Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis

[Favonius Cornelius]

Here is a thread for general questions on one of the biggest names in the Roman Republic.

 

I'll open with an inquery. What is known of the man's military career?

 

Also check out this election year paraphanalia:

 

Vote Cato!

 

Isn't the use of such handouts the same species as the bribery which Cato classically was opposed to?

Edited August 25, 2006 by Favonius Cornelius

[P.Clodius]

He was actually smart about it, he did it on the 'downlow' to use a modern euphemism. Bibulus, Cato's son in law if I remember correctly was seen handing out bribes on Cato's behalf. And there was Cato's rejection of the attempt to overturn the legislation enacted by Clodius, a political enemy and something Cato would normally have been in favor of. Clodius had proposed Cato's governorship of Crete and therefore if his legislation was overturned Cato would have had to return all the money he'd leeched off the Cretans. The man was a sham with a loud mouth, and wanted nothing more than to preserve the elitism of the senate, and therefore become rich. He was corrupt, he was a drunk, and was a politician of the worst kind, the roman equivalant of Tom Delay!

Edited August 25, 2006 by P.Clodius

[M. Porcius Cato]

I'll open with an inquery. What is known of the man's military career?

 

From Plutarch's "Life of Cato the Younger":

When the servile war was in progress, which was called the war of Spartacus, Gellius was commander, while Cato took part in his campaign as a volunteer, for the sake of his brother; for his brother Caepio was a military tribune. Here he had not the opportunity to employ as much as he wished his zeal and discipline in virtue, because the war was not well conducted; but notwithstanding, amidst the great effeminacy and luxury of those who took part in that campaign, he displayed such good discipline, self-control, courage in all emergencies, and sagacity, that men thought him not one whit inferior to the elder Cato. Moreover, Gellius assigned to him prizes of valour and distinguished honours; but Cato would not take them nor allow them, declaring that he had done nothing worthy of honours. And so, in consequence of this, he was thought to be a strange creature. For instance, a law was passed forbidding candidates for office to be attended by nomenclators, and in his canvass for the military tribuneship he was the only one who obeyed the law. He made it his business to salute and address without help from others those who met him on his rounds, but he did not avoid giving offence even to those who praised his course; for the more clearly they saw the rectitude of his practice, the more distressed were they at the difficulty of imitating it.

 

Appointed military tribune, he was sent to Macedonia, to serve under Rubrius the praetor. At this time, we are told, his wife being full of grief and in tears, one of Cato's friends, Munatius, said to her: "Take heart, Atilia; I will watch over thy husband." "Certainly he will," cried Cato, and after they had gone a day's journey on their way, immediately after supper, he said: "Come, Munatius, see that you keep your promise to Atilia, and forsake me neither by day nor by night." Then he gave orders that two couches be placed in the same chamber for them, and thus Munatius always slept — and that was the joke — watched over by Cato.

 

He had in his following fifteen slaves, two freedmen, and four friends. These rode on horses, while he himself always went a-foot; and yet he would join each of them in turn and converse with them. And when he reached the camp, where there were several legions, and was appointed to the command of one of them by the general, he thought it a trifling and useless task to make a display of his own virtue, which was that of a single man, but was ambitious above all things to make the men under his command like unto himself. He did not, however, divest his power of the element which inspires fear, but called in the aid of reason; with its help he persuaded and taught his men about everything, while rewards and punishments followed their acts. Consequently, it were hard to say whether he made his men more peaceful or more warlike, more zealous or more just; to such a degree did they show themselves terrible to their enemies but gentle to their allies, without courage to do wrong but ambitious to win praise. Moreover, that to which Cato gave least thought was his in greatest measure, namely, esteem, favour, surpassing honour, and kindness, from his soldiers. For he willingly shared the tasks which he imposed upon others, and in his dress, way of living, and conduct on the march, made himself more like a soldier than a commander, while in character, dignity of purpose, and eloquence, he surpassed all those who bore the titles of Imperator and General. In this way, without knowing it, he produced in his men at the same time the feeling of good will towards himself. For a genuine desire to attain virtue arises only in consequence of perfect good will and respect for him who displays virtue; those, on the other hand, who praise good men without loving them may revere their reputation, but they do not admire their virtue or imitate it.

 

On learning that Athenodorus, surnamed Cordylion, who had a large acquaintance with the Stoic philosophy, was living at Pergamum, being now in his old age and having most sturdily resisted all intimacies and friendships with governors and kings, Cato thought it would be useless to send messengers or write letters to him. Instead of this, since he had a furlough of two months allowed him by law, he sailed to Asia to visit the man, relying upon his own good qualities to make him successful in the chase. He held converse with the philosopher, conquered his objections, drew him from his fixed purpose, and took him back to camp with him. He was overjoyed and in high spirits, feeling that he had made a most noble capture, and one more illustrious than the nations and kingdoms which Pompey and Lucullus at that time were subduing with their marching armies.

 

...

