Cato the Younger

• 1. Orphaned Heir To Tradition

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  Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis was born in 95 BC, the son of a father who shared his name and Livia. His childhood ended abruptly when he and his sister Porcia were orphaned before he turned four years old. The children moved into the household of their maternal uncle, Marcus Livius Drusus. After Drusus died during the Social War in 91 BC, they entered the home of Mamercus Aemilius Lepidus Livianus. This man was the older brother of their mother. They lived with a half-brother named Gnaeus Servilius Caepio and two half-sisters from Livia's first marriage to Quintus Servilius Caepio. Cato formed a close bond with his half-brother Caepio and his elder half-sister Servilia. Servilia would later marry Marcus Junius Brutus and become the mistress of Julius Caesar.

  Stories about his early life remain unreliable but serve to establish his character. One tale claims that Quintus Poppaedius Silo threatened to hang him out of a window unless he supported Italian citizenship. Cato supposedly remained silent under this threat. Another story suggests he asked his tutor for a sword to assassinate Sulla during the proscriptions. These anecdotes likely exaggerate his youth to foreshadow his adult rigidity. At age sixteen, he joined the quindecimviri sacris faciundis, a board of priests interpreting the Sibylline Oracles. This prestigious honor placed him at the center of the senatorial elite.

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• 2. The Honest Quaestor

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  Cato returned to Rome in early 65 BC to stand for the quaestorship. He took office on December 5th of that year as one of the urban quaestors. The treasury staff had long delegated complex financial work to clerks, creating widespread corruption. Cato prosecuted several clerks and fired others who failed to meet standards. Even after one clerk was acquitted following intervention from a censor, Cato refused to rehire him. He began collecting state debts and made prompt payments to creditors. He cooperated with Julius Caesar, then acting as a prosecutor, to challenge legal immunity given to men who received bounties for killings during the Sullan proscriptions.

  On his final day in office, Cato discovered fraudulent records entered by Marcus Claudius Marcellus. He stormed back to erase them before the term ended. He spent five talents, roughly four percent of his inheritance, to copy all treasury archives from Sulla's time to his own day. Plutarch reported that he taught men that a city could be rich without treating its citizens unjustly. His administration brought the quaestorship greater esteem than the senate itself. This reputation for honesty allowed him to enter public life with an unblemished record.

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• 3. Filibuster And Grain

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  Cato stood for the plebeian tribunate in 63 BC and took office in December 62 BC. His first action was proposing a law expanding the grain dole. The bill more than doubled the number of people receiving subsidized grain. It placed a considerable burden on the republic's finances but showed that corn distribution knew no party. Another tribune named Metellus Nepos proposed bills granting Pompey additional honors. These included transferring command against Catiline to Pompey and allowing him to stand for consulship in absentia. Cato strongly opposed both measures.

  When Metellus Nepos tried to read the bill aloud, Cato snatched the draft from his hands. A fight broke out in the Forum between Cato and his ally Quintus Minucius Thermus. The senate passed a senatus consultum ultimum in response to the violence. Metellus fled Rome to seek Pompey in the east. Later, Cato helped pass a law establishing penalties for commanders who misrepresented enemy or soldier casualties. He also pushed for legislation requiring candidates to declare their candidacy in person before an official within the city. This law prevented generals from holding military commands while standing for office.

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• 4. Governor Of Cyprus

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  In March 58 BC, Publius Clodius Pulcher promulgated a bill annexing the island of Cyprus. The assignment of governor was initially slated for Aulus Gabinius, a friend of Pompey. When Gabinius could not take the post, Clodius appointed Cato as pro quaestore pro praetore. Upon arriving in Cyprus, the local king killed himself rather than suffer deposition. Cato personally cataloged and solicited bids on all royal possessions. He demonstrated great diligence but alienated some friends by treating them poorly.

  His administration recovered a low amount of wealth compared to expectations. Some historians suggest he may have engaged in modest embezzlement or allowed his nephew Marcus Junius Brutus to engage in usurious moneylending. Despite these controversies, his governance remained well-regarded due to his reputation for honesty. Upon returning to Rome, he held a glittering naval parade up the Tiber. He then began a procession conveying the treasures to the treasury. Cicero praised Cato for accepting the appointment even though he rejected the annexation itself.

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• 5. The Road To Civil War

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  Cato's years of advocacy against Caesar had inculcated a confrontational policy among younger senators. By early January 49 BC, the senate passed a senatus consultum ultimum against Caesar under false pretenses that he was already invading. Caesar did not back down and instead crossed the Rubicon. Cato's political strategy pushed Caesar into a position where civil war became the only way out of political extinction. When news of Caesar's rapid advance reached Rome, Pompey decided to flee Italy for the eastern provinces.

  Cato quickly shifted his demeanor to push for a negotiated settlement. He forced himself into the war council discussing peace terms offered by Caesar on January 23rd. The hard-liners decisively rejected the offer. Pompey assigned Cato to Sicily to raise men and supplies. On April 23rd, after facing a landing by Gaius Asinius Pollio, Cato abandoned the island without giving battle. He fled to join Pompey at Dyrrhachium. Upon arrival there, Plutarch relates that Cato admitted Cicero's moderate policy advocating compromise had been correct.

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• 6. Utica And The Final Act

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  After the defeat at Pharsalus, Cato moved to join Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio in Africa. He reconciled Metellus Scipio with Publius Attius Varus and put Scipio in command. Cato received command of Utica after convincing Scipio to spare the town's inhabitants from defecting to Caesar. He successfully expanded the city's defenses and stockpiled supplies while waiting for Caesar's arrival. During this time, he became convinced that victory under Scipio would be accompanied by appalling reprisals.

  When news of the defeat at Thapsus reached him three days later, it drove the city into panic. Cato evacuated any Roman citizens who wished to flee. He sent an embassy headed by Lucius Julius Caesar to seek pardon for themselves. After righting the city's financial accounts and disbursing remaining monies, Cato discussed Stoic beliefs about freedom during dinner. He demanded his sword which had been removed from his room. His family begged him not to kill himself. Satisfied that all ships were well, he stabbed himself in the abdomen. Caesar lamented that Cato's death meant he could no longer pardon him.

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• 7. Martyr And Symbol

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  Cato's death triggered a series of eulogies written by Cicero and Brutus. These texts began identifying Cato as a great Stoic philosopher. Caesar responded with an Anticato which has not survived. The traditional political culture of the middle republic relied on aristocratic compromise and debate. Cato's obstruction broke down these norms and ran contrary to the republic's ethos. Many scholars believe his strategy contributed significantly to starting the civil war that caused the collapse of the Roman republic.

  Posthumously, his opposition to Caesar was cast in ideological terms. He served as a heroic symbol of republican values amid its collapse. Augustus appropriated Cato's life as a symbol of republican values. His commitment to liberty inspired Cato's Letters, a series of 18th-century essays by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon. These essays played a significant role in shaping Enlightenment political thought and principles underlying the American Revolution. Modern scholars note that the Stoic martyr tradition may have distorted or distracted from the historical Cato.

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