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 CATO 123 for actual crimes, and bitterly persecuted those who opposed his acts. He improved the public works of the city, while introducing economy in the contracts, and stopped many abuses of the privileges of the citizens. Now, as during his whole life, he was warmly on the side of the plebeians, and opposed the nobles by every means given him either by his official or per- sonal influence ; so that his censorship was a constant struggle with the patricians, both in petty and important matters. In revenge they began against him several prosecutions, but he defended himself successfully in every case from their charges of maladministration. At the close of his censorship the people caused his statue to be erected and a commemorative inscription to be placed upon its pedestal. Cato now ceased to hold public office, except as a senator, but continued a remarkable ac- tivity in political affairs, never relaxing in his opposition to all forms of luxury, and attacking bitterly the vices of the nobles. He was em- ployed in several important cases : in the pros- ecution of M. Matienus and Publius Furius Philus for maladministration in Spain (171) ; in the defence of the Rhodians from the charge of treachery toward Rome ; and in others of equal moment. He took a leading part in the debates of the senate on all great questions, always favoring a policy intensely hostile to foreigners ; his hostility toward all outside na- tionalities is shown in many familiar anecdotes. The patricians continued to manifest their hatred of him, and as late as 153, when he was 81 years old, Caius Cassius brought against him a serious accusation, the nature of which is not recorded, which compelled him to defend him- self, with ultimate success. In 150 he began in the senate to urge an immediate declara- tion of war against Carthage (the third Punic war). "With nine other deputies he was sent in that year to investigate the condition of the rival city, and was so impressed by its appear- ance of power and prosperity that he declared on his return that Rome could no longer per- mit so powerful an enemy to exist. His hatred of Carthage now became the absorbing passion of his life ; he urged upon the people the im- portance of war, and never rose to speak or give his vote in the senate without adding to whatever else he said, no matter how foreign was the subject, Ceterum censeo, Carthaginem esse delendam ("I vote, moreover, that Car- thage must be destroyed ") a sentiment more familiar in the form Delenda est Carthago, which Cato himself probably never used in formal debates. A part of the last year of his life was spent in aiding the prosecution of S. Sulpicius Galba for treachery ; but this, though undoubtedly just, was unsuccessful. Soon after its conclusion Cato died, at the age of 85. The character of Cato was bitter and severe ; in private life, and especially in the treatment of inferiors and slaves, he exhibited the greatest harshness. His personal morality, tried by a modern standard, was in some respects not so pure as it has been often represented by par- tial historians. After the death of his first wife Licinia he for a long time cohabited secretly with a female slave, and only married again, when nearly 80, on his son's discovery of his concealed course. But his honesty and patriot- ism were incorruptible at a time when those around him possessed little of either virtue. His energy was extraordinary, and his frugal- ity, temperance, and simplicity were like those of the early patriots whom he endeavored to imitate. Though opposed to the influence of Greek literature, the principal source of refi- ning education in his time, he possessed con- siderable culture and literary skill, and left an essay on agriculture (De Be Rustica), still ex- tant, and the Origines, only fragments of which remain, besides less important works of which we also have a few portions. A collection of these was published in Leipsic, by Jordan, in 1860. Cato left two sons ; one, M. Porcius Cato Licinianus, afterward became a jurist of eminence ; the other, M. Porcius Cato Saloni- anus, by his second wife Salonia, was born in his father's 80th year, and lived to become praetor. II. Marcus Porcius, surnamed UTICEX- 818 from the place of his death, a Roman statesman, philosopher, and general, great- grandson of the preceding, born in Rome in 95 B. C., died by his own hand at Utica in 46. Having lost his parents when he was very young, he was brought up and educated by his maternal uncle, Marcus Livius Drusus, and after the death of the latter by Sarpedon. As a boy and young man he was conspicuous for his gravity, firmness, and bravery when his anger was aroused. Going with Sarpedon upon one occasion to visit Sulla, and seeing the heads of several famous Romans, victims of the proscription, carried from the tyrant's house, it is said that young Cato asked why no one put an end to the despot ; and on being told that none dare do so, he demanded a sword of Sarpedon, that he himself might free his country. Although he received an ample for- tune from his father's estate, he imitated his ancestor the Censor in his extreme frugality and simplicity, opposing luxury, practising rigid economy, and strengthening his body by every form of difficult exercise and exposure. In the corrupt state of Rome in his time, he thus acquired a not undeserved popularity as the advocate of purer customs, and a reputation for moral rectitude such as had formerly dis- tinguished the elder Cato. His first military experience was gained, in 72 B. C., as a volunteer under Gellius Publicola in the war with Spar- tacus, but he did nothing noteworthy in this earliest campaign. In 67 he became a candi- date for the office of military tribune, and was elected in spite of his neglecting the ordinary corrupt means taken to gain the post. With his legion he was stationed in Macedonia, under the propraetor Marcus Rubrius. He was ex- ceedingly popular with his command, and lived with the simplicity of a common soldier among