Life of Cato

This very short life of Marcus Porcius Cato the Elder (234 to 149 BC) comes from Cornelius Nepos' book on Latin historians, part of his On Famous Men. Nepos wrote in the first century BC and says that he had written a fuller life of Cato at Atticus' request; this is a summary.

Nepos records Cato's birth in the town of Tusculum and his early life farming in the Sabine country before he moved to Rome on the advice of Valerius Flaccus. He served as a young soldier in the Second Punic War and as quaestor under Scipio, with whom he quarrelled throughout his life. He rose to be consul with Flaccus in 195 BC, governing Spain, and censor with him in 184, when his severity in removing nobles from the senate and taxing luxury made him famous. Nepos stresses his energy: he was engaged in public feuds all his life and lost no reputation by them. In his last part he describes Cato's literary work, above all the Origins, the first history of Rome written in Latin, in seven books, covering the beginnings of Rome and the Italian cities and the wars down to his own time, and notes his learning in law and farming.

Nepos' plain Latin makes this a quick first reading, and it introduces one of the most influential figures of the Roman Republic.