom Cato was one, came to the dis-
If Rome were stript of all that she did not just- puted territory, they offered their arbitration,
ly gain, the Romans might go back to their huts. ” which was accepted by Masinissa, but rejected by
Caio, offended with these principles, and jealous of the Carthaginians, who had no confidence in Ro-
the attention paid to this Greek, gave advice which man justice. The deputies accurately observed
the senate followed—“ Let these deputies have an the warlike preparations, and the defences of the
answer, and a polite dismissal as soon as possible. " | frontier. They then entered the city, and saw
Upon the conquest of Perseus, the leading men of the strength and population it had acquired since
the Achaian union, to the number of nearly 1,000, | its conquest by the elder Africanus.
Upon
including the historian Polybius, were brought to their return home, Cato was the foremost in assert-
Rome, B. c. 167, as hostages for the good behaviour ing that Rome would never be safe, as long as
of the Achaians, and, afterwards, without ans Carthage was so powerful, so hostile, and so near.
proof of disaffection, were detained in exile from One day he drew a bunch of early ripe figs from
their country, and distributed among the coloniae beneath his robe, and throwing it upon the floor
and municipia of Italy. When their numbers of the senate-house, said to the assembled fathers,
were reduced to about 300, by an exile of 16 years, who were astonished at the freshness and fineness
the intercession of the younger Africanus, the of the fruit, “ Those figs were gathered but three
friend of Polybius, prevailed with Cato to vote days ago at Carthage ; so close is our enemy to
that they should be permitted to return to their our walls. ” From that time forth, whenever he
country.
The conduct of the old senator-he was was called upon for his vote in the senate, though
now eighty-three-was kinder than his words. He the subject of debate bore no relation to Carthage,
did noi interpose until the end of a long debate, his words were “ I vote that Carthage no longer
and then assented to the proposal on the ground, be," or, according to the more accepted version of
that it was a matter of perfect indifference. “Have Florus (ii. 15) “ Delenda est Carthago. ” Scipio
we nothing better to do than to sit here all day Nasica, on the other hand, thinking that Car-
long debating whether a parcel of worn-out Greeks thage in its weakened state was rather a useful
shall be carried to their graves here or in Achaia ? " check than a formidable rival to Rome, always
When the exiles further besought the senate that voted to “ let Carthage be. ” (Liv. Epit. xlviii.
they might be restored to their former status and | xlix. ; Appian, de Bell. Pun. 69; Plin. H. N. xv.
honours in their own country, Cato intimated that 17. ) This story must appear strange to those who
they were fools for going home, and were much know not that, during the republic, it was a Roman
better off as they were. He said with a smile, custom for senators, when called upon for their
that Polybius was like Ulysses returning to the votes, to express-no matter what the question-
cave of the Cyclops for his hat and sash. The ac- any opinion which they deemed of great import-
tive powers of Cato had been so much more edu- ance to the welfare of the state. (Tac. Ann. ii. 33. )
cated than his affections, that he appears to have In the very last year of his life, Cato took a
been nearly devoid of sympathy with fine and conspicuous part in the righteous but unsuccessful
tender feelings, though some allowance may be prosecution of S. Sulpicius Galba. This perfidious
made for a little assumed ungraciousness of demea general, after the surrender of the Lusitanian
nour, in order to keep up his Catonian character. army, in flagrant breach of faith, put to death
Nowhere in his writings or his speeches do we some of the soldiers, and sold others as slaves in
meet with generous and elevating sentiments. His Gaul, while a few escaped by flight, among whom
strong will and powerful passions of anger and was Viriathus, the future avenger of his nation.
ambition were guided by a keen and cold intellect, | Galba pretended to have discovered that, under
and a practical, utilitarian, common sense.
cover of the surrender, the Lusitanians had con-
Even in the closing years of his protracted life, certed an attack ; but he obtained his acquitul
Cato had no repose. In his 81st year, B. c. 153, chiefly through the compassion excited by the
he was accused by C. Cassius of some capitale theatrical parade his young weeping sons and
crimen (the nature of which is not recorded), and orphan ward. Cato made a powerful speech
defended himself in person with unbroken against Galba, and inserted it in the 7th book of
strength, with unfaltering voice, and with un- his Origines, a few days or months before his
shaken memory. “ How hard it is,” he said, death, B. c. 149, at the age of 85. (Cic. Brutus,
“ for one whose life has been past in a preceding 23. )
generation, to plead his cause before the men of Cato was twice married ; first to Licinia, a lady
the present! ” (Val. Max. viii. 7. § l; Plut. of small property but noble birth, who bore a son,
Cato, 15. )
M. Porcius Cato Licinianus, the jurist, and lived
In the very year before his death, he was one to an advanced age. After her death he secretly
of the chief instigators of the third Punic war. cohabited with a female slave; for, though he was
The anxiety of the senate had been excited by the a faithful husband, and as a widower was anxious
report that a large army, under Ariobarzanes, was to preserve his reputation, the well-known “sen-
assembled on the Carthaginian territory. Cato re- tentia, dia Catonis" proves that he set but little
commended an instant declaration of war against value upon the virtue of chastity. When his
the Carthaginians, on the ground that their real amour was discovered by his son, he determined to
object in procuring the assistance of the Numi- marry again, and chose the young daughter of his
dians was hostility to Rome, although their no- scribe and client, M. Salonius. The way in which
minal object was the defence of their frontier | a patron could command his client, and a father
a
a
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dispose of his daughter, is disagreeably exemplified | He was contemporary with some of the carliest
in Plutarch's graphic account of the interview be writers of eminence in the adolescence of classical
tween Cato and Salonius which decided the match. literature. Naevius died when he was quaestor
The vigorous old man had completed his eightieth under Scipio, Plautus when he was censor. Before
year when Salonia bore him a son, M. Porcius Cato his own death the more cultivated muse of Terence,
Salonianus, the grandfather of Cato of Utica. To who was born in his consulship, had appeared upon
his eldest son he behaved like a good father, and the stage.
