The Rise of Rome (Penguin Classics)

by Plutarch

  8. Philopoemen was led … contributions they paid: Philopoemen 13.

  9. he had once been a benefactor … constitution itself: Philopoemen 10 and 14–16.

  10. thought to have thrown away his life in … contentiousness: Philopoemen 18–20. Plutarch is here more unequivocal than in his narrative, where he stressed Philopoemen’s precipitate vigour in more generous tones.

  11. guided by … an eye for safety: These were important considerations for Plutarch; see Introduction to Marcellus.

  12. struggle with Philip … in two contests: Flamininus 3–5 and 7–8.

  13. he fought his wars … and he defeated both: Philopoemen 7, 13 (Crete) and 14–16 (Sparta).

  14. Philopoemen made his own innovations … organization: Philopoemen 7 and 9.

  15. many great deeds of Philopoemen: For example at Philopoemen 7 and 10.

  16. Archedamus: Three times general of the Aetolians, he commanded Aetolian troops at the battle of Cynoscephalae; eventually he was accused of anti-Roman sentiments and joined Perseus (Aemilius Paullus 23).

  17. mocked him for this … deep in prayer: He delivered this insult at a conference in 192, when both the Aetolians and Romans were soliciting the aid of the Achaean League (Livy 35.48.12–13). The comment was manifestly unfair, and was intended to be unfair, as Plutarch will have known, but he nonetheless includes it here without further commentary.

  18. all Titus’ noble achievements … commander or ambassador: Inescapably so, inasmuch as it was only by way of such positions that Flamininus had any authority to act in Greece (Plutarch is not very interested in Flamininus’ senatorial career in Rome).

  19. as a private citizen … saved the city: Philopoemen 12 (Nabis expelled) and 16 (Diophanes and Flamininus barred).

  20. differences hard to evaluate … we shall not seem to go wrong: Plutarch also suggests a draw between his two heroes in the Comparisons of Cimon and Lucullus and Lysander and Sulla.

  ELDER CATO

  Further Reading

  A. E. Astin’s Cato the Censor (1978) is an excellent (if somewhat apologetic) biography; in addition to Cato’s political career, Astin devotes considerable (and still important) attention to his literary works. D. Sansone, Plutarch: The Lives of Aristeides and Cato (1989), is a very helpful commentary and I have made much use of it. On the history of this period, see, in addition to Astin’s biography, W. V. Harris, ‘Roman Expansion in the West’, in CAH viii (1989), pp. 107–62, and, in the same volume, A. E. Astin, ‘Roman government and politics, 200–134 BC’, pp. 163–96. On Cato’s diplomatic activities during the war against Antiochus, see J. Linderski, Roman Questions II: Selected Papers (2007), pp. 61–87. The most important ancient sources for this period are Polybius and Livy, which means there is much to be learned from Walbank, Commentary, vols. 1–3, and J. Briscoe, A Commentary on Livy, Books 31–33 (1973), Books 34–37 (1981) and Books 38–40 (2008).

  Astin provides a good introduction to Cato’s writings. On the On Agriculture, see A. Dalby, Cato On Farming, De Agricultura: A Modern Translation and Commentary (1998). The remaining fragments of Cato’s writings are assembled in P. Cugusi and M. T. Sblendorio Cugusi, M. Porcio Catone Censore (2001); see also the more specialized volumes of M. Chassignet, Caton: les origines (fragments) (1986), and M. T. Sblendorio Cugusi, M. Porci Catonis Orationum Reliquiae (1982). Cato’s cultural circumstances and his contributions to Roman literary and political traditions are discussed by E. S. Gruen, Culture and National Identity in Republican Rome (1992), and E. Sciarrino, Cato the Censor and the Beginnings of Latin Prose (2011).

  Notes to the Introduction to Elder Cato

  1. Fronto, Preface to his History (Principia Historiae) 4.

  2. Cicero’s devotion to Cato’s memory is discussed by H. van der Blom, Cicero’s Role Models: The Political Strategy of a Newcomer (2010).

  3. Cato’s actual words are preserved at Pliny, Natural History 29.14.

  4. The ideology of the New Man remained an issue in the Rome of Plutarch’s day, when the typical New Man was now a provincial, including Greek provincials: see R. Syme, Tacitus (1958), pp. 566–84; and A. R. Birley, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 116 (1997), pp. 209–45.

  5. See their Lives in this volume. Cato’s service is mentioned in neither.

  6. See Nepos, Cato 1.2. This episode is not mentioned by Plutarch.

  7. Plutarch does not mention Cato’s aedileship (Livy 32.7.13; Nepos, Cato 1.3), but this office was very useful to anyone hoping to advance to the consulship.

