Marcus Porcius Cato (234-149 BC), known as Cato the Elder and Cato the Censor, was a Roman soldier, statesman, orator, and author. His stern morality in office as well as in his private life became pr...
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Marcus Porcius Cato was one of the legendary figures of Roman literature and history. He is important to literature as the founder of Roman history and the man who, according to Columella, taught agri...
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Cicero referred to Cato in many of his works, often making the earlier orator a character in ethical dialogues. In the excerpt below, Cicero praises Cato's skills as an orator.
Cato's...
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In the excerpt that follows, Scullard explains Cato's position in Roman politics, describing both his historical influence and the bureaucratic context in which a censor functioned.
Cato�...
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Astin's Cato the Censor is the first extensive biography of Cato since Plutarch 's Lives and the only indepth study to date in English. The chapter excerpted below summarizes all of the ...
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In the following excerpt, Fantham sketches Cato 's literary influence, presenting it in relation to the poet Ennius.
Rome's earliest literary culture can be exemplified in the interse...
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In the following excerpt Livy briefly summarizes Cato's reputation, commending him to the reader's highest admiration. Because the exact date of composition is not known, Livy's d...
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Plutarch's life of Cato has supplied the definitive biography, relied upon by centuries of scholars. Although certain details have been disputed, the comprehensiveness of the account furnishes ...
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Valla, an Italian intellectual, served as the Librarian of the Vatican. His De vero bono, or On Pleasure, takes the form of a letter in which the writer, who identifies himself as an Epicurean, refute...
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Dubbing Cato "the perfect type of an old Roman, " Cruttwell proceeds, in the excerpt below, to attribute the character of genuinely Roman letters to Cato's style and values. Crutt...
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In the following excerpt, Mackail praises Cato as "the founder" of Roman prose, while also describing his influence as "somewhat narrow and harsh. " He briefly summarizes e...
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In the following excerpt, Hadas stresses the importance of Cato's contribution to Roman historiography. In his discussion of Cato's career, however, Hadas attributes "more than a ...
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Marcus Porcius Cato, the Elder
Marcus Porcius Cato, the Elder
Critical Essay by Marcus Tullius Cicero