took the whole charge of his education. To his
The work De Re Rustica, which we now possess
slaves he was a rigid master. His conduct towards under the name of Cato, is probably substantially
them (if not represented in too dark colours by his, though it is certainly not exacily in the form
Plutarch) was really detestable. The law held in which it proceeded from his pen. It consists of
them to be mere chattels, and he treated them as very miscellaneous materials, relating principally
such, without any regard to the rights of humanity. to domestic and rural economy.
There we may
“ Lingua mali pars pessima servi;" so he taught find rules for libations and sacrifices ; medical pre-
them to be secret and silent. He made them sleep cepts, including the sympathetic cure and the ver-
when they had nothing else to do. In order to bal charm ; a receipt for a cake; the form of a
prevent combination and to govern them the more contract; the description of a tool; the mode of
easily, he intentionally sowed enmities and jealou- rearing garden flowers. The best editions of this
sies between them, and allowed the males to pur- work are those which are contained in the collected
chase out of their peculium the liberty of sexual Scriptores Rei Rusticae of Gesner (Lips. 1773-4)
intercourse with the females of his household. In and Schneider. (Lips. 1794-7. )
their name he bought young slaves, whom they Cato's instructions to his eldest son, published
trained, and then sold at a profit for his benefit. in the form of letters, treated of ious subjects
After supping with his guests, he often severely suited to the education of a Roman youth. They
chastised them with thong in hand for trifling acts were divided into books, which, being quoted by
of negligence, and sometimes condemned them to various names, have been counted as separate trea-
death. When they were worn out and useless, he tises. The Apophthegmatu, for example, may have
sold them or turned them out of doors. He treated formed one of the books of the general collection.
the lower animals no better. His war-horse which Of Cato's instructions to his son a few fragments
bore him through his campaign in Spain, he sold remain, which may be found in H. Alb. Lion's
before he left the country, that the state might Catoniana, Gött. 18:26, a work of small critical
not be charged with the expenses of its transport. merit.
These excesses of a tyrannous and unfeeling nature The fragments of the orations are best given in
shocked no scruples of his own conscience, and met H. Meyer's Oratorum Romanorum Fragmentu,
no reprehension from a public opinion which tole. Turici, 1842.
rated gladiatorial shows. They were only speci- The few passages in the Digest where Cato is
mens of the wholesome strictness of the good old cited are commented upon by Majansius (ad XXX
Sabine paterfamilias. In youth the austerity of JCtos); but it is probable that the citations in the
his life was much greater than in age, and perhaps Digest refer not to the Censor, but to his elder son,
his rigour would have been further relaxed, had he who confined himself more exclusively to jurispru-
not felt that he had a character to keep up, and dence than his father. Other juridical fragments
had not his frugal simplicity been found to conduce of Cato are given by Dirksen in his “ Bruchstücke
to the acquisition of wealth. As years advanced, aus den Schriften der Römischen Juristen,” p. 44, &c.
he sought gain with increasing eagerness; though, Cato, when he was already advanced in life, com-
to his honour be it spoken, in the midst of mani- menced an historical work entitled “ Origines," of
fold temptations, he never attempted to profit by which many fragments have been preserved. It
the misuse of his public functions. He accepted was probably published in parts from time to time
no bribes, he reserved no booty to his own use ; as the several books were completed. Livy (xxxiv.
but, no longer satisfied with the returns of agricul- 5), in a speech which he puts into the mouth of
ture, which varied with the influences of Jupiter, the tribune Valerius during the consulship of Cato,
he became a speculator, not only in slaves, but in makes Valerius quote the Origines in reply to their
buildings, artificial waters, and pleasure-grounds. author; but this is generally thought to be an
The mercantile spirit was strong within him. He anachronism. The first book contained the history
who had been the terror of usurers in Sardinia be of the Roman kings ; the second and third treated
came a lender of money at nautical interest on the of the origin of the Italian towns, and from these
security of commercial ventures, while he endea- two books the whole work derived its title. There
voured to guard against the possibility of loss by re- was a blank in the bistory from the expulsion of
quiring that the risk should be divided, and that his the kings to the commencement of the first Punic
own agent should have a share in the management. war, which formed the subject of the fourth book.
To those who admitted his superiority he was The events of the second Punic war were related
affable and social. His conversation was lively in the fifth book, and the sixth and seventh con-
and witty. He liked to entertain his friends, and tinued the narrative to the year of Cato's death.
to talk over the historical deeds of Roman worthies. (Nepos, Cato, 3. ) It is said, by Nepos, Gellius,
The activity of this many-sided man found lei- and Pliny (H. N. viii. 5), that he suppressed the
sure for the composition of several literary works. names of the generals who carried on the wars
He lived at a time when the Latin language was
which he relates; but the remaining fragments
in a state of transition, and he contributed to en- shew that he made at least some exceptions to this
rich it.
practice. He is unanimously acknowledged by the
Cum lingua Catonis et Enni ancients to have been an exceedingly industrious
Sermonem patrium ditaverit, et nova rerum and learned antiquary ; but Livy, in his early de-
Nomina protulerit.
cads, makes no use of the Origines. According to
2 1 2
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CATO.
