The
patricians
were often leagued against him, but his
virtue and his eloquence were a match for the proudest connections.
virtue and his eloquence were a match for the proudest connections.
Tacitus
548.
He rose through the regular
gradations of the magistracy to the consulship. When prætor, he
governed the province of Sardinia, and exerted himself in the reform
of all abuses introduced by his predecessors. From his own person, and
his manner of living, he banished every appearance of luxury. When he
had occasion to visit the towns that lay within his government, he
went on foot, clothed with the plainest attire, without a vehicle
following him, or more than one servant, who carried the robe of
office, and a vase, to make libations at the altar. He sat in
judgement with the dignity of a magistrate, and punished every offence
with inflexible rigour. He had the happy art of uniting in his own
person two things almost incompatible; namely, strict severity and
sweetness of manners. Under his administration, justice was at once
terrible and amiable. Plutarch relates that he never wore a dress that
cost more than thirty shillings; that his wine was no better than what
was consumed by his slaves; and that by leading a laborious life, he
meant to harden his constitution for the service of his country. He
never ceased to condemn the luxury of the times. On this subject a
remarkable apophthegm is recorded by Plutarch; _It is impossible_,
said Cato, _to save a city, in which a single fish sells for more
money than an ox. _ The account given of him by Cicero in the Cato
Major, excites our veneration of the man. He was master of every
liberal art, and every branch of science, known in that age. Some men
rose to eminence by their skill in jurisprudence; others by their
eloquence; and a great number by their military talents. Cato shone in
all alike.
The patricians were often leagued against him, but his
virtue and his eloquence were a match for the proudest connections. He
was chosen CENSOR, in opposition to a number of powerful candidates,
A. U. C. 568. He was the adviser of the third Punic war. The question
occasioned several warm debates in the senate. Cato always insisted on
the demolition of Carthage: DELENDA EST CARTHAGO. He preferred an
accusation against Servius Sulpicius Galba on a charge of peculation
in Spain, A. U. C. 603; and, though he was then ninety years old,
according to Livy (Cicero says he lived to eighty-five), he conducted
the business with so much vigour, that Galba, in order to excite
compassion, produced his children before the senate, and by that
artifice escaped a sentence of condemnation. Quintilian gives the
following character of Cato the censor: His genius, like his learning,
was universal: historian, orator, lawyer, he cultivated the three
branches; and what he undertook, he touched with a master-hand. The
science of husbandry was also his. Great as his attainments were, they
were acquired in camps, amidst the din of arms; and in the city of
Rome, amidst scenes of contention, and the uproar of civil discord.
Though he lived in rude unpolished times, he applied himself, when far
advanced in the vale of years, to the study of Greek literature, and
thereby gave a signal proof that even in old age the willing mind may
be enriched with new stores of knowledge.
gradations of the magistracy to the consulship. When prætor, he
governed the province of Sardinia, and exerted himself in the reform
of all abuses introduced by his predecessors. From his own person, and
his manner of living, he banished every appearance of luxury. When he
had occasion to visit the towns that lay within his government, he
went on foot, clothed with the plainest attire, without a vehicle
following him, or more than one servant, who carried the robe of
office, and a vase, to make libations at the altar. He sat in
judgement with the dignity of a magistrate, and punished every offence
with inflexible rigour. He had the happy art of uniting in his own
person two things almost incompatible; namely, strict severity and
sweetness of manners. Under his administration, justice was at once
terrible and amiable. Plutarch relates that he never wore a dress that
cost more than thirty shillings; that his wine was no better than what
was consumed by his slaves; and that by leading a laborious life, he
meant to harden his constitution for the service of his country. He
never ceased to condemn the luxury of the times. On this subject a
remarkable apophthegm is recorded by Plutarch; _It is impossible_,
said Cato, _to save a city, in which a single fish sells for more
money than an ox. _ The account given of him by Cicero in the Cato
Major, excites our veneration of the man. He was master of every
liberal art, and every branch of science, known in that age. Some men
rose to eminence by their skill in jurisprudence; others by their
eloquence; and a great number by their military talents. Cato shone in
all alike.
The patricians were often leagued against him, but his
virtue and his eloquence were a match for the proudest connections. He
was chosen CENSOR, in opposition to a number of powerful candidates,
A. U. C. 568. He was the adviser of the third Punic war. The question
occasioned several warm debates in the senate. Cato always insisted on
the demolition of Carthage: DELENDA EST CARTHAGO. He preferred an
accusation against Servius Sulpicius Galba on a charge of peculation
in Spain, A. U. C. 603; and, though he was then ninety years old,
according to Livy (Cicero says he lived to eighty-five), he conducted
the business with so much vigour, that Galba, in order to excite
compassion, produced his children before the senate, and by that
artifice escaped a sentence of condemnation. Quintilian gives the
following character of Cato the censor: His genius, like his learning,
was universal: historian, orator, lawyer, he cultivated the three
branches; and what he undertook, he touched with a master-hand. The
science of husbandry was also his. Great as his attainments were, they
were acquired in camps, amidst the din of arms; and in the city of
Rome, amidst scenes of contention, and the uproar of civil discord.
Though he lived in rude unpolished times, he applied himself, when far
advanced in the vale of years, to the study of Greek literature, and
thereby gave a signal proof that even in old age the willing mind may
be enriched with new stores of knowledge.
