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Cato the Elder
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Cato the Elder
Marcus Porcius Cato (/ˈkeɪtoʊ/; 234–149 BC), also known as Cato the Censor (Latin: Censorius), the Elder and the Wise, was a Roman soldier, senator, and historian known for his conservatism and opposition to Hellenization. He was the first to write history in Latin with his Origines, a now fragmentary work on the history of Rome. His work De agri cultura, a treatise on agriculture, rituals, and recipes, is the oldest extant prose written in the Latin language. Cato's epithet "Elder" distinguishes him from his great-grandson Cato the Younger.
Cato came from an ancient plebeian family who were noted for their military service. As a youth, he fought as a military tribune in the Second Punic War with distinction. Like his forefathers, when not serving in the army, Cato was devoted to agriculture. Having attracted the notice of patrician Lucius Valerius Flaccus, he was brought to Rome and began his political career. Cato was successively quaestor (204), aedile (199), praetor (198), and in 195 he was elected consul with Flaccus. As consul, he unsuccessfully opposed the repeal of the Lex Oppia, a law restricting female luxury. His subsequent military campaign and administrative efforts in Hispania proved a major success, and on his return to Rome in 194 BC he was rewarded with a triumph.
Following the end of his consulship, Cato served with distinction as a legate at the Battle of Thermopylae against Seleucid king Antiochus III. In 184 he was elected censor, shortly after his attacks forced Scipio Africanus into retirement. As censor, he introduced taxes on luxuries and oversaw extensive constructions and repairs of public works. Seeking to preserve Rome's ancestral customs, he strongly opposed Hellenistic influences. Later in his life, he also became known for his vigorously anti-Carthaginian stance.
Cato the Elder was born in the municipal town of Tusculum, like some generations of his ancestors. His father had earned a reputation as a brave soldier, and his great-grandfather had received a reward from the state for having had five horses killed under him in battle. However, the Tusculan Porcii had never obtained the privileges of the Roman magistracy. Cato the Elder, their famous descendant, at the beginning of his career in Rome, was regarded as a novus homo (new man), and the feeling of his unsatisfactory position, working along with the belief of his inherent superiority, aggravated and drove his ambition. Early in life, he so far exceeded the previous deeds of his predecessors that he is frequently spoken of not only as the leader, but as the founder of the Porcia gens.
His ancestors for three generations had been named Marcus Porcius, and it was said by Plutarch that at first he was known by the additional cognomen Priscus, but was afterwards called Cato—a word (from Latin catus) indicating 'common sense that is the result of natural wisdom combined with experience'. Priscus, like Major, may have been merely an epithet used to distinguish him from the later Cato the Younger.
There is no precise information as to when he first received the title of Cato, which may have been given in childhood as a symbol of distinction. The qualities implied in the word Cato were acknowledged by the plainer and less outdated title of Sapiens, by which he was so well known in his old age that Cicero says it became his virtual cognomen. From the number and eloquence of his speeches, he was a gifted orator, but Cato the Censor (Cato Censorius), and Cato the Elder are now his most common, as well as his most characteristic names, since he carried out the office of Censor with extraordinary standing and was the only Cato who ever held it.
The date of Cato's birth has to be deduced from conflicting reports of his age at the time of his death, which is known to have happened in 149 BC. According to the chronology of Cicero, Cato was born in 234 BC, in the year before the first Consulship of Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, and died at the age of 85, in the consulship of Lucius Marcius Censorinus and Manius Manilius. Pliny agrees with Cicero. Other authors exaggerate the age of Cato. According to Valerius Maximus he survived his 86th year, according to Livy and Plutarch he was 90 years old when he died. These exaggerated ages, however, are inconsistent with a statement of Cato himself that is recorded by Plutarch.
When Cato was very young, after his father's death, he inherited a small property in Sabine territory, at a distance from his native town. There, he spent most of his childhood overseeing the operations of the farm, learning business and the rural economy. Near this land was a small hut owned by Manius Curius Dentatus, whose military feats and rigidly simple character were remembered and admired in the neighborhood. Cato was inspired to imitate that character, hoping to match the glory of Dentatus.