CATO.
Dionysius (i. 74) Cato placed the building of Rome cautioned him to take no further part in battle, as
in the 132nd year after the Trojan war, or in the after his discharge he was no longer a soldier.
first of the 7th Olympiad, B. c. 751. The best (Plut. Quaest. Rom. 39. )
collection of the remains of the Origines is in Henceforward he appears to have deroted him-
Krause's Vitae et Frugmenta Vel. Hist. Rom. Berlin, self to the practice of the law, in which he attained
1833.
considerable eminence. In the obscure and corrupt
The life of this extraordinary man was written fragment of Pomponius de Origine Juris (Dig. 1.
by Cornelius Nepos, Plutarch, and Aurelius Victor. tit. 2. § 38), after mentioning Sextus and Publius
Many additional particulars of his history are to Aelins and Publius Atilius, the author proceeds to
be collected from Livy, who portrays his character speak of the two Catos as follows: “ Hos sectatus
in a splendid and celebrated passage (xxxix. 40). ad aliquid est Cato. Deinde M. Cato, princeps
Some facts of importance are to be gleaned from Porciae familiae, cujus et libri extant; sed pluriini
;
Cicero, especially from his Cato Major or de filii ejus; ex quibus caeteri oriuntur. " This pas-
Senectute, and his Brutus. By later writers he sage seems to speak of a Cato before the Censor,
was regarded as a model of Roman virtue, and but Pomponius wrote in paragraphs, devoting one
few names occur oftener in the classics than
to each succession of jurists, and the word Deinde
his. Much has been written upon him by the commences that of the Catos, though the Censor
moderns. There are some Latin verses upon Cato had been mentioned by anticipation at the end of
in the Juvenilia of Theodore Beza. Majansius the preceding paragraph. From the Catos, father
(ui XXX JCtos) composed his life with remark- and son (ex quibus), the subsequent jurists traced
able diligence, collecting and comparing nearly all their succession. Apollinaris Sulpicius, in that
the ancient authorities, except a few which were passage of Gellius (xiii. 18) which is the principal
discreditable to his hero. (See also Wetzel's Ex- authority with respect to the genealogy of the
cursus in his edition of Cic. de Senect. p. 256, dc. ; Cato family, speaks of the son as having written
De M. Porcii Catonis Vita Studiis et Scriptis, in “egregios de juris disciplina libros. ” Festus (s. r.
Schneider's “Scriptores Rei Rusticae," vol. i. pars Mundus) cites the commentarii juris civilis of Cato,
ii. init.
Macedonia, we soon find Sempronius in Cisalpine or that the words “cum Scipione," as some critica
Gaul (Liv. xxxiv. 43, 46), and in B. c. 193, we have thought, are an interpolation.
find Cato at Rome dedicating to Victoria Virgo a In B. c. 189, M. Fulvius Nobilior, the consul,
small temple which he had vowed two years before. obtained Aetolia as his province, and Cato was
(Liv. xxxv. 9. )
sent thither after him, as we learn from an extract
The military career of Cato was not yet ended. (preserved by Festus, s. v. Oratores), from his
In B. C. 191, he was appointed military tribune speech “ de suis Virtutibus contra Thermum. " It
(or legatus ? Liv. xxxvi. 17, 21), under the con- seems that his legation was rather civil than mili-
sul M'. Acilius Glabrio, who was despatched to tary, and that he was sent to confer with Fulvius
Greece to oppose the invasion of Antiochus the on the petition of the Aetolians, who were placed
Great, king of Syria. In the decisive battle of in an unfortunate situation, not sufficiently pro-
Thermopylae, which led to the downfall of Antio- tected by Rome if they maintained their fidelity,
chus, Cato behaved with his wonted valour, and en- and yet punished if they were induced to assist her
joyed the good fortune which usually waits upon enemies.
genius. By a daring and difficult advance, he sur- We have seen Cato in the character of an emi-
prised and dislodged a body of the enemy's Aeto- nent and able soldier: we have now to observe him
lian auxiliaries, who were posted upon the Calli- in the character of an active and leading citizen.
dromus, the highest summit of the range of Oeta. If Cato were in B. c. 190 with L. Scipio Asiaticus
He then commenced a sudden descent from the (as Cicero seems to have imagined), and in B. c
hills above the royal camp, and the panic occasioned 189 in Aetolia with Fulvius, he must still have
by this unexpected movement at once turned the passed a portion of those years in Rome. We find
day in favour of the Romans. After the action, him in B. c. 190 most strenuous in resisting the
the general embraced Cato with the utmost warmth, claims of Q. Minucius Thermus to a triumph.
and ascribed to him the whole credit of the victory. Thermus had been displaced by Cato in the com-
This fact rests on the authority of Cato himself, mand of Citerior Spain, and was afterwards en-
who, like Cicero, often indu in the babit, offen- in repressing the incursions of the Ligurians,
sive to modern taste, of sounding his own praises. whom he reduced to submission, and now demanded
After an interval spent in the pursuit of Antiochus a triumph as his reward. Cato accused him of
and the pacification of Greece, Cato was despatched fabricating battles and exaggerating the numbers of
to Rome by the consul Glabrio to announce the the enemy slain in real engagements, and declaimed
successful result of the campaign, and he performed against his cruel and ignominious execution of ten
his journey with such celerity that he had com- magistrates (decemviri) of the Boian Gauls, with-
menced his report in the senate before the arrival of out even the forms of justice, on the pretext that
L. Scipio, (the subsequent conqueror of Antiochus,) | they were dilatory in furnishing the required sup
## p. 640 (#660) ############################################
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CATO.
