Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/666

Rh 048 CATO. moted the views of Caesar, who turned every com- bination of events to the purposes of his own aggrandizement, and availed himself at once of the influence of Pompey and the wealth of Crassus. The state of political parties at Rome was now such, that neither energy nor foresight could long have retarded the downfall of the republic. The party of the senate professed to adhere to the an- cient doctrines of the constitution, clinging in practice to oligarchical principles, but it possessed in its ranks no man of great popularity or com- manding political genius, Lucullus had often led his troops to victory, and had considerable influence over the army, but he preferred the quiet enjoy- ment of the vast wealth he had acquired in Asia to the leadership of the party of the nobles. Had he not lacked ambition, he might have given the senate effectual support. Cato attached himself to the senate, and may be numbered among its leaders ; but neither he nor his chief coadjutors in the same cause, Catulus and Cicero, could boast of that practical ability and ready command of resources which were wanting at the present crisis. He was far better suited for contemplation tlian for action, and would have been more at home, more happy, and not less useful, in the calm pursuits of literature and philosophy, than amidst the turmoil of public life. A man more pure and disinterested could not be found. His opinion as a judex and his testimony as a witness were regarded as almost decisive. Such was the reverence for his character, that when he went into the theatre during the games of Flora, given by Messius, the dancing-women were not required to exhibit their performances in their accustomed iiudity ; but when Cato learned from Savonius that his presence damped the enjoyment of the people, he retired amidst applause. The conduct of his political friends was analogous. They rather praised than imitated his virtues, and thosb who praised him liked him best when he was at such a distance as not to impose restraint upon their ac- tions. Irregularity and corruption were so general, that an honest man, in order to do good, must have been master of remarkable discretion, whereas the straightforward and uncompromising strictness of Cato generally appeared ill-timed, and was deemed better suited to the imaginary republic of Plato than to the actual condition of the Roman people. In the year of his tribunate he opposed the pro- position of Metellus Nepos to recall Pompey from Asia, and to give him the command of the legions against Catiline. Cato exerted himself in the «)id8t of a riot to prevent the voting of the proposi- tion, and exposed himself to considerable personal danger without much prudence or much dignity. In B. c, CO, he opposed the rogation of the tribune L. Flavius to reward Pompey's veterans with allotments of land. Caesar, when he was return- ing from Spain, sought the honour of a triumph, and desired in the meantime to be allowed, though absent, to be a candidate for the consulship. In order to prevent a resolution to this eflfect from being carried on the day when it was proposed, Cato spoke against time until sunset ; but Caesar renounced his triumph and gained the consulship. By a course of conduct which to the eyes of the statesn.en of that day appeared to be a series of half-measures and vacillating policy, Cato desired to prove that, while some were for Caesar and some for Pompey, he, Cato, was for the commonwealth. CATO. Though Cato seemed generally to waste hi.* strength in ineffectual efforts, he still was found to be a trouble and a hindrance to the designs of Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus. They accordingly got Clodius, during his tribunate, to propose that Ptolemy, king of Cyprus, should, without even a plausible pretext, be deprived of his dominions, and that Cato should be charged with the task of reuniting the island to the Roman empire, and re- storing the exiles who had been sent to Byzantium. Constitutionally averse to active military measures, as well as benevolently anxious to prevent the un- necessarj' shedding of blood, Cato sent a messenger to Ptolemy to sipfnif}' the determination of the. Roman people. The unfortunate king put an end to his life by poison, and Cato took peaceable pos- session of Cyprus, and sold the royal treasures at the highest price, offending some of his friends, who hoped to enrich themselves by cheap bargains. After restoring the Byzantine exiles, and success- fully accomplishing a commission which, however abstractedly unjust, he considered himself bound to undertake by his duty to the state, he returned to Rome in b. c. 56, displaying to the eyes of the people the public wealth thus acquired. This very treasure afterwards came to the hands of Caesar, and contributed to the destruction of republican liberty. The pecuniary accounts of the sale by some accident were lost, and Clodius Pulcher took occasion to accuse Cato of embezzlement. His answer was, " What greater disgrace could befall this age, than that Pulcher should be an accuser or Cato be accused?" (Senec. Coiitrovers. v, 30.) Cicero, on his return from banishment, insisted that Clodius was not legitimately appointed tri- bune, and that therefore all his ofiicial acts ought to be aimulled. The proposition was opposed by Cato, as it would have rendered void his legation to Cyprus. This aftair produced a marked cold- ness between Cicero and Cato, After his divorce from Atilia, Cato had marrifd Marcia, the daughter of Philippus, and had three children by his second wife. About the year B. c. 56 happened that strange transaction by which he ceded Marcia to his friend Q. Hortensius, with the consent of her father. At the death of Hortensius in the year 50, he took her back again. Heineccius {Antuj. Horn, lib, i. append, c. 47) infers, from the words of Plutarch {Ckilo Min. 25), that Cato did not, according to the common belief, lend his wile, but that she was divorced from him by the cere- mony of sale, and married to Hortensius. Hei- neccius quotes the case as an instance of a marriage contracted by coemtio and dissolved by rana7icipatio, in accordance with the maxim " unumquodque eo mode dissolvitur quo coUigatum est." But it does not appear that Cato married her again after the death of Hortensius, and yet it seems that she returned to her former relation of wife. Cato continued to oppose the triumvirs. In B. c. 55 he actively assisted L. Domitius Aheno- barbus in canvassing for the consulship against Pompey and Crassus, who were elected. In the election riots he was wounded, and narrowly es- caped with life. With no better success was he himself a candidate for the praetorship in the same year in opposition to Vatinius. He would not submit to employ the bribery which was necessary to obtain a majority. Again, in an unsuccessful opposition to the Trebonian law conferring extra- ordinary powers upon the triumvirs, we find hiia