Marcus Cato

Also known as: Cato / Cato himself · Family: Roman · Role: statesman · First appears: Marcus Cato

Marcus Cato praised his father Marcus as “a worthy man and a brave soldier,” and likewise honored Cato the Younger, his great-grandfather, for having often won military prizes. As a youth he served under Fabius Maximus at Tarentum, later accompanied Tiberius Sempronius as lieutenant, and went with Manius Acilius into Greece against Antiochus the Great. He kept five servants in the army, including Paccus, and took Lucius Manlius, skilled at climbing mountains; while lodging with Nearchus, a Pythagorean, he sought to learn his doctrine. Valerius Flaccus chiefly assisted his advancement, helping him become tribune and then quaestor, and the two later became friends and colleagues.

Chosen consul with Valerius Flaccus, Cato received Hither Spain, where he decisively defeated the army threatening him and saw his remaining affairs prosper. At Thermopylae, while serving under another’s command, he gained the glory of victory by opening a route against Antiochus the Great. He opposed Scipio Africanus, joined the accusers against Lucius, the brother of Scipio the Great, and continued his rivalry with Scipio the younger. He also accused Servilius Galba, while Publius Scipio Nasica regularly spoke against his opinions.

Ten years after his consulship, Cato and Valerius Flaccus were elected censors. During his censorship he named Valerius Flaccus chief of the senate, expelled Lucius Quintius and Manilius, and expelled Lucius Flamininus after questioning Titus Quintius Flamininus about the banquet story; Titus Quintius Flamininus had named Scipio Africanus first member of the senate and became Cato’s rival and enemy. Cato also employed Chilo, a grammarian who taught many others, and Salonius, once his clerk; by his second wife he had a son, Cato Salonius. He increased his estate and became a master of economy and husbandry, sought to clear philosophers including Carneades from Rome, spoke against Polybius, and was sent to the Carthaginians and Masinissa. He stirred up the final war against the Carthaginians, but died soon after it began, “prophesying of the person that should put an end to it, who was then only a young man.”