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plies. (Gell. xii. 24, x. 3. ) Cato's opposition was lior. He was loud in his promises or threats of
successful; but the passage of Festus already re- reform, and declared that, if invested with power,
ferred to shews that, after his return from Aetolia he would not belie the professions of his past life.
in 189, he had to defend his own conduct against The dread of his success alarmed all his personal
Thermus, who was tribune B. c. 189, and died in enemies, all who were notorious for their luxury,
battle, B. C. 188.
and all who derived profit from the mismanage-
In B. c. 189, Cato and bis old friend L. Valerius ment of the public finances. Notwithstanding
Flaccus were among the candidates for the censor- the combined opposition of the six other candi-
ship, and, among their competitors, was their dates, he obtained the censorsliip, B. c. 184, bring-
former general M°. Acilius Glabrio. Glabrio, who ing in by his own influcnce L. Valerius Flaccus
did not possess the advantage of nobility, deter- as his colleague.
mined to try what the influence of money could This was a great epoch in Cato's life. He ap-
effect. In order to counteract his endeavours, he plied himself strenuously to the duties of his office,
was met by an accusation of having applied the regardless of the enemies he was making. He
treasures of Antiochus to his own use, and was ul- repaired the watercourses, paved the reservoirs,
timately obliged to retire from the contest. Cato cleansed the drains, destroyed the communications
was active in promoting the opposition to his old by which private individuals illegally drew off the
general, and declared that he had seen vessels of public water to supply their dwellings and irrigate
gold and silver among the royal booty in the camp, their gardens, raised the rents paid by the publi-
but had not seen them displayed in the parade of cani for the farm of the taxes, and diminished the
Glabrio's triumph. Neither Cato nor Flaccus was contract prices paid by the state to the undertakers
elected. The choice fell upon two of the opposite of public works. It may be doubted whether he
party, T. Flamininus and M. Marcellus.
did not go too far in his reforms, from considering
Cato was not to be daunted by a failure. In rather the cheapness of an offer than the security
B. C. 187, M. Fulvius Nobilior returned from which was afforded by the character and circum-
Aetolia, and sought the honour of a triumph. stances of the applicant; but there can be no doubt
Again, Cato' was found at his post of opposition. that great abuses existed, with which nothing but
Fulvius was indulgent to his soldiers. He was a the undaunted courage and extraordinary adminis-
man of literary taste, and patronized Ennius, who trative faculties of Cato could have successfully
was his companion in hours not devoted to military grappled. He was disturbing a nest of hornets,
duty. All this was repugnant to the old Roman and all his future life was troubled by their buzz
principles of Cato, who, among other charges, and their attempts to sting. After his censorship,
found fault with Fulvius for keeping poets in his he was prosecuted by some of the tribunes, at the
camp (Cic. Tusc. i. 2), and impairing military dis- instigation of T. Flamininus, for misconduct in
cipline, by giving crowns to his soldiers for such this department of his office, and condemned to
mighty services as digging a well with spirit, or pay a fine of two talents (Plut. Cat. Maj. 10), or in
valorously throwing up a mound. (Gell. v. 6. ) | Roman money 12,000 asses. Though he was ac-
Again, Cato was unsuccessful, and Fulvius ob-cused no fewer than forty-four times during the
tained the triumph he sought for.
course of his life, this is the only recorded in-
When P. Scipio Africanus was charged with stance in which his enemies prevailed against him.
having received sums of money from Antiochus, The provisions against luxury, contained in his
which had not been duly accounted for to the censorial edict, were severe and stringent. He
state, and with having allowed the unfortunate directed unauthorized statues erected to the ha
monarch to come off too leniently, Cato is said nour of unworthy men to be removed from the
to have been the instigator of the accusation. public places, and declaimed against the uncere-
(Liv. xxxviii. 51. ) Every one has read how the monious indecency and want of religious feeling
proud conqueror of Africa tore with bis own
with which the images of gods taken from the
hands the books of account which his brother temples of conquered countries were used, like
Lucius was producing to the senate ; and how, on ordinary household furniture, to ornament the
the day of his own trial, he bade the people fol- mansions of the nobles.