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Cato the Elder
Marcus Porcius Cato (/ˈkeɪtoʊ/; 234–149 BC), also known as Cato the Censor (Latin: Censorius), the Elder and the Wise, was a Roman soldier, senator, and historian known for his conservatism and opposition to Hellenization. He was the first to write history in Latin with his Origines, a now fragmentary work on the history of Rome. His work De agri cultura, a treatise on agriculture, rituals, and recipes, is the oldest extant prose written in the Latin language. Cato's epithet "Elder" distinguishes him from his great-grandson Cato the Younger.
Cato came from an ancient plebeian family who were noted for their military service. As a youth, he fought as a military tribune in the Second Punic War with distinction. Like his forefathers, when not serving in the army, Cato was devoted to agriculture. Having attracted the notice of patrician Lucius Valerius Flaccus, he was brought to Rome and began his political career. Cato was successively quaestor (204), aedile (199), praetor (198), and in 195 he was elected consul with Flaccus. As consul, he unsuccessfully opposed the repeal of the Lex Oppia, a law restricting female luxury. His subsequent military campaign and administrative efforts in Hispania proved a major success, and on his return to Rome in 194 BC he was rewarded with a triumph.
Following the end of his consulship, Cato served with distinction as a legate at the Battle of Thermopylae against Seleucid king Antiochus III. In 184 he was elected censor, shortly after his attacks forced Scipio Africanus into retirement. As censor, he introduced taxes on luxuries and oversaw extensive constructions and repairs of public works. Seeking to preserve Rome's ancestral customs, he strongly opposed Hellenistic influences. Later in his life, he also became known for his vigorously anti-Carthaginian stance.
Cato the Elder was born in the municipal town of Tusculum, like some generations of his ancestors. His father had earned a reputation as a brave soldier, and his great-grandfather had received a reward from the state for having had five horses killed under him in battle. However, the Tusculan Porcii had never obtained the privileges of the Roman magistracy. Cato the Elder, their famous descendant, at the beginning of his career in Rome, was regarded as a novus homo (new man), and the feeling of his unsatisfactory position, working along with the belief of his inherent superiority, aggravated and drove his ambition. Early in life, he so far exceeded the previous deeds of his predecessors that he is frequently spoken of not only as the leader, but as the founder of the Porcia gens.
His ancestors for three generations had been named Marcus Porcius, and it was said by Plutarch that at first he was known by the additional cognomen Priscus, but was afterwards called Cato—a word (from Latin catus) indicating 'common sense that is the result of natural wisdom combined with experience'. Priscus, like Major, may have been merely an epithet used to distinguish him from the later Cato the Younger.
There is no precise information as to when he first received the title of Cato, which may have been given in childhood as a symbol of distinction. The qualities implied in the word Cato were acknowledged by the plainer and less outdated title of Sapiens, by which he was so well known in his old age that Cicero says it became his virtual cognomen. From the number and eloquence of his speeches, he was a gifted orator, but Cato the Censor (Cato Censorius), and Cato the Elder are now his most common, as well as his most characteristic names, since he carried out the office of Censor with extraordinary standing and was the only Cato who ever held it.
The date of Cato's birth has to be deduced from conflicting reports of his age at the time of his death, which is known to have happened in 149 BC. According to the chronology of Cicero, Cato was born in 234 BC, in the year before the first Consulship of Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, and died at the age of 85, in the consulship of Lucius Marcius Censorinus and Manius Manilius. Pliny agrees with Cicero. Other authors exaggerate the age of Cato. According to Valerius Maximus he survived his 86th year, according to Livy and Plutarch he was 90 years old when he died. These exaggerated ages, however, are inconsistent with a statement of Cato himself that is recorded by Plutarch.
When Cato was very young, after his father's death, he inherited a small property in Sabine territory, at a distance from his native town. There, he spent most of his childhood overseeing the operations of the farm, learning business and the rural economy. Near this land was a small hut owned by Manius Curius Dentatus, whose military feats and rigidly simple character were remembered and admired in the neighborhood. Cato was inspired to imitate that character, hoping to match the glory of Dentatus.
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