2 – Cato the Elder (234 – 149 BC)
Marcus Porcius Cato, also known as Cato the Censor, was one of the most prominent politicians and historians of the Roman Republic. He was given the name ‘Elder’ to distinguish him from Cato the Younger, his great-grandson. Cato was born in Tusculum in 234 BC and had a tough upbringing on a farm. He entered the military aged just 17 and distinguished himself during the Second Punic War.
Cato was elected quaestor in 204 BC, and it was one in a long line of political positions he held during his great career. As junior consul (he was elected with Flaccus in 195 BC), he was successful in quelling the Spanish rebellion and celebrated a triumph upon his return to Rome in 194 BC. In 191 BC, Cato chose to retire from the military and focused on the senatorial debate.
He hated Scipio Africanus and tried to bring the hero of Zama down. Cato despised Scipio’s decadent lifestyle and even took the commander to trial; he won the trial, but it damaged his reputation. In 184 BC, Cato was elected censor which, given his quest for morality within the Republic, was his ideal position. In this role, he issued taxes on luxuries and revised the equestrian order and Senate enrollment. As you might expect in an era of corruption, the moral crusader built up an impressive stable of enemies and was forced to defend himself in court on over 40 occasions during his life!
In 150 BC, Cato was part of a Roman commission of inquiry which was supposed to act as an adjudicator between Carthage and Numidia. Cato had a lifelong hatred of the Carthaginians and is quoted as saying “Carthage must be destroyed” at the end of his Senate speeches. The Romans found in favor of the Numidians and in 149 BC, the Third Punic War began. Cato was to have his wish fulfilled as Carthage ceased to exist as an independent state at the end of the war in 146 BC. Alas, Cato had died three years previously, but his name was to become synonymous with morality in Rome for centuries to come.