In the lustral census,
low hiin from the rostra to the Capitol to return young slaves, purchased at 10,000 asses and up-
thanks to the immortal gods on the anniversary of wards, were valued at ten times their cost, and
the battle of Zama. Unused to submit to ques. then taxed, upon this fictitious value at the rate of
tion, and conscious of his great benefits to the three, instead of one, per 1000-a circuitous mode
state, he deemed himself almost above the law. of imposing a rate of three per cent. The same
Though Cato devolved upon others the obloquy of course was pursued in rating the dress, furniture,
accusing Africanus, he hesitated not openly to and equipage of the women, when their real value
speak in favour of a proposition which was calcu- amounted to 15,000 asses. (Liv. xxxix. 44. )
lated to prepare the way for the successful prose Whether or not the rating were anciently or
cution of a similar charge against L. Scipio Asia- usually confined to res mancipi, such was clearly
ticus. By his influence a plebiscitum was carried, not the case upon the present occasion. In the
referring it to the senate to appoint a commissioner exercise of the tremendous power of the nota cen-
to inquire into the charge concerning the money soria, he was equally uncompromising. He most
of Antiochus. The result was, that Lucius and justly degraded from the senate L. Quintius Fla-
others were condemned. As to the dates and de- mininus (the brother of Titus, his former success-
tails of these transactions, there is the utmost ful opponent in the canvas for the censorship), for
variance in the early authorities. (Scipio. ) having committed (whatever version of the story
Cato was now again a candidate for the censor- we accept) an act of the most abominable cruelty,
ship, with his old friend L. Valerius Flaccus and accompanied by circumstances of the most disgust-
six others, ainong whom were the patricians P. ing profligacy (Liv. xxxix. 42, 43; Plut. Cat. Maj. 17;
and L. Scipio, and the plebeian L. Fulvius Nobi-Cic. Scncct. 12); yet such was already the low
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641
CATO.
state of morals at Rome, that a mob could be pro- I at a high arbitrary commutation, and then forced the
cured to invite the degraded wretch to resume his provincial farmers to supply the Romans with cori
former place at the theatre in the seats allotted to at a greatly reduced price. When the Spanish depu-
the consulars. He degraded Manilius, a man of ties came to Rome, B. c. 171, to complain of such
praetorian rank, for having kissed his wife in his unjust exaction, Cato was chosen advocate of his
daughter's presence in open day. Whether Cato's former province, Citerior Spain, and conducted the
strange statement as to his own practice (Plut. prosecution with such spirit as to draw down upon
Cato, 17) is to be taken as a hyperbolical recom- himself powerful enmity, although the guilty go-
mendation of decent reserve, or to be explained as vernors, M. Matienus and P. Furius Philus, es-
Balzac (cited by Bayle, s. v. Porcius) explains it, caped condemnation by voluntary exile. (Liv.
we cannot stop to inquire. He degraded L. Na- xliii. 2. )
sica (or, as some conjecturally read, L. Porcius Again, when the Rhodians besought the senate
Laecn) for an unscasonable and irreverent joke in not to punish the whole island for the unauthorized
answer to a solemn question. (Cic. de Orat. ii. acts of a few factious individuals, on the charge of
61. ) In order to detect that celibacy which it general disaffection towards the Roman arms in the
was the duty of the censors to put an end to or to wars with Antiochus and Persens, Cato pleaded
punish, men of marriageable age were asked, the cause of Rhodes before the senate in an able
“ Ex tui animi sententia, tu uxorem habes ? " and effective speech. The minute and artificial cri-
“Non hercule,” was the answer of L. Nasica, ticisms of Tiro, the freedman of Cicero, upon parts
“ ex mei animi sententia. " At the muster of the of this speech, are reported and refuted by Gellius
knights, he deprived L. Scipio Asiaticus of his (vii. 3). Cicero himself speaking by the mouth of
horse for having accepted the bribes of Antiochus. Atticus (Brutus, 85), was scarcely able sufficiently
L. Scipio was a senator, but senators, not beyond to appreciate the sturdy, rugged, sententious, pas-
the age of service, still retained the public horse sionate, racy, oratory of Cato. It was tinged with
of the knight, and took their place at the muster. some affectations of striking expressions --- with
(Dict. Ant. s. v. Equites. ) He deprived L. Vetu- quaintnesses, vulgarisms, archaisnis, and neologisms,
rius of his horse for having omitted a stated sacri- but it told—it worked-it came home to men's
fice, and for having grown too corpulent to be of business and bosoms. If we may judge of Cato
use in battle. (Fest. s. v. Stata. ) Several others by his fragments, he possessed the living fiery
he degraded and deprived of their horses, and, not spirit and intense earnestness of Demosthenes,
content with this, be publicly exposed, with bitter without the elevation of thought, the harmony of
vchemence, the vices of his victims.
language, and the perfection of form which crowned
It does not appear that, in the exercise of the the eloquence of the Athenian.
theoretically exorbitant and anomalous power of The strong national prejudices of Cato appear to
the censorship, Cato acted unfairly, although per- have diminished in force as he grew older and
sonal motives and private enmities or party dis- wiser. He applied himself in old age to the study
likes may sometimes have conspired with his of Greek literature, with which in youth he had
views of political and moral duty.
no acquaintance, although he was not ignorant of
The remarkable censorship of Cato was rewarded the Greek language. Himself an historian and
by a public statue, with a commemorative and orator, the excellences of Demosthenes and Thucy-
laudatory inscription.
