Cato the Younger

thumb|Inscribed bronze bust from Volubilis Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis ('of Utica'; 95 BC – April 46 BC), also known as Cato the Younger (Latin: Cato Minor), was an influential conservative Roman senator during the late Republic. His conservative principles were focused on the preservation of what he saw as old Roman values in decline. A noted orator and a follower of Stoicism, his scrupulous honesty and professed respect for tradition gave him a powerful political following which he mobilised against powerful generals of his day, including Julius Caesar and Pompey. Quotes Bear in mind, that if through toil you accomplish a good deed, that toil will quickly pass from you, the good deed will not leave you so long as you live; but if through pleasure you do anything dishonourable, the pleasure will quickly pass away, that dishonourable act will remain with you for ever. In the speech which he delivered Numantiae apud Equites ('At Numantia to the Knights'); quoted by Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights, XVI, i, 4 John C. Rolfe, ed. The Attic Nights of Aulus Gellius, Vol. 3, LCL 212 (1928), p. 131 I will begin to speak when I am not going to say what were better left unsaid. Quoted by Plutarch, Life of Cato the Younger, 4 Bernadotte Perrin, ed. Plutarch's Lives, Vol. 8, LCL 100 (1919), pp. 247, 361 Nay, men, if any of you had heeded what I was ever foretelling and advising, ye would now neither be fearing a single man nor putting your hopes in a single man. Quoted by Plutarch, Life of Cato the Younger, 52 Bernadotte Perrin, ed. Plutarch's Lives, Vol. 8, LCL 100 (1919), pp. 247, 361 Quotes about Cato the Younger It is worth observing, how we feel ourselves affected in reading the characters of Cæsar, and Cato, as they are so finely drawn and contrasted in Salust. In one, the ignoscendo, largiundo ["pardoning, bestowing"]; in the other, ni[hi]l largiundo ["bestowing nothing"]. In one, the miseris perfugium ["being a refuge for the miserable"]; in the other, malis perniciem ["destroying the wicked"]. In the latter we have much to admire, much to reverence, and perhaps something to fear; we respect him, but we respect him at a distance. The former makes us familiar with him; we love him, and he leads us whither he pleases. Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (2nd ed. 1759), pp. 206-207; translations of the Latin are from Eric v.d. Luft and Diane Davis Luft, eds., Burke on the Sublime (North Syracuse, New York: Gegensatz Press, 2014), p. 92 Victrix causa deis placuit, sed vieta Catoni. The victorious cause pleased the gods, but the conquered one Cato. Lucan, Pharsalia, I, 128 This line is associated with the Lost Cause of the Confederacy and inscribed on the base of the Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. Cabell Smith, "Inscriptions on Arlington Confederate Monument", Confederate Veteran, vol. 20 (1920), p. 124 Unconquer’d Cato, virtuous in extreme. James Thomson, Winter (1726) See also Cato the Elder External links Category:Stoics Category:Politicians from Rome Category:BCE births Category:BCE deaths