 

With the time of Cato's military service came to an end, he was sent on his way, not with blessings, as is common, nor yet with praises, but with tears and insatiable embraces, the soldiers casting their mantles down for him to walk upon, and kissing his hands, things which the Romans of that day rarely did, and only to a few of their imperators. But before applying himself to public affairs he desired to travel about in a study of Asia, and to see with his own eyes the customs and lives and military strength of each province; at the same time he wished to gratify Deiotarus the Galatian, who had been a guest-friend of his father, and now solicited a visit from him. He therefore arranged his journey as follows. At daybreak, he would send forward his baker and his cook to the place where he intended to lodge. These would enter the city with great decorum and little stir, and if Cato had no family friend or acquaintance there, they would prepare a reception for him at an inn, without troubling anybody; or, in case there was no inn, they would apply to the magistrates for hospitality, and gladly accept what was given. But frequently they were distrusted and neglected, because they raised no tumult and made no threats in their dealings with the magistrates. In such a case Cato would find their work not done when he arrived, and he himself would be more despised than his servants when men saw him, would awaken suspicion, as he sat upon the baggage without saying a word, that he was a man of low condition and very timid. However, he would then call the magistrates to him and say: "Ye miserable wretches, lay aside this inhospitality. Not all men who come to you will be Catos. Blunt by your kind attentions the power of those who only want an excuse for taking by force what they do not get with men's consent."

 

Bibulus, Cato's son in law if I remember correctly was seen handing out bribes on Cato's behalf.

You don't recall correctly. This simply never happened.

 

And there was Cato's rejection of the attempt to overturn the legislation enacted by Clodius, a political enemy and something Cato would normally have been in favor of. Clodius had proposed Cato's governorship of Crete and therefore if his legislation was overturned Cato would have had to return all the money he'd leeched off the Cretans.

 

Nor was Cato ever governor of Crete. You're confabulating two completely different incidents--one regarding Brutus and Antony and another concerning Cato's annexation of Cyprus. I think this is the third time you've made this mistake, and you're probably thinking that you read this in Everitt's book on Cicero, but it's not there either. Cato was never governor of Crete, and he never "leeched" a dime off the Cretans. On the contrary, when serving in Cyprus, his books were the model of good bookkeeping. Do you need me to quote the ancient sources on this?

 

Also, the propaganda cups that were handed out are no more bribery than the buttons and bumper stickers handed out by modern politicians. To confuse a souvenir with a bribe is just silly.

Edited August 25, 2006 by M. Porcius Cato

[P.Clodius]

I stand corrected. Substitute Cyprus for Crete. The rest I standby.

[Favonius Cornelius]

Also, the propaganda cups that were handed out are no more bribery than the buttons and bumper stickers handed out by modern politicians. To confuse a souvenir with a bribe is just silly.

 

I suppose so.

 

Depends though, on how many of those he handed out. There have been magistrates who manipulated the grain dole, condemed by the jury for election year bribery...

[M. Porcius Cato]

Substituting Cyprus for Crete still doesn't help the veracity of your claims. Cato did not take extort from Cyprus to add to his personal fortune, at least not according to our ancient sources, who make the very opposite claim--that Cato's administration of Cyprus was exemplary for its fiducial probity. Frankly, it's just as arbitrary to contradict the ancient sources on the matter of Cato's conduct in Cyprus as to contradict them on whether Cato was even in Cyprus.

 

Really, if you want to ignore the ancient historians to make your case against Cato, use some imagination: "Cato was plotting to restore Carthage! He raped the Vestal Virgins! OMG, Cato ate populare babies for breakfast!" At least that would be an ambitious fabrication rather than this petty "Cato is Tom Delay" nonsense.

 

Also, the propaganda cups that were handed out are no more bribery than the buttons and bumper stickers handed out by modern politicians. To confuse a souvenir with a bribe is just silly.

 

I suppose so.

 

Depends though, on how many of those he handed out. There have been magistrates who manipulated the grain dole, condemed by the jury for election year bribery...

 

That's a stretch. Look, there was a popular saying in Rome at the time, "I wouldn't believe it even if Cato said it." We're talking about a guy who had a reputation for honesty that was positively Lincolnesque (as in Honest Abe Lincoln). Maybe no one's that perfect, and sure Cato would have been even more holy had he prosecuted his long-suffering relative Bibulus for bribery and gone to prison or exile instead of Cyprus (which were his only alternatives), but if you want to make the case that Cato wasn't perfect, you're going to need to come up with something better than cheap bribery. No one who bribes enough people to win an election can simultaneously earn a popular reputation for honesty that is attested to even by one's enemies. It just doesn't make any sense.

[Favonius Cornelius]

I mean, I just read that paragraph you posted about his military record, and one thing that stands out is his willingness to go beyond the norm in order to follow the letter of the law, and to emulate the life of a honest Stoic Roman, perhaps even to the point of absurdity. This plate sort of contrasts from the extreme life of Cato we read about seems like...

[M. Porcius Cato]

I mean, I just read that paragraph you posted about his military record, and one thing that stands out is his willingness to go beyond the norm in order to follow the letter of the law, and to emulate the life of a honest Stoic Roman, perhaps even to the point of absurdity. This plate sort of contrasts from the extreme life of Cato we read about seems like...

 

Again, I just don't see it. It's like a t-shirt, campaign button, or bumper sticker. It's just advertising. No one's vote is going to be purchased by such a lousy piece of pottery, and compared to the pottery that we have from the period, this really is just a cheap freebie.

[Favonius Cornelius]

Heh heh, I know, I agree with you. For all we know, a campaign supporter was the one who handed out that plate, Cato could have known nothing about it. You have to admit though, objecting to such a practice could easily fit right in with many of other of Cato's hardline antics.