dides made a deep impression upon his kindred
Henceforward the public life of Cato was spent mind. In many important cases, however, through-
chiefly in forensic contests, senatorial debates, and out his life, his conduct was guided by prejudices
speeches to the people. The fragments of his against classes and nations, whose influence he
orations shew his unceasing activity, and the gene- deemed to be hostile to the simplicity of the old
ral consistency of his career. He pursued his po Roman character. It is likely that he had some
litical opponents with relentless animosity, for with part in the senatusconsultum which, upon the ap-
him, true Italian as he was, revenge was a virtne. pearance of Eumenes, king of Pergamus, at Brun-
In his own words, the most honourable obsequies disium, B. c. 166, forbade kings to enter Rome, for
which a son could pay to the memory of his father when Eumenes, upon his former visit, after the war
were the condemnation and tears of that father's with Antiochus, was received with honour by the
foes. With greenish-gray eyes and sandy hair, an senate, and splendidly entertained by the nobles,
iron frame, and a stentorian voice, he gave utterance Cato was indignant at the respect paid to the mo-
to such bitter invectives as to provoke the pungent narch, refused to go near him, and declared that,
Greek epigram recorded by Plutarch. (Cato, 1) “ kings were naturally carnivorous animals. " He
Πυρρον, πανδακέτην, γλαυκόμματον, ουδε θανόντα
had an antipathy to physicians, because they were
Πόρκιον εις αίδην Περσεφόνη δέχεται.
mostly Greeks, and therefore unfit to be trusted with
Roman lives, inasmuch as all Greeks looked upon
His resistance to luxury continued. In B. C. the barbarians, including the Romans, as natural
181, he urged the adoption of the Lex Orchia for enemies. He loudly cautioned his eldest son against
restricting the number of guests at banquets. In physicians, and dispensed with their attendance. He
B. C. 169 (according to Cicero, Senect. 5, or several was not a bad physician himself in recommending as
years earlier, according to the epitomizer of Livy a peculiarly salutary diet, ducks, geese, pigeons, and
Epit. xli. ) he supported the proposal of the Lex hares, though hares, he tells us, are apt to produce
Voconia, the provisions of which were calculated to dreams. With all his antipathy, there is no ground
prevent the accumulation of wealth in the hands of in ancient authors for the often-repeated statement
that he carried a law for the expulsion of physi
In some questions of foreign policy we find him cians from the city. When Athens sent Carneades,
taking the side of the oppressed. The proconsular Diogenes, and Critolaus to Rome in order to negir
governors of both Spains compelled the provincial tiate a remission of the 500 talents which the
inhabitants to pay their corn-assessments in money | Athenians had been awarded to pay by way of
66
women.
2 T
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66
compormation to the Oropians, Carneades excited | against the claim of Masinissa to part of their
great attention by his philosophical conversation dominions. Scipio Nasica thought that no casus
and lectures, in which he preached the pemicious belli had arisen, and it was arranged that an em-
doctrine of an expediency distinct from justice, and bassy should be sent to Africa to gain information
illustrated his doctrine by touching on a dangerous as to the real state of affairs. When the ten de-
and delicate subject-- the example of Rome herself. puties, of whom Cato was one, came to the dis-
If Rome were stript of all that she did not just- puted territory, they offered their arbitration,
ly gain, the Romans might go back to their huts. ” which was accepted by Masinissa, but rejected by
Caio, offended with these principles, and jealous of the Carthaginians, who had no confidence in Ro-
the attention paid to this Greek, gave advice which man justice. The deputies accurately observed
the senate followed—“ Let these deputies have an the warlike preparations, and the defences of the
answer, and a polite dismissal as soon as possible. " | frontier. They then entered the city, and saw
Upon the conquest of Perseus, the leading men of the strength and population it had acquired since
the Achaian union, to the number of nearly 1,000, | its conquest by the elder Africanus.
Upon
including the historian Polybius, were brought to their return home, Cato was the foremost in assert-
Rome, B. c. 167, as hostages for the good behaviour ing that Rome would never be safe, as long as
of the Achaians, and, afterwards, without ans Carthage was so powerful, so hostile, and so near.
proof of disaffection, were detained in exile from One day he drew a bunch of early ripe figs from
their country, and distributed among the coloniae beneath his robe, and throwing it upon the floor
and municipia of Italy. When their numbers of the senate-house, said to the assembled fathers,
were reduced to about 300, by an exile of 16 years, who were astonished at the freshness and fineness
the intercession of the younger Africanus, the of the fruit, “ Those figs were gathered but three
friend of Polybius, prevailed with Cato to vote days ago at Carthage ; so close is our enemy to
that they should be permitted to return to their our walls. ” From that time forth, whenever he
country.
The conduct of the old senator-he was was called upon for his vote in the senate, though
now eighty-three-was kinder than his words. He the subject of debate bore no relation to Carthage,
did noi interpose until the end of a long debate, his words were “ I vote that Carthage no longer
and then assented to the proposal on the ground, be," or, according to the more accepted version of
that it was a matter of perfect indifference. “Have Florus (ii. 15) “ Delenda est Carthago. ” Scipio
we nothing better to do than to sit here all day Nasica, on the other hand, thinking that Car-
long debating whether a parcel of worn-out Greeks thage in its weakened state was rather a useful
shall be carried to their graves here or in Achaia ? " check than a formidable rival to Rome, always
When the exiles further besought the senate that voted to “ let Carthage be. ” (Liv. Epit. xlviii.
they might be restored to their former status and | xlix. ; Appian, de Bell. Pun. 69; Plin. H. N. xv.
