"The Eternal Triangle"

[M. Porcius Cato]

In Plutarch's Life of Cato the Younger, I'd always found one episode particularly mystifying: his divorce from Marcia, of whom he was reportedly fond; Marcia's hasty marriage to Hortensius, Cato's wealthy friend and admirer; and Marcia's return to Cato's household. The mind reels from the possible explanations for this sequence of events, and--natural gossips that we are--probably most of the more salacious explanations have been offered on this forum.

 

Thanks to an excellent article by Hattie L. Gordon (1933), The Classical Journal, Vol. 28, No. 10, 574‑578 and thanks to Bill Thayer's indefatigable efforts to publicize all that is known about ancient Rome, this episode now seems much clearer. Personally, I was somewhat surprised by how boring the whole thing turned out to be, but in case you too were wondering about this juicy tidbit from Cato's life, you can read the whole article at Lacus Curtius.

[Nephele]

Many thanks for that link, MPC! And to think we were just talking about L. Marcius Philippus privately, and here it was that his daughter married your namesake (of which I had not been aware until you'd mentioned "Cato's father-in-law" in that discussion).

 

I see from this article that, before giving Marcia to Hortensius, Cato first showed his father-in-law, Philippus, the courtesy of asking his consent to the divorce and marriage. I suppose it might have been laughable to the Romans back then if someone might have suggested asking for the wife's consent in the matter, too?

 

Trust Caesar to make a snide comment about Cato's possible motive for taking Marcia back (after Hortensius died, thus leaving Marcia a rich widow), and add a touch of soap opera-like melodrama to the whole affair.

 

I was pleased to read in Hattie L. Gordon's account that, this time, Marcia appeared to have had a choice in the matter as to whom she would be married (or, re-married).

 

-- Nephele

[cornelius_sulla]

Cato was cuckolded, I reckon. Probably by Caesar. This would explain not only his distaste for Caesar, but also why Cato turned to the bottle, a habit so out of step with his Stoic beliefs.

Just an opinion.

[Nephele]

Cato was cuckolded, I reckon.

 

I reckon not.

 

The word "cuckolded" means that a man has been married to an unfaithful wife -- one who has carnal knowledge outside of marriage with another man while her husband is completely unaware of what's going on. The term is derived from the Old French word cucualt, which is the word for "cuckoo" with a pejorative suffix -- the cuckoo being a bird that illicitly lays its egg in another bird's nest.

 

Considering that Cato's wife acquiesced to Cato's request that she become divorced from him in order to marry someone else, and certainly with Cato's full knowledge and approval, hardly implies that Cato was "cuckolded".

 

Cato's first wife may have cuckolded him, but Marcia appears to have been an insanely faithful wife to have agreed to all this. In fact, there's nothing in this entire account even to suggest that Marcia was polyamorous. If anything, she may not have been at all happy with marrying Hortensius, but was merely playing the role of an obedient Roman matron.

 

This would explain not only his distaste for Caesar...

 

I truly think Cato had reason enough to find Caesar distasteful, and that Caesar's opinion of Cato's personal affairs would have mattered least to Cato.

 

-- Nephele

Edited August 24, 2007 by Nephele