Marcus Cato - The Republican Man

Marcus Cato: The republican Man Some years into the republic age of Rome, Marcus Cato was born into a less-than-impressive, but honorable home. Over time, Cato would prove to be a great statesman as well as earn many other titles and honors. However, before one can understand the great man, one must understand the society that shaped him. At this time in its history, Rome had formed its republic by vesting the power in the people, represented by the senate. Despite there being instances of corruption, the republic naturally defended against corruption by keeping too much power away from just one man and dispersing it to the many. Under Roman tradition the citizens lived praiseworthy family lives, and ancestry, as well as different traditions, shaped those lives. On top of those two sorts of body politic, the republic and the family, a true Roman citizen had a balanced and temperate form of self-government. Each of these three traits of Rome helped to shape not just Marcus Cato, but all of its inhabitants. Being well versed in Greek tradition as well as very knowledgeable in Roman history and politics, Cato came to be a very prosperous political figure, war hero, and most of all a well-rounded model for a republic even today. It was mostly his moderate combination of all of these traits through temperance and a strong code of morals that allowed Cato to achieve this status. From his early days as a young scholar, Cato learned and practiced frugality and temperance in everything he did. Growing up, one of Cato’s influences was Fabius Maximus, a soldier above Cato. Among the things that Cato absorbed from Fabius was a quote from Plato: “pleasure is evil’s chief bait; the body of all calamity of the soul” (193). From lines like this Cato learned the value of strong morals and moderation. Among the merits shared by great men of his time and succeeding generations, temperance and frugality reign from amongst the canopy of virtues. Basing decisions from a foundational set of morals and virtues is a key component to being a strong-willed man. As Plutarch explains, Cato not only possessed a solid, well-rounded moral code, but had the wherewithal to govern the otherwise useless code: “For his general temperance and self-control he really does deserve the highest admiration” (196). Among the more important aspects of Roman culture the family played a large role in Cato’s life. By himself, Cato supported and raised his son to embody the same set of morals and strong character that gave Cato his prowess in the Roman state. Plutarch says, “Although he had a servant who taught many others, Cato himself taught him to read” (207). Being a well-rounded man himself, Cato also shared with his son the skills found in Roman gymnasiums as well as the verses of law he thought necessary for a roman citizen to comprehend. Giving his son this very broad education that Cato himself had mastered in his life gave his son the early advantage of learning temperance, one of the main keys to Cato’s success in the Roman republic. The kind of thoroughness shown in Cato’s care for his family and, specifically in raising his son, is yet another display of how he embodied the essence of a man that truly valued and lived out the aspects of a republic. Cato used his political career in the republic to extend the temperance that he practiced all his life to the rest of the Roman nation. Besides practicing his very refined skills in battle, he expressed his ideals of self-control when involved in the Roman senate. One can find this in the ideals that Cato held himself to as well as he held the Roman republic to when he was in power. Not only was he unabashed about sharing his opinions, whatever they might be, but those principles that he held the Roman republic to embodied the core of the republic. Plutarch tells us that Cato critiqued the Roman people’s typical mob mentality saying, “when you have got together in a body, let yourselves be guided by those whom singly you would never think of being advised by you” (197). This statement not only again shows the strength in Cato’s character by expressing his opinion, but characterizes the republic in another way. A part of the values included in Cato’s refined code was the assertion for the power of the state to reside not only in the people, but to reside in people that did not seek to obtain power. In another reprove of the Roman people, Cato said, “For you will seem either not to esteem government worth much, or to think few worthy to hold it” (197). Here he was not only stressing the importance of the constant change of power in government, but he was also expressing that power should lie with the man that does not desire to have authority. Many people in history have held this as a virtue of different governments including republics so that the least abuse of power will be the ultimate result. In all of his government endeavors, Cato not only kept his same temperance and self-government that he valued all his life, but also spread those values to others.
This, among all of the other qualities and accomplishments sustain Cato as a model of a republican man. In his transition from young scholar to family man to Roman senator and further, Cato embodied all the essential qualities that define a republic. His general value of temperance and advanced control over his own actions gave him the qualification to not only lead the Roman senate but be an example for future generations of republics to come.