Cato Flashcards
(15 cards)
What key Stoic values were important to Romans and how did Cato live by them?
Stoicism promoted knowledge, free will, moral rectitude, self-control over emotions, endurance of hardship, and rising above fortune, pleasure, and pain. Cato lived frugally, tolerated harsh conditions, and saw it as a duty to the state.
How did Cato show unemotional reasoning in his personal life?
He gave his wife Marcia to his friend Hortensius (who was in a childless marriage). After Hortensius died, Marcia returned to Cato.
How did Cato approach his campaign for military tribune in 68 BC?
He was the only candidate who didn’t use bribery, staying true to Stoic values. He saw bribery as immoral, disrespectful to the constitution, and evidence of lacking self-belief.
What was Cato’s conduct as military tribune in Macedon in 67 BC?
He lived like his men—same food, work, and quarters. He refused luxury and led from the front, earning strong loyalty from his legion.
What was Cato’s stance in the prosecution of Murena in 63 BC?
He supported the charge of excessive bribery. Cicero opposed him and successfully defended Murena, arguing it wasn’t the right time to remove a consul-elect.
What anti-bribery measures did Cato pass?
In 60 BC, he passed two decrees to limit bribery agents. However, his refusal to use bribery is said to have cost him the consulship by 51 BC.
Why was Cato an Optimate?
He came from a noble family, believed in duty to the state (aligned with Stoic values), and opposed the Populares, whom he saw as revolutionaries.
What was Cato’s role in the Catiline Conspiracy of 63 BC?
He gave a convincing speech that changed the Senate’s opinion, leading them to execute the conspirators—arguing attempted treason = treason.
What did Cato do as Tribune in 62 BC?
He tried to help the poor: reduced grain prices and doubled corn dole eligibility. He presented proposals to the Senate first to model proper process, using the tribunate to uphold the system, not undermine it.
Why did Cato oppose Pompey in the 60s BC?
He distrusted Pompey for skipping the cursus honorum (consul in 70 BC via military prestige) and feared his popularity and power. He blocked attempts to recall Pompey after Catiline and denied him land for veterans and treaty ratification in 60 BC.
Why did Cato later support Pompey in 52 BC?
After Crassus (d. 53 BC) and Julia (d. 54 BC), Pompey’s ties to Caesar weakened. Cato saw him as the lesser evil and backed him as sole consul during political unrest.
What was Cato’s position on Curio’s 50 BC proposal?
He vetoed it—despite a 370–22 Senate vote—for Caesar and Pompey to give up imperium. He then sided with Pompey in the civil war.
What was Cato’s view of Cicero?
Cato respected Cicero’s values, skills, and Republican loyalty but saw him as socially inferior (a novus homo). They clashed during Murena’s trial, and in 50 BC, Cato blocked a public honour for Cicero after Cilicia. They both opposed Catiline and fought for Pompey. Cicero later praised Cato in a eulogy in 46 BC.
Why was Clodius Cato’s enemy?
Clodius was anti-Stoic: mutiny in 66 BC, incest rumours, and the 62 BC Bona Dea scandal (snuck into women-only festival during affair with Caesar’s wife). Though Cicero exposed him, he was acquitted (Crassus paid). In 59 BC, Clodius got adopted into a plebeian family with Caesar’s help, making him eligible for Tribune. In 58 BC, he sent Cato to Cyprus—possibly to keep him out of Rome during the Triumvirate’s rise.
How did Cato and Caesar clash politically?
In 60 BC, Caesar requested a triumph and permission to stand for consul in absentia. Cato and the Optimates offered only the triumph. Caesar declined and entered Rome to run for consul; the Optimates backed Bibulus, Cato’s son-in-law. Cato opposed Caesar in the civil war. After the defeat at Thapsus, Cato committed suicide, refusing to live under Caesar’s rule. Caesar later wrote Anti-Cato, reflecting his bitterness toward him.
