Cato the Younger

Marcus Porcius Cato the Younger (95–46 bce), also identified as Uticensis from the place of his death, was a Roman politician in the final decades of the Republic. Orphaned as a young boy, he was raised by his maternal uncles, first by M. Livius Drusus (trib. pleb. 91 bce) and then by Mam. Aemilius Lepidus Livianus (cos. 77 bce). Upon entering politics he promoted himself as a champion of traditional Roman values by adopting extremely old-fashioned clothing, habits, and values, probably in emulation of his famous great-grandfather, Marcus Porcius Cato the Elder. As quaestor in 64 bce he gained fame for his careful and scrupulously honest management of the state treasury, and as plebeian-tribune-elect at the end of 63 bce he played a decisive role in convincing the Senate to direct the consul M. Tullius Cicero to put to death without trial the captured Catilinarian conspirators, an illegal action that would later lead to Cicero’s exile. His enmity for C. Julius Caesar (cos. 59 bce) became obvious during the trial of the Catilinarian conspirators when he assisted those who were attempting (unsuccessfully) to implicate Caesar falsely in the crime. Cato acquired a leadership role among the optimates despite his relative youth, and he opposed the ambitions of Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus with such success that he was in large part responsible for driving them to join forces and form the first triumvirate at the end of 60 bce. The triumvirs and their allies temporarily removed Cato from Rome by giving him the dubious honor of a special mission to annex the kingdom of Cyprus from 58 to 56 bce. As the triumvirate lost popular support, Cato succeeded in being elected praetor in 54 bce, in which capacity he presided over the extortion court. After Crassus died at Carrhae in 53 bce, Cato and the optimates successfully pulled Pompey over to their side, setting up the conditions that led to the outbreak of civil war. Cato worked with those who pushed to have Caesar declared a public enemy, but he may not have expected the political conflict to descend into civil war, since he openly lamented the deaths it caused and was given only secondary roles, including being left to guard Pompey’s camp at the decisive battle of Pharsalus in 48 bce. After Pompey’s defeat and death, Cato led the soldiers under his command to join the army of Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio Nasica in North Africa. Cato was in command of the strategic city of Utica when Caesar defeated Scipio in the Battle of Thapsus in 46 bce, and he famously took his own life rather than surrender to Caesar.