honours in their own country, Cato intimated that 17. ) This story must appear strange to those who
they were fools for going home, and were much know not that, during the republic, it was a Roman
better off as they were. He said with a smile, custom for senators, when called upon for their
that Polybius was like Ulysses returning to the votes, to express-no matter what the question-
cave of the Cyclops for his hat and sash. The ac- any opinion which they deemed of great import-
tive powers of Cato had been so much more edu- ance to the welfare of the state. (Tac. Ann. ii. 33. )
cated than his affections, that he appears to have In the very last year of his life, Cato took a
been nearly devoid of sympathy with fine and conspicuous part in the righteous but unsuccessful
tender feelings, though some allowance may be prosecution of S. Sulpicius Galba. This perfidious
made for a little assumed ungraciousness of demea general, after the surrender of the Lusitanian
nour, in order to keep up his Catonian character. army, in flagrant breach of faith, put to death
Nowhere in his writings or his speeches do we some of the soldiers, and sold others as slaves in
meet with generous and elevating sentiments. His Gaul, while a few escaped by flight, among whom
strong will and powerful passions of anger and was Viriathus, the future avenger of his nation.
ambition were guided by a keen and cold intellect, | Galba pretended to have discovered that, under
and a practical, utilitarian, common sense.
cover of the surrender, the Lusitanians had con-
Even in the closing years of his protracted life, certed an attack ; but he obtained his acquitul
Cato had no repose. In his 81st year, B. c. 153, chiefly through the compassion excited by the
he was accused by C. Cassius of some capitale theatrical parade his young weeping sons and
crimen (the nature of which is not recorded), and orphan ward. Cato made a powerful speech
defended himself in person with unbroken against Galba, and inserted it in the 7th book of
strength, with unfaltering voice, and with un- his Origines, a few days or months before his
shaken memory. “ How hard it is,” he said, death, B. c. 149, at the age of 85. (Cic. Brutus,
“ for one whose life has been past in a preceding 23. )
generation, to plead his cause before the men of Cato was twice married ; first to Licinia, a lady
the present! ” (Val. Max. viii. 7. § l; Plut. of small property but noble birth, who bore a son,
Cato, 15. )
M. Porcius Cato Licinianus, the jurist, and lived
In the very year before his death, he was one to an advanced age. After her death he secretly
of the chief instigators of the third Punic war. cohabited with a female slave; for, though he was
The anxiety of the senate had been excited by the a faithful husband, and as a widower was anxious
report that a large army, under Ariobarzanes, was to preserve his reputation, the well-known “sen-
assembled on the Carthaginian territory. Cato re- tentia, dia Catonis" proves that he set but little
commended an instant declaration of war against value upon the virtue of chastity. When his
the Carthaginians, on the ground that their real amour was discovered by his son, he determined to
object in procuring the assistance of the Numi- marry again, and chose the young daughter of his
dians was hostility to Rome, although their no- scribe and client, M. Salonius. The way in which
minal object was the defence of their frontier | a patron could command his client, and a father
a
a
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dispose of his daughter, is disagreeably exemplified | He was contemporary with some of the carliest
in Plutarch's graphic account of the interview be writers of eminence in the adolescence of classical
tween Cato and Salonius which decided the match. literature. Naevius died when he was quaestor
The vigorous old man had completed his eightieth under Scipio, Plautus when he was censor. Before
year when Salonia bore him a son, M. Porcius Cato his own death the more cultivated muse of Terence,
Salonianus, the grandfather of Cato of Utica. To who was born in his consulship, had appeared upon
his eldest son he behaved like a good father, and the stage.
took the whole charge of his education. To his
The work De Re Rustica, which we now possess
slaves he was a rigid master. His conduct towards under the name of Cato, is probably substantially
them (if not represented in too dark colours by his, though it is certainly not exacily in the form
Plutarch) was really detestable. The law held in which it proceeded from his pen. It consists of
them to be mere chattels, and he treated them as very miscellaneous materials, relating principally
such, without any regard to the rights of humanity. to domestic and rural economy.
There we may
“ Lingua mali pars pessima servi;" so he taught find rules for libations and sacrifices ; medical pre-
them to be secret and silent. He made them sleep cepts, including the sympathetic cure and the ver-
when they had nothing else to do. In order to bal charm ; a receipt for a cake; the form of a
prevent combination and to govern them the more contract; the description of a tool; the mode of
easily, he intentionally sowed enmities and jealou- rearing garden flowers. The best editions of this
sies between them, and allowed the males to pur- work are those which are contained in the collected
chase out of their peculium the liberty of sexual Scriptores Rei Rusticae of Gesner (Lips. 1773-4)
intercourse with the females of his household. In and Schneider. (Lips. 1794-7. )
their name he bought young slaves, whom they Cato's instructions to his eldest son, published
trained, and then sold at a profit for his benefit. in the form of letters, treated of ious subjects
After supping with his guests, he often severely suited to the education of a Roman youth. They
chastised them with thong in hand for trifling acts were divided into books, which, being quoted by
of negligence, and sometimes condemned them to various names, have been counted as separate trea-
death. When they were worn out and useless, he tises. The Apophthegmatu, for example, may have
sold them or turned them out of doors. He treated formed one of the books of the general collection.
the lower animals no better. His war-horse which Of Cato's instructions to his son a few fragments
bore him through his campaign in Spain, he sold remain, which may be found in H. Alb. Lion's
before he left the country, that the state might Catoniana, Gött. 18:26, a work of small critical
not be charged with the expenses of its transport. merit.