  8. E. Badian, Publicans and Sinners (1972), pp. 32–4.

  9. J. S. Richardson, Hispaniae: Spain and the Development of Roman Imperialism, 218–82 BC (1986), p. 95.

  10. See Livy 37.57.9–37.58.2. Plutarch does not mention Cato’s failure in 189.

  11. See E. Sciarrino in W. Dominik and J. Hall (eds.), A Companion to Roman Rhetoric (2007), pp. 54–66.

  12. On Hadrian’s preference for Cato: The Augustan History; Life of Hadrian 16.6; on Favorinus’ fondness for Cato: Gellius 14.2.21; on Sulpicius Apollinaris’: Gellius 13.18, 13.20.5–17; on Marcus Aurelius’: e.g. Fronto, Epistle to Marcus Aurelius 2.1 (van den Hout). The reception of Cato’s works is surveyed in W. Suerbaum, Die archaische Literatur: von den Anfängen bis Sullas Tod (2002), pp. 413–18.

  13. See D. Feeney, Literature and Religion at Rome (1998), pp. 50–53.

  14. See R. MacMullen, Historia 40 (1991), pp. 419–38; T. Habinek and A. Schiesero (eds.), The Roman Cultural Revolution (1997); and A. Wallace-Hadrill, Rome’s Cultural Revolution (2008).

  15. See Astin, Cato the Censor, pp. 157–81; Gruen, Culture and National Identity in Republican Rome, pp. 52–83; and Sciarrino, Cato the Censor and the Beginnings of Latin Prose, pp. 117–60. It is relevant to this Life that in Plutarch’s own day there were Romans who made a show of despising philosophy and philosophizing, sometimes with the Elder Cato in mind: see Syme, Tacitus, pp. 553–63.

  16. On this narrative device in Plutarch see Pelling, P&H, p. 369.

  17. See Introduction to Philopoemen.

  18. See chs. 15 and 18 and especially Comparison Aristeides–Elder Cato 5. On Plutarch’s objections to contentiousness, see Pelling, P&H, pp. 243–7, examining the importance of these qualities in Philopoemen and Titus Flamininus (the same qualities play important roles in Fabius Maximus). See also Introduction to Philopoemen.

  19. See Comparison Aristeides–Elder Cato 5; on praotes, see General Introduction III.

  20. On Cicero’s dialogue, see J. G. F. Powell, Cicero: Cato Maior de Senectute (1988).

  Notes to the Life of Elder Cato

  1. Tusculum: Modern Frascati, about 15 miles (24 km) southeast of Rome.

  2. country of the Sabines: A region northeast of Rome (modern Sabina). Sabines played an important role in Rome’s legendary history (e.g. in the rape of the Sabine women and through kings like Titus Tatius and Numa) and by Cato’s day had become a byword for austerity and old-fashioned virtue.

  3. Cato soon acquired this title: See Introduction.

  4. not Cato, but Priscus: Although it was a quite common surname, the Porcii never used Priscus, which can mean ‘old-fashioned’ or ‘elder’. Perhaps Plutarch saw Cato so described in one of his Latin sources (as a means of distinguishing him from the Younger Cato: ch. 27).

  5. catus: Both Catus and Cato exist as surnames.

  6. Red-haired … turn you away from the gate: This epigram is mentioned only here. Its author focuses on Cato’s aggressive personality, which in these lines renders him more frightening than the mythical three-headed dog Cerberus. Persephone was queen of the underworld.

  7. services … a fee of any kind: This was nothing unusual: Roman advocates did not accept fees. The point is introduced here to correspond with the same habit on the part of Aristeides (Aristeides 3).

  8. Hannibal … laying all Italy waste: In 217, the year in which Hannibal won his victory at Lake Trasimene. Hannibal’s war in Italy is central to Marcellus and Fabius Maximus,
both in this volume.

  9. such an appearance … cold steel: Also cited at Coriolanus 8 and Moralia 199b.

  10. vinegar: Plutarch has in mind posca, wine of the cheapest sort mixed with water, the standard drink of the Roman soldier on campaign.

  11. his estate: This is Cato’s Sabine estate. Both its situation near Curius’ farm and Cato’s admiration for the man are discussed by Cicero at On Old Age 16 and 35.

  12. Manius Curius … three triumphs: Manius Curius Dentatus (d. 270) was several times consul (in 290, 284, 275 and 274) and censor in 272. He celebrated two triumphs in 290 (Livy, Summary of Book 20) and his third in 275.

