Cato's Suicide Put in Context

Cato’s suicide was a watershed moment in Roman history that rapidly took on the dimensions of legend, both serving as a symbol of Republican freedom or an inspiration for latter self-inflicted deaths, as well as causing Cato to transform into a type of Stoic sage. Lost amidst the future consequences of this act, however, is an accurate appreciation of the man and the suicide itself in their own terms, quite apart from the accretions of later legend found in Plutarch, Dio, Appian, and Seneca. A careful look reveals a large degree of uncertainty and suggests that we should exercise caution towards interpretations that depend heavily on the canonical, early-imperial narrative, e.g. – that Cato exhibited self-identification with Socrates (Griffin 1986), that he intended to become a Republican martyr (Gelzer 1968, Meier 1982), or that he committed suicide so as not to be reliant upon the clementia of Caesar (Edwards 2007, van Hooff 1990). Cato’s suicide must be understood in its own context and it is only by fully analyzing Cato’s suicide, in terms of both potential incentives and contemporary driving forces, that we can understand how it became an exemplum that influenced behavior in subsequent generations. One critical step for understanding this process is a rigorous examination of precedent – something that has for the most part been ignored. Scholars have incorrectly cited a Roman tradition of suicides designated as shame-based, such as generals falling on their swords, that extends back into the semi-historic days of the middle and early Republic (Hill 2004, van Hooff 1990). Given that a contemporary audience’s expectations based upon precedents inevitably play a role in conditioning responses, this tradition requires some correction in order to understand Cato in his proper context. What might be termed “heroic” suicides are actually surprisingly rare, but do become somewhat more frequent during periods of civil strife – a key place to examine precedent and its effects. The actual accounts of Cato’s suicide demand further attention from a more positivist point of view. Despite the warnings of Geiger (1979) regarding Plutarch’s account of Cato’s death and its relation to exitus literature, our uncertainty of the event is rarely acknowledged and there has been no comprehensive attempt at pinpointing what is known from contemporary or near-contemporary sources (such as de bello Africo and the ghost of Asinius Pollio). Identifying what happened, or at least what contemporaries thought happened, is fundamental to tracing the development of Cato from politician into semi-mythical figure. Ultimately, the key in understanding the dimensions Cato’s suicide assumed lies in careful consideration of the immediate contemporary perceptions and reactions in the 40’s. Vigorous debate surged on multiple sides, with no less than seven authors producing literature on the topic by the end of that decade. Though the majority of this is lost, we can both salvage important aspects of the debate (both ‘senatorial’ and ‘Caesarian’) and gain some insight into why and how the principles on all sides manipulated the event. Despite the impossibility of truly comprehending his psychological motive, particularly from such a distance in time, this process promises to lead us to a better comprehension of the motives and incentives at play when Cato committed his famous suicide. This, in turn, should grant further insight on the emergence of Cato into an exemplum and just how this social phenomenon might have influenced the practice of suicide from a behavioral standpoint – an aspect to the broader question of Roman suicide that has also been unexplored. Select Bibliography Edwards, Catharine, Death in Ancient Rome, Yale U Press, 2007. Fehrle, Rudolf, Cato Uticensis, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt, 1983. Hill, Timothy, Ambitiosa Mors: Suicide and Self and Roman Thought and Literature, Routledge, 2004. Geiger, J., “Munatius Rufus and Thrasea Paetus on Cato the Younger”, Athenaeum 57, 1979, pp. 48-72. Gelzer, M., Caesar: Politician and Statesman, Harvard U Press, 1968. Griffin, M., “Philosophy, Cato, and Roman Suicide,” Greece & Rome 33, 1986, 64-77 and 192-202. Grise, Yolande, Le Suicide dans la Rome Antique, Les Belles Lettres, Paris, 1982. Meier, C., Caesar: A Biography, Basic Books, New York, 1982. van Hooff, Anton, From Autothanasia to Suicide: Self-killing in Classical Antiquity, Routledge, 1990.