These excesses of a tyrannous and unfeeling nature The fragments of the orations are best given in
shocked no scruples of his own conscience, and met H. Meyer's Oratorum Romanorum Fragmentu,
no reprehension from a public opinion which tole. Turici, 1842.
rated gladiatorial shows. They were only speci- The few passages in the Digest where Cato is
mens of the wholesome strictness of the good old cited are commented upon by Majansius (ad XXX
Sabine paterfamilias. In youth the austerity of JCtos); but it is probable that the citations in the
his life was much greater than in age, and perhaps Digest refer not to the Censor, but to his elder son,
his rigour would have been further relaxed, had he who confined himself more exclusively to jurispru-
not felt that he had a character to keep up, and dence than his father. Other juridical fragments
had not his frugal simplicity been found to conduce of Cato are given by Dirksen in his “ Bruchstücke
to the acquisition of wealth. As years advanced, aus den Schriften der Römischen Juristen,” p. 44, &c.
he sought gain with increasing eagerness; though, Cato, when he was already advanced in life, com-
to his honour be it spoken, in the midst of mani- menced an historical work entitled “ Origines," of
fold temptations, he never attempted to profit by which many fragments have been preserved. It
the misuse of his public functions. He accepted was probably published in parts from time to time
no bribes, he reserved no booty to his own use ; as the several books were completed. Livy (xxxiv.
but, no longer satisfied with the returns of agricul- 5), in a speech which he puts into the mouth of
ture, which varied with the influences of Jupiter, the tribune Valerius during the consulship of Cato,
he became a speculator, not only in slaves, but in makes Valerius quote the Origines in reply to their
buildings, artificial waters, and pleasure-grounds. author; but this is generally thought to be an
The mercantile spirit was strong within him. He anachronism. The first book contained the history
who had been the terror of usurers in Sardinia be of the Roman kings ; the second and third treated
came a lender of money at nautical interest on the of the origin of the Italian towns, and from these
security of commercial ventures, while he endea- two books the whole work derived its title. There
voured to guard against the possibility of loss by re- was a blank in the bistory from the expulsion of
quiring that the risk should be divided, and that his the kings to the commencement of the first Punic
own agent should have a share in the management. war, which formed the subject of the fourth book.
To those who admitted his superiority he was The events of the second Punic war were related
affable and social. His conversation was lively in the fifth book, and the sixth and seventh con-
and witty. He liked to entertain his friends, and tinued the narrative to the year of Cato's death.
to talk over the historical deeds of Roman worthies. (Nepos, Cato, 3. ) It is said, by Nepos, Gellius,
The activity of this many-sided man found lei- and Pliny (H. N. viii. 5), that he suppressed the
sure for the composition of several literary works. names of the generals who carried on the wars
He lived at a time when the Latin language was
which he relates; but the remaining fragments
in a state of transition, and he contributed to en- shew that he made at least some exceptions to this
rich it.
practice. He is unanimously acknowledged by the
Cum lingua Catonis et Enni ancients to have been an exceedingly industrious
Sermonem patrium ditaverit, et nova rerum and learned antiquary ; but Livy, in his early de-
Nomina protulerit.
cads, makes no use of the Origines. According to
2 1 2
## p. 644 (#664) ############################################
644
CATO.
CATO.
Dionysius (i. 74) Cato placed the building of Rome cautioned him to take no further part in battle, as
in the 132nd year after the Trojan war, or in the after his discharge he was no longer a soldier.
first of the 7th Olympiad, B. c. 751. The best (Plut. Quaest. Rom. 39. )
collection of the remains of the Origines is in Henceforward he appears to have deroted him-
Krause's Vitae et Frugmenta Vel. Hist. Rom. Berlin, self to the practice of the law, in which he attained
1833.
considerable eminence. In the obscure and corrupt
The life of this extraordinary man was written fragment of Pomponius de Origine Juris (Dig. 1.
by Cornelius Nepos, Plutarch, and Aurelius Victor. tit. 2. § 38), after mentioning Sextus and Publius
Many additional particulars of his history are to Aelins and Publius Atilius, the author proceeds to
be collected from Livy, who portrays his character speak of the two Catos as follows: “ Hos sectatus
in a splendid and celebrated passage (xxxix. 40). ad aliquid est Cato. Deinde M. Cato, princeps
Some facts of importance are to be gleaned from Porciae familiae, cujus et libri extant; sed pluriini
;
Cicero, especially from his Cato Major or de filii ejus; ex quibus caeteri oriuntur. " This pas-
Senectute, and his Brutus. By later writers he sage seems to speak of a Cato before the Censor,
was regarded as a model of Roman virtue, and but Pomponius wrote in paragraphs, devoting one
few names occur oftener in the classics than
to each succession of jurists, and the word Deinde
his. Much has been written upon him by the commences that of the Catos, though the Censor
moderns. There are some Latin verses upon Cato had been mentioned by anticipation at the end of
in the Juvenilia of Theodore Beza. Majansius the preceding paragraph. From the Catos, father
(ui XXX JCtos) composed his life with remark- and son (ex quibus), the subsequent jurists traced
able diligence, collecting and comparing nearly all their succession. Apollinaris Sulpicius, in that
the ancient authorities, except a few which were passage of Gellius (xiii. 18) which is the principal
discreditable to his hero. (See also Wetzel's Ex- authority with respect to the genealogy of the
cursus in his edition of Cic. de Senect. p. 256, dc. ; Cato family, speaks of the son as having written
De M. Porcii Catonis Vita Studiis et Scriptis, in “egregios de juris disciplina libros. ” Festus (s. r.
Schneider's “Scriptores Rei Rusticae," vol. i. pars Mundus) cites the commentarii juris civilis of Cato,
ii. init.