  13. It was here … possess it himself: This anecdote, also reported at Moralia 194e–f, was frequently repeated (e.g. Cicero, On Old Age 56, The Republic 3.40; Valerius Maximus 4.3.5; and Pliny, Natural History 19.87). One of Curius’ triumphs was over the Samnites, but it is not easy to attach a date to this story, which is almost certainly unhistorical. Curius’ incorruptibility was celebrated by Ennius (Annals 456, see Skutsch, p. 112): ‘whom no man could conquer with iron or with gold’.

  14. Fabius Maximus captured … Tarentum: In 209 (Fabius Maximus 21–2).

  15. Tarentum … young man: Cato was about twenty-five at this time. His presence at Tarentum is mentioned only in Cicero’s On Old Age (11, 39, 41), which is Plutarch’s source here. Cicero’s information is not credited by every historian, largely on account of the fictitious story, repeated here, about Cato’s encounter with Nearchus, but there is no obvious reason to doubt that Cato served under Fabius.

  16. Nearchus: Unknown, apart from his mention in Cicero (see previous note).

  17. which Plato also upholds: See Plato, Timaeus 69d. Plutarch recurs to this passage at Moralia 13a, 554f and 1107a.

  18. he did not study Greek … until he was an old man: This is the standard view of Cato’s Greek reading; see Cicero, Academic Questions 2.5, The Republic 5.2, On Old Age 26; Nepos, Cato 3.2; Valerius Maximus 8.7.1; and Quintilian 12.11.23. But it is obvious that Plutarch recognized in Cato’s writings a high degree of Greek influence.

  19. Thucydides: (c. 455–c. 400) The great historian of the Peloponnesian War. At Brutus 66 Cicero compares the style of Cato’s Origins with Thucydides’, a comparison he later rejects (in the voice of Atticus) at Brutus 294.

  20. Demosthenes: (384–322) The greatest of the Athenian orators. Traces of his influence on Cato are discussed by Astin, Cato the Censor, p. 149.

  21. his writings are often enriched by ideas … translated from it: Plutarch is probably referring to the totality of Cato’s reported sayings and not simply to his published collections of aphorisms (Cicero, On Duties 1.104, On the Ideal Orator 2.271).

  22. Flaccus Valerius: Lucius Valerius Flaccus. Like Cato he was consul in 195 and censor in 184, when he was named ‘the leading man of the senate’ (princeps senatus). On the family of the Valerii, see Publicola 1.

  23. it was Cato’s practice … same wine: Cf. Plutarch’s account of Philopoemen’s lifestyle at Philopoemen 4.

  24. military tribune … quaestor: Cato served as tribune of the soldiers under Marcellus at the siege of Syracuse in 214, and was later elected quaestor for 204, when he served under Scipio Africanus.

  25. served as his colleague … censor: See chs. 10 and 16.

  26. Fabius Maximus: (c.275–203) The subject of Plutarch’s Life. Cato’s esteem for Fabius is mentioned at Cicero, On Old Age 10.

  27. Scipio … Africanus: Publius Cornelius Scipio, who defeated Hannibal at the battle of Zama in 202 and was honoured with the surname Africanus.

  28. This distinguished man … jealous of him: See Fabius Maximus 25.

  29. Scipio’s quaestor … squandering … pay upon his troops: Financial administration was one of the central responsibilities of a quaestor.

  30. Cato … left Scipio’s army: It would have been an outrage for a quaestor to desert his commander and in fact Cato did not (Livy 29.25.10). Plutarch’s story is a fiction: see Astin, Cato the Censor, pp. 12–15.

  31. denounce the general … active service: Scipio was criticized for his failure to restrain the excesses of his subordinate Quintus Pleminius, an event that Fabius and others tried to use as an excuse to recall him (Livy 29.8–22). Their complaint was amplified by protests concerning Scipio’s lifestyle. In the end, Scipio was exonerated. See also Fabius Maximus 25.

  32. tribunes were sent out: The senate dispatched a commission, which included two tribunes of the people, to investigate the matter.

  33. came to be known as the Roman Demosthenes: So also Appian, Wars in Spain 39.160 and Diodorus 34/35.

  34. His powers of expression … his rarity: In other words, the young needed no convincing that eloquence was worth cultivating. A simple lifestyle, by contrast, did not have the same attraction – hence Cato’s singular reputation.

  35. He tells us …: The following assertions by Cato derive ultimately from his oratory, perhaps his speech On his own Expenditure; see Astin, Cato the Censor, p. 107. The cost of an ordinary soldier’s outfit was 100 drachmas, equivalent in Plutarch to 100 denarii: see Badian, Publicans and Sinners, pp. 21–2.

  36. drank the same wine as his rowers: This boast by Cato is often repeated (e.g. Pliny, Natural History 14.91; Valerius Maximus 4.3.11; and Frontinus, Stratagems 4.3.1). While travelling to and from Spain during his consulship, Cato was satisfied to drink the same wine as the rowers of his transports.

  37. dinner … 30 asses for it: In Cato’s day an as was a tenth of a denarius; 30 asses was a very modest sum for an aristocrat’s evening meal.

  38. none of his villas had plastered walls: Meaning that Cato’s villas lacked wall paintings.

  39. labourers … useless mouths: So Cato in On Agriculture 2.7.

  40. nothing is cheap … only an as: Also quoted by Seneca, Moral Epistles 94.27.

  41. the people of Athens … mules … further service: This story is also found at Moralia 970a–b; Aristotle, Animal History 6.24; Pliny, Natural History 8.175; and Aelian, On the Nature of Animals 6.49.

  42. Cimon’s race-horses … Olympia: Cimon (c. 585–c. 523), prominent Athenian noble and father of the famous general Miltiades. His Olympic victories are mentioned by Herodotus (6.103.2–3).

  43. Xanthippus … abandoning Athens: Xanthippus, an Athenian politician and general, was victor at the battle of Mycale in 479; the father of Pericles (note 58). This story, associated with the Athenians’ evacuation of their city before the battle of Salamis in 480, is told at Plutarch, Themistocles 10.

  44. Attic bushels: An Attic bushel was about 40 litres (about 9 US dry gallons).

  45. governor of Sardinia: As praetor in 198.

  46. a single public slave: This does not mean that Cato travelled without slaves of his own or even without his official retinue: Plutarch is here emphasizing how little Cato incurred in the way of expenses borne by his province.

  47. exemplary … severity: By contrast, Livy (32.27.3–4) indicates that Cato was considered too severe, especially in matters of economy.

  48. Plato remarks of Socrates: Plato, Symposium 215a–e and 221d–222a.

  49. Lysias: (459–c. 380) One of the canonical Attic orators, known especially for his pure and plain style of Greek, on which ground Plutarch rejects any comparison with Cato’s emotional style. In his Brutus (63–4), Cicero complains that his contemporaries adore Lysias but ignore Cato, but later, in the voice of Atticus, he undermines the comparison (293–4).

  50. those … better qualified … Roman oratory: Although Plutarch was quite capable of reading Latin, because he lacked a natural fluency he avoided making stylistic judgements about Latin authors (Demosthenes 2).

  51. words … throw light on his character: For this sentiment, cf. Alexander 1, where Plutarch alludes to the science of physiognomy, through which an individual’s character was diagnosed from his physical appearance; see S. Swain (ed.), Seeing the Face, Seeing the Soul: Polemon’s Physiognomy from Classical Antiquity to Medieval Islam
(2007). For a discussion of physiognomy in Plutarchan biography, see W. J. Tatum, JHS 116 (1996), pp. 135–51.

  52. ‘pay more for a fish than … an ox’: Fish were delicacies, whereas the ox, in this saying, is for working and not for eating. This remark occurs in various versions (e.g. Moralia 198d, 688b; Polybius 31.25.5; Diodorus 31.24, 37.3.6; and Pliny, Natural History 9.67). We learn later (ch. 21), however, that Cato invested in fisheries.

  53. Themistocles: (c. 524–459) An Athenian statesman and general; the subject of Plutarch’s Themistocles, and paired with Camillus, the latter in this volume. Cato’s remark is repeated at Moralia 198d. Themistocles’ is cited at Themistocles 18, Moralia 1c and 185d.

  54. expected to be attended … by lictors, in case they should go astray: Lictors walked in front of magistrates carrying their fasces, hence Cato’s biting remark.

  55. He … found fault … constantly electing the same men: Cato delivered a speech entitled Ne quis iterum consul fieret (That no one be made consul a second time), from which this complaint may be drawn; see Astin, Cato the Censor, p. 120.

  56. ‘The sea … without any difficulty at all’: Cato’s criticism is that the man in question had to sell the estate in order to pay for his decadent lifestyle.

  57. Eumenes of Pergamum: Eumenes II (d. 158) was king of Pergamum from 197. He was a strong friend and ally of Rome in the war against Antiochus and in the Third Macedonian War. Thereafter, however, the senate began to cool towards Eumenes, favouring his brother Attalus instead. Eumenes visited Rome in 172, the likely occasion of Cato’s remark.

  58. Epaminondas … Pericles: On Epaminondas see General Introduction II. Pericles (c. 495–429), Athenian statesman and general, who guided Athens at the acme of its power and during the early years of the Peloponnesian War. He is the subject of Plutarch’s Pericles.

  59. Manius Curius: See note 12.

  60. Hamilcar Barca: (c. 275–228) Carthaginian general and politician, prominent in the First Punic War and the Carthaginian conquest of Spain; he was the father of